Oven-baked Jamaican jerk chicken

We tried this recipe, which uses a homemade jerk paste (instead of dry jerk seasoning): https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1014722-no-fuss-jerk-chicken Based on our pantry, we used a mix of skin-on, bone-in thighs and drumsticks instead of chicken quarters (thighs and bones connected). We did not love this recipe and probably won’t make it again. For the marinade, to lower… Continue reading Oven-baked Jamaican jerk chicken

Chickpea, cucumber, and carrot salad

I learned this recipe from my friend Abby many years ago in London. Over time, I determined that cutting the cucumber and carrot into ½ inch dice, mimicking the size of the chickpeas, works best for flavor. Drain three 14.5 oz canned chickpeas (for a total of 43.5 oz) and place in a large mixing… Continue reading Chickpea, cucumber, and carrot salad

Roasted butternut squash soup with curry condiments

We followed this Ina Garten recipe: https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/roasted-butternut-squash-soup-and-curry-condiments-recipe-1972725 Our modifications: first, we used 5 shallots instead of 2 onions. Second, rather than heat the broth in the pot, we first added the roasted vegetables to the pot and poured in 4 cups room temperature broth; we found 4 cups to be the right amount for soup… Continue reading Roasted butternut squash soup with curry condiments

Oven-roasted Italian sausage with shallot and bell pepper

This recipe is from my step-MIL, who applied a Provencal flavor profile to a traditional Italian dish. Preheat oven to 400. Using 8 large raw Italian mild pork sausages (see Note below), prick each sausage with a fork (three times on top and on bottom). Cut one yellow and one red bell pepper in half… Continue reading Oven-roasted Italian sausage with shallot and bell pepper

Ozark cornbread with whole corn kernels

We tried this recipe from Crescent Dragonwagon’s The Cornbread Gospels cookbook: preheat oven to 400. Lightly spray a 9-10" cast iron pan, spray with vegetable oil, then add 1 Tbsp butter. Place pan in oven until butter melts (about 5 mins), then remove pan from oven. In the meantime, whisk together the following dry ingredients… Continue reading Ozark cornbread with whole corn kernels

Crispy salmon skin

Inspired by Andrea Nguyen’s Viet World Kitchen Facebook post (July 1, 2017), we tried broiling strips of salmon skin. Using skin that remained from the Japanese seasoned salmon flakes (http://piglettedc.tumblr.com/post/157742349226/japanese-seasoned-salmon-flakes-our-salmon), we cut the semi-crisp skin into 3-inch long strips, placed them on a foil-lined baking sheet (skin side down), lightly sprayed the foil and the… Continue reading Crispy salmon skin

Chicken, zucchini, and potato soup

We had an abundance of pipian (aka cousa) squash, so we tried this soup: https://web.archive.org/web/20170709080152/http://myhalalkitchen.com/hearty-chicken-zucchini-soup/ Our modifications: 3 pipian squash in lieu of zucchini; two boneless, skinless chicken breasts with one chicken neck (to add depth to the chicken stock); increased garlic cloves to 8; added 6 oz fresh spinach (not frozen) during the last… Continue reading Chicken, zucchini, and potato soup

Stovetop teriyaki chicken thighs

We followed this delicious recipe from Andrea Nguyen: http://www.vietworldkitchen.com/blog/2013/09/true-chicken-teriyaki-recipe.html except that we added about ½ extra Tbsp teriyaki sauce to the chicken. We used the same base teriyaki sauce we had made for the teriyaki salmon steaks a few days ago. We also increased the recipe by 50% because we had 6 chicken thighs (2… Continue reading Stovetop teriyaki chicken thighs