I've eaten all kinds of chicken tacos before but there's something about the way I make these chicken thighs that tastes really different in the best way. I brine the chicken (aka soak it in salt water + seasonings for about 30 minutes before I cook it which makes the meat really juicy and so flavorful. The main seasoning I use is pre combined, called "butter mesquite" and it is from the West Side Market in Ohio City. I'm sure you could find it somewhere else, but from a market type place would be your best bet in terms of quality!
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I love a good meaty sauce, my favorite recipe is from Chrissy Teigen's cookbook, Cravings. You can buy it for less than 20 dollars on Amazon. (I feel obligated to tell you that there's bacon in it. Because that's important. Bacon is important AF.) The best part about this whole thing is that it's a low-carb recipe. It's the best when healthy things don't suck, am I right? I used giant pizza cutter to slice 3 large zucchinis, down the middle longways and then scooped out the pulp with a rounded metal teaspoon which worked like a charm. This recipe is pretty much foolproof! Let me know if you have any questions.
Well this was fun. I saw these things a while back somewhere...from some food truck...from someone's Instagram post...and there's no way I'm gonna remember any more details than that, lol. Since then, every time I walked past a Flamin' Hot Cheetos bag at the store I was reminded of this glorious creation. So I finally threw a bag into my cart and decided to make this happen. I used a cheese sauce recipe from Serious Eats, and then freezer isle fries and the hot Cheetos. It was seriously so easy to make... and FYI, if you don't have a food processor I'm sure you could put the Cheetos into a ziplock bag and beat it like a caveman until you get the little crumbs to form! If you decide to go that route, good luck. ;)
If you have a question about this recipe, please leave a comment below and I'll respond!
One of my favorite dishes growing up was my Mom's soy sauce marinated chicken thighs. So juicy and magical - now that I'm older it makes me LOL how easy they are to make, and how I didn't have a clue back then. I basically thought she slaved away in the kitchen all day while we were at school in order to have this all prepared - because the taste is that GOOD! Now a days, I like to cut up the thighs before I marinate, and I also added honey, garlic and scallions to the marinate and it always turns out perfecto!
You know when people talk about food like, "OMG - I love it so much, I just want bathe in it!!" Welp, that actually happened. The day I decided to draw a ramen bath was also the day that I hit 10,000 followers on @FoodsofJane AND the day that I finally (6-year plan) graduated from college. It sort of started off as an inside joke with my fam since all I ever ate as a kid was ramen. So I threw on an old bathing suit and filled my parents' giant tub (which by the way, is super nice - if I wasn't 20-something I would of totally gotten grounded.) The ramen noodles float, so I didn't actually have to fill the entire tub, it was mostly H20. I used the hottest water setting - I figured that would be hot enough to soften the noodles and I was right. It was also hot enough to basically cook myself, it's like I was the protein in some sort of human soup. My sisters took photos while hysterically laughing and the whole thing was just great.
Did you know that "ramen is actually good for your skin?" At least that's what the owner of this one Japanese Spa says. Can you even believe that there is a place in this world where this sort of thing actually happens on a daily basis? Here's more on that: http://bit.ly/2hI6K6b. So a few weeks later I got an email from a producer at ABC's The Chew. He somehow came across my photo and asked if I would mind if they showed it on TV. What a weird question to be asked, I'm pretty sure in the email he was like "I can't believe I'm actually saying this but..." I said yes, and sure enough, there I was - takin a bath in ramen noodles on national television. The cool thing about it was that they mentioned I was from Cleveland, OH and my dude Michael Symon (who is also from Cleveland) just so happens to be a co-host on The Chew. I love the way he screamed "CLEVELANDDDDDDDDDD" when the photo popped up behind him. I ended up officially meeting him later that year at the Fabulous Food Show in CLE - walked right up to him with a screenshot of my ramen bath photo and said - "Hi, remember me?!" and then of course his giant, loveable, best laugh ever roared and the rest is history. Love that man. <3 This is my favorite part of the story. I was out at a bar in The Flats (part of downtown CLE) and someone who was talking to a couple of my friends (without knowing they were my friends) pointed to me and said hey - isn't that that noodle girl? It's the only time I've been recognized by a stranger in public and I love it so much, I wouldn't want to be recognized any other way. "That noodle girl." You can find the original Insta post here and no I did not eat the ramen afterwards because...that's disgusting. ;) I've eaten different kinds of pierogi pizza before... but never like this. A friend told me that she used pierogi dough instead of noodles in a lasanga that she made and the lightbulb inside of my stomach went off. The crust for this pizza is actual pierogi dough, boiled and buttered. Basically, this pizza is like a giant open faced pierogi. I mean what's better than mashed potatoes, butter and cheese on a snowy December afternoon? I will say it was super hard to fit the rolled out dough into a pot of boiling water, so the bigger the pot, the better. Be really cafeul at that step - the dough tore for me, but everthing was all good in the long run. Scroll to the bottom of this post to see the steps that were taken to put this pie together! What you'll need:
How to make:
Let me start off by saying that I absolutely hate dry meatballs. I honestly think that one time, I didn't eat meatballs for like two years straight because I ate one that was so dry and gross. I decided to make meatballs last week to go with some spaghetti squash I had made and here's how I went about doing it. I literally googled "best meatball recipe" and looked at about 10 different sites that popped up, then decided to give it a go. I did not keep track of anything I added into the mix, so I had to remake them because I want you all to experience these. I saw recipes that used eggs, buttermilk, breadcrumbs, actual slices of white bread. Who knew there were so many different ways to make random balls of meat?? I ended up just combining little parts from different recipes that I read online and they turned out so damn good, and juicy. This recipe makes about 20 small meatballs, or 10 big ones. I literally ate them plain... popped those things like I would doughnut holes. Lol, I am gross. It's fine. A few tips - if your meatballs are too mushy you can add in a little flour to thicken them up. Also, don't be alarmed if you notice gooey stuff on the cookie sheet once you take the meatballs out of the oven. I don't know what that stuff is, but I'm guessing it is part of the egg/buttermilk ingredients. Either way, it's what makes them juicy so don't worry!
