donna's daily dish

and then the weather changed, part 1

9/17/2023

Thank goodness the heat and humidity are gone. Meals with warm flavors and the last of the summer vegetables can be made. From my CSA box I had a bunch of scallions that I wanted to incorporate into a main course. From Yewande Komolafe of The New York Times, I found a recipe for Sheet-Pan Gochujang Chicken and Roasted Vegetables. I enjoy the spicy and sweet flavor the gochujang imparts. For the recipe you’ll also need soy sauce, fresh ginger, a neutral oil, squash (butternut, acorn or delicata), turnips, scallions, kosher salt, bone-in skin on thicken thighs, radishes, rice vinegar, sesame oil and steamed rice (optional).

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quick and easy

6/18/2023

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My local ShopRite had some beautiful Chairman’s Reserve tomahawk pork chops on sale last week. I couldn’t resist picking them up as I knew I could find a recipe. Fortunately, my favorite go to NYT Cooking source, Melissa Clark, had a sheet-pan, yes another sheet-pan recipe, for Sheet-Pan Cumin Pork Chops with Brussels Sprouts. For the recipe you’ll need dark brown sugar, kosher salt, whole cumin seeds, ground cumin, freshly ground black pepper, crushed red pepper flakes, fresh garlic, large bone-in pork chops, Brussels sprouts, fresh sage leaves, extra-virgin olive and lemon wedges for serving.

Brown sugar, salt, cumin seeds, ground cumin, black pepper, red pepper flakes and grated garlic are combined to make a moist rub. The rub needs to be placed on the pork chops 20 minutes before cooking or up to 24 hours. I opted for the longer marination to allow the meat to be infused with the peppery and smoky notes of the cumin. You can roast this meal either on two small or one large sheet pan. I used two pans as the tomahawk chops were large.

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csa week 4

6/17/2023

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Our week 4 box of seasonal produce from Dreyer’s contained bok choy, green squash, lettuce, red beets, Dinosaur (Tuscan) kale, peas and pickling cucumbers.

My husband and I have a salad just about every night of the week, so we enjoy receiving green leaf lettuce in our share. The peas were shelled and steamed cooked. I dressed them with butter, salt and pepper for a tasty side dish. I am looking for a bread and butter pickle recipe for my pickling cucumbers.

A sheet pan meal from Sarah Copeland which appeared on May 27th in The New York Times column “What to Make Next Week was the perfect choice for the kale. Her recipe, Sheet-Pan Roast Chicken with Tangy Greens, was a slightly spicy.

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a new month

4/9/2023

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The year is going by in a flash. I spent the past week trying out a half dozen new recipes and baking Easter bunny sugar cookies for my grandchildren’s Easter baskets.

The first recipe I tried last week was Sheet-Pan Tostadas with Black Beans and Peppers. For this recipe you’ll need three bell peppers, an onion, kosher salt, fresh sage, fresh thyme sprigs, 2 cans of black beans, diced tomatoes, chipotle chile in adobo, fresh garlic, dried oregano, ground cumin, tortillas, a lime, queso fresco or white cheddar cheese and cilantro leaves.

The recipe is from Melissa Clark of The New York Times and indicates you’ll get 4 to six servings from this meal. I beg to differ with Ms. Clark, as did someone else in the Cook’s Comment section of this recipe. You’ll more than likely get 2 to 3 servings, which is more realistic. Although the recipe calls for roasting the peppers and onions on a sheet pan, I sautéed mine in a frying pan on the stove top. You can probably get away with less oil with this method. The beans, tomatoes and chipotle chile and sauce are also cooked on a sheet pan, but as another person pointed suggested in the comments section, you can use one skillet and a sheet pan to heat up the tortillas.

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easing into new week

3/12/2023

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Sunday was nice and Sunday, but Monday and Tuesday, cold and dreary. On Sunday I prepared a recipe for Sheet-Pan Chicken with Sweet Potatoes and Peppers. This recipe is from Melissa Clark of The New York Time’s column “Here to Help,” published on January 31, 2023. I cook a lot from The New York Times as they have a deep stable of recipe developers, cook book authors and food writers which gives the home cook a wide range of diverse recipes to select from.

For this recipe you’ll need apple cider vinegar, honey, a red onion, kosher salt, 1 to 2 cloves fresh garlic, ground coriander, freshly ground black pepper, bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, extra-virgin olive oil, one large sweet potato, a pepper (red, yellow or orange), fresh sage, sweet paprika, cayenne, allspice and cilantro leaves.

