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Where Can I Get A Family Meal? - Yahoo Recipe Search
Food52I love making Bolognese in the winter time. It’s in my top 3 favorite dinners. Sometimes I really can’t get enough of it. A bowl of homemade pasta with a saucy Bolognese and a glass of red wine is one of the most comforting meals I can imagine. I am pretty sure that would be my choice of last meal, if I had to choose. The other night I was watching television and found Lady and the Tramp on ABC Family. It was my favorite Disney movie as a child and I watched the whole thing, with commercials, despite Jonathan’s scoffing and ultimate snoring through it. It was just as good as I remembered – if not better. I found myself salivating over the scene where the two doggies share the bowl of spaghetti and meatballs…and started to realize that this movie is where my innate love of pasta and red sauce originated. I take so much comfort in food, and this fantastic kid’s movie was such a source of comfort to me as a child. It now makes sense that I regard this dish as food you make for a loved one. Homemade pasta makes it even better, but store bought spaghetti will do the trick too. Thanks to our friends at US Wellness Meats for the delicious ground beef!Food.comOkay I have to admit it, I’ve never tasted saffron. It is just one of those things I can not justify the price. Of course I am on a budget and have to save money where I can. That was how the recipe for Poor Man’s Paella came about. Also, Oklahoma is land-locked and seafood is pretty pricey so it found its way out of the dish too. Now this obviously is not traditional spanish paella. I am sure you can argue that it isn’t paella at all but I won’t go into a long rant about origins of words (I majored in English) or history and origins of dishes. So some will just have to agree to disagree with me. Regardless my family loves this and I am always looking for one-pot meals to cook. The only draw back for me is I am horrible with rice. I have no idea why,no matter what method I try, it ends up cooking wrong. I think the rice is out to get me… I can hear it now mocking me from the kitchen.Food.comThis is such an easy and simple recipe to make, and yet the result is full of flavour, tasty and a real British classic. You will find this pie on the menu in Britain for lunch, afternoon tea, supper, as a snack, for a picnic, in a lunch box and I am also suggesting this recipe would be great for Brunch as well! This is another slightly adapted classic recipe from my trusty Be-Ro Flour cookbook. This can be made ahead and freezes beautifully - defrost overnight, on a cooling rack so the pastry does not get soggy! Please note, this has no spices in it - although I have suggested optional dried herbs. It is a classic, simple British recipe, where good free range eggs and dry cure bacon are the leading lights, along with crisp, shortcrust pastry! Who is Mrs Miggins? She runs that famous Olde English Pie Shoppe in Black Adder - I love that programme! NB: I note that one reviewer had never seen an Egg and Bacon Pie in any cafe or restaurant since living in the UK! By menu, I was also including the family's "home" menu; where I come from in England, it is very poplular on ALL cafe and tea room menus...........I understand food is very regional, even in a small country like the UK, and although it may not feature much in Manchester, it is a common and exceedingly popular every-day meal in most parts of the rest of the country. Great for a mid-week meal for all the family, cheap and cheerful!Food and WineI’m a huge potato fan, a lover of spuds in all forms. When I was a kid (and a very picky eater, to my parents’ dismay), I would order potatoes whenever we went out to eat. Whether we were dining at a homey family restaurant in the small Mississippi town where we lived or they had driven five hours so that my brother and I could experience an authentic Chinese restaurant in New Orleans—I’d usually find mashed potatoes or French fries somewhere on the kids’ menu and make a meal of it. I’d always eat some of what my mom and dad ordered, and I’d always like it. But in a move of stubbornness or independence (or both), I always wanted a bowl or plate of potatoes in front of me.Now that I’m an adult with a much more expanded palate, I still have a profound fondness for the humble tuber. If I can find a way to work potatoes into a recipe or a meal, I will. When summer rolls around and I do a lot less roasting, stewing, and braising in favor of more outdoor cooking, I have to get a little more creative to get my fill of potatoes. Turns out, small waxy potatoes are fantastic on kebabs. They do need to be pre-cooked, but they take the licks of the flames like a champ—getting crispy, charred skins and somehow absorbing the smoky flavors within their creamy interior.Almost nothing pairs better with potatoes than steak, so here I thread strips of skirt steak onto skewers with baby Dutch yellow potatoes. The intense beefiness of skirt steak is most welcome, and this cut is surprisingly well-suited to kebabs. Slices of robust Spanish chorizo crisp up on the grill and offer bursts of intense flavor as you eat the kebabs. Coating everything with smoked paprika amplifies the effect of the grilling, and interspersing buttery Castelvetrano olives onto each skewer is, I must say, one of the best culinary decisions I’ve made. (In fact, I don’t think I’ll ever make kebabs without them again.)To finish things off, there’s a romesco-ish mayonnaise to dunk the kebabs into. I figured that since French fries are fantastic with mayo, grilled potatoes might also be great with a mayo-based sauce. Turns out I was right. Whenever I make these kebabs for my family, I am rewarded with literal exclamations of "thank you." And that might just be even better than the food.Food and WineLike anyone who enjoys cooking for other people, I always