Curry-Dusted Scallops with Fennel Apple Broth

This past Christmas Brett gave me a Kindle Fire, and one of best parts about the little portable guy is being able to read magazines.  My favorite, other than the New Yorker, is my subscription to Bon Appetit.  At first their app was just basically reading a PDF, which was pretty not fun, but now they've upgraded to this more interactive magazine format.  It's really inexpensive, so I'd recommend anyone out there with a Fire to subscribe.

Anyway, this all leads me to stumbling upon their curry-dusted scallops with fennel apple broth.  A while ago I had taken my first dive into cooking scallops, but this was a really different recipe.  So I tested it out on some of my guinea pigs.  My aunt, who recently moved to DC, wanted to come over for dinner.  I had also never really cooked for her (other than at big family functions), so I was excited to have her over and wanted to impress.  Although..... it should be noted that my aunt is awesome, and would probably have loved if I served her cardboard.  BUT this recipe is not cardboard.  

The result of the recipe was a light and complex dish.  None of the ingredients overwhelm, and I think all of the pieces really work together.  I would absolutely make this again, especially as a course for a dinner party.  

Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps

One of the best dishes I've made as of late was my Bo Ssam.  But roasting a pork shoulder for five hours takes forever.  The flavors though blend so well together.  So I figured maybe I could replicate with chicken.  By dicing up the chicken small and cooking just in a simple blend of soy sauce, rice vinegar and honey, it made for a great protein filling.

The bite of the ginger, the spice of the sauce, and the earthiness of the basil all work amazingly well.  This is a slightly messy dinner, but worth the sauce all over your fingers.  One thing I have learned that is much better than the romaine that I used in the original Bo Ssam recipe is the use of Boston lettuce for lettuce wraps.  This is now an absolute favorite.  We've made this again at least a few times since I took the pictures.  Enjoy!

Salmon with French Lentils

I'm pretty sure that lentils are my new favorite form of protein.  And salmon has always been a winner in my book.  But I'm still a bit of a newbie when it comes to preparing lentils.  However, while perusing the Food Network I came across the Barefoot Contessa and she was making....lentils!

The recipe sounded a bit weird though.  Turnip, onion with cloves, what the what?  But.  I trust Ina, I always trust Ina.  So I decided to make this recipe one night for us.  I have to say, that I don't know what kind of witchcraft this might be, but I love these lentils and these will be a staple in our house.  I served these with my kale slaw.

Kale Slaw

Growing up, my mom used to make a "caesar salad dressing," which until I was older was what I thought was caesar.  In reality it's more like a caesar vinaigrette.  But its acidity is awesome.  And it makes for an awesome dressing.  So I decided to use it along with something less conventional.  Kale seems to be everywhere, and I love it steamed and sauteed, but I decided to use it raw.  Turns out, kale is just as great raw.  Shredded up and tossed in the caesar it was great, and actually even better the next day.  It definitely soaked in better and was even a bit softer (not soggy) the next day for lunch.

Beer Braised Short Ribs

So I should start out with an apology (sort of).  It's been a while since I've blogged, but that's been all the craziness that my life has been lately.  And while it's easy to put off things that we want to do, I decided that it's about time that I start putting up my food again.  Even going through the pictures of this recipe, and doing all the editing, made me happy that I picked it up again.  Looking through the food, recollecting cooking...it's therapeutic.  I think sometimes life has a way of distracting us.  But I don't want to put off doing this.  I love blogging.  And obviously, I love food.  So while I may or may not have made this uhh a month ago, I thought it was still very worthy of blogging.  And this recipe is delicious.

Short ribs are so craveable so delicious.  They do require a long cooking time, but there is nothing better than walking back into my house after a long day of work to the smell of rich fatty short ribs that have cooked for 10 hours.  

This recipe is failproof easy.  I promise.  And there are some days that I just love doing very little prep work and digging in when I get home.