American

Creole Split Pea Soup with Andouille Sausage

November 16, 2011 by The Partial Ingredients

After making a good pork roast it’s always great to use the leftovers in a soup. A great way to use the bone from a pork shoulder (or ham hock) is making pea soup. A few years ago I visited New Orleans and I was taken with the flavors they used in their soups and seafood so I decided to try a creole inspired pea soup. I started with a base of onion, garlic, celery, green pepper, and carrots which sauteed in butter until soft. Then I added some creole spices like thyme, sage, oregano, paprika, dried sassafras, and cayenne pepper. The andouille sausage was my favorite twist on the traditional pea soup. The sausage was delicious and had great sweet and spicy flavors.

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Crab Cakes with a Creole Brown Butter Sauce

June 19, 2011 by The Partial Ingredients

This recipe for making crab cakes is really easy to follow and delicious! The key to making good crab cakes is using as little bread crumbs as possible. I would handle these as delicately as possible when forming them so they don’t break apart. Other recipes recommend chilling them for an hour before cooking to keep them from falling apart. Make sure not to have the pan too hot or too dry because it can burn the outside and create a big mess. For the sauces, I made a basic cocktail sauce and John whipped up a creole butter sauce that was really good too!

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"Philly" Cheese Steak Sandwich

March 12, 2011 by The Partial Ingredients

I have been looking around for more good sandwich recipes and I decided to try a Philly cheese steak. Since I never actually had a Philly cheese steak, I picked a recipe from the internet that looked good without thinking much about it. I then ran the ingredients by John who has had a real Philly from one of the cult places in Philadelphia. He was a little surprised when I told him there would be green peppers and provolone in the sandwich. He was also pretty weirded out that I was using neither rib-eye steak or “steak-ums” (whatever that is).

Basically none of the ingredients were “right,” except maybe the sourdough roll. Cheese steak challenges aside, I thought the sandwich turned out great. The peppers, onions, and steak were good together.B Next time I might try making a more traditional Philly. I just don’t think I can ever go there with that cheese-wiz stuff.

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Reuben Sandwich

February 7, 2011 by The Partial Ingredients

Since I have been craving some hot sandwiches, John recommended that we try Reubens. Then he told me that sauerkraut was involved and I got worried. The smell of sauerkraut is kind of intimidating. Then I tried it out of the jar and it wasn’t too good. John just spoons it out throws it on a hot dog and i’m just like ‘wow’.

I have also never tried pastrami before so this definitely was a whole group of new flavors. I like trying unfamiliar foods though so I decided to keep my mind open. The sauerkraut tasted a lot better after it had been drained and sauteed. It was actually really tasty on the sandwich since the dressing, rye, cheese, and meat were enhanced by its flavor. So, I will be using kraut again on reuben sandwiches for sure–but hot dogs? Noo way.

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Sweet Potato Wedges

January 19, 2011 by The Partial Ingredients

Sweet potato fries are such a great way to eat your beta-carotene! I love the beautiful color of sweet potatoes and their flavor made these fries seem more like a dessert. They were easy to prep and cook, but make sure to keep an eye on them because they do burn more easily than regular potatoes. As with regular fries, I like to broil them the last few minutes of cooking to get that extra bit of crispiness on the outside.

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Barbeque Pulled Pork Sandwich

January 18, 2011 by The Partial Ingredients

If you want a clean, tidy dinner this is probably not the recipe for you. Ending up with barbeque sauce all over was worth it though since this sandwich turned out very tasty. The sweet and tangy barbeque sauce was excellent with the pork. Slow cooking the meat allowed it to get very tender and easy to pull apart. The coleslaw was great with the sandwich, and after looking at some pictures I decided to put it right on the bun. I also baked some sweet potato fries that went very well with the flavors of the pulled pork.

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Roasted Cajun Chicken

December 22, 2010 by The Partial Ingredients

There are a lot of Cajun chicken recipes on the internet but I thought I would try making up my own wet rub. I thought the chicken turned out tasty–it was very juicy and tender. The rub was spicy and savory and I was quite happy with the results. I made some potato fries with the chicken and they were both pretty good together. I have a lot of leftover chicken so I think I will try making some chicken quesadillas out of it too.

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Potato Fries with Parmesan and Basil

December 22, 2010 by The Partial Ingredients

These baked, crunchy potatoes are really good and simple to make. The only thing that might give you trouble is if you don’t have a potato fry cutter. I have one, and it cuts the potato perfectly. If you don’t you could always just slice these as chips or cut them by hand.

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BBQ Chicken Pizza with Caramelized Onions

December 16, 2010 by The Partial Ingredients

It took some convincing for my Italian, east-coast born, boyfriend to go along with a pizza recipe that requires barbeque sauce, not tomato sauce. After he tasted it though I didn’t have to do anymore convincing. The flavors of this recipe were very good. The tangy barbeque sauce was a nice compliment to the sweet onions. I used Fontina cheese, but you can make it with blue, gouda, feta or mozzarella cheese as well.

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Barbeque Sauce

December 16, 2010 by The Partial Ingredients

Barbeque sauce is one of my favorite sauces because it brings together sweet, spicy and tangy ingredients. It was easy to make and turned out great. The chipotle chili powder and smoked paprika gave it the necessary bite while the dijon and apple cider vinegar gave it the proper tanginess for a good BBQ sauce.

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