Pasta Bolognese

In the best spirit of the Guessipe, I’ve found Pasta Bolognese to have some pretty interchangeable components… red or white onion, celery or fennel, red or white wine, canned tomatoes or tomato sauce, milk or heavy cream. It’s the long slow simmer that brings it all together. Traditionalists might balk at this, but try it…

Thai Larb

The key to Thai Larb is the ground toasted rice, providing the flavor and texture that makes this refreshing and fulfilling ground meat salad. I used to order Larb when I went out for Thai food, until I learned that it’s so easy to make at home. It’s great for a main dish served as…

Beef Peanut Stew

My boyfriend came home with peanut butter powder and beef chuck, and said “Can you make something with this?”. Challenge accepted. His reaction after trying this Beef Peanut Stew – “I think this is my new jam!”. Challenge won. Guessipe Season beef with salt and pepper. Cook in a dutch oven over medium-high heat, turning…

Sausage-Stuffed Acorn Squash

Acorn squash is one of my favorite kinds of squash because it looks and tastes great and is pretty easy to prepare – you don’t even have to peel the skin. Already delicious when simply roasted, it’s even better when stuffed with yummy goodies. This Sausage-Stuffed Acorn Squash presents so beautifully it gets wows when…

Yam Beef Biscuit Pot Pie

I had purchased some canned biscuits on sale for really cheap, but maybe they were on sale for a reason! They weren’t at all flaky and they were a bit bland. But I hate letting food go to waste, so I thought maybe I could make them work as a pot pie topping. Judging by…

Taco Salad

With the warm weather, I was craving a salad that was hearty enough to be a meal all on its own. I had some tortilla chips and salsa I wanted to use up, and that inspired the idea to make a Taco Salad. After tasting the salad, my boyfriend – who previously swore he hated…

Thai Basil Chicken

When I go to the Asian market, I grab Thai basil so that I can make this super easy Thai Basil Chicken. It’s a great dish for weeknights because it comes together in minutes. The only reason to get this at a Thai restaurant instead of making it at home is if I can’t get…

Kerabu Timun Nanas (Cucumber Pineapple Salad)

There is an amazing Malaysian restaurant in Seattle called Kedai Makan. It’s a bit out of the way, but if you are ever in Seattle it’s worth seeking it out. One of the top 10 meals of my life! My favorite dish was their Kerabu Timun Nanas – a cucumber and pineapple salad with kerisik….

Build Your Own Bowl

These “Build Your Own Bowl” restaurants have been popping up all over the place. We have an Asian-themed one near our local movie theater which we would occasionally patronize after seeing a movie… that is, until I decided it would be easy enough to re-create my favorite sauce flavors and build my own bowl at…

Peperonata

One day I was looking for something to do with some spare bell peppers, and I remembered having peperonata when I was in Italy. It’s a stewed bell pepper dish which often also includes onion, garlic, and tomatoes. All I happened to have on hand was bell peppers and red onion, but it still came…

Quick Stewed Eggplant with Coconut

Cookbook Club – Holiday Year in Review 2021 Our December Cookbook Club is traditionally a year in review event where we pick recipes from any of the cookbooks we’ve used that year. But because of COVID we were only able to gather for about half the year. That meant we had fewer cookbooks to choose…

Spicy Italian Sausage with Kale and Tomato

This dish uses just a handful of ingredients and a single pan, but the flavors of the sausage, kale, and tomato go so well together that you don’t need anything else. My boyfriend says it’s like a really delicious pasta, only without any pasta – that’s a glowing endorsement from someone who would live on…