Little Red Kitchen

Parmesan Pasta Gratin

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I have a wonderful friend who is a vegetarian, and she lives in New York, where my husband and I try to make several trips a year to visit.  For my birthday this summer she got me a book full of recipes from beloved NYC restaurants, and I wanted to cook up a vegetarian entrée from it and use it on the blog in her honor, but the pasta I liked the most had prosciutto in it.  Now, I happen to love this tasty little cured ham, but I knew that would not fly for a veggie-only eater, so I figured I could just remove the meat and we’d be good to go…except that left literally just the pasta and the cheese sauce, which would make for a heavy, coma-inducing meal.The prosciutto, besides being awesome, does the important job of cutting through all that dairy with a salty bite, so I knew it was a simple question of adding in ingredients that would do that same job, but instead of the pig, I’d turn to veggies instead for the task!  Continue reading →

20* Minute Autumn Supper

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Ah the chicken breast.  One of the greatest gifts to weeknight dinners, and also one of the worst.  There are literally thousands of chicken breast recipes in existence, but a lot of them are really bland or boring.  Yet since this staple is healthy, easy to prepare, and usually relatively inexpensive, I’m always trying to think of ways to keep it interesting in the kitchen.Those ways usually involve flour dredges and wine reductions and pan sauces, but sometimes that is too much work and too much of a mess, especially when it’s Wednesday night at 6:30 and we haven’t eaten yet.  Luckily, I stumbled into this great and easy recipe for Maple Dijon Chicken that takes about 20 minutes from start to finish to prepare, not to mention the fact of how yummy it is.  And paired with a DELICIOUS, no frills, perfectly baked sweet potato (**Which doestake 50 minutes to bake, hence the asterisk in the title of this post), this is an awesome quick and easy Autumn Supper!  Continue reading →

Friday Funday Happy Hour!

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We were so excited to hit 100+ Facebook followers this week!  And we figured, celebrating with some new cocktail recipes would be very appropriate.First up, the classic Whiskey Sour.  Continue reading →

Make Ahead Breakfast: Egg Cups

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As big breakfast people, my parents make these all the time. They take about 20 minutes, tops, and are good for almost a week’s worth of breakfast (depending on how hungry you are in the morning). I’m a huge proponent of eating breakfast (with a giant mug of black coffee, yum) right after you wake up– let’s get that metabolism going! I also wake up hungry, so the easier, the better!Having not had the chance to make these with my parents, I’m not sure where they got the original recipe, but they just kind of throw in whatever they have in the fridge at the time.  Continue reading →

Glazed Little Red Meatloaf

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You know what they say about invention being the product of necessity?  Well, I had a pound of ground beef, and some sorry-looking vegetables that were on their way out the door.  Something told me that a meatloaf was in order!  Continue reading →

“Veggiestrone” Soup

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As the weather cools down (I can’t wait for 60-degree-and-sunny days), I thought it might be a good idea to start putting together some fall-weather foods…like soup. So much soup.I LOVE some minestrone soup and, originally, I was going to apologize for messing with it (i.e. “Minestrone soup MUST have beans and noodles!”). However! Apparently, that is not the case, as traditional minestrone is made with vegetables, any vegetables, that are in season, usually including carrots, celery, tomatoes, and stock of some kind. Awesome!  Continue reading →

Rise and Shine! Smoothie

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It is Monday. Note my specific avoidance of the phrase “Happy Monday”.  I don’t want to be a downer, but Monday mornings are tough, and if you are like me, you are not fully yourself until well after lunchtime.Believe it or not, having breakfast is a big part of feeling ready to tackle your day.  It seems so easy to skip this meal in favor of sleeping in an extra 15 minutes, or grabbing some greasy breakfast sandwich at a fast food joint (I’ll admit this is a guilty pleasure on special occasions), but trust me, with either of these options, you are not doing yourself any favors.  Continue reading →

Slow Cooker Pork Au Jus

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In the early years of my culinary life, I wasn’t really one for slow-cookers, and in the early years of my whole life, the same could be said of pork.  Pork is dry, pork is flavorless, and pork chops are a poor man’s steak.  Right?Wrong!Believe it or not, pork is a unique meat that needs to be treated and cooked very differently than chicken or beef.  And when you get it right, oh how the magic does happen.  Magic like my slow cooker pork au jus.  Here’s what you need.  Continue reading →

Beef Stroganoff with Potato “Noodles”

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Beef stroganoff, a Russian dish that originally consisted of just beef in a boullion and sour cream sauce, has its roots in the 19th century. Although beef stroganoff was present in the United States in the early 1940’s, it didn’t become widespread until after World War II, when the rationing of meat was lifted. At that time, it became the go-to recipe for gourmet chefs across the ‘States (according to beefstroganoff.net–someone really loves this stuff). More recent permutations of the recipe include onions, mushrooms, and sometimes even tomato paste, but in my opinion the sauce is the only thing that really matters!  Continue reading →

Ranch Potato Salad

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At the risk of sounding like an imperialist, ranch dressing just may be the greatest invention our country has given to the world.  You’re welcome, world.Somehow in recent history, this humble condiment has gone from a salad staple to an accompaniment of chicken wings, pizza, French fries, you name it.  It’s a wonderful blend of tang and creaminess, herbs and onions…well, it should be in theory.  A lot of ranch sauces are insipid and heavy, or pretty bland, and while the original, Hidden Valley, is arguably the best bottled version out there, I’m hard pressed to think of a close second.  Continue reading →