Many moons ago, I attempted to make this steak for my now-husband (back then new-ish boyfriend). I was just out of college, in my first “real job”, and while I had cooked quite a bit in my days, I hadn’t made up recipes on the fly much. Maybe I should back peddle a bit and explain why I was attempting to cook a palomilla steak…

Cuban food was not something that was easy to come by growing up in northeast Tennessee. Black beans and plantains weren’t in the grocery. I had never even heard of a Cuban sandwich. This all changed on a trip to Tampa. My mom and I ate at Columbia restaurant. I had my first taste of black beans and rice and plantains, served on the side of this magical, flavorful thin steak which I’ve for years referred to as Cuban steak, but I’ve learned after many Google searches is actually called a palomilla steak. Initially I always slid the onions to the side, preferring the light flavoring left behind. But as I grew up, I learned to love onions, and the green stuff they mixed in with them, and this became my go-to dish at any Cuban restaurant.

Back to the attempt to recreate this dish in the early 2000s. (more…)

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Caribbean, Dairy free, Dinner, Gluten free, Lunch, Quick and Easy, Side Dish, Sunday Suppers, Wine pairings, World traveller by Courtney

One of my favorite quick go-to pastas has been a beef and arugula pasta with a dijon vinaigrette dressing that I posted a few years back. The first time I made this pasta, I remember my husband saying, “This would be really good with portobellos!”. I was so sure it would that, at the time, I wrote the recipe up with that suggestion for vegetarian-izing (and, incidentally, veganizing) the recipe. A week ago, I had some leftover arugula, so I decided to give this version a go, and what do you know, it was a hit! Still as quick and easy as the original, and still as flavorful. (more…)

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Dairy free, Dinner, Lunch, Quick and Easy, Vegan, Vegetarian by Courtney

While perusing Pinterest not long ago, I noticed a photo of this brilliant idea, an idea so brilliant that I couldn’t believe no one had ever thought of it before. It was labeled “Philly Cheese Steak Stuffed Peppers”. And from that moment on I knew I had to have them.

Of course, my idea of the perfect Philly cheesesteak is a little different. My favorite version is from a little shop in a strip mall near Lenox Square in Atlanta. Actually, I have no idea if the strip mall or the shop is even there anymore. I remember being in middle school and going down for back to school shopping. One of the highlights of the trip was going to this cheesesteak shop for their Pizza Cheesesteak. Layers of yummy beef, onions, peppers, provolone, with a bit of marinara mixed in.

In college, when I was still able to find Steak Ums, this is the way I would always make my cheesesteak sandwich. So I knew my recipe would have to include the marinara, and I’m glad it did. (more…)

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Comfort food, Dinner, Gluten free, Lunch by Courtney

A couple of weeks ago I posted my recipe for the buffalo chicken salad, but then I realized I’ve never posted the simplest buffalo chicken recipe of all – wings! I’ve made many different kinds of wings over the years, but I think I discovered my favorite method for making them: simply grilled. No breading. No deep frying. Just a coating of special spices, a bit of time of a hot, smoky charcoal grill, and a toss in a darned good wing sauce. (more…)

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Appetizers, Cooking outdoors, Dinner, Gluten free, Lunch, Wine pairings by Courtney

I have to say this has been one of my favorite west coast food discoveries, so I’m not quite sure where to even begin when talking about the poke bowl. I guess the point of discovery – Pacific Catch. A few years back, while being touristy in San Francisco, I ducked into a Pacific Catch with my family, and decided on a rice bowl topped with this stuff called poke, among many other Japanese-ish ingredients. I was hooked. I had to learn more about the poke. Which is when I discovered it was a Hawaiian dish that could be made an infinite number of ways. The numerous recipes, as well as the fact I needed sushi grade ahi, kept me from exploring how to make this for a long time. Upon feasting on poke in Hawaii, however, I had a renewed interest in learning to make the most common sesame-oil laced version. So after sifting through lots of recipes, I came up with what I deemed to be the perfect poke. (more…)

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Asian, Dairy free, Dinner, Gluten free, Hawaiian, Lunch, Salad, Vegan, Vegetarian by Courtney