This turkey breast was a great buy and another installment of tarragon experimenting. Turned into a great classic dinner.
Posted in Turkey, Uncategorized
Tagged lemon, mashed potaters, mashed potatoes, peas, roasted, tarragon, turkey breast
Another tarragon inspired dish with a first time fish. The homemade cream sauce was great on both the fish and roasted asparagus.
When I went to Wholey’s I came across turbot at a decent price and had never tried it before and already had the tarragon cream sauce in mind, so that was how that decision was made. It was good, pretty mild and not too exciting but worked out well here.
Posted in Uncategorized
I got a package of tarragon for some inspired recipes so this will be one a of a few upcoming tarragon features.
Posted in Salads, Uncategorized
Tagged bacon, chicken, chicken salad, easy, lemon, lunch, quick, tarragon, whole slab
Filet and some good friends
We had an absolute feast with some friends featuring grilled filet mignon with sauteed mushrooms and onions, spicy red pepper mac n cheese, rosemary and garlic mashed potatoes, and creamed spinach. The Strip District struck again! I had wanted to get a log of filet for quite some time because the price goes down as you buy a bigger cut, so we called on some friends to help us out.
Posted in Beef, Uncategorized
Tagged American, Beef, creamed spinach, dinner ideas, filet mignon, garlic, grilled, homemade, mac n cheese, macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes, Meat, mushrooms, onions, potatoes, rosemary, sauteed, spicy, spicy mac n cheese, spinach
Here is the link to vote for us to be the next food blog star!
http://www.foodbuzz.com/project_food_blog/challenges/1/view/492
At the top of the page you will see a heart and the words “vote for this entry”.
See below for reasons to vote for us!
Thanks in advance for your votes!
Posted in Uncategorized
FoodBuzz (see add to the right) is a food blogging community that we are happy to be a part of. They are currently having a contest to find the next food blog star! Are we them?!?!
We started the blog back in January with our first post on January 11, 2010. It’s a nice time to reflect back some nine months later and ask ourselves in what ways do we stand apart from other blogs. In other words, what makes Starving Kitten unique, special and important?
We have some ideas on that.
Looking back at the first posts it’s clear that it’s taken some time for us to find our identity. We had just received the camera we use (though we still struggle with that), we were new to wordpress and struggled with the formatting at times, and we were not taking or posting as many pictures as we do now. We’ve learned a lot since then. We became more disciplined in taking better pictures. We bought a tripod. We got new dishes. And we studied other food blogs. Now, I can say with confidence that we have found our identity and are proud to say what sets us apart.
1. We make good food that everyone can make with ingredients that most people have or that are easy to find.
Our rosemary lemon chicken thighs are a good example of this. This is the second most viewed recipe post on our blog.
Stuffed Banana Peppers have also been a highly viewed recipe. This is probably due to the simplicity of the recipe and the availability of the ingredients.
Grilled Balsamic Flank Steak was an easy recipe with ingredients you probably already have in your pantry.
2. We pay homage to American classic dinner recipes.
Chicken Piccata a classic favorite.
Meatloaf aka the All American Dinner- is this not a 1950’s diner on a plate?
Meatballs and spaghetti (squash)… a very traditional dinner at least in my house.
3. We love to take a classic dish and put our spin on it.
Here is our chicken carbonara casserole where we took a classic, chicken carbonara and put our spin on it- it is our number one most viewed post.
Edamame Hummus. Hummus but made with soy beans (edamame).
Gyro Burgers where we took a love for the classic gyro and paired it with the American hamburger. This was an awesome meal (served with our homemade tzatziki sauce.
Spicy Cilantro and Green Onion Crab Cakes a spin off the classic crab cake recipe.
4. We recreate restaurant favorites at home and tackle dishes that seem difficult to make outside of a restaurant kitchen by simplifying them as needed.
One of the things we love to do is get inspired by food we eat out. Above is a picture of our recreation of the mussels we had at Dr. Granville Moore’s in Washington, DC, moules fromage bleu.
