Category: Main Dish

Leaving Las Vegas

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State night is back! This week we wanted to see what the Silver State had in store for us. Las Vegas as we all know is known for its endless buffets and high-end steak houses, but we thought we’d venture a bit beyond Vegas. In researching the local produce we came upon many references to the pinyon pine nut. The pinyon pine nut has a rich history in Nevada where it sustained the native people of the Great Basin for thousands of years. In fact, we read that it was the primary source of protein for the Shoshone, Paiutes and Washoe nations.

We’re no strangers to pine nuts, but we’ve never had a U.S. grown pine nut. Sadly we won’t tonight either as they’re not available around here, but based on the reviews, you can bet we’ll be trying them the next time we head to the Southwest. As for tonight we’re going to make do with our pine nuts imported from China and whip up a Paiutes inspired Pine Nut Crusted Cod and a Spinach, Portabello and Pine Nut Salad.

The salad requires a simple preparation. Requiring only these ingredients:

Continue reading →

Diddle Diddle Dumpling

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Tonight we enjoyed a bonus meal from Miss A’s cooking destination, Russia. Typically we only spend two weeks on each country, but with the holiday and weekend travels we needed something that we could make up quickly. Actually this meal, the traditional Russian Pelmeni, is anything but a quick recipe. It’s a lengthy process that took all hands on deck. What made it work for us this weekend is that we actually prepared the Siberian dumplings last weekend, froze them and were able to quickly cook them up tonight.

The Russian pelmeni is a meat dumpling similar to potstickers or pierogies. According to RusCuisine.com, the dumplings, popular all over Russia, are believed to have originated in Siberia as many could be made at once and frozen for the long winters. The first step to making the pelmeni is to create the dough from flour, salt, sugar, egg and water. It’s a very tough dough to knead at first, but eventually becomes soft and resilient. Once we were satisfied with the consistency of the dough we chilled it in plastic wrap for 40 minutes before rolling it out on a floured surface. Continue reading →

It’s Beginning to Feel A Lot Like Spring…in Russia

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Last week we celebrated spring Russian style with the traditional recipe from Shrovetide, Blini. Then, yesterday we woke up and wondered if we weren’t in Russia – snow covering the ground in April?! It somehow seemed fitting to be cooking up yet another dish from the country that’s home to Siberia. This time we chose a healthy version of a traditional Russian dish – Chicken Kiev.

We began by mixing melted butter with freshly chopped dill, garlic, salt and pepper. We then refrigerated the mix for an hour. In the meantime, the kids got to use a meat mallet again (yes, we finally bought a real one!) to pound the chicken breasts to a quarter of an inch thickness.

They take their pounding very seriously! Continue reading →

Virtually Party Bound

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Today was one of those days that we were all going in different directions, and mom and dad both had a bit of work stress. That’s why I was so grateful for the fun distraction. One of my favorite bloggers, Laura at Manna & Quail, is hosting a virtual dinner party on Friday night. As we’re always up for a good party, we didn’t want to pass this one up. The party’s theme is spring, and it just so happened we were planning to make one of our favorite spring/summer recipes tonight. It’s a healthy, quick and flavorful veggie dish – Portobello Pizzaiola.

We started with these fresh ingredients:

chopped yellow peppers, red peppers, a red onion and Portobello mushrooms. We also chose a petite harvest grain loaf and a petite ciabatta square, but any fresh artisan bread will work. Continue reading →

Welcoming Spring Russian Style

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Miss A is our tour guide for the next two weeks and she’s taking us to the largest country in the world (and the largest pink country on her globe) – Russia. While there are Russian recipes a-plenty from which to choose,  today we picked a traditional dish to commemorate the start of spring (and one that was sure to please Mr. N and Miss A) – Blini.

Blini is a yeast-leavened, buckwheat pancake traditionally eaten during Shrovetide, an ancient Russian festival celebrating the beginning of spring and the god Volos. Today Blini is served anytime of the year, but is especially common at holiday celebrations. Continue reading →

Dishin’ Up Some Good Ole Southern Comfort

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After our first weekend of amazing summer-like weather we found our schedule full-up with activities (and an unforeseen event – get better quickly Nana!). Given our wacky schedule we opted to cook-up our weekly stateside meal today, and start sampling new recipes from our next international destination later in the week. The unseasonably humid and warm temperatures reminded us of the South, so today we sampled some traditional cuisine from Mississippi – Buttermilk Biscuits and Crispy Fried Catfish.

We began with the biscuits. It’s a quick and easy recipe. The dry ingredients are combined first, then the shortening and butter are cut in, followed by the buttermilk. Once the dough was formed, we transferred it to a floured surface and began to press it out. Continue reading →