My Chicken Marsala

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My husband doesn’t ask for much. We have a terrific give-and-take kind of relationship, and I love that when I’ve had a hectic day, or don’t feel in the mood to prep a meal, he happily steps up to the plate, either by grabbing some takeout on his way home, dragging me out to a restaurant, or sometimes taking a turn at the stove himself. And he’s a really good cook, too—one of many things that kept me around in our earliest days together. I couldn’t be with someone who doesn’t enjoy the simple pleasures of food.

So when Les asked me recently to put chicken Marsala back into the meal rotation, I took it to heart. The “rotation” is a running joke at our house—it takes a while for most dishes to cycle back around. I attribute this in part to my having worked 15 years as a deejay at a Top 40 radio station, where every single day was a rearrangement of the same songs I played the day before. We referred to our playlist as a “rotation,” and that’s exactly what it was—‘round and ‘round, over and over. If you think it gets old to hear the same songs every day, well, imagine having to play them! I crave variety, and most of the time, my cooking style is more like a big stack of one-hit wonders than a greatest hits album. Some dishes never get another play in my kitchen, and when they do, they often appear with changes or twists, almost like a “cover” of the original.

I couldn’t distinctly remember the last time I had made chicken Marsala for Les, so I was happy to revisit this dish. It deserves a spot in the Sunday Supper category, not because it requires extra time or a ton of effort (it doesn’t), but because there is a specialness about it that comes from the gentle mushroom gravy that envelops the tender, pan-fried chicken cutlets.

I’m happy to play my hubby’s request!

I went off-script a bit with this Italian classic, beginning with the flour coating. Rather than using plain all-purpose flour to dredge the cutlets, I mixed it half and half with semolina flour—the same kind I use when I shape my pizza dough. My reason for this is that all-purpose flour on its own tends to get soaked by the natural moisture in fresh meat, and that can give it a somewhat gummy texture after frying. Semolina remains drier and creates more of a natural barrier to the hot oil in the pan. I was pleased with the result of this substitution and will likely use all semolina next time this golden oldie comes up in “the rotation.”

Purchase thin cutlets or pound between sheets of parchment to 1/4 inch thickness.
I seasoned my 50/50 flour mixture with salt, pepper and onion powder.
The semolina felt drier than regular flour alone, and created a better barrier to the moisture.
Rest the dredged cutlets on a plate while you heat the oil.

Which kind of Marsala is correct for this dish? Depends on who you ask, as some cooks like the sweet version. Marsala is a fortified Italian wine with warm, gentle flavors of dried fruit and it is frequently paired with chicken and veal. Even the dry version has subtle sweetness, almost like a touch of honey. “Sweet” is not my favorite genre in an entrée course, unless it is balanced with hot, salty or sour—say, Asian food or barbecue sauce. So I found a lovely, dry Marsala in a wine shop rather than the grocery store (which only carries the cheapest bottles). This was an excellent choice and it’s a good quality Marsala that I plan to use again soon—maybe as a sipper with a plate of cured meats, dried figs and salted almonds. Am I teasing an upcoming record in my next quarter hour? 😉

I’m looking forward to enjoying this again!

My other twists on the classic preparation were shortcuts—If time had not been an issue, I would have slow-simmered some chicken parts to make my own rich stock, but I was a bit rushed, so I used a store-bought stock. I definitely recommend stock over broth, because the result is richer and more flavorful. My other shortcut helped me save time on slicing all those plump mushrooms. I needed a whole carton of mushrooms sliced into perfect, ¼-inch slices, so I dug out my trusty egg slicer. It’s the simplest way to make quick work of this part of my recipe.

I’m not partial to this brand, but stock is definitely the way to go.
My sturdy, metal egg slicer is also great for strawberries!
I had my entire carton sliced in under a minute!

Ready to get cooking?

Pan fry the floured cutlets in a little olive oil, just until golden on both sides, then transfer them to a plate. Brown the mushrooms in a touch more oil, then add garlic and splash in the Marsala—watch out for the steam! Whisk the pan to release the stuck-on bits, then add stock and let it come back up to a gentle boil.

Return the chicken cutlets to the skillet, turning to coat them lightly in the Marsala sauce. Cover the pan and turn it down to low heat to simmer. I used this 25-minute simmering time to prep my side veggies—a quick, pan-fried and then steamed broccolini with garlic and red pepper flakes. This vegetable can be hard to find (or easy to miss) in the supermarket, but it’s worth a look as a great alternative for people who don’t enjoy the bitterness of broccoli. Count my hubby among them!

When you’re ready to serve, plate the chicken cutlets and veggies and then, off the heat, quickly whisk in cold butter—one teaspoon pat at a time—into the mushroom sauce. This method creates a silky, emulsified sauce. Spoon the mushroom sauce over the cutlets, sprinkle with chopped parsley, and this dinner is a certified hit!

You can see the sauce getting richer with each teaspoon of butter. A sprinkle of parsley is a nice finishing touch.

My Chicken Marsala

  • Servings: 2
  • Difficulty: Average
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I have taken a few liberties with this Italian classic, which is both elegant and easy. If you are feeling extra fancy, swap the chicken for veal cutlets.


Ingredients

  • 2 large boneless chicken breasts, split into cutlets and pounded thin
  • 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup semolina flour
  • Salt and pepper (to season the flour mixture)
  • 4 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil (most for chicken, remaining for mushrooms)
  • 1 shallot, chopped
  • 10 oz. cremini mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 1/2 cup dry Marsala (preferably not “cooking wine”)
  • 1/2 cup rich chicken stock
  • 1 Tbsp. cold salted butter, cut into three pats (keep cold until the end)
  • Chopped Italian parsley, to garnish

Directions

  1. Combine flours, salt and pepper in a shallow dish. Dredge cutlets in the dry mixture and set aside on a plate.
  2. Heat 3 tablespoons of the olive oil in a skillet (if you have one that is not non-stick, that’s best) over medium heat. When the oil is shimmering, arrange the cutlets in the pan and cook just until golden on each side, about three minutes each side. Transfer cutlets to a plate and cover with foil to keep warm.
  3. Add remaining oil to the skillet and saute the shallots until softened. Add the mushrooms, half at first then the rest. Avoid overloading the skillet as this will cause the mushrooms to steam in their own moisture. When the mushrooms are sufficiently browned and excess moisture has cooked off the pan, stir in the garlic.
  4. Add the Marsala wine all at once. This will probably create a big cloud of steam! Use a whisk or utensil to loosen any browned bits in the skillet. Stir in the chicken stock and bring the mixture back up to a slight boil.
  5. Return cutlets to the skillet, reduce heat and cover. Allow the chicken to simmer for 25-40 minutes, depending on what else you have going on. The longer it simmers, the more moisture will reduce, so check on it periodically and add a splash of stock if needed. Turn the cutlets once during simmering as well.
  6. Transfer the tender cutlets to serving plates. Swirl in cold butter, one teaspoon pat at a time. This will blend with the pan juices to create a thickened, luxurious sauce. Immediately spoon over cutlets. Sprinkle with fresh parsley, if desired, and serve at once.

This dish is terrific on its own with a vegetable or salad, or you can place the cutlets on top of polenta, risotto, mashed potatoes, rice or buttered pasta.

Handmade Beet Ravioli Hearts 💕

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I’m so glad I didn’t give up on homemade pasta. My first few attempts were equal parts disaster and comedy, as I naively believed it might be as simple as TV chefs made it seem. Don’t get me wrong, it is not difficult to make fresh pasta dough. But unless or until you are a pro with many years experience doing it, I do not recommend the method some of those chefs follow— building up a mountain of flour on a counter and then using your hands to mix in the eggs that are cracked right into the top of the pile. The likely outcome is a big mess, and I am definitely speaking from experience.

