Recipe: Smoky Potato and Kale Soup

Smoky Potato and Kale Soup

HalfBakedHarvest.com

4.6 stars

Not a great photo of the soup above since it's covered by Manchego cheese (yum!) that we decided to use to top the soup. This was so flavorful and not hard to make. Another HalfBakedHarvest delicious recipe!

Ingredients: Yukon gold or russet potatoes, kale, whole milk, chorizo, yellow onion, chicken broth, lemon, garlic, smoked paprika, cayenne pepper, extra virgin olive oil, Kosher salt, pepper, Manchego

Recipe: Pork-and-Brisket Chili

Pork-and-Brisket Chili

Food and Wine Magazine, Nov 2017, p.101

4.5 stars

Found this recipe in my huge stash (I have a mountain of recipes I've collected over the years, pulling out pages from magazines). We were in the mood for chili, and this sounded good and complex compared to what we've made before. It was delicious, and made enough to feed a crowd (but we're not having any parties during these pandemic times so had leftovers that we froze for a later date!).

The recipe took quite some time -- the recipe says that the active time is 1 hr 45 min, but I think it took longer.

Beans ingredients: dried pink beans, yellow onion, carrot, celery, garlic, Kosher salt

Chili ingredients: boneless pork shoulder, brisket, yellow onions, green bell pepper, garlic, tomato paste, chili powder, light brown sugar, mustard powder, ground cumin, jar of Hatch chiles, crushed tomatoes, chicken stock, oregano, vegetable oil, Kosher salt, pepper

Serving/topping ingredients: sour cream, shredded cheese, sliced scallions

Tips:

• Cut the boneless pork shoulder into 3/4" pieces instead 1.5" inches
• Used 2 yellow onions instead of 3
• Used 5 garlic gloves instead of 10
• Add crushed red pepper if the green Hatch chiles are mild
• When making the beans, cook for 1.5 hours instead of 1 hour

Recipe: Hobo Pack Bibimbap

 

Hobo Pack Bibimbap

Food and Wine Magazine, Aug 2017, p. 64

4.7 stars

I loved this dish -- we had it with Crispy Tofu Steaks.

We haven't been going out to eat during these pandemic times, so this filled my Korean food craving. Some kimchi on the side would be amazing next time! Note that we didn't crack an egg on top since I'd had enough eggs earlier in the day. 😀

Note: Gochujang is definitely needed for flavor and to bring the dish together.

Ingredients: sushi rice, ground pork, eggs, spinach carrots, cucumber, ginger, scallion, gochujang, canola oil, rice vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, toasted sesame seeds, Kosher salt, pepper

Tip:

• Cook the spinach separately. It wilted much too much.

Recipe: Hawaiian Pork Bowl

Hawaiian Pork Bowl

Food and Wine Magazine, July 2017, p.88
5 stars

Restaurant-worthy dish (and as good or better than any True Food Kitchen bowl).

Overall the bowl is layered with so many flavors: rice as the base + marinated pork, bacon, grilled red onion, grilled pineapple, jalapeno, avocado, cilantro and a bright dressing. The inspiration of the dish comes from Graham Elliot. 

This was the first time we've ever marinated meat in tea, and it worked out nicely. According to the recipe, "sweet tea is an ideal marinade for pork because its sugars help to caramelize the meat as it cooks."

Ingredients: rice, pork tenderloin, bacon, pineapple, avocado, red onion, cilantro, jalapeno, sugar, English breakfast tea bags, lime juice, extra-virgin olive oil, Kosher salt, pepper, boiling water

Pork and Asparagus Stir-Fry

 

Pork and Asparagus Stir-Fry

Bon Appetit Magazine, Apr 2020, p.28
4.2 stars

I'm not an asparagus fan so we made this with green beans instead. Really delicious. I was debating whether I liked this or the Spicy Green Bean and Tofu Stir-Fry with Bison better. They're just different. . . this recipe doesn't require boiling the beans ~ they're sauteed and there isn't a sauce. Both are good but I prefer the tofu/bison recipe.
Ingredients: cooked rice, asparagus, ground pork, scallions, garlic, ginger, Shaoxing wine or medium-dry sherry, soy sauce, sesame oil, vegetable oil, Kosher salt

Recipe: Warm Sausage and Lentil Salad

Warm Sausage and Lentil Salad
Food and Wine Magazine, Jan 2018, p. 73
5 stars

I wouldn't call this a salad, per se. It's a delicious entree that is relatively healthy -- I LOVED it. Blog contributor the grandcruman didn't think it was 5 stars, but he's not writing this blog. I thought the flavor was spot on, and I looked forward to eating the leftovers. There was the acidity from the red wine vinegar dressing, the crunch from the walnuts, heartiness from the lentils, complexity from adding the fennel and parsley and who doesn't like sausage? I'd make this again in a heartbeat.

