This past summer, I had a vegetable garden for the first time in my life.  It was so awesome:  the garden pumped out tomatoes and basil like a champ.  Asheley and I definitely had our fair share of Caprese Salad during those few short months.  Now that we are in the winter months, tomatoes are totally out-of-season and devoid of flavor.  However, this Winter Caprese Salad features tomatoes that have been slowly oven-roasted to bring out its natural sugars and concentrate its delicious flavor.  The tomatoes are paired with agrodolce, the Italian "sour-sweet" glaze, used to balance many dishes in Southern Italy and Sicily.  Finishing the salad with creamy mozzarella cheese and a flavor power-punch of super delicious and easy pesto, this is a dish that will wow any dinner guest.

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At Mario Batali's  Otto Enoteca and Pizzeria in NYC, there is a dynamite pasta dish called Taccozzette con Stracotto.  Featuring braised pork shoulder tossed in a tomato sauce with fresh basil and served among pasta that resembles a shrunk down version of lasagna noodles, it is hands down one of the best pasta dishes I've ever had.  Needless to say, I've been wanting to attempt recreating a version of this mouthwatering pasta dish at home (imitation is one of the greatest forms of flattery, isn't it?).

The other night Asheley and I invited another couple over for a  little dinner get-together, and I felt it the perfect time to try my hand at recreating the Taccozzette con Stracotto!  Lisa is an amazing cook in her own right (check out her super delicious Sausage, Bean, and Spinach Soup Recipe that she wrote up for Shared Appetite), and her husband Joe is a wine connoisseur.  They know good food, so I had to bring my "A" game.  I decided for an added challenge, I wasn't just going to try to recreate Batali's braised pork shoulder ragu, but I would also attempt to make homemade fresh pasta for the very first time.  I know it was incredibly risky, but I was feeling "go big or go home".  To complete the meal, I made a delicious Winter Caprese Salad to start and finished with a super easy Chocolate Souffle with Grand Marnier Creme Anglaise (recipes coming soon).

This braised pork shoulder ragu recipe is a one-pot wonder.  It is a warming, hearty dish that is perfect for a winter night dinner and makes entertaining super easy.  All the prep work is done way ahead of time.  When you are ready to eat, just boil up some pasta and serve!  Feel free to make your pasta fresh like I did, but that is totally not necessary.

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Sopa Seca, meaning "dry soup",  is a delicious, traditional Mexican dish I just recently discovered.  Traditionally, the dish uses rice, vermicelli, or dry tortilla strips  cooked with tomatoes, onions, and garlic in a broth.  Most of the broth is absorbed during the cooking process, thus the name "dry soup".  In this updated version, I use whole-wheat angel hair (or spaghetti), and there is the addition of kidney beans and a little kick of spice with poblano peppers.  This is an adaptation of a Sopa Seca recipe from the January/February 2012 issue of Food Network Magazine.  With under 500 calories a serving, this dish provides a good amount of fiber and protein.  Even better, it comes together in just about 30 minutes, which makes it a perfect weeknight dinner.  But most importantly, it's delicious:

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Today's post features a recipe that comes from a good friend of mine.  She and her husband are big foodies just like Asheley and I.  We love talking food, sharing our culinary adventures, and eating good eats together.

Lisa made this soup for us  a couple months ago on a cold winter day and it was so warming, so comforting, and most importantly, really delicious!  The sausage and potatoes in the soup make it really hearty, and the cheesy baguette crisps that top the soup add so much flavor and awesome texture!  I immediately asked her for the recipe and for permission to share this gem on Shared Appetite.  Enjoy, and thank you Lisa!

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I am not one to make many soups, and honestly am not sure why.  I enjoy a good soup, and when I saw this recipe in the January 2012 issue of Bon Appetit, I was intrigued.  Not many ingredients, lots of healthy greens from the Swiss Chard and herbs, and an ingredient I've honestly never really worked with... feta cheese.  The recipe, originally penned  by Yotam Ottolenghi, is known for his popular take-out food shops in London where he focuses on uncomplicated and unadulterated food made with local ingredients.  This soup is healthy, and it tastes so fresh and light with a hint of richness from the yogurt.  Here is my adapted version of his soup: [Read more...]

I'll admit it: one of my New Year's resolutions is to get into "wedding shape", and that means eating a little better than I have been the past couple of months!  However, one thing I refuse to do while eating better is sacrificing flavor.  I live to eat, and although I'll be trying to make some better eating choices as 2012 kicks off, I will not give up my expectation of deliciousness.

I remember a couple years back walking around Whole Foods and enjoying a free sample of this new dehydrated Kale product that was for sale.  It was light, crispy, and flavorful.  I was about to buy it until I saw the hefty price tag of $8 for a little tiny package of no more than 2 servings.  For some reason, today that experience popped into my brain and I decided to try to make my own "dehydrated kale".  After doing a little internet research, I developed the following recipe.  These Baked Kale Chips: 3 Ways are super easy, super healthy, and most importantly, super delicious...

