This week, The Dads want to encourage you to make your own sauces! Why buy store bought when you can make homemade quick & easy for less money? Bonus: The taste is so much better!
We made a Remoulade Sauce this morning since our friends will be coming for dinner tonight. The first course that we will be serving is an avocado sliced on the plate, topped with jumbo lump crab meat that has been tossed in this fantastic Remoulade Sauce!
When you make your own sauces, do you follow the recipe or add your own twists? What’s your favorite to make?
Watch The Dads video below for our tips and tricks!
One of our favorite followers, Chris from Key West, has asked us to show him how we make our Pasta Carbonara! The thing is… that he actually asked us this a couple of months ago! We feel awful that it took so long to get up here, but truthfully this is not a dish for the diet conscious! So we waited to make it for when we had guests over to share the indulgence!
Here in the video, Harris shows you how to make a perfect Pasta Carbonara! See below for the recipe!
While our recipe calls for Hog Jowl, aka Guanciale at the Italian market, you can use Pancetta or a quality bacon.
Ingredients
(Serves four)
3 – tablespoons Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
8 ounces Guanciale (which is cured pork jowl) or Pancetta or good Bacon
The Dads Tip: Guanciale is our first choice, but it may be difficult to find. Try your local pork butcher. Also, adding half the olive oil at the end adds that fresh olive oil flavor!
Bring 6 quarts of water to boil in a large pot and add 2 Tablespoons salt to the pasta water. Cook the spaghetti/pasta in the boiling water until just al dente.
Meanwhile, combine half the olive oil and bacon/pancetta in a 12- to 14-inch skillet on medium heat.Cook until the bacon/pancetta has rendered its fat and is crispy and golden.Place cooked pork on paper towels to drain, set aside.Retain about half of the dripping for coating the cooked pasta.
In a bowl, mix together the cheese, eggs, and pepper until smooth. We like to add just a little bit of the hot pasta water to help temper the egg mixture.This will prevent the eggs from cooking when added to the hot pasta.
When the pasta is done, reserve a cup of the pasta water.Drain the pasta and place it in a bowl or back into the pot.While the pasta is still really hot, slowly drizzle in the egg mixture, stirring the pasta the whole time.The sauce will become very creamy as it coats the pasta.If you need to loosen it up a bit, you can add some of the reserved pasta water.
Now add the peas (optional) and crispy bacon to the mixture.
Serve immediately and sprinkle the top with remaining Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese!
Love this recipe? Follow us and share it with your friends! Let us know how it came out and send us some pictures! Questions? Ask The Dads in the comments or e-mail: HarrisandDave@gmail.com
Instead of our usual Tuesday Two Minute Tutorial, today The Dads’ wanted to share with you one of their Quick Tips for Grilling!
At last, Spring is in the air! The flowers are blooming and the birds are chirping! And that means, its time for grilling and outside eating!
Have you ever tried to grill vegetables or shrimp only to have them fall between the grates? Well we found the perfect (and most stylish) solution: Non-Stick Grill Grids from Sur La Table!
These are a must try if you haven’t already. We love them, as they are not only functional but also a beautiful addition to the grill.
Dave demonstrates in his love for the product in this Quick Tip, one minute video below:
If you don’t have a Sur La Table in your area, you can also order the grids online here:
***Have grilling tips you would like to share? Add your tips or questions in our comments section under our post’s title or e-mail us at: harrisanddave@gmail.com!***
In this video below, Harris demonstrates how to make one of The Dads’ favorite spicy dishes: Chipotle Lime Chicken!
Harris picked up this recipe from his friend Dale who makes it every year on their annual ski trips. Naturally, The Dads have made a few twists to the dish and here, Harris shows you how.
This dinner dish is paired wonderfully with Quinoa and Roasted Asparagus. Be sure to check out Leah’s video from a previous post on how to roast asparagus!
If you make this dish or have questions for The Dads, be sure to leave a comment or send us an e-mail to harrisanddave@gmail.com! Enjoy!
Chipotle Lime Chicken
Ingredients:
7 ounces Greek Yogurt
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons Lime Juice
Zest of one lime
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
2 to 3 chipotle peppers (depending how much heat you want) in adobo sauce- We love La Costeña Adobo Sauce
4 cloves of garlic finely chopped
1 teaspoon butter (for sautéing garlic)
2 pounds boneless chicken thighs
Directions:
Combine first 6 ingredients in large mixing bowl.
Lightly sauté garlic in butter just until fragrant, about 1 minute; don’t let brown.
Add cooked garlic to adobo sauce.
Reserve enough of the marinade for dipping sauce (about ¼ to ½ cup).
Add chicken thighs to the marinade and let sit for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
Grill on Medium heat for approximately 8 to 10 minutes on each side.
Last month, Dave showed you how to make Princess Diana’s favorite Poached Pears that we adapted from her former butler, Paul Burrell’s cookbook In the Royal Manner.
Today, we would like to present them to you as an idea for a decadent salad! Slice them up and serve as a delicious lunch treat or as a side salad with your dinner. To view the full recipe and video from Dave, please go click on the “Recipes” and “Video” tabs on the top of our homepage! Enjoy!
This past Friday we were invited to a dear friend’s 60th birthday celebration. We wanted to bring an hors d’oeuvre that would be fun and satisfying for the crowd. They were expecting over 40 guests at the party so we wanted to make a few things that would be great with drinks and be substantial at the same time!
So, we made this wonderful Pork Tenderloin! We marinated them the night prior and then roasted a couple of hours before the party. This gave them a chance to rest and cool before slicing, since we wanted to serve this hors d’oeuvre at room temperature.
We placed the thinly sliced pork tenderloin around the platter and in the middle placed the dipping sauce. Next to the platter we put a cachepot filled with fancy toothpicks. If you don’t happen to have a cachepot, you can substitute with your favorite shot glass!
Here is a picture of how our’s came out:
Of course our second appetizer was our ever famous fresh pizza! They saw it on our blog and insisted we make that as well!
Check out our Pork Tenderloin recipe below! Let us know in our comment section if you choose to make it or if you have any additional tips! Enjoy!
Pork Tenderloin
Marinade Ingredients:
• ¼ cup soy sauce
• ¼ cup hoisin sauce
• ¼ cup honey
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
• 1 teaspoon diced garlic
Coating on pork for roasting:
• ½ cup uncooked sesame seeds
Directions:
Combine the above ingredients, mixing well. Trim two pork tenderloins (12 oz each) and place in zip lock bag. Pour into bag the marinade and allow meat to marinate for 2 to 24 hours in the refrigerator. We find it is best if you have time to allow the meat to marinade overnight.
Preheat oven to 500 degrees.
On a piece of wax paper spread uncooked sesame seeds and roll pork tenderloins in the seeds to coat the exterior. Please pork on greased baking sheet and cook for 20 to 25 minutes. Insert instant thermometer into the center of the meat to ensure it is between 150 to 155 degrees.
Let meat rest for 5 to 10 minutes before slicing.
The above dish is great for a dinner or served cold for a party. If you use it for a party the below dipping sauce works perfect. We recommend slicing very thin if being used for a party and serving with tooth picks.
Dipping Sauce Ingredients:
• Juice of ½ a lemon
• Juice of ½ a lime
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• ½ tablespoons Mirin (Rice Cooking Wine)
• 2 green onions – just the green part, sliced very thin
• 1 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
• 1 tablespoons brown sugar
Instructions:
Combine all ingredients and place into a dish for dipping!
Our son, Brenden called to say he was going to a Super Bowl party and wanted to bring a side dish to contribute to the buffet. Brenden knew instantly what he wanted to bring, his dad’s All-American Potato Salad!
He called his dad and asked for the recipe. While we didn’t have time to make this salad ourselves prior to Sunday, we typed up the recipe having all the confidence in Brenden’s culinary skills to be able to make this recipe without video instruction!
He sent us this picture of his potato salad, but he amped up the bacon quantity… instead of 6-8 strips of bacon, he chose to make it a pound! We’re always proud when our kids try out our recipes and have the guts to experiment with them on their own!
Go Brenden! He’s who we were cheering for on Super Bowl Sunday!
Here’s our Recipe:
All-American Potato Salad
(The perfect make-ahead picnic salad)
Make this salad a day ahead to let the flavors blend. Garnish with bacon, eggs and parsley before serving; always a big hit!
Ingredients:
4 pounds large red potatoes, scrubbed
½ cup cider vinegar
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
¾ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 ½ cups mayonnaise
1/3 cup milk
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
3 large stalks celery, diced (about 1 ½ cups)
½ cup finely chopped red onion
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
In a large pot, cover potatoes with cold water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium. Cook 25 to 30 minutes or until potatoes are tender when pierced with a sharp knife (being careful to not overcook as you’re not making mashed potatoes). Drain potatoes in colander.
Meanwhile, in large bowl, whisk vinegar, oil, salt and pepper until blended. When potatoes are cool enough to handle but still warm, cut into small chunks (about ¼ inch). We like to leave the red skin on the potato but if you prefer not to have skin in your salad, peel your potatoes while they are still warm. Add warm potatoes to vinegar mixture; gently stir to coat. Let cool to room temperature.
In a small bowl, whisk mayonnaise, milk and mustard until blended; pour over potatoes. Add celery, red onion and chopped parsley; gently stir to mix. Cover; refrigerate for at least 4 hours (overnight is best).
Before serving, garnish with crumbled bacon, egg quarters and parsley sprigs.
We mentioned recently that we had made a pizza from scratch for Harris’ mother’s Italian birthday, so we wanted to share our recipe with you!
Gourmet pizza is always a great crowd pleaser and with Super Bowl Sunday coming up, this might be one of the best entrees to serve up!
Here is our recipe that worked great for us. But the beauty of pizza is that you can dress it anyway you like, so feel free to experiment with your own variations! What’s your favorite way to decorate your pizza? Have you made it at home before? What tips worked great for you that you would like to share? Leave a comment and we will let you know if we try any of your suggestions!
Arugula with Pesto, Cherry Tomatoes, Basil & Four Cheeses Pizza
For the Pizza Crust:
1 teaspoon active dry yeast
¾ cups of warm water, not over 110 degrees
2 cups all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon kosher salt
3 tablespoons olive oil
Directions:
(Note: If you do not have a standup mixer, then mix it by hand using a wooden spoon. An electric mixer would be too difficult to use in this instance.)
Pour yeast into the warm water and allow to sit for five minutes.
Using a standup mixer first combine the flour and salt. Next, set your mixer to run at low speed and drizzle in olive oil until combined with flour. Pour in yeast and water until just combined. The dough will be sticky. Coat a mixing bowl with olive oil and form the dough into a ball. Toss the dough ball in the bowl with olive oil to coat the ball. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside for one to two hours. It is best to place bowl in the refrigerator 24 hours ahead for the best flavor.
Punch the dough down and roll out to fit your greased pan (we used a standard baking sheet). Try to avoid stretching the dough.
For your Toppings:
1 unbaked pizza crust (as above)
2 tablespoons olive oil
Pinch Kosher salt
Pinch black pepper
Red pepper flakes
1/3 cup basil pesto
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 ½ cups red cherry tomatoes – sliced in half
1 ½ cups yellow or orange cherry tomatoes – sliced in half
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
¼ cup basil leaves, rolled and sliced thin
8 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, grated
4 ounces asiago cheese, grated
½ cup parmesan reggiano cheese, grated
½ cup ricotta cheese
4 ounce fresh arugula
Directions:
Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Place cut tomatoes, basil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper to taste in a medium size bowl. In small skillet, heat olive oil, add garlic and stir for one minute and remove from heat. Pour over tomatoes mixture, tossing to coat evenly. Set aside.
Roll out dough very thin, dusting with flour and transfer to oiled baking sheet. Drizzle a little olive oil over dough and spread evenly. Spread pesto over dough. Sprinkle mozzarella, asiago, and parmesan reggiano evenly over pizza. With a spoon place a small amount of ricotta over the entire pizza and sprinkle with red pepper flakes to taste.
Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, until the crust is golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to rest for five minutes. Then cover top with arugula, then spoon over tomatoes mixture. Cut into squares and serve.
We just ventured into making our own pasta and did a lot of experimenting! After trial and error, here’s the best fresh pasta recipe we found out there! Have you made pasta from scratch? Tips you would like to share? Send us an e-mail or leave a comment above! Enjoy!
Ingredients:
• 3 ½ Cups Unbleached all-purpose flour (we prefer King Arthur)
• 5 Extra-large Eggs, Farm Fresh if you can get them
• ½ teaspoon Kosher Salt
• 1 teaspoon Olive Oil
Directions:
Mound the flour in the center of a large wooden cutting board or the center of your countertop.
Make a well in the middle of the flour; sprinkle the salt over the flour.
In a small bowl, lightly whisk your eggs and olive oil together and gently pour into the well (be careful not to let the egg mixture burst through the wall of your well).
Using a fork, begin incorporating the flour starting with the inner rim of the well and working your way out. As you incorporate the eggs, keep pushing the flour up to retain the well shape so the eggs don’t escape. If they do, don’t worry – keep on going and it will still come together.
As all the flour gets incorporated, you will have to begin using a kneading action with the palm of your hand as this will become a bit of a difficult mass to work. Parts of the mass will also become dry bits but just keep incorporating them.
Now use both hands to knead the dough, primarily using the palms of your hands. Once the dough is a cohesive mass, remove the dough from the board/countertop and scrape up any leftover dry bits and discard them. Lightly flour the board, if necessary, to prevent sticking and continue kneading for another 5 to 6 minutes.
Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces and wrap securely in plastic wrap and let rest for 30 minutes at room temperature. If you’re not planning to work the dough and cut into pasta at this time, you can refrigerate the dough overnight and cut the next day, but not any longer as it will turn dark in color.
Next is the fun part and that’s cutting the pasta! If you have a machine, make certain to use the rolling press, starting with the largest opening and slowing stepping down to the smallest opening. Once fully kneaded by the machine, select the size cutter to use and begin rolling the dough through the cutter.
We found it’s really helpful to have a second person working with you at this point as when you’re cutting the pasta it helps to have someone else holding and pulling it from the cutter as it cuts so as not to have it clump under the machine.
Then, hang to dry on racks or cook fresh. For a drying rack, we just used a rack from our oven turned vertical and hung the pasta over the rack. For the pasta that we were cooking right away, we just laid it out on baking sheets and cookie racks.
The above recipe makes approximately 1 pound of fresh pasta.