Ingredients: carrots, fennel, garlic sausages, green lentils, shallots, thyme, walnuts, bay leaf, parsley, red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, extra-virgin olive oil, Kosher salt, pepper

Notes:

• Doubled the amount of carros (and used tri-color carrots that I love from Trader Joe's)

Recipe: Spicy-Sweet Sambal Pork Noodles and Blistered Green Beans with Fried Shallots

Spicy-Sweet Sambal Pork Noodles
Bon Appetit Magazine, May 2020, p. 30
5 stars

Ingredients: ramen or spaghetti, ground pork, ginger, tomato paste, basil, hot chili paste (sambal oelek), garlic, soy sauce, unseasoned rice vinegar, sugar, butter, extra-virgin olive oil, Kosher salt

Blistered Green Beans with Fried Shallots
Bon Appetit Magazine, May 2020, p.74
5 stars

Ingredients: green beans, oyster sauce, shallot, garlic, lemongrass, ginger, vegetable oil, Kosher salt

I loved this meal so much! Packed with flavor and relatively easy to make.
The noodles were like an Asian bolognese, and the the green been dish is now a new favorite to add as a side for the other Asian dishes we make.

Notes:

• The noodles were pretty spicy but we halved the overall recipe and forgot to half the sambal oelek.
• This meal would be great with a side of simple tofu.

Recipe: Weeknight Beans on Toast

Weeknight Beans on Toast
Bon Appetit Magazine, Feb 2019, p.24
4.5 stars

This is a nice alternative to the Skillet Bruschetta with Beans and Greens (that we've made many times that goes with toast) -- incredibly delicious and overall healthy!  As noted within the recipe, I can see the leftovers being repurposed and used on top of pasta.

Ingredients: bread, sweet or hot Italian sausage, crushed tomatoes, baby spinach, white beans, garlic, oregano, red pepper flakes, extra-virgin olive oil, butter, Kosher salt, Parmesan, parsley

Tips:

• Use 2-3x the amount of spinach (recipe also notes that kale could be used)
• Measure the salt
• Use cannellini beans
• Did not make the garlic butter or broil the bread -- simply toasted the bread and buttered it

Recipe: Pork-Meatball Skillet Bake

Pork-Meatball Skillet Bake
MarthaStewart.com
4.5 Stars

I have decided that I am not a sausage and peppers fan (this recipe is essentially that recipe).  However, the dish was good, and I'm recording our thoughts here so that when I, thetaster, is out of town, then blogger the grandcruman can make and enjoy this!

This was a tasty recipe, despite me not loving the combination of sausage and peppers (and onion).  It was very easy to make, and I always love how the addition of fennel seeds can make pork taste like a spiced sausage.

Ingredients: crusty boule, fresh mozzarella, basil, ground pork, red and/or yellow bell peppers, onion, tomato sauce, fennel seeds, Parmigiano-Reggiano, extra-virgin olive oil, Kosher salt, pepper

Tips/notes/changes:

• 1 pound of pork made 13 meatballs
• Add garlic to the meatballs
• Add red pepper flakes to the sauce
• Toast the bread before putting it in the broiler
• Use shredded mozzarella instead of fresh (fresh has too much water)
• Next time, cut the bell pepper slices in half so it's easier to eat
• Next time, sub the 1/4 cup water for white wine to add depth of flavor

Recipe: Larb with Cabbage

Larb with Cabbage
4.5 stars
Bon Appetit Magazine, Apr 2018

Love this dish!  So much flavor but you can see why from the ingredient list.  It has sweet, sour, salty, spicy and umami flavors, plus crunch from the peanuts. We did change the recipe up just a little bit -- see notes below.

Ingredients: rice, ground pork or beef or lamb, green cabbage, peanuts, scallions, lemongrass, Thai chiles, garlic, shallot, lime juice, fish sauce, mint, vegetable oil, Kosher salt

Tips/Notes:

• Used lamb -- it's a bit fatty, so use less oil
• Used butter lettuce instead of cabbage
• Shredded cabbage and cooked it with the lamb
• Found Thai chiles (finally!) and wow, it added heat which was great!
• Add peanuts only at the very end if you think you'll have leftovers as the peanuts will get soggy

Recipe: Spicy Pork Bowls with Greens

Before adding gochujang

Spicy Pork Bowls with Greens
Bon Appetit Magazine, May 2019, p. 26
4 stars

Another good, easy weeknight recipe that's pretty healthy.  We've made some other really delicious Asian dishes like the Spicy Green Beans and Tofu Stir-Fry with Ground Bison, the Better-Than-Take-Out Stir-Fried Udon or the Weeknight Mapo Dofu with Ground Pork recipes which is why I didn't rate this as 5 stars; however, we'd make this again!

