Bánh mì Vietnamese sandwiches have a flavor profile that I constantly crave; the savory chew of roasted pork in spicy aioli, the crunchy pickled carrot, the slow burn of jalapeño pepper, the crisp brightness of cilantro, all on a chewy french baguette. But it’s summertime, and I’ve had tacos on the brain as of late. Read more...
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]]>Bánh mì Vietnamese sandwiches have a flavor profile that I constantly crave; the savory chew of roasted pork in spicy aioli, the crunchy pickled carrot, the slow burn of jalapeño pepper, the crisp brightness of cilantro, all on a chewy french baguette. But it’s summertime, and I’ve had tacos on the brain as of late. I started with a 3lb bone-in picnic cut pork shoulder, locally sourced from Lucki 7 Livestock in Rodman, NY. This gorgeous hunk of meat basically caramelized in my slow cooker for 6 hours in a simultaneously sweet and hot homemade barbecue sauce, and I assembled the tacos on lightly toasted corn tortillas with jalapeño carrot slaw, chipotle mayo, and a few sprigs of fresh cilantro. Since I’m really just learning how to cook well, I don’t usually like to go overboard with self-praise. With that said, these Bánh mì pork tacos were nearly the best dish I’ve ever made. Their succulence was enough to impress even the likes of my friend Liz, who grew-up in a restaurant-owning family and has cooked circles around me for the past 10 years. Her compliments truly meant the world to me, and I’m psyched to share this recipe!
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]]>Lamb is always on our minds in the Springtime. With a leg of lamp waiting for it's moment in the freezer, we couldn't wait another week to defrost it and make some magic happen at Cooler Kitchen headquarters.
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]]>Lamb is always on our minds in the Springtime. With a leg of lamb waiting for it’s moment in the freezer, we couldn’t wait another week to defrost it and make some magic happen at Cooler Kitchen headquarters.
At the end of our lamb leg’s journey in the slow cooker, we transferred the lamb (in chunks because it was falling lusciously apart) to a roasting sheet and broiled it for about 10 minutes to give the top layer a crispy finish.
Slow Cooker Roast Leg of Lamb with Anchovies
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]]>It’s no secret that Cooler Kitchen loves soup! It’s spring in New York City, and nothing beats a hot bowl of coconut curry soup with light, bright flavors to keep the manic weather swings in check.
This Allrecipes.com recipe was recommended to Brandon by an old friend, and there was very little that we had to do to tweak it for our own taste. We omitted the mushrooms and added a splash of hot chili sauce for an extra kick.
A big bottle of fish sauce was a major recent addition to our pantry. It gives everything it splashes sweet funk that we just love. Happy Spring!
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]]>This scrumptious one dish meal was the product of a trip to Whole Foods, where we found air-chilled chicken drumsticks on sale for a really good price. Pretty, pretty good! To celebrate the robust marriage of dark meat chicken and asparagus flavors, we went with thyme and just a bit of red chili pepper to season.
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Springtime is just around the corner! Although it wasn’t a bad winter by any measure, at Cooler Kitchen our heats can’t help but skip a beat that first time we see seasonal asparagus hit the shelves!
What a delightful weeknight early almost spring meal! It had us dreaming of the warm weather adventures (and banging local produce) that will arrive soon with the warmer weather.
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]]>The Cooler Kitchen crew needs a vacation from time to time, and we've been lucky to go on some pretty epic traveling adventures! Reading Terminal Market is one of the most incredible food markets in the world. It features all local businesses (many of the stalls are run by Amish folks). We Attended The "6th Annual Party For The Market" this last weekend.
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]]>As we've disclosed many times before, Cooler Kitchen is a COSTCO loving kitchen, so we got a little giddy the last time we were at the megastore when we found whole ducks for a reasonable price. We had never tried cooking duck before, although we absolutely love it, and Julie had just watched an online video on pannacooking.com of Chef Michael Anthony making glazed spiced duck. For Valentines Day, we decided to give this decadent recipe a try.
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The ingredients list required us to shell out for some new spices that weren’t previously in our pantry. The justification was Valentines Day 2015, and a sense of adventure! Plus, they’re spices and they’ll last forever- when we retire, we’ll probably just be finishing the coriander seed.
Why hello, my plucky friend!
Here she is all sliced up!
Midway through cooking, we drew some of the duck fat that had rendered on the bottom of the roasting pan and used it to roast thin-sliced Japanese Sweet potato to make delicious fries! You can use regular or sweet potatoes as well.
