I’m not sure what inspired me to roast a small piece of a leg of lamb. Somewhere in my mind I’d been wanting to do something with lamb…whether it be with the chops, shank or leg. The deal was sealed when I saw the perfect-sized piece of roast at my local Bristol Farms. I got…
I really enjoy a good lasagna, but I’m pretty picky. It seems every Italian establishment has some variation of the dish, and they vary widely in types of meat, types of cheese, vegetables, mushrooms…you name it. I like my lasagnas heavy on the meat and the noodles, so I often find my homemade dish the…
Animal 435 N Fairfax Ave Los Angeles, CA 90048 I’ve been wanting to try Animal for a while, and finally got the chance. Founded by Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo of Two Dude Catering (Food Network) fame, Animal has been a consistently popular restaurant since it opened in 2008. Every time I’ve tried to make…
I purchased the Ad Hoc Fried Chicken kit from Williams-Sonoma a while back. I saw it in the store and immediately had to get it. Nevermind the fact that I had never made fried chicken before, and am slightly averse to frying in a big pot of oil at home – it was Ad Hoc fried…
For anyone that is a semi-regular reader, most of my home cooked meals have been braises. They’re just really satisfying dishes that do take some time, but yield some really delicious, tender meat and creates a good sauce at the same time. Plus, they’re usually pretty inexpensive to make, as ‘cheap’ cuts are typically the cuts of meat that are braised.
I love noodles. One of the things I wish I cooked really well is pasta – in many variations. Making pasta can be very simple or very complex. It can be as simple as boiling some dried noodles and mixing it with a jar of sauce, though I don’t recommend that. I don’t remember what show I was watching on the Food Network, but someone was making a pasta sauce by braising ribs in a tomato sauce, and then mixing it with sauce. It looked delicious! Thus, I was game to try some variation of this.
Roasted chicken is such a simple dish, and is something that can also be very satisfying. A roasted whole chicken is a great way to economically serve a number of people. At it’s most basic, all one needs is a chicken and some seasonings. While very simple, a lot can go wrong in the dish. The breast meat is often overcooked, or the dark meat undercooked, as they both cook at different speeds. In addition, it can be difficult to get a nicely browned, crisp skin on the bird. The heat needs to be just right – if the heat is too high, the skin will burn before the meat is done; if it is too low, the meat will cook before you get any browning.
I’m not sure what inspired me to make this dish. I enjoy curries, and I’ve been braising a lot, so I suppose this was a logical dish. I found one of Ming Tsai’s recipes (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ming-tsai/braised-chicken-curry-with-yams-recipe/index.html), and it was quite simple. I figured I’d give it a try. I didn’t want to make one of those packaged sauce curries that you add as a sauce to your meat – you miss out on a lot of the flavor. Here, where the chicken meat and bones cook for a while in the curry, makes a much more flavorful dish.