What Is a Fat Separator? Growing up, and then in my own kitchens as a young adult, I always had a small, very simple fat separator. If you don’t know what I mean by fat separator, it’s basically a clear plastic measuring cup with a pour spout that, with the help of gravity, separates the fat from the rest of the cooking liquid when you’re making a soup, stew, or braise....
Unlike much of the country, Sacramento isn’t blanketed in snowy white in the dead of winter. We are blessed instead with plenty of green, with flowery shows of red and pink from camellias, and displays of bright orange and yellow from the grapefruit, lemons, kumquats, and oranges decorating the citrus trees that grow everywhere around here. Citrus season is the winter, and when nothing else seems to want to grow, we have an abundance of fruit....
Brown lean ground beef, chopped onions, and bell peppers and create a quick sauce with ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, and a little beef stock. Fold in pieces of provolone into the warm sauce creating a gooey, cheesy, meaty concoction loved by all. Add a slice of provolone to toasted brioche buns, top with the Philly cheesesteak sloppy joe mixture, and you’ve got a quick tasty dinner on your hands. Tips for Making Philly Cheesesteak Sloppy Joes Here are some tips to nail this recipe:...
We had loads of extra pineapple, and all the other ingredients for a great salsa, so naturally we put them all together, and voilá! A great combination. Use the tomato pineapple salsa with fish tacos, or over grilled steak or pork, or even wrapped up in a heated flour tortilla with a few slices of avocado.
Adeena Susman, celebrated cookbook author, was sitting on her deck the evening I FaceTimed her. She looks exactly like her author photos—casual and bright-spirited. Not long after our conversation began, she flipped the camera to show me the view from her rooftop deck. It was my first visual introduction to Tel Aviv. “If you look to my far right and sort of out, you can see the ocean and a little off in the distance you see Jaffa [an ancient port city in Israel] and on the left, you see the Carmel market, Rothchild Boulevard, and modern Tel Aviv....
These rolls are a fruit-filled twist on my favorite Bakery Style Cinnamon Rolls. I’ve used the same dough from those rolls but cut them into nine portions instead of eight to make a slightly smaller—but just as indulgent—treat. Like Cinnamon Rolls, but With a Jammy Filling! Instead of the usual buttery, cinnamon sugar filling, these are spread with sweet raspberry jam and bright pops of raspberry. When berries are in season, you can use fresh, but frozen are totally fine, too....
Such, then, is the sweet satisfaction of seeing this dyed-in-the-wool Brussels sprouts avoider pick these roasted emerald jewels out of the pan and munch on them like candy. These are roasted Brussels sprouts that even my dad can love. Video: How to Make Roasted Brussels Sprouts How to Roast the Best Brussels Sprouts Roasted Brussels sprouts are my sister Karen’s contribution to our holiday dinners. Ridiculously easy to make, there’s not much to it....
The best way to survive hot days or heavy dishes is to balance them out with something cool and light, like these salmon lettuce wraps. If you want, you can use leftover cooked salmon from another dish, but the method we describe here for rubbing it first with salt and ginger, then poaching it in salted water infused with lemon, will result in beautifully flavored salmon. The salmon is paired with a salad of chopped jicama, cucumber, cilantro, onion, ginger, lime, and mint and served in lettuce leaves with some avocado slices....
It’s taco meat, burrito meat, or just stewy meat to serve with rice and beans or with tortillas. This version of carnitas, adapted from a Sunset recipe for braised pork, is cooked first in a braise of tomatillo salsa verde, or green salsa. It’s delicious served with fresh corn tortillas and topped with a shredded cabbage slaw, Cotija cheese, avocado, and Mexican sour cream. Heat the pot on high and vigorously boil the remaining liquid, stirring, until reduced to 2 1/2 cups, several minutes....
