A vegetarian-inspired Feta and Olive Salsa plays nicely with Pan-seared Pork Chops

Feta cheese, black olives, red onion, dill, and lemon juice and zest do their predictably wonderful thing when mixed together and heaped on pan-seared pork chops. Recipe below.

Pork Chops with Feta Olive Salsa

Leave it to me to appropriate a vegetarian dish for a meaty use. We were at a housewarming last weekend thrown by the adult daughter of a friend from our St. Louis days. She and her roommate have a lovely new Humboldt Park apartment, and it was filled with a lively crowd—including an impressive contingency of fairly newly minted babies. We seem to be going through a period right now where many of our friends, old and new, are young. Continue reading “A vegetarian-inspired Feta and Olive Salsa plays nicely with Pan-seared Pork Chops”

Flavor, heat and a cool back story: “Old Godmother” Spicy Potatoes and Pork

Storied Asian condiment Spicy Chili Crisp adds complex flavors and a little kick to this improvised dish of fried potatoes, pork, garlic and scallions. Recipe below.

“Old Godmother” Spicy Potatoes and Pork

Like a lot of people we know, we have a battery of hot sauces in our pantry. We don’t have, oh, 100 different hot sauces, but we have a few, from the familiar (Tabasco, Cholula) to the popular (Sriracha) to the hyper-local (Dia de los Tamales Tree Sauce, made a few blocks from our house). Our collection includes a healthy number of Asian greats: hot oil, gochujang, Szechwan chili paste, Szechwan hot bean sauce. Who could have guessed we needed another? Turns out we did. Continue reading “Flavor, heat and a cool back story: “Old Godmother” Spicy Potatoes and Pork”

No ice cream maker? No problem: No Churn Strawberry Nectarine Ice Cream

Heavy cream, sweet condensed milk, fresh fruits or other flavorings of your choice and not much else create a luxuriously creamy, no churn ice cream. Recipe and variations below.

No Churn Strawberry Nectarine Ice Cream

This whole thing started when our friend Laura Perry, one of the great home cooks we know, posted on Facebook about her success with a recipe for no churn salted caramel ice cream. I thought: huh? But sure enough, all of a sudden, I started noticing recipes for no churn ice cream all over the Internet. I was super skeptical of this whole thing—no churn?  No… churn? But I have to say, as Laura notes, it is ridiculously easy and ridiculously luxurious. It just takes a bit of advance planning. Continue reading “No ice cream maker? No problem: No Churn Strawberry Nectarine Ice Cream”

Salsa cruda minus the pasta: Tuna Artichoke Potato Salad

Potatoes stand in for pasta as the only cooked ingredient in this dish, warming the Italian tuna, artichoke hearts, capers, red onion, lemon and parsley. Recipe below.

Tuna Artichoke Potato Salad

This was going to be a salsa cruda pasta, one I make several times every summer. A salsa cruda (uncooked sauce) is perfect for warm weather cooking, because all that gets cooked is the pasta. It warms the other ingredients, causing their fragrances and flavors to blossom. The other ingredients, in turn, cool the pasta a bit. Your meal is warm, but not hot—perfect for warm weather dining. And your kitchen doesn’t overheat either, since you’re only cooking the pasta. Continue reading “Salsa cruda minus the pasta: Tuna Artichoke Potato Salad”

Variations on a delicious theme: Hoisin Chicken Thighs, grilled or roasted

Hoisin sauce brings a barbecue sauce-like flavor to this chicken dish equally at home on the grill or in the oven. Ginger, garlic, sesame oil, soy sauce and rice vinegar add their own flavor notes.

Grilled Hoisin Chicken

The kitchen in our new old house is still very much a work in progress. As is the rest of the house. But we entertained our first non-family member on Memorial Day. It being the traditional kickoff weekend for grilling, we had bought a new charcoal grill the previous weekend. What we didn’t do in the ensuing week was assemble it. So instead of a cookout, we had a cook-in. And the in-progress kitchen performed beautifully. Continue reading “Variations on a delicious theme: Hoisin Chicken Thighs, grilled or roasted”