A speedy “Make-It-Tonight” staple from William Stewart of Fine Cooking harkens the advent of warmer weather with visions of outdoor BBQs and picnics dancing in my head. This riff, Curried Yogurt Potato Salad, gets a fresh Indian spin with curried yogurt dressing, bright ginger, and crisp vegetables. I was pleasantly surprised how creamy tasting and good it was without the addition of mayo or eggs!

The Persian cucumber is a variety of burpless cucumber, meaning its consumption is less likely to cause gastrointestinal upset than other types. This cucumber is also small, sweet and essentially seedless. I didn’t have luck locating Persian cucumbers but the seedless English variety was a fine substitute because they are similar to Persians, only longer in length and generally come wrapped in plastic.

In contrast to the thick, bumpy skin of the common garden cucumber, the Persian version features a smooth, thin skin that doesn’t require peeling. Its flesh is largely free of bitter-tasting seeds and is firm instead of watery, attributes that lend crunch and a mild sweetness.

The potato salad is especially yummy right after it is made, but can be served room temperature or even after refrigerated.

We served ours with sautéed sugar snap peas and a seared steak.

Thai cuisine is one of my faves so when I can have it in quick fashion, I’m a happy camper. This Spicy Thai Beef Curry from the Fine Cooking’s Make It Tonight series was just the ticket for a weeknight dinner when I didn’t have a lot of time but craved a flavorful curry dish. Remember, our bodies are not just heavy machines that we tote around with us each day, and our culinary pleasure isn’t just a whim when it comes to the mechanics of eating—curry can be a joy to both eat and behold.

The “spicy” title is a bit of a misnomer. Even though it calls for 1 to 2 teaspoons of red curry paste, almost all of the reviewers commented that they had, or wished they’d had, added more than the directions called for. So, being a connoisseur of all things with a kick, I added a healthy tablespoon full of the flavorful paste, resulting in a robust pungency that was not at all overpowering. If you possess a “delicate palette,” you may want to stick with the smaller amount first time out of the gate.

The directions do not instruct you to, but for a thicker sauce that will cling nicely to the meat and rice, after you remove the meat in Step 5, reduce the liquid over medium-high heat for about 6-8 minutes to thicken, then proceed with the remaining steps.

My only other suggestions would be to use fresh sugar snap peas if you can find them; and incorporate some sweet red bell pepper strips for added color and nutrition, but that’s totally up to you.

By Joann Smart from Fine Cooking

Part of our international week of dinners, we wanted the Italian menu to be something other than pasta so this Baked Rollatini of Flounder entrée fit the bill nicely. Unlike other highly regarded cuisines, Italian cooking is usually simple to make with many dishes having only 4 to 8 ingredients. Italian cooks rely chiefly on the quality of the ingredients rather than on elaborate preparation. And so it almost is with this simple fish recipe with 10 ingredients—just be sure to have some great olive oil on hand.

“The Sicilians have a tradition of using breadcrumbs in many of their recipes, like involtini di pesce spada, or swordfish rollatini, which are dressed with dried- oregano- seasoned breadcrumbs and olive oil.”  —  Lidia Bastianich

Despite Lidia’s undisputed reputation as a great Italian chef, there were a few things we did, or will do in the future. For instance, I didn’t feel that half of a sliced lemon was enough to cover the bottom of the baking dish so I very thinly sliced the entire zested lemon to build the foundation, and used half of another lemon for the juice. Plus we found that a full cup of white wine was too much liquid, feeling a 1/2 cup would more than suffice (I noted this in the list below.)

Oops, I’m noticing a few citrus pits I should have removed first, mea culpa!

And while this has nothing to do with Lidia’s choice of fish (her original recipe is Rollatini of Sole), it’s uncommon to find sole at our local supermarkets because here in North America we have no true sole, only flounders. They are interchangeable because both sole and flounder have delicate, flaky flesh and a mild, sweet taste; and while each are oval in shape, flounder is more rounded.

