entree

the big enchilada…er, tomato.

eggplant ragu… on soft polenta.

02/16/2012 | 1 Comment | Topics: entree, food., Italian food

I teach cooking classes at a nearby cooking school. It isn’t uncommon to have class participants who are vegetarian, gluten-free and/or have food allergies or restrictions. Offering substitutes or alternative dishes—aka accommodating those needs—is part and parcel to being a chef. Sometimes during an iron chef event, we have a whole team dubbed ‘vegetarian.’ For example: a group of 60 might be participating in an iron chef event—each team… [more]

delicata squash ‘pasta’ ribbons with chanterelle mushrooms

01/20/2012 | 12 Comments | Topics: entree, food., recipes, vegetables

What is this mom? Not something the boys had seen before: ribbons of delicata squash made to look like pasta. A simple squash—skip the boiling water for this faux pasta—lightly sauteed, topped with toasted walnuts and chanterelle mushrooms. I LOVE this ingenious tip: you don’t even need to peel the squash. This yummy little number was inspired by a recent night at the restaurant (I help at a neighborhood… [more]

swimming RAMA.

01/07/2012 | 3 Comments | Topics: entree

There is a place called Jai Thai in the Fremont and Capital Hill neighborhoods of Seattle; almost every time I go, I order the Swimming Rama. Chicken smothered in coconut-laced peanut sauce, swimming on a bed of fresh spinach? Sign me up. Besides, then I don’t feel over-full from eating piles of carbs. This is as good a time as any to insert this chicken recipe onto our… [more]

braised beef with red wine, onion brulee served on chive sweet potatoes

12/28/2011 | 3 Comments | Topics: entree, food.

I love a good roast. Especially this time of year. Not to mention finding yet another opportunity to use sweet potatoes. This was grass-fed chuck roast. I trimmed it of silver skin, then seared the outside until nice and brown. Note: see picture of spices in a jar? I tossed spices (see below) into a jar, then shook it up and smeared it on the steak. THEN I seared… [more]

DaVinci Wine Cookbook: page 7 [of 10] SECONDI

10/07/2011 | 1 Comment | Topics: DaVinci Wine, entree, Italian food

Secondi. The second coarse is the main coarse of the meal: the protein climax. This is where you pull out the big forks and knives to dive into wild boar stew, tuna steaks, and fish or sausage nestled in a bed of cannellini beans with garlicky tomato sauce. This was when we were already happily stuffed to the gills with big samplings of salami and pecorino, chicken liver pate,… [more]

Sausage stuffed Bell Peppers.

08/16/2011 | 6 Comments | Topics: entree, food spotlight

Now that I teach classes on my [under construction] urban farm, I have a built-in excuse to play with seasonal produce. I recently had a group of women choose the ‘seasonal class’ which roughly translates to: what is piled high at nearby farmer’s markets? And quintessentially: what amount of fun can we have with these ingredients? My goal is to take unusual ingredients—such as zucchini flowers, ramps or garlic… [more]

Whole Roasted Chicken with Fennel, Potatoes and Kalamata Olives

04/20/2011 | 12 Comments | Topics: default dinners, entree

Sorry for the delay in posting! It is such the bane of blogging – life gets in your way (sometimes: this is a good thing, sometimes it is not). For example: last week was all about dealing with heightened allergies, hives, soccer injuries (son) and having our basement baking-soda-blasted (nasty cement walls… the clean-up alone… ugh). But: it was also about planting garden boxes (incl 6 trips to the… [more]

flank steak: tucked and rolled.

03/05/2011 | 11 Comments | Topics: entree

I had so much fun making this rolled steak. Sure, I splurge on the finer cuts, but weekday and budget-practical meals means ‘less choice cuts’ make more regular debuts. This is one of my favorite ways to serve up a gussied up flank steak. I played around, filling it will different innards. My favorite lining was a mixture of bread crumbs, goat cheese, garlic, Parmesan and arugula (I didn’t… [more]

default dinners: my top 5 go-to recipes.

02/21/2011 | 10 Comments | Topics: default dinners, entree

I am a big fan of default dinners. A concept I came up with years ago—to highlight family favorite meals, proven winners and regular dishes that appear on your/my/our weekly table. I will soon be offering a ‘Default Dinners’ cooking class and workshop. It is a 3 class series. I go to people’s homes (or they come to mine), and I teach 3-6 friends new recipes to add to… [more]

Crab Enchiladas with Bacon and Orange Sauce

02/14/2011 | 6 Comments | Topics: culinary school, entree

This recipe is compliments of our cooking school, where I sometimes teach classes (I teach at a school as well as offer private cooking classes out of my home). I changed it a tiny bit. I like to think of it as enchiladas for guests. I make enchiladas all the time for my family: midweek. I toss together chicken, some salsa and bottled enchilada sauce. Roll ‘em up,… [more]