Bon Appetit Thai Shrimp-Halibut Curry

I have been making an effort recently to incorporate more seafood into my family's diet. My two boys love any dish that has shrimp or fish in it and happily eat their whole plates. However, I have been trying to broaden their seafood horizons by giving them a wider variety of fish. I was pleased when a recent issue of Bon Appetit had a recipe for Thai shrimp-halibut curry, that would introduce a new fish flavor.

The longest prep for this recipe is the shelling and de-veining of the shrimp. The rest of the prep is short, with few ingredients requiring cutting or chopping. My total time took less than the 50 minutes suggested by the recipe. I did have to make a few modifications. Halibut was unavailable at my local grocery store, so I substituted cod. Additionally, I was unable to find shallots that week, so I substituted red onion. I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that I was easy able to find Thai red curry paste and fish sauce at my local grocery store.

My family really enjoyed this recipe. My two boys ate their entire plates and the leftovers the next day. My husband loved the cod, but thought the shrimp could be substituted with more fish to be more frugal without sacrificing taste. I will definitely make this dish again, with either cod or halibut.

For the recipe go to Bon Appetit Thai Shrimp-Halibut Curry.

Bon Appetit Tagiatelle Prosciutto and Orange

My two boys love pasta; I can guarantee that it will almost always be eaten in our house with no complaints. Recently, I have been trying to make a larger variety of pasta dishes, instead of the same old red or alfredo sauces. The May issue of Bon Appetit had a full spread of Italian dishes, and the tagliatelle with prosciutto and orange caught my attention.

This is a great quick weeknight dinner. With only 8 ingredients, this recipe is beyond simple. The prep work is next to nothing; easily under 5 minutes. The one problem that I did encounter was finding fresh fettuccine in my area. I looked at three different grocery stores to no avail. I think it's the universes way of telling me to finally use the pasta attachment that I have for my KitchenAid. Next time I make this recipe I will make the fettuccine from scratch, instead of using dried pasta, which was the only type available. The other modification that I made was the prosciutto. The type of prosciutto available in my area was finely diced, not thinly sliced like the recipe suggested. However, my husband and I actually liked the texture and taste of the chopped prosciutto and I would made this modification again.

This recipe turned out great and was very simple to make. My two boys loved it and my husband liked the orange taste. One suggestion if anyone wants to use locally sourced (or leftover) country ham, it would be a great substitution. All-in-all a great recipe.

For the recipe go to Bon Appetit Tagliatelle with Prosciutto and Orange

Bon Appetit Pork Chile Verde with Red Chile Salsa

All the men in my family are huge fans of chili. When my husband and I were first dating he made a point of telling me all about chili from Skyline, Gold Star, etc when we went on a trip to Cincinnati.  He even went so far as to giving my older son Cincinnati-style chili fries for his first table food. Non-beef chilies have been slower to be appreciated by my husband until he had a great bowl of chicken chili last year at a local chili fest. I have been hesitant to try a lot of chili from scratch in my home kitchen, due to the extensive amount of time involved and my husbands high expectations. Recently, I decided to broaden my culinary horizons and try a new recipe from Bon Appetite for pork chile verde with red chile salsa.

This recipe is not one that can be started at the last minute. The prep alone takes about an hour and the cooking time is 3 1/2 hours. The salsa takes an additional 15 minutes, all of which is active cooking time.
Most of the items in this recipe are easy to find, with the exception of cumin seeds, as none of my local stores carry the spice. Next time I will have to check the alternative medicine/health food store in my area. I had to go to two stores to find the dried ancho chiles and the only size available was 1 lb. I didn't make any major modifications to the recipe, with the exception that I didn't top the finished chili with cilantro; I ran out.

The combination of the chili and the salsa is exceptional. However, taken alone the salsa is too smoky and the chili is bit underwhelming. I wouldn't suggest making one without the other, the tastes separately are lacking. I would make this recipe again, especially on a cold winter day when I wanted something hearty.

For the recipe go to Pork Chile Verde with Red Chile Salsa.

Bon Appetit Spicy Shrimp Quesadillas

Good ethnic food is limited in the area that I live, so I am always on the lookout for recipes. Last week I made Shrimp and Coconut Curry with Green Beans and kept the leftovers for Bon Appetit's Spicy Shrimp Quesadillas.

This meal is a great way to get two dinners from the same base recipe. My family loved the original shrimp dish and the leftovers make for quick prep for the quesadillas. I only had to buy minimal ingredients for this dish and the prep work took less than the suggested 35 minutes. I did not make any modifications to the original recipe, I thought that it worked great as written. The best quesadillas were the first two, which held together better than those that followed. This might have been due to the shrimp sitting in the mixture longer for the last batch or they might have been overstuffed.

This recipe was a hit with my kids. They both loved the quesadillas and ate them happily. This recipe benefited from the added heat from a tomatilla and chipotle salsa (recipe coming soon) that I made. This was a good fusion recipe that my whole family enjoyed and will go into my recipe file for future use.


For the recipe go to Bon Appetit Spicy Shrimp Quesadillas.

Bon Appetit Black Bean Chili with Butternut Squash

Since temperatures are in the 80's in my area this week, I'm cramming my last few soup, stew, and chili recipes in before the thermometer hits the 90's. This weekend I tried the Black Bean Chili with Butternut Squash from the February issue of Bon Appetit.

This dish takes a considerable amount of prep and cooking time: three and a half hours, combined. Pre-planning is definitely involved to get this recipe ready for the dinner table. The ingredients are easily accessible, though, and everything was available at my local grocery store. The only negative aspect of prepping is the cutting and peeling of the butternut squash, which can be time consuming.

I did forget to buy the pickled jalapenos and sour cream as suggested for serving. The other substitution that I made was to use the black beans available at my grocery store, not special order the beans from the two websites that Bon Appetit recommends. The added expense was not something justifiable for my family budget and I feel that the dish tasted great regardless.

My two-year-old loved this recipe. He ate his whole bowl and asked for seconds. My four-year-old also ate his whole serving and had leftovers for lunch today. I thought it was a good tasting chili, but I think that next time I would add more salt, it was a little sweeter than I think was intended. Many people would balk at the idea of meatless chili, but I thought this vegetarian (vegan if you skip the dairy toppings) version was a great way to introduce healthier and less-expensive recipes to my household. I will definitely make this recipe in the future (with more salt and the suggested toppings).

For the recipe visit Bon Appetit Black Bean Chili with Butternut Squash.

(Note: Sorry about the unimpressive photo. My iPod Touch was the only camera available at the time.)

Bon Appetite's Honey-Marinated Pork with Germolata

My family is a big fan of pork, so when I come across recipes using it, it tends to be well received. This is from one of the recent issues of Bon Appetit magazine. Oftentimes I have a hard time finding the ingredients for a lot of the recipes in Bon Appetit because the only grocery stores in our area are Kroger and Walmart, making the selection limited. However, this recipe uses readily availiable ingredients and is easy to make.

After marinating the pork for two hours I seared it in a stainless steel pan. I prefer stainless steel for searing because it creates a nice even browning, without burning. 

 I didn't have a large amount of left-over marinade for the sauce, but it came out perfect all the same. My husband liked it so much that he ate the leftovers in the pan with Wheat Thins after dinner.

The overall results of the recipe were very nice. It tasted great and even my two young sons ate every bite. The only thing I had to change was to add a little more white wine, since the sauce was a little thick.

If your interested in trying the recipe for yourself you can find it at Honey-Marinated Pork with Gremolota