A Life in Food by real-life Chef Cheryl Bennett
Porcini-Crusted Beef Tenderloin Roast with Chestnut Stuffing is the perfect Christmas dinner. Dried porcini mushrooms ground into a powder dust the outside of the tenderloin, enhancing the flavor of this delicate cut of meat. Traditional Chestnut Stuffing is the ultimate side dish for this elegant holiday meal.
…
Dinner. How many of you have stood in front of an open refrigerator trying to figure it out? You’re not alone. In other words, I’m guilty of this as well. It’s not always easy and therefore, we tend to get in a rut. Our primary goal is to make dinner a stress-free endeavor by giving you menu ideas every week. I fell off the wagon myself and now, I’m trying to get organized again. I know many of you have kids back in school, which means that organization is paramount. So, let’s do this!
How it works: Every Friday morning, a new meal plan will show up in your email. It will consist of 5 dinner options, plus 2 extras. Those two extras could be side dishes, dessert, drinks, etc. The Dinner Divas weekly menu plans will feature (mostly) healthy, seasonal foods that don’t take all day to prepare. Getting the weekly menu delivered to your inbox on Friday morning gives you the chance to make your shopping list and get organized for the week ahead. I’d love to hear from you & see your creations! Post a pic using #DinnerDivas and tag @pookspantry! I hope this weekly menu plan provides inspiration and makes life a little easier… one meal at a time.
…
Steak sizzling away on a hot grill is my kryptonite. It will (and has) stopped me dead in my tracks, prompting me to fill my nostrils with that delicious aroma. Brush on a simple espresso and bourbon glaze and you have just upped your grill game exponentially.
…
30 minute meals. When I ask my people on Facebook what they’d like to see more of, that is the Number One Request. I get it, we are all busy and tired. The thought of standing in the kitchen for an hour after a long work day doesn’t appeal to many people. This week, the Dinner Divas have put together a week’s worth of 30 minute meals.
How it works: Every Friday morning, a new meal plan will show up in your email. It will consist of 5 dinner options, plus 2 extras. Those two extras could be side dishes, dessert, drinks, etc. The Dinner Divas weekly menu plans will feature (mostly) healthy, seasonal foods that don’t take all day to prepare. Getting the weekly menu delivered to your inbox on Friday morning gives you the chance to make your shopping list and get organized for the week ahead. I’d love to hear from you & see your creations! Post a pic using #DinnerDivas and tag @pookspantry! I hope this weekly menu plan provides inspiration and makes life a little easier… one meal at a time.
First up this week is Pastry Chef Online’s Pasta with easy Creamy Marinara (or Vodka) Sauce. This is the perfect way to ease into the week. Check out the secret ingredient in her sauce!
Next is this amazing Korean BBQ Rice Bowl from Girl in the Little Red Kitchen. This is exactly what I crave after a long day. A few minutes the night before to prepare a marinade and the rest comes together in a snap. Bring on those spicy flavors and pickles!
The following day brings us to midweek with One Pan Greek Beef Pasta from The Chef Next Door. I love the flavors in this filling one pan meal!
Next is my Queso Fundido Chicken. Although it might be about 35 minutes from start to finish, I hope you’ll forgive the 5 minutes over the time limit because it’s worth it! Pull out some leftover rice or veggies that are hiding in the fridge and your meal is complete.
Last, but certainly not least is 15 minute Weeknight Pasta from Comfortably Domestic. This is a great recipe to have in your back pocket for those nights when you have very little time or energy.
Finally, we’ve come to the end of the week and that means dessert. This week, we have two incredible sweets to fulfill that craving.
This Salted Caramel Turtle Fudge Swirl Ice Cream is my sweet tooth’s dream. Pastry Chef Online is an ice cream genius.
The last dessert this week are Mini Walnut Cinnamon Buns. These would be a perfect weekend treat, thanks to the Chef Next Door!
Thank you for joining us this week! We hope these 30 minute meals help make the week a little easier… one meal at a time.
