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Kent
Last night I decided to try something new with Caprese salad. Instead of just layering the tomato, mozzarella, and basil and dressing with olive oil and balsamic glaze, I wanted to incorporate the basil into the dressing. My thoughts were to put basil into every bite easily and I needed a tasty medium to hold the basil. I could use olive oil (which would have worked just fine), but I wanted to punch it up a little. So, out came the blender and a bottle of champagne. Yes, that’s right… I chose to use champagne as the medium to carry the basil in this experiment. And the results, delicious. Of course, feel free to play with the ratios to get the results you desire. I…
I did a quick check and guess what? I have not posted a classic margarita recipe yet. Well, it is high time to correct that oversight! I am not talking your cheap tequila and bottled margarita mix with ice into a blender kind of margarita, but the robust and intensely flavorful Classic Margarita. I found the ratio for the ingredients on the Serious Eats website, but I definitely tweaked it… and here is why. I believe using straight lime juice is fine, if you want to taste the standard tequila shot in your drink. I want more… so I added a portion of lemon juice. Also, I do not use simple syrup in this cocktail if it needs sweetness (which really depends on the Triple Sec…
Have you ever wondered what I do with the remaining portions of raw ingredients that do not show up in a following post? I think solving that dilemma was critical to success when cooking for one – menu planning. It is easy enough to know that even moderate amounts (like one pound of ground beef) needs to be split into two or three (preferable) portions for different meals. But what about vegetables like bundles of asparagus, half peppers and half onions, half cans of diced tomatoes, etc? Typically I create a weekly menu and shop for the ingredients needed for those meals. I construct the menu so that I can make dishes that use partial amounts to reduce waste, but avoid stagnation in dishes. Well, this post should…
Here is a pasta dish I believe will really satisfy you. This is a variant of a dish I posted in March – Tortellini with Prosciutto and Asparagus. The difference is perfect for summer – a basil sherry cream sauce. Using fresh basil is a must for this dish and the hardest part of this dish is timing all the parts. So take a chance and expand your repertoire with something new… like this dish! Save Print Tortellini in a Basil Sherry Cream Sauce Prep time: 30 mins Cook time: 15 mins Total time: 45 mins Serves: 1 Ingredients 2 oz prosciutto, diced 4½ oz fresh tortellini 5 oz asparagus, sliced into 1½ inch lengths ½ cup basil leaves, fresh…
Tonight’s recipe is based on Claire Saffitz‘ recipe on the Bon Appetit website, which I found delicious. Like many stir fry dishes, this one is easy to prepare and full of flavor. Instead of serving it with rice I opted to make it with thin rice noodles (like the ones used for Phad Thai), a wonderful change-up. I also added oyster sauce to the dish to increase the umami aspect as a contrast to the spicy red pepper flakes and sour rice vinegar/rice wine combination. The sauce was a nice thickness – coating the chicken and green beans nicely and soaked into the rice noodles completely. Try this recipe and see for yourself, this simple dish has a lot going on! Save Print…
Tonight’s cocktail is a tweak on Greg Mays’ Chata Cafe Cream cocktail of rumchata, rum, Kahlua, and cream. In my tweak, I used Malibu rum and substituted vodka for the cream. This cocktail looks subdued but has a nice little kick – definitely proving the adage don’t judge a book by its cover. The coffee flavors and sweetness from the Kahlua combined with the spicy sweetness from the Caruva Horchata and coconut notes from the Malibu make for a lot going on. The key to managing the sweetness was in the proportions – surprisingly more Kahlua and horchata than Malibu rum – and adding vodka to extend the drink without diluting it. This is a wonderful summer happy hour drink filled with Mexico…
Here is a dish that will bring fireworks to your taste buds, just in time for the Fourth of July. I have been meaning to make this dish for you, but sadly I keep pushing it down the list. Well, tonight is the night and I am doing it. I used Chef John’s recipe as a base, of course adjusting it for a single diner and tweaking it with part of the recipe from America’s Test Kitchen. The combination of the Chef John’s simplicity and ATK’s flavor boosting technique take this dish to new heights. The lip-smacking tingle of heat from the pepper, the slight smokiness from the paprika (my idea!), the sweetness from the tomatoes, the brightness from…
With Summer weather here in the Pacific Northwest for this Fourth of July weekend, I decided to prepare a small flat iron steak with chimichurri for dinner tonight. Of course, regular visitors to the blog will know I love cooking beef sous vide style to get incredible results and this meal is no different. Cooked at 125 degrees F using my Anova One immersion circulator and finished on the grill, just writing about this dinner has my mouth watering. This is my first foray into making chimichurri and I am excited to enjoy this Argentinian delight with my steak. And is this meal easy? You bet it is. Simply it is a vacuum sealed steak taking a bath for a few hours before meeting the grill for some…
Tonight’s cocktail comes from a recent article in Men’s Journal; This Summer, Drink More Whiskey: 6 Perfect Cocktails. I found this cocktail intriguing for two reasons. First, I am certain there is a typo in the recipe – it should not take 14 ounces of coffee liqueur – and second because it sounds like a snazzy and jazzy Manhattan… and I like a good Manhattan. So, I picked up some Carpano Antica Sweet Vermouth to be sure I was using all the correct ingredients and I adjusted the 14 ounces of coffee liqueur to 1/4 ounce and got busy making this cocktail. And…. wow! This drink is a snazzy and jazzy upgraded Manhattan. I even garnished mine with one of my…
You know how we have labels for some of the days like Taco Tuesday, Hump Day for Wednesday, and Throwback Thursday; well I want to promote Mexican Monday. I think this attribution works wonders as now you can enjoy any of your south of the border favorites like burritos, enchiladas, tostadas, tacos, chimichangas, tequila, cerveza, etc… you get my point. To support this endeavor to recognize Mexican Mondays, I bring you a homemade Enchirito™ – that deliciously confused dish brought to you by Taco Bell. Now as regular readers should be used to, of course I tweaked this fast food for personal dining. I added spices, garlic, chunky onion, red and green bell pepper, and pinto beans to the ground beef filling. I topped it with enchilada…