Duck lovers can check-out Michael Anthony’s recipe here:
https://www.pannacooking.com/recipes/roast-duck-orange-sherry-glaze-michael-anthony
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]]>The Super Bowl came and went this year, and Cooler Kitchen threw down at a friend's party with some loaded sweet potato skins. Our hosts were doing the heavy lifting by taking care of all the necessary stick-to-your-ribs Super Bowl fare. We were asked to contribute "some vegetable dish," and we accepted the challenge!
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The Super Bowl came and went this year, and Cooler Kitchen threw down at a friend’s party with some loaded sweet potato skins. Our hosts were doing the heavy lifting by taking care of all the necessary stick-to-your-ribs Super Bowl fare. We were asked to contribute “some vegetable dish,” and we accepted the challenge!
This is a delicious and delightfully healthy appetizer for all to enjoy! It’s vegan, gluten free, and low fat, and it packs a zesty punch of flavor without being too spicy or sweet; basically, it appeases finicky eaters and Brooklynites alike but don’t get us wrong- those peppers and tortilla chips were for dunking in beer cheese, guacamole and Mexican 7 layer dip.
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]]>This is a delicious recipe for a big bold and beefy chili that balances the tang of tomato with the richness of cocoa. It's almost like a chili mole, with really basic preparation and the added bonus of filling Cooler Kitchen headquarters and the surrounding hallway with the delicious smell of slow cooking meat for 6 hours.
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]]>We were all snowed in last weekend here at Cooler Kitchen Headquarters in NYC - so we had to make some chocolate chip blizzard cookies!
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]]>Mmmmm gotta love Sunday dinner. We rarely go anywhere on Sundays, and it's a great opportunity to cook at home with what we've got in the house. There were some Mahi Mahi filets in the fridge that we had scored on sale at Whole Foods earlier in the week, some hearty kale leftover from our friend's CSA gift three weeks ago, some cherry tomatoes and some brown rice. The meal we improvised came together beautifully!
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Ingredients
For the kale:
Preheat the oven to 400. In a medium sized roasting pan, toss the cherry tomatoes and kale together with the onion, salt and pepper, oregano and olive oil. Put in oven and roast for 40 minutes, tossing frequently.
Mix together the lemon zest, lemon juice, parsley, garlic, olive oil, wine, salt and pepper. Spread out the fish filets in a 9×13 inch baking dish, and spread 2/3 of the lemon and parsley mixture evenly onto the filets. Add the filets to the oven and bake for 10-12 minutes until fish just begins to flake. Mix the rest of the lemon and parsley mixture in the rice. Serve fish with the rice and blacked kale and tomatoes.
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Our friend shared part of her CSA box with us last weekend. We ended up with lots of leeks and carrots, and we had some homemade chicken stock in the freezer. This adventure in soup making led us down a warm and delicious path, perfect for what we are craving these days!
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We at the Cooler Kitchen appreciate a fine breakfast cereal, and we were recently reintroduced to the magic of Honey Bunches of Oats while on vacation with friends. I also coincidentally stumbled across Paula Deen's Baked French Toast Casserole recipe on Pinterest.
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Say what you want about Paula Deen, but she knows her way around an indulgent breakfast casserole.
Although I didn’t have all of the ingredients I decided to wing it and take a crack at a version substituting (among other things) whisky with vanilla extract and Honey Bunches of Oats with pralines. Necessity is the mother of invention!
It’s tough to improve upon a classic like French Toast, but try our recipe, especially if if you are a cereal lover like we are, to experience the perfect breakfast.
Honey Bunches of Oats French Toast
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]]>Cooler Kitchen first learned about the wonders of St. Louis style Ooey Gooey Butter Cake while sampling new flavors at Brooklyn's gangbusters ice cream spot Ample Hills Creamery (amplehills.com). They have a flavor called Ooey Gooey Butter Cake, and it's craaaazy good.
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]]>Happy Chanukah 2015! This delicious dulce de leche donut from the outstanding Breads Bakery (http://www.breadsbakery.com) here in NYC was a part of our celebration this evening at Cooler Kitchen headquarters. That, and the lighting of our simple and very candle wax covered menorah, prominently displayed by some of our favorite cookbooks.
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Crepe Ingredients
2 cups flour
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup water
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon olive or vegetable oil
Ingredients For Cheese Filling
2 lbs. ricotta cheese
8 oz. mozzarella cheese (cut into 1/3 inch cubes)
2 eggs
1/2 cup grated romano cheese
Salt and Pepper
2 tablespoons fresh sage, chopped
Pumpkin Sauce Ingredients
1 tablespoon butter
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 cup heavy cream or milk
1 15oz. can of pumpkin puree
4 ounces goat cheese
1/4 cup parmigiano reggiano, grated
1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon fresh sage, chopped
1. Make the crepes. Mix flour, milk, water, salt, sugar and oil in a large bowl with an electric mixer or whisk. The batter should be light and mixed very well. If the batter seems very heavy and thick, add more water to the batter (but only a little at a time). Heat a small frying pan 5 or 6 inches in diameter to medium heat. Use butter to grease the frying pan (or a non-stick pan). If using the butter, before making each crepe swipe the stick of butter over the frying pan and then start. Use 1/4 cup of batter for each crepe. Cook crepes on each side until firm, about 1 minute per side. Lay paper towels strips between the crepes so they don’t stick together while cooling down.