Those early failures prompted me to suspend my efforts, and I didn’t have the gumption to try again for a few years, until after I’d purchased my first stand mixer. Let me tell you, a high-sided mixing bowl and the squiggly dough hook attachment make far easier, cleaner work of homemade pasta dough. I was still rolling it out by hand with a wooden rolling pin, which is perfectly acceptable, but when I found my hand-crank pasta machine, I was on my way to making sheets of pasta for homemade linguine and fettuccine. Fast forward another year, and I picked up a three-tray set of ravioli molds, finding my way to all varieties of sweet little pillow pastas, including the handmade spinach ricotta ravioli I shared in another post.

One day, I hope to improve my technique for hand-shaping some of the special pasta, like oricchiette and casarecce. Practice makes perfect, right? There is so much to learn in the world of handmade pasta, and my most recent obsession has been adding big flavor and color to pasta dough through the addition of pureed vegetables and other natural ingredients. This book, Pasta, Pretty Please, by Linda Miller Nicholson has inspired me to try fun new combinations, including beet-infused pasta dough, which is featured in the top left of this color chart in Linda’s book.

How long will it take me to make all these pasta colors?

You can see that my pasta dough, which was made with roasted beets, has a soft pink color— not the bright magenta hue that Linda makes. I realized too late that Linda uses frozen pureed beets for her pretty pasta. I love that vibrant color she achieves, but you know what? My soft pink, heart-shaped pasta is still perfectly appropriate for Valentine’s Day, and the beets in the dough are good for cardiovascular health, so there’s that. You hardly taste the flavor of the beets, but the nutritional benefit is still in there.

The beets and egg whites are pureed and added to the flour mixture.

This pasta would be lovely as fettuccine, farfalle or linguine, but I whipped up a quick filling and turned it into ravioli. The filling is a simple, lemon zest-scented ricotta mixture, and to keep the pasta front and center, I topped the ravioli with a simple, browned butter walnut sauce and a last-minute sprinkle of our beloved parm-romano blend.

You don’t need a heart-shaped ravioli cutter. These would be just as good as simple squares!

If you have ever dreamed about making your own pasta at home, my advice is simple— start doing it! You may not get it perfect the first time, and that’s OK. This is one of the most rewarding kitchen adventures and once you get the feel for it, you’ll surprise yourself with the creative ideas that come to you. Every once in a while, you may also get a good laugh, as I did when I realized while rolling this dough that it looked weirdly familiar to me, and not necessarily in a good way. 😂

OMG, It looks like a tongue!

Thank goodness, it turned out delicious! If you’re interested in purchasing Linda Miller Nicholson’s book, which is filled with instruction for making every color and shape of pasta you could possibly imagine, search for it on Amazon or check at Barnes & Noble.

Handmade Beet Ravioli Hearts

  • Servings: About 4
  • Difficulty: Intermediate
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Roasted beets bring a sweetheart color to my homemade pasta. If you've ever wanted to make your own pasta, I hope this inspires you!


Ingredients

  • 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup white whole wheat flour
  • 1/2 cup fine durum (semolina) flour
  • 1/4 tsp. kosher salt
  • 1/2 tsp. onion powder
  • 4 small beets, roasted and peeled
  • 2 egg whites at room temperature

Directions

  1. Combine flours, salt and onion powder in the bowl of a stand mixer.
  2. Place beets and egg whites in the small insert bowl of a food processor and blend until pureed. Pour through a fine mesh strainer into a measuring cup. Add water if necessary to measure 3/4 cup.
  3. Pour beet-egg liquid into flour ingredients. Use the dough hook attachment of the stand mixer to blend the liquid into the dry ingredients. Dough should be somewhat shaggy and not quite sticky. Transfer dough to a lightly floured countertop and knead by hand for about 5 minutes until it’s smooth and supple. Shape it into a ball and wrap tightly with plastic wrap. Let it rest at least 30 minutes.
  4. Roll pasta dough by hand or through pasta machine to thickness about 1/16-inch. If making ravioli, proceed with filling as described below. This pasta dough would also make beautiful fettuccine.

If you’re making ravioli, I’ve included ingredients below for the filling and browned butter-walnut sauce. It’s easy to make the filling ahead. The sauce should be made just before serving.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup full-fat ricotta, strained to drain off excess moisture
  • Zest of one organic lemon
  • 1/4 cup grated Parm-romano blend (or Parmesan)

Ingredients

  • 3 Tbsp. salted butter
  • 1/2 cup walnut pieces, toasted until fragrant
  • A few leaves of fresh thyme
  • About 2 Tbsp. Parm-Romano blend, for serving

Directions

  1. Combine all ravioli filling ingredients in a small bowl. Refrigerate until ready to fill pasta.
  2. Lay one sheet of pasta dough on a floured counter. At evenly spaced intervals, place a dollop of ricotta mixture. Using a thin pastry brush or your fingertip, moisten the dough around the ricotta with cold water. Place a second sheet over the sheet with ricotta filling. Gently close the pockets of filling, pushing out as much extra air as possible. Use a pasta cutter or stamp to separate raviolis. Place on a semolina-dusted sheet until ready to cook.
  3. In a small skillet, heat butter until melted and bubbly. Add walnuts and toss to coat. Continue cooking until butter is browned and very fragrant. Add thyme leaves and remove from heat.

Bring a pot of water to boil and season with a tablespoon of kosher salt. Cook pasta gently for about 4 minutes. If making ravioli, reduce heat somewhat and turn pasta carefully to avoid breaking the pillows. Top pasta with butter-walnut sauce and sprinkle with Parm-Romano blend cheese. Serve immediately.

Jalapeño Popper Pizza

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Most pizza lovers would agree that there’s never a bad day for pizza. But someone somewhere decided that February 9th should be “National Pizza Day,” and I am here for it with a pizza that is not only delicious, but also especially appropriate for snacking during Sunday’s Super Bowl, er, “Big Game!”

Everything you love about a jalapeno popper, on a pizza!

This pizza, which is built on my go-to homemade sourdough crust, is a fun interpretation of the classic jalapeño popper, which is usually a hot pepper, stuffed with cream cheese and cheddar, then wrapped in bacon and baked.

What are they feeding these peppers?!
Cook the bacon to not-quite-crisp.
Cook the jalapeno chunks until blistered.
My pimento cheese includes roasted poblanos!

We focused on those same ingredients, spread them out onto a pizza crust and turned it into a delicious slice. Two game day favorites, one tasty bite!

Arrange the ingredients so that every slice has all the flavors!

If you aren’t into making your own pizza dough, choose a store-bought dough from the deli department, preferably one that is about 11 ounces, and shape it by hand into a 14-inch round. There’s no sauce on this pizza—it doesn’t need it. Only mozzarella on the base, but also multiple cheeses in a homemade pimento cheese mixture (don’t worry, I’ll share that recipe, too), thumb-size pieces of smoky, salty bacon and fat chunks of fresh jalapeño, which I blistered in the same skillet I used to par-cook the bacon. You know what else would’ve been great on this pizza? Sautéed onions. Next time!

It’s worth the effort to shape your pizza dough by hand rather than rolling it out.

The pizza is surprisingly not all that spicy, despite having those two enormous jalapeños scattered all over it. If you desire more heat, keep some of the seeds on the jalapeños or consider adding some crushed pepper flakes at the table. Personally, we thought the pizza was just right.

