I’ve never quite understood why so many people favor boneless chicken breasts over bone-in ones. Bone-in breasts, properly prepared, are so much more juicy, tender and delicious. Here is a method for roasting bone-in chicken breasts in the oven that is virtually foolproof. The recipe is for two chicken breasts but can easily be doubled. Give it a try! Ingredients: 2 bone-in c … [Read more...]
Scheff’s Table – Simple Meat Sauce for Pasta
Many authentic Bolognese-style Italian meat sauce recipes for pasta are cumbersome and time-consuming. The sauce often has to cook for the better part of a day, or even longer. Well, here is a nifty meat sauce for pasta that can be made in under a half-hour - a great recipe for a quick weeknight dinner. Ingredients: 1 Tbs olive oil ¾ lb. lean ground beef, preferably … [Read more...]
Scheff’s Table – Bistro-worthy French Fries
In France, any bistro worthy of the name serves excellent French fries or frites, as they’re known in that country. Restaurants there wouldn’t dream of serving customers previously frozen fries from a bag as so many do here. It makes me a little crazy that so few eateries here make their fries from scratch because it’s so easy to do. The key to making world … [Read more...]
Scheff’s Table – Spicy Thai Noodles
Recently, I was looking online for a recipe to utilize some Thai rice noodles that I had in my cupboard. I came across a food blog called The Chunky Chef, which had an interesting recipe for 20-minute Thai noodles in a from-scratch spicy chili sauce. I made a few small tweaks to the Chunky Chef recipe and here are the results. The recipe is for the noodles only. … [Read more...]
Wiener Schnitzel Recipe
Wiener schnitzel is quite easy to prepare, with the caveat that you are organized and set up an assembly line-type prep station beforehand. It cooks very quickly. Traditionally, wiener schnitzel was made with scallopini-type veal medallions. However, today it is frequently made with boneless pork. I tend to prefer pork because it's less expensive than veal and most veal … [Read more...]
Scheff’s Table – Saffron Valley’s Saag Paneer
One of my favorite restaurants - actually, a series of restaurants around the Valley - is Saffron Valley. Lavanya Mahate’s inspired Indian cuisine is second to none, and each of her eateries is every bit as vibrant as the food served there. For this week’s Scheff’s Table, I asked Lavanya to share one of her favorite Saffron Valley recipes with me and Utah Bites rea … [Read more...]
Scheff’s Table – Shortcut Beef Pho
Most recipes for Vietnamese-style pho begin with charring and/or roasting pork or beef bones for broth. From there, the broth typically has to simmer overnight - making it a multi-day project. However, I recently gave this quicker recipe from America’s Test Kitchen a try and was very impressed. It brings the cooking time for the pho broth down to under an hour. G … [Read more...]
Classic Cheese Fondue
For New Year's Eve this year, my wife and I are planning to celebrate at home by opening a great bottle of wine and enjoying homemade cheese fondue. This is a basic recipe for classic Swiss-style cheese fondue that's easy to make and pretty much foolproof. Ingredients: 1 garlic clove, halved 1 pound Gruyère cheese, grated 1/2 pound Emmentaler cheese or o … [Read more...]
Scheff’s Table—Pasta Carbonara
If I had to choose my single favorite comfort food, it would probably be pasta carbonara. It’s a relatively simple dish made with pasta, pork, eggs and a few other ingredients. An important note about carbonara: Correctly made, this dish includes raw or nearly-raw eggs. If you're squeamish about that sort of thing, don't make it or eat it. Also, while lots of r … [Read more...]
Harissa Mussels with Chorizo
Ever since I first visited Brussels, I’ve loved steamed mussels and make them at home frequently. They are very easy and quick to prepare. I have about a dozen different steamed mussels recipes that I use and this is one of my favorites. It’s got a Moroccan flair with the use of spicy harissa paste and chorizo. Many markets carry harissa, but if you can’t find it you could subst … [Read more...]