Date, Goat Cheese & Mint Flatbread w/ Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto

*Post by Mark

Eager to try out our new camera, my lunch yesterday was more about making something I could take a picture of than it was about putting food into my body.  So I scraped together a 'kitchen sink' flatbread pizza using only the random items I found in our mostly empty refrigerator.  The pictures turned out pretty fantastic, but I was shocked that the flatbread actually came together as well as it did.  Hell, I even popped another one in the oven for lunch today.

Click below to see what all went onto the Flatbread!

Butternut Squash and Chickpea Salad with Tahini

*Post by Angela.
Two vegetarian recipe posts in two days?  The world has gone crazy.  I actually made this beautiful salad from Orangette a couple of weeks back for my annual Easter/Passover dinner (a dinner I didn't end up posting about because as the wine started flowing, I quickly forgot to take photos of what I was cooking).  Cooking dinner for my friends can sometimes be a challenging (but rewarding) task - in my little group of lovable maniacs, I have a couple of vegetarians (and those who oppose them, which means EXTRA meat), a couple of celiac sufferers (no gluten!), those who won't eat pork, those who won't eat seafood, and one who is so particular about food I maintain an actual physical list of things he won't eat.

This meal around, I wanted to make some kosher-for-Passover food that my Jewish vegetarian friend (who will normally eat anything, as long as it doesn't include meat) could enjoy as the rest of us were busy chowing down on the roasted lamb.*  While it did require the extra step of finding kosher tahini, this salad was well worth it - everyone loved this earthy yet bright, slightly sweet and tangy salad, and it's something I'm looking forward to making again in the near future.

Click below to get the recipe!

Potato and Leek Flat Bread

*Post by Angela.
Lately, the stuff we've been eating at home I haven't felt was worth posting about (or am kind of embarrassed about eating) - pasta with store-bought pesto, sandwiches thrown together from leftovers, frozen goods, canned sardines and rice...sigh.  But last night, even though I was feeling super lazy, I wanted to eat something I didn't heat in the microwave.  With a little assist from some refrigerated pizza dough, I threw together this tasty potato and leek flat bread from Real Simple in virtually no time at all. 

Click below to get the recipe!

Chicken Breasts with Whole-Grain Mustard Sauce

*Post by Angela.
Right now, I have 5 huge, hard-covered cookbooks on my living room table (plus a handful of cooking magazines).  Every week, Mark and I salivate over the gorgeous photos in these cookbooks, picking out recipes we'd like to make/think we could handle making.  Yet every time I cook, I find myself running to the Internets (all hail the Internets!) to find recipes.  I think it's mostly due to the fact that most recipes I find online (especially those from allrecipes or recipezaar) have suggestions and alterations posted from people who have actually made the recipes; it might also be because I can no longer read anything that isn't on a computer screen.  Whatever the reason, I've decided to make a very, very belated New Year's resolution (maybe an April Fool's Day resolution?  That makes no sense) to use my cookbooks more, and decided to try another recipe from my Williams-Sonoma cookbook - with my own little spin, of course - chicken breasts with whole-grain mustard sauce.  The result was juicy, tender chicken with a pleasantly piquant and creamy sauce that's versatile enough to use on the protein of your choice. 

Click below to get the recipe!

Buffalo Steaks with Peppercorn Sauce and Roasted Potatoes

*Post by Angela.
The weather last weekend was absolutely gorgeous, so even though I was sick, I took myself over to the Dupont Circle farmers market.  I picked up some buffalo ribeyes from Cibola Farms, and the cutest little red potatoes.  I've never cooked buffalo before, and wanted to do something special with it, so I found this recipe for marinade and peppercorn sauce.  I served it up with some roasted potatoes and a spinach salad (a post for another day), and while I know the photo below looks like a hot mess, it was a delicious and hearty hot mess!  Mark and I polished off this dinner in no time at all.

Click below to get the recipes!

Curried Chicken Salad

*Post by Angela.
When Mark lived in Chicago, his favorite restaurant was a tapas place called Cafe Ba Ba Reeba, and his favorite dish there was the chicken & curry salad.  Now, I don't know much about chicken salad.  It was definitely not something we ate at my house growing up, and I've probably eaten it less than a dozen times as an adult.  But I've liked the chicken salad that I have eaten, and I'm intrigued by the combination of flavors and textures.  I've tried making curried chicken salad once in the past, and it turned out okay, but not great.

Because I'm the best girlfriend in the entire world (and because I felt like chicken salad had the kind of consistency that might not offend my very sensitive throat), I had the urge to give it another go with a recipe from Dave Lieberman, the man responsible for my very successful cauliflower soup last week.  The recipe is pretty darned simple, and result was much better this time around, like a piñata full of yummy flavors and textures in your mouth - I'm starting to think that this Dave Lieberman character might deserve a place on my Food Network all-stars list (along with Tyler Florence and Giada De Laurentiis).

