During this time of year, the holiday ham inevitably makes an appearance. While chowing down on sliced ham has never been my thing, ham is pretty wonderful for making a hearty, warming pot of split pea soup. If you have the ham hock, throw that in too, as it will add great flavor. Otherwise, just…
Tag: Onion
Joe’s Special
Who is Joe? I’ve no idea, nor does my mom who made this dish often throughout my childhood. I’ve occasionally seen it on restaurant menus, but usually as a breakfast scramble. My mom’s version is lighter on the eggs, heavier on the ground beef. We ate it for dinner. Guessipe 2 lbs ground beef 2…
Creamy Feta Red Pepper Vodka Pasta
Did you know there’s such a thing as creamy feta? I didn’t. But I bought it accidentally once, and have been a fan ever since. I happened to have some creamy feta when I got in the mood for vodka pasta, and decided to see if I could use it instead of cream, which I…
Sweet & Spicy Broccoli
My mom taught me this awesome trick to make broccoli a gorgeous color and great crunchy texture. You basically throw it into boiling water, then immediately pull it out and run it under cold water. Then you can quickly stir-fry it over high heat to infuse whatever flavors you’d like – I like these spicy…
Spicy Sausage & Mushroom Tomato Sauce Pasta
I adored this spicy sausage and mushroom tomato sauce pasta when I was a kid. My mom always made it with spaghetti noodles, and half the fun was watching my brother eat it. He would suck each individual noodle through his lips, and then eat the sausage and mushrooms later. By the end of the…
Carrot Coconut Curry Pasta
We were doing a pasta party, and all of the standard sauce bases were covered – tomato, vodka, bolognese. So I wanted to experiment with something different. When I was recovering from knee surgery, my cousin had made me a big batch of carrot coconut curry soup, and I remembered thinking those flavors might be…
Sticky Rice Stuffed Chicken
When I was a kid, my grandma often made sticky rice wrapped in lotus leaves. I loved it, but she lived across the country so when I couldn’t get it from her, it would always be one of the items I ordered at dim sum. There was something kind of magical about peeling open the…
Shortcut Kimchi Cucumbers
When I was little, I got on a kimchi-making kick with my mom. Kimchi takes days to ferment, and can be pretty stinky (we did it in the garage). I give credit to my mom for going along with this for several months – I think she thought of it as good mother-daughter bonding. But…
Coconut Milk Chicken
I once had stewed chicken at a Caribbean restaurant, and was blown away. I asked the waiter how it was made, and he said that the key was browning the chicken in brown sugar, and then stewing it in a coconut milk and tomato sauce. Well yeah, of course that’s going to be good. I’ve…