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I received a message the other day from a friend requesting an easy, delicious weeknight dinner chicken recipe.  I adapted this recipe from Ted Allen's cookbook a year or two ago and it has become a weeknight dinner staple in our house.  It is healthy, no-fuss, and absolutely delicious.  With only a handful of ingredients, the fresh and flavor-packed marinade comes together in under 10 minutes.  I get mine going before work in the morning and then making dinner at night is a breeze.  Enjoy this comforting recipe for oven roasted lemon-thyme chicken:

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Christmas is Sunday already?!  Every year right after Thanksgiving, I get excited with cookie-making anticipation.  Which new recipes should I try?  What new cookie concoction can make me gasp with culinary delight?!  But somehow, Christmas always seems to sneak right up on me and I fail big time on making anything but the typical batch of chocolate chip cookies.  Don't get me wrong, chocolate chip cookies are a classic (rightfully so) that I cherish and  thoroughly enjoy.  But, with a couple of hours to spare tonight, I wanted to try something a little different.  I was walking in the grocery store baking aisle with nothing particular in mind when my eye caught glimpse of toffee candy bits (I think it was Heath brand).  Bingo, I was going to make a toffee crunch cookie, and I figured I would try pairing it with white chocolate chips.  Let it be known: I'm not a fan of white chocolate.  In fact, white chocolate cannot even be classified as chocolate (it lacks the cocoa solids that makes chocolate, well... chocolate).  However, I think the white "chocolate" works nicely in these cookies.  I reviewed a couple recipes for cookies containing toffee and here's what I came up...

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Vegetables often get a bad rep.  I don't know why.  They can be absolutely flavor-packed bursts of healthy deliciousness.  What should get the bad reputation is the mundane way in which many people prepare their vegetables.  My favorite preparation of vegetables is not only super easy, it is in my opinion the best way to highlight their flavors.  Oven-Roasting your veggies concentrates its sugars and flavors, and at the same time preserves many nutrients (unlike boiling, where almost all the nutrients go bye-bye unless you intend on drinking the water as well).  The following recipe is simple, healthy, and a great way to get the people in your life to enjoy eating their vegetables:

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No, I'm not talking about that stuff that comes in the little blue box.  There is a better option out there!  Homemade Macaroni and Cheese is simple to make and you can easily customize it however you like.  This cheesy comfort food is something I always pair with my pulled pork dinner (don't forget the cornbread and sweet potato casserole!).

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Typically, movie sequels just aren't any good... or at the very least, not as good as the original.  When it comes to food, however, sequels (a.k.a. leftovers) don't have to be boring!  They can actually be even better than the original meal.  My fiance and I look forward to pulled pork every time I make it, but we look forward to the leftovers even more.  Why is that?  Because pulled pork, the sequel in our house blends together the flavors of BBQ with Mexican cuisine: Pulled Pork Nachos and Pulled Pork Quesadillas!  Not only are they absolutely delicious, it is a fantastic way to make those leftovers last for a couple more meals.

I have recently become quite the fan of fusing Mexican dishes with the flavors of BBQ food.  Several New York City restaurants are feeling the food fusion love also.  Restaurant and food truck Mexicue offers a menu dedicated to the fusion of Mexican and BBQ foods.  At Sue Torres' mexican restaurant in Chelsea, Suenos, she offers a superb appetizer of shredded beef mini tacos topped with a smoky, rich bbq sauce.  You feeling the food fusion love yet?  Try these simple recipes to give your pulled pork a tasty, inventive makeover:

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I love pulled pork.  It's the dish I always order at a BBQ joint.  In fact, every time I check out a new BBQ restaurant, the three things I always tend to judge their food quality on is their pulled pork, mac n' cheese, and cornbread.  To me, it's the perfect trifecta of BBQ eating...  add in some sort of sweet potatoes and I'm a happy, happy man.  Making authentic pulled pork at home would involve smoking the meat for hours and hours outdoors under my careful watch.  Although I can't wait to own a smoker and embark on the art of smoking meat, there is a simpler, easier, no-fuss way to make a delicious pulled pork meal at home that doesn't require you to be outdoors with a smoker all day long.

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Are you bored with your weeknight dinners?  I don't know about you,  but mid-week when Asheley and I are both exhausted from work, errands, and life in general, our "go to" dish always seems to be pasta.  It's fast, cheap, and easy to whip up some pasta with a  filetto sauce (quick tomato sauce), and at this point it is pretty effortless for me to make.  Although absolutely delicious and completely satisfying in its own right, we definitely craved some variety in our mid-week pasta dinners!   And so enters the Eggplant Caponata Pasta..

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