Cooking Method: Simmering

Chicken in Creamy Mushroom Sauce

This Chicken in Creamy Mushroom Sauce is easy to make and the homemade creamy mushroom sauce would also work well on pasta, steak, meatballs, pork chops, or rice.

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Beef Stew for Two

I love recipes that serve 2. You can scale this Beef Stew for Two up to serve more. I happened to have had a small chuck roast and all the other ingredients. I love when that happens! It's very flavorful and I made it in the Instant Pot, but also have included the stovetop instructions.

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Creamy Corn and Chicken Chimichurri Soup

I recently posted a recipe for Channa Masala Tomato Soup using ingredients from Trader Joe’s. Here’s another idea that they served at the tasting station. This Creamy Corn and Chimichurri Soup, which I changed consists of TJ's Creamy Corn & Roasted Red Pepper Soup, Frozen Peruvian Style Chimichurri Rice and chicken. I served it with their Garlic Naan. It makes for an easy lunch.
You could add a cup of frozen corn instead of chicken.

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Vegetable Chili

This is one of my all-time favorite chili recipes, which happens to be vegetarian. It's the perfect thing to make for a crowd with a regular chili con carne. It will please your vegetarian guests and the carnivores as well. It's delicious!

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Channa Masala Tomato Soup

This Channa Masala Tomato Soup, which is a combination of Trader Joe's Organic Low Sodium Tomato & Roasted Red Pepper Soup and frozen Channa Masala is absolutely delicious. I am going to make sure to always have the ingredients on hand. Serve it with their Malabari Paratha. 

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Passata Sauce from Pizzeria Mozza

Years ago, I took the last pizza class at Pizzeria Mozza with my good friend Chris, who happens to be one of my mentors. I want to tell you about the sauce. This sauce is so easy, it seems like you’ve forgotten something. There is no garlic, no herbs in this sauce!

For their pizzas – also called Passato. The sauce is not complex, instead showcasing the ingredients.

KEY 
The variety of tomato. Best: San Marzano. You want tomatoes that have more meat—lots of flesh – less water, fewer seeds, and sweeter. “DOP” designation is important. Homegrown tomatoes are often very watery making them less desirable since so much water would have to be cooked off.

TIPS 
Pan you use to cook sauce should be twice the size as amount of product you’re adding. A heavy pan—the heavier the better – should be used because it prevents sticking. Enameled cast iron (like Le Creuset) is perfect. Simmer the sauce gently until you get the taste you want. Taste often. It should not take that long to produce the sauce as it is simple with few ingredients.  Do not cook it to a paste.

Cool down the sauce before putting in on pizza dough.  It's a 2-ounce ladle of sauce per pizza. No more. You can also use this sauce for pasta as well.

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Instant Pot Chili

I have many chili recipes, but this is my new favorite. I have given the Instant Pot instructions and also the stovetop instructions. The addition of a small amount of cocoa powder adds a subtle depth of flavor.

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Baked Potato & Leek Soup with Cheddar & Bacon

This Baked Potato & Leek Soup with Cheddar & Bacon was what I made for dinner last night. This classic potato and leek soup uses milk and sour cream instead of heavy cream, to reduce the fat. The potatoes are first baked and then combined with the sautéed leeks. The mixture was then puréed. The milk, sour cream and cheese were added at the final stage of cooking. The soup is creamy and topped with chopped green onions, bacon and grated cheddar cheese.

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Italian Wedding Soup

The term "wedding soup" comes from the Italian language phrase "minestra maritata" ("married soup"), which is a reference to the flavor produced by the combination/"marriage" of greens and meat. The soup has little beef-pork meatballs in a clear broth with greens. It's absolutely delicious!

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Chicken Pot Pie Soup

My daughter Grace buys this Chicken Pot Pie Soup for lunch near where she works. I was intrigued so I recreated it. It's basically a soupier version of the classic pot pie with crispy parmesan puff pastry served on the side.

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