tony’s kitchen - Busy people cooking tasty food.
About Me

Welcome to Tony's Kitchen.

Hi, I'm Tony. I like to cook. I have a wife and 2 kids. I try to get my kids to eat what I cook. Sometimes they like it and sometimes they don't. But most importantly, I try and make food that is delicious, nutritious and made with *real* ingredients.

It's always a challenge to get home from work, get something tasty on the table quickly, without destroying the kitchen, or using a ton of pots and pans. If you have kids, that adds to the challenge!

I'd like to share the things that work for me and maybe even the things that don't? I'd love to read about the things that work for you as well. So please comment! If you have a killer version of something I've made, please share!

Thanks for reading.

Update:
I've added a second blog to post about cooking with ingredients from my CSA box. Please stop by and check it out. Thanks!

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BLOGROLL

Food:
From Belly to Bacon
skilletdoux
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Dad Therapy
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Grilled red curry chicken wings

Even though it is still summer, I can't help but notice that fall is beginning stretch its arms a bit as it gets ready to make its yearly debut. The cooler evenings and mornings, the imminent start of the school year, and preseason NFL have got me thinking about wings. Chicken wings. Since it's still summer, I'm going to grill my chicken wings. Eschewing the tried and true Buffalo-style wing in favor of something more adventurous, yet still somewhat kid-friendly, I decided to experiment with a red curry wing that borrows heavily from the Thai kitchen.

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Filed under  //  chicken   red curry   wings  
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Almost instant ice cream

This is my second post about dessert and again, it's in the category of super-fast, not-a-lot-of-effort expended. Can you tell that pastry/desserts are not my thing? 

The ice cream you see in the picture is basically pureed bananas. If you puree frozen bananas in a food processor, it will turn into the texture of soft-serve. It will. Really.

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Filed under  //  bananas   dessert   ice cream  
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Grilled salmon, cucumber-avocado relish, roasted carrots & onions

If you asked my 6-year old son what his favorite food is, there's a good possibility that he will reply with "fish!" My soon-to-be 4-year old daughter is not quite as enthusiastic but won't completely turn her nose at it. Well, sometimes. Going to the market together to buy the fish always helps to build the anticipation for a fish dinner. Often, we'll let our son pick out what kind of fish to have. He usually gravitates toward the whole fish. He likes the "fish with the face!" Yes, it's strange, I know. But, I think it's great that he's so excited about eating something so healthy. He will even request that the cooked head be on his plate. Yes, that's even stranger, I know. This time around, we went with Coho salmon. It looked really great at the store and tasted wonderful as well.

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Filed under  //  avocado   carrots   cucumber   onions   salmon  
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Crispy Kale

I'll admit that this picture is not much too look at. However, if you could take a bite and experience the shatteringly crisp texture and the salty goodness that this kale brings, you'd be hooked. I saw Jaques Pepin do this on an episode of his show and I've wanted to try this technique ever since. If you don't watch his show, Fast Food My Way, I highly recommend it. You can watch that particular episode online, if you missed it.

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Filed under  //  Kale  
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A tale of 2 pizzas

My refrigerator is brimming with fresh vegetables these days, as you may have heard. I thought a good way to use up some of the bounty would be to make pizza with it. Vegetables are no stranger to pizza. In fact, they are fast friends. Peppers, mushrooms, tomatoes, and onions are quite common toppings for our beloved pies. I had a few others to add to the mix as well and I was confident that they'd play nicely.

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Simple stir-fried chicken with snow peas

I signed up for a CSA (community supported agriculture) this summer and have been chronicling some of the things I've been making with the bounty from the box each week on a separate blog. This particular dish happens to use the snow peas that arrived in last week's box. The first thing I thought of when I saw the little bag of the peas was a stir-fry. It's a classic way of using this particular ingredient, so why not start with the classics? 

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Filed under  //  chicken   snow peas  
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Coconut curry rice with chicken and cauliflower

I was flipping through my copy of the July 2010 issue of Food and Wine Magazine I had just received the other day and was inspired by this little snippet about how Laurent Gras of L20 uses a rice cooker to make this Ginger Chicken and Rice dish. I love using a rice cooker to make rice. As long as you follow the rice cooker's rice-to-water ratios, it comes out perfect every time. My version is inspired from his recipe.

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Filed under  //  cauliflower   chicken   coconut   curry   rice  
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Fettucine with ragu of pork and ricotta cheese

I know that the beginning of June seems like the wrong time of year to be preparing a slow-cooked, hearty pasta dish. However, I was preparing this as an entry for RedEye Chicago's Virtual Kitchen Stadium 3 contest. Even though it seems more appropriate for a blustery fall or winter evening, it's still pretty delicious!

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Filed under  //  pasta   pork  
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Grilled steak and grilled corn

The long wait for summer to arrive for good ended this past weekend. It was the first weekend of extended outdoor activities. It was the first weekend of seeking shade from the hot sun. It was the first weekend for grilling. Now, I've already called on the services of my grill this spring and I know many who grill all year-round. But, it's not same as grilling, out in the hot sun, simultaneously battling the fieriness of the flames jumping toward you. 

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Filed under  //  beef   corn   steak  
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Roasted chicken dinner

If I asked you what the first thought that comes to your mind when I say,"Sunday night dinner," what do you think your reply would be? If I was a betting man (and I have been known to be), I'd wager that you'd say, "roasted chicken." Roasting a chicken is simultaneously the simplest of cooking endeavors as well as one of the most daunting. There are numerous techniques involving high heat or rotating or basting or putting butter under the skin or brining or standing on it on end with things shoved into it...you get the picture. So for tonight's version of roasted chicken, I decided to go with a super-simple method.

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Filed under  //  chicken  
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