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You'll find over 470 of my favorite recipes here, including ideas for Quick meals, Cooking for 2, Feasting on Leftovers, and cooking with 5 Ingredients or Less. I'm adding new posts regularly; you can subscribe by email or RSS feed if you'd like to receive the latest recipes. Bon appétit!
Saturday breakfast – bacon and eggs!
Bob never gets tired of bacon and eggs; it’s his favorite breakfast and is what I usually fix on weekends.
Anyone can cook bacon and eggs, but over the years I’ve learned a few things about getting the best results so they turn out just the way we like them.
First, a well-seasoned cast iron pan is pretty much essential, in my opinion. Seasoned and used correctly, it is totally non-stick when you have bacon grease for your eggs. The eggs really do taste much better, too, when they’re cooked in a cast iron pan.
Second, you can’t hurry bacon and eggs! Using low heat gently renders the bacon fat and browns the bacon without burning. The eggs will firm up and cook without getting crusty edges.
This morning I used La Brea Whole Grain Bread for the toast, but I often use English muffins.
I hardly call this a recipe, but here’s how I make bacon and eggs for our weekend breakfasts.
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Bacon and Eggs Chez Dedon
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3 eggs (2 for Bob, 1 for me)
5 pieces of Coleman (no nitrates) bacon (4 for Bob, 1 for me)
3 slices of La Brea Whole Grain bread (2 for Bob, 1 for me)
Butter
Salt and pepper
Tabasco
An assortment of honeys and jam for the toast
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Turn the oven on Warm.
Put the bacon in a cold cast iron skillet. Turn the heat to medium-low. Cook, turning often and rearranging the pieces so they cook evenly. (I have learned from experience that this is not a good time to multi-task. You want to keep an eye on the bacon!)
When the bacon is done, move the pan to a cold burner, but leave the cooking burner on. Put the bacon on a paper towel that is on a piece of aluminum foil. Close the packet up and put it in the oven to stay warm.
Toast the bread. When it’s done, butter the toast, stack it up and put it in the oven to stay warm.
Use a metal spatula to gently scrape the bacon bits from the bottom of the skillet so the bottom is smooth for the eggs. (This does not harm the seasoning.) Pour the bacon grease into a can. There will still be a thin film of grease on the bottom—just enough for the eggs.
Put the pan back on the cooking burner, and break the eggs into the pan.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook over medium-low heat (I usually turn it down a bit so it’s a bit lower than the bacon-cooking temperature.) until they are nearly done.
Carefully flip each egg over for eggs over-easy and cook for about 15 – 30 seconds more. (I guess the eggs would be prettier if I just cooked them sunny-side-up without flipping them, but I’ve always made eggs over-easy.)
Be sure to have Tabasco and honey and jam on the table to accompany your delicious weekend breakfast!
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Hawaiian Short Ribs for 2
Hawaiian Short Ribs is another favorite from Sunset’s Cooking for Two…or Just for You. In reality, I find this makes enough to easily serve three people.
The ribs are not browned before baking, which means no additional fat or oil is required. I like that, since short ribs are, by nature, fatty enough.
This has to be one of the easiest ways to prepare short ribs. Toast the sesame seeds, slice the onion, combine the sauce ingredients, put everything in a pot and bake for 2 hours. How simple is that? Served with rice and a big salad, it makes a great meal, Hawaiian style.
Update 5/8/10: I have not tried it, but this seems like an ideal recipe for a slow cooker. Toast the sesame seeds. Put them and the sliced onions in the slow cooker. Put the ribs on top of the onions. Combine the sauce ingredients and pour over all. Cook on Low for 8-10 hours. Remove ribs from the slow cooker; pour the sauce into a pan. Combine the cornstarch and water and add to the sauce. Cook over medium heat, stirring, until the sauce thickens a bit.
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Hawaiian Short Ribs for 2
Adapted for Sunset’s Cooking for Two…or Just for You
Serves 2 – 3, doubles easily
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1 ½ tablespoons sesame seeds
About 2 pounds beef short ribs
½ onion, sliced
¾ cup water
¼ cup soy sauce (choose wheat-free tamari for gluten-free)
2 tablespoons honey (or sugar)
1 clove garlic, minced or pressed
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
Dash Tabasco (or ground black pepper)
½ teaspoon red chile flakes
To finish the sauce:
1 teaspoon each cornstarch and water
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1. Preheat the oven to 400˚. Toast the sesame seeds over medium heat in an oven safe pot. Shake the pan often to toast evenly. Remove the pot from the heat when done.