Sort of reminiscent of a popular Japanese dish with spinach and sesame gomasio. The slightly bitter green kale does a happy dance with the acidic lemon and salty richness of the tahini sauce. Very easy to pull together. Would make an excellent addition to a Thanksgiving or holiday spread. Enjoy. (And as my dad says, eat your greens!) After a couple minutes the kale should wilt a bit so you can add the rest of the raw kale....
For Independence Day next week, I’m going to open my home to friends. To maximize my time, I’m going to prep small bites for the party from dinner recipes I’m serving my family this week. I’m a huge fan of freezer-meals and doubling recipes for the future parties, or to just make family dinner plans easier on me! I’ll save half of the Slow Cooker Mexican Pulled Pork for nachos, and top it with extra relish from the Hot Dogs with Pineapple Bacon Relish....
With all the busyness of each day, I really strive to have dinnertime be a chance to reconnect. I want our home to be a place of comfort no matter how hard the day has been. I have found it important to be flexible in exactly how the connecting happens. Sometimes we go around the table and each share a “rose” and “thorn.” Other times dinner happens on the couch as we all balance our plates and laugh at a silly show together....
Thankfully, I have a slow cooker at my disposal, which helps me make the most out of busy days. Because once those ingredients are in the pot, it’s hands-off cooking for hours at a clip. A Slow Cooker Meal for Busy Weeks I dream about this Beef Stroganoff while I’m away from home. I simply prep the ingredients and get them into the slow cooker prior to making my mad dash out of the house....
This dish is vegan, gluten-free, and immensely delicious. To build flavor without piling up dishes, everything is cooked right in the slow cooker – no stove-top browning or pre-cooking required! Dried vs. Canned Chickpeas I use dried chickpeas for this recipe since they hold up better to the longer cooking time, are economical to cook with, and are so much more flavorful than canned. I don’t usually soak the chickpeas for this recipe ahead of time since the cooking time is so long that you don’t need to....
Two years ago, my husband forgot to let me know that he invited a soldier who was, at the time, a vegan. You can imagine my horror when I, the “Queen of Hosting,” had nothing to offer her except hummus and vegetables. I vowed it would never happen again. This same soldier asked me if we were hosting Thanksgiving again this year and, of course, I said yes. She’s no longer vegan, but she is vegetarian, so I’m going to make plenty of vegetarian-friendly dishes so she won’t feel left out this time....
Many years ago I stopped stuffing my turkey for a variety of reasons, but cooking the stuffing (or, as some call it, dressing) out of the bird does leave me with a quandary regarding my oven. I just run out of room! This slow cooker stuffing recipe instantly (or slowly) solves this problem for me. Stir together the ingredients in the slow cooker, set it, and forget it. It comes out perfect every time and you can serve it right out of the slow cooker dish....
Cooking pork belly is something that can seem intimidating for the average home cook. It’s a very fatty piece of meat, and if you don’t cook it correctly it can end up with a texture that can be everything from chewy to almost gooey. The traditional way to cook pork belly is to roast it for a long time to render out most of the fat and crisp up the skin, but I prefer cooking my pork belly sous vide to guarantee that it’s cooked exactly the way I want it....
I do. It’s sort of that last minute pantry item type of dish that is quick and wonderfully filling when you are hungry. You might not have considered a Mexican-inspired three bean salad before, but I am here to say you should! How to Make a Mexican Bean Salad This Mexican bean salad is a riff off the standard. It’s not really Mexican per se, but uses typical South-of-the-border ingredients such as crumbly Cotija cheese, black beans and pinto beans, jalapeño peppers, cilantro and a sweet dressing made with sugar and lime juice....
It’s also super easy to make, and you can even make it ahead for a party; just put all the ingredients in a pot and start warming them a few minutes before guests arrive. (Bonus: It will make your house smell amazing.) Want an even more hands-off approach? You can also make mulled wine in a slow cooker! The History of Mulled Wine Humans have been drinking heated, spiced wine for a long time, at least since Roman times....
