Main Dishes Archives - Page 15 of 25

Cheeky Nando’s! One-pan Peri Peri Chicken and Rice

June 15, 2024April 25, 2016 by Emily

Tender chicken with crisp, golden brown skin, baked on top of creamy risotto-style rice, flavored with spicy, tangy Peri-Peri Sauce. Watch out, this dish is addictive.

So who is this ‘Nando’ and why is he so cheeky? No, seriously, I really want to know.

Being an American, the phrase ‘cheeky Nandos’ means almost nothing to me but for some inexplicable reason, it became stuck in my head the other day. I asked Matt (a Brit) what it meant and all he did was laugh, jump around and scream “Cheeky Nandos! Cheeky Nandos!” for about an hour until I was forced to distract him with a shiny Doctor Who marathon. Not helpful.

In this rare case, even the internet failed me. When I googled “What is cheeky nandos. Help, confused american.,” it suggested this article. This a sample explanation:

you know when you go down town with the lads and you all realize you’re hank marvin’ so you say “lads let’s go Maccers” but your mate Smithy a.k.a. The Bantersaurus Rex has some mula left on his nandos gift card and he’s like “mate let’s a have a cheeky nandos on me” and you go “Smithy my son you’re an absolute ledge” so you go have an extra cheeky nandos with a side order of Top Quality Banter

So… yeah. Much clearer now. Thanks.

One-pan Peri-Peri Chicken and Rice — Peri-Peri is a spicy sauce made with chilis, garlic and vinegar. Add some crispy, moist chicken and creamy rice and you have a delicious, easy dinner.

Lasagna Bolognese with Fontina Béchamel

June 10, 2024April 1, 2016 by Matt

With a crunchy top and a creamy center, Lasagna Bolognese is the king of baked pastas. Our version adds fontina cheese to the béchamel with adds to the earthy richness.

Greetings, rebel scum!

Before we get into this week’s recipe, I want to make a clarification about last week’s post: the chocolate babka. You might remember that one of us (okay, it was me) declared it to be an excellent treat for either Easter or Passover, whichever was your preference. We were inundated with literally several letters pointing out that the babka is yeasted, and a traditional Passover, one might say, tends to skew towards the unleavened. The Hebrews fleeing Egypt weren’t, after all, told “Take what you have and scarper, there’s no time to let your bread rise, oh, unless you’re making babka or something, that would be awesome, oh, good work on the pyramids btw”. So, my apologies for that slip, and please tell Uncle Mort it won’t happen again.

This week’s dish is so much recipe – very so much recipe, wow – we actually had to enlist the help of a third Nerd, our most excellent and game friend Heather, who stayed with us this weekend and whose initial idea it was to make lasagna. Now, I made lasagna at uni – I think we all did – and it’s the easiest thing imaginable, you buy your jar of Ragu and a good cheap packet of dried lasagna, bit of cheese of some kind, Double Gloucester probably, cheddar will do at a pinch, bit of milk, nutmeg, there you have it, one lasagna, lovely.

(That sound you hear is Emily retching and then fainting).

Chicken, Leeks and Spinach in a Creamy Wine Sauce

July 8, 2024March 18, 2016 by Emily

In our ongoing quest to resurrect interest in under-appreciated vegetables, I present this week’s subject: the leek. We don’t get too excited about leeks in the U.S. but we should. They’re healthy, easy to grow*, cheap to buy, and best of all, really tasty. * Theoretically, and according to rumors I read on the internet. Matt and I, … Read more

Steamed Mussels With Wheat Beer and Basil

June 10, 2024March 11, 2016 by Emily

There are very few foods that deliver as much bang for your buck as fresh mussels. They are crazy cheap and when cooked well, one of the most delicious proteins that can be plucked from the sea.

Pizza Chicken (with Pepperoni and Basil)

June 15, 2024February 26, 2016 by Emily

Chicken dinner, meet pizza night. Chicken sautéed until golden brown and baked with marinara sauce, gooey mozzarella cheese, spicy pepperoni and fresh basil.

For the sake of clarity and because I really, really like you guys, I want to acknowledge that this title might be a little misleading.

Say you were googling “chicken pizza,” this post might show up (probably on page 35, but whatevs) and I wouldn’t want you to get halfway through reading it before you realized that this recipe is not, in fact, for pizza with chicken on top of it.

This recipe is for chicken cooked in the style of a pizza. And it’s frigging delicious. It’s cheesy and salty and tangy. Exactly the flavors your tongue expects when your brain has told it you’re having pizza for dinner. It also happens to be gluten free and ready in about 20 minutes.

Pizza Chicken (with Pepperoni and Basil) — The flavors that make pizza so delicious

Seared Scallops with Chili-Lime Butter, Pea Purée and Crispy Pancetta

June 10, 2024February 12, 2016 by Emily

Seared Scallops with Jalapeno-Lime Butter, Pea Purée and Crispy Pancetta

Britain is a big old seaside with a few towns in the middle, and while we were there, we often had excellent seared scallops when we ate out. This is our attempt to recreate this dish, served over pureed peas with crisped pancetta.

In the spirit of curmudgeonliness, here’s the real history of Valentine’s Day.

On February 14 around the year 278 A.D., a Roman priest named Valentine was executed.

A little background: Emperor Claudius II (not the stuttering one) had a problem. He was having trouble maintaining a strong… military (not a euphemism, for once). For some reason the men of Rome were reluctant to join an army led by a man whose nickname was ‘Claudius the Cruel’. Go figure.

Claudius presumed it was because of their strong attachment to their wives and families, so he did what any reasonable ruler would do. He banned all marriages and engagements in Rome.

Valentine, hoping his name would one day be synonymous with chalky chocolates and teddy bears holding roses, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret.

That is until he was arrested and beaten to death with clubs. And then his head was cut off.

Happy Valentine’s Day!