Tag: dinner

Beef, Orange and Olive Stew recipe and cookbook review: Milk Street: The New Rules

jenniferguerrero1 November 6, 2019

#MilkStreet @Milk Street #ChristopherKimball @ChristopherKimball #LittleBrown @LittleBrown

Do you watch Milk Street? Their book, Milk Street: Tuesday Nights, was in my top three cookbooks released last year, and now I see that it got a James Beard Award. Great pick! I try very hard not to say things like best, because my best may very well not be your best. So I will tell you why I love them, and you’ll get a better idea if it sounds like a fit for you. Flavor. They are really strong flavorists. There’s never an apologetic bite to be had. Minimalists. They really do a great job of getting where they’re going on the easiest road available. The recipes are global. For me, that’s great but also the only disappointment I have. As we travel the globe in their books, I’d like to see a little American food represented, too. We’ve got some great stuff!

They have a new book out, Milk Street: The New Rules, and it’s fantastic! Four days and 11 recipes in, and I think 3 of them are the best I’ve ever had. The lentils (I know! Lentils! Promise they’re an addictive bite!), the beef, orange, and olive stew, and the Turkish poached eggs with garlicky yogurt are the best. I said it again and although I think it sounds obnoxious, it’s sincere, and I’m leaving it there.

Beef Patties in Grape Leaves recipe and cookbook review: The Palestinian Table by Reem Kassis

jenniferguerrero1 September 10, 2019

#ReemKassis @ReemKassis #ThePalestinianTable @ThePalestinianTable #Phaidon @Phaidon

Do you watch Milk Street? Christopher Kimball had Reem Kassis on as a guest to discuss her book, The Palestinian Table. She was talking about a 9-spice blend that she loves and uses in everything. I tend to really enjoy food with a strong spice focus, and Christopher Kimball gushed about the book, so I had to get my hands on a copy. I’m so glad that I did! Every dish we’ve tried has been lovely, and the dishes are pretty relaxing to prepare. Her flavors are wonderful, and it’s mostly at the nice and healthy end of the spectrum. We haven’t tried any desserts yet, but if you have a sweet tooth, she’ll tempt you for sure.

I’ll tell you all about the other dishes we tried, but first I’d like to share with you her recipe for Beef Patties in Grape Leaves. It’s a fabulous comfort food bake that will fill your home with glorious fragrance. And that fabulous 9-spice blend is part of the recipe, so you can taste that, too! Thanks to Phaidon for letting me share it with you!

Fesenjoon – Chicken (or eggplant) with Walnuts and Pomegranates recipe and cookbook review: The Saffron Tales by Yasmin Khan

jenniferguerrero1 August 21, 2019

#YasminKhan @YasminKhan #TheSaffronTales @TheSaffronTales #BloomsburyPub @BloomsburyPub

I flipped through The Saffron Tales, pasting little post-it notes on all the recipes I wanted to try. So many. She had four different variations on tahdig for her Chelow. Have you tried it? Chelow is Persian rice, and tahdig is the crispy layer that cooks in olive oil and butter right against the pan. So good. It’s one of those things that makes lovely manners rather difficult. I flagged all of them, and went back to flipping through the book. Then I saw it – Chelow filled with all sorts of herbs. When we lived in New York, my friend Firoozeh and I would take turns hosting family dinners on weekends, and that’s the rice she always used to spoil us with. Since we’ve moved to Texas, there are about 1600 miles between us. This isn’t a Firoozeh hug, but its as close as I can get without a plane ticket, so I had to make that one. It was perfect. Warm fuzzies all around.

Spicy Pepperoncini Beef recipe and cookbook review: No Crumbs Left by Teri Turner

jenniferguerrero1 August 16, 2019

#hmhco @hmhco @TeriTurner #NoCrumbsLeft @NoCrumbsLeft

I found the foodie’s Whole30-ish book! No Crumbs Left is such a delicious, beautiful, and interesting one! A lot of the recipes follow the Whole30 rules. You’ll see labels along the margin for Whole30, gluten-fee, dairy-free, paleo, and grain-free. Many have all of those. Melissa Hartwig and Michelle Tam compare Teri Turner’s food skills to Julia Child. I found myself wanting to try almost everything in the book, especially the super healthy ones. If you’re looking for really nourishing dishes with total foodies in mind, I think you’ll love it! She’s a strong flavorist!

There are a few base recipes that she makes at the front of the book that are ready-to-go ingredients in other recipes, like marinated red onions, garlic confit, and tomato confit. Yeah, they’re totally worth it.

I’ll tell you all about the dishes we tried, but first I wanted to share a fabulous recipe from the book, Spicy Pepperoncini Beef. Sweet and hot peppers with garlic, onions, and basil. It tastes phenomenal, yet it’s weeknight easy-breezy, and super good for you. Perfect!

Spanish Tortilla/Tortilla Española recipe and cookbook review: Tapas and other Spanish plates to share

jenniferguerrero1 March 7, 2019

@RylandPetersAndSmall @RylandPeters #RylandPetersAndSmall #RylandPeters #tapas

A million years ago, or 23 to be slightly more accurate, my husband and I traveled around Spain, Portugal, and Morocco on our honeymoon. The trip was beyond amazing! The Prado Museum and Plaza Major in Madrid were fabulous. The salt-crusted fish and possibly skinny dipping on the coast in Marbella were delicious. And in Seville, we fell desperately in love with the flamenco shows and Maria Luisa Park. And the tapas and thick hot chocolate. Tapas everywhere. It’s a garlic-lover’s dream.

Jen’s Buffalo Joes – as in the meat, not the sauce ;)

jenniferguerrero1 January 28, 2019

Oh January, how I love you! After 5 fast-paced months, good old sleepy, relaxing January shows up, and I have very little to do. I love to really take advantage of it by getting double workouts in every day (well, 5 days a week), and go freezer diving for the dinner centerpieces. What do I find in that freezer? A lot of healthier cuts of meat that my well-intentioned self buys if I go to Costco hungry, and then they sit in the freezer waiting to become something.

Jen’s Smoky, Cheesy, Bacon & Chicken over Spaghetti Squash with Lots of Complementary Vegetables. Mmmmm.

jenniferguerrero1 January 21, 2019

It’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day, National Hug Day, and my birthday! And yesterday was National Cheese Lover’s Day. Time for a combination of two wonderful things: cheese and smokiness. I fell in love with a pasta dish from a recipe card that came with a Pampered Chef pan years ago, and have adapted it to my taste over the years. It’s pretty distant from the original, but that was the inspiration. Glorious inspiration. I hope you love it!