2. Gently mix the ingredients for the cheese filling until well combined. Set aside.
3. To make the sauce, melt the butter in a medium sauce pan over medium heat, add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about a minute. Add the cream, pumpkin puree, goat cheese, parmesan, and pumpkin pie spice, and simmer until the cheese has melted. Remove from heat and season with salt and pepper.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a 9x13in baking dish, pour half of the sauce on the bottom of the dish.
5. Put about 3-4 tbs of cheese filling into each crepe. Fold over the sides of each crepe over the cheese filling so it’s like a little pocket. Place all the filled crepes in a row in the pan; you should be able to fit 8-10 crepes in the pan. Pour the rest of the sauce over the top of the manicotti.
6. Bake for about 30 – 40 minutes or until hot and the cheese is bubbling. Garnish with the rest of the sage. Serve hot.
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Yebin is one of the most interesting and enthusiastic instructors I’ve ever had across all areas of study I’ve ever undertaken. She is very knowledgeable and passionate about Korean cuisine, and it turns out that she actually lived in California for several years and had a strong sense of where I was coming from with my Western culinary experience. She instructed and demonstrated while us students tried the steps hands on.
Meanwhile, there were two other chefs in the kitchen who helped keep us on track, removed used dishes and utensils, and took lots of great pictures as we cooked (the whole time I thought, I could get used to this!).
One of the cooking lessons that she taught us I will never forget. Yebin was instructing us how to make kimchi by stuffing our freshly mixed chili paste into the layers of a cabbage. She described that it was not enough to just assemble the kimchi, but in order for it to taste good you also need to feel happy while you do it. It’s true that mushing a cabbage can take you out of your comfort zone if you’ve never done it before, and I have spent so much time of my own cooking experience by following directions, setting timers, and connecting with ingredients through instruments and utensils (yes, like 9″ EZ Grip Silicone Tongs). Massaging kimchi into cabbage is not an exact science, and there’s no way to do it well without love and care in your heart, otherwise you will never saturate the cabbage with enough of the paste. The smell of the chili is intense and brings you right down to earth, right into the moment you are in. It’s remarkably meditative. I loved it.
At the end of the class, the chefs prepared an elegant lunch spread for us while we ate the food that we cooked, which included beef bulgogi, kimchi pancake, and a simple traditional banchan spread which included kimchi, sesame leaves, rice, pickled vegetables and chili sauce.
Yebin also gives you the kimchi that you made to take with you and enjoy in 3 days so it has time to ferment properly, as well as the recipes of what you cooked so you can continue to use the skills that you learned in the class.
As I mentioned before, O’ngo is highly rated on Trip Advisor, and they also have a beautiful website with all kinds of useful information about the different classes and programs that O’ngo offers. (http://www.ongofood.com/cooking-class/) They also host night market tours which I now wish we had been able to partake in during our time in Seoul. We hope to make it back to Korea soon, and if you find yourself in Seoul I can’t recommend this cooking class more.
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]]>Check out our scrumptious recipe for hearty Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal, which packs a sweet and nutty punch of pumpkin without becoming too sweet or gloppy. This yields about 6 cups of oatmeal when cooked, so if you don’t want to go crazy you can just half the recipe. I like to scoop out the extra pumpkin purée if I don’t use a whole can into ice cube trays, and freeze them to use later in smoothies!
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]]>have friends over for brunch
http://cooking.nytimes.com/
We use our old Griswold cast iron skillet, which we purchased at a yard sale in North Carolina four years ago, but according to the internet it is probably been around in someone’s kitchen for at least 70 years! We take great care to never wash it with soap and keep it well seasoned. It’s truly one of our most prized possessions.
I follow Melissa’s Shakshuka recipe nearly to a tea, adding diced carrots with the bell pepper, and seasoning it with a little more cumin, salt and pepper than she prescribes. I serve it with simply toasted crusty bread and Kerrygold Irish butter. It’s a wonderfully filling and healthy breakfast, and it’s a fun brunch activity to let everyone share the experience of their meal from one skillet. Take a crack it at home this weekend, and let us know how it goes!