The pizza steel has been a total game changer for our home pizzas. I highly recommend it!

We bake all our pizzas on a thick pizza steel, preheated for an hour at 550°F, the hottest our home oven will go. At this temperature, and with the steel, the pizza takes only 6 minutes to achieve blistered, bubbly perfection. If you’re using a stone or a pan, adjust temperature and baking time accordingly.

Jalapeño Popper Pizza

  • Servings: 6 to 8 slices
  • Difficulty: Average
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All the flavors you love in a jalapeño popper, tossed onto a homemade pizza dough. It's two game day favorites in one delicious bite!


Ingredients

  • 1 ball pizza dough, at room temperature
  • 1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 cup low moisture mozzarella, shredded
  • 2 large jalapeño peppers, seeded and cut into 1-inch chunks
  • 4 slices thick smoked bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces
  • 1/2 cup pimento cheese (see recipe notes about this)
  • 3 cloves garlic, peeled and finely minced

Use a sturdy pimento cheese that does not have a lot of mayonnaise. If it drips or slides off a spoon, it is too runny for this recipe. Look for an artisan brand or make my Roasted Poblano Pimento Cheese for this recipe.

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 550 F, with a pizza steel on the oven rack about 8 inches from top heat element. From the time the oven reaches 550, set a timer for one hour. If using a pizza stone or pan, adjust heat and baking time accordingly.
  2. Cook bacon over medium heat in a cast iron skillet, until most of the fat has rendered but the bacon is just shy of crispy. Transfer bacon to a plate lined with a paper towel. Drain off excess grease.
  3. In the same skillet, toss jalapeño chunks until they are slightly softened and the skins are somewhat blistered. Transfer to the same plate as the bacon.
  4. Shape pizza dough by hand into a 14-inch round and transfer it to a floured, cornmeal-dusted pizza peel. Drizzle or brush olive oil onto the crust, and season with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.
  5. Scatter mozzarella all over dough, then arrange the jalapeño and bacon pieces. Place small dollops of pimento cheese onto the pizza, so that every bite will have a little bit of every flavor. Sprinkle minced garlic onto the pizza.
  6. Slide the pizza from the peel onto the pizza steel and bake for about 6 minutes, until crust is blistered and golden and the cheeses are melted and bubbling. Serve at once.

Roasted Poblano Pimento Cheese

  • Servings: About 10
  • Difficulty: Average
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The joy of making your own pimento cheese is that you can spike it with any flavor you like! Here, I've used oven-roasted poblano chiles to complement the tangy pimentos.


Ingredients

  • 2 medium poblano peppers, cut in half and seeded
  • Olive oil spray (or 1 tsp. olive oil)
  • 3 oz. cream cheese or neufchâtel, softened to room temperature
  • 1/4 cup + 1 Tbsp. mayonnaise
  • A dash or two of hot sauce, to taste
  • A few quick shakes onion powder or garlic powder (about 1/2 tsp. total)
  • Salt and pepper
  • 2 Tbsp. drained jarred pimentos
  • 3 packed cups shredded or grated cheese (see recipe notes)

For best results, mix all the ingredients and adjust seasoning before blending in the cheese. Purchase whole blocks of cheese and shred it yourself, as the bagged varieties have a coating to prevent sticking and they won’t blend as well. Several varieties of cheese work great in pimento cheese, and I used a mix of Monterey Jack, American, Colby jack and extra sharp cheddar.

Directions

  1. Preheat oven on low broil setting. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil (not parchment) and use the heel of your hand to press and break the poblano halves until they’re flat. Arrange them, skin side-up, on the foil. Brush or spray them with oil, and then broil until the skins are blistered and peppers are softened (about 10 minutes). Transfer peppers to a bowl and cover for 20 minutes until they’re cool enough to handle. Peel as much of the skin from the peppers as possible and then chop fine.
  2. In a fairly large bowl (you’ll need plenty of room to stir), blend together the cream cheese, mayonnaise, hot sauce, and onion powder. Mix until smooth. Stir in pimentos and chopped poblanos. Season to taste with salt and pepper, perhaps a bit saltier than you like because the cheese will dull those flavors somewhat.
  3. Stir in the shredded cheese, one cup at a time, blending really well each time until all cheese is mixed in. Cover and refrigerate a day for best flavor.

Midwinter Salad with Smoked Maple-Sriracha Vinaigrette

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What in the world does a groundhog know about the weather, anyway? It fascinates me to realize how many people lay their meteorological hopes on a fat, furry rodent from western Pennsylvania—and I say this facetiously, fully aware that folks in the western part of my own North Carolina do the same every fall with woolly worms.

Do I care what the Punxsutawney rascal saw this morning, when he emerged from his hole? Not really, given that his predictions for early spring vs. six more weeks of winter only hold about 39% accuracy. My local weather peeps get it right far more often than that. Still, it doesn’t surprise me to know that Punxsutawney Phil has his own Instagram account with nearly 14k followers. I believe this is ultimately because people are bored half to death after being cooped up inside with cold, gray, dreary weather, and they are just looking for something to amuse themselves. You can count me among them in that regard (and we haven’t even had snow this year).

It’s why I’ve been dreaming of this salad, and I finally made it last night in my own attempt to shake off the midwinter blues and blahs. My original intent was to make it a few weeks ago, and I had purchased all the ingredients to make it happen, but then we got Covid in our house—as if January, on its own, wasn’t miserable enough—and all bets (and burners) were off. Luckily, most of my ingredients for this vibrant, flavorful salad are sturdy; the sweet potatoes, cabbage, parsnips and onions kept well, and the only thing I had to buy new was the kale. Beyond that, the salad has so many things I love—tender lentils, cooked beets (I used store bought), feta, toasted pecans and a spectacular smoked maple-sriracha vinaigrette that appeared to me in a dream not long ago.

This salad will wake up your taste buds!

The dressing begins with a generous shake of dried minced onions, which you’ll rehydrate with some just-boiled water. Add Dijon, rice vinegar, salt and pepper, sriracha and smoked maple syrup (I love this stuff from Sugar Bob’s Finest Kind, and you’ll appreciate what it does for an old fashioned cocktail, too). Whisk in some extra virgin olive oil and set it aside until salad time. This vinaigrette brings such a huge flavor punch, I know I’ll be making it again soon, and probably roasting vegetables in it at some point before spring finally arrives in, you know, six weeks or whatever.

I love making my own salad dressings because I can completely customize the flavors to complement my meal.

Is the salad easy to make? Yes, and if you want to swap in different root vegetables, go for it. If you aren’t loving the lentils, I think canned or fresh-cooked cannellini beans would be a great swap-in, or even a hard-boiled egg for a bit of protein. For an entirely plant-based salad, skip the feta and add some cubes of tofu (marinated in the vinaigrette, of course).

I can’t say for sure how long it takes to make this gorgeous plate, because I worked on bits and pieces of it while multi-tasking my day job and scrolling punxseyphil’s Instagram feed. I can assure that none of it is difficult. Make the dressing first so the flavors have time to mingle. The kale needs to be cleaned, dried and massaged with olive oil and kosher salt. I like a nice, peppery olive oil for this, and I absolutely love how tender the kale emerges after its spa treatment. What’s leftover will be great in another salad or tossed into an omelet or on top of a pizza.

I save money by buying the kale in bunches and cleaning it myself. And massaging it with oil and salt totally changes the texture.

The sweet potatoes and parsnips are peeled (or scrubbed), cut into chunks, tossed with onions and oil, and then roasted at 400° F for about 40 minutes—toss ‘em once or twice midway so they roast evenly.

