use real butter

Recipe: roast chicken artichoke pasta

You’re probably familiar with artichoke dip. It’s a great goto appetizer for guests and especially when I used to host stitch-n-bitches. It really boils down to a lot of fat with fiber, I mean a lot of delicious fat with fiber! I’ve had it in restaurants and I can’t stand their versions because they skimp on the arties and load it with even more creamy filler. Blegh.

I made so much soup and stew and curry last week that we were working on leftovers when I remembered I had planned on roast chicken. The chicken wouldn’t wait and I didn’t want to chuck it in the freezer, so I went ahead and roasted it, then put it in the fridge. Instead of having it straight, I had a smack of inspiration.

Recipe: turkey meatloaf

My first introduction to meatloaf was at the cafeteria in elementary school. It was brown, or rather gray and smothered in an equally nasty looking gravy. Honestly, it didn’t taste bad. It didn’t taste good either. We didn’t dig on meatloaf at my house. Not that we didn’t like it, we just didn’t know what the hell it was or how to make it. Ah, the joys of growing up Chinese in the American South. Meatloaf always maintained cafeteria status for me because that’s the only place I ever saw it. Eventually I learned what was in meatloaf when I got to college. Probably one of the best things I came away with from one ex-beau was the use of chili sauce and red currant jelly instead of ketchup for the sauce. Now, I like to use ground turkey instead of beef as a healthier take on meatloaf. I prefer turkey thigh meat if it’s available because it’s not as dry as breast meat.

Recipe: mu shu pork

It’s actually mu as in mu shu pork. When I was a kid, I ordered this at Chinese restaurants and my parents would exclaim, “Why do you order this? We make it at home much better!” They were right, but I loved the pancakes. I was also the one who ordered chicken strips at the seafood restaurant. My, how times have changed. I now refuse to order any Chinese dish that I can make at home. I usually go for those plates that make a fantastic mess to prepare… better their kitchen than mine.

Mom’s homemade mu shu pork (and yes, she always used pork – no chicken, no beef, no tofu, no shrimp versions) included homemade pancakes – the mu shu shells. We called them bing and I have no idea if that is the proper Mandarin word or just some nickname my parents made up. I learned that one of the terms of affection they had for me translates into “stinky egg” and not “dearest daughter” as I had assumed, so you will forgive me if I am cautious about littering the page with what I *think* is accurate Mandarin terminology.