Who Needs Recipes?

Hawaiian Barbecue Chicken

Matt — Sun, 17 May 2020 00:37:34 +0000

This dinner began as a simple request from my wife on a nice summer day — “How about some Hawaiian-style chicken?” I didn’t set out expecting this to be anything special, but it turned out so delicious, it might be the best BBQ chicken I’ve ever done. All four of us nearly licked our plates. I only got one photo because I thought it looked kind of nice on the plate, but I wasn’t planning on writing up a recipe.

Important tips: go with fresh pineapple and make your own BBQ sauce (as described below). I’ve tried dozens upon dozens of store-bought BBQ sauce brands, and I rarely find one that I like half as much as the one I frequently whip up at home. This time, I infused it with pineapple (using chunks from the core) in an attempt to give it a Hawaiian vibe, and it worked great. The flavors from the marinade and the BBQ sauce blend together beautifully and really carry the theme of this dish.

So grab a beer, fire up the grill, and try this fantastic BBQ chicken alongside a summer salad and fresh fruit.

Benedict’s Nest

Matt — Mon, 20 Apr 2020 01:38:51 +0000

Sometimes you feel like a hot breakfast, but you don’t want the same old plain eggs and bacon. At the same time, you have a ton of eggs that need to get used up, some delicious homemade bread that’s not going to last another day before it goes stale, some avocados at peak ripeness, and a huge amount of fresh dill because they only sell it in bunches about 100x larger than what you need for any one meal.

Such was the other morning, and thus with that assortment of “have to use it today” ingredients began an episode of Chopped in my kitchen. I didn’t really know where exactly I was going when I started this, other than that it would be based on the Bird in a Nest (take piece of bread, cut hole in it, crack egg into hole, fry in butter). Also known as Toad in a Hole, Eggy in a Basket…just go watch the Binging with Babish episode if you’re interested.

At any rate, after rummaging through the fridge, I came up with those ingredients and sort of wound up with a combination of egg-in-a-nest and might be loosely described as a California-style eggs Benedict. I loved it. The key really is to have plenty of lemon juice in the sauce; I made this again and didn’t put as much in the second time, and it wanted for more citrus to cut through the heavy butter-yolk combination.

Don’t skimp on the dill either! Fresh dill is amazing and it really puts the finishing touch on this dish.

Thai Red Curry

Matt — Mon, 20 Apr 2020 01:17:20 +0000

There are few things I love more than a good Thai curry, especially the red or Panang variety. I’ve probably tried more than 30 Thai Red Curries at various restaurants over the years. Over time, I evolved my own take on it. I love super savory things, so this gets bright with lime juice and fish sauce.

I shoot from the hip when I make this…as usual when trying to extract a recipe from my kitchen, the quantities of nearly everything on here should really read “to taste.” You have to taste this while you make it. Think it needs more salt? It probably does. Too acidic? Add more sugar. Not zippy enough? Let the spice flow through you.

I’ve been developing this for years and by this point I prefer my version over most restaurants. It does take a cook-by-feel approach though, so be prepared to adjust to your tastes. And be sure to make some Jasmine rice to go with it.