Click below to get the recipe!

Tomato Soup with Roasted Garlic and Herbs

Due to the continued swelling of my throat, I'm kind of relegated to soups only for the next couple of days.  But I didn't want just any soup.  I needed a special soup, a magical soup, a soup that could banish the grossness of being sick...at least for a little while.  That's where this recipe from seriouseats comes in.  I love it so much it makes me want to cry hot tears of joy.  The fire-roasted tomatoes and the roasted garlic make the soup explode with flavor, and every time I finish eating a bowl, I immediately want another.  Plus, it's really low calorie and relatively cheap!  I'd even go so far as to say it's my favorite tomato soup recipe of all-time (okay, or maybe this one, but it's really close).

Click below to get the recipe!

Cioppino

So I thought I was getting better, but I was wrong.  Yesterday, my cough decided to mutate, turning into some sort of infection - my throat is currently swollen up so much (think X-Men villain Mojo) that it's hard to swallow.  I spent the day lounging the house, hanging out with my friend Nick (Calypso to those who have met him at Food Blogger happy hours).  Given my pitiful state, I decided to try to cheer myself up by making cioppino, a fish stew for which San Francisco is famous.  The rich broth of the cioppino soothed my throat and made my stomach very happy.  I also now have enough leftovers to feed myself for a few days without having to leave the house, so I don't have to change out of my pajamas anytime in the immediate future.

Click below to get the recipe!

Irish Soda Bread, Colcannon, and Corned Beef

*Team post by Angela and Mark.
I started out kidding, a little.  

Me: "Hey, babe, whaddya say to corned beef and cabbage on St. Paddy's Day?"  

Mark: "I'm pretty sure that's not actually traditional Irish food.  I think it's more Irish-American.  I think we can do better than that.  Also, since I'm actually the Irish one... maybe I should try to make something?"

Me: "...I'm okay with that."

A day later, and the menu for St. Patrick's Day dinner had gone from, "let's maybe cook something Irish-y" to Irish soda bread (by Mark), corned beef (by me, because I love me some corned beef regardless of its origins), and colcannon, a traditional Irish dish made with potatoes, cabbage (or kale), and ham (or Irish bacon).  I've never made any sort of Irish dish before, so I turned to two of my trustiest culinary guides: for the corned beef, Elise at simplyrecipes.com, and for the colcannon, Tyler Florence (while I'm not sure Mr. Florence is Irish, I've never had a "Tyler's Ultimates" recipe let me down).  While the corned beef turned out pretty dry, I was really pleased with my first attempt at colcannon.  And Mark's bread was the star of the meal - I'm really starting to think he should take over the cooking...

Click below to get the recipes!

Silky Cauliflower Soup

Today I'm still recovering from being sick, so my stomach is a little unsure of itself.  For dinner, I really just wanted soup, and a light soup at that.  And nothing that would take forever to make.  Dave Lieberman had the perfect cure for me, a recipe that fit the bill, cost almost nothing to make, and also satisfied my recent cauliflower obsession. 

Click below to get the recipe!

Honey-Glazed Ribs

After our Ping Pong Dim Sum outing the other night, I got it in my head to try to make a version of the dish Mark liked so much, the honey-glazed ribs (true story, I made Mark Chinese spareribs for our first date).  I found this recipe at allrecipes, and while it's not really that similar to the Ping Pong dish, I thought it might fit the bill.  As it worked out, I actually preferred my version, hearty and bursting with flavor.  Mark's reaction to the dish?  To ask for seconds.

Click below to get the recipe!

Artichoke and Spinach Dip

I headed to my friend Annie's place for Oscar watching last night, and while I wanted to be really creative and make appetizers to match each Best Picture nominee, I was just way too lazy (see endlesssimmer for more of an effort).  Instead, I decided to go with a tried and true artichoke and spinach dip, with some of my expected modifications.  The result?  A really quick and easy recipe you can take to any future shin-dig!

Click below to get the recipe!

Tandoori Chicken with Basmati Rice and Indian Dahl with Spinach

As you may have guessed from my recent posts, I haven't done much cooking lately - I've either been too busy/tired/lazy, or I've been out of town.  But the other day, I felt an undeniable itch to get back in the kitchen and make myself a nice, well-balanced, healthy-ish home-cooked meal.  As I've made a pledge to try to cook "outside the box" more, I decided to try out Indian (a cuisine I rarely eat, much less cook, but generally enjoy) with Tandoori-Style Chicken and Indian Dahl (for all you vegetarians out there!).  The recipe for the chicken I got from my Williams-Sonoma cookbook; then it was just a matter of finding a vegetable side dish to complement it.  I found this one at allrecipes, and the best part is that it called only for spices I already had (with the exception of the garam masala)!  Strangely, my vegetarian "side" dish turned out a lot better than my chicken entree, but I think with some practice in cooking Indian cusine, I can turn out tastier dishes in the future.

