This rich 15-minute ragù turns pasta or polenta into a quick hearty dinner any night of the week.

Preparation

Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water, stirring occasionally, until al dente; drain and transfer to a large bowl. Meanwhile, process onion, celery, carrot, and garlic in a food processor until finely chopped. Heat oil in a large skillet over high. Add chopped vegetables, beef, and pork and cook, breaking up with a spatula, until meat is beginning to brown, about 3 minutes. Stir in tomato paste, oregano, 3/4 tsp. salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper; cook, stirring occasionally, until heated through, about 1 minute. Add wine and cook, stirring constantly, until reduced by half, about 1 minute more. Stir in tomato sauce, reduce heat to medium, and simmer until sauce is slightly thickened, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat, then stir in butter. Toss meat sauce with pasta, top with Parmesan, and season with pepper.

Do Ahead 

Let sauce cool, then chill in an airtight container for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 2 months.

Ingredients

• 1 pound pasta
• Kosher salt
• 1 medium onion, peeled, quartered
• 1 celery stalk, quartered
• 1 small carrot, peeled, quartered
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 pound ground beef
• 1/2 pound ground pork
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup red wine
• 1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce
• 2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
• Freshly grated Parmesan (for serving)

source : http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/pasta-with-15-minute-meat-sauce-56390063

Two of the top five meals I ate this year were at Earth at Hidden Pond in Kennebunkport, Maine, a Ken Oringer restaurant run by chef Justin Walker. It’s a seasonal restaurant, and they have a handful of pop-ups going on this winter that are listed at the bottom of this post.

I ate about 20 different dishes during those two meals, and one of the real standouts was the squid ink chicken wing. As a jaded chicken wing eater, I always think I have seen it all before. But, these were really exciting. It’s basically a teriyaki recipe that uses squid ink instead of soy sauce.



First, marinate the wings in beer, garlic, ginger, and chile paste.



For many, the hardest part of this recipe will be finding the squid ink. I suggest just grabbing from Amazon, but if you are lucky like me you can also get fresh squid ink from a local Italian market.



When the wings come out of the marinade, give them a very light dredge in rice flour.



Then fry them until very crispy.



Straight from the fryer into the sauce. I love the contrast of that dark sauce with the crispy wings.



All coated.



I took inspiration from the design of the space at Earth for the plating of this dish. They have logs like this throughout the restaurant. It’s a really stunning space!



These wings are basically an umami flavor bomb. If you haven't had squid ink before, it tastes salty with a little ocean flavor. Adding squid ink makes this recipe an updated take on a classic teriyaki!



The off-season popups by Earth are listed below. I am especially excited for the ones at Table. Table Maine is a really cool concept that I will be talking about more in a later post. In short, it's a fun place to learn about food and spirits, from lectures (with lots of cocktails) all about the history of gin, to hands-on cooking classes with local chefs. I might even be teaching a class there soon!






Squid Ink Teriyaki Wings
Marinade
3/4 Cups Beer
2 Cloves Garlic (grated)
1 Tablespoon Grated Ginger
2 Tablespoons Sambal Chile Paste
Salt
12 Chicken Wings
Sauce and Frying
3/4 Cups Beer (the other half of the beer)
2 Tablespoons Squid Ink
1 Tablespoon Soy Sauce
2 Tablespoons Miso Paste
2 Cloves Garlic (grated)
2 Teaspoons Grated Ginger
1/4 Cup Cider Vinegar
1/3 Cup Honey
Oil for frying
1/2 Cup Rice Flour (about)
Instructions


Start the marinade
Mix the chicken wings with all of the marinade ingredients and marinate for a few hours or overnight.


Make the sauce
Put the beer, squid ink, soy sauce, miso paste, garlic, ginger, cider vinegar, and honey into a saucepan or frying pan. Bring to a light simmer stirring often until it reduces by at least half, maybe a little more. It will become a nice sticky black glaze.