2. Combine the water, soy sauce, honey, garlic, ginger, Tabasco, and chile flakes.
3. Put the onion slices in the pot with the sesame seeds. Put the short ribs in the pot and pour the sauce over all.
4. Cover and bake for 2 hours. Stir well once or twice during the baking time.
5. Remove meat from the pot and put on an oven safe plate. Cover with foil; put the plate in the oven with the heat now turned off to keep the ribs warm.
6. Skim as much fat as you can from the sauce in the pan. (I would try using a fat separator, if I had one.)
7. Combine the cornstarch and water and add to the sauce. Cook over medium heat, stirring, until the sauce thickens a bit. This only takes a few minutes.
8. Serve the meat with cooked rice and some of the sauce. Sprinkle the meat with a few sesame seeds.
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Lentil Soup and Popovers
Some lentil soups are thick, almost like a stew. Last night I made one that is not thick. It’s thin, “soupy”, and, as Mark Bittman calls it, classic. It’s from his How to Cook Everything Vegetarian book. You can make the soup with any kind of broth that you like, or even just water. I really like the “earthy” flavor that Pacific Mushroom Broth gives to the soup.
I paired the soup with popovers from Judith Jones’ The Pleasures of Cooking for One. It’s a charming and inspiring book for people who are cooking just for themselves or for two. I was most excited about her recipe for popovers! I rarely make popovers because I had thought of them as something you make to go with a big roast for a lot of people. It never occurred to me that you could make just 2 popovers.
The popovers baked beautifully, but I had a learning experience about buttering the Pyrex dishes. Be sure to butter them well! After I buttered mine, I noticed that one of them looked like it had a bit less butter than the other. And, sure enough, one of the popovers was difficult to remove from the dish. Lesson learned.
This morning I wish I had doubled the recipe to make 4 popovers. I’d love one with butter and jam this morning. (Judith suggests wrapping leftovers in paper, not plastic wrap, and leaving them at room temperature to avoid sogginess.)
Classic Lentil Soup
(Adapted from Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything Vegetarian)
Serves 4
1 cup lentils, washed and picked over
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 large, or 2 smaller carrots, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
1 32-oz. carton Pacific Mushroom Broth
2 cups water
1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
1 teaspoon minced garlic
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Put the lentils, bay leaf, thyme, carrots, celery, broth, water, salt and pepper in a pot. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat so it’s simmering and cover with a lid. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the lentils are tender. It takes 30 – 40 minutes.
(About 30 minutes before the soup is done, start the popovers (recipe below) and get them in the oven. They take 25 – 30 minutes to bake. After the popovers are in the oven, continue with the onions and garlic for the soup.)
Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a pan. Add the onions and cook over medium-low heat until the onions are soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for about 1 minute. Remove the pan from the heat.
When the lentils are soft, Add the onion/garlic mixture to the soup. Remove the bay leaf and taste to see if it needs more salt.
Popovers
(Adapted from Judith Jones’ The Pleasure of Cooking for One)
Makes 2 (Easily doubled or tripled)
1 large egg
1/3 cup milk
Pinch of salt
1/3 cup flour
Soft butter, for the custard cups*
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Preheat the oven to 400˚. Beat the egg; add the milk, flour and salt and beat well. Butter 2 Pyrex custard cups (2 inches high, 3 1/2 inches in diameter). Be sure to butter them well! Pour the batter in the cups, and put them on a baking sheet on the middle rack in the oven. Bake for 25 minutes.
Remove from the oven, and remove them from the custard cups. (Now you will be really glad if you buttered them well!) Prick them all over with the tip of a sharp knife to let the steam escape.
Yum! I will definitely be making these again.
*If you have a popover pan (I don’t), you certainly could use that. You can also use a regular muffin pan. In that case, you might have to make 3 smaller popovers.
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Pot Roast with Glazed Carrots and Mashed Potatoes
By Kath Dedon
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Weekends are a great time to make a dinner that needs a long braise. Yesterday I started at about 2:00 to make a pot roast dinner that was ready to eat at 6:30. It was worth the wait!
I started with a 3¼ pound chuck roast. Not wanting to have leftover pot roast for days, I cut off 3 smaller portions (totaling about 1 pound, 5 ounces) and froze them for future use. That left a more manageable pot roast that was less than 2 pounds. I did not, however, reduce the amount of the braising vegetables and liquids.
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The recipe, as written below, serves 6.