Click below to get the recipes!

Lamb Chops, Cauliflower & Prosciutto-Wrapped Pears w/ Goat Cheese

*Post by Mark.

Angela can be a busy young lady. When she's not working, marathon training, sleep-walking (oh, you have NO idea), or keeping up with an intense weekly DVR regiment (apparently Bones is 'must-watch TV'), she's usually cooking some extravagant meal for this guy's exclusive benefit. Now, I'm no stranger to the kitchen, but I usually step aside when it comes to the kitchen... no, I literally step aside. The kitchen comfortably fits 1/2 a normal sized person, which means it fits one Angela comfortably (Also, she's a total control-freak).

With her upcoming birthday and a strenuous recent workload and my fear of gradually becoming an easily replaceable component in this relationship, I decided tonight would be a good opportunity to nudge her aside, squeeze into the close-but-foreign quarters of the kitchen and make myself useful. Perhaps my apron-wearing hiatus made me antsy to push my culinary ventures, or perhaps I had a lot of reciprocating to do, but I settled on a menu that given my talents limitations, may have been a little... ambitious.

Click READ MORE to see what Mark cooked for Angela.

Pasta Bolognese

After two nights of quick and easy meals, I woke up yesterday to an incredibly frigid morning with only one thought sounding through my head.  Bolognese.  Bolognese is a thick, full-bodied meat sauce originating in northern Italy's Bologna.  I've made countless Bolognese recipes, some incredible and some so-so, but this recipe from Emeril, which I've adapted just slightly, is one of my favorites.  I'll warn you now: the list of ingredients for this recipe is relatively extensive, and it takes about 2 hours of simmering (I had a lot of work to do tonight, and Mark wasn't going to be home until very late, so it worked out for me - you may need to wait until the weekend).  But the complexity, richness, and depth of flavor of the resulting sauce is well worth it.   

Click below to see the recipe!

Duck Tacos

I love the process of cooking.  I love slow-cooked or roasted dinners, complicated dishes, meals that require overnight brining or marinating...most times, I feel like the longer a meal takes, the better it tastes; the more work a dish requires, the more love I put into it.  Unfortunately, like most working adults, my schedule doesn't really allow me to make time- and work-intensive meals, other than on the weekends or holidays (or snow days!!).  So, throughout my very short cooking career, I've tried to build a repertoire of simple and quick meals that are delicious and filling.  I've just added another one to the list: duck tacos from fellow DC food blogger, My Husband Cooks.  I decided not to make the accompanying corn salsa (although it looks delicious) because it would have required another trip to the store - I already had flour tortillas, shredded Mexican cheese, guacamole and a tomato.  The result was a go-to dinner that I will be dreaming about all week.

Click below to see the recipe!

Sake-Steamed Sea Bass with Ginger and Green Onions

Mark had to work for Valentine's Day, and I had a lot of work to get caught up on at home, so I wanted to make a quick but tasty dinner for one.  I tend to hit the seafood aisle at Whole Foods the minute Mark walks out the door, and this weekend was no different.  I decided to make one of my favorites, a sake-steamed sea bass dish that is light and healthy, yet yummy enough to crave.  I adapted this Epicurious recipe just slightly, and the result is this almost-too-easy-to-be-believed, wonderfully flavorful dish.

Click below to get the recipe!

Chicken Piccata

I was...sort of limited with the ingredients at my house, given I bought the very last package of chicken available at Soviet Safeway.  It was this:

I decided to try to make chicken piccata, throwing together all of the appropriate dried herbs that I had in my pantry.  All told, the meal worked out incredibly well.

Click below for the recipe!

Chicken Arroz Caldo

Another icy day, another opportunity to make one of my mom's comforting Filipino dishes.  Since I had a little extra time this evening, and I had all the ingredients I needed at home, I decided to make chicken arroz caldo.  Should last me at least a couple of days.  One of my fellow D.C. Filipino food bloggers has a great entry on the background of the dish here.  As with all Filipino dishes, everyone has a different version of this dish, but they're all filling, flavorful, and delicious. 

Click below to see the recipe!

Pork Sinigang...kind of.

I stood in the Snowpocalypse-panic induced lines at both Whole Foods and Safeway, just so I could bring you this post.  Or, you know, I decided I didn't feel like braving the weather to make my reservation at Oyamel tonight.  In any event, the snow gave me the perfect opportunity to cook my all-time favorite dish from childhood, my mom's Americanized version of sinigang.   Any Filipinos reading this will immediately protest, "That is not sinigang."*  To them I say this:  shut it.  It's my blog, and this is the sinigang I grew up with.  And it is delicious.  Even better, it's simple (although a little time-consuming) and the perfect dish for a snowy night in.

Click to see the recipe!