Bring it all together
Heat the oil to 350. Remove the wings from the marinade. Add the rice flour to the wings and toss to lightly coat.
Fry the wings for about 8-10 minutes until crispy and cooked through. Remove from the oil and immediately toss in the wing sauce. Serve with lots of napkins and beer!

source: http://www.thefoodinmybeard.com/recipe/squid-ink-teriyaki-wings/

Would it be bragging to say that I am fairly famous among my circle of friends for this amazing chicken?

Would it be over the top to say that at least two vegetarians (ladies, you know who you are!) have ignored the tofu I had diligently fixed them when they saw this chicken presented to the rest of the guests? Vows were broken; chicken was devoured.

I could go on, but I won’t.

This marinated, butterflied chicken is so addictive that a friend affectionately referred to it as “Heroin Chicken,” and the name stuck.

Everyone needs a signature go-to dish, one that you can prepare for family and friends and know you’re going to have a home run, and Heroin Chicken is that dish. This is the dish I bring to the new mother for her much-deserved dinner, or to a weekend collaborative dinner party…and it’s always a hit. It’s the little black dress of my cooking repertoire. I originally saw this in a Nigella Lawson book–love her!–and although the recipe has evolved into the addictive variation that it is, never would I have imagined how often I would make this, so: major credits to Nigella!

Enjoy this dish with a Sauvignon Blanc, a lovely arugula salad, and a your favorite potato dish. (Watch for mine, coming soon!)

 

Heroin Chicken

• One large roasting butterflied chicken (you can cut it yourself, but why, when the butcher is so happy to help)
• 2 to 3 tablespoons black peppercorns, partially crushed
• 7 tablespoons of olive oil
• 2 to 4 cloves of garlic peeled and smashed
• A couple handfuls of fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• Fresh juice from one lemon
• Salt: Maldon, kosher or whatever you prefer
• Optional: 2 tablespoons of sumac

Tip: Let this chicken marinate for 48 hours!  It is a glorious thing to stick a chicken in this marinade on Friday night with plans to cook it on Sunday, and if the weekend hijacks your schedule and it doesn’t get prepared on Sunday, it’s going to be hella delicious cooked on Monday (and by the way, the leftovers from this particular dish are just as scrumptious).

Tip: When buying a chicken, you always have an option of a roaster or a fryer. I always get a large organic roasting chicken because they are more succulent and juicy.

Tip: To partially crush the peppercorns you can use a mortar and pestle. I have invested in a coffee grinder which I use exclusively for dried herbs, and it’s practically my best friend. There is no need to ever wash it, just empty it when you’re finished. You really don’t want water in there–it’s all about powdered spices.

After the chicken’s been butterflied, wash it thoroughly so that it is super clean and ready to roast. Pat it dry with paper towel. Sprinkle liberally with salt, all over and inside the bird.

Make the marinade by combining the crushed peppercorn, lemon juice, garlic and olive oil. Place the bird skin-side down in a container that’s snug, so it will be will be thoroughly covered by the marinade. Pour in half the marinade and half the parsley.

I distribute the marinade with bare hands so that every single place is drenched, and then flip the chicken so it’s skin-side up and repeat. Cover with plastic wrap and put in the fridge. I like to flip it the over about once a day till I roast it.

 

 

Note: all ovens are different. 375 in my oven and 375 in your oven, may actually be two different temperatures; furthermore, the center of your oven is a very different place than the center of my oven. So watch your bird carefully the first time you make this dish. You will develop an instinct for the perfect amount of time, the perfect temperature, and the perfect color brown. \

Here’s what I do:

Roast the chicken skin-side up in a roasting pan at 375 to start. After 20 or so minutes, when it starts to brown,  turn it down to 350. You can do nothing but stick it in the oven, but I like to watch it a bit. If  you have a convection oven, I would suggest you use it for 15 or 20 minutes when you turn the oven down to 350 and then at the end for 5 minutes.

You want it nicely browned and you need to develop a sense for yourself in what that looks like, so you are learning to cook from instinct, smell and sounds rather than reading a recipe. Recipes are wonderful guides but if you are going to be a cook, you will have to learn to listen to your own voice.