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Pot Roast with Glazed Carrots and Mashed Potatoes
(Adapted from All About Braising, by Molly Stevens)
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Serves 6
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1 (3½ – 4 pound) boneless chuck roast (or cut it into a smaller piece, as I did)
Coarse salt and black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ large onion (about 8 ounces), chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
1 cup red wine
1 cup beef or chicken broth (I used Better Than Bouillon Chicken Base)
Several leaves of fresh sage (or a tablespoon or so of dried sage)
8 to 10 black peppercorns
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For the carrots and potatoes:
1 ½ pounds carrots, peeled, cut in half and then cut lengthwise
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
Salt and pepper
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
Russet potatoes (allow about 1 per person)
Milk
Butter
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1. Heat the oven to 300˚.
2. Tie the roast with kitchen string so it will hold together.
3. Season the meat all over with salt and pepper. Heat the 2 tablespoons oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Brown the beef on all sides, about 18 – 20 minutes total.
Remove the roast from the pot.
4. Add the onion, carrot, celery, and garlic to the pot. Season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring often, until they begin to brown, which takes about 5 minutes.
Pour in the wine. Stir well to get up all of the beefy flavor on the bottom of the pot. Bring to a boil and simmer until it’s reduced by about half, about 6 or 7 minutes. Add the broth and boil until it’s reduced by about one third, about 5 more minutes. Put the meat back in the pot. Add the sage and peppercorns. Cover with a piece of parchment paper. Press it down so it is almost touching the meat; then put the lid on.
5. Put the pot in the oven and set the timer for 1½ hours. Check the roast after about the first 15 minutes to make sure that it is not simmering too vigorously. You want to see just a few bubbles. Adjust the oven temperature if it needs it.
6. When the timer rings, turn the roast over, put it back in the oven and set the timer for another 1½ hours.
7. When the roast is almost done, peel the potatoes, quarter them, and put them in water to boil. Boil the potatoes and simmer until done. Keep them warm in the pot if they’re done a little too soon.
8. After the 3 hour braise, remove the roast from the pot, put it on a plate and cover it with foil.
9. Strain the cooking liquid, pushing with a spoon to get as much as you can. Discard the vegetables.
10. Heat the oil and butter in a skillet. Add the carrots. Season with salt and pepper and cook for about 5 minutes.
Add ½ cup of the braising liquid, cover the pan and simmer for about 5 minutes. Uncover; add the vinegar and parsley and cook for about another minute, until the liquid becomes a nice glaze.
11. While the carrots are simmering, mash the potatoes.
I like to use a potato ricer (a trick learned from Julia Child for the smoothest mashed potatoes) and then just stir some milk and about a tablespoon of butter into the potatoes. I just add enough milk to get the consistency I want and then add a bit of butter for flavor. Once mashed, you can put them over a pot of simmering water to keep them warm. (My Kitchenaid mixing bowl fits perfectly in a Revere Ware pot I have.)
12. Put the remaining sauce in a pan and boil for 1 or 2 minutes. Taste to see if it needs salt and pepper.
13. Cut the string from the roast, slice and serve with the carrots and potatoes. Put a bit of the sauce on each serving of meat.
Voilá! Dinner is ready!
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Particularly Yummy Brussels Sprouts
By Kath Dedon
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Brussels sprouts are one of my favorite vegetables. This recipe is particularly good. Of course, what isn’t when you start with bacon?
I keep Organic Better Than Bouillon Chicken Base in the refrigerator for times like this when I need just a bit of chicken broth. It’s available in most grocery stores in the Seattle area.
Don’t tell me you don’t like Brussels sprouts until you try this version.
Particularly Yummy Brussels Sprouts
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Serves 2, easily multiplies
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2 slices bacon, cut into small pieces
½ pound Brussels sprouts
¼ cup chicken broth
2 teaspoons lemon juice
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1. Put the bacon in a pan and cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally.
2. Trim the ends off the Brussels sprouts and slice them into ¼-inch slices.
3. When the bacon is done, add the Brussels sprouts and stir well. Cook for a couple of minutes.
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4. Add the chicken broth, cover the pan and cook for about 5 minutes.
5. Take the lid off the pan and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until all of the liquid has evaporated.
6. Just before serving, stir in the lemon juice.
These Brussels sprouts made a great side dish with reheated leftover roast chicken!
For a variation, or if you don’t have lemon juice, you could try using a teaspoon of vinegar instead of the 2 teaspoons of lemon juice.
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Roast Chicken with Vegetables
By Kath Dedon
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I listened to an interview with Christopher Kimball from America’s Test Kitchen today. He said there is no such thing as the perfect roast chicken. Chefs are constantly trying to find new ways to make a better roasted bird.
Over the years I have certainly tried many different methods of roasting a chicken—using different temperatures, turning the chicken in various ways, roasting it on a beer can, using a vertical electric rotisserie, etc.
I always come back to this easy recipe from Sunset’s Fresh Ways with Chicken. It’s simple, and you can put the whole meal in the oven.
Last night I used small russet potatoes, but you can use any kind; Yukon Golds are especially good. For the other vegetables I used carrots, onions, and garlic. You can add zucchini and/or red pepper, too. I just used salt and pepper last night, but you can experiment with different rubs and herbs. I often use rosemary.
We had a delicious dinner last night, and I have leftover roast chicken to use for tonight’s dinner! 🙂
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Roast Chicken with Vegetables
(Adapted from a recipe in Sunset’s Fresh Ways with Chicken)
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Potatoes (1 for each person you’re feeding)
1 3½ – 4 pound chicken
4 carrots, cut in chunks
½ onion, cut in wedges
3 cloves garlic, each cut into 4 pieces
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Put the potatoes in the oven and set it for 375˚. (The potatoes will start baking as the oven is heating up.)
Use a pan that is large enough for the chicken and the vegetables you are using. Generously salt and pepper the chicken and place it, breast side down, in the pan. Surround the chicken with the vegetables.
When the oven is preheated, put the chicken in the oven with the potatoes and roast for 30 minutes.
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Remove the chicken from the oven, turn it breast side up, and stir the vegetables. Return the pan to the oven and roast for another 45 minutes, stirring the vegetables once or twice.
The chicken is done when the thickest part of the thigh registers 185˚ on an instant-read meat thermometer.
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Spaghetti with Lemon (Spaghetti al Limone)
By Kath Dedon
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This is one of my favorite quick and easy pasta recipes. I almost always have spaghetti, lemons and Parmesan cheese on hand, so we can have dinner ready in a matter of minutes. Fresh basil is a great addition, but I’ve made it without and it’s still very good. I think parsley would be a good substitution.
You can easily double this to serve 4.
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Spaghetti al limone
(Based on a recipe from “The Seasons of Parmigiano-Reggiano: Twenty-four recipes and tips celebrate old and new ways to use the world’s unique Parmesan cheese”)
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Serves 2
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6 oz. spaghetti
3 Tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon lemon zest
3 teaspoons lemon juice
¼ teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves (or parsley)
¼ cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
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Heat water for the pasta. When it’s boiling, add about 2 tablespoons salt and the pasta and cook according to the package directions.
Melt the butter in a pan over medium-low heat. Add the zest, juice, salt and pepper. Heat for about 1 minute.
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When the pasta is done, toss it with the lemon butter, basil, and Parmigiano-Reggiano. Serve immediately, offering extra Parmigiano-Reggiano to grate at the table.
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Garlicky Hummus (Plus Cooking Dried Chickpeas)
By Kath Dedon
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It’s really easy to make your own hummus if you have a food processor. Canned chickpeas will quickly produce very good hummus. I like to use dried beans, though, if I have the time. It does make a difference.
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I started with Mark Bittman’s recipe from How to Cook Everything. However, I increased the lemon juice, garlic and cumin. This is a garlicky hummus, which I like. Use less garlic if you want.
(Or use roasted garlic for a more subtle garlic flavor. Put 3 garlic cloves, still in their skins, in small skillet over medium heat. Stir occasionally, and cook until fragrant and the color of the cloves deepens slightly, about 8 minutes. Peel and they’re ready to use.)
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The number of lemons you need will depend on how much juice you’re able to squeeze from your lemons. You’ll need ¼ to 1/3 of a cup of juice. I started with the juice of 2 lemons. After processing I decided it needed a bit more, so I added the juice of another ½ lemon.
Everyone seems to like this version, but play with it and make it your own.
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Garlicky Hummus
(Inspired by Mark Bittman, How to Cook Everything)
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Serves 6 – 8
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2 cups cooked (or canned) chickpeas
½ cup tahini (I like Joyva brand best)
¼ cup olive oil
3 cloves garlic, peeled and cut in half (or use roasted garlic, see introduction)
Juice of 2 – 3 lemons
2 tablespoons cumin
¾ teaspoon salt (the amount I used with the beans I cooked. Canned beans may need less.)
Freshly ground pepper, to taste
To garnish:
Additional olive oil
Paprika
Fresh parsley, minced
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Put everything in a food processor and blend until it’s all smooth. Taste and adjust seasonings. If it’s thicker than you like it, add a bit more lemon juice or water. I ended up adding about ¼ cup of water.
To fancy it up, put the hummus in a bowl, drizzle with a bit of olive oil, and sprinkle with the paprika and parsley.
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Cooking Dried Chickpeas
(Makes almost 3 cups. Use 2 for the hummus, and use the leftovers in salads, or whatever.)
Put 1 cup chickpeas in a large pot. Cover with water so there is at least 2 inches of water over the chickpeas. Bring to a boil and boil for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let them sit, covered, for 1 hour.
Drain the beans and cover with plenty of water again. Bring to a boil and boil for 10 minutes. Lower the heat and simmer for 40 minutes. Add 1½ teaspoons salt and simmer until tender, 10–15 minutes more.
Drain the chickpeas. You can save the broth. (It freezes well.) Chickpea broth can be used instead of vegetable broth to make soups. You can also use a bit of the bean broth to thin the hummus if needed.
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Quick Chicken or Turkey Curry
By Kath Dedon
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When I have leftover cooked chicken or turkey meat, I often make curry for dinner. It may not be the most authentic curry, but it’s quick and tasty. You can use milk, as I did last night, or coconut milk which is a great variation.
The recipe is based on one from Sunset’s Fresh Ways with Chicken. Keep in mind that the 1½ tablespoons of curry powder is just a suggested amount. It depends on how hot your curry powder is, and how much heat you enjoy in your curry. I would use 1½ – 2 tablespoons of a milder curry powder, and probably about 1 tablespoon of a fiery curry powder.
I had exactly 1½ cups of cooked chicken in the refrigerator, so I started the rice cooker (an essential appliance in my opinion) and made curry.
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Quick Chicken Curry
(Adapted from a recipe in Sunset’s Fresh Ways with Chicken)
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Serves 2 (doubles easily)
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2 tablespoons butter
1 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1½ tablespoons curry powder
2 tablespoons flour
1¼ cups milk (or coconut milk)
Dash cayenne pepper
3 tablespoons dry sherry
1½ – 2 cups bite-size pieces cooked chicken or turkey
Salt
Cooked rice
Condiments (suggestions follow)
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Melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for an additional minute. Add the curry powder, cook for 2 minutes, stirring. Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and gradually stir in the milk. Return the pan to the heat and cook, stirring, until the sauce has thickened. Stir in the cayenne pepper, sherry and chicken and cook for a couple of minutes until the chicken is heated. Taste for seasoning and add salt, if needed.
Serve over rice with your choice of condiments.
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Possible condiments:
Chutney (I especially like Patak’s which is made with sugar, not corn syrup), thinly sliced green onions, chopped peanuts, raisins, shredded coconut
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Vegetarian (or not) Split Pea Soup
By Kath Dedon
Some of our friends were returning from a ski trip to British Columbia yesterday, and we invited them for dinner. We weren’t sure exactly how many would be joining us, so I decided to make soup. A big pot of soup can feed any number of people. 🙂 I actually made 1½ times the recipe, so we had enough for 8 – 10 hearty appetites.
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The Daily Soup Cookbook has a terrific recipe for Vegetarian Split Pea Soup. I like the way it turns out “soupy” and not as thick as some versions. And yet it is a perfectly filling meal with some bread and a salad.
As always, a homemade broth is best, but I used Swanson’s Natural Goodness Chicken Broth and my soup was pretty good. (Obviously, I chose the “not” vegetarian version.)
I have yet to find a good commercial vegetable broth, so if I wanted to truly make a vegetarian split pea soup I would probably make my own broth. Or I might try making it just with filtered water, increasing the salt a bit.
This is an easy recipe to cut in half if you don’t want to make this much.
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Vegetarian Split Pea Soup
Adapted from The Daily Soup Cookbook; the executive chef of The Daily Soup in New York (now closed) was Leslie Kaul
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Serves 6, maybe 7
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2 tablespoons butter (or oil for a vegan version)
1 large onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 tablespoons dried thyme
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
1 pound green split peas, rinsed and picked over to remove any rocks
8 cups broth (your choice: vegetable, chicken, or just water)
½ cup white wine or Vermouth
1 teaspoon garlic, minced
¼ cup chopped fresh Italian parsley (optional—I didn’t use it)
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1. Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, and carrots and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring often, until tender.
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2. Add the thyme, bay leaves, salt, and pepper and stir to coat the vegetables.
3. Add the split peas, broth and white wine. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, covered, for about 45 minutes until the peas are tender.
4. Remove the bay leaf. Use an immersion blender to blend the soup in the pot. I like to leave it fairly chunky, so I don’t blend it completely. If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can carefully blend some of the soup in a blender or food processor and then add it back to the pot. Don’t fill the blender too full, and hold the top on with an oven mitt. The hot soup can send the top flying. (That is why I love my immersion blender!)
5. Add the minced garlic to the soup and simmer for 2 minutes.
6. Ladle the soup into bowls and top with chopped parsley.
“Pea Soup with Friends” (Thanks for the photo, Nette!)
In the kitchen with Kath 