This Instant Pot Beef and Beer Chili Recipe is one of our favorites. It’s a crowd pleaser for a reason and it just got even better. With the addition of a good, dark beer, it’s magical. If you prefer to leave out the beer, don’t worry, it’ll still be delicious! It’s chili that tastes like it lazily simmered away half of the afternoon in 30 minutes.
My original intention with this chili was bison instead of ground beef, however I didn’t embrace the idea of a $12 serving of chili. When did that happen? I’m used to paying a little more for food, but the price of bison has gone up quite a bit since the last time I purchased it. Once I regained my composure and wiped away my tears, I set off toward the ground beef.
This post contains affiliate links. For more information, please visit my disclosure page.
…
Picadillo is Spanish for “hash” (or “mince”). Essentially, this is a Cuban version of the good old American mélange, eaten on its own or used as a filling for empanadas. Spanish influences, specifically Andalusian, are obvious due to the addition of olives and raisins. Picadillo is often served topped with hard-cooked or fried eggs and is usually accompanied by fried plantains.
…
It’s the quintessential Brooklyn street fair food. There are food trucks at every single fair or festival selling that spicy sweet mix of sausage, peppers and onions. The scent of it wafting through the air brings back memories of walking through booths of games, cotton candy vendors and frozen lemonade stands. That is the inspiration for my sausage burger with peppers and onions.
When I realized that after 5 years of doing this blog, I didn’t have a single burger recipe on here, well… you can imagine my dismay. I have failed. In an attempt to make it up to you, I made a burger with the flavors of Italian sausage and peppers.
…
It’s a rather unassuming-looking place, isn’t it? Don’t let that fool you. The incredible things that happen on this little corner down a nondescript side street will blow your mind.
We all have those places on our “food bucket list” that we hope we will be able to get to someday. One of mine was Franklin Barbecue in Austin, Texas. It is the epitome of what barbecue should be. Smoky, full of flavor and soft as butter. The brisket was so tender I nearly wept, the ribs literally fell off the bone when picked up… This was it, this was what I had been waiting for.
It was our first stop on the “Tour de Tex”. We had checked the website and unfortunately found that due to the holiday schedule, there was only day they would be open while we were in Texas. So, here is how it went: We woke up at 3:45 in the morning, got on a plane to San Antonio (our original destination), went straight to the rental car place from baggage claim, made an hour long drive on a wing (or a rib) and a prayer to arrive at Franklin Barbecue by 11:45 am. If this seems like a reasonable time to arrive, you’d be mistaken. The line started at 8:00am, which means we were pretty far back and it wasn’t looking good for us.
…
That being said it led me to thinking about some of my favorites from childhood. We all grew up with soup in that red & white can and while I am a steadfast lover of tomato, one that was always in the regular rotation for me was beef barley. I know… most kids would’ve picked chicken noodle and given my adoration for all things starch it would be the obvious choice, only it never had enough noodles.
It’s no secret that winter is my least favorite season, however it does get serious bonus points for the kind of cooking that it ushers in… the braise! Culinary comfort, the only real benefit of freezing temperatures.
Braises are perfect for winter. It’s a long, slow process (which is how winter feels to me) and it is usually comfort food cooking. What is a “braise” exactly? In its most basic definition, it’s cooking something (usually meat) in a liquid (usually stock, wine or a combination thereof) for a long period of time on a low heat. Most often, braises are tough cuts of meat that benefit from long, slow cooking turning them into the most succulent and flavorful of meals.
Another benefit of braising is, it’s easy. Many braises are one-pot meals, some with a side of starch (and we all know how I love that…) which means you aren’t left with an entire sink of dirty dishes, something else I can really appreciate.
I have a particular pot that I use for braises, it is a Le Creuset enameled cast-iron pot. I have had this pot for almost 15 years. It has made hundreds of meals and looks almost the same as the day I bought it. This is one very good example of “you get what you pay for”. These are expensive, but it is something you only buy once.
I wanted to do a post about braising and was searching for short ribs that would make the cut. It took some time, but I found locally raised organic meat with beautiful marbling and so in went the ribs… deciding what to put with them was easy. I had been craving rutabaga, which I know is not something you hear everyday, so once I had my veggies I was ready to get this braise going.
…