• blood orange chicken
    Winter

    Spicy Blood Orange Chicken

    Have you ever caramelized oranges?  It’s one of my favorite ways to cook with citrus.  When drizzled in quality olive oil and roasted just right, their sweet flavor deepens beautifully and intensifies.  A dark sticky-sweetness cloaks the fruit and enhances the flavor profile of the entire dish. Blood oranges are among my favorite for their dark crimson flesh and tangy sweetness.  However, don’t mistake this for an orange-y flavored dish.  Rather, when paired with roasted chicken, Italian olives, red onions and the heat from dried chile peppers, this Spicy Blood Orange Chicken makes for a savory and robust weeknight dinner in just over 30 minutes.

  • chili
    All Seasons,  Winter

    Slow Cooker Pantry Chicken Chili

    It’s that time of the year when long-simmered soups, stews and chilies are my go-to recipes.  My braising pots are on full rotation, as is my slow cooker.  In keeping with the recipes of this blustery season, I’m sharing my Slow Cooker Pantry Chicken Chili recipe. This slow cooker recipe is quite literally a combination of pantry and freezer staples.  I hardly ever make it the same way twice, so it can easily be adapted to suit whatever you have on hand.

  • citrus olive salad
    Winter

    Citrus & Olive Salad

    This citrus and olive salad is a sweet and tangy, colorful, full flavored and incredibly simple recipe to brighten up a winter’s day. Beautiful crimson blood oranges (though naval or cara cara will certainly do) are balanced beautifully by marinated red onions, oil-cured black olives, and a robust extra virgin olive oil.  Finish with a sprinkle of Mediterranean flaky salt to bring out those delectable flavors.

  • braised short ribs
    Autumn,  Winter

    Rigatoni with Dark Cocoa and Red Wine Short Ribs

    “Chocolate, the ‘food of the gods,’ conquered not just the candy shop, but also the kitchen.” – Riccardo Magni Don’t make the mistake of thinking this rigatoni with dark cocoa and red wine short ribs is  a chocolate-y or sweet pasta dish, it’s absolutely not.  Not even close.  Savory and enchanting?  Absolutely. I live in a part of New Jersey that is home to one of the world’s most famous chocolate makers.  In fact, it’s not uncommon for the aroma of chocolate to blanket the entire town well into the wee hours of the morning.  Since chocolate is literally in the air here – the constant reminder of it has…