Recipes
Tue Dec 20, 2011
Butternut Squash Soup With Sweet Italian Sausage
Winter = soup. Plain and simple. The only thing more comforting than soup in the winter is an entire side of beef (preferably made into chili), but that's the exact reason I come out of the cold, dark months with more than a few extra pounds, so I try to veer myself to soups more often than not. Of course, leave it to me to take a soup and find a way to both make it on the grill and with the unhealthy addition of fatty meat. So maybe this butternut squash soup with sweet Italian sausage may not spare my seasonally expanding gut, but it certainly makes me a happy eater.
More and recipe after the jump >>
Thu Dec 8, 2011
Negimaki
I'm totally "that guy" in Japanese restaurants. You know, the one person at the table who doesn't eat sushi and skips 3/4 of menu and goes straight for the tumpura, katsu, or teriyaki put on the menu just to placate people like me. While I'm slowly getting over a lifelong seafood aversion, raw fish has yet to successfully make its way into my diet, and I'm left ordering off of the "kitchen entrees" of shame. In my own messed up mind, sometimes I turn to negimaki—thinly sliced wrapped around scallions—and trick myself into thinking it's some sort of "meat sushi" because it's in a roll form. I know that's incredibly ridiculously, but you can't deny that this is some pretty good eats.
More and recipe after the jump >>
Tue Nov 29, 2011
Jerk Chicken Wings
With Thanksgiving now behind and little respite before Christmas madness starts sweeping in, this is the time of year I start kicking back and spending the early nights in front of the glowing television transmitting the only winter sport I really care about, basketball. It's a down right dirty shame that this isn't happening right now, and instead have found myself stuck in a waiting pattern with cautious optimism that resolution will be one of the many gifts on Christmas day. While I may have temporarily lost part of my ritual, there other half of this equation is always some sort of bar food—be that wings, skins, nachos, etc—and I see no reason to turn my back on those. With so many games a (normal) year, I've amassed an arsenal of wing recipes to pull from, one of the tops being these Jerk chicken wings.
More and recipe after the jump >>
Tue Nov 22, 2011
Mashed Sweet Potatoes
Mashed potatoes are always on our Thanksgiving table—my sister could have it no other way. Through her life, she's be a die-hard lover of smashed spuds, which brought an extra sense of accomplishment when she deemed my mashers the best ever at our last Thanksgiving dinner. That beacon of pride has stuck with me, but at the same time left me questioning, if I've created the best in the my sister's eyes, where do I go from here? Easy answer, mashed sweet potatoes!
More and recipe after the jump >>
Tue Nov 8, 2011
Crispy Mustard Brussels Sprouts
I never knew I liked brussels sprouts until I grilled them. I can say that about so many foods as grilling has been the medium that's taken me from a sheltered to a serious eater, but this goes double true for sprouts.
While growing up, I don't think I ever once encountered brussels sprouts at home. With an inherited aversion, I assumed I must hate them too. This aversion didn't end when I decided to try them either; I remember my first taste being one of bitterness and disgust paired with a feeling of comfort that avoidance thus far was well justified. Then one day I decided to take them on again, this time on the grill, and I what I learned surprised me and transformed the way I look at brussels sprouts forever.
