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What’s the most memorable dish that your partner has prepared for you?

We’re still unpacking boxes and orienting ourselves with our (full size!) kitchen. Despite it’s size, we don’t have enough storage space. And so we’re anxiously awaiting the arrival of this little beauty.

We’re also having to adjust to a new commute. Nick has a few more weeks until he needs to be on the road, but I started by 50-minute commute this week. This calls for some major menu organization. I plan to work on that front this weekend. Until then, we’ve been eating some of our simple favorites.

Oh, and Nick located the waffle maker and assembled a wonderful Sunday morning treat!

Here’s to many more meals in our new home!

Between the Pulled Pork BBQ that Nick made before the holidays and the double batch we prepared for Andrew’s farewell party, we were left with quite a surplus in the freezer. Yes, we could have picked up a fresh pack of buns from the store and thawed the meat for sandwiches, but I had other plans in mind. How about using the meat for quesadillas?

This recipe is a nice spin on the traditional Mexican dish, often made with corn tortillas and several types of cheese. Originally, Nick planned to dip his quesadilla quarters into BBQ sauce, but once he tried the combination of sour cream, guacamole, and Pico de gallo, he didn’t look back.

Great as an appetizer or a dinner for two.

Ingredients

• 1/2 lb pulled pork BBQ
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 5 green onions, minced
• 4 (6-inch) flour tortillas
• 1 cup shredded fresh Cheddar cheese (or Monterrey Jack cheese)
• butter
• Toppings: sour cream, guacamole, Pico de gallo
• Garnish: fresh cilantro sprig

Directions

1. Combine pork, cilantro, and green onions. Spoon pork mixture evenly on 1/2 of each tortilla, and sprinkle generously with cheese. Fold tortillas in half, pressing gently to seal. Spread butter on both sides of quesadillas.
2. Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat, and cook quesadillas 2 to 3 minutes on each side, or until browned.
3. Cut each quesadilla in half or quarters, and serve with desired toppings and garnish.

(adapted from my recipes)

Though neither of us has visited The Big Easy, this dish took us there. It’s hearty and soulful, and we even added celery to achieve the holy trinity of Cajun cuisine.

We also substituted a combination of whole tomatoes and tomato sauce for the suggested tomato juice cocktail, which yields a thicker base — more like a gumbo than a soup.

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp butter
• 1/2 cup chopped green pepper
• 1/2 cup celery
• 1/4 cup chopped green onion
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 can whole tomatoes, chopped
• 1 can tomato juice
• 1 – 8oz can clam juice
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 tsp dried thyme
• 1/4 tsp basil
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup uncooked long-grain brown rice (or white rice)
• 3/4 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined
• hot pepper sauce to taste

Directions

1. Melt butter in a large stockpot over medium heat. Sauté green pepper, celery, onions, and garlic until tender. Stir in tomatoes, tomato sauce, clam juice, and water. Season with thyme, basil, red pepper, bay leaf, and salt.
2. Bring to a boil, and stir in rice. Reduce heat, and cover. Simmer for an hour, until rice is tender.*
3. Stir in shrimp, and cook 5 minutes longer, or until shrimp are opaque. Remove the bay leaf, and season with hot sauce.

*Next time we add brown rice to a soup, we’ll cook it separately. It had a bit of a bite, even after an hour. If you choose to use white rice, cook time is about 15 minutes.

(adapted from allrecipes.com)

Ingredients

• 3 Tbsp butter
• 2 celery stalks
• 1 small onion
• 1 can cream of celery soup
• 1 can cream of potato soup
• 1/2 soup can of water
• 2 cups milk (or 1 cup half and half + 1 cup milk)
• 2 tsp Old Bay
• pepper
• 1 lb lump crab

Directions

1. Sauté butter, celery, and onion in a stock pot. Add remaining ingredients and simmer.

Ingredients

• 3 cups flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 cup sugar
• ⅔ cups shortening (Crisco)
• 2 whole eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1 and ½ cups sugar
• 3 teaspoons cinnamon
• 2 sticks butter

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease muffin tin. (Recipe makes 12 muffins.)
2. In a large bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg. Set aside.
3. In a different bowl, cream together 1 cup sugar and shortening. Then add eggs and mix again. Add flour mixture and milk alternately to creamed mixture, beating well after each addition.
4. Fill prepared muffin tin 2/3 full. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until golden.
5. In a bowl, melt 2 sticks butter. In a separate bowl combine remaining sugar and cinnamon. Dip baked muffins in butter, coating thoroughly, then coat with cinnamon-sugar mixture.

