All posts filed under: braising

The $20 Dollar Dinner Party: Pork Ragú with Creamy Polenta

Having friends join us for dinner in our home is one of the most fun and positive things we can do with our weekend. Sure, we could go out to dinner, there are more than enough amazing restaurants in Las Vegas to try, but there’s just something special about sharing a meal at home. Personally, I love having dinner parties. If I could, I would have a dinner party every single weekend! This particular weekend, I had a dilemma. I had a nearly empty checking account and four people coming over for dinner. The solution to my dilemma was a recipe for Pork Ragú with Polenta from the March issue of Bon Appetít Magazine. When Bon Appetít arrives in my mailbox, I get as excited as a kid with a Christmas catalog–eagerly dashing away with it and dreaming of all the scrumptious recipes I can make. When I saw this recipe, it lived in the back of my mind for several weeks, just waiting for the perfect opportunity to make it. Living in the West, I learned to cook pork shoulder using Mexican …

Coq Au Vin

The first time I ever had Coq au Vin was during the summer semester before my senior year in college.  One of my favorite professors, who was also a gourmet cook, made this dish and shared it with me and forever changed the way I thought about food.  I remember biting into a beautifully browned mushroom bursting with red wine and feeling that I was eating my first adult meal.  I also remember wondering if it was ok for me to eat it since I wasn’t yet 21 (I was both very sheltered and very, very square in college)!  I remember how special I felt after that first bite–that my professor had thought to share such a lovingly prepared, and to my inexperienced palate, decadent, dish with me! Now I realize that the dish itself is not so much decadent, as it is classic French, rustic, country food, but was every bit lovingly made and incredibly delicious. To this day, this is how I love to cook and why I celebrate the Autumn season with …