If I’m being honest, half the reason I opted to roast a duck for Friendsgiving was so that I could get my hands on some duck fat. Why? Because it’s delicoius! It’s got an amazingly light, savory flavor that’s not overpoweringly rich like other fats, and silky-smooth mouth feel. You can use it to cook just…read more »
Brown Butter Mashed Sweet Potatoes
Nothing will never take the place of mashed potatoes in my heart, but this browned butter sweet potato concoction is pretty high on my current list of favorite Thanksgiving side dishes. Just a little bit of brown butter and cinnamon to enhance the natural sweetness of the sweet potatoes, and a whole lot of nutty, fragrant…read more »
Pancetta & Sage Stuffing
Duck aside, this stuffing was, for me, the highlight of our Friendsgiving meal. I will always secretly love out-of-the-box stuffing best, but this pancetta/sage version is truly killer. To start with, the base of this recipe was the most glorious loaf of white bread (from the Chinese market up the street, oddly enough). I know white bread is supposed…read more »
Colcannon, Revisited
I’m sure you’re all out having fun (drinking green beers? kissing an Irishman?) and not paying any attention to your blog feeds, but I’m going to throw another St. Paddy’s Day post at you anyway. And it’s another good one. Do you like mashed potatoes? How about sauteed greens? If yes, then this is the recipe for you! ‘Cuz…read more »
Fennel, Leek & Onion Stuffing
Other than mashed potatoes (and now gravy), stuffing is the best part of Thanksgiving dinner, isn’t it? I mean, that pre-packaged stuff my parents used to get from Safeway was generally pretty mediocre, but even then I would eat several helpings because I’m a carboholic with no self control. Homemade stuffing though…that’s where it’s at. Bread tossed with various vegetables and/or…read more »
Caramelized Shallot Bacon Gravy
Does anyone really like turkey? I mean really really like it? As in, like it so much that it’s the highlight of Thanksgiving dinner for them? I’m guessing no. No sane person with taste buds actively enjoys turkey. That may seem like a pretty hard stance to take with an inoffensive bird, but I’m sticking to it. Ground turkey,…read more »
Sauteed Garlic Bacon Brussel Sprouts
Can we all just take a minute to process the fact that brussel sprouts grow on stalks? Like, big, thick branches covered with fat little sprout bulbs! Did you know that? I definitely did not. I sort of always assumed that the brussel sprouts I saw in the grocery store just….grew out of the ground that…read more »
Asian-Style Stir Fried Green Beans
[Update 11/23/2014 – Made a batch of these green beans for a Friendsgiving gathering today, and figured there was no time like the present to update the pictures in this post, which is now 2 years old. Not re-writing the post itself though…that’s WAY too ambitious for a Sunday.] Guys, studying for the bar sucks. I’ve been…read more »
Dan in the Kitchen — Roasted Parsley and Garlic Baby Potatoes
So, last year I cooked my mom a delicious Chinese birthday lunch, complete with a homemade Chinese bakery-style birthday cake. For my dad’s birthday a few months before that, we went to Red Lobster and got him one of those giant fruit tarts from Safeway. Looking back, that didn’t seem fair, since my dad is…read more »
Dan in the Kitchen — Creamed Spinach
Dan’s back in the kitchen folks, and this time he’s making creamed spinach for a cozy little dinner party. As my “sous-chef”, he technically had a hand in every other dish served — shredding cheese for the mac n’ cheese, mashing potatoes for the garlic mashed potatoes, etc. — but this was the dish that…read more »