Most of my sweet onions were roasted with the root vegetables, and the rest went onto the salad raw.

And I cooked my lentils from dried, which I know can be a challenge so here’s my advice: ditch the directions on the bag—they always turn to mush. Use a 3:1 ratio of water to lentils, but cook them over half the heat for two to three times longer than recommended in the directions. Add a bay leaf. It takes some time, yes, but for your patience you’ll be rewarded with perfectly tender, intact lentils. They are loaded with protein and I love the flavor of these little guys.

Perfect!

The only thing left is assembling the salad, and that’s the easiest part. You don’t have to be all artistic about it, but I find it satisfying to compose a plate that looks as terrific as it tastes. Kale goes on the bottom of course, topped with some of the shredded red cabbage. Then add a section of lentils, a pile of the warm, roasted root vegetables and a little row of beet slices. Run a winding trail of cubed feta down through the middle, let the toasted pecans fall where they may, and drizzle the dressing all over it, especially onto the feta and lentils.

So much color, flavor and texture going on here!

Midwinter Salad with Smoked Maple-Sriracha Vinaigrette

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: Average
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This salad is nutritious, colorful and bursting with flavor. Guaranteed to help you shake off the midwinter blahs!


Ingredients

  • 1 large bunch fresh, organic kale
  • 1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil (for massaging kale)
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 cup thinly sliced red cabbage
  • 1 small sweet onion, chopped
  • 2 medium sweet potatoes, cut into large chunks
  • 2 medium parsnips, cut into large chunks
  • 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil (for roasting root vegetables)
  • 2 cups cooked green lentils
  • 4 small, cooked beets, sliced
  • 2/3 cup cubed feta (preferably brine-packed)
  • 1/2 cup toasted pecans, broken into pieces
  • Smoked maple-sriracha vinaigrette (recipe below)

Directions

  1. Prep kale by rinsing under cold running water. Strip leaves and discard tough stems. Roll kale leaves up in a clean dish towel to blot dry, then tear into bite-sized pieces and add to a large bowl. Drizzle kale leaves with olive oil and sprinkle with a pinch of kosher salt. Massage with your hands until kale is wilted, and then cover the bowl and refrigerate a couple of hours.
  2. Preheat oven to 400 F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Drizzle a tablespoon of olive oil directly onto the parchment, add cut up sweet potatoes, parsnips and onions. Drizzle on remaining olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Toss the vegetables around to coat them with the oil. Roast for 40 minutes, until tender with roasted edges. Toss vegetables once or twice midway through roasting.
  3. Plate the salad, beginning with chilled massage kale for the base, then scatter the shreds of red cabbage. Arrange the remaining elements of the salad in piles around the salad; a pile of lentils, a large pile of roasted root vegetables, a fan of sliced beets and a winding line of feta cubes. Sprinkle the toasted pecans randomly over the salad. Drizzle on the vinaigrette and serve.

The dressing is really the star of this salad, with its smoked maple sweetness and spicy sriracha. Look for the smoked maple syrup online from a company called “Sugar Bob’s Finest Kind,” or substitute regular maple syrup for a similar flavor. Use the unseasoned version of rice vinegar, which is not embellished with additional salt.

Ingredients

  • 2 tsp. dried minced onion + 2 Tbsp. just-boiled water (to soften)
  • 1 Tbsp. sriracha sauce
  • 2 Tbsp. smoked maple syrup
  • 2 tsp. Dijon mustard
  • 2 Tbsp. rice vinegar
  • A pinch of dried thyme leaves
  • 6 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
  • Salt and pepper

Directions

  1. Combine the dried onion and hot water in a glass measuring cup, and let rest until onions are softened (they will not absorb all the water, but do not drain it).
  2. Add sriracha, syrup, mustard, vinegar, thyme, salt and pepper to the measuring cup and whisk to combine. Drizzle olive oil into the cup, whisking constantly to emulsify the mixture. Dressing will improve after it rests awhile; give it a good whisking right before serving.

Southwest Chicken Soup

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There’s never a wrong time for chicken soup, and winter seems especially appropriate, given that it is also cold and flu season. In the middle of January, my husband and I both found ourselves stuck at home with Covid. I had started experiencing symptoms on a Thursday night, and I was quick to blame the just-completed replacement of our entire HVAC system as the culprit for the sore throat and sneezing that had suddenly walloped me. Dust and bits of insulation had been falling out of all the vents in the house for two days, so of course I felt lousy. At least, with the new system, I’d be warm.

But two nights later, as I sat shivering on the sofa, despite wearing a bulky sweatshirt, fuzzy jammie pants, two pairs of socks, my Land’s End shearling-lined slippers and curling up under a big ass blanket, I knew I was in trouble. The lines on my at-home rapid Covid test were not only pink— they were bright magenta! Les tested positive the next day, and we settled in for a week of being bored out of our ever-loving minds. Thank God we have every TV streaming service known to man, and some of the kindest neighbors around who did front porch drop-offs of soup, orange juice and other sick-at-home necessities. We are grateful.

That first night of symptoms, I had made this southwest-themed chicken soup, and it was exactly what I needed, though I wish I had made a double batch. Next time, I will do exactly that and I’ll stash some in the freezer— just in case!

The soup is quick to make because it relies on a supermarket deli roast chicken and a few easy pantry ingredients. The chicken I selected was labeled “Peruvian,” which includes seasonings like paprika, cumin and oregano— all perfectly compatible for a southwest-themed soup. I used almost exactly half of the chicken, including the shredded meat from a thigh, breast and drumstick, plus the skin (I’ll explain in a moment). The remaining chicken meat went into a very tasty chicken salad that Les made, using some of his fabulous pimiento cheese. It was so good on sandwiches, and I’ll try to sweet talk him into making that again to share on the blog.

Once in a while, these deli roast chickens come in really handy!

I started the soup with a quick saute of chopped onions and diced jalapeno— just long enough to soften them up. A few shakes of chili powder added a layer of flavor, and then I poured in a whole carton (4 cups) of chicken stock, the shredded chicken and several pieces of skin from the chicken, and I heated it to the point of a low boil before dropping it to a simmer. The skin released extra flavor into the soup, and I pulled them out before serving the soup.

The flavors in this soup come in layers.

While the soup simmered, I prepped the fresh toppings which included diced avocado and torn cilantro leaves, plus wedges of fresh lime to squeeze over at serving. A small can of hot salsa added a big punch of flavor. Pre-cooked brown rice saved precious minutes and added a little whole grain to the soup.

With all the shortcuts I took making this soup, it’s ironic that I made the tortilla strips from scratch!

The only thing my soup still needed was a little bit of crunch on top. Any other day, I would have just served it with a few tortilla chips on the side. But on that day, when I was already feeling crummy and didn’t want to run to the store, I found instead a package of corn tortillas shoved into the back of our deli drawer. So I heated some peanut oil, cut up the corn tortillas into small strips and fried them crispy. It took only about 4 minutes, and it was the perfect finishing touch!

Serve up the soup and add your fresh toppings and crispy strips. Delicious!

Southwest Chicken Soup

  • Servings: About 6
  • Difficulty: Easy
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A deli roast chicken and a few easy pantry ingredients make this flavorful twist on a classic comfort food perfect for chasing away the mid-winter blahs!