Oh, and the fact that Lidia’s cookbook says this serves six, that would be pretty meager rations in just about anyone’s household. We think two fillets per person is more realistic. Otherwise this delicious, delicate dinner was ever-so-satisfying and light. And in that vein, we served it simply with a side of sautéed asparagus.

According to Liz Pearson from Fine Cooking, you don’t have to sacrifice authenticity for speed with these quick and flavorful enchiladas. And an easy, homemade salsa verde adds a tangy kick to this hearty Quick Beef Enchiladas with Salsa Verde.

A few changes we made included flour tortillas instead of corn—only because the supermarket carried ooo-gobs of the flour variety, and zero of the corn. Plus, ours were 8″ in diameter as opposed to 6,” but they actually fit perfectly in the 9×13″ baking dish. I also got a little carried away with the amount of cheese inside each tortilla, so my leftover quantity for the top wasn’t going to cut it, therefore I included some shredded cheddar which added a nice pop of color.

The salsa verde was terrific, but take a note from me. I did a disservice when selecting the very large tomatillos as opposed to 15 small ones. Not a good idea. I unfortunately quartered them before boiling with the onion and jalapeños and they lost a lot of the pulp in the process. So do yourself a favor and buy the small ones and leave them whole when boiling.

Even though we like things spicy, I did seed and devein the peppers, but next time I think I’ll omit that step to retain more of the heat. But to remedy that fact, I topped mine with a few slices of pickled jalapeños. Two is typically a serving, but one was plenty for me especially with our side dish.

The accompaniment of Mexican Tomato Rice & Beans recipe was also from Fine Cooking, but by chef Raghavan Iyer. When cooked using the absorption method, medium-grain rice yields a tender, starchy, slightly creamy kernel that’s ideal for saucy rice dishes like this one. Absolutely delicious! While neither recipe is difficult to make, they both require some prep work and use quite a few kitchen utensils/pots. Oh, but they are sooo worth it!

Mexican Tomato Rice & Beans

Stuffed peppers are a comfort food for Russ. He loved them growing up—me, not so much. However, that all changed somewhere along the line decades ago, and we both now look forward to dining on the one-pot meal. Yes, there is a bit of prep to start with, but once the mild chilies are stuffed, it’s hands off.

Since Russ received Lidia Bastianich’s latest cookbook: Mastering the Art of Italian Cuisine: Everything You Need to Know to Be a Great Italian Cook, as a Christmas gift, we’ve been trying out quite a few of her recipes and have not been disappointed—until now. Now don’t get me wrong, the taste of the peppers was spot on, we just didn’t care for the watery sauce that accompanied them; the consistency was more like a broth. Even though you squeeze as much water out of the soaking bread as possible, there is still some residual moisture, plus the peppers themselves will release some more wetness.

So here’s what we would do to remedy our dissatisfaction with the sauce. First, we’d double the amount of canned tomatoes (we like a lot of sauce), then, and most importantly, omit adding any additional water. Next, we’d incorporate some tomato paste to thicken, the amount is up to you but start with two tablespoons and add more to satisfy your preferences. I altered the ingredients list and directions below to reflect our changes.

The whole peeled canned tomatoes are placed in a bowl and crushed by hand.

Because the bell peppers at the store were gigundo, I only used four instead of six, and selected all green ones. But you can use the red, orange and/or yellow bell peppers too, which tend to be a bit sweeter than the green.

Not noted in the directions below, I cooked ours in a 350 degree oven as opposed to heating on a stove burner. The total cooking time was lengthened by 15 minutes to address the size of our peppers. While mashed potatoes are traditionally served with stuffed peppers, we opted to omit them this time and pair them with a side salad.

A coveted Spanish cookbook, “La Cocina de Mama” by chef author Penelope Casas, has brought us many a mouth-watering meal. So when we decided to prepare week-long dinners based on an International theme, we didn’t hesitate to start with her book.

Along with Penelope’s Chicken with Ham, Olives and Sherry, we paired it with Fernando’s Sherry-Infused Baked Sliced Potatoes—and what a duo they made! She happened across the delicious spud recipe while in Restaurante Bigiote in Sanlucar de Barrameda with a group of American gourmets in tow (wish I had been one of them!)

