at home with ann

We're rolling right along with our CSA share at Tangerini's Farm  and I'm happy to report nothing has gone to waste so far.  I usually misplace some bag of pickling cucumbers in the back of the refrigerator and find them again when they look really scary.  I confess that when faced with a bunch of vegetables, I often throw them in a stir fry with a peanut soy sauce and call it a day.  Today, I branched out a bit, and the result was a filling dinner salad that was refreshing in the midst of this hot and sticky weather. The dressing flavors were a bit strong for my tiny taste testers, so I simply portioned out the vegetables and some chicken before topping with sauce to make them mini plates. Thai Cabbage Salad with Chicken and Peanut Sauce recipe modified from My Kitchen Escapades Ingredients: About 4 chicken breasts, cooked (I used boneless skinless, but you could easily pick off a roaster or rotisserie chicken, or use shredded chicken cooked in the crock pot)...

I consider coleslaw an exclusively summer food.  I can't imagine eating it in the winter, but in the summer it reminds me of barbecue, burgers, and fresh seafood.  I know some people can't stand mayo, in which case I direct you to the sweet and sour vinegar slaw here .  Since we served this alongside crab cakes, I thought the mayo dressing would compliment nicely and we could skip any tartar sauce or remoulade. The original recipe that inspired me was cumin based, but I thought using Old Bay would nicely mirror the crab cake seasoning.  Creamy Old Bay Coleslaw inspired by Bobby Flay 1 head Chinese cabbage, shredded 2 medium carrots, grated 1 yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced 1/4 small red onion, chopped or grated (I omitted this because I was serving someone who is anti-onion) Dressing: 1/2 cup mayo zest of one lime 1/4 cup lime juice (2 limes) 1 Tablespoon olive oil 1 Tablespoon sugar 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 1/4...

We brought back the crock pot this weekend.  After the great crock pot bender of March, it took a brief hiatus.  What better way to bring it back than to make good old pulled pork barbecue?  Pulled pork in the crock pot is one of the easiest recipes of all time.  After some very quick prep, you let it cook all day until your house smells like barbecue and the meat is tender and shredded.  A light vinegar slaw is the perfect accompaniment for some slightly sweet, slightly sour, crunch.  Crock Pot Pulled Pork 3 lb. boneless pork butt (you can get any size you want, as long as it fits in your crock pot) Canola oil 1/2 sweet onion, thickly sliced 3 Tablespoons pork rub (optional) 1 bottle barbecue sauce (I used about 3/4 bottle of Stubb's Spicy) In a large pan or pot, heat canola oil over medium high heat. Sear the pork on all sides until a brown crust starts to form, a few minutes each side. Place onion slices in the bottom of the crock pot. Tran...

I will start this post with a disclaimer: unless you REALLY like hot and spicy food, you may want to modify this recipe a bit. It met with good reviews at our house, but also trips to the fridge for milk midway through the meal. The cabbage I bought all the way back for Stuffed Cabbage Soup was still kicking, and starting to bug me by it's ever present position in the produce drawer, so I knew I wanted to include it for dinner.  A few quick google recipe searches later, and I settled on an easy stir fry.  In a saucepan with a lid went the thinly sliced cabbage (about a third of a head), and two carrots cut into ribbons with the vegetable peeler.  A couple tablespoons of water, some rice wine vinegar, and a dash of soy sauce, and steamed for about 5 minutes until slightly tender but not at all mushy.  Mushy cabbage is a bad thing. Meanwhile, preheat your broiler.  One of the things I really enjoy about cooking fish is how fast it is, 10 minutes in the oven and...

The Irish aren't exactly known for their fine cuisine.  Corned beef and steamed cabbage have never done much to impress me.  That being said, I still wanted to make something festively appropriate for the holiday this week.  Barring any green-tinged beverages, I wanted to find a way to make that cabbage into something good. Stuffed Cabbage Stew adapted from Rachael Ray 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided 1 cup raw brown rice 3 cups chicken stock 1 pound ground turkey 1/2 teaspoon allspice 1 1/2 teaspoons coriander 2 teaspoons smoked paprika Salt Pepper 1 bay leaf 1 onion, chopped 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 carrot, thinly sliced with a vegetable peeler into strips then finely chopped 1/2 head cabbage, thinly sliced 1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes 14 oz crushed tomatoes In a sauce pot, boil 2 cups of water.  Add rice, reduce heat to a low simmer, and cook for 30 minutes. Heat a soup pot over medi...