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]]>My recipe search was brief. Much to my infinite joy, Ina Garten’s The Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics episodes are now available on Netflix! In one of the episodes, she cooks a beautiful Provençal inspired 4 Hou Leg of Lamb, and this just seemed like the perfect opportunity to spend some time hanging out at home with my family while the lamb roasted in the oven.
Following Ina’s recipe, I gave the lamb a good browning and then added it back into a Le Creuset with a whole bottle of white wine, two whole heads of garlic (cloves separated), rosemary, and thyme. Covered, it then roasted away in the oven for a solid four hours with an occasional basting…
Not bad, huh? I strained and reduced the sauce to make a gravy to serve table side.
When I plated the lamb, I removed the strings and then garnished it with the garlic cloves that had softened and sweetened in the pot along with the lamb. Doesn’t Danny’s zucchini pasta with turkey sausage and red sauce look delicious? It totally was!
Ina served her lamb with beans, but I knew that my mother loves lentils. I sautéed some veggies and garlic until tender, added crushed red pepper, vegetable stock and lentils, and let that simmer away for about an hour until the lentils were soft, having absorbed the stock and vegetable flavors. Yum.
Everything came together beautifully on the plate.
Meanwhile, check out this professional grade chocolate covered fruit plate for dessert featuring strawberries, apples and dried apricots. Allison, you truly outdid yourself!
My parents really enjoyed this meal. I would highly recommend trying Ina’s 4-Hour Leg of Lamb recipe for your next special occasion! You can check out her recipe here.
I hope you enjoy my recipe for warm lentil salad below. It’s a great side dish, it’s undeniably healthy, and it’s got lots of great hearty flavor.
Here’s a picture of me cooking the warm lentils with our E-Z Grip Tongs
Happy Anniversary, mom and dad!
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]]>As a fan of our blog, for a limited time, use discount code: CUTMAT50 to save 50% off your purchase, for a total price of $3.50. These mats will sell for about $19, so this is an AMAZING Deal and only available until we’ve given away our promotional inventory!! We’ve currently already priced the product low in order to get some early reviews. All we ask of you is that you leave your unbiased review.
Click here to buy now!
http://www.amztk.com/cutting-mats
Why Cutting Mats?
We tested the market and didn’t like the majority of the mats available on the market. Other cutting mats we tested warped too heavily in the dishwasher (ours are dishwasher safe), used harmful plastics (ours are BPA FREE), would slide on a wet countertop (ours have a textured crosshatched back to prevent this), could be flimsy and hard to cut on (our thick plastic ensures you will never cut through our mats) Other mats may be cheaper, but you are not going to be satisfied or get much of a lifespan out of them.
They are so stunning they could be even be used as place mats!
Still using your old & worn, cut up cutting mats?
Most experts recommend replacing plastic mats every two years. When a sponge or dishcloth snags on the board, or your knife skips over deep cuts, it’s time for a new one. Bacteria, or other nasty things can wedge deep inside and grow. Your family’s health is too important!
About Our Cutting Mats
These lightweight flexible cutting mats are sized 12 X 15 and are color coded for different food groups to help prevent cross-contamination, to help your family keep kosher, or to provide added support to allergy sufferers. The colors are blue for fish, red for meats, yellow for poultry, green for vegetables.
Our mats have a non-porous odor resistant coating. They Include antimicrobial protection with built-in defense properties that inhibit the growth of stain and odor-causing bacteria.They are naturally nonstick and nontoxic BPA FREE. Of course they are also DISHWASHER SAFE
The textured crosshatched back keeps our mats in place and prevents slipping on your counter-tops.
Our 2MM thick mats are sturdy and durable while still maintaining their flexibility to curl for easy cooking, or dumping your ingredients quickly into a pot or pan.
As a fan of our blog, for a limited time, use discount code: CUTMAT50 to save 50% off your purchase, for a total price of $3.50. These mats will sell for about $19, so this is an AMAZING Deal and only available until we’ve given away our promotional inventory!! We’ve currently already priced the product low in order to get some early reviews. All we ask of you is that you leave your unbiased review.
Click here to buy now!
http://www.amztk.com/cutting-mats
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We had fun using our Cooler Kitchen 12″ EZ Grip Silicone Tongs to grill our beautiful Mahi Mahi filet!
After grilling, we sliced the filet in biteable strips to tuck perfectly into our tortillas. Check out this make-your-own taco spread that we served earlier this summer in the Outer Banks in North Carolina!
We are chipotle fanatics, and the chipotle mayo really complimented the delicate, meaty flavor of our grilled fish. We also found sweet and crunchy local red onion and fresh cherry tomatoes. We also tossed some zucchini on the grill for a perfect summer side. You can follow our recipe, or choose your own adventure and mix it up with other taco toppings that you love! Have fun, and enjoy grilling this Labor Day Weekend with your friends and family!
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