Garlic Butter Noodles
A favorite Vietnamese dish of mine is Garlic Butter Noodles. Not until recently did I try searching for a recipe to try. I was surprised at how easy it was to make! You only need a few ingredients, all of which I had in my kitchen cabinet already. The key ingredients are the chopped garlic … Continue reading
Auntie Meliza’s Potato Salad
This is my favorite potato salad dish that my Auntie Meliza brings to all our family gatherings — even if it’s not a potluck! My mom always referred to this potato salad as “Chinese-style” as it uses Spam® which is apparently known as “Chinese ham” to my people (which only included me very recently). There’s … Continue reading
Vegetable Salsa Soup
When our group of friends rented a house together for a skiing & snowboarding weekend in Vermont, everyone decided to bring their own snacks, which somehow became BYOS (Bring Your Own Salsa). Even after the weekend’s junk food fest, Natalya and I still ended up with a stockpile of salsa to take home (we never … Continue reading
Baked Camembert
It’s almost feels like cheating to put this as a separate recipe, but this little appetizer is such a crowd pleaser that I had to include it. Camembert is a soft, creamy, surface-ripened cow’s milk cheese that originated from Normandy in northern France. Camembert is very similar to brie, which is also made from cow … Continue reading
Cauliflower Steaks with Olive Relish and Tomato Sauce
I found this recipe randomly on epicurious.com when I was searching for hearty appetizers for my Christmas Eve Eve dinner. What appealed to me is the combination of all the ingredients I really love: cauliflower, tomatoes, olives, sun-dried tomatoes, etc. I made a few changes to the original recipe, which I will note below. Cauliflower … Continue reading
Garlic Parsley Potatoes
This dish is also called our “scrap potatoes” because this was thrown together with a bunch of leftover ingredients from our Thanksgiving Eve dinner. I used the excess herb butter juices from the Whole Roasted Chicken, extra potatoes from the Purée of Garlic Potatoes, and fresh parsley from the Marinated Mushrooms. Every time I make … Continue reading
Our Third Annual Thanksgiving Eve Dinner
Last Wednesday, Natalya and I hosted Thanksgiving Eve dinner for a bunch of our friends who, like us, have no choice but to stick around the city during this foodie holiday because of work Friday. Our first year, we made the mistake of not making it clear to our guests we were preparing legitimate food … Continue reading
Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Crispy Shallots
For our Thanksgiving Eve Dinner, I wanted to roast a side dish of Brussels sprouts but make them a little more exciting than usual. I found this recipe for Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Shallots and Wild Mushrooms and used it as inspiration. I didn’t have the time (or extra mushrooms) for the whole recipe, so … Continue reading
Roasted Garlic
I love garlic — it just makes every dish so much better! But garlic can be more of an accent ingredient; it can also be a highlight dish on its own. I was first introduced to roasted bulbs of garlic with my favorite Whole Roasted Branzini dish at Bohemian. Roasting garlic is a super easy … Continue reading
Spicy Meat Sauce
Natalya and I attended the Meatball Master Class at the De Gustibus Cooking School which was taught by Daniel Holzman of the The Meatball Shop. The Spicy Pork Meatballs are top sellers at The Meatball Shop and they are made even more delicious served with a hearty and spicy meat sauce. We have been making these … Continue reading
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