It’s not often that I can say I wish I had less fish in my diet, but this week that’s what I’ve been saying.  My kids went fishing over the weekend with their brother and brought home a gallon-sized freezer bag of fresh rainbow and brook trout.  Even for a fish lover like me, that’s an awful lot of fish to go through.

Luckily all of the fish came to me cleaned.

With fish this fresh, I didn’t have the heart to do much to them at all.  The flavor of freshly caught fish is something that requires little or nothing to make it perfect.  Because trout can be eaten in its entirety, I simply floured the fish and fried it in a nice hot wok.

The boys didn’t even flinch.  The fish was gone in minutes.

It really does taste better when you catch it yourself.

As for the rest of the fish in my fridge, you’ll just have to come back in a few days to see what direction I’m going with them.  I’m sure you’ll like it.

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This is less a serious recipe and more an ode to summer in all it’s blast-furnace glory.  Basil season is at its peak here in Northern California and has been on my mind a lot lately, even though it hasn’t been finding its way to my plate.  (This is something I plan to remedy very, very soon.)

A very large basil plant inhabits my kitchen but this isn’t about that plant or really about fresh basil at all.  It’s about pesto and simplicity.  I’ve had a jar of pesto waiting for my attention for a while and this dish was made using that ready-made pesto, but if you want to make your own, take a look at this traditional pesto recipe by Elise at Simply Recipes or This pesto recipe by the always amazing Lydia of The Perfect pantry.  Either one will get you up and running in making your own fresh pesto.

If you are new to poaching eggs, check out this article by Deb at Smitten Kitchen or check out this video on egg poaching from Slashfood.  It may seem daunting at first, but it really is easy once you get the hang of it. And remember, fresher is better for poaching!

It’s been hotter than H. E. Double-toothpicks around here lately, so instead of using sausage or chicken as a protein I chose to top the pesto with a poached egg, both for the lightness of it and for the creaminess of the yolk mixing with the pasta.

The combination is nothing short of amazing.  The dish couldn’t be simpler and if you’re not feeling the urge to cook for a long time in the heat, this is one you have to try.

Do you have a favorite pesto dish?  A favorite variation on traditional pesto?  If so, let us know in the comments because, as always, your feedback fuels this blog.  I’d love to hear your faves!

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Beef Ribs.  For me, the very mention of this wonderful finger food immediately conjures up memories of the massive wood fired pits I became accustomed to in Texas.  Those BBQ places that actually had ribs on the menu were few and far between, but they were invariably my favorite places to eat.  Brisket is great, but for me ribs are far more succulent and I was there for the grease-covered jaw gloriousness of the affair.

Sure, you can be completely civil and eat ribs with a knife and a fork, but where’s the fun in that?  Part of the experience with bone-in foods is the sheer joy of foregoing the flatware and getting down and dirty with your meal.  It’s just fun!  The kids love it too, and there’s always room for a few chuckles and good-natured ribbing (pardon the pun) about messy faces and lack of manners.

While I usually smoke or grill my ribs, this particular version was made in the oven with a balsamic dressing.  The flavors are amazing, the meat it fall-off-the-bone tender, juicy and absolutely sumptuous.  I don’t think I could have done better in my smoker, and the flavor that the balsamic vinaigrette adds to the beef is both subtle and stunning at the same time. This is a definite keeper.

Are you a fan of the K.C. Style, sauce covered ribs or, spicier Louisiana style?  If you’re like me, sauce just covers the flavor, but we’ve all got different tastes. What are yours?

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With temperatures in the high double and low triple digits, it’s time for lighter meals that pack a ton of flavor without being heavy.  This dish provides all the flavor you could ever want and mingles it with an abundance of color and simple preparation.  From idea to plate in less than five minutes and no stove required.  It’s the perfect summertime snack.

I made this dish as a part of the FoodBuzz Family Bites series featuring Newman’s Own products, and as part of the program, I dressed these lovely veggies in some of Newman’s own Olive Oil and vinegar salad dressing that they provided, but any good vinaigrette will do marvelously, especially if it has a good bit of zing to it.

