Steve Dunn

Buffalo Chicken Meatballs

February 12, 2013 By Steve Dunn Leave a Comment

A tasty ball dipped in blue cheese dressing….YUM!

Had I been more on the stick a few weeks back I would have posted this dish as an awesome addition to a Super Bowl Sunday spread. As it were, with my beloved Patriots out of the mix I didn't give a rat's patooty about the game, and all thoughts of tail-gating chow were scrapped for another season.

Sorry if I let you down.

Of course, football isn't the only sport worthy of fun food on game day and with the NHL and NBA seasons in full swing, and MLB spring training right around the corner, I'm sure that you'll find some excuse to make these awesome meatballs soon…..not that you need one.

Lentil and Sausage Cassoulet

February 8, 2013 By Steve Dunn Leave a Comment

Here is the "cassoulet" that I made with one half of the bacon that we made a few weeks ago. This is not a traditional cassoulet by any stretch, lacking the French garlic sausage, tarbais beans and duck confit that are the hallmarks of the real deal. That said, this was a remarkably tasty dish that allowed for the use of a few meat scraps clogging the freezer (the Italian sausage and cooked chicken), and also helped me put a dent in the silly amount of Lentils du Puy I have in the pantry. It seems I can't pass by a box of them without tossing it into my shopping cart….it's a sickness I have.

A Truly Tropical Banana Bread

February 5, 2013 By Steve Dunn Leave a Comment

I struggled for a while to come up with a clever name for this bread that combines the great flavors of banana and coconut.

There was Banacoco….Cocobanan….Cocobanut…..and the very worst, Nutcoban Bread!

In the end I through in the towel and decided not to name it at all, but to describe it simply as "Truly Tropical" because thoughts of banana trees and coconut palms lead me straight to a warm, sunny island. I've generally been somewhat of a purist regarding banana bread, occassionally adding chopped walnuts to the mix for a little excitement (I know…I really should get out more), but otherwise choosing to let the bananas rule on their own.

Food Day Interview

February 1, 2013 By Steve Dunn Leave a Comment

For those of you unfamiliar with Food Day you should go check them out, and join their ranks like I have. Food Day is comprised of a great group of individuals and organizations all working together to improve our nation's food policies as they relate to health and nutrition, hunger, agricultural policy, animal welfare, and farm worker justice…..yeah, they keep busy over there.

While you're on the site be sure to check out their blog where you'll find a just published interview with yours truly. Their terrific writer, Deanna Bryce, and I had a nice chat about cooking with kids, click HERE to read all about it yourself.

Cheers – Steve

Makin' Bacon!

February 1, 2013 By Steve Dunn Leave a Comment

Can anyone out there think of two words that go together better than the two in the title of this post?

No….neither can I.

Back in the heady days of Charcutepalooza, I missed the bacon making challenge as I was a few weeks late to the game. Ever since, I've been dying to try my hand at it and see how much better bacon could be when crafted at home, from scratch. As luck would have it I had two critical pieces of the bacon making puzzle fall into my lap over the past months. First, my parents bought me a cool, fire-engine red Brinkmann Electric Smoker for Christmas (thanks, M&D!), then my friend Alicia turned me on to a great new artisanal butcher shop in Somerville called M.F. Dulock. Everything looked so good at Dulock that it took all my will not to buy out the entire shop! I was a good boy and bought only the pork belly and a handful of delicious lamb rib chops for dinner that night. But in the words of our country's most famous philandering Governor, I've no doubt that…."I'll be back".

Meatless Monday – Miso Soup

January 28, 2013 By Steve Dunn Leave a Comment

Over the past year or so I've fallen into the habit of posting on Tuesdays and Fridays. I'm not entirely sure why, it just seemed to work out that way without too much thought. Sadly, that meant that I fell out of the habit of posting a Meatless Monday dish here, even though we have been incorporating more meatless meals into our weekly menus. Of course, I could just as easily post a Meatless Wednesday dish, but I do like the idea of dedicating a day each week to not just eat meatless, but to really recognize that fact, and if we're going to do that then I think Meatless Monday has a much nicer ring to it. Don't you?

Roasted Garlic, Fontina and Chicken Risotto

January 25, 2013 By Steve Dunn Leave a Comment

I bought a big bag of great looking garlic at my market not long ago and worked my way through most of it one or two cloves at a time in the normal course of cooking. As it was starting to take on the feel of a permanent resident of my fridge, I decided that I needed to come up with a recipe that would allow me to use up the few remaining heads in one fell swoop. Enter this dish, which puts two heads of sweet, roasted garlic to excellent use. We roasted the two remaining heads as well, and used them to spread on slices of grilled rustic bread, and to perfume some EVOO for dipping oil.

Jasper White’s Fish Stew

January 22, 2013 By Steve Dunn Leave a Comment

Jasper White is a culinary icon here in the Northeast. He was one of a handful of chefs back in the 1980s who helped to elevate Boston's restaurant scene from 2 star to 5 star status. His fine dining restaurant, Jasper's, quickly became the pinnacle of seafood dining in the city. When he tired of the Michelin Star demands of his success, he closed Jasper's and became the Executive Chef of the famed Legal Seafoods group, helping them expand their offerings from stodgy fish and chip fare to a more modern, healthy take on all things from the sea.

These days Jasper is at the helm of his Summer Shack restaurant chain, family friendly joints that once again highlight his mastery of seafood, but this time stripped of all the pretense of his fine dining days. Suffice to say, Jasper White has become a trusted source for us in all matters fishy, and his recipes never…ever fail.

Turkey Sloppy Joes with Hoisin and Cilantro

January 18, 2013 By Steve Dunn Leave a Comment

This quick and delicious weeknight meal was such a hit at our table that I had to share it with you right away. Most dishes we blog here hang around for a week or two before I have the time to finish tweaking a decent photograph, and write the content of a post. Of course, there are also some meals that don't quite make the Oui, Chef grade in the first place, garnering mixed reviews at our table and deemed unworthy of sharing with the wider world.

Not so with this treat. These Joes are so easy and tasty that we wanted to shout-out the recipe right away.

Provencal Pasta with Sausage and Beans

January 15, 2013 By Steve Dunn Leave a Comment

I love pasta in all its shapes and sizes.

I'm half Italian….it's genetic.

That said, I like my pasta dishes bold, not boring. Pasta served with just a thin red sauce, or a bland cream sauce leave me utterly depressed and feeling like dinner is some sort of carbo-loading torture. Let's face it, pasta on its own is nothing to turn cartwheels over, and the success of a dish depends almost entirely on what you toss the pasta with before serving. Even the finest homemade pasta cannot survive a marriage with a lousy sauce. Really, don't even bother try it, it will make you cry.

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