donna's daily dish

Donna's Daily Dish

Inspiring people to create every day recipes

it ain't over yet

11/2/2024

Our 2024 CSA box from Dreyer Farms is coming to an end soon, but there is still some produce coming from the farms such as apples, carrots and the last of the tomatoes.

Although I felt like making an apple galette with the apples I accrued from the CSA box, I opted for something healthier. On the website, “Smitten Kitchen,” Deb Perelman created Breakfast Apple Crisp Granola . Ms. Perelman likes to eat this cold with yogurt. I had a bunch of apples that needed to be used and I thought this vaguely sounded similar to the baked oatmeal I make for my husband. Upon my explanation of ingredients, he said he was game to try it.

seven months in

3/13/2024

jump to recipes

It’s been seven months since I decided to retire. I’d bounced around part time jobs since 2015 working in retail sales, a tea barista, counter/kitchen person and lastly as an in-store shopper for a major food retailer.

I don’t do sitting still too well, I have a daily to do list of things I want to accomplish. As I love to cook, each meal becomes a challenge to find new and delicious recipes for my husband and I to try. Not every dish is a winner, but those are far and few between. This past week we had Maple-Chile Pork Roast, a recipe found in The Wall Street Journal’s weekend edition and two recipes from “Southern Living Magazine” for Pepper-Jelly Glazed Chicken Wings and Chicken Schnitzel with Cabbage-Carrot Slaw.

new year, new recipe

1/6/2024

I hope everyone had a nice holiday and with a new year, I needed something to get me going.

I have a nephew, who when younger (he’s turning 31 next week), his fraternal grandmother made beef barley soup for his birthday celebration. It was the highlight of the party as it was thick and heartwarming. His grandmother hasn’t been well the past few years and I wanted to see if there was a record of her recipe. I reached out to her daughter who was able to locate it. Her recipe contained a handful of ingredients and minimal seasoning, but I was able to duplicate it and add my own touches. His grandmother prepared the soup in a crock pot, which I had, however, the next time I’ll prepare it on the stovetop. For the recipe you’ll need beef chuck meat, 1 package of oxtails, soup bones, flour, canola oil, butter, 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes, pearl barley, kosher salt, freshly ground pepper, soup vegetables.

i'm in a pickle

6/24/2023

Bread-and-Butter Pickles

Apple Chutney & Prosciutto Melt with Gruyere Cheese and Pears

With the new CSA season well underway, my pickle is trying to find, delicious and easy to prepare recipes for the produce that’s coming in. Last week’s CSA box brought more pickles and a zucchini. I could have made Easiest Fridge Pickles from the website Smitten Kitchen, but where’s the fun in that? So, I turned to my favorite source, NYT Cooking, and found a recipe by Melissa Clark for Bread-and-Butter Pickles. For the recipe you’ll need Kirby cucumbers, coarse kosher salt, fresh dill, light brown sugar, cider vinegar, coriander seeds, black pepper corns and allspice berries.

Although an easy recipe to prepare, I did have a problem locating both coriander seeds and allspice berries. I was able to find the coriander seeds at a second food store, but no luck with allspice berries. I substituted ground allspice in the same amount as if I had the berries. (*Note: for difficult to find spices I suggest Penzeys.)

I did it my way

5/20/2023

“A recipe has no soul. You as the cook must bring soul to the recipe.” Thomas Keller

A recipe is someone’s creation that has been tried and improved until perfected. However, sometimes, you as the cook, add your own nuances to achieve the flavor you desire.

Recently I prepared a recipe by Emily Weinstein of The New York Times for One-Pot Tortellini with Meat Sauce. I don’t know where my mind was when I was food shopping last week, instead of tortellini, I accidently bought Wegmans Italian Classics Potato Gnocchi. Beside the pasta for this recipe, you’ll also need fresh garlic cloves, extra-virgin olive oil, one pound of hot or sweet Italian sausage (casing removed) tomato paste, 28-ounce can of crushed tomatoes, grated Parmesan cheese and grated mozzarella cheese.

low and slow or fast and quick?

2/15/2023

Last week I had some time to braise a chuck roast for dinner. I found a delightful recipe in “Lidia’s Italy” cook book for Beef Braised in Barolo. The meat cooked in a liquid consisting of Barolo wine flavored with onions, carrots, celery, garlic, fresh rosemary, dried porcini mushrooms and fresh sage leaves. For seasonings, freshly grated nutmeg, salt and whole peppercorns. I went to Palmer’s Quality Meats in Neptune City, NJ to select a well-marbled piece of chuck. The recipe serves 6, but since it was just my husband and I, a 3-pound piece was perfect for braising.

To prepare the meat, I is seasoned with salt, browned and caramelized in a large pan with extra virgin olive oil. After browning, the meat is removed and the vegetables are placed in the pan and coated with pan juices. Next, herbs, grated nutmeg, peppercorns, dried porcini, additional salt and pepper are added and the mixture is cooked for several minutes. The vegetables are moved to the outer rim of the pan and the meat and its accumulated juices are returned. A bottle of wine is added with the beef immersed halfway.

is the knife that sharp or the meat that's so tender?

10/10/2022

I recently started to work at Palmer’s Quality Meats in Neptune, NJ and I’m amazed at the various cuts of beef that a whole animal butcher shop has to offer. It’s a nose to tail shop offering locally grown beef, pork and poultry. Have you ever heard of coppa steaks, Thor’s Hammer or organ beef blend, neither did I until now. Now when I read recipes with beef cuts such as Bavette or teres major, I know where to find them. If I need advice about a cut of beef for a recipe, knowledgeable butchers are available to offer suggestions.

not your parents' cheeseburger

6/18/2022

One day in the New York Times newspaper, they featured a recipe by Kay Chun for Korean Cheeseburger with Sesame-Cucumber Pickles. This simple, yet delicious recipe was packed with tons of flavor.

For the recipe you’ll need distilled white vinegar, kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper, turbinado sugar, Persian cucumbers, low-sodium soy sauce, scallions, fresh garlic, mayonnaise, roasted sesame seed oil, ground beef (preferably chuck or sirloin), American cheese, hamburger buns, butter lettuce, sliced onions and sliced tomatoes.

slow-cooker night

5/19/2022

My local Foodtown had flank steak on special this week for $7.99/lb. I couldn’t resist picking up a package for supper. While I have several good flank steak recipes in my file, a food blogger is always on the lookout for the next, best recipe.

With that in mind, I searched the web for something unique. I came across the website for Taste of Home. In the late 90’s I was given a subscription to this magazine. The magazine uses recipes submitted by home cooks. Once submitted, the Taste of Home test kitchen staff works through each recipe and makes adjustments to ingredients, proportions, to name a few, to ensure consistency with results. Therefore, I felt confident in preparing “Slow-Cooker Mongolian Beef.”

homage to fred sr.

3/15/2022

My late father-in-law’s birthday is the 26th of this month and my husband said, “He was a man of simple tastes.” In observance of his birthday, my husband asked me to make his father’s favorite meal which was meatloaf, mashed potatoes and Le Sueur peas. For dessert, my father-in-law loved lemon meringue pie.

Now my late mother-in-law, Nancy, was not a fancy cook, neither were most mothers of her generation. My mother-in-law also had a three-pot limit in preparing a meal. Her meatloaf consisted of ground beef and a handful of ingredients such as some chopped onion, salt, pepper and 4 ounces of tomato sauce. The balance of the tomato sauce went on top of the meatloaf along with 2-3 slices of bacon. The meatloaf was cooked in a 400° oven for approximately one hour, or until the internal temperature reached 160°.