Italian Gravy

Back to my childhood when to stretch the dinner budget mom would whip up a quick pan tomato sauce using fresh sweet tomatoes, a little garlic, a few anchovy filets for a savory punch and a few sprigs of fresh sweet basil from the yard.  This thick unctuous satisfying sauce was poured over a steaming  mound of corn polenta.  I am decended from a "Polentone". My mother Luigia, is from the far reaches of the North Eastern Italian region known as Friuli Giulia Venezia. A collection of farm villages near Udine in a hamlet named Campo Lessi that survived from what they raised and grew on their land. By the way, their excellent wine, cheese and salami made from their own pigs is a favorite meal of my lifetime.

I am proud of my family and lucky to have visited the family farm twice.

This tomato gravy recipe is also wonderful on potatoes, pan fried eggs, shrimp, roasted chicken and in a documented case over a bean burrito topped with fresh ricotta cheese.

Roasted Veggie Lasagne

 

Made with Love for all my vegetarian friends.  This this make ahead dish is a show stopper to present, easy to prepare, tastes great and light on the wallet. May I also admit this is healthy eating.  Cooking within a budget is never boring because it does not have to be. TALL Blonde serves 1 roll as an opening appetizer at her famous dinner parties.

Pulled Pork and Coleslaw Sammy

This recipe started with a bit of sticker shock at the grocery store. While making my shopping list, I noticed a two-pound lean pork roast cost barely half as much as a single pound of ground beef. A post-pandemic dilemma—right up there with paying fifteen bucks for a dozen eggs.

I’d never made pulled pork before, and honestly, I’d never been impressed by most versions I’d tried elsewhere. So I decided to take matters into my own hands and build something packed with flavor from the ground up. It’s a simple, no-fuss dish that simmers away in the crockpot and fills the kitchen with rich, savory aromas.

This isn’t a recipe for beginners. The measurements are loose—more a reflection of memory than precision—since I was eyeballing everything as I went, from the pork seasoning to the coleslaw dressing. Trust your palate, adjust to your liking, and make it your own.

Beef Broccolini TALL blonde Style

When it comes to Chinese food in America the classics are fine with me. This cuisine is not part of my heritage nor am I classically kitchen trained so I am not a food snob here. There are those times when over sugaring and over deep frying in Chinese dishes can be cloying and dulls the senses.  Here is TALL blonde's more savory version of Beef Broccoli. Meal shopping is also easier and economical with ground beef vs. today's pricey steak.

Mushrooms Reign Supreme

As a mushroom lover like TALL Blonde's husband is you will easily agree with him after tasting this mushroom sauce is so good that you can make a meal pouring this rich, decadent and unctuous sauce over a couple slices of toasted and buttered slices of sourdough bread slices and imagine you are eating as a King or Queen. This is not for the faint hearted, butter and heavy cream provide the velvety texture and the finishing "cherry on top" is Port. So get ready to present a 5 Michelin Star quality dish that even makes your kitchen smell luxurious. Add an additional 1 cup of protein such as cooked lump crab meat or cooked shredded duck breast and make it a meal.

Spicy Shrimp Ravioli

 

TALL Blonde is having great fun creating another ravioli filling.  Here she plays with shrimp that is inspired by Shrimp Scampi by using fresh garlic with a twist of adding hot Thai chili.  There is also no cracker meal and egg filler typically found in crab cakes.  These shrimp are elegant in their own right as they pack a pure protein punch.

Mushroom Ravioli

 

TALL Blonde is experimenting again with ravioli filling. After a successful launch of my Pumpkin Bok Choy Ravioli (recipe link) in the summer of August of 2023 I was ready for a new flavor profile.  My vegan friends who absolutely loved the pumpkin-ravs will hopefully like this new adventure.  Some flavor bomb-ettes (light touch) are unconventional but subtle and add an interesting layering of flavor.  This recipe is written for the advanced cook and measurements are approximate and to your taste.

Lamb-rrito

TALL Blonde brings her love of Mediterranean cuisine to life with this fresh and flavorful ground lamb burrito-style wrap. Perfect for busy days when you want something quick, satisfying, and far from boring. This dish is a bold choice from the usual dull sandwich. The juicy ground lamb is the star, but the real magic is in the mix-and-match salad—totally customizable to suit your unique taste. This is a flexible recipe to create at your whim. Treat yourself to an array of flavor bombs as a starting point and let your palate lead the way.

Spicy Shrimp Soup

 

Soup:

At the turn of the century in America, before we had foods of convenience created in the late 20th century, soup was considered a French dinner table dish and served only within homes of great wealth and gentility.

TALLBlonde created this spicy shrimp stew-like entrée. It is healthy, packed with flavor and a perfect compliment with crusty and buttered French baguette. If you have an aversion to shellfish any white fish will work equally well. So let's make an elegant and high society meal tonight.