(adapted from The Pioneer Woman Cooks)

We all visited Andrew in New York City for Easter 2008. It was then he introduced us to Katz Deli in the Lower East Side. Established in 1888 by a Russian immigrant family, the deli serves very large and yummy sandwiches. I’m not kidding — the “cutter” piles at least 1 lb of pastrami, salami, and corned beef onto stacks of rye bread.

As tribute to Andrew’s fondness for pastrami and New York City, I give you the recipe for “Five Boroughs Reuben Dip.”

It’s ridiculously simple and incredibly savory.  And I’m not even a fan of sauerkraut (though Nick can’t get enough of it). We assembled one 9×9-inch dish with corned beef and one 9×9-inch dish with pastrami. (We all preferred the pastrami, freshly sliced from the market. Hand-grated Swiss cheese makes a big difference, too.) The dip was served with Ritz crackers, but is absolutely edible by the spoonful, too.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup Thousand Island dressing
• 16 oz sauerkraut, rinsed and squeezed dry
• 8 oz shredded corned beef -OR- 8 ounces shredded pastrami
• 16 oz shredded Swiss cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a small bowl, combine mayonnaise and dressing.
3. Spread sauerkraut into a 9×9-inch baking dish. Layer corned beef -OR- pastrami, Swiss cheese, and the mayonnaise-dressing mixture on top of the sauerkraut.
4. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes.

(adapted from All Recipes)

To add even more depth to the dish, Nick expertly prepared the brats in accordance with his favorite method. Again, we doubled this recipe to yield two casseroles. One was served early in the day, and the other was reserved for later in the night. In my opinion, the second casserole was better because it had more time to meld in the refrigerator.

Cheers!

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 lbs potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch cubes
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 2 Tbsp butter, divided
• 2 Tbsp mustard
• 1 can beer (water may be substituted)
• 2 cloves garlic
• 8 bratwursts
• 3 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 Tbsp mustard seeds
• 3 large red onions, sliced thin
• salt and pepper
• 2 Tbsp flour
• 2 tsp granulated sugar
• 3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 tsp thyme, dried
• 2 cups beef broth
• 3/4 cup French-fried onions

Directions

1. To prepare potatoes:. Cook in water until tender, about 20 minutes. Thoroughly drain. Add sour cream, butter, and mustard. Mash until smooth and creamy.
2. To prepare sausages: Pricking several times with a fork. In stock pot, bring garlic, beer, and about 4 cups water to a simmer over medium heat. Add the sausages and cook for 10 minutes. Removes sausages from pot and discard beer/water.
3. Heat oil and mustard seed in large skillet over medium heat. Add onions, sausages, salt, and pepper. Cook until onions are tender and sausages are light brown, about 5 to 6 minutes (stirring often to avoid scorching the onions).
4. Remove sausages, slice into bite-size pieces, and place in a casserole dish.
5. Add flour to pan, stirring until well combined. Stir in sugar, balsamic vinegar, and thyme. Cook for 2 minutes. Pour in beef broth, bring to boil, and cook for 5 to 10 minutes until gravy thickens.
6. Pour onion gravy over sausages, top casserole with mashed potatoes, and sprinkle French-fried onions on the top.
7. Just before serving, bake uncovered at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes until top is golden brown.

(I apologize that there’s no photo of the finished product. It didn’t look like much, really, but it sure did taste good!)

(adapted from Recipeezar)

The Culinary Couple cooked a variety of American and British dishes for close to 50 guests. The local food choices were easy: Firehouse Pulled Pork BBQ and All American Meatballs. Both were made in mass quantities (I’m talking 8 lbs of pork and 160 meatballs) and required very little preparation on the day of the party.

