When I lived in New York City, at least once every week I would eat at a cheap, hole-in-the-wall joint in Greenwich Village called Mamoun’s Falafel. The overstuffed falafel sandwiches were just 75 cents apiece. I recently revisited Mamoun’s and although the prices have gone up a tad, the falafel is still the best I’ve ever tasted. Here is a falafel recipe to make falafel from … [Read more...]
Thai Red Curry Recipe for Home Cooks
Here is a really simple and quick recipe for Thai-style red curry. I use boneless chicken for the dish but you could easily substitute pork, tofu, duck, beef, veggies, shrimp, fish, or just about anything else you’d like. Items like Thai red curry paste and fish sauce are available in most Asian markets and nowadays in many regular supermarkets, as well. Ingredients for Thai … [Read more...]
Pork Chops alla Pizzaiola Recipe
In Italy, pizzaiola refer to “meat in the pizza style.” It’s usually inexpensive cuts of meat - typically beef or pork - braised in a mixture of tomatoes, onion, garlic, and olive oil to tenderize the meat. It’s a simple and easy-to-prepare, inexpensive dish to make at home. This recipe is one I really like, borrowed from Giada De Laurentiis. It’s intended to make 2 servings. I … [Read more...]
Simple Shrimp Scampi Recipe
When I lived in New York City, I would periodically visit Rao’s Italian-American restaurant in East Harlem. The eatery, which opened in 1896, is notoriously difficult to get a table at, but well worth the wait and effort. The signature dishes at Rao’s are lemon chicken and shrimp scampi. While I would never compare my shrimp scampi with the heavenly stuff at Rao’s, this is a … [Read more...]
Chicken & Cashew Biryani Recipe for Home Cooks
Biryani - which is also spelled biriyani - is a popular rice-based dish in South India. It’s sort of like rice pilaf, but with an Indian spin and can be made in a multitude of ways, such as with shrimp, fish, lamb, etc. I especially like chicken biryani with toasted cashews to add some crunchy texture to the dish. Ingredients: 1 Tbsp ghee or butter (clarified, if … [Read more...]
Juicy Bone-In Chicken Breasts Recipe
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 … [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 … [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...]