Thai Basil Beef a favorite of ours to order when we go out for Thai food.
5. We make our own sauces.
Blue Cheese Dressing that we paired with buffalo wings and buffalo chicken burgers.
Parmesano Reggiano/Pecorino Romano Alfredo Cream sauce one of our most highly viewed sauce recipes. This was one of the best we ever made!
Marinara sauce and Alfredo Sauce. Basic but tasty!
6. We document all of the steps with pictures so that anyone can follow and we take the time to write out the recipes.
8 Layer Taco Dip– Every step of the way is detailed.
Slow Cooked Pulled Pork. Greg highlights how to set up the grill and how to prepare the meat and side for this dish to come out perfectly.
Grilled Crab Pesto Pizza. Step by step directions on grilling and creating this pizza.
7. We’ve have a diverse palate.
Seared Tuna atop a lime slaw. A great appetizer or meal.
Natural Daquiris. Drinks!
Balti Beef. Indian inspired cuisine.
Crab and Corn Chowder. Soups.
Avocado Salad Dressing. Salads and homemade dressings.
8. We’re honest. We’ll tell you when something we made didn’t work our or what we’d do next time to make it better.
(burnt) Walnut Pesto Chicken Thighs
Tiramisu fail.
9. Food is our entertainment.
10. …and lastly because we are missing our namesake 😦 Bogie went missing on 9/5. We hope he returns soon as he is dearly missed.
We’d also LOVE to hear what you all think makes our blog special. Please leave a comment and let us know!
Also, our profile is public at foodbuzz.com so please go to the site and vote for us!
Posted in Uncategorized
We were heading to a family Labor Day cookout and decided on this cold sesame noodle salad. I guess it’s not the most American dish for Labor Day, but it worked out just fine.
Cook the noodles and run them under cool water. Then toss with sesame oil and set aside until the sauce is ready. The sauce was a blended combination of many ingredients that was then tossed with the cool noodles.
The base seasonings headed for the blender
Can be a little fluffy at first but will settle
These did not go into the blender, but were tossed with the noodles and sauce.
Noodles with chopped vegetables waiting for the sauce
Sauce is here!
Once the sauce is prepared, veggies are chopped, and noodles are cooked and cooled, combine all ingredients and chill before serving.
The colder the better
Directions for Cold Sesame Noodle Salad
Greg
Posted in Salads, Uncategorized
Tagged Asian, cold, easy, garlic, Ginger, good leftovers, Green onion, Noodles, quick, Rice wine vinegar, Serrano peppers, Sesame, sesame oil, sesame seeds
A friend was coming over and I wanted to make a little afternoon snack. It wasn’t too hot out so I didn’t mind baking something. I started by pan sauteing some cubed chicken breast with some salt and pepper and putting it in the crocks.
I started on the sauce by sauteing the aromatics in oil.
Browned garlic is the key for this one
I sauteed the aromatics a little longer than usual to really brown the garlic and get a deep almost smoky garlic taste.
Once the garlic was browned enough, I added some fresh basil for the last few minutes of sauteeing.
Then add the rest of the sauce ingredients which is basically an alfredo. The cheese was grated imported Romano which we got in the Strip District for $6.99 a pound. What the Strip provides is amazing and limitless!
Then pour the sauce over the chicken until covered.
Add a bit of mozzarella and throw into the oven at 350 for about 15-20 minutes or until browned.
Top with some fresh basil and chopped tomatoes.
Recipe for Garlic White Romano Sauce
Greg
Posted in Chicken, Uncategorized
Tagged alfredo sauce, basil, chicken, garlic, homemade, Italian, low carb, romano, tomato, white sauce
This is our first Kittened dish in Pittsburgh and we have been discovering that food is very cheap. This was a 9lb cut of brisket for $30, and that was not a sale. Plenty more to come on the great deals found. I smoked this similarly to the pork shoulder a bit back. Slow cooked over indirect heat, but this time it was cooked as the debut dish on our new charcoal grill that we got for our wedding (thanks Mo and Stosh).
