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Oven-smoked Spareribs

Oven-Smoked Spareribs

I didn’t really change anything from the original Cook’s Illustrated (January, 2006) recipe. They used Lapsang Souchong tea, which apparently has a very smoky flavor. I didn’t feel like making a special trip to the supermarket, so I ended up using whatever [...]

Five-Spice Crockpot Pork Roast

The basis of this recipe came from something in the Boston Globe Mag a few weeks ago. I tweaked in two basic ways:

I didn’t have any Chinese 5-spice powder so I improvised my own
I did it in the crockpot because it was a weekday and I don’t have four hours to cook on Monday nights.

Five-Spice [...]

Mint & Jalapeno Quinoa Pilaf

I knew I wanted to make some kind of pilaf thing to go with some lamb chops. The lamb chops recipe was sort of moroccan–braised in a sauce of onions, tomatoes, coridander, cinnamon–so I wanted to complement that.

Quinoa Pilaf w/ Mint & Jalapeno

1 cup quinoa
[...]

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Jerk Chicken Marinade

I got inspired watching Chef John Bull rock some delicious looking Jerk Chicken on Sunday. His recipe was a bit hard to follow, so I took one out of Chris Schlesinger’s License to Grill and adapted for what I had on hand.

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Maranui Surf Club Salad (101cookbooks.com)

The recipe is here, so no need to repeat it. I thought I had some coconut milk, but I didn’t. Doh! Ended up substituting almond milk + some butter (to kick up the fat a little). It was awesome anyway, but I still stocked up on coconut milk for next time.
To accompany it I fried [...]

The Christmas Dinner Menu

The Menu:

Baby Arugula Salad w/ Shaved Fennel Slaw, Black Grapes, Gorgonzola & Arkansas Pecans (Cook’s Illustrated)
Pan-Roasted Rosemary Potatoes (Gourmet Next Door)
Glazed Carrots w/ Ginger & Rosemary (Cook’s Illustrated)
Basmati Rice & Braised Cabbage Pilaf w/ Tarragon (Vegetarian Planet)
Baked Ham w/ Vermouth & Dijon Mustard Sauce (Cook’s Illustrated)
Dinner Rolls (from Wilson Farms)
Dark Gingerbread Cake, Chocolate Espresso [...]

Spicy Cucumber, Carrot Salad | License to Grill

Made this on Saturday with the first of our harvested habanero peppers. The recipe called for any type of hot pepper to suit your heat preference. I used about 1/2 of a seeded habanero and it was hot. An excellent, gradually building heat; the kind where you almost don’t notice your mouth’s on fire until [...]

Grilled Corn & Cherry Tomato Salad

Leftover grilled corn-on-the-cob is a great thing to have in the fridge when the volume of ripe grape tomatoes in the garden starts to increase. Possibly inspired by a great-looking striped bass recipe, I threw this salad together last night.
* 4 leftover, grilled ears of corn
* 1/2 pint grape or cherry tomatoes
* 1 minced jalapeno
* [...]

Grilled Tofu w/ Tomato Tarragon Sauce

Burned by bad chicken from Wilson Farm again! I love Wilson Farm. It is 5 minutes from my house. I do all my weekly shopping there. But. They seem to have some chronic issues keeping their chicken breasts fresh.
The latest incident involved a package of split breasts purchased on Monday, July 23rd with an [...]

Eggs in a Nest

Got this recipe via my CSA newsletter. It works for all kinds of greens–spinach, kale, chard, etc.– but my favorite is with broccoli rabe (aka, rapini). I’ve tweaked it a little and added a bit of acid in the form of lemon juice or vinegar towards the end of the cooking.
* 2 T olive oil
* [...]