Baked French Onion Soup

The only change that we’re making to this traditional dish is in its presentation. Oh, and the onions, we changed those. And the cheese at the end, that’s been updated too!

I believe that a big reason more people who love French Onion Soup won’t order it when they dine out is because they’re all dressed up. Come on, you’re wearing your best... whatever and here comes a crock completely sealed over with bubbly, melty gooey cheese. Not only is that stringy cheese going to be difficult to keep off the front of you, the really steaming hot soup underneath is super dark and full of long strands of sweetly caramelized onions that will refuse to remain captive in your spoon.

Frijoles Refritos (Refried Beans)

Unfortunately, beans are not everyone’s favorite food. Then to add insult to injury, we have to name a perfectly good bean dish “Refried Beans”! The problem exists because there just isn’t a one or two word English translation of the concept behind “Frijoles Refritos.”

Little Burros Burritos

Burrito means little donkey or burro. One suggestion for the origin of the name involves the similarity in appearance of a burrito, sealed only at one end, and a burro’s ear. (I know, really appetizing, huh?) Another implies the comparable look between a completely sealed burrito and the pack the animal carries.

Antipasto Pinwheels

Antipasto is served primo del pasto; before the meal. We call them appetizers. While there are many, many ingredients that can be included in Antipasto, these are traditionally represented in various forms: meats, cheeses, and marinated vegetables.

Oven Caramelized Jerusalem Artichokes

Jerusalem Artichokes are neither from Jerusalem, nor are they Artichokes... discuss! (With a nod to Coffee Talk, Mike Myers as Linda Richman and SNL.) The Jerusalem Artichoke, aka Sunchoke, Sunroot or Earth Apple, most likely got the Jerusalem part of its name from Girasole [gi-ra-só-le], the Italian word for Sunflower. The Artichoke part of the name, however probably comes from its similar taste to the not yet bloomed thistle we know as a Globe Artichoke.

Baked Rigatoni with Sautéed Fennel

You’ve invested a lot of time into making homemade Red Sauce, at least you should have! (See: Essential Red Sauce with Meat) Now it’s time to reap the rewards of your efforts with a pasta dish that takes only minutes to prepare.

Carnitas with Sweet & Peppery Slaw

When you make a dish to bring to a party or picnic, you have several basic options. You can make something that requires no more interaction by the people grazing off the buffet table than picking it up and popping it in the mouth. You can make a tasty dip and provide something crunchy to be dipped, (let’s face it, the veggies or crackers or whatever are merely transport mechanisms for the real star – the dip!) Or you can produce something that the grazers get to put together on their own – this is always the winner in my book. You make something good to eat (win raves for you), the party goers have fun assembling (win more raves), and they feel good about themselves (yet more raves!).

Wishing you all a very Happy Easter!

Sort of Mom’s Sunday Pot Roast

“Stringy Meat” - what a non-appetizing sounding dish! But that’s the name by which we knew Pot Roast at our house and it did mean delicious to us. But then we grew up eating things like “Trees” (Broccoli); “Pop Corn Soup” (Corn Chowder); and “Monkey” (Welsh Rarebit).

Lasagne Imbottite

Confused with spelling and the overall recipe name? Well, Lasagne is the dish and lasagna are the noodles. Imbottite means “stuffed” or more literally “padded” and is the perfect description for my over the top version.

Having clarified that, I want to tell you a story...

Broasted Corned Beef Brisket

Nice and easy. Low and slow. This is how I always suggest cooking less tender cuts of meat. We do this because time is the only ingredient that will break down the connective tissue and let the meat realize its delicious destiny.

Sautéed Savoy Cabbage

Cabbage. We like to stuff it, make salads with it and add it to soups and all sorts of other foods. While it works perfectly well as an added ingredient, cabbage is seriously overlooked as a side dish by itself. When it does appear by itself, it is usually still in a supporting role consigned to be boiled along with the rest of the “starring role” vegetables.

Stovetop Roasted Root Vegetables

Roasting is a dry method that surrounds the food with heat for even cooking. The results of roasting are a beautifully caramelized surface with a tender interior. An oven is the ideal place for all this to occur, but sometimes my oven is otherwise occupied and I have to look elsewhere to provide similar outcomes.

Meatballs from Heaven

Wouldn’t it be great if each time it rained, it rained meatballs from Heaven?  I know the song lyrics say “pennies”, but pennies would hurt!  These meatballs are soft puffs of melt in your mouth goodness. Way better than pennies!

Pizza Dough Southside Style

I don’t like having a utensil or appliance in my kitchen that doesn’t pull its own weight. Any time I can find a use for something that doesn’t lessen the quality of the finished product I go ahead and make it work for me. My bread machine is a perfect example of this multitasking. Not only does it produce a decent loaf of bread, it can be a time and effort saver when I kneed an extra pair of hands in the kitchen (Pun intended).

Essential Red Sauce with Meat

Really, lots of meat... no seriously, I mean a whole lot of meat! The foundation for this recipe came from one of the best ever Italian cooks, my Polish mother-in-law!

My own version is seriously heavy on the meat and cooks for hours with the intention that it be used for a variety of Italian favorites. Make this sauce early in the week and have some that night with spaghetti and a few of the simmered meatballs. Don’t fret about running out of sauce – this recipe makes enough to feed your family with the aforementioned spaghetti plus at least three more killer dishes which I will be posting shortly.

Our New Look

I hope you like our new look! Our goal was to make A Guy Who Loves To Cook! more user friendly by making the blog easier to read and more visually appealing. The layout has changed a bit, but we think the most important difference is the clean look and pleasing colors that will highlight the photos of my great recipes that I hope you will try. We are in the process of tweaking the details so bear with us!

I would appreciate any constructive feedback and if there are any questions or comments, I would love to hear them!

Happy Cooking and Eating!
Ted