lunch

Asparagus Polenta with Burrata and Prosciutto + GIVEAWAY!

April 11, 2017

I’m currently obsessed with Melissa Clark’s new cookbook, Dinner: Changing the Game. Being a food photographer, I tend to look through a cookbook first through it’s images, and then through the recipes themselves. The first thing I noticed about this book in particular was the photography. I can easily say that this book has some of the most beautiful food photos I’ve seen in a very long time. (Hats off to the photographer of the book). The recipes are easy and straight-foward, which is what you want for dinner, especially during the week, when we don’t have all the time in the world, and are just too tired to cook. I don’t know about you, but there are certain times during the week when I’m just really stumped and don’t have a clue of what I want to cook for dinner. It’s hard sometimes to land on something to make because I get bored of cooking the same dishes over and over again. When this happens, I usually start thumbing through the cookbooks on my shelf to find some inspiration.

To help you with the doldrum dinner dilemma, I’m giving away a copy of this book to one lucky winner. If you’ve ever participated in a giveaway on this blog, then you’ll know how they usually work. Just in case you’re joining us for the first time, I’ll let you know the rules. To enter, leave a comment answering a question I’m about to give you. You have until Friday to enter. One winner will be picked at random and notified via email. My mamma’s greatest pleasure in life is reading the comments on this blog, so as always, she’ll be reading all of your comments and be picking the winner at random. Usually it involves all the names being put in a jar and she picking one. She loves it. It’s one comment per person, let’s keep things fair. The prompt this time around is, what is your favorite “out meal” to eat? Out meal means those meals when you’re just too tired to cook, or simply aren’t feeling it, so you go out to eat. What is that favorite meal you like to eat, that you don’t make? I want to hear all about it. What is the dish, where do you get it from and why do you love it so much?! The more the merrier. You got this.

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Spicy Meatball Banh Mi Sandwiches

March 6, 2017

This recipe reminds me of two of my firsts in my life. It reminds me of the first time I ate pho at a Vietnamese restaurant that my sister introduced me to. I remember distinctly ordering both pho and a banh mi because I wanted to try everything, and because I don’t know about you, but soup isn’t really filling to me. I always just think of it as a starter to a larger meal, but I digress, that’s not the point I’m trying to make. The second first it reminds me of is one of the dishes I cooked all the time when I was younger, and that is a meatball sandwich. I’ve always loved to cook, ever since I was little, and even though I didn’t know how to make many things back then, I tried very hard to cook as much as I could and as often as I could. So the first time I made meatball sandwiches, I realized how easy they were to make and so I would cook them all the time. I wonder if my family ever got tired of them?

I was surfing the internet the other day and came across a recipe for a meatball banh mi sandwich from Bon Appetit and I instantly remembered about all those times at the local Vietnamese restaurant and those meatball sandwiches I would eat when I was younger. I thought it was such a great idea, and so I wanted to adapt that recipe for myself and give it a try. This is what I came up with and I’m pretty sure you’re going to love it. It’s a great recipe to make during the week for a quick and easy no-fuss no-muss dinner or on the weekend for a delicious lunch. I also think it would be great for a picnic because you can eat it at room temperature and it travels really well. I got a picnic basket for Christmas last year. It’s a nice basket that comes with a blanket and cutlery and plates and cups. Very swanky. And so I’ve been wanting to take it out for a spin. Once the weather gets a bit warmer, I’ll drag Julian out for a picnic and make these sandwiches, you better believe it.

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Oven-Roasted Buffalo Drumsticks

January 25, 2017

Who isn’t a fan of chicken wings? Julian’s dream dinner has always been a big plate of wings. Last week for his birthday, that’s exactly what I made him, only there were two giant plates of chicken wings on the dinner table instead of one. Talk about dreams coming true. I roasted the wings in a super hot oven on a wire rack—that’s key because it allows for even circulation of the heat and prevents the bottom from getting soggy—until they got super crispy and crunchy. Then I dunked them in a sauce made of melted butter and hot sauce. Classic wing sauce for not so classic wings. They tasted just like their fried counterpart, but my body didn’t know the difference, so I was able to eat as many as I could before I passed out from a food coma. A chicken wing food coma. Best night ever on all accounts. After that evening, I realized that crispy chicken in the oven was key to a happy life. So I thought the most logical thing to do next is recreate the same dish, but with bigger chicken because sometimes chicken wings are too tiny and eating twenty wings doesn’t seem justifiable for a well balanced dinner.

I like wings, probably not as much as Julian, but I enjoy them from time to time. I’m more obsessed with the drumettes rather than the piece with the two bones. Do you know what I’m talking about? Am I making sense? Am I a crazy person? The answer to all of those questions is yes, definitely yes. As I was saying though, the little drumettes make me feel like I’m a giant eating tiny food. Since the drumettes are my favorite piece of the wing, and since drumsticks are essentially larger versions of them, it only makes sense that I’d like try my hand at buffalo-ing them. We ate a lot of chicken drumsticks as a kid, so its nice to find new ways to eat them now as an adult. They remind me of my childhood. If you’re in need of a quick weeknight meal, packed with so much flavor, look no further. This is it. I know what I’m talking about.

