The Hungry Wife

Italian Grilled Cheese and Tomato is taking the classic, quick comfort food and giving it a grownup taste.  There is nothing I like better, when it’s chilly outside and you didn’t have time to make a stew or roast, to eat a simple meal of grilled cheese and tomato soup.  This is also the ultimate meal if you have a cold or are feeling under the weather during the winter season.
Italian Grilled Cheese and Tomato, continued…

Nothing says comfort to me more, especially in winter, then homemade Beef Stew.  The wonderful aroma fills the house as the hearty ingredients simmer.  It is a meal in itself, serve it with some crusty bread to mop up the left over juices in the bowl, and the family will be full and happy.  There are many, many recipes for Beef Stew out there, and I swear I’ve tried most of them.  Brooke’s Beef Stew arose out of 3 stew recipes, and contains the best of each one.  I hope you enjoy my personal version of Beef stew.
Brooke’s Beef Stew, continued…

Herbed Adobo Pork Chops recipe is a wonderful alternative to breading and frying the chops, making them healthier and more flavorful.  Served with some fresh veggies, you can feel great about making this meal for your family.  It is quick and easy to prepare, making it the perfect weeknight meal.  The Herbed Adobo marinade would also be excellent on chicken breasts, if your not much of a pork eater.
Herbed Adobo Pork Chops, continued…

Until recently, when I heard the word Schnitzel I thought of  something sausage like.  In reality, Schnitzel is a traditional Austrian dish made with pork or veal, coated in breadcrumbs and fried.  It is often topped with a sauce, and this is what determines the different types and makes them very special.
Pork Schnitzel Recipe, continued…

Making pizza at home is a great family activity, kids love to help out with stretching the dough and arranging the toppings.  Sicilian Style Pizza is a simple recipe with minimal toppings, but, by using your homemade Weekend Tomato Sauce this pizza packs a ton to flavor.  You can always add on a couple of your favorite toppings, some pepperoni or olives.  To make a traditional Sicilian Pizza, add some anchovy.
Sicilian Pizza, continued…

Everyone should have an amazing recipe for homemade meatballs, and these will not let you down.  Meatballs are simple to make, and it seems that everyone you talk to has a super secret meatball recipe.  Now you can have one too.  Something that I think is important to remember when making your own homemade meatballs, is to keep it simple and use fresh, quality ingredients.  Personally, that is what I think makes the best meatballs.  The recipe calls for using 80% lean ground beef.  Using a slightly higher fat lean ground beef adds additional flavor, and helps hold the everything together, keeping the shape perfectly.
Homemade Meatballs Recipe, continued…

Cooking with foods that are in season is one of the best things you can do.  Not only do vegetables and fruits taste so much better, packed with flavor, but you can get them from local farms.  This helps your local economy and the environment, and provides you with the best tasting food you can ever imagine.  The fall harvest gives us some amazing squash, and pumpkin is one of them.  Pumpkin is extremely versatile, and can be used in many more recipes then just pie.
Pumpkin Waffles, continued…

Every now and then I like to go meatless for dinner.  It is a great way to pack in all those veggies and vitamins, and get a super healthy and filling meal.  One of the best things about The Greek Salad Baguette is that you can make it as a sandwich like the recipe suggests, or you can serve it as a side salad.  It is so good both ways.  I particularly like to make Greek Salad Baguette with a sourdough loaf and serve with a side of couscous.
Greek Salad Baguette, continued…

I don’t think I can ever have too many casserole recipes.  The great thing about casseroles are that they are really easy to make, and often can be assembled ahead of time.  There is a casserole recipe for everyone, whether your a vegetarian, meat lover, or on a restricted diet.  Ham and Cheese Noodle Casserole is The Hungry Wife go to recipe for a delicious, quick meal.  It is also great to serve for when guests are over, serve it with a nice side salad and crusty bread, so good.
Ham and Cheese Noodle Casserole, continued…

Banh mi is a Vietnamese sandwich made with a baguette.  There are several things that make this sandwich extra special: the meat has a super flavorful lemongrass marinade, which is excellent with pork, steak, or chicken; the pickled radish and carrots along with cucumber add a tart and cooling flavor that helps to counteract the spicy  jalapenos.  I promise you, you will fall in love with the Banh mi sandwich and will be craving one all the time.
Banh Mi Sandwich, continued…

Mushroom caps can be filled with all sorts of ingredients, like crab meat, breadcrumbs, bacon, and cheese, and often times a combination of these ingredients.  These Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms are simple in their construction, but rich in flavor.  This recipe makes enough to feed a crowd, and there are never any leftovers.
Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms, continued…

Our home garden is overflowing with cucumbers, so I have been finding new ways to use the surplus of them up.  Herb Garden Cucumber Sandwiches remind me of the finger foods served at tea parties.  They are delicate and make a great snack when relaxing by the pool with friends, bridal and baby showers, or afternoon tea.  If you make the herb spread for the sandwiches ahead of time and keep some in the fridge, this snack can be made in a hurry when people pop in.
Herb Garden Cucumber Sandwiches, continued…

French toast is called Pain Perdu, or “lost bread,” because it is made from stale bread.  What makes this Pain Perdu Breakfast different from regular French toast, is that it is a way to reclaim stale bread; hard bread is softened by dipping in a mixture of milk and eggs, then deep fried.  The bread is sliced on a bias and dipped into a mixture of egg, milk, sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla. The slices are pan-fried in butter and traditionally served dusted with powdered sugar and with jam on the side. Alternatively it may be served with syrup.
Pain Perdu Breakfast, continued…

Cool and crisp, refreshing and cleansing, Cucumber Salads are important in cuisines around the world.  At The Hungry Wife we love eating them with Indian, Eastern European, Middle Eastern, and North African main dishes.  Pour our easily prepared dressings on a few sliced cucumbers and you have a little side dish, salad, or garnish that can really make the meal.
Cucumbers with Arugula Caper Dressing, continued…

This Creamy Squash Casserole recipe was made in an effort to use up all of my yellow squash supply.  Just like all the zucchini we have been getting from our CSA and our own garden, we have and overabundance of yellow squash.  In an effort to do something different with it, I have been searching through all my cookbooks.  The researching paid off with the Creamy Squash Casserole.

Even though it is called creamy, this dish is not heavy.  All the ingredients work perfectly together, Creamy Squash Casserole has an amazing aroma that will have your mouth watering.
Creamy Squash Casserole, continued…

Irish oats, sometimes called thick oats or steel-cut oats, take close to half an hour to cook on the stovetop, so baking them takes no longer and leaves your hands free from stirring over the stove.  And besides the convenience, there’s no need to worry about burning the oatmeal at the end.

The result for Oven Apple Oats is a very creamy and fluffy oatmeal that is lighter than bread pudding, but somewhat reminiscent of it.  Made with milk (a longstanding Celtic tradition), this sweet combination of apples, maple syrup, and currants is one of The Hungry Wife’s favorite oatmeals.
Oven Apple Oats, continued…

Chicken Parmesan – no good recipe collection is complete without it.  Recently a The Hungry Wife fan asked about a good Chicken Parmesan recipe, and this is what popped into my head.  Although we have not made it recently enough to have pictures, it is unforgettable.  Chicken Parmesan does not need to be complicated, and there are a lot of recipes out there that can make it harder than it seems.

This Chicken Parmesan recipe is perfectly portioned for two people, but can easily be made for extra servings.  All you have to do is increase ingredients to reach the desired serving size and instead of using an ovenproof skillet to bake the chicken, place chicken that has already been cooked in skillet into a 9 x 13-inch pan and cover with sauce and cheese and cook as directed in the recipe.  This also works if you do not have an ovenproof skillet.  No need to go buy one, simply use a casserole dish to finish that baking portion.

For many people, Chicken Parmesan is a comfort food.  To make it all the more special, be sure to cook up your own sauce with the recipe provided.  If you are short on time, you can use jarred pasta sauce.
Chicken Parmesan For Two, continued…

All of us at The Hungry Wife had a great time tinkering with this perennial favorite.  The simplest egg salad made with fresh eggs, crisp celery, a good mayonnaise, and quality mustard is hard to beat.  But hard-boiled eggs and mayonnaise are a fine vehicle for a host of other ingredients and seasonings.

Here is an egg salad that can be eaten as a sandwich, spread, or canapes, or stuffed into ripe juicy tomatoes shells, crisp cucumber shells, or bell pepper halves.

Serve Scandinavian Egg Salad as a sandwich between slices of whole wheat bread, baguette, or a coarse country-style bread with tender leaf lettuce and sliced tomato.  As an appetizer, serve with sesame crackers, pita, or rye crackers.

Reduce the fat content of Scandinavian Egg Salad by discarding the cooked yolks of five of the eggs.  If you don’t have a 2-quart saucepan, a larger one is okay – just use enough water to immerse the eggs completely.
Scandinavian Egg Salad, continued…

Being new to the south, I was inexperienced with the cooking methods of collard greens. There is something special about the way they are made here, and if you do it wrong, you will end up with a bitter tasting vegetable (as I found out on my first attempt to cook collard greens). Collard greens are a staple food vegetable of Southern cuisine and soul food. They are often prepared with other similar green leaf vegetables, such as kale, turnip greens, spinach, and mustard greens in “mixed greens.”

Typical seasonings when cooking collard greens can consist of smoked and salted meats (ham hocks, pork neckbones, fatback or other fatty meat), diced onions, vinegar, salt, black, white, or crushed red pepper. Traditionally, collard greens are eaten on New Year’s Day, along with black-eyed peas or field peas and cornbread, to ensure wealth in the coming year, as the leaves resemble folding money.

Collard greens are simple to cook, and are extremely delicious.  When I first made collard greens, I tried to make them using no meat.  I do not suggest this.  Cooking collard greens with a ham bone or ham hock should be mandatory, it really adds a wonderfully, subtle flavor that you just can’t get without the meat.  I think it is best to keep your collard greens uncomplicated, not adding too many seasonings to them.  This recipe is very simple and brings out the best of collard greens.  I do think some onions would add a delicious flavor to these.  Next time I think I’ll add some in and see how that works out.
Collard Greens, continued…

This Folly Beach Garlic Shrimp is designed to be made for a crowd who enjoys seafood, and its great as an appetizer or as the main dish.  You could even make some angel hair pasta or linguine and toss the Folly Beach Garlic Shrimp with it for a nice pasta dish.  Personally, I feel you don’t even really need to measure the ingredients.  I just add as much or as little as I want of each ingredient, so don’t be afraid to play around until you find that perfect combination for your palette.  Also, I do not use very many bread crumbs, instead, just more of a dusting as compared to what is in the actual recipe.

Folly beach is located on the historic Folly Island in Charleston SC.  This low-country location is famous for its shrimp and its surfing.

Folly Beach Garlic Shrimp, continued…