want my table to feel inclusive—a happy, safe place for everyone. This means not just making people feel welcome, but acknowledging with respect, never with complaint, any dietary concerns or issues. This might mean whipping up a festive alcohol-free sipper or making a vegan version of a dish that’s on the menu. More often than not, though, I find myself playing around with gluten-free dishes. That’s because my dad, who lives in the same town as I do (Birmingham, Alabama), was diagnosed with celiac disease several years ago.I love having my parents over as often as possible; I feel lucky that we ended up in the same city, and I like that my children can enjoy a close relationship with their grandparents. I will often make naturally gluten-free meals (roast fish or meat, vegetables), but I absolutely get a thrill from finding a way to deliver a gluten-free version of a typically wheat-based dish, one that will give my dad a taste of something he thought he’d never enjoy again. I don’t mean a sad substitute for the classic (sorry, cauliflower-crust pizza!) but something that truly scratches the itch.That’s where Gluten-Free Spaghetti and Meatballs comes into play. I’ve known that the gluten-free pasta options have gotten much better in the last few years, and that Dad’s favorite is the kind made from corn and rice. I swear, most people can’t tell the difference between it and traditional pasta. So I’ve had Mom and Dad over for pasta with classic ragù or Bolognese. But I wanted to play around with meatballs, and I remembered a secret ingredient that I thought might work well: instant potato flakes.That’s right—dehydrated flaked potatoes. For me, they’re a far more versatile pantry item than any packaged gluten-free breadcrumbs. I try to keep them on hand not for making instant mashed potatoes—I just don’t like them—but instead for thickening soups, breading fish or chicken (foodandwine.com noted this years ago), or making my deviled egg filling a little heftier. I figured they might work well in meatballs, and I was right. They bind ground meat particularly well and add a savory richness unlike typical breadcrumbs. In fact, these have now become my “house” meatballs; I like to make a double batch and freeze some for use later on pizza (my favorite), in grain bowls, or in soups. It’s a win-win: Everyone in my family can enjoy a comforting, family-friendly classic.Food and WineLast summer, I had the good fortune to travel with my partner to Croatia. We spent two weeks traversing the coastline of Croatia, where, in a cinderblock cabin surrounded by olive trees outside the Istrian town of Pula, Croatia, we got a lesson in how to make Croatia’s most prized dish, peka. Peka is the name for both the bell-shaped, domed cooking vessel made of cast iron and the meal that is prepared in it. The process for making peka is ancient and involves placing the pan over a bed of glowing coal embers and scooping more embers on top of the domed lid to create an oven-like environment where meats or seafood and vegetables are slow-roasted inside.Our teacher was Nikola of Eat Istria, and our day began at the market in Pula, where Nikola led me and my partner from stall to stall to collect ingredients. We were asked if we preferred lamb necks or veal chops. Perhaps octopus? We chose lamb, and that meant a stop at the vegetable stand for potatoes, carrots, onions, and garlic to accompany.At the cabin, we prepped the ingredients with minimal fuss, roughly cutting the carrots and onions, leaving the potatoes and garlic cloves whole, and layering them in the base of the dish with the lamb on top so the fat and juices would baste them throughout cooking. We plucked needles from a handful of rosemary sprigs snipped from the yard and doused the whole thing in white wine and a luxurious amount of extra-virgin olive oil that created a heady sauce of sorts in the bottom of the dish.As Nikola built a campfire on the side of a stone wall, he explained that we would wait for the fire to die down and then surround the peka with the residual ashy embers. These small chunks of coal produce just the right amount of heat to slowly cook the meal over the course of an hour or two. Once the embers were ready, we carried the weighty peka from the kitchen to the bed of coals and opened some local wines to while away the afternoon, patiently awaiting our one-pot feast.A waft of scented steam roared from the pot as Nikola lifted the dome to reveal the gloriously browned lamb necks. We peeked in and spied potatoes and carrots that were so dark in spots they were nearly burnt, but in a good way. The olive oil at the bottom was still bubbling and spitting as we gathered around the weathered wood table under a vine-covered pergola.Many of the homes we saw in Croatia had an outdoor fireplace for live-fire cooking—a centerpiece of the home, where meals are still made and families still gather. We spent the next few hours lingering at the table, talking about life in Croatia, politics, food—and most of all, wine. The large peninsula of Istria where our meal took place makes up Croatia’s northern coast; it is known for its gastronomic riches, including some of the best wines in the country. We tasted broody reds made from indigenous grapes like Teran, Refosco, and Borgonja and complex whites made from Malvasia. These regional varieties all matched perfectly with the meal, naturally, and we found the offerings from Piquentum particularly good.That experience inspired me to cook over a fire more often this past year. It makes me feel more connected to the elemental act of preparing food and sharing it with others, and it satisfies the soul the way no modern method can. For convenience, I’ve adapted this recipe to be prepared using a charcoal grill, as well as using your oven. But if you have the time, I encourage you to lean into tradition: build a fire, and settle in for a long, slow roast. It will