While a three ingredient salad may seem a bit minimal, I promise that this dish is perfect summer fare.  It’s light, crisp, cool and flavorful.  All things that appeal to me when it’s blazing hot outside, but don’t let the lack of ingredients stop you from adding anything else that makes you smile to the dish.

Goat cheese would have been a welcome addition, as would queso fresco.  A little green onion or red onion would have been nice as well, but they aren’t necessary.  If you’ve got a few fresh tomatoes hanging out, they would add a wonderful acidic note to the party as well.  Have fun with it!

What’s your favorite summer salad?  Is it a classic slaw or an iceberg salad?  Do you prefer potato or macaroni salad as a quick summer snack?  We’d all love to hear what you crave in the summer months.

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Sometimes I think that a dish I make is going to be far too humble to find its way here, but then I do a double take and scramble for my camera gear.  This is one of those cases.  A simple fillet of fish nestled in greens with a bit of dressing.  It’s so uncomplicated and unassuming that it nearly escaped my attention yet in its own way it’s the perfect dish, especially if you’re in a hurry.

As with anything, there is a story behind this little bit of perfection.  Our two oldest boys had joined some friends at a Wednesday night church function, which left just the littlest and myself at home for dinner.  Since his idea of a good dinner and mine differ wildly (Chicken!), I decided to let him have his favorite dish (Chicken!) and fend for myself.

The freezer did not disappoint. It yielded a bag of almost-forgotten mahi mahi fillets that had been hiding behind something far less nutritious (Chicken!) so while I finished getting the little guy’s dinner ready I tossed a few pieces of fish under cold running water to defrost.

By the time Ll’ B. was done eating his gourmet meal of chicken strips with a side of grapes and bananas and was safely tucked off in his room the fish was ready to go.  The weather has been foul here for the past few days, so I decided that perhaps I could trick nature into bringing summer our way by making something light; a salad felt like just the thing, but with a bite.

So toss some arugula with some greens, season and cook the fish and plate, drizzle with Italian dressing… And realize that from the aroma alone, this dish just had to have a place in the spotlight.  So scramble for the camera, the EGO light and reflector so that I can share something simple and perfect with the world:

My plea to nature must have worked, because today is bright and sunny.  Birds are singing, the squirrels are playing in the back yard and the temperature is comfortable.  It looks like summer may finally be on its way.  All because of a piece of fish, some greens and a little house dressing.

And that’s the story of the simplest dish I’ve made this year.  Cook time about 6 minutes, total prep 10 minutes.  Perfect flavor and buttery texture: Priceless.  This one is a winner for any time you need a great meal in a huge hurry without having to do any planning, and it’s perfect for summer as well… Now that it’s here.

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For my family cornbread was a staple food.  It was served with beans and potatoes, with fish, for holidays, at parties and often just as a snack.  It was always served with a bowl of chili.  There was no question that chili and cornbread were meant to go together.  If anyone had suggested to me as a kid that you could just bake the chili right in to the cornbread, I would have called them crazy.

Yet here I am today, telling all of you that you can do just that.  Not only am I telling you that you can do it.  I’m telling you that you should do it, and you should do it as soon as you get to the recipe below.  It might just be a life altering experience for you.

I don’t say that lightly.  The dish pictured above and below these words has changed my perception of a dish I’ve known and loved all my life.  It has opened new possibilities to me in very much the same way that Martin Yan, Julia Child, Emeril Lagasse or Alton Brown ever did.  It twisted my “normal” on its ear… And that, my friends is a very good thing.

It also opened my kids up to something new.  I’m not going to lie when I say that there was a fair amount of resistance to trying this dish.  At one point there were cries of “I’d rather go hungry.”  Thankfully it never came to that. Once they took a bite, it was all over.  They loved it, and I think your family will too.

Have you ever had a dish that changed the way you thought about an ingredient?  If so, did it change for the better?  I’d love o hear about it, so drop a comment below.

Now get your oven ready.  It’s time for some vittles!

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Here’s the thing.  The warmer the weather gets, the spicier I like my food.  for me a big pot of chili is a summertime affair, not something I’m looking for in the winter.  On the other hand, when the temperatures start to climb I also tend to crave lighter foods, not something that’s going to weigh me down.