BESS - Black Eyed Sausage Soup

 

Some nights I have a tough time falling asleep. Don't ask me why, there is very little stress in my life but any way what do I do for hours you may ask while looking for images in the ceiling patterns?  I invent recipes. Yeah, uh-huh, that's me the kitchen dork.   This recipe came from the desire to use kielbasa sausage in a soup. I love my Choucroute Garni that I make once or twice a year at the protest of my husband.  NOTE Choucroute Garni which means Sauerkraut with embellishment is from my Swiss heritage of smoked pork sausage, sauerkraut and boiled potatoes  This soup flavor profile has heat, smoke and some sour notes. Brilliant for a cold day with a crunchy sourdough mini baguette. Essentially grab a stock pot, dice ingredients into half inch pieces and toss into the pot in the following order:

Green Goddess

Once I discovered Green Goddess Dressing, I look for it every chance I get. It is a collection of fresh herbs of your choice, The base is mayonnaise or you can use yogurt has a fresher and healthier option and some savory flavor punches.  The process is simple as you dump all ingredients in a blender and in 10 seconds you have a flavorful concoction that is great on salads, grilled fish or roasted potato, vegetables and an excellent dip.. The original recipe was invented at The Palace Hotel in San Francisco in 1923 and was very simple, parsley was the only herb used. Do not skimp on the tarragon as this is the backbone of Green Goddess flavor. TALL Blonde recipe below was created on using what I had available in the fridge and it turned out to be a perfect flavor profile.

Fresh Tomato Clam Focaccia

 

TALL blonde has always been a bit intimidated by making Focaccia bread, don't ask me why?   I have baked bread many times but Focaccia just seemed so specialized I feared it would become my personal culinary failure.  Then I saw  ATK (America's Test Kitchen) make their version and this is it.

The bread is an ATK recipe, the flavor packed topping is mine.  The dough is very hydrated with 2 cups of cool water and is so soft it doesn't hold its shape.  This is a no-knead dough.  Once mixed allow it to rise, fall and rise again.  This long proofing method reduces the amount of tight gluten molecules and the finished bread is so tender it melts in your mouth. The fresh tomato-clam topping is very flavorful and you won't miss the cheese. Look at that airy fluffy crumb pictured above. I have to thank ATK for this easy, melt in your mouth recipe. My husband and I are not big eaters but we gobbled up the whole pan in one sitting.

There is one draw back, a stand mixer is preferred.  You can mix it yourself but lifting weights at the gym is an easier workout.

Ginger Orange Glaze - Salmon - Duck - Veggies

I created this recipe out of boredom. We eat sautéed salmon in our household about once a week and on one particular evening I was in the mood for a sweet and tangy flavor profile to glaze the weeknight dinner doldrums.

After sautéing the salmon I removed it from the pan and poured into the remaining fish juices ingredients readily available in my pantry creating this spicy orange sesame glaze and then sliding the cooked salmon in the thickened glaze. It was truly a spectacular flavor. This is restaurant quality flavor at its finest.

Orange Delight Candy

 

This is an Olde World candy recipe.

My Northern Italian mother Luigia gave it to me.

As a young girl Luigia's family was so poor that a fresh orange on Christmas morning was unbelievably the highlight of the year. She spoke to me often how there would be a small tree in the kitchen and her father would light the half dozen real wax candles affixed it its branches.  Luigia and her three siblings would watch the dancing flames for a few magical minutes before extinguishing them so they could be enjoyed for several nights.

In order to make best use of this rare and expensive fruit last for more than 5 minutes the peel was cut into strips, cooked in a sugar syrup and rolled in sugar. The process served as a form of preservation as well as flavor. This recipe uses two whole oranges to make 32 chewy sweet treats.

Ramen - EAZZZY

 

TALLblonde makes a quick and packed with flavor ramen for her family once a week.  The entire process is maybe 20 minutes and a healthy option to feed the family, not to mention economical.

Fish Taco Confetti

 

Without a long narrative, all you need to know about this is Sweet - Savory - Heat - Crunch.

This is a perfect accompaniment to simple fish tacos without adding a long list of expensive ingredients. This makes a meal quick and easy and flavor that is out of this world.

Even easier, spoon this over your favorite grilled or sautéed fish fillet and no need to bother with the corn tortilla. Leaving out the tortilla will  save you calories too. Serves 8

Cranberry-Stuffing What ?

 

Last Fall a friend asked if I had tried an ice cream shop walking distance within my friend's and my neighborhood? I said, :"No, what about it?"  My friend said, "You must try it, they have very unique flavors that rotate on their menu. They have a Thanksgiving flavor. right now"  I thought oh boy, what the heck is Thanksgiving ice cream.  About a week later I was out for my weekend neighborhood walk and came upon this ice cream shop "Salt and Straw".  On the sidewalk stood their sign with the flavors of the day.  Sure enough, there it was, first on the list, "Thanksgiving Ice Cream".  The ingredients listed were vanilla ice cream with cranberry sauce and stuffing swirls. I had to have it...

It tasted fabulous, just as I had imagined it should. When I purposely went back the following 

Saturday to satisfy