Since Big and Little entered our lives, our cooking and entertaining habits have changed drastically. We used to cook elaborate meals, eat dinner at 9p, and host large dinner parties regularly. Today most of our dinner parties feature a table for 4, but our guests must love our food, because they return nightly. Our recipes tend to be Fast & Easy or Simple, but always delicious (at least, that is our hope). But … sometimes you have time to expend the extra effort … perhaps you are entertaining guests, cooking a romantic meal, or celebrating a special occasion. The dishes highlighted below are tried and true favorites … 100% worth the effort recipes.
Crispy Fried Salmon with Spring Vegetable Broth
More exploration of Jamie Oliver while we increase the amount of fish in our diet. Crispy Fried Salmon with Spring Vegetable Broth by Jamie Oliver has the capacity for greatness, but we found it to be a bit finicky.
First off, don’t overcook the vegetables. It washes out the color, creates a displeasing mushy texture, and impairs the flavor.
Just recently, I made a beautiful garlic aioli without issue. But this recipe was thin and watery. I have no idea why. It wasn’t substantially different from other aioli recipes, so I suspect it was some error on our part. Thank goodness for the never-ending list of tips and tricks on Google. We first added an additional yolk and that yielded no improvement. We then slowly added cream until we achieved a thicker texture. The latter was effective, but I don’t think we experienced the intended flavor.
Bolognese by Williams and Sonoma is one of my all-time favorite pasta recipes. The flavor is rich and satisfying. Plan ahead, because the recipe recommends you simmer the sauce for 3.5 hours. You can get away with 90-minutes, but your patience will be rewarded if you have the full amount of time. If the sauce becomes too thick, and starts to stick, add a bit of chicken broth to maintain the desired consistency.
I typically double the carrots and celery, and use white wine, rather than red. To add a twist to the recipe, try substituting mild italian sausage for the pork, or top the pasta with chopped celery leaves or pine nuts.
Don’t forget to allow the heavy cream to come to room temperature before adding it to the sauce. This retains the silky texture and prevents the cream from separating.
Kale and Good Mother Stallard Bean Stew
Williams Sonoma delivers a satisfying, delicious vegan option in this Kale and Good Mother Stallard Bean Stew. This dish is simple to prepare, but the extended cook time and unusual bean shifts this dish into my “Worth the Effort” category.
You can find Good Mother Stallard Beans on amazon.com, but I leveraged cranberry beans, since I had them on-hand. I look forward to trying this recipe with the intended legume next time. As always, I doubled the vegetables in the stew and elected to use lacinato kale (aka dino kale), though I think a traditional curly leafed kale would add a lovely volume to the stew.
Cook’s Illustrated recommends boiling the beans until al dente (no overnight or quick soak). I have found this method to yield the best texture and most consistently protects the integrity of the bean shape. I find most beans cook within two hours of simmering. Start checking the doneness at 1-hour.
Yogurt-Marinated Grilled Chicken Shawarma
Traditionally, chicken shawarma is roasted on a spit for hours. The cooking method alone precludes most of us from being able to prepare this dish at home. Enter Yogurt-Marinated Grilled Chicken Shawarma. A huge thanks to Shadi Hasanzadenemati for Food Network, who crafted a recipe that allows you to re-create the flavor with items with commonly found in a personal kitchen.
While I appreciate the at-home hack for duplicating a spit, this technique over-complicates the recipe and increases the chance for undercooked chicken. Follow the recipe, but grill it single-file, like a traditional kebab skewer. Alternately, broil it in the oven on a sheet pan. For my taste, the toum had waaaaay too much garlic. Next time, I’ll reduce it by half.
We served this recipe with atop naan, but chicken shawarma is often accompanied by rice vermicelli. Next time I make this recipe, which will be soon, I intend to try this recipe.
Coconut-Lime Chicken and Cabbage Slaw
I love a good slaw, and this Asian-inspired version from Food & Wine was delicious. While it is a relatively simple recipe, I consider it “worth the effort” due to some less common ingredients and the marination time.
If you’re short on time, buy a coleslaw kit for pre-shredded cabbage. I recommend trying Thai basil in your herb mix and adding some avocado slices.
We served this dish over a bed of rice, but quinoa would be equally delicious.
America’s Test Kitchen accomplished a near-impossible task … they created a light stew. This dish is worth the effort and a perfect welcome to spring.
You could easily substitute smoked bacon if you cannot find ham hock. I recommend you try the ham hock (even if you don’t use the meat) as the bone contributes to a silky, divine broth.
Monitor your vegetables closely to avoid creating a texture-less, mushy meal. The carrots and potatoes are added in step 3 and continue to cook across step 4, so you need to consider the entire cook time. Depending on the size you cut your vegetables, I recommend cooking the potatoes and vegetables for about 10-15 minutes in step 3, and reduce step 4 to about 5-10 minutes.
Slow Cooked Short-Ribs with Gremolata
First off, this recipe is absolutely delicious, and you’ll be surprised that it is rather simple to prepare. That said, I am putting this recipe from Bon Appetit into the “Worth the Effort” category because of (1) the extended cook time of up to three hours and (2) the special cut of meat.
English-style bone-in beef short ribs means the meat has been cut between the ribs, yielding separate ribs each topped with a thick piece of meat. I called the butcher in advance and requested this particular order.