Ingredients: rice, pork tenderloin, carrots, collar greens or Tuscan kale, sambal oelek, light brown sugar, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, seasoned rice vinegar, scallions, gochujang, sesame oil, vegetable oil, Kosher salt

Tips

• Used kale instead of collard greens
• Used half the amount of pork (as we are trying to limit our overall meat consumption)
• Added tofu
• Added Sriracha at the table as well as the gochujang
• Need to make double the amount of the soy sauce, seasoned rice vinegar and sesame oil dressing

Recipe: Better-Than-Takeout Stir-Fried Udon

Better-Than-Takeout Stir-Fried Udon
Bon Appetit Magazine, Apr 2019, p.61
5 stars

This dish was delish!  I love chewy udon noodles -- they're my fave.  This recipe is easy to make for a weeknight meal.  It reminded us of Pei Wei's Dan Dan noodles.

Ingredients: green cabbage, instant udon noodles, ground pork, scallions, ginger, red pepper flakes, mirin, soy sauce, sesame seeds, sesame oil, vegetable oil

Tips:

• Used kale instead of cabbage and used more than the 4 cups it called for
• Added Sriracha to taste at the table
• Next time, need to double the recipe so there are more leftovers!
• Also add shiitake mushrooms and cucumber

Recipe: Emeril Lagasse's Shrimp Creole

Shrimp Creole
Food & Wine Magazine, Sept 2018, p.30
4.5 stars

This Emeril Lagasse recipe was named one of Food & Wine Magazine's 40 best recipes (ever) in 2018.  The ONLY reason why I didn't rate this 5 stars is because of the level of heat.  When I think something is hot, it is HOT!!!!  Perhaps I didn't measure the spices correctly because I made one-sixteenth of the creole seafood seasoning and was trying to do the calculations in my head.  Our mouths were burning while eating this delicious dish.  We'll be more careful to measure out the spices next time!

Tips

• Substituted the shrimp with andouille sausage (sauteed it separately with no seasoning)
• Remember to remove the bay leaves!
• Served with rice

Recipe: Pork-and-Apple Bedfordshire Clangers

Pork-and-Apple Bedfordshire Clangers
Food and Wine Magazine, Nov 2017, p.54
5 stars

While simple, this took a long time to make as there were many steps.  Start 3 hours before you plan to have dinner.  Note:  The pastry dough is the flakiest dough I've made.  The 4 rolls above have 2 whole sticks of butter in them altogether!

Pastry ingredients:  flour, Kosher salt, unsalted butter, ice water

Sausage ingredients:  ground pork shoulder, fresh breadcrumbs, sage, garlic, sugar, ginger, allspice, nutmeg, Kosher salt, pepper, chicken stock

Apple pie ingredients:  Honeycrisp apples, dark brown sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, granulated sugar

Other ingredients:  egg

Tips:

• Used fresh ginger
• Didn't do 'half-and-half' with each roll having both sausage and fruit per the recipe;  instead created 2 rolls with sausage (the ones on the right in the photo) and 2 rolls with fruit (the 2 on the left with the slits)
• 1 lb of apples is way too much; next time use 1/2 lb
• Serve with a bold red wine

Timing if you plan to eat at 7:15pm:

• 4:15pm:  make pastry
• 4:30pm:  make filling
• 5:00pm:  freeze the filling
• 5:30pm:  roll out the dough and make the clangers
• 5:45pm:  refrigerate the clangers until chilled
• 6:15pm:  bake
• 7:15pm:  eat

Recipe: Cheesy Grits with Poached Eggs, Greens and Bacon

Cheesy Grits with Poached Eggs, Greens and Bacon
Bon Appetit Magazine, Feb 2016, p. 28
5 stars

This is one of my favorite dishes -- combining some of my favorite food items including grits, bacon and poached eggs.