be an experience neither you nor your guests will soon forget.Food and WineUntil recently, my father’s side of the family was never where I looked for culinary inspiration. Although he’s lived in New York City for most of his adult life and is now a good cook, my father comes from a multi-generational, predominantly Pennsylvania Dutch working-class family where food was for the most part functional.His mother, my Nana, was solely responsible for getting meals on the table for my father, his two sisters, and my Pop Pop, who worked in construction close to Allentown where they lived. Nana wasn’t known for being the best cook, but she did have a few solid tricks up her sleeve. I have memories of sitting in her kitchen while she made us buttered ham sandwiches with white American cheese served with beet-pickled eggs, which we thirstily washed down with cold A-Treat Birch Beer. On other visits it was sloppy joes on Martin’s potato rolls with sweet-and-sour pickles and potato chips. Her dinners for large family gatherings were straightforward: ham or roast beef, mashed potatoes with gravy, a plate of sliced tomatoes and cucumbers from my grandfather’s garden. But there was one recipe where she really shone: her salad of lettuces topped with a hot bacon dressing. It was requested for every gathering.My Aunt Kay tracked down my Nana’s handwritten recipe, and I’ve made it my own, incorporating jammy eggs into the salad, and adding some boiled potatoes so it can act as a more substantial meal. It’s a perfect late spring dinner. Serve it with some good cheese and crusty bread, and you really don’t need much else.Devoted to her faith, my Nana never imbibed, but if she did, I bet she’d have wanted something that was highly drinkable, uncomplicated and delicious, such as a vinho verde, which is bright and lively, and plays well with everyone, just like she did.Food and WineA funny thing happens when you marry a pata salada (Spanish for salty foot—the endearing nickname given to people who are raised on the beaches of Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco): You become a mariscos snob.Since meeting my wife Paola, my seafood consumption has spiked to near-ridiculous levels. Fortunately, I've been able to keep up with her Neptune-like appetite for anything from the sea. As a result, I can tell you if a shrimp cocktail is made properly or not. Meaning, if the broth is made from scratch with shrimp shells and aromatics versus just throwing a bunch of tomato cocktail mix, ketchup, and hot sauces together in a bowl.Coctél de camarón (you may know it as Mexican shrimp cocktail) has a special place in our life. It has become our welcome meal as soon as we land in Puerto Vallarta, usually famished. We arrive at Paola's family's home where a bowl of her mother's replenishing coctél awaits. It always starts off our trip to paradise on the right foot.One day back home in Los Angeles, I called my mother-in-law and asked her to coach me through her coctél process to surprise Paola. (She was mad at me that day, and I needed all the help I could get to get out of the doghouse!) The idea was to surprise her with one of our favorite dishes that we associate with so many great memories. While the shrimp shells were simmering away to make the broth, I spotted our Spanish saffron container out of the corner of my eye and figured, what the hell? I grabbed a fat pinch of the stuff and added it to the broth.As the broth chilled to room temperature—the way to properly eat a Mexican coctél de camarón, so you can taste all of the delicate flavors and fresh shrimp—I took a sip, and my eyes grew big. It was so good. Her mother's coctél is perfect as-is, but with a pinch of Spanish saffron, it became a revelatory experience. It did the trick and we forgot what we argued about after a couple of big spoonfuls.In this recipe, Paola amplifies the flavor even more by charring the vegetables a bit before using them to build an umami-filled stock. Combined with the saucy shrimp and all the cucumber, tomato, onion, cilantro, and avocado, this dish is suitable for a complete lunch. Eat it with some good tostadas or saltine crackers to complete the Puerto Vallarta experience.Food52Port and gourmet bacon create the perfect personality for this Creole I started making shrimp Creole using the Joy of Cooking recipe from the cookbook I had received as a wedding gift in 1974. I love good shrimp Creole, and have ordered it at seaside restaurants at every opportunity. When we eat out and I order Creole I drive my husband mad by trying to guess the ingredients and cooking methods. As the years have passed, my recipe has evolved. Friends and family request Creole when we get together, and with a large family it is one of my favorites to make since it serves a crowd, and most of the work is “front end”, I add the seafood and put on some rice during cocktails, and I still have time to spend with my family and friends. Fresh herbs, good quality bacon and Port are important, as is the necessity to not be in a hurry in making the sauce. We have a fantastic seafood shop in Tallahassee, and I always have them peel and devein the shrimp for me because they do it much more quickly than I can. I have made this for a party at my daughter’s home in Montana where all I could get was a bag of frozen shrimp, and frozen whitefish. And although it was still a meal I was proud to present, it was a little watery. So for those that live in areas where fresh seafood is rare, you can use frozen seafood, but be sure to thaw and drain your fish and shrimp well before putting them in the sauce. If you want to make a richer/thicker sauce try my daughter’s method: she prepares the sauce the day before, refrigerates it overnight, and the next day lets the sauce cook for a couple of hours before the seafood is added . This recipe is a great place to start your own family Creole recipe. Run with it and be creative.
