Archives for February 2013

Meatless Monday – Almond Soba Noodles with Edamame

February 26, 2013 By Steve Dunn Leave a Comment

Yeah, I know it's Tuesday already and that this is a "Meatless Monday" post, but time slipped away from me yesterday and I never got it finished in time….Je suis désolé. I could have saved it for next week to actually post on Monday, but this dish was so good I couldn't wait to share it with you all.

As is the case with many vegetarian dishes, this treat is equally delicious, hot, room temperature, or cold from the fridge. This dish satisfied in many ways, from the exotic flavor of its nut sauce, to its meatless pedigree and use of soba noodles which are made with buckwheat flour and perfect for my gluten-sensitive wife.

Cheese Fondue with Veggies and Toast

February 22, 2013 By Steve Dunn Leave a Comment

I remember with great fondness the fondue meals of my youth. Sometimes it was the traditional melted gruyere with wine into which we dipped cubes of bread, sometimes the more dangerous hot oil into which we slipped cubes of beef, chicken, or shrimp to cook and then dredge through an assortment of savory sauces. Whatever the type, I remember fondue night being a lot of fun and a total departure from our normal meal time routine.

I didn't experience fondue again until I lived in France when the boys and I would enjoy it while on our ski getaways to the alps. There were a number of great restaurants at Courchevel that specialized in fondues, as it is a nearly perfect après ski meal. As my boys are all cheese-hounds, they loved the meals as much as I did and they became an important part of our ski trip tradition as long as we lived there.

Chicken Tagine with Olives and Lemons

February 19, 2013 By Steve Dunn Leave a Comment

This dish, which I pinched from Saveur's November 2012 issue of 100 Greatest Dishes, is one of the tastiest we've made in a while, beautiful straight from the oven and even better as leftovers! As I am always a big proponent of cooking with an eye to having leftovers for a second meal, this dish is a natural to cook up on a weekend and then enjoy again a few nights later as an easy re-heated dish on a busy work night.

Buffalo Chicken Meatball Sub

February 15, 2013 By Steve Dunn Leave a Comment

As we are decidedly a family that drowns its sorrows with sweets and not spice, we didn't fully finish the Buffalo Chicken Meatballs we made for the Patriots v. Ravens AFC Championship Game a few weeks back. As our team went down in flames we turned from our spicy nibbles to something cool and sweet to help ease the burn of our loss. This was devastating news for the few pints of ice cream we had in the freezer, but good news for the few remaining Buffalo Balls that were spared to live another day.

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".

Archives for February 2013

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