Ingredients:  white grits, Fresno or red chile, bacon, Swiss chard leaves, eggs, cheddar cheese, shallot, Sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar, unsalted butter, Kosher salt, black pepper

Tips:

• Used yellow grits instead of white grits since we had yellow grits in the pantry
• Couldn't find a red chile so left that out
• Sauteed mushrooms on the side to top the dish
• Double or triple the amount of Swiss chard

Recipe: Broccoli Bolognese with Orecchiette

Broccoli Bolognese with Orecchiette
Bon Appetit Magazine, Nov 2017, p. 48
3.75 stars

I didn't rate this super high and am not adding this to our 'What Not to Make' blog post because this dish was good (not amazing) and easy to make in a pinch for a weeknight meal.  We usually have all the ingredients that this recipe calls for.

By the way, I can't understand why they call this a bolognese?!?

Ingredients:  broccoli, Italian sausage, orecchiette, unsalted butter, Parmesan, garlic, EVOO, Kosher salt

Tips:

• Used frozen broccoli instead of fresh
• Didn't have orecchiette pasta so use any pasta shape you have on hand!

Recipe: Weeknight Mapo Dofu with Ground Pork

Weeknight Mapo Dofu with Ground Pork
Bon Appetit Magazine, Nov 2016, p. 52
5 Stars

My new favorite Asian dish!  I love Mapo Dofu (tofu), but it's generally not the healthiest dish to make or eat.  Lots of oil and few to no vegetables.  For this recipe, we added vegetables to "healthy-it-up" (and to use ingredients we had in the fridge!), and the entire dish used only 2 Tbsp of vegetable oil.  My mouth is watering now just thinking about this.

This is an easy weeknight dish -- the recipe notes it at 25 min total time which is about right.

Ingredients:  ground pork, jalapeno, tofu, garlic, ginger, scallions, tomato paste, Sichuan peppercorns, chicken broth, Chinese black bean garlic sauce, cornstarch, vegetable oil, basil, white rice

Tips:

• Used medium firm tofu as we like them in chunks and didn't want the tofu to fall apart
• Added broccoli and kale (cooked/wilted kale in a separate pan and added to the dish near the end)
• The key to this dish is the Chinese black bean garlic sauce which I've found at many regular/standard grocery stores

Recipe: Baked Rigatoni with Milk-Braised Pork, Ricotta and Lemon

Baked Rigatoni with Milk-Braised Pork, Ricotta and Lemon
Food and Wine Magazine, Oct 2016, p. 120
No rating:  I need to make it again

This recipe turned out a bit dry, but it's due to 2 issues:
- I overcooked the pork!
- The organic ricotta I bought was drier than usual

The flavors were good, so we'll definitely make this again -- will just need to check on the pork earlier to make sure the pork doesn't get overcooked and that the cooking liquid doesn't reduce as much.

Note:  This is a weekend meal, taking about 4.5 hours (most of it cooking time in the oven).

Ingredients:  boneless pork roast, rigatoni, ricotta, garlic, whole milk, dry white wine, lemon, extra-virgin olive oil, lemon zest, rosemary, bay leaf, Kosher salt and pepper, fresh grated pecorino cheese

Recipe: Kale-and-Shitake Fried Rice

Kale-and-Shitake Fried Rice
Food and Wine Magazine, Feb 2016, p.94
5 stars

Love, love, loved this dish.  This is going in our Asian dish rotation.  It's basically a somewhat healthy 'fried' rice especially if you follow my tips below. . . and it's easy to make!  Just a little bit of chopping of vegetables.

Ingredients:  shitake mushrooms, kale, white rice, eggs, ginger, garlic, scallions, rice wine vinegar, oyster sauce, Kosher salt, vegetable oil

What we changed in the recipe:

• Used half the oil
• Used baby bella mushrooms instead of shitake since the shitake didn't look fresh in the store
• Used triple the amount of kale
• Used freshly-cooked basmati rice
• Added red pepper
• Added ground pork sausage (cooked it separately and added it to the top)
• Added sriracha to taste at the table

Recipe: Pork-and-Ricotta Meatballs in Parmesan Broth

Pork-and-Ricotta Meatballs in Parmesan Broth
Food and Wine Magazine, March 2015, p. 101
4 stars

Hearty and quick weekday meal that is so flavorful and will make your house smell wonderful.

Ingredients:  ground pork, frozen peas, baby spinach, egg noodles, chicken broth, ricotta, Parmigiano-Reggiano, egg, breadcrumbs, nutmeg, extra-virgin olive oil Kosher salt, pepper

Tips:

• Spinach wilts down to almost nothing, so we used almost 3/4 lb spinach (much more than what the recipe calls for)
• You probably will have leftovers, so definitely keep the egg noodles separate so that they don't get soggy -- don't cook the egg noodles in the soup