Now that May is upon us, we decided it is time to start using the grill more often. We made this salad (that I am calling “Grill and Chill Salad” because it sounds hip) for the first time a few weeks ago, and Ben gobbled it up like it was his last supper, so he…
Category: Chef Ben Cooks!
Chicken Vindaloo and Homemade Naan
Usually, when we make naan (an Indian flatbread), we make chicken tikka masala to go with it, but this week, we decided to try something new – chicken vindaloo. Huge bonus – chicken vindaloo is fun to say. For days, Ben has been looking forward to this and asking, “What are we making for Ben’s…
Taco Party!!!
Though strictly speaking, these were not tacos, and it wasn’t a party, it was the best Mexican food we’ve had in awhile! The definition of “taco” seems to have morphed or expanded since I was a kid, and I would call what we had burritos, because they were on soft flour tortillas instead of crunchy…
The Sun’ll Come Out Tomorrow – So why are you making me bike in the rain?
Our world food tour wrapped up in India. Chef Ben will tell you he’s “not a big fan” of Indian food, but from a pandemic point of view, curried lentil tomato and coconut soup is the perfect dish, because nearly everything can be found in the pantry. Luckily, Chef Ben is always willing to pitch…
“Let Them Eat Cake!”
Next stop on the world food tour: France. In these weird limbo days where we walk a balance beam between boredom and stress, normalcy and the extraordinary, family and sanity, togetherness and loneliness, zoom conferencing and corona hair, when we are all having a shared experience alone, I acknowledge that sometimes you just have to…
Next Stop on World Food Tour – Ethiopia
When we lived in Bloomington, Indiana in the early 90s, there was an Ethiopian restaurant called Ashenda, that offered me my first taste of Ethiopian food. I was hooked from my very first bite, and I’ve been trying to recreate the experience any way I can since then. From the smell of simmering wat (meat…
World Food Tour with Chef Ben – First Stop, Vietnam!
Need a cure for the cooped up blues? Follow Chef Ben this week as he cooks and eats his way through five countries. Phil and I love ethnic food, and we exposed the kids to it from an early age. One of my gimmicks when the kids were little was to make them little passports,…
The Peanut Butter Falcon Edition
In honor of the movie, The Peanut Butter Falcon, we had a peanut butter themed dinner. We had been wanting to see the movie since it came out, but never seemed to have the time. Thanks to a tip from Melissa, and the universe clearing our calendars, we finally watched it. What a great movie!…
Leftover Valentine’s Day Candy, Dried Morita Chile, Pecorino Romano Cheese, and Espresso Powder: Mystery Basket Revealed and Conquered
I won’t lie. When I told Ben what we were cooking with, he said, “Rough!” However, we think we turned it into a win. We are limiting trips to the grocery store these days, so we just used other ingredients we had on hand to create our menu of spaghetti and meatballs with milkshakes. We…
Polls Open on a New Chopped Challenge Plus Runner Up Basket Success
Although sausage, cucumbers and honey roasted peanuts seemed like unlikely ingredients, we modified a recipe we know and love from my cooking idol, Ruth Reichl, to make Easy Vietnamese Caramelized Pork: We substituted sausage for pork tenderloin, seedless cucumbers for Armenian cucumbers, and honey roasted peanuts for peanuts. The herbs and cucumbers are a great…