The British dishes, however, were tricky.

I spent a semester during college in Manchester, England, and the food was not something I emailed home about. British cuisine has a reputation for being bland and boring and heavy. Think shepherds pie, bangers ‘n’ mash, Yorkshire pudding. And every meal in the university’s cafeteria — from morning toast to evening roast — was served with beans. (No offense, mates! I did thoroughly enjoy fish and chips wrapped in newspaper and served with spicy mayonnaise, and I certainly learned to appreciate cream and sugar in my tea.)

The most memorable meals I ate in Manchester were along the “Curry Mile.” The neighborhood of Rusholme was just a few blocks from my flat and was home to over 70 neon-lit takeaways and restaurants, from Indian to Pakistani to Bangladeshi. Here, my tongue first tasted naan, tandoori, tikka masala, and aloo saag.

Indian food is very popular in London, too, and so I searched high and low for a dish that combined the traditional meat and potatoes with curry spices. I give you “Clerkenwell Curried Beef Pies” (named for the neighborhood where Andrew will live).

We doubled the recipe to yield 90 pies — 90 handmade pies. (I sure do love my brother!) And, to keep our sanity, we assembled the pies, brushed them with egg wash, and covered and refrigerated them on Friday. This allowed us to bake them throughout the afternoon and evening on Saturday. They can also be prepared and frozen for up to one week.

Ingredients

• 1/2 lb ground beef
• 1 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vegetable oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 Tbsp curry powder
• 1 large russet potato, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch pieces
• 6 Tbsp water
• 1/4 cup frozen peas, thawed
• 2 (17 1/4-ounce) packages frozen puff pastry sheets, thawed
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten with water to make egg wash

Directions

1. Combine beef, soy sauce, sugar, and salt with your hands until combined well.
2. Heat oil in skillet over moderately high heat. Add beef, stirring occasionally and breaking into small pieces, until browned, about 4 minutes.
3. Drain beef in a colander set over a bowl and return beef drippings to skillet.
4. Heat drippings over moderately high heat until hot. Add onion and cook until softened, 3 to 5 minutes.
5. Add curry powder and potatoes and cook until potatoes are translucent, 3 to 5 minutes more.
6. Add water and cook, stirring and scraping up any brown bits from bottom of skillet, until liquid is absorbed and potatoes are tender, about 1 minute.
7. Return beef to skillet and stir in peas. Cool filling, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes.
8. Preheat oven to 400°F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
9. Roll out one sheet of dough into a 16-inch square on a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin. Cut 12 (4″ x 4″) squares.
10. Mound a heaping spoonful of beef and curry filling onto each square, leaving a narrow border around edges. Brush edges lightly with egg and cover with another square, gently stretching to cover filling completely. Press edges with tines of a fork to seal, then transfer pies to baking sheet. Repeat with remaining sheets of dough and filling.
11. Brush tops of pastry lightly with egg wash and bake until pies are deep golden brown and puffed, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool pies to warm, about 10 minutes, or room temperature. (You can also cover and refrigerate the unbaked pies over night or freeze them for up to one week.)

(adapted from Epicurious)

The 6 1/2 cups of sugar nicely cut the spiciness of the 8 jalapeños. And the addition of food coloring produces the most brilliant, festive green color.

We ate our pepper jelly in little scoops atop Ritz crackers with cream cheese and baked phyllo cups with melted Brie. (Bake the cups with a small chunk of cheese for about 10 minutes at 350°.)

Kirsten suggests serving a variety of “Brie bites” with pepper jelly and raspberry jam. The reds and greens look lovely on a holiday appetizer display.

Ingredients

• 1 cup jalapeño peppers, chopped (8-9 small peppers with seeds)
• 1 ½ cups green peppers, chopped small (without seeds)
• 6 ½ cups sugar
• 1 ½ cups cider vinegar
• 2 pouches Certo
• green food coloring

Directions

1. Boil peppers, sugar, and vinegar for 2 minutes. Set for 5 minutes. Add pouches of Certo and green food coloring. Pour into sterilized jars. Refrigerate to chill.
2. Serve with cream cheese and butter crackers.