The New Chef's Journal

My 2012 New Year's Resolution was to post on my food blog more frequently. As with most resolutions it didn't stick past January and it's now been three months since I last posted on here. I have still been cooking and trying new recipes, but my will to actually post the results online has waned. This lazy Sunday afternoon has compelled me to do something productive and write this post up. I actually made this Thai shrimp curry recipe from Emeril Lagasse back in January, but I'm just posting it now. You shouldn't take that as an indication of my feelings towards the dish because it actually turned out very well. It had a nice bit of heat without being too spicy. It's a really simple dish, which anybody should be able to make at home. I'd recommend at if you want to take a shot at homemade curry. Ingredients 2 tablespoons peanut oil 1/2 cup chopped shallots 1 large red bell pepper, cut into strips 2 medium carrots, trimmed and shredded 2 teaspoons ...

For my birthday this year my girlfriend's parents got me a Cuisinart Griddler , which is a panini press/griddle/grill/waffle maker. Since then I've been experimenting with different types of paninis. I made version of the turkey avocado grilled cheese sandwich I'd previously posted, along with a sliced chicken and brie on focaccia sandwich. I was pleased with how both of those turned out. If you're looking for a panini press, I'd recommend the Griddler. It's worked very well and has a bunch of different functions. The griddle plates pop right out which makes it easy to clean after each use. Most recently I made a buffalo chicken panini sandwich. I found this recipe on paninihappy.com . The blue cheese and caramelized onions are a really nice cool contrast to the spicy buffalo sauce. I used Wing-Time medium buffalo sauce, which had a nice kick without being too hot for me. The recipe uses pita bread for the sandwiches. I decided to go with some focacci...

This recipe comes from the Pioneer Woman , also known as Ree Drummond. Personally, I'm a big fan of her recipes, though she has a fair number of critics. I understand why her personal manner bugs some people, and I recognize that she sometimes uses an almost Paula Deen-esque amount of butter, but she also has some really great recipes. This recipe isn't overloaded with butter and is actually a good, light spring pasta dish. I bought fresh grape tomatoes and spinach from Eastern Market in D.C., which gave the dish a nice bright flavor. Ingredients 1 pound Penne 4 whole Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts Salt And Pepper, to taste 2 Tablespoons Butter 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil 4 cloves Garlic, Minced 3/4 cups Dry White Wine 3/4 cups Low-sodium Broth, More If Needed 1 bag Baby Spinach 2 cups Grape Tomatoes, Halved Lengthwise 4 ounces Shaved Parmesan Cheese Directions 1. Cook pasta according to package directions in lightly salted water. Drain and set aside. 2. Cut ...

So back in my first post of the year I made a New Year's Resolution to post more often. That didn't last very long obviously, as it's been about three months since I posted on here. So I'm getting back to work with this post. I made this chocolate peanut butter pie for two parties over the Christmas season and it was a big hit. It's very rich and delicious. I used a pre-made crust, because I was feeling lazy. The filling comes from a recipe from thepioneerwoman.com . The chocolate ganache recipe comes from evilchefmom.com . Ingredients One pre-made pie crust Chopped peanuts and shaved dark chocolate for topping For the filling: 1 cup creamy peanut butter 1 package (8 ounce) softened cream cheese 1-1/4 cup powdered sugar 1 package (8 ounce) Cool Whip, thawed For the topping: 2 tablespoons sugar 2 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces 2 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped 1/2 cup whipping cream Directions 1. Beat the peanut butter with the cream ch...

Last Sunday, after a weekend of heavy meals, my girlfriend and I decided we needed a lighter dinner. After looking around at a bunch of vegetarian recipes, I decided to mix together a few to make my own dish. The balsamic vinegar marinade gave the portobellos a great flavor, which mixed really well with the vegetables and tomato sauce. This turned out to be a really good healthy, vegetarian option. You could use almost any combination of veggies to stuff the mushrooms, but I was really happy with how my picks turned out. Ingredients 4 portobello mushrooms, stems and gills removed 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder 1/2 teaspoon onion powder 1 cup balsamic vinegar 3 cloves garlic, minced 1 small yellow onion, diced 1 small yellow squash, cut into 1/2 inch pieces 6 ounce jar marinated artichokes, drained 1 red pepper, cut into 1/2 inch pieces 2 handfuls baby spinach leaves 1 1/2 cups tomato sauce (I used half a jar of Paul Newman tomato & basil sauce) Shredded mozzarella cheese ...

I was inspired to make this recipe after trying the chana masala at the White Tiger restaurant on Capital Hill and at the Tasty Kabob food truck. Chana masala is a spicy Indian chickpea dish. More traditional versions of this dish use amchur powder (dried mango powder), but that's pretty hard to find in the US, so I went with an alternative version. This recipe comes a blog called Orangette . The author notes that her and her husband have some disputes over whether or not to include yogurt in the recipe. Personally, I agree with her that the yogurt adds a nice cool flavor to the dish, but you can take it out if you prefer. I was very happy with how this dish turned out. Its a very nice vegetarian option if you're looking for one. Ingredients Good-quality olive oil 1 medium onion, coarsely chopped 2 medium cloves garlic, minced 1 tsp cumin seeds ½ tsp ground coriander ¼ tsp ground ginger 1 tsp garam masala 3 cardamom pods, lightly crushed 1 28-ounce can whole peeled t...

One of my favorite things about living on Capitol Hill is how close I am to Eastern Market. The market is a great place to walk around, pick up fresh fruits and vegetables, and get brunch. A cool recent development has been the addition of cooking demonstrations on Saturday mornings. Jonathan Bardzik, author of the outstanding food blog, What I Haven't Cooked Yet , cooks some delicious food and gives very entertaining performances teaching the audience how to make his dishes. This recipe comes from a demonstration he gave of various Thanksgiving side dishes. It's a bad sign that it took me until Martin Luther King Day to post a Thanksgiving dish. I really need to get up to speed with my posts. I'm not normally a big cranberry sauce fan. The canned cranberry sauce that comes out as one gelatinous blob creeps the bejeezus out of me. This cranberry compote is lighter than most cranberry sauce recipes. It's also more savory and less sweet than most versions. I thought it ...

It occurred to me recently that I've gotten lazy about posting stuff to this blog (I missed the entire month of December), so one of my New Year's resolutions is to post more regularly. I've still been cooking a fair amount; I have three other recipes with photos ready to be posted. Two of those turned out well, the other not so much. I'm posting this chicken pot pie recipe that I made last night ahead of the older ones, because I'm excited about how good it was and it made me feel like posting. This recipe comes from allrecipes.com , though I made some of my own tweaks to it. I was considering getting a chicken pot pie from a new place on H Street called Dangerously Delicious Pies , but decided to make my own. I still really want to try that place out. Their menu has a great selection of both sweet and savory pies. The recipe is below. My changes are in italics. I added some extra vegetables and herbs to give it some more flavor. The pie turned out really well ...