With the 49ers doing well, we hosted several football weekends at our house. I had gone through the usual chili, buffalo chicken dip and artichoke spinach dip. I had been craving meatballs for a while (never made them) and I craved the buffalo chicken dip again but didn’t want to subject guests to repeat dishes. This double craving resulted in a recipe search for buffalo chicken meatballs. I followed Martha Stewart’s recipe (ground the thigh meat myself) and left the meatballs in a crockpot on low so they’d stay warm throughout the game. Read more…
When I was a kid, this very simple crab and asparagus soup indicated a special occasion: it was either someone’s birthday, we were having guests or both. On more common occasions, my mom and aunts substituted shredded chicken (dark meat, of course) for the more expensive crab.
Last week, I hosted a crabfest for some family and intentionally bought 12 dungeness crabs for 7 people. Hey, I’m feeding them, they can help me pick the leftovers! Heehee! Read more…
What carnitas looks like halfway through the cooking process
Sick of soup? I’m not but I thought I’d give you a break (next up is a Vietnamese crab and asparagus soup). While I didn’t take pictures of the finished product, I did want to document this recipe since it was so delicious and easy!
I love carnitas and always order it at taquerias. I’ve never tried to make it myself because I assumed it would require a lot of work and the fatty techniques would turn me off of carnitas forever. The carnitas at Costco (just heat and serve) is pretty good and also cheap so why bother making your own? That’s what I thought until I tried this recipe–it is ridiculously easy, has a brighter flavor than what you get at Costco and is less greasy than what I get at taquerias.
We had 3 pounds of pork butt originally slated for bo ssam. However, after I realized one of our dinner guests hated garlic and kimchee, I changed course and settled on carnitas tacos. The list of ingredients is so simple we didn’t even have to go to the store to buy anything–meat, store-bought OJ, limes, cumin, garlic and salt. I followed the recipe exactly and the meat turned out perfectly. Serve with the usual taco fixings: corn tortillas, guacamole, salsa, hot sauce, tomatoes, sour cream, lettuce…whatever you want.
With 3 lbs of meat and 4.5 people (.5 because one doesn’t eat much), we didn’t have any leftovers. I’d probably do 1 lb per person next time, giving everyone plenty to eat and just a little left over.
Looking for something lighter in the new year? After all the meat we had in Argentina, we felt the same way. This soup is light and simple–filling but easy on the stomach after several weeks of heavy holiday eating. I love that this soup does not have any cream (I generally don’t make soups that require cream) and that it takes 20 minutes to pull together.
The original recipe from Food Network also includes parmesan crisps, which I’m sure are good. I was lazy and had the soup with crusty sourdough. A few sprinkles of bacon would also be nice! Read more…
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