Ingredients

  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 1/2 jalapeño, seeded and minced
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
  • A few shakes of prepared chili powder
  • 4 cups chicken stock or broth
  • About 2 cups shredded or chopped roast chicken (and skin, optional)
  • 10 oz. can spicy salsa (I used Herdez brand)
  • About 1/2 cup cooked brown rice (I used pre-cooked Minute Rice)
  • 1 ripe avocado, peeled and cubed
  • 1/2 fresh lime, cut into wedges for serving
  • Small handful of fresh cilantro leaves
  • Crispy tortilla strips (store bought or homemade, for serving; my recipe is below)

Directions

  1. Heat olive oil in a medium sized soup pot, over medium heat. Add onions and jalapeños, season with salt and pepper and sauté until softened. Sprinkle with a few shakes (about 1/2 tsp) chili powder.
  2. Add chicken stock and shredded chicken. Drop any crispy roasted chicken skin into the soup pot to extract the extra flavor.
  3. Stir salsa into the soup and heat until it comes to a low boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 30 minutes.
  4. Prepare crispy tortilla strips while soup simmers, or skip this step if you’re using pre-made chips.
  5. Add brown rice and heat through. Serve soup in shallow bowls, topped with chopped avocado and torn cilantro.
  6. Top each bowl with a few crispy tortilla strips and serve immediately.

If you have a few extra minutes, it’s worth the little bit of trouble to make the crispy tortilla strips from scratch. Be sure to season them immediately upon removal from the hot oil. I used Trader Joe’s “Everything But the Elote” seasoning, but chili powder, season salt or simple salt and pepper would also be delicious.

Ingredients

  • 4 to 6 corn tortillas, cut in half, then stacked and cut into strips about 1/2-inch wide
  • 1 cup neutral cooking oil, such as grapeseed, canola or peanut oil
  • Salty seasoning of your choice

Directions

  1. Heat oil in a shallow pot over medium-high heat; it should measure about 1-inch deep in the pot.
  2. Add a few test strips of tortilla to the oil to test the temperature. They should immediately bubble all over.
  3. Fry tortilla strips for about 4 minutes, until light and crispy. Use a slotted spoon to remove the strips. Drain them on layers of paper towel, and sprinkle right away with salt or seasonings.

Philly Cheesesteak Dip

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I don’t care about football. Let’s get that out of the way, OK? But I do love a theme and the camaraderie of a big-game party with friends, and especially the food!

There is no better food for a die-hard Philadelphia Eagles fan than a real Philly cheesesteak, with its peppers and mushrooms, all that gooey melted cheese and loaded up with thinly sliced steak. It’s a hearty, flavorful sandwich— and it screams Philly. 

It would be the perfect thing to serve for this weekend’s NFC Championship game, right? If only it wasn’t a fat, messy sandwich.

When things get intense and your team is vying for a spot in the NFL’s biggest game of the year, you’ve gotta have an easier way to chow down on those flavors, or you’ll end up with it spilt all over your green jersey! This recipe has all the right stuff, but in a simplified format so you can take a warm, meaty, cheesy bite in between yelling at the refs and cheering your team on to victory.

Our good friends, Bob and Peg, are two such die-hard Eagles fans and they have generously shared Bob’s recipe for this scrumptious, game day party dip. It’s perfect for halftime snacking, regardless of which team you’re pulling for this weekend. But if you’re at Bob and Peg’s house, you’d best be pulling for Philly.

So delicious, hot from the oven!

The game will be aired on FOX this Sunday at 3:00 PM Philadelphia time, and if you have plenty of time to get this dip ready.

Bob’s cheesesteak dip begins with easy-to-find ingredients, and the prep is super simple. You’ll need cream cheese (Philadelphia brand, obviously), onion, bell pepper and mushrooms, a mountain of white cheese and very thinly sliced steaks. Bob’s recipe suggests an Italian “6-cheese” blend, but I used mainly Monterey Jack and pepper jack cheeses because I already had them in the fridge. Some amount of white American cheese would give a nice, melty quality to this dip, too. I’d recommend steering clear of very sharp, hard cheeses, as they tend to break under heat.

It’s good to have everything prepped before you begin cooking.

Put the veggies in a skillet and sauté until they’re soft. Then cook up the thinly sliced steaks and chop them into smaller pieces. I scored a package of fresh, shaved Angus steak in the meat case of my supermarket, but these aren’t always available. Bob’s recipe suggests using Steak-umms, specifically the 14-steak package.

After chopping the steaks, I seasoned them with salt, pepper and garlic powder and put them back in the skillet to get some crispy edges.

While the veggies and meat cool a bit, blend the softened cream cheese together with a dab of mayo, and then blend in the veggies, shredded cheese and chopped steak. It may be a bit clumpy at this stage and that’s OK; it will melt and smooth out during baking.

No mixer? Soften the cream cheese and mix it up in a large bowl with a heavy spoon.

Transfer the whole delicious mess into an oven-safe dish and pop it into the oven at 350 F for half an hour, then top with more cheese (I used our favorite Parm-Romano blend) and put it under the broiler just long enough to get it browned and bubbly on top.

Whoops! The parmesan got away from me a little bit!
Look at the bubbly goodness after a quick time under the broiler.

Serve your cheesesteak dip with slices of French baguette or, as we did at our house, crunchy pita chips. It occurred to me when we were enjoying this that the mixture could also be blended and transferred to a small slow cooker. I’d recommend warming it on the high setting until it’s bubbly, then give it a good stir and drop to low or warm setting to keep it nice and gooey from kickoff until the game is over.

Philly Cheesesteak Dip

  • Servings: About 8
  • Difficulty: Average
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All the scrumptious flavors of a classic Philly cheesesteak sandwich, but easier to eat while cheering your team on to victory!


Ingredients

  • 1 medium onion, chopped (about 2/3 cup)
  • 1 large green bell pepper, chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)
  • A large handful fresh mushrooms, chopped (about 2/3 cup)
  • 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
  • Salt and pepper
  • A quick shake or two of garlic powder
  • 14 slices very thin steak (Steak-Umms work great)
  • 2 bricks cream cheese (Philadelphia brand, duh!), softened
  • 2 Tablespoons mayonnaise
  • 12 oz. shredded white cheese (Italian, Monterey Jack, pepper jack are all good choices)
  • About 2 Tbsp. shredded Parm-romano blend cheese

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Heat a deep skillet over medium heat. Add olive oil, then add onions, peppers and mushrooms. Season with salt and pepper. Sauté until vegetables are softened and slightly translucent. Transfer to a bowl.
  2. In the same skillet, fry the steak slices until browned and cooked through. Transfer to a cutting board and chop into small pieces. Season with salt and pepper, plus a little shake of garlic powder. Add to the bowl with sautéed veggies.
  3. Using a stand mixer fitted with the beater blade, gently beat the softened cream cheese together with mayonnaise until creamy.
  4. Add sautéed veggies, shredded cheese and browned steak to cream cheese mixture. Mix until evenly blended. Transfer mixture to an oven-safe casserole dish.
  5. Bake cheesesteak dip for 30 minutes, then sprinkle with Parmesan or Parm-Romano blend and broil for 2 to 3 minutes until browned and bubbly.
  6. Remove cheesesteak dip and serve immediately with pita chips or sliced French baguette.

Alternatively, follow instructions through step 4. Transfer mixture to slow cooker on high until bubbly. Reduce to low heat or warm setting so dip stays warm and gooey.

Coffee-rubbed Skirt Steak with Chimichurri

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Too often, my hubby and I fall into a make-it-Mexican rut, and we neglect the other flavors that are hanging out in our pantry cabinet, just waiting to thrill our palates. When we discovered last week that our dinner rotation had an empty slot, I pulled a package of skirt steak from the freezer, figuring we could always give it a Mexican spin and fajitas or tacos with it. But with all the other flavorful things that could be applied to a cut as tender and succulent as skirt steak, isn’t plain ole usual fajitas just “phoning it in?” 

