Category: Main

Dishes that we think of as the main portion of the meal. You might be able to use some as sides, too.

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Vegetable Pot Pie a la Thomas Keller

vegetable pot pie
vegetable pot pie
One of the best pot pies we’ve ever had!

We lucked out at a used bookstore a few weeks ago and picked up a copy of both Ad Hoc at Home and The French Laundry Cookbook, both by Thomas Keller. We’ve tried a number of the recipes before and found them to be nearly perfect. They do take time and care, but, they’re great for those days when you’d love to spend the afternoon in the kitchen, sharpening your cooking or baking skills, and wowing people around the dinner table. This recipe is perfect; it took us several hours to prepare, then another hour-plus baking time. In the end, we thought it was worth it.

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Eggplant Lasagna

eggplant lasagna
eggplant lasagna
Mainly veggies, so no side needed!

Eggplant puzzles us. When we pick up one (or two) as part of our CSA share, we just place it in the crisper bin, and spend several days trying to figure out what to make. We always think of something; depending on the season, it might be Ratatouille, or perhaps, Eggplant Gnocchi, or even Crispy Eggplant Strips. It seems to grow well enough that there’s always more eggplant to use, someway, somehow.

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Moussaka

moussaka
moussaka
You’ll never miss the lamb!

We know that traditional moussaka is made with lamb (we’ve had plenty made that way), but this one isn’t. That’s why the title isn’t “Traditional Moussaka.” Instead, what we have here is a lighter version of traditional moussaka that tastes just as good, but is nowhere near as oily (a failing of many, many, moussakas, in our opinion) and fatty. Don’t believe us? Read on, and try it out.

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Pumpkin and Walnut Gnudi

pumpkin walnut gnudi
pumpkin walnut gnudi
Italian dumplings with sauce!

You haven’t heard of gnudi? We hadn’t, either, until we read about them in Pasta, by Gianni Scappin, Alberto Vanoli, and Francesco Tonelli, which provided us with a recipe for Ricotta and Spinach Gnudi, on which this recipe is based. Gnudi are simply small dumplings, somewhat like gnocchi, but easier to make. Easy is good. So, with a pumpkin from our CSA share, we went about making up a batch of dumplings.

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Green Chili and Cheese “Tamales”

polenta tamales
polenta tamales
Not authentic, but really good.

Okay, a confession. We have no idea how to make tamales. Well, that’s not quite true; we know that you make a dough from masa harina (flour made from dried hominy), place some on a corn husk, layer with chili and cheese, more masa harina, wrap and tie the husk, steam, and finally enjoy. We’ve always heard that it’s a lot of trouble, and, because it is, one makes dozens of tamales at a time. Well, we don’t have masa harina in the house, and we’re not going out to buy some. We really don’t need yet another type of flour in our cupboard. Maybe we can use stuff that’s in our cupboard to come close enough.

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Peppery Fettuccine in a Creamy Butternut Sauce

Peppery Fettuccine and Craemy butternut squash sauce
Peppery Fettuccine and Craemy butternut squash sauce
Peppery and creamy!

It’s that time of year. The third week in June when the temperatures really start to soar. We’re talking about highs around 116°F. Quite hot! So, that means we don’t bake as much; instead, we tend to make more meals on top of the stove to prevent heating the kitchen. Such as this meal; everything is made right on the stove, and you can even make up the sauce hours in advance.

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Spaghetti Carbonara with Mushrooms

spaghetti carbonara with mushrooms
spaghetti carbonara with mushrooms
A single bowl, and self-saucing!

How about a quick, easy meal for one? If you’re the only one eating, it can be difficult to take the time to put together a great meal. Instead, it’s more likely that you’ll open up a can of soup, or even worse, break open some bag of junk food to nosh on. We’ll fix that. How about a fast batch of spaghetti carbonara? You can do as we did, and even add mushrooms.

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