Shrimp is the perfect balance in those situations.  It’s not a light meal, but the flavor is light and fresh. The sweetness of the meat plays well with spicy additions, but isn’t so subtly that it’s buried by them. If anything the heat enhances the flavor. The fact that you can eat them with your fingers and make a mess is just a plus.

While I can take all of the credit for this variation, the inspiration for this dish sprang from a conversation on twitter with the wonderful @oxfordfalls, who you should be following if you aren’t already. If you aren’t a fan of twitter, go visit their website and check out some cool food products.

If you aren’t a fan of the intensely spicy, or have someone in your group that isn’t a fan of sweat and tears, I’ve included an alternate spice mix to the recipe for good measure.

So which are you, mild or spicy?  Let us know in the comments.

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No matter what skill level you attain as a cook or what triumphs of culinary complication you manage to master over the course of a lifetime it’s a plain simple truth that sometimes simpler is better.  I feel that the simplest of dishes with the fewest ingredients actually takes more skill to master than dishes with complex ingredient lists and prolonged methods.

In a simple dish there is no room for error.  You can’t cover a mistake with another layer, or a touch of this or that.  This dish is like that.  It has just 5 ingredients and takes less than 15 minutes to prepare.  A novice cook can easily make this dish and make it well. To make it perfectly every time is something that I strive for… And so far have not mastered.

My kids don’t mind that I keep trying.  It’s one of their favorite dishes, whether as a side dish or as a meal in itself.  My wife fell in love with it on her last visit as well.  Both of these things make me push myself to make it better every time I cook it.  To add just a little more care.  To be sure the pasta is perfectly al dente.  That there isn’t too much or too little of any one thing. Because there’s no place to hide if I screw it up.

Do you have a simple dish like this in your arsenal?  Is there something that you feel could always be just a little better than it was the last time?  For me this is that dish..  But then, it’s so delicious that even if I’ve never achieved its pinnacle, the other versions are incredible, too.

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I’m glad that my wife loves talking with people.  Everywhere we go either she or I is asking a waitress or a cook how they prepared something.  In most cases the cook or chef is happy to oblige.  This dish is a result of my wife’s insatiable curiosity regarding new recipes and her ability to charm the socks of of anyone… Even if that someone happens to be a chef in Izmir, Turkey.

Haydari is a fairly common dish in Turkish Meze.  Generally it’s a mix of yogurt, garlic, mint and olive oil.  I’ve seen some recipes that call for sumac as well.  This one is a slightly less spicy version that uses carrots (Havuçlu) and omits the garlic and dill usually found in the dish.

Just 5 ingredients and about 10 minutes of prep will get you something spectacular, especially if you’ve gone ahead and made a batch of flatbreads to slather this wonderful dip on.  of course, you can always just eat it with a spoon, too.  (I may have eaten most of it that way…  It’s possible.)

This is a dish that you just have to try!  it rivals turkish style yogurt hummus for yum-factor and is just as simple to make, but has a much lighter and fresher flavor.  If you’re looking for the perfect way to get a few carrots on the table.  This is it.

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Some of the highlights of my wife’s recent visit home was that she’s spent quite a bit of her time learning to cook authentic Turkish food. Over the three weeks she was home she got to share some of those recipes with us and now we get to share them with you.

This recipe for flatbread (gozleme) is one that I think every kitchen needs.  It’s simple, versatile and extremely tasty.  These chewy flatbreads are wonderful for enjoying hummus, havuçlu haydari or any other dip that you’re fond of.  They are also wonderful filled with a variety of ingredients, from spinach to meats or potatoes.

Prep time is minimal at around 30 minutes and cooking time is only two or three minutes per flatbread.  Most of this is resting time, so the res of the meal can be prepared while the dough rests, which is always a plus in a busy kitchen.

I’m sure there are other variations on this recipe.  My wife has learned all of her recipes in the Adana region of Turkey, which is heavily influenced by Mediterranean culture, so if you have a different version of this recipe lying about, I’d love to hear about it.  do you have a favorite way to make and use these flatbreads?  What fillings do you use?  leave a comment and let us know.  I’ll be making these a lot in the future, so ideas are welcome!

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