First to prep the rub
Started with a quick made rub.
Yeah, $30!
As similar to the pork, I started the grill with a large pile of charcoal and once it was ashed and ready, it was moved and kept to one side. I also used a store bought foil baking dish as a drip tray below the meat to limit the mess and possible flare up.
The grill will never look like this again.
Opposite the coals
Now a lot of waiting. The grill was covered with the below air intake about halfway open and the lid air intake also about halfway open. The lid intake was placed over the meat, opposite the coals so that the heat and smoke are forced to go around the meat in order to escape. The brisket cooked for about 5 hours total. Here is is about halfway through. I turned it about every hour to alternate the side facing the heat.
About 3 hours in.
And after all five hours.
Allow the meat to sit for 15 minutes or so before slicing and always slice against the grain. It would be great to have a deli slicer here, but that is a bit excessive!
Patient, patient
Hey guys, Eileen here. I am going to fill you in on the sides, which I was responsible for making.
In addition to the brisket, we served a simple horseradish sauce from all recipes (sorry, no pictures of it) and a broccoli slaw from Smitten Kitchen. I have made this broccoli slaw once before for a cook out and people seemed to like it. I decided to make it again, figuring it would be a nice complement to the meat and tangy horseradish sauce.
First, I made the dressing for the slaw, which is composed of buttermilk, mayonnaise, cider vinegar, sugar and shallots.
Give it a good whisk and set aside.
Next, it is time for the broccoli. I used the slicing blade on my food processor to cut the broccoli for me. This method is a major time saver and produces pretty uniform slices of broccoli. Here it is pictured with chopped red onion as well.
To this, I added dried cranberries and sliced almonds and eventually the dressing.
Give it all a good stir and let it sit in the fridge for an hour or so before serving.
It’s a great slaw and a bit different than your typical cabbage slaw. If you are looking for something new to have or bring to an event this could be it! The crunch of the broccoli with the tartness of the cranberries and the sharpness of the red onion are all tamed by the buttermilk sauce. It was a great compliment to the brisket too!
All in all, this meal was delicious! We were very happy with the final product and our guests seemed to be too.
Posted in Beef, Salads, Sides, Uncategorized
Tagged Beef, Brisket, broccoli, broccoli slaw, buttermilk, garlic, good leftovers, grilled, homemade, Horseradish Sauce, low carb, Meat, Slow Smoked
Warning! Some of the following post may be graphic and upsetting to some readers!
As a going away gift, our friends graciously sponsored our going away party as we were about to depart Maryland. Roasting a whole pig was decided upon, as the idea has been floating around for a few years and this seemed like the opportunity. They were able to find good deals on a pig and renting an electric spit. We cook, eat, and talk about a lot of different cuts of meat on this site, but being in the whole form does seem to change things a bit. So proceed with caution, and I did omit many pics that could have made it far worse.
The first questions is, what kind of person desires so strongly to roast a whole pig?
This guy does!
The pig weighed about 49 pounds and came pre gutted and basically all prepped for us. We added some seasoning and filled the cavity with onions, garlic and leeks. Then the pig had to be skewered and sewn up to keep the filling in.
Coming together
Filled and ready to be closed up
He makes an excellent seamstress
The rented spit was well experienced but did a great job once we messed around with it, formed it into shape, and got the right tension on the chain to the motor.
We ended up using about 50 lbs of charcoal total
Once the pig was stabilized on the skewer and the coals had ashed over, it was time for the final assembly and a lot of waiting.
The pig ended up cooking for about 8 hours and could have used a little more time and a little hotter charcoal throughout. It was our first time though and everyone seemed pleased with the final product. There was plenty of time to hang out while the pig roasted and it was over 100 degrees this day so…
What up dawg? Ya know staying cool in the pool.
This is the last picture we have of the pig, which is about halfway through. It turned out great though and we will do even better next time!
Posted in Pork, Uncategorized
Starving Kitten 