They are simple and straightforward enough but with an extraordinary surprise ingredient: the subtle flavor of bone-dry Spanish sherry, such as Manzanilla or Fino. Since Russ likes to have a nip or two of this type of sherry while cooking on Sunday evenings, we always have some on hand. Not my cup of tea (or wine 🙂 ) for imbibing, but I do love sherry in cooking.

A mandoline makes quick work of slicing uniformly thick potato slices.

Arguably the greatest Spanish food is found not in the nation’s restaurants, but in private homes off-limits to tourists, where women still cook the recipes their mothers and grandmothers cooked before them. Penelope Casas takes us into those homes to uncover the secrets of this simple, easily reproduced, and altogether marvelous cuisine. For La Cocina de Mamá, she has collected recipes from great chefs and traditional home cooks in every region of Spain.

Having been enamored of her recipes and side stories since we bought the book a number of years ago, this Chicken with Ham, Olives and Sherry was one entrée we hadn’t tried yet. But since making it, it has risen to a top-contender spot when poultry becomes the meal of choice. The ingredients list does mention you can substitute prosciutto for the Serrano ham, but if at all possible, use the Spanish version.

About the Serrano Ham: The word Serrano means “from the mountains,” and refers to the cool dry climate necessary to cure hams in the traditional way. Today most moderately priced cured hams are produced in plants that simulate mountain conditions. Top of the line cured hams, called Jamon Iberico (not as yet imported to the United States) are in fact, naturally mountain cured and come from the extraordinary native Iberian pig.

The best cured ham sold in the United States today, according to Penelope (far superior to prosciutto), is the Redondo Iglesias Serrano ham that is imported from Spain and available from Tienda.com. We were able to order a thick slice (shown below) at our local upscale supermarket deli. Beware, the price is nearly $25 per pound, but you only need about a quarter pound.

The chicken dish paired fabulously with Penelope’s recipe of Sherry-Infused Baked Sliced Potatoes which take a similar amount of time and get cooked in the oven while the chicken simmers on the stovetop.

To complete the meal, we added a side salad for more veggies and fiber.

“Make It Tonight” is a weekly series from Fine Cooking that we subscribe to and provides quick weeknight recipes. While of course not everyone of them caters to our personal preferences, the vast majority are pretty spot on. Take this simple and satisfying easy main course, Roast Chicken with Chickpeas dinner for instance. Here, crisp-skinned, bone-in chicken thighs braise in a stew of fragrant Indian spices, onion, and chickpeas, each flavoring the other.

Because it was just the two of us, our package of poultry consisted on only five thighs, weighing in at two pounds instead of three. They all fit into one pan so there was no need to brown two batches, saving about 10 minutes.

And the “Make It Tonight” pairing of a Middle Eastern Savoy Cabbage Salad was a knock out side dish that was a perfect accompaniment to the flavors of the chicken. I mean, who doesn’t love pistachios?! I did cut the veggie ingredients in half for just the two of us, but made the full amount of dressing, and I’m glad I did. Personally, I do not like salads saturated with dressing, but in this case, after I initially added only half, we both agreed, it was so tasty and the vegetables were sturdy enough they could handle the entire amount. Yes, it was that good!

Even if you’re not overly fond of chickpeas, the treatment in this recipe adds the perfect amount of pungency from both the spices and the thighs as they impart their juices during the roasting process. The end result takes the chickpeas to another level with a subtle crispness and a boat-load of flavor. And you can’t ignore the health benefits of these legumes.

Chickpeas are sometimes known as garbanzo beans. They are particularly high in fiber. The iron, phosphate, calcium, magnesium, manganese, zinc, and vitamin K in chickpeas all contribute to building and maintaining bone structure and strength. Plus, research shows that including chickpeas in the diet lowers the amount of low-density lipoprotein, or bad cholesterol, in the blood. Finally, the choline in chickpeas helps with sleep, muscle movement, learning, and memory.

