Category Archives: Recipes (Savory)

Autumn Was Made For Gingered Apple Pork Chops

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Easy cooking, easy clean-up in one pan.
Easy cooking, easy clean-up in one pan.

Pork, apples and grapes are an unbeatable trio especially at this time of year.

Best yet, “Gingered Apple Pork Chops” can be prepared in just one skillet. It’s practically fast enough for a weeknight meal and impressive enough looking for company, too.

It’s from the new cookbook, “Half Baked Harvest Super Simple: More Than 125 Recipes for Instant, Overnight, Meal-Prepped, and Easy Comfort Foods” (Clarkson Potter), of which I received a review copy.

The book is by Colorado recipe developer Tieghan Gerard, creator of the blog, Half Baked Harvest.

Included are more than 125 recipes, most of which take 30 minutes or less to make. As the title implies, these are dishes that make use of organized prepping, streamlined techniques, a well-stocked pantry, and helpful gadgets at times.

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Tear Into Lemon, Broccoli and Garlic Deep-Pan Pizza

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A thick, focaccia-like crust forms the foundation for this veggie pan pizza.
A thick, focaccia-like crust forms the foundation for this veggie pan pizza.

Pan pizza is definitely having a raging moment in the Bay Area.

A decidedly thick one.

With more Detroit-style pizza being offered at places around the Bay, you don’t need to get on a plane to the Midwest to dig into a slab.

You can even try your hand at making your own at home, thanks to the new cookbook, “Perfect Pan Pizza: Square Pies to Make at Home, from Roman, Sicilian, and Detroit, to Grandma Pies and Focaccia” (Ten Speed Press), of which I received a review copy. It’s by bread-making authority Peter Reinhart.

This is the ultimate tome with everything you need to know about making thick-crust-style pizza, with detailed directions and photos about making, folding, dimpling, and baking the dough. Reinhart also provides a variety of dough recipes so you can choose according to your preference: “White Flour Dough,” “Whole Grain Country-Style Dough,” and “Naturally Leavened Dough.”

He breaks down the differences between Roman, Sicilian, Detroit, Grandma-style and focaccia-style pan pizzas, and provides recipes for all those styles with inventive toppings, including “Beef Brisket with Burnt Ends,” “Banh Mi,” and “Avocado Scampi.”

The “Lemon, Broccoli, and Garlic” caught my attention because I figured when consuming that many carbs, I ought to at least try to squeeze some veggies in at the same time.

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Smashed Cucumbers with Sizzled Turmeric and Garlic

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Get smashing -- with cucumbers, that is.
Get smashing — with cucumbers, that is.

Every couple of years, Instagram blows up with the latest-greatest food blogger whose recipes and photos are so captivating that they are irresistible to anyone who happens to stumble upon them.

Meet the new “It” girl — if you haven’t already: Alison Roman.

The native of Los Angeles who now calls Brooklyn home is a regular columnist for the New York Times food section and Bon Appetit magazine.

Blonde and bubbly, she’s like the girl next door — who can not only cook, but will always invite you over to sit down at her table.

Because when it comes to entertaining, she believes in nothing fancy.

Indeed, that’s the title of her new cookbook, which encourages you to take a deep breath, and stop stressing about cooking for others.

“Nothing Fancy: Unfussy Food for Having People Over” (Clarkson Potter), of which I received a review copy, is all about making entertaining easy with fuss-free, crowd-pleasing dishes that make people feel at home from the get go.

Take a go at dishes such as “Mustardy Green Beans with Anchovyed Walnuts,” “One-Pot Chicken with Dates and Caramelized Lemons,” “Kimchi-Braised Pork with Sesame and Egg Yolk” and “Salted Honey Panna Cotta with Crushed Raspberries.”

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Honey-Mustard Sheet-Pan Chicken with Brussels Sprouts

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Honey-mustard chicken, charred Brussels sprouts, and sweet red onions -- all roasted in one pan for ease.
Honey-mustard chicken, charred Brussels sprouts, and sweet red onions — all roasted in one pan for ease.

This dish is a total no-brainer.

And I mean that in the best of sense.

Because “Honey-Mustard Sheet-Pan Chicken with Brussels Sprouts” is so easy to make. It’s one of those recipes that requires little exertion mentally or physically. It’s effortless enough to make on a weeknight. And it uses many ingredients that you probably routinely have on hand.

It’s from the new cookbook, “Two Peas & Their Pod Cookbook: Favorite Everyday Recipes from Our Family Kitchen” (Grand Central), of which I received a review copy.

It’s the debut cookbook from Salt Lake City’ Maria Lichty, who created the namesake Two Peas & Their Pod blog.

The book showcases 115 recipes that especially speak to young families like hers who are time-pressed to get food on the table for kids and spouses. These are dishes that are simple enough to make day in and day out, such as “Cinnamon Streusel French Toast,” “Sweet Potato Fries with Magic Green Tahini Sauce, ” “Asian Pork Lettuce Wraps,” and “Chocolate-Mint Whoopie Pies.” There’s even a chapter on easy entertaining with recipes to feed a crowd, including “Loaded Nachos Bar” and “Weekend Waffle Bar.”

Sheet-pan entrees are all the rage now in this time-pressed era because everything cooks in one baking pan, making prep and clean-up a breeze. I took that one step further: The recipe says to spray nonstick baking spray on a large baking sheet. Instead, I lined my baking tray with aluminum foil, then sprayed the foil with nonstick spray. That way, only the foil gets dirty, not the pan.

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You Won’t Believe What’s In This Chicken Dish

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Chocolate milk is one of the main ingredients in this chicken dish. How wild is that?
Chocolate milk is one of the main ingredients in this chicken dish. How wild is that?

Yes, chocolate milk.

This recipe is pure crazy.

And it’s mind-boggling good.

“Spicy Chocolate Milk-Simmered Chicken” is one of those dishes that sounds so far-fetched and weird that you can’t help but be drawn to it. At least for curiosity’s sake.

Braising pork, veal or chicken in milk has a long tradition in Italian cuisine, where it not only helps tenderize the meat but creates its own velvety sauce.

But chocolate milk?

It actually does the same. And when combined with chiles, makes for an almost mole-like sauce.

This unusual recipe is from the new “Food52 Dynamite Chicken: 60 Never-Boring Recipes for Your Favorite Bird” (Ten Speed Press), of which I received a review copy. The 60 recipes were created by Tyler Kord, chef-owner of No. 7 Restaurant in Brooklyn and the author of the fun, irreverent cookbook, “A Super Upsetting Cookbook About Sandwiches” (Clarkson Potter).

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