French fries just make everything better. And whoever thought of smothering them with different types of gravy and cheese curds is an absolute genius. I used about half a bag of frozen fries and made a giant plate that was enough to serve at least 4 people.. I really hate serving sizes because it all depends on how much someone likes to eat... am I right? I always just say make a bunch and then you'll have more for later.
So, insanity happened today in the form of grilled cheese. I feel like my arteries are really mad at me, but my taste buds are justifying their hatred. Everything is going to be FINE - just make this please and eat it so you can understand how I am feeling at the moment because I'm not really sure what else to say right now.
True story: I lived in Cincinnati, OH for two years of my life - I was around age 4-5 but I STILL remember loving Skyline Chili and LaRosa's Pizza. My favorite part was for sure the giant pile of cheddar cheese and that's why I used so much of it in this recipe! Heinen's sells Skyline Chili in the freezer isle and every once in a while I eat it with the fam. So here's my grand Super Bowl idea, lol. I mean... this is better for you than having Skyline Chili with a pound of pasta or on a hot dog, am I right? Either way, it tastes delicious and there are in fact fewer carbs than traditional Skyline Chili meals. Unless you drink multiple beers while eating it like I did. #SundayFunday
You guys. This is my new favorite pasta. I love pesto pasta but I can't really eat it because of all the pine nuts and my peanut allergy-- but this totally reminds me of pesto and it's nut free! You can make it with whatever kind of pasta you want, pictured above is gnocchi, and pictured below is ziti. The flavor of all of the fresh herbs grown in my garden courtesy of Petitti's Garden Centers creates a burst of flavor that mixes so perfectly with creamy alfredo sauce and pasta.
Pork belly: Where do you buy it? How do you make it? What the heck is it? Pork belly is a slab of meat that comes directly from the fat belly-part of a pig, it's so deliciously juicy. You can buy a slab of from local meat markets...you definitely can't buy it at Giant Eagle or other chain-style grocery stores. If you live in the Cleveland area, I would suggest going to the Westside Market in Ohio City, or Hall Brother's Meat in Olmsted Falls. Pork belly can also be cooked a bunch of different ways. My method was cooking it in the oven for 3 and a half hours, so that the top fatty part turns sort of crunchy. Once it's cooked you can slice it and put in on sandwiches or steamed buns, it can be used in ramen, or on tacos.. or it can just be eaten plain! The options are endless.
Instructions:
Holy. Sh*t. This is the best meat I've ever had.. why have I never cooked rack of lamb before? I feel like such a dumbo for just now starting to explore my carnivorous taste-buds. LOL @ Chrissy Teigen's post last year saying "Please make lamb more people. It makes you seem fancy when you're really just a lazy trash bag." I have to agree with her though.. too good.
I was originally going to make garlic bread with an alfredo base--but as soon as I spotted wing sauce in my fridge I changed my mind. Buffalo cheesy bread sounds so much cooler than cheesy bread, am I right? Literally all of my favorites are in this snack; cheese, alfredo sauce, buffalo sauce, more cheese!! I'm obsessed. The 'bread' is made from grated cauliflower, cheese, and eggs--instead of flattening the cauliflower dough like I would for a pizza crust, I simply left it a bit thicker so that it would taste more 'bready'. I hope you like as much as I did :)
Instructions:
[Garlic & Buffalo Alfredo Sauce]:
I have been stalking the ramen burger via social media pics for over a year now; sadly I have never been anywhere close enough to a restaurant or food truck that sells these delicious looking things- and I've never had a chance to try them! For my fellow ramen lovers who don't live in New York or L.A.-- I have figured out a way to make them at home.. and they are so good that you can even eat the ramen bun all by itself. It's a overnight process, and it involves being extremely careful and patient... but so worth it!
[Ramen burger]
So I won a national recipe contest! Zoup! Soup hosted the “Really good soup contest” in 2014 and I submitted my Spicy Noodle Soup recipe, and won! I won a gift card to Williams Sonoma and also got to cook my soup on two local news stations, one in Detroit (Zoup’s first home) and one in my hometown, CLE. You can try my soup at various locations across the U.S., Zoup tweaked the recipe a little and renamed it “Dragonfire Noodle Bowl.” If I had to describe my spicy noodle soup to someone who’s never had it before I would say it’s a sort of spicy ramen, but instead of ramen noodles it’s made with Korean glass noodles (also called sweet potato noodles and glass noodles.) The noodles are clear, really slippery..and also gluten free. I’ve never seen them at local grocery stores so I suggest if you’re going to look for them to call and ask your local Asian markets or order them online. The recipe is extremely flexible. You can add in more or less of one flavor if you prefer without really messing things up. If you want to keep things meatless, you can use veggie broth but I prefer chicken because I think it’s more flavorful.
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