...It's What's For Dinner
Not recipes per se, but thoughts on some of my favorite meals.
I’ll update this page whenever I’ve cooked enough new stuff (or old favorites I don’t yet have a photo of) to merit a refresh. I’ll always put the new stuff at the top of the post and keep everything else below.
Chicken, Mushroom & Wild Rice Soup
This is a rich, nice soup for fall and winter. There’s tons of recipes out there and most I’ve seen are pretty much the same. Ingredients: Chicken, mushrooms, celery, carrots, onion. Spices: Sage, paprika, thyme, salt & pepper.
I use a rotisserie chicken for almost every recipe (especially soups) that calls for it. It’s easier and better. I did baby bellas for the mushroom. Regular, crimini, or a blend is cool too. I used a box of wild rice.
Pretty simple instructions soften the carrots, celery and onions. Add mushrooms and sweat them down. Then add 1/3 cup of flour, mix, and cook a few minutes longer. Add 6 cups of chicken stock and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for about 45 minutes. Then add a cup of heavy whipping cream, half and half, or whole milk.
Oh, after the flour I deglazed with a little white wine, but up to you!
Asian Beef Soup
I found this original recipe in a cookbook I can’t find the cookbook. When it popped back in my head I couldn’t find it again. So, this became what I remember and an amalgamation of other recipes I found online.
The real key ingredient in this is ginger — preferably fresh ginger. I tried the squeeze container stuff once and it just didn’t cut it. I used quite a chunk of root — a couple inches — but if you’re doing it for the first time maybe go easy until you have everything simmering. Then you can add more if needed.
The other ingrediants are pretty simple. Stew beef (which you brown first) bok choy, garlic, some soy, carrots and beef stock. The last few times I’ve also added water chestnuts. Any Asian noodle works, including the super cheap Ramen.
Assassin’s Pasta
I just discovered this odd pasta dish on TikTok last year. Apparently, it originated in Bari, Italy and it’s cooked unlike any pasta I’ve ever done before. Instead of boiling the noodles you fry them in a pan with olive oil (along with fresh garlic and crushed red pepper) until charred — turning a few times. Then, you slowly start adding the sauce a ladle at a time, with the pasta being infused — and cooked more — with every session.
The photo shows my first attempt and it wasn’t charred enough. The last time I kicked up the heat and got more char. It’s really good, and fun to do something so different. Do a simple search for recipe details.
Caprese Salad
We all know what this is, I just liked the photo.
Simple summer fun when local market tomatoes are really fresh.
Chicken Ala King
I like to do some old-school recipes that have kinda fallen out of fashion and this shows up in the rotation a few times a year. The key ingredient is the pimentos which can be hard to find in the grocery store. They’re usually near the pickles or hidden on a high shelf with capers.
I always use a rotisserie chicken for this. It tastes better and I like the shredded consistency and it’s much easier than shredding your own breasts. Mushrooms and peas are big and you can add carrots and celery. I go baby bella on the shrooms and use both heavy whipping cream and an egg to thicken the chicken stock sauce. Good over biscuits, rice, or noodles.
Beef & Cabbage Soup
Over time this has become a mix of cabbage soup and stuffed green pepper soup. Hamburger, cabbage, peppers, carrots, garlic, diced tomatoes, beef stock and some Italian seasoning. Simple, good, and healthy.
Seafood Boil
I’ve found that this is one of the simplest (and most impressive) things to do for a big crowd. You’ll need a HUGE pot, but easy to do on the stove. I add a lemon or two cut in half to the boing water + a shrimp boil seasoning.
Potatoes go in first, when they’re almost done throw in sliced smoked sausage (I do andouille) then (fresh, cut in half) corn and finally seafood in the last few minutes.
My seafood mix is shrimp (Argentinian is like lobster), crawfish tail meat, mussels, and scallops. Strain in a colander (in batches if needed) dump on a big platter/plate and serve with melted butter and enough sliced lemons for people to grab their own.
Snarky afterthought: It seems like seafood boil restaurants are becoming quite the thing. I was doing these on the regular way before that.
Rattlesnake Pasta
Years ago Amy went to a work lunch and came home raving about what was called “Rattlesnake Pasta.” Apparently, I replicated it pretty good based on her fresh memory of the ingredients.
Since I did that from scratch that recipe has evolved over the years. Her original just had chicken and peppers as the main components. I added sausage (Andouille is always my go to) because why not.
Nothing complicated about this. But, I do have some tips that I think infuse more flavor into the proceedings. I slice the sausage and hit it first in a cast iron skillet. I then do the chicken (with a blackening seasoning of your choice) in that hot, hot grease.
Chicken (not fully cooked) comes out and pepper combo goes in. When the peppers a half done throw everything else back in and hit with a little chicken stock and scrape the good shit off the bottom of the skillet. Add heavy whipping cream and grated cheese (parm or similar) and thicken on low heat.
Pasta is fielder’s choice, but I suggest something hearty. Photo shows farfalle, but I’ve done penne and fettuccine. Cook the pasta even less then al dente then mix in with the other ingredients and let the chicken fully cook and the pasta to be infused with all the flavors.
Speaking of flavors, beyond the blackening I hit with some cayenne pepper and fresh minced garlic. As with almost everything, the more garlic the better.
Braised Beef Short Ribs
Braised short ribs are one of those things that I didn’t have until the last few years and I kick myself for not discovering earlier. They are simply delicious and in the same consistency zone as, say, a yankee pot roast. You can buy the cut bone in or out and they’re not super expensive for haw damn good they taste.
Slow cooking is the key. After braising (browning) the ribs in a dutch oven you set them aside. Add some diced carrots and onions rosemary and thyme then add them back with beef stock and some red wine cover and go about your business.
You can do any sides, but with the gravy you get they just scream homemade mashed potatoes. They’re very easy but taste very decadent.
Cauliflower Salad
Got this from my mother last year. A simple, cold salad with cauliflower as the base. Add whatever veggies you like. I do carrots, celery, green pepper, tomato, cucumber, and red onions. Dressing of your choice. Mine is Garlic Expressions vinaigrette. I also add some meat when I make an individual one — bacon, deli ham or turkey. You get the idea: fresh and healthy
Crab Cakes
Haven’t done it as much lately, but for years if we went to a restaurant that had a good chunk of seafood, and crabs cakes was on the menu, I got them. Lots of different recipe variations out there. Some have diced green or red peppers (or both) and even celery.
The best thing I’ve found over the years for an overall good crab cake it make the crab ratio as high as possible when it comes to that versus bread crumbs, crushed crackers, or Panko. The less crumbs you use the harder it is to keep them together when frying to a golden brown in olive oil. Use and egg to try to bind them. Putting the formed patties in the fridge for a half hour or so before cooking also helps. You can go no sauce with some sliced lemons on the side. A remoulade is good too. Pretty simple to make if you can’t find it at your grocery.
Oh, and on the crab, I try to mix 2/3 or the best canned stuff you can get (lump white) and the last 1/3 with the cheaper stuff — quantity without sacrificing all the quality.