We eat a lot of chicken in our house. One our favorite weeknight meals is a simple roasted chicken recipe with potatoes and vegetables. My oldest daughter’s favorite is chicken Marsala. My youngest daughter loves chicken Parmesan. When I started the reluctantgourmet.com website over 20 years ago, one of the first cooking techniques I learned was how to saute chicken breasts. I knew if I could master this technique, I could make dozens of chicken recipes by changing around some of the ingredients and making various pan sauces. Many of those recipes you’ll find here.
And let’s not forget about my duck and turkey recipes. I love duck but don’t cook it enough. I’ll be working on my duck recipes and techniques to prepare it at home.
And then there is Thanksgiving where turkey rules. Be sure to read my article on how to deconstruct a turkey. You’ll never serve dried out turkey again.
Pan Fried Nut Encrusted Stuffed Chicken Breasts with Mushroom Sherry Cream Sauce I sometimes think of boneless, skinless chicken breasts as a blank canvas to experiment with different cooking techniques, ingredients to incorporate into the cooking and sauces to serve with them. Here is a great example of this. There are lots of ways to […]
How to Make Greek Style Turkey Burgers with Tzatziki Sauce This week my oldest daughter Nell and I were on our own. My wife and youngest daughter were heading to Salt Lake City before heading up to Wyoming for a wedding. Nell and I dined out a couple of times but she said she […]
How to Prepare Chicken Breasts Coated with Pesto, Panko and Cheese Last night I made this dish from Hello Fresh for my daughter and myself that was so good, I had to share it with you. Hello Fresh is one of those services similar to Blue Apron that sends you ingredients plus a recipe for […]
Julia Wright’s Gumbo Cook Off Winner Julia is a home cook from the Pacific Northwest, just east of Seattle, in what she calls “Microsoft Land”. Julia is also a member of my Facebook group, What I Cooked For Dinner Last Night, where our group shares meals they’ve prepared the night before giving us all ideas […]
A Wreath For Eating, Not Hanging On Your Front Door Every year we can count on at least one invitation to a holiday season potluck dinner. This gives me the opportunity to make my super easy and seasonally festive turkey cranberry wreath……not for hanging on the door, but for consumption. My copy of the recipe […]
How to Make a Great Hard Boiled Egg That Peels Easily If you like hard boiled eggs made the classic way, you are going to love the results you’ll get by preparing them sous vide. Sous vide means “under vacuum” in French and is a cooking technique in which you vacuum-seal ingredients in plastic bags, […]
How to Prepare An Extremely Low Calorie Chicken Thighs and Cole Slaw Dinner? This week I started a new diet called The 5:2 Diet where you eat normally for 5 days a week and eat extremely low calorie meals on the other 2 days. The goal for me is to eat a total of 600 […]
Korean Braised Chicken Thighs with Root Vegetables Let me state from the start: this dish is spicy! It made me flush while eating it but most spicy foods make me flush a little. I didn’t think the kids would enjoy it because of the spiciness but both did. My youngest daughter Maddie had a bad […]
Pan Seared Chicken Breasts Served Over White Quinoa with Dried Cherries, Pistachios and Goat Cheese Last night we prepared pan seared chicken breasts and served them over a most delicious white quinoa salad prepared with dried cherries, toasted pistachios and fresh goat cheese. It’s the quinoa salad that makes this meal so special. Yes, you […]
Pollo Guisado Otherwise Known As Braised Chicken We are celebrating the Christmas holidays in the Dominican Republic in a town called Cabarete. It’s Christmas Eve and we treated ourselves by hiring local Chef Catalino along with his wife to cook breakfast, lunch and dinner so we can enjoy the island and still be home […]
I'm a work-at-home dad who enjoys cooking, learning everything I can about the culinary world and sharing it with you. To learn more about me... Read More
What is Demi Glace? I am a huge fan of demi-glace for preparing classic sauces like mushroom or peppercorn sauce but I have to warn you, it is a huge process to make classic demi glace at home. It is not for the faint of heart but well worth the effort – at least once. […]
Penne Pasta with Roasted Tomatoes and Fresh Mozzarella
How to Make a Delicious Pasta Meal with Roasted Tomatoes & Fresh Mozzarella In our house we typically have a weekly “What’s On Hand” meal where my wife and I find ingredients in the refrigerator and pantry that need to be used sooner than later and prepare a pasta dish, stir-fry or Mexican fajita. This […]
Pan Roasting—the Chef’s Secret Cooking Technique One of my favorite cooking techniques not talked about in most cookbooks If I could teach you just one chef’s technique that will help you save time in the kitchen and deliver a thick cut of meat to the table with a perfect sear and juicy medium-rare throughout, it […]
