Maret 2012 ~ Super Food Notes

Coconut Milk Rice Pudding with Fresh Mango – I Don’t Like Rice Pudding, But I Love This!

By JOKO Maret 30, 2012

I’m not a big fan of rice pudding, but curiosity got the best of me, and I needed to find out how much better/different a version would be that used Arborio rice, and the same basic technique as a savory risotto. In addition to trying out a new cooking method, I also wanted to sneak in some coconut milk for a little tropical twist, and I’m happy to report great success...

Spicy Orange Zest Beef – It Is What It Is

By JOKO Maret 28, 2012

As I mentioned in the intro, this orange zest beef recipe is not supposed to be Chinese food, or even Americanized Chinese take-out food. Of course, since it’s obviously inspired by those day-glow orange, deep-fried beef nuggets (which may or may not be actual beef), comparisons are inevitable. While I have no delusions that those crunchy bits would be preferable to most people,...

Easy Homemade Chocolate Sauce – I Really Wanted To Call This Hot Fudge

By JOKO Maret 26, 2012

I would have gotten more search engine juice had I named this, “Hot Fudge Sauce,” but it wouldn’t have been technically correct, and you know what a stickler I am for using precise terminology (if you’re new to the blog, that was an attempt at self-effacing humor). So, while it’s true I generally play fast and loose with recipe titles, when they really do mean different...

Savory Bacon & Crab Bread Pudding Eggs Benedict – Sometimes the Best Recipes Are the Ones You Don’t Make

By JOKO Maret 22, 2012

This incredibly delicious bacon and crab bread pudding Benedict almost never happened. The original request was for crab cake eggs Benedict, but since we’d already done crab cakes, poached eggs, and hollandaise videos, I decided to go in another direction, while still somewhat honoring the aforementioned food wish. It’s one of the best decisions I’ve ever made, and that includes...

Savory Bacon & Crab Bread Pudding Eggs Benedict – Sometimes the Best Recipes Are the Ones You Don’t Make

By JOKO Maret 22, 2012

Harissa – Once You Go Tunisian, Other Hot Sauces Aren’t as Pleasing

By JOKO Maret 20, 2012

Harissa is probably my all-time favorite hot sauce, and one I’m sure you’ve seen me use in a bunch of recipes here. As I mention in the video, a small spoonful of this makes virtually any savory dish better. Now, I’ll admit to usually buying mine in convenient tubes imported straight from Tunisia, but I decided to show you my homemade version, since I do get the occasional...

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

By JOKO Maret 17, 2012

Instead of wearing something green in honor of Saint Patrick's Day, I decided to post something green. There are robins in the garden, baseball on the radio, and soon you’ll be cooking out on the patio; and what better sauce to have around for those occasions than the delicious-on-anything chimichurri? (click here to get ingredients, and read the original post)Besides being...

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

By JOKO Maret 17, 2012

Broken Spaghetti “Risotto” – There’s a Good Reason for Those Quotation Marks

By JOKO Maret 16, 2012

This broken spaghetti “risotto” is many things – a fun-to-make recipe; a visually unique pasta dish; and a great alternative to the same old starchy side dishes – but one thing it’s not, is a risotto. No rice was harmed in the making of this video. The “risotto” refers to the similar technique used for that famous Italian dish. Like the grains of Arborio rice, the pieces of...

Chicken Parmesan Casserole 2012 – New HD Version of the Most Popular Chicken Recipe on the Internet

By JOKO Maret 14, 2012

On Thursday, February 21, 2008, we published a post called, “The End of Chicken Parmesan As You Know It,” offering an easy casserole version of this iconic Italian-American restaurant favorite. The title was hyperbolic, but inexplicably, the poorly lighted, lamely voiced, low-res video actually did go on to become the most popular chicken recipe video in the history of...

Colcannon – The Name Has Nothing to Do with Viking-Killing Leprechauns

By JOKO Maret 12, 2012

You’ll be happy to know that since finishing this St. Patrick’s Day-inspired colcannon video, I’ve come to learn what the name actually means. Apparently, “colcannon” is Gaelic for "white-headed cabbage," which I’m sure everyone will agree is not nearly as interesting as my explanation. Regardless of its etymological origins, colcannon is probably my favorite St. Patrick’s...

Colcannon – The Name Has Nothing to Do with Viking-Killing Leprechauns

By JOKO Maret 12, 2012

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake, Now and Then

By JOKO Maret 09, 2012

I’m not a huge dessert fan, so it was a little ironic that the first few things I ever cooked at culinary school were sweet, not savory. It was too long ago to remember why, but I think we divided the class into different groups for our lab times, and I just happened to be in the one that started with basic baking. I distinctly remember sticky buns being the first recipe...

Garlic Parmesan Dinner Rolls – Can Something Look Too Good?

By JOKO Maret 07, 2012

Let me start by saying that these garlic Parmesan dinner rolls were really great – crusty and cheesy on the outside, tender and garlicky inside, and visually gorgeous. Ironically, it’s that last adjective that may cause problems.These looks so inviting, so tasty, and so beautiful that it’s almost impossible not to be let down when you bite into one of these and realize it’s...

St. Patrick’s Day Special: Irish Shepherd’s Pie (the real one, not the stuff they eat in cottages)

By JOKO Maret 05, 2012

I know I may have used a few atypical ingredients in this, but as far as I’m concerned, the only two things that are mandatory to make a “real” Shepherd’s Pie are potatoes and lamb. While the ground beef version is also very delicious, it’s not considered a “Shepherd’s Pie,” since shepherds raise sheep, not cows.The real mystery is why the beef version is called “Cottage Pie,”...

In Defense of Rounded Wooden Spoons and Being Wrong in the Kitchen

By JOKO Maret 03, 2012

There are few food folks I enjoy and respect more than Michael Ruhlman. He’s a celebrated, award-winning author; an influential and generous member of the food blogging community; and my favorite Iron Chef judge (best perplexed look in the biz). However, in this amusing “Had Something to Say” video, produced by friends Diane and Todd from White on Rice, Mr. Ruhlman reminded...

Classic Diner Hash Browns - The Real King of the Breakfast Potato

By JOKO Maret 01, 2012

When people make breakfast at home that includes some kind of potato side dish, they almost always go with homefries over hash browns. I’m not sure of exactly why, but I think people assume that hash browns are somehow more difficult, which is simply not the case. Grating a couple potatoes is not that much harder than cubing them up, and the cooking process is almost identical....