Middle Eastern Savoy Cabbage Salad

Middle Eastern ingredients like lemon, yogurt, cumin, and coriander flavor a creamy dressing that crinkly Savoy cabbage soaks right up. Use regular yogurt for the dressing; Greek yogurt is too thick. If you have extra dressing, (which I doubt you will) use it as a dip for vegetables or to dress another small salad. This would make a great lunch salad by itself.

In Italy, Tuscans living in rural areas were once referred to as mangiafagioli, or “bean eaters,” a reference to their consumption of economical bean dishes. The most traditional preparation is an ultrasimple wintry one in which dried cannellini beans are simmered with herbs and garlic until tender and then drizzled with olive oil for serving.

This riff on Tuscan-style beans gets a fuller seafood flavor with a quick concentrated stock from the shrimp shells used to simmer the beans. The shrimp also get cooked with the beans rather than separately, and minced anchovies meld with the sautéed aromatics. While the shrimp flavor the beans, the beans also insulate the shrimp from direct heat so that they stay plump and moist.

To season the shrimp and keep them plump and juicy, brine them briefly, and add them late in the cooking process, cooking them gently. Canned beans and canned tomatoes make this dish fast and doable at any time of year; plus, the liquid from one of the cans of beans lends the stew good body. Plenty of fresh basil and lemon juice and zest provide freshness and nice acidity.

If like us, you have some homemade seafood stock on hand, you can skip Steps 2 through 5 and shave off about 15 minutes. Now that’s a real time saver! And it isn’t yet tomato season, so use canned tomatoes instead of the fresh ones. For ease, and because they maintain their shape due to the addition of calcium chloride, use the diced variety.

We loved how simple, yet tasty this dish was. The final flourish of fresh basil not only adds a nice pop of color, but lends an initial subtle peppery flavor, then evolves into a slightly sweet, aromatic punch. An essential ingredient in Italian and Mediterranean cuisine, basil pairs exquisitely with lemon, tomato and garlic, all of which are in this recipe.

Do yourself a favor and make a batch of homemade seafood stock, portioning it out into different sized containers, then freeze them until needed. You’ll thank yourself in the future…

Adapted from Cooks Illustrated

Cutting back on carbs? Who said Italian night has to include pasta? This quick-cooking stew has onions, garlic, and spicy Italian sausage—classic flavors you expect in an Italian meal—and it’s warming and comforting too, the perfect antidote to these frigid temperatures. Of course if you can’t tolerate spicy, use sweet Italian sausage instead.

This Spicy Sausage, Escarole and White Bean Stew recipe hits all the right buttons. Thick, spicy, rich, and delish. Plus it’s super easy to prepare. If you’re not into escarole or can’t find it, substitute spinach or kale. Just make sure that whatever greens you decide on, wash them real well and spin dry.

The jury is in, we loved it! Of course we used more sausage, escarole, and vinegar than originally called for (reflected in the directions below.) The only other change we’d make next time, is incorporating 2 cups of broth as opposed to one.

And if you don’t care about counting carbs, make some toasted bread rubbed with garlic and drizzled with olive oil for a nice accompaniment. Or, make your own garlic butter to spread on Italian or rustic bread.

Adapted from a recipe by Joann Smart from Fine Cooking

While lamb is our usual go-to for Easter dinner, we decided to switch things up and make a ham this year. Part of the reason was the Roasted Ham with Mustard-Herb Crust recipe by Tracey Seaman that caught our attention in the most current issue of Fine Cooking Magazine. You don your Easter outfit, and the ham gets dressed up with a simple sweet-savory topping. Of course, this lovely dinner could be served anytime of the year.

Not sure why we don’t serve ham more often. It usually makes for an easy meal. Here, the ingredient list is short and the prep minimal, which left us time and energy to concentrate on our other dishes that included a Sriracha Deviled Egg appetizer, a Spring Salad with Strawberries, a Rainbow Chard Casserole with Parmesan Crumb topping, and a Potato, Fennel and Leek Gratin.

