This is a great fancy weekend meal because it is a nice and extra special dish but also it isn’t too involved. The only ingredient you might have to go out of your way to get is cognac. You can substitute in a white wine (or use both cognac and white wine) but that flavor really makes the sauce special since it’s such a simple dish. This can be easily doubled, made ahead, or frozen meaning decadence can be available at almost any time.
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This extremely simple one pot recipe is fantastic for a really hearty lunch or dinner. It all cooks in one skillet and it reminded me that I should make coconut rice more often because it’s such a lovely addition to this dish. You can add in whatever vegetables you have on hand and if you don’t have Thai basil, then using regular basil will give you a slightly different but still delicious dish. I served this in lettuce cups but it’s fine on its own too.
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If you want a delicious winter soup that is easy and hearty and kind of feels like it heals you upon the first bite then this is the one. In the original recipe the ginger is in chopped chunks but in future versions I started grating it finely because the texture is a little strange to me but you can go either way depending on your personal preference. If you have leftover cooked chicken on hand this is one of those really easy recipes that doesn’t take much time or energy and the rice makes it hearty enough to be a full meal by itself.
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I’ve never actually had this dish before but I happened to have some extra tamarind and dried lemongrass on hand and realized I could make something with it and this was the recipe I ended up landing on. I suppose I should be less surprised that this was absolutely delicious. I ended up using much more mild chilies (kashmiri chilies to be precise) because that’s what I had on hand. I’m sure that the dish I made isn’t authentic in any sense but I loved playing with these flavors and it made me excited to try more dishes from Indonesia and Malaysia.
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This is a delicious Iranian stew with the flavors of pomegranates, walnuts, saffron, and other spices that takes about 3-4 hours to come together but it is well worth it thanks to the richness and depth of flavor that it produces. This is a show stopper for a dinner party or other get togethers and it’ll definitely be something that your friends and family talk about for years to come. This recipe has you make your own pomegranate molasses and walnut paste because they’re not available where I live but feel free to use commercially available shortcuts if you can!
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A set it and forget recipe this takes time but practically no effort to produce delicious and flavorful chicken that is perfect with a nice pile of rice. I always store the leftover sauce and use it to make stir fry. I used only drumsticks the first time but I would actually recommend bone in thighs or a mixture of pieces in the future and to just adjust the cooking time slightly depending on the size of the pieces.
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This recipe is basically a Greek staple but I had never heard of it. Saltsa Kima is basically Greek style of Bolognese. It has cinnamon, cloves, and allspice making it sweet and spicy. It is also the basis for Cincinnati Chili which my husband particularly loves. It’s a pretty unique flavor and like Bolognese it’s extremely easy to make as it just takes time not work to come together, so it’s good for a weekend or a slow day.
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Can you go too far with a mash up? Probably but this one I actually really liked. It’s basically the standard procedure for making meatballs with red sauce except you build the sauce and meatballs up with a different spice profile making them spicy with a sweet, spicy, and creamy sauce. I used coconut milk because its shelf stable and I always have some around but heavy cream in the sauce is probably the way to go. You can serve these with rice, in pitas, or go absolutely mash up wild and serve them on spaghetti or maybe on top of hummus the possibilities are endless.
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This is a fairly simple recipe which is basically just spicy chicken in a tomato and onion and chili sauce and there isn’t anything wrong with that. This can be made in a slow cooker really easily also and gets most of its spices and flavors from the can of chilies in adobo. This is great on rice or in a burrito and can be topped with fresh vegetable or served with a salad to round out the meal.
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If you time this right by putting your potatoes up to boil right away you can have this in the oven in 30 minutes or less and on a table in under an hour making it a pretty good weekend meal. There isn’t anything particularly difficult about this and it makes an extremely rustic food that is homey and comforting and can be tweaked to your tastes. You can use almost any vegetables on the inside (or go for just onions and meat if that’s your jam) but whatever you use make sure it is very finely diced which you can accomplish by grating them on the fine side of a box grater or pulsing the vegetables in a blender for a few seconds, you want everything but the peas to basically melt away while cooking down to give you a very uniform texture.
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