I served the short ribs with a butternut squash puree and handmade ravioli. This was my second attempt at handmade ravioli. The first attempt was well over 20-years ago, and the results were so awful I haven’t attempted them since. I am sad to report that my most recent attempt continued my losing streak (cardboard!). The bright note was the butternut squash puree, which nicely complement the herbs in the gremolata.
Simplified Cassoulet with Pork and Kielbasa
This recipe from America’s Test Kitchen is absolutely delicious, but it requires a significant time investment … so it fits squarely in “Worth the Effort.”
My favorite learning from this recipe is it is not necessary to pre-soak beans. Simply plan to simmer them for an hour to an hour and a half depending on the bean. This method preserves the shape of the bean and yields a nice chewy texture.
The homemade croutons are game-changers. I typically buy fresh-baked ciabatta from the bakery section of the grocery store. To easily and evenly coat the bread cubes in olive oil, combine the cubes and olive oil in a bag and shake gently.
I’m placing this recipe from Food & Wine in the “Worth the Effort” bucket, because (1) it takes special effort to find one of the ingredients in the house spice (enter Amazon.com) and (2) the extended cooking time for the beans. The house spice recipe makes an enormous quantity, so I recommend halving the recipe, and if you do this, you’ll still have close to a cup of spice left over to use in other dishes.
First off, according to America’s Test Kitchen, cooking beans without a pre-soak yields a better texture and less breakage. That means you have to plan to simmer the beans about an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes. You’ll then combine the beans with the rest of the recipe to finish the cooking process (simmer for about 30-minutes until the beans are al dente).
I used smoked bacon instead of ham hocks. Cook the bacon until about halfway to crispy, and then add the sausage. I cooked this delicious combination until the bacon was crispy and the sausage had a nice brown edge. Set the meat aside and use the grease to cook the vegetables.
To up the vegetable quota, we added thinly sliced cabbage, and sour cream tempered the heat. Note, this recipe has a decent amount of spice (I think due to the andouille sausage I chose) and I was impressed that neither Big or Little complained. TIP A big glass of milk helps to neutralize heat.
Pozole Verde (Posole Verde)
This Pozole Verde recipe has been a favorite go-to when entertaining for over a decade. You can prepare everything in advance, so there is minimal activity when guests arrive.
The flavors are lovely and subtle, so they appeal to a variety of palates. Guests can make it their own by selecting their toppings. Some of our favorites are cilantro, diced tomato, yellow onion or scallion, sliced jalapeno, radish, avocado, crème fraiche, and toasted pepitas.
Plan ahead because the cooking time is roughly 2.5 hours. We often use boneless pork roast, which yields more meat. This substitution does shift the flavor and body yielded from the bone, but not in a disappointing way.
Hanger Steak with Warm Bulgur Salad
This Food & Wine recipe was delicious, and I love that it incorporates turnips! When was the last time you cooked with a turnip?
Husband added a full onion, increased the number of carrots to 3, and deglazed the vegetables with ½ cup of white wine before adding the stock.
The base of the salad is bulgur, and Husband added quinoa for a 50/50 mix.
Leftovers? Try it in a steak sandwich.
Contrary to the recipe’s name, this dish by Bon Appetit is not just for kids. The sauce is delicious and easy to assemble.
Use a meat mallet to pound the chicken breast to about half an inch. This ensures even cooking and tenderizes the chicken. TIP – Place the meat inside a baggie to contain the mess.
I often accompany this dish with Simple Roasted Broccoli, though this image features Cauliflower Plus Kale.
TIP – Reheat chicken in the oven to retain the crispy bready. Cover a sheet pan with aluminum foil and add an oven-safe wire rack.
Hawaij-Spiced Fried Chicken Sandwiches
Are you looking for a new fried chicken sandwich recipe? The one word I’d use to describe this recipe is balance … the crunch of the coleslaw against the softness of the brioche bun … the brightness of the sauce against the creaminess of the slaw … yes!
I didn’t have time to order hawaij, so I substituted garam masala. I also was out of panko and substituted ground crackers (not great, but it did the trick). Lastly, it isn’t plum season, so I substituted frozen peaches. This recipe wasn’t as the creator intended, but it worked, and I can’t wait to try it with accurate ingredients.
Don’t forget the bread and butter pickles!
Tip – Use a meat mallet to pound the chicken breast. The meat is more tender and the chicken cooks evenly and more quickly.
Little and I worked diligently on this 500-piece “harder than it looked” puzzle while Husband prepared an incredible dinner.
Plan ahead for to allow time to marinate the meat, but otherwise the preparation is simple. The pork was juicy and full of flavor, and the dressing added a nice crisp freshness to balance out the flavor profile.
We scraped out the membrane and seeds from the jalapeno to meter the heat and grilled them for additional flavor.
The average kitchen doesn’t have a tagine, so this dish is an excellent option. The rich flavors in this dish are transporting, so this is an excellent choice if you’re looking for something new to add into your rotation.
Add extra green olives … our favorite green olives are Castelvetrano and Cerignola. When we cook with these olives, we have to keep an eye on the kitchen. Big and Little sneak handfuls at every opportunity. If we’re not careful, the olives will be gone before we’ve had the chance to add them to the dish.
Need more ideas?
Fast & Easy | Simple | Worth the Effort | Soups & Stews | Pasta | Slow Cooker Dishes | Side Dishes | Desserts