The original recipe said the ham serves 6-8 people. Well, we hosted a small crowd of seven and there was easily a half of ham left—which suited us just fine because we had leftovers for future meals such as ham-fried-rice, frittatas, sandwiches, casseroles, and soups.

So next time you have a craving for ham, and you need to feed a crowd, this recipe may be just the ticket!

These Sriracha Deviled Eggs have a tangy filling while remaining silky smooth and luscious. A requirement for deviled eggs is a good amount of tanginess and acid in the mix. You need to add a bite to them to offset the inherently rich egg yolks. Often that would be mustard, but these little “devils” use one of my favorite condiments, Sriracha.

They are pretty much a staple for Easter Sunday in our house, and most years I’ll try a riff on the old classic. Presentation makes or breaks the recipe, so don’t forget that the devil’s in the details when plating up the eggs. A flourish of slanted scallion slices not only adds a nice pop of spring green color, but also a tangy bite and a bit of texture.

My original intent was to use a star tip with the pastry bag but the mixture was too fluid and the shape wouldn’t have held up, so I used a large circle tip. Russ and I both agreed that the addition of two tablespoons of olive oil was way too much which produced a limp blend. I adjusted the list below to indicate using only one teaspoon oil for a firmer batter.

As a substitute for the pickle juice I incorporated cornichon juice, which is basically the same thing. Enjoy!

What to do with an almost whole head of leftover cabbage? In cool weather, which we are STILL experiencing in the Northeast, braising is a great option. After a quick Google on the web, Russ came across this simple recipe from thekitchn.com. We had all of the ingredients on hand so it was a perfect side dish for our seared pork chop entrée.

Cabbage is pretty simple, as vegetables go. It’s a beautiful, firm ball of Spring-colored leaves with a distinct pungent scent and taste. But when chopped up and left to melt and brown in salty, savory bacon fat, cabbage transforms into a pot of soft, mellow vegetable magic that soothes the soul. And trust me, until the weather starts warming up around here, the soul and other body parts need some soothing…

Rooted in the Southern tradition of cooking, fresh cabbage cooks in bacon fat for an easy side dish that delivers pure, vegetable comfort. It starts with cooking thick-cut bacon bits, until they’re crispy. They get set aside and wedges of cabbage go into the pan.

Rather than chopping the cabbage into pieces, keep the cabbage attached to the core, making for soft, tender hunks of cabbage to spoon onto each plate. This creates soft cabbage “fans” on the plate once they are cooked down and ready to eat. The cabbage gets braised in broth until tender, with a titch of apple cider vinegar to finish.

Not a bacon fan? Substitute black pepper pastrami in its place. Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

We served ours with seared bone-in pork chops and roasted butternut squash.

TIP FOR SLICING SQUASH:

With a fork, pierce the outer layer along the length of both sides of squash. Microwave on high for three minutes. Let cool slightly, then slice along perforation to cut in half easily. Drizzle with butter or olive oil, sprinkle with spices and finish roasting in a 400 degree oven for about 40-45 minutes until fork tender.

I have a confession to make. This General Tso’s Shrimp with Broccolini recipe almost didn’t make the cut because of the “fried” shrimp. But Russ convinced me to at least give it a try—and I’m really glad I did because they were delightfully crunchy, but not at all greasy!

The directions indicate to fry each batch of seven-to-eight shrimp for three minutes, but we found no more than two minutes did the trick. And we covered the wok after adding the water to the broccolini to make sure it got tender enough. Initially the two bunches seemed like overkill for two people (the recipe serves 4), but in the end it was the proper ratio to the other ingredients, and we enjoyed leftovers for lunch the next day.

There is a certain fear that exists around cornstarch (um, hello), an assumption that it was created in a lab and is nothing short of some mysterious white powder. No need to fear—it’s a pure starch made from finely ground corn flour. And it makes fried shrimp (or chicken) 10 times better.

Coating small pieces such as shrimp that will be stir-fried in some straight-up cornstarch, gives you a crispy coating after a super short time sizzling in oil. They’re not battered (like fried chicken), but texturally they’re not far off.

Courtesy of Food Network Magazine