The chicken takes about an hour but you will know when it’s done because the legs wiggle and it’s really brown and crispy.  If you don’t have a convection oven and it’s not very brown at the end, you can turn up the heat to 375 or so for the last 5 minutes or until you can see it’s the perfect color.

 Teri Turner is ReadSource’s contributing food expert. Follow her on Instagram here: @nocrumbsleft for more delicious recipes and photographs sure to make your mouth water. Have a question or just want to say hello? Email Teri here. 

Readsource: http://readsource.com/heroin-chicken-warning-very-addictive/#ixzz3uCsLvAae

Readsource: http://readsource.com/heroin-chicken-warning-very-addictive/#ixzz3uCqx7ioQ

Are you guys as obsessed with grilled cheese sandwiches as I am? I am a true grilled cheese lover. And adding a egg just blows all other grilled cheeses out of the water. Technically this recipe isn’t a grilled cheese at all, just a single slice of bread with cheese fused to it’s outsides, but it’s cheese and it’s grilled so I’m not going to argue technicalities. If we did want to get into the technicalities of naming of recipes, I think the egg-in-toast part of this recipe confuses me as well.

What do you call egg-in-toast? I’ve heard them referred to as toad-in-a-hole, egg-in-a-basket and egg-in-a-nest. Whatever you call them, they are delicious. Unlike lots of dreamy memories I’ve heard from my childhood friends, I didn’t grow up eating egg-in-toast. I can just imagine how my parents would react if I asked them to make it for me. “You cut a hole in the bread!? Why would you cut a hole in the bread? Who eats the bread cut out? Me? I have to eat your leftovers?!”

I actually love eating the little cut out of toast, so I don’t think of them as leftovers at all. In fact, they are perfect for dipping. This recipe looks pretty impressive, especially when you cut into the egg yolk, but it’s incredibly simple to make. Crisping up the cheese on the outside of the bread instead of the inside, changes the texture of the cheese from gooey to incredibly crispy and addictive. Think of it like an inside out grilled cheese.

How is everyone’s 2014 going so far? Mine has been filled with long walks around Tokyo and a quiet dinner making takoyaki in front of When Harry Met Sally. It’s an oldie, but a classic, especially for New Years. Hope everyone’s new year is off to a great start and I hope you have lots of grilled cheese in your future!

Grilled Egg and Cheese Recipe
serves 1

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/4 cup shredded cheddar (I like a fine shred as opposed to a coarse one, when it grills up it’s lacier and crispier)
• 1 slice thick toast, a hole cut out
• 1 egg

In a non-stick pan, over medium-low heat, melt 1/2 tablespoon of butter, swirling the pan to evenly coat. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of cheddar in the rough shape of your toast with the hole cut out. Add the bread on top and grill on medium-low until the cheese is crispy and golden.
Remove the toast from the pan, melt the other half of the butter and swirl to coat. Arrange the remaining cheese in the shape of the bread and place your toast in the pan, cheese-less side down and crispy cheese side up. Crack your egg into the hole and cook on medium-low, covered (use a glass lid if you have one so you can see) until the egg is done to your liking. Enjoy immediately with salt and pepper.

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Cooking the perfect steak can be extremely difficult. It seems like it always comes out either too rare or too well done; it almost never comes out just right.

After watching this video, I will change the way I cook steak forever. This is a seriously amazing and easy way to cook steak to perfection! You have to see this.

The secret to cooking the perfect steak is the reverse sear, or cooking the steak in reverse.

According to FudeHouse, “Most steaks are cooked by first searing each side and then finishing (baking) in the oven. That method is a useful one and produces a steak that has the characteristic “bullseye” of doneness. But by simply baking first and searing last, the quality of the steak changes altogether. It’ll be juicier. More tender. And more beautiful.”

This technique is used in restaurant kitchens all over the world, but is a secret you may not know to “get that perfect edge-to-edge medium-rare that resembles steaks that have been cooked sous-vide,” described by FudeHouse.

Have you ever tried this method? Tell us your story in the comments below.

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