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eat your greens

2/5/2023

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The temperature has either been above normal or extremely cold like it is today. Recently my local food store had broccoli crowns on sale. I was tempted to make Alison Roman’s Broccoli Cheddar soup which recently appeared in The New York Times; but I wanted something simpler. I have a very old recipe for Cream of Broccoli Soup that I clipped from “Gourmet Magazine” back in December 1993. The yield was a mere 4 cups, perfect amount for just my husband and I.

For the recipe you’ll need an onion, a carrot, mustard seeds, butter, fresh broccoli, chicken broth, water, fresh lemon juice and sour cream. As this recipe is almost 30 years old, I assuming that store bought broth was the norm back then and using some water for this recipe would cut down the salt. I prepared the recipe using some homemade chicken stock, Kitchen Basics stock along with water. The next time I make this, I’ll use all stock for a greater depth of flavor. If I have to purchase a boxed chicken stock, I prefer stock over broth based on the ingredient listing and how they obtain the chicken flavor.

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December 27th, 2022

12/27/2022

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Sometimes I prepare so many new and exciting recipes, that we never have them twice.

As it’s been so cold the past few days, I would like to suggest a Broccoli and Arugula Soup. This recipe was found in the January 2022 issue of “Charleston Magazine.” The soup was thick and creamy despite there being no cream in the soup. Both my husband and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Some of the best recipes from 2022 came from The New York Times/NYT Cooking. One such recipe is Kay Chun’s Korean Cheeseburgers with Sesame-Cucumber Pickles. These are not your parents’ cheeseburgers. The burgers are flavored with soy sauce, scallions, garlic, pepper and sugar. They’re served with a mayonnaise dressing flavored with the same ingredients as the burgers plus toasted sesame oil. These burgers were incredible. I also made Ali Slagle’s Chicken Parm Burgers that were fabulous. Between the aromatic basil, the intensity of the tomato paste, these burgers were packed with flavor.

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yes, another sheet pan meal

12/13/2022

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For my birthday one year, my daughter gave me a tee shirt that read on the back “Sheet Pan Everything;” I still do. Recently, I found on the website Half-Baked Harvest a recipe for Sheet Pan Sticky Ginger Soy Chicken and Broccoli. This was a perfect meal for me to prepare on Saturday evening as we were babysitting our 1-year-old grandson. I was able to get everything on the sheet pan before he arrived and just pop it in the oven.

For the recipe you’ll need chicken breasts or thighs, broccoli florets, honey, ketchup, tamari or soy sauce, pomegranate juice (or orange juice), fresh garlic, fresh ginger, chili flakes, jasmine rice for serving and for optional garnishing, sliced green onion and pomegranate.

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twists on poultry

11/29/2022

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The last two weeks were busy with Thanksgiving prep. For the Thanksgiving dinner, I rummaged through my files for a turkey recipe that had a little pizzazz, Roast Turkey with Maple Herb Butter and Gravy fit the bill. Although the recipe included instructions for gravy, I was mostly interested in the herb butter.

Now that I had my recipe in hand, what type of turkey should I purchase? We were 6 adults for dinner and I opted for a bone-in turkey breast that was hatched and raised in Pennsylvania in Amish country. I purchased at Palmer’s Quality Meats in Neptune.

For the recipe you’ll need apple cider, real maple syrup, fresh or dried thyme, fresh or dried marjoram, fresh lemon zest and softened butter. Two cups of apple cider and 1/3 cup of pure maple syrup are boiled over medium-high heat until reduced to ½ cup, which the recipe says should take approximately 20 minutes. Using cider by Delicious Orchards in Colts Neck, NJ, took me almost an hour to achieve the desired result (My husband, who was in the apple cider business for over 30 years, says that it can take a long time to reduce cider.) Once the liquid is reduced, part of the thyme, marjoram and lemon zest are added; then softened butter is whisked in. This step of the recipe can be done up to two days ahead, which I’m glad I did.

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what i ate last week

11/7/2022

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I had good intentions of posting what I prepared last week sooner, but time just flew by. The week started off with a sheet pan meal by Colu Henry of The New York Times. Her recipe, Sheet-Pan Chicken with Apple, Fennel and Onion sounded so good. The combination of apples with the fennel was appealing. For the recipe you’ll need fennel seeds, bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, olive oil, kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper, an onion, a medium fennel bulb, a tart apple and fresh rosemary.

I substituted bone-in chicken breasts, our preference, and used my oven’s convection setting for cooking. The chicken was done in approximately 30-35 minutes. I used an instant read thermometer at the 30-minute mark to make sure it didn’t overcook.

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