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Cheers to the Weekend: Nashville Hot Chicken Tenders

December 2, 2016

I’m back with a new installment of my favorite segment on the blog, Cheers to the Weekend! I took a few weeks off from it so that we can revisit it with a bang! Homemade fried chicken tenders definitely qualifies as coming back with a bang, right? These aren’t just your regular fried chicken tenders though, those are too boring to share. These are actually super crunchy chicken tenders doused with a spicy sauce that takes them to the next level. I’m talking about Nashville Hot Chicken. If you’ve never tried it before, you’ve been missing out, but don’t worry, you can now make it at home for yourself.

Nashville Hot Chicken is like fried chicken but on spicy steroids. It’s not for the faint of heart because it packs a punch, and even though it burns my mouth off, I still happen to be addicted to it. The great thing about making it at home is that you can make it as spicy or mild as you’d like. Whenever I get the idea to fry chicken at home, I find that it’s really time consuming and takes all of my strength and energy. Plus it also takes a while to cook if you use bone-in chicken, so I decided to take classic Nashville Hot Chicken and make it easier for everyone by turning it into Nashville Hot Chicken Tenders. This just means that they’ll cook up faster for you, which in turn means you can eat homemade fried chicken tenders even faster. And after all, isn’t this what we’re all looking for? To be able to eat fried chicken as simply and as fast as possible? I think so.

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Cheers to the Weekend: Tacos Americanos

October 21, 2016

Even with all the cooking I do, and as much as I push making everything from scratch and being adventurous in the kitchen, sometimes there’s just nothing better than a very simple straight-forward dish. Sometimes though, we’re too tired to cook, or don’t have the time, or honestly just don’t really feel like getting into the kitchen. I know first hand what that feels like, I’m not immune to it. I’ve been asked a few times what my go-to fast food restaurant choice is. Or if I had to choose a fast food restaurant to eat at, if someone forced me to choose, what would that place be and what would I eat there? I’m always like, you don’t have to force me to eat at my favorite fast food place, believe me. Whenever I do eat out, it’s usually for something that I don’t know how to cook or don’t make on a regular basis, like Indian or Vietnamese food, those are usually my go-to places. I am human though and I do like to have fun from time to time, and so I have a guilty fast food exception. I’m a little ashamed to admit it, but I feel like we’ve been doing this blog thing together for a while now and I can tell you anything. I’m obsessed with Del Taco. Being born and raised in Southern California, it seems like there’s always a competition of Del Taco or Taco Bell over here. We’re divided. I’m 100% a Del Taco fan, ever since I was a kid. To this day, I still drive through one every now and then because it’s weirdly good. I normally get a couple crunchy regular tacos, and an order of fries, because they have crinkle cut fries and I just can’t live without them, and a side order of nacho cheese to dunk my fries in and it’s the best day of my life don’t you dare judge me.

These tacos are pretty much a replica of the crunchy regular tacos I always get at Del Taco, and if you’ve had them before then you know what I’m talking about. They’re ridiculously simple and super easy to make. They literally are made up of store-bought taco shells, a delicious ground beef filing, and then topped with just shredded lettuce and cheese. That’s it. Then you douse the whole thing in hot sauce and you call it dinner because there’s no greater guilty pleasure out there than these tacos right here. I love them because they’re made with ground beef, which is a relatively inexpensive cut of beef and you can really feed a crowd with it without breaking the bank. We ate a lot of ground beef growing up, so ground beef dishes always bring me back to my childhood. I’m calling them Tacos Americanos because coincidentally there’s a taco restaurant in New Orleans which my friend Joy and I always go to whenever I’m out there once a month, and they’re pretty much like these tacos as well. They’re called Tacos Americanos, so I’m sharing them with you all so that you too can experience their magic. Let’s Cheers to the Weekend and live life to the fullest, drive-thru tacos and all.

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Cheers to the Weekend: Grilled Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches

September 23, 2016

Fridays mean no more work (hopefully for most of you) and it means brunch on the weekends and drinks in the evening to celebrate. Fridays also mean it’s time for another installment of my favorite segment on the blog, Cheers to the Weekend! This week, I’m tackling another sandwich recipe because they’re delicious and because they happen to be my go-to easy lunch or dinner option; making them the perfect meal to make over the weekend. These are filled with grilled buffalo chicken, ranch, and a crazy good celery slaw that balances everything out perfectly. Also what can be better than marinating chicken in BUTTER and hot sauce and then grilling it for that optimal flavor?! Nothing! We already know that butter makes everything better when it comes to baking, but it’s also better for savory sandwiches. This month’s Go Bold With Butter collaboration proves it!

These Grilled Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches are the best way to say goodbye to summer, with one final use of the grill, and welcome autumn with open arms. Sure it’s officially fall, but that doesn’t mean we can’t hold on to summer grilling season for just a tiny bit longer. So crank up that outdoor grill once more, or heat up a stovetop grill pan and make the perfect farewell to summer meal that everyone will go crazy for. If you’re like me and like to hoard boneless skinless chicken breasts in the freezer all the time, but don’t exactly know how to use them all up, these sandwiches (or sammiches as I used to say as a kid) are a great way to use up that freezer chicken. Make them soon and remember that it’s always time to Cheers to the Weekend!

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