So I reconsidered, taking our steak in a different direction with my homemade spicy coffee rub and a zesty, garlicky chimichurri to accentuate and complement the smoky, earthy flavors of the rub. We did pile it all onto hearty tortillas and enjoyed it as fajitas, but this meal had a decidedly more interesting appeal!

Les couldn’t wait to sip his brew!

As long as we were trying new things, we swapped in scallions for the usual grilled onions, which was a nice change of pace texturally and flavor-wise. And we gave our red bell pepper only a few quick turns on the grill, keeping some of the firmness and amping up the sweetness with those blistered skins. No hot spices on them, only salt and pepper to preserve their natural flavors.

No salsa, cilantro or sour cream here either; rather, I set up my food processor and pulsed down a couple of big handfuls of fresh parsley with garlic, more scallions, fresh oregano and red wine vinegar. The grilling of this meal moves quickly, so it’s best to make the chimichurri a few hours or even a day ahead. Here’s how it goes.

This is a classic formula for chimichurri, a condiment familiar to Argentina, and though it typically calls for a few shakes of crushed red pepper, I swapped in a scant spoonful of this wicked hot crispy habanero stuff that I picked up last year from Trader Joe’s. Drizzle in some olive oil while the processor runs, and it’s ready in a snap.

Now, if you’re thinking, “I need to get to Trader Joe’s right now for some of that crispy habanero!” well, don’t bother. As is par for the course, this spicy stuff has already been 86’d from TJ’s lineup— their abrupt dispatch of interesting products is, as you know, part of my love-hate relationship with the store— but you can easily go traditional with your chimichurri and just use crushed red pepper, or even a fresh jalapeno. But if you happen to be stuck with a jar of the habanero crisp already, at least now you have a fun way to use it. I intend to put it to work in my next batch of spicy homemade sausage, and I’ll let you know how that goes.

As for the skirt steak, I gave it a nice massage with my spicy coffee rub, which I introduced in 2021 with this coffee-rubbed grilled tri-tip steak. Link back to that post for the rub recipe and another great meat idea for the grill. This homemade rub has amazing flavors, including coriander, ancho, brown sugar, oregano and cayenne— altogether, a really nice change of pace for fajitas. The coffee rub does not impart a coffee flavor to the meat—if it did, my husband wouldn’t touch it—no, it’s more of a bold, earthy flavor, a little bit spicy and a touch smoky, depending on the roast level of the coffee you use.

Pat the steak dry, then spritz it with spray oil and generously apply the coffee rub on both sides.
I left it in the fridge a full 24 hours before grilling, but a few hours will do.

The secret to making skirt steak the best it can be is threefold— season it well ahead of time, grill it quickly and cut it against the grain. Les took care of the grilling part (and it happened fast!) while I prepped the fresh avocado and chopped the charred veggies. We wrapped the finished steak tightly in foil for about seven minutes before slicing, and dinner was served!

Don’t blink! This skirt steak hit the grill at 6:28, was turned at 6:30, and came back into the house for a nap in foil wrap at 6:32!
I had to work as quickly inside to get the accoutrements ready.

The coffee rub turned out to be a terrific flavor for our skirt steak, and the chimichurri was like icing on a cake! OK, well, maybe green icing. 🙂

This was a very tasty bite!

Coffee-rubbed Skirt Steak with Chimichurri

  • Servings: About 5
  • Difficulty: Average
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The earthy, smoky notes of my coffee rub, combined with a bold and zesty chimichurri was a flavor explosion for our taste buds! If you can't purchaset this flavorful cut, a flank steak or hangar steak would be a good substitute. Allow a few extra minutes on the grill to adjust for the thickness.


Ingredients

  • 2 to 3-pound skirt steak (preferably grass-fed)
  • Extra-virgin olive oil (liquid or spray)
  • 1 Tbsp. spicy coffee rub (recipe available at https://comfortdujour.com/2021/05/17/coffee-rubbed-grilled-tri-tip-steak/)
  • 1 large red bell pepper, seeded and cut into large sections for easy grilling
  • 1 bunch fresh scallions, divided (you’ll use them in the chimichurri and as an accompaniment to the steak)
  • 1 ripe avocado, cut into slices or cubes
  • 1 small lime, cut into wedges
  • Medium size flour tortillas for serving

Directions

  1. Trim away any lingering membrane pieces from skirt steak. Pat dry, then rub or spray on a small amount of olive oil. Apply coffee rub evenly over the entire surface of the steak. Let it rest in the fridge a few (or up to 24) hours, bringing it back to near-room temperature about 45 minutes before grilling.
  2. Preheat grill or grill pan to roughly 500 F. If working indoors, be ready to use your vent fan, as the high temperature will likely produce some smoke.
  3. Prep the red bell peppers and remaining scallions by brushing or spraying with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Grill the veggies, turning frequently to ensure even charring. Transfer to a cutting board and chop into bite sized pieces.
  4. Place the skirt steak over direct heat and grill only until the first side is seared (this will be 2 minutes or less). Turn the steak and repeat searing on the other side. The cooking should be very brief so the meat remains tender.
  5. Transfer the steak immediately to a plate lined with a large, double layer of foil. Season immediately with kosher salt. Wrap the steak so it is fully enclosed in the foil and seal it tightly, resting for 5 to 8 minutes. The residual heat will finish cooking the meat as the juices are redistributed.
  6. While the steak rests, flash-grill the tortillas just long enough to warm them. Transfer the steak to a cutting board and slice thinly against the grain of the meat. Serve with grilled veggies, avocado and chimicurri.

For best flavor, make the chimichurri a day ahead so the ingredients have plenty of time to mingle in the fridge. Bring to near-room temperature for serving.

Ingredients

  • About two handfuls fresh Italian parsley, rinsed and trimmed of heavy stems
  • 3 or 4 scallions (green onions), trimmed and rough-chopped
  • 3 or 4 cloves fresh garlic, peeled and rough-chopped
  • A few small sprigs fresh oregano leaves, rinsed and stripped from stems
  • 1 1/2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
  • A few shakes crushed red pepper (or some other spicy element), to taste
  • 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
  • 1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/4 cup good quality extra virgin olive oil

Directions

  1. Add one handful of the parsley to the small bowl of a food processor, along with scallions, garlic, oregano, vinegar, crushed pepper, salt and pepper. Drizzle in 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Pulse a few times to combine.
  2. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the remaining handful of parsley, pulsing again just to combine.
  3. Turn the processor on to run continuously and stream in the rest of the olive oil while it’s running. Adjust to taste, then transfer to a bowl to rest in the fridge.

Easy Buttermilk Dessert Sauce

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The next time you make a dessert that needs a sauce, but you aren’t quite sure what sauce is right, it’s this one. This is the sauce.

It is sweet and slightly salty like caramel, but without the fuss. It’s rich and elegant like an anglaise, but without cream or eggs. And it has the warm color of butterscotch, but it isn’t that either. This easy buttermilk sauce is neutral in flavor, so you can turn it any number of directions with a splash of vanilla, a sprinkle of cinnamon or pie spice—hey, even a shot of booze! You can pour it warm right over a baked dessert or ice cream sundae, or chill it to drizzle over fresh berries. It’s oozing with possibilities!

Any extra sauce keeps nicely in the fridge, and can either be warmed in a saucepan or the microwave.

There are no complicated ingredients, and the sauce comes together in under 15 minutes, so you can even make it last minute if you discover too late that your dessert needs a little help (we’ve all been there). Most recently, I made this with vanilla bean paste and a half-shot of vanilla whiskey to accompany a batch of bread pudding, made from cardamom-scented cinnamon rolls and dried cherries. The combo of bread pudding and sauce was sooo good!

You take both bread puddings. I’m just gonna drink this extra sauce.

Begin with a cup of buttermilk, the good, thick kind. Put it on medium heat with 3/4 cup of cane sugar and half a stick of salted butter. Most dessert recipes call for unsalted butter, but here, the salted butter is just right to complement the sweetness of the sauce. I whisk a little bit of corn syrup into the sauce as well, as it helps to prevent the sauce from crystallizing when it cools.

After the butter has melted and the sugar is dissolved, it’s time for the magic ingredient, which is a miniscule amount of (drumroll, please) baking soda! Remember, the miraculous ingredient I posted about in September that makes grilled shrimp so juicy and delicious? The baking soda works wonders in this buttermilk dessert sauce, too, and for the same scientific reason. Watch and see.

The alkaline properties of baking soda launch a chemical reaction with the acidic buttermilk, so you want to use a saucepan that is large enough to hold three times the volume of the buttermilk. Almost immediately after you whisk in the soda, the mixture will froth and foam like crazy, and as you whisk and cook for 5 or 6 minutes, the buttermilk will transform into a semi-translucent, golden sweet syrup.

Whisk constantly as the sauce cooks.

Turn off the heat, stir in vanilla and any other flavor enhancer that sounds good to you. As it cools, the buttermilk glaze will thicken slightly into a sauce consistency. It’s so delicious, you may find yourself coming up with new dessert recipes just to make another batch! What will you use it on this weekend?

When the pan is removed from the heat, the froth dies down to reveal a lovely, golden sauce.

Oh, and in case you’re wondering about the bread pudding, just follow my Gram’s basic recipe outline which is, in my opinion, the best bread pudding ever! Use your imagination to flavor the sauce to suit your own dessert, and let me know in the comments what you think of it!

Easy Buttermilk Dessert Sauce

  • Servings: About 8
  • Difficulty: Easy
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The next time you have a baked dessert that needs a sauce, but you aren’t quite sure what sauce is right, it’s this one. This is the sauce.


Ingredients

  • 1 cup real cultured buttermilk (lowfat is fine)
  • 3/4 cup cane sugar
  • 1/4 cup butter (4 Tbsp.)
  • 1/2 tsp. baking soda
  • 1 Tbsp. corn syrup
  • 1 Tbsp. Crown vanilla whiskey (optional, but yum)
  • 1 tsp. vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)

Be sure to use a saucepan that is three times larger than you expect you’ll need. When the buttermilk and baking soda collide, things get big and foamy in a hurry! Feel free to swap out the vanilla for almond, a smidge of cinnamon or another flavor to suit whatever dessert you’ll be dressing up with this sauce.

Directions

  1. Combine buttermilk, sugar and butter in a large saucepan. Whisk over medium heat until sugar is dissolved and butter is fully melted.
  2. Whisk in the baking soda and get ready for some dramatic foaminess. Continue to cook and whisk the mixture for about 6 minutes after it reaches a boil. You will notice that the color of the sauce deepens to a warm, golden color.
  3. Turn off heat and whisk or stir until the foaminess subsides. Stir in vanilla and any other flavor enhancer you like. For ground spices such as cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon is probably about right. Add whiskey or other liquor, if desired.
  4. Allow the sauce to rest for a few minutes. Serve right away or refrigerate if making it ahead. This sauce warms up nicely in a saucepan or in the microwave.

Italian Deli Sub Pizza

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If you’re looking for new ways to enjoy pizza in the new year, you don’t need to look any further than your favorite sandwiches. Ingredients that are delicious on a sandwich are usually very adaptable to pizza. After all, it’s just a rearrangement of some kind of meat, cheese and bread.

The last time we reimagined a sandwich into a pizza, my husband and I were inspired by one of our favorite hot sammies at Jersey Mike’s, the Big Kahuna, and it turned out pretty dang delicious.

All that steak, mushrooms, jalapenos and cheesy sauce could only be contained in a deep dish, and it was awesome!

Wouldn’t you know it? Jersey Mike’s has inspired me again, but this time with a classic Italian deli sub— and as I gazed down at my half-eaten sandwich, I thought, why wouldn’t these ingredients be great on a pizza?

Of course they would!

Salty cured meats and cheeses, thin-sliced tomatoes, onions and peppers, and a shredded salad topping, finished with a zesty Italian oil-and-vinegar dressing. This was so right!

We kept it thin crust this time, which means we started with my favorite sourdough pizza dough. If you haven’t the time or patience to make your own dough, check the deli department of your favorite supermarket, as many of them sell fresh dough balls. And who doesn’t love a shortcut?

All our homemade pizzas are baked on a steel, at the highest temperature our home oven can handle (550 F), so having things in order first is a must because the baking only takes six minutes. It’s best to slice and season the tomatoes and make the shredded lettuce salad before you begin building the pizza, so it’s ready to pile on as soon as the pie emerges from the oven. Green leaf lettuce has a bit more body than iceberg, but romaine would have been another good choice. A small splash of oil and vinegar dressing added the perfect finishing touch, and I used Good Seasons because it was already made up in the fridge.

Thinly slice the lettuce before tossing with a small glug of oil and vinegar dressing.

For the other toppings, we cut up thin slices of pepperoni, salami, spicy ham and smoked provolone, and shredded a block of hard mozzarella.

We already know that two of these are great on pizza!

Those were layered onto the sauce with a few shakes of oregano and red pepper flakes, then we arranged very thin slices of onion, bell pepper and pickled pepperoncini, and into the oven it went!

If it’s good on a sandwich, odds are it will be great on a pizza!

Six minutes later, our kitchen smelled so amazing that we debated enjoying the pizza just as it was, but the shredded lettuce salad is what made it sub-like, and that was a good call. Les sliced it first for easier serving, then we scattered on the salad and sliced tomatoes and sat down for a very tasty dinner!

This pizza had all the flavors of a classic Italian deli sub, so it was a winner! Only one thing left to say (or perhaps to ask) is, “What sandwich will be next??”

Italian Deli Sub Pizza

  • Servings: 6 slices
  • Difficulty: Average
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If you love Italian subs, this pizza will satisfy all your cravings for salty cured meats, cheese and even the oil-and-vinegar dressing!


Ingredients

  • 1 ball fresh pizza dough
  • 1/3 cup favorite tomato pizza sauce
  • 3 slices smoked provolone, cut into small pieces
  • 1 cup shredded whole milk mozzarella
  • 3 slices spicy deli ham, cut into small pieces
  • 1/4 cup spicy sliced pepperoni, cut into small pieces
  • 1/4 cup sliced Genoa salami, cut into small pieces
  • 1/2 green bell pepper, thinly sliced
  • 1/2 medium sweet onion, thinly sliced
  • 1/4 cup pickled pepperoncini, thinly sliced on an angle (and blotted dry with paper towels)
  • A few shakes of dried oregano
  • A few shakes of crushed red pepper
  • A few leaves of green leaf lettuce or Romaine, thinly shredded and tossed with 1 Tbsp. oil and vinegar dressing or prepared Italian dressing
  • 1 medium ripe tomato, thinly sliced and seasoned with sea salt and pepper

We bake our pizzas on a 3/8″ steel, preheated for one hour at 550F. If you are using a stone or pan, adjust temperature and baking time accordingly.

Directions

  1. Shape pizza dough into 14-inch round; transfer to a flour- and cornmeal-dusted pizza peel for easy transfer to pizza stone or steel.
  2. Drizzle a small amount of olive oil onto pizza dough, then season with salt and pepper.
  3. Scatter mozzarella evenly over dough, and then arrange cut-up pepperoni, salami, ham and provolone onto pizza.
  4. Sprinkle with dried oregano and crushed red pepper to taste, and then arrange slices of pepper and onion and about half of the pepperoncini.
  5. Slide onto pre-heated stone or steel and bake at 550F for about 6 minutes, or until dough is blistered and cheeses are melted and bubbly.
  6. Transfer pizza to serving pan. Cut into slices, then top pizza with dressed shredded lettuce and remaining pepperoncini.

Green Chili Burritos

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This is not a fancy dish by any means, but it is one of the oldest comfort foods from my childhood. My mother began making a ground beef version of this flavorful chili when I was about 6. It’s easy to estimate my age at the time because we moved around a lot, and I can recall where we lived when certain memories were made. My mom was newly remarried and we had moved out west from upstate New York for my stepfather’s job as a truck driver. I loved my stepdad, but he was gone a lot, so it was frequently just my mom and me taking up space in a single-wide mobile home in rural southern Colorado, where Mexican flavors reign supreme.

You could barely see our little box of a house from the main road, which ran a straight line through the tiny town of about 350 people. There was a long, dusty driveway leading from the school bus stop, over some railroad tracks and past the big white propane tank that provided us fuel for heating and cooking. Occasionally, during deer season, I’d see a carcass hung up from a tree near our house, and that meant my new daddy had a good hunting trip and venison would soon be on the menu. Most days after school, our sweet little dog, Ginger, would meet me halfway on my walk from the bus, and on the days that I’d catch a whiff of my mom’s green chili when I opened the door—well, that’s a very happy memory.

A short time after, many things changed in my world. For the second time in my young life, my parents split. We moved again and the relationship with my mom began a sad but steady decline. I shuttled back and forth between parents (and states) until high school graduation, and then made the decision to move away on my own. Visits with my mother became few and far between, and eventually when I visited as an adult and requested the green chili, I learned that her recipe had shifted from the familiar ground beef to cubed pork. It was tasty, but I longed for the texture of the tender ground meat.

What I really wanted was a taste of happy childhood. Isn’t that what comfort food is?

I can taste my childhood in this chili.

The first time I made my own green chili, about 15 years ago, I used a flavorful pork sausage I had discovered at Whole Foods. The sausage was made in-house and was utterly addictive with its mild, smoky green chiles and spicy habanero peppers, and I found it a happy medium to provide the soft meat texture I loved about the first version of green chili I ever had and the rich, savory flavor of pork. When my local Whole Foods stopped making it, I was beyond disappointed. I figured I’d have to settle for plain ground pork going forward.

But recently, necessity being the mother of invention and all, I learned how to make my own spicy sausage and baby, I’m back!

There’s a simple salt-and-wait method for making sausage, and it’s easier than you might expect.

I’m still in the learning stages of sausage production, but my imagination has run pretty wild, considering all the unique flavor possibilities before me. I have delved into a few other flavor combinations already, but I know it won’t be long before this one comes up in rotation again. It’s because the green chili burritos I made from the sausage was just that delicious—even better than any of the versions I made before. Link back to the homemade pork sausage post for the particulars on this sausage, or choose a store-bought sausage that has green chile flavors if you want a shortcut. Heck, maybe your Whole Foods still sells that sausage, and you’ll be in business.

This is my happy place. 🙂

The chili itself is the star of these burritos; the rest is just a tortilla rolled around seasoned beans and cheese. Accompanying the sausage were onions, garlic, flour and masa flour (for thickening), canned green chiles, fresh jalapeno (if you love the heat, as we do), a few simple seasonings, and broth (I used both veggie and chicken). Putting the chili together is easy, and then it settles in for a long, low simmer. If you have an extra day, let it sit in the fridge overnight because the flavors mingle even more for better flavor.

If you like, you can serve the finished chili just as it is—either by the steaming bowlful with a handful of shredded cheese or by ladling it over a burrito—but if it thins out more than you prefer during the cooking, whip up a bit of corn starch slurry and stream it in over medium heat. When it’s thickened and glossy, it’s ready to go.

Initially, my chili was a bit thin.
Equal parts corn starch and cold water makes a slurry for thickening.
The chili is even more comforting when it’s thickened.

At our house, we enjoyed this at dinner, lazily draped over bean and cheese burritos. And we enjoyed it again for a weekend breakfast, stuffing our tortillas with black beans, scrambled eggs and cheese, plus a scatter of fresh chopped tomatoes.

If we get snow this winter, I’ll be making this again!

Green Chili Burritos

  • Servings: About 8
  • Difficulty: Average
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This dish speaks the language of my childhood, with comforting chili made from ground pork and all that beautiful, melty cheese.


Ingredients

  • 1 large yellow onion, chopped
  • 3 or 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 Tbsp. EVOO
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 tsp. dried green chile flakes (mine were from Flatiron Pepper Co., available online)
  • 1.5 lbs. green chile pork sausage (store-bought, or my recipe which is included below)
  • 1 whole fresh jalapeno, seeded and chopped (keep some of the seeds if you like it hot)
  • 2 or 3 Tbsp. additional EVOO to provide fat for roux
  • 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 3 Tbsp. masa flour (Maseca)
  • 2 small cans (4 oz.) fire roasted diced green chiles
  • 1 1/2 tsp. ground cumin (from toasted seeds if possible)
  • 4 cups low-sodium veggie or chicken broth (I used 2 cups of each)
  • Corn starch slurry with equal parts corn starch and ice water (About 1/3 cup total)
  • 2 cans refried beans, warmed with oil and onions (for serving burritos)
  • Large flour tortillas (for burritos)
  • 8 oz. block cheddar, colby jack or pepperjack cheese, shredded
  • Fresh tomatoes, chopped (optional)

Directions

  1. Saute onions and garlic in olive oil, season with salt and pepper.
  2. Add sausage, a bit at a time, to brown it without overcrowding the pan.
  3. Add jalapeno and drizzle with olive oil to provide fat for the roux. Stir in ground cumin.
  4. Sprinkle flour and masa all over the meat mixture and toss to coat, adding more oil if needed to make it sticky and evenly coated.
  5. Add veg or chicken broth, half at a time, stirring each to blend and thicken.
  6. Cover the pot, reduce heat and cook at a low simmer for a couple of hours. Aim to keep it below the boiling point so that the thickening doesn’t cook off. If the chili seems “thin” after its simmer, use the corn starch slurry to thicken it back up. Be sure to let it simmer vigorously for a few minutes to cook off the starchy flavor.
  7. To serve the chili over burritos, warm the refried beans in a skillet or deep saucepan with some sautéed onions. Add a generous spoonful of the beans onto the center of a large flour tortilla. Add a small handful of shredded cheese and roll it up, placing it seam side-down on an oven-safe plate. Ladle chili over the burrito, sprinkle on more shredded cheese and just a small amount of extra chili. Place in the hot oven or microwave to melt the cheese.

Below are the ingredients I used in the green chile sausage. Full instruction for making the sausage can be found in my previous post for homemade pork sausage.

Ingredients

  • Pork shoulder cubes (gram weight of pork determines how much seasoning blend to use)
  • 1 tsp. Flatiron Pepper Co. hatch green chile blend (for mild, smoky flavor)
  • 1 tsp. Flatiron Pepper Co. four pepper blend (includes chiles de arbol, ghost and habanero for lots of heat)
  • 2 cloves garlic, grated on a microplane
  • 1 tsp. dried Mexican oregano
  • 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
  • 1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper