Big Girls, Small Kitchen

9 Great Ways To Cook Fish This Summer

2012-06-11T18:32:47-04:00

Something about summer makes us want to add tons of fish, preferably freshly caught, to our diets. Whether it's lobster-shack hopping in Maine or crab-cracking in Maryland, summer is the season of seafood.

Take that instinct home! A quick trip to the fishmonger is the right start. But then comes the question: how to cook? Here are 9 great ways to cook your seafood this summer, from the grill to the oven to the fry pan.

-- Cara Eisenpress of Big Girls, Small Kitchen

7 Mexican Favorites For Cinco De Mayo

2012-05-03T10:32:03-04:00

Saturday is Cinco de Mayo! While I can't vouch for the authenticity of any of these dishes -- I actually can't vouch for the authenticity of the Cinco de Mayo celebration itself -- if you're partying this weekend, you'll want to be cooking, too. Mexican and Tex Mex and California Mexican (or whatever you want to call it) are the best foods for a rowdy party. Make some of these favorites!

Pucker Up: Great Lemon Dishes

2012-04-11T09:12:05-04:00

Lemon is a unifying flavor. Really -- can you name more than like two people who don't like a squeeze on their salmon, some juice in their tea, or a cool, tall glass of lemonade. You can't? Exactly.

These recipes -- from sweet to savory to snack-worthy -- all take lemon and make it the central part of their flavoring. Start with Herb and Lemon Popcorn, move through Lemon Fettucine and head towards Lemon-Almond Cake.

Pucker up!

--Cara Eisenpress of Big Girls, Small Kitchen

Egg-On-Top Meals

2012-03-29T09:41:48-04:00

The pantry dinner is for the hardy and the tolerant. The most gourmet among us can hardly be expected to make a dinner just of frozen peas and barley; white rice with soy sauce, scallions and sesame seeds; or pasta with olive oil and Parm.

If the refrigerator can make one offering to the pantry in situations where there's not much in the house to eat, that contribution should be an egg. Fried or poached, or even scrambled, an egg or two turns humble staples into restaurant-worthy meals everyone can enjoy.

--Cara Eisenpress of Big Girls, Small Kitchen

Weeknight Menus That Don't Feel Minimalist

2012-03-23T09:27:48-04:00

Life has been busy recently. But then again, when is it not? We've all got a million projects on our plates (okay, make that more like 10), and the ability to whip together quick, cheap dinners has real value.

Look, most of the time we can rely on easy staples like Pasta with Whatever's in the Vegetable Drawer, Anything with a Fried Egg, and Soups Invented by Busy Moms.

But with busy week following busy week, sometimes we've got to transcend such whatever's-in-the-fridge minimalism and make slightly more involved dinners. Here are menus that fit in with our busy lives but still taste great and involve some -- but not much -- fussing around in the kitchen.

--Cara Eisenpress

It's Easy Being Green! Food For St. Paddy's

2012-03-15T09:18:33-04:00

There are a lot of ways to celebrate St. Patrick's Day, and drinking yourself under the table is only one of them.

Another one involves food -- Irish food, like soda bread, corned beef and mashed potatoes. But there's an even more elementary approach to the St. Patty's Day feast. That's a thematic meal, a dinner buffet consisting only of green food. Sure, there are salads, spinach dishes and cupcakes with green icing. For even more creative dishes, from Pesto Pasta to Green Chile Chicken, take a gander at these favorite green-themed dishes below.

How To Celebrate Spring Break In Your Kitchen

2012-03-12T09:28:21-04:00

After a winter of hard work, gray days and long, dark nights, we definitely deserve a trip to the tropics. Yet real life does not come with a built-in spring break, and all kinds of reasons (our budget, for one) can conspire against a weeklong March getaway. No matter! If you can't make it to the Bahamas, let the Bahamas come to you!

**What to Eat to Celebrate Spring Break in Your Kitchen**

1. Anything with avocado. The creamy vegetable is a tropical import. When you're down in the islands, avocado is cheaper, riper, and more abundant. Make guacamole, but don't stop there. Likewise, avocado quesadillas are dangerously transportive.

2. Spiced-up meals. Adding a hint of cayenne to your dinner is like injecting some spring break into your step. Try out different varieties, like ancho chili powder in Chile con Carne or pickled green chilies in Green Chile Chicken.

3. Homemade salsa. All you really have to do is dice up vegetables, then spritz them with citrus, douce them with herbs, and season them with salt and hot pepper. The result is a cool condiment that will liven up that plain grilled chicken breast you're eating to stay in shape for when you do actually have to wear a bikini. Try Chipotle-Mango Salsa, Peach Salsa, and Corn Salsa.

4. The taco. Nearly anything in your fridge can become a taco, and anything that resembles a taco evokes spring break. Try them with fish, chorizo and chicken, pulled pork, or short ribs. Anything goes!

5. Dinner from the sea. Whether it's shrimp in your pasta or Coconut-Crusted Tilapia, a freshly caught main (even if it's just freshly plucked from your freezer) will evoke the multitude of delicious seafood you'd be eating if you were sunbathing on the coast right about now...

6. Ice cream. If it's so hot outdoors (in your imagination), the only way to cool down is by downing ice cream by the pint. It may be too hot for homemade, but it's never too much work to transform ice cream into your favorite tropical fruit -- the watermelon [cake].

How To Make Better Salads

2012-03-02T09:28:26-05:00

I love a good salad, but I haven't always: a forkful of greens used to give me the chills! In my youth, I discovered that if each bite of salad were paired with a bite of something with a less leafy texture, it was much easier for me not just to get my salad down but to enjoy it. That non-leafy addition? Cheese, avocado, crunchy raw vegetables, rich roasted vegetables, croutons or even plain grilled chicken.

Even now, I prefer a salad with toppings to one that's just greens. And these are some of my favorite salad toppers: choose one or two of the dishes below to add to an everyday side salad, or scoop on several (including some with protein) when you're looking to make a greens-based main. See also: how to make vinaigrettes.

--Cara Eisenpress of Big Girls, Small Kitchen

**The Best Salad Toppers**

1. Roasted Fennel. Fennel becomes rich and almost creamy when you bake it at a high temperature with olive oil and salt. Its layered slices also look kind of fancy when arranged in the salad bowl.

2. Roasted Potatoes and Squash. There are many brilliant parts to a traditional Salad Niçoise, but one of them is the inclusion of potatoes. Here, Parmesan cheese coats roasted taters, making for a luscious winter salad topping.

3. Guiness-Marinated Flank Steak. If you think that steak deserves to be served only with mashed potatoes and creamed spinach, you'll find it enlightening (literally) to switch out the steakhouse sides for greens. Our Spicy Thai Beef Salad is one way to go.

4. Balsamic Roasted Cipollini Onions. Like fennel, onions get sweet and melt-in-your-mouth soft when they're roasted. A bonus from baking these onions in balsamic vinegar is that you'll wind up with a little extra sauce in the pan to add to your salad's dressing.

5. Grilled Ratatouille. This ratatouille is sort of like a salad unto itself, albeit with cooked veggies instead of raw. It becomes a delightful study in contrasts when you add a scoop of it, warm if possible, to a mix of herb-laced greens.

6. Crispy Pimenton Chickpeas. Crispy like croutons, but more healthful and even gluten free, these chickpeas add amazing texture to your salad -- you really don't need much else with them!

7. Rosemary and Garlic Lamb Chops. An already delicious Greek salad -- greens with olives, tomatoes, feta and red onions -- becomes a main course when you add a chop or two to the top. Served with warm pita, this is filling enough for a dinner party main.

8. Soy and Honey Tofu. Look no further for the perfect topping for a vegetarian main dish salad. I love pairing the tofu, cut into strips or cubes, with slices of mango and avocado and a ginger dressing.

9. Spicy Baked Falafel or White Bean Burgers. Plop a bean burger or falafel on top of greens for a lovely Mediterranean-ish bowl. I like to mix in feta and some olives, too.

10. Pizza. We used to get salad pizza from the pizzeria near our high school -- it was crust, sauce and greens tossed with an Italian dressing. I skip the bottled dressing these days, but topping a slice (or some flatbread) with a salad is an ingenious way to get your greens. It's almost like having a crouton on the bottom!

Best Of The Oscars Cocktail Buffet

2012-02-21T17:43:38-05:00

Last year, our Oscar menu used the best picture nominees as jumping-off points for deliciously themed food -- whether puns of movie titles or directly related to the movie's scenes.

This year, we're skipping the uncertainty of cooking for mere nominees and creating a "best of" buffet that features finger food from movies that have taken home the golden statuette in the past. In the interest of fun, this buffet is more over-the-top than our usual, manageable offerings. Feel free to simplify the menu, highlighting only your favorite dishes (or movies).

Arrange your Oscar-buffet with little flags so guests know what movie they relate to (we like these gumdrop flags for identification purposes). Or, make 'em guess.

Then fill up your plates with vintage movie-inspired food, then turn on the TV, get settled and come back to 2012 to toast this year's winners.

--Cara Eisenpress is the author of In the Small Kitchen and runs the website Big Girls, Small Kitchen.

9 Herb-Filled Dishes That Feel Like Spring

2012-02-16T09:40:06-05:00

Hooray! The groundhog saw its shadow here in New York two weeks ago. That doesn't exactly mean the early spring radishes or shoots of asparagus are out - though I did see a few snowdrops blooming the other day.

Yet our appetites have already turned the corner from winter. We're craving the light, flavorful vegetables of spring. So how to harmonize our internal clocks with the actual seasons? We find that plenty of fresh herbs (no, they're not local yet) can help make wintry dishes feel like spring.

Whatever you're eating tonight, whether it's heavy brisket or light pasta, add a handful of herbs. It's never a bad way to up the flavor quotient, but it's especially welcome at the very beginning of our transition to spring. Here are some of our favorite herb-laden dishes.

--Cara Eisenpress and Phoebe Lapine of Big Girls, Small Kitchen

Why Skipping The Prix-Fixe Is Seriously Romantic

2012-02-09T10:50:13-05:00

You know what's awesome? Cuddling up with your loved one on the couch. But on Valentine's Day this couple-y mainstay can feel a little old hat. So what should you do? Go out to dinner?

Definitely not.

Out, there will be waits, crowds and overpriced prix fixes.

No, what you should do is stay home but also kick it up a notch. These classy mains (and one dessert) are fancy meals for two that feel a whole lot more romantic than anything you'll order from a restaurant menu. Throw in a little time spent cooking together in the kitchen, and you have a Valentine's Day worth celebrating.

--Cara Eisenpress and Phoebe Lapine of Big Girls, Small Kitchen

10 Breakfast Treats For Lazy Weekend Mornings

2012-02-03T16:24:55-05:00

One of the foodie new year's resolutions I suggested for 2012 was that we all make more pancakes. Pancakes was really just a stand-in for any slightly involved, completely delicious breakfast treat though, the kind of delicacy that can actually make getting out of bed on a lazy weekend morning sound like fun.

And of course we didn't suggest it so we'd all enter 2013 all chubby from eating coffee cake instead of yogurt every morning. If you're a cook, it's fun to spend longer in the kitchen than the time it takes to pour milk over cereal, and a little effort goes a long way in terms of sustenance and time spent hanging out with the people you like on Sunday mornings, whether or not those people are the Car Talk guys who live in your radio. If you're an eater, it's fun to eat egg sandwiches, homemade muffins and warm coffee cake.

--Cara Eisenpress and Phoebe Lapine of Big Girls, Small Kitchen

The 5 Best Super Bowl-Sized Dips

2012-01-26T08:57:52-05:00

There's a reason why we dedicate an entire chapter to dips in our book: they're fun, they're filling and they're easy to make in Super Bowl-sized proportions. As the countdown begins to the big Sunday, we highly recommend factoring a few dips into your menu. While size does matter on game day, Mexican, Southwestern and even Middle Eastern flavors also seem to score extra points. So we've selected our cheesiest, heartiest dips for the football lovers at your table. Make them in advance, and don't be short on quantity -- commercial breaks are no time for replenishing!

--Cara Eisenpress and Phoebe Lapine of Big Girls, Small Kitchen

How To Use Your Slow Cooker Like A Pro

2012-01-18T16:57:06-05:00

If you're thinking about investing in a slow cooker or you own one but it's tucked away on a shelf, this week is tailor made for you. From Monday til Friday, here, on Small Kitchen College, The Naptime Chef , and the sites of our wonderful partners, we're plumbing the depths of the electric slow cooker, as well as slowly cooked food (in the oven, on the stove) in general. Slow-cooked food gets incredibly tasty, tough meats grow rich and soft, and soups come away with extraordinary flavor. You have to plan ahead, but you get to do less work at the last minute. Welcome to the world (or at least the week) of slow cooking!

Don't forget to enter the giveaway here, and tune in later in the week for more great recipes, tips, and tricks!

--Cara Eisenpress and Phoebe Lapine of Big Girls, Small Kitchen

**How To: Use Your Slow Cooker Like a Pro**

Soup Suppers: January's Best Bowls

2012-01-11T10:43:38-05:00

Whether you're on a soup diet as part of your New Year's resolution to eat more healthfully or you're just committed to, er, liquid lunches for their warmth value, you'll need some variety in your bowls of soup to make it through the month. It's a long time til spring from here!

Our soups run the gamut from simple -- you can't really go wrong with Small Kitchen Chicken Soup -- to complex -- ever think you'd add red curry paste to a puréed carrot soup? Each one is guaranteed to get you through another wintry day or evening.

Here's to taking out that stockpot. Let's get simmering!

-Cara Eisenpress and Phoebe Lapine of Big Girls, Small Kitchen