Pasta for lunch, usually curly kinds or other elbow shaped varieties were common in my childhood. That’s what our live-in maid/housekeeper cooked for us, ( my 3 younger siblings and I) often with butter swirled in, plus a smattering of American cheese scattered from above. As an adult I’m still fond of that meal, but…
Tag: main dishes
Shepard’s pie with fresh Mediterranean flavor
My husband and I ate the pie so fast, I forgot to take a photo! But since we loved it so much, I’m surely going to repeat it. Then I’ll take a picture, and in particular, get a good shot of the meaty bottom, which is where most of the good flavor reside. (I finally…
Saucy Asian Pork and Shrimp meatballs
I’m a big meatball fan using beef; I especially love meatball recipes which use small pieces of slightly moisten bread cubes folded into the meatball. (That’s how our maid, when I was growing up, cooked her meatballs.) But cooking pork meatballs never occurred to me until I saw recipes in various Chinese cookbooks. Recipes with…
Chinese Char Sui – an American approach
As a young lady, beginning in my 20s in New Jersey, I sometimes ate at Chinese restaurants with friends. These restaurants dotted the landscape at strip malls in small towns across southwestern New Jersey. My best friend Helene and I went to one such place in Irvington, a 20 minute drive from my Maplewood home. …
Sizzling saucy shallots with chicken, sweet potatoes, butternut squash and caramelized shallots
I’m attracted to chicken recipes. I grew up eating chicken, watched my mother, at lunch, pick juicy pieces of chicken off the bone of boiled chicken. For years I ate at KFC, but lately, I know I cook way better. Dishes made with chicken are tasty and they present a multitude of possibilities for the…
American Goulash: My Version of a Hamburger Classic
I’m a fan of ground beef. I like it simply prepared as a hamburger, or added in stir fries, mixed in casseroles, and added to so many main dishes. Hamburger meat often comes to the table with assorted ingredients like tomatoes, onion, celery, beans, cheese, plus many vegetable choices. Sauces too are a popular ingredient…
No Question, an Easy (and Quick) Pork Shoulder Recipe
I’ve always liked Chinese food, possibility because of its saltiness, with ingredients such as Hoisin, soy and oyster-flavored sauce. When my husband and I go out for Chinese food we often, as an appetizer, share an order of barbecue spare ribs. Some restaurants offer meaty ones, other times their selection seems “painted” with red food…
Glazed, Pan-roasted, and Marinated Chicken with Lemon
Since childhood, chicken has always been a tasty meal, cooked in all its glory, many different ways. Along with my siblings and I, we ate chicken fried and roasted, and other ways too such as chicken a-la-king, a great way to use up leftover chicken. Our housekeeper, who worked for us from the time I…
Chicken Florentine soup with zucchini, mushrooms, potatoes and barley
50 minutes later, I spooned toothsome,fluffy barley into my soup
Red Potatoes, Peppers and Chicken
From Nourished: A Memoir of Cooking and the Arts, by Marilyn Raff Cook and Prep. Time: 75 minutes / Serves 4-6 6 chicken thighs, bone-in, skin-on 2 Tbsp olive oil 3 garlic cloves, pressed 1 small onion, chopped or 5 scallions, chopped 1 carrot, sliced thin 1 small red pepper,…
Marilyn Raff 