Cooking Method: Sautéing

Ginger Ale Pork Chops

If you are a fan of ginger, you must try these Ginger Ale Pork Chops. It literally couldn't get any more ginger-y! It has powdered ginger, ginger ale, fresh ginger, and crystallized ginger. It's a tad sweet because of the ginger ale (NO, do not use diet ginger ale!), but it's delicious and topped off with walnuts and golden raisins.

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White Beans with Broccoli Rabe and Lemon

I love broccoli rabe, which is also known as rapini, and I am always trying to find new ways to make it. This White Beans with Broccoli Rabe and Lemon recipe is really good. You fry the slices of lemon and garlic in olive oil before adding the broccoli and beans. The recipe calls for anchovies, but I didn't have any, so I left them out. I know some people will be outraged, but "tant pis", which means TOO BAD in French (and happens to be the name of our family cat!). 

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Spicy-Sweet Sambal Pork Noodles

My daughter has a friend at Bon Appétit and he told her this was the best recipe they published this year. She made it and called me immediately to say it was the best thing she's ever eaten! So I made it last night and yes, these Spicy-Sweet Sambal Pork Noodles are all that and a bag of chips as my husband says. It's so good that you should make the full recipe. Apparently, it's even better the next day. Sambal is an Indonesian chili sauce or paste.

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Fettuccini with Sausage, Bacon, and Eggplant

Years ago when I lived in NYC, I used to have drinks at the now-defunct Café des Artistes (R.I.P.). This restaurant was an institution and had the best bartender in the US named Victor. His discretion was exemplary. I went there with my friend Brady and he bought me a sidecar, then another, then another. He actually would have my glass refilled when my back was turned. I could have killed him the next day, not sure how I got home that night!

Anyway, in 1988, I bought The Café des Artistes Cookbook for my then-boyfriend / now-husband Eric. So, I thought it would be fun to make something for dinner from the book. I chose Fettuccini with Sausage, Bacon, and Eggplant. Typically, I don’t follow the recipe exactly, mainly because I am lazy. I eliminate steps that seem unnecessary. This recipe is an absolute MESS! The first instruction is to sauté bacon in olive oil. WTF?!?! WHY!?!? Then you are meant to blanch the eggplant (eggplant requires a brief heat treatment, called blanching, in boiling water or steam, to destroy the enzymes ONLY before freezing it!). The next HORRIFYING step is to blanch the sausage! @#%$&???????? Serves 4 > actually it serves 6! Here is the REVISED recipe.

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Grilled Salmon with Warm Pineapple Sauce

Now that I can finally access all my cookbooks, I found this recipe for Grilled Salmon with Warm Pineapple Sauce. I have to say, it's now my absolute favorite way to eat salmon. The recipe says to grill it, but I almost always roast it. The pineapple sauce is utter nirvana. It has jalapeños, shallots, ginger and orange juice, but the ingredient that takes it to a whole new level is curry powder. I added a little bit extra. The sauce would also work well with chicken or pork. If you like salmon, you must try it!

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Onion Bhaji

This Onion Bhaji recipe comes from a wonderful chef and talented photographer from London. Her name is Dimple and she has a vegetarian FaceBook page that I have contributed to for years called Sharing Food With Shivaay Delights. It's a fantastic source for interesting vegetarian recipes.

Indian food is one of my desert island foods. I suppose I would have to add Italian too! Anyway, I have always loved onion bhaji. I saw Dimple make these online using a muffin tin, which appealed to me. I couldn't find my regular muffin tins, so I used a mini tin. I really don't like deep frying things. These came out very flavorful, though not quite as crispy as usual, it's lower in fat and just as good. The recipe calls for gram or chickpea flour. I am very lucky to live super close to a large Indian market, though Bob's Red Mill had this flour as well.

The next time I am in London, I would love to meet Dimple in person!

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Artichokes French

So after my Chicken French research, I found out you can "French" other things. This Artichoke French is superb using a can of artichoke hearts. It makes a wonderful hors d'oeuvre. I guess you could say I am not obsessed!

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Chicken French – Rochester, NY Style

We had this Chicken French - Rochester, NY Style in a classic old-school restaurant called Charley Brown's when we were in Rochester. It's frozen in time around 1982. They have this dish on the menu called - Chicken French ~ egg-dipped, sautéed in sherry-lemon butter My husband Eric thought it was the best chicken he'd EVER had, which I have to agree!

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Beef Pot Pies

This Beef Pot Pie recipe is adapted from the Pioneer Woman. It's hearty and comforting and just what we needed. If you don't have puff pastry, you could cover it in mashed potatoes or even tater tots!

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Chicken Tetrazzini

Last night, my husband said we should make Chicken à la King. I happen to have a lot of chicken at the moment. I then proceed to tell him how to make Chicken Tetrazzini. I get them both mixed up!

It turns out the difference is that Chicken Tetrazzini has cheese in it and Chicken à la King does not. In the 1950s, you would open a can of Campbell's cream of mushroom soup, a package of frozen peas, carrots, a can of sliced mushrooms, some Velveeta cheese, and chicken or turkey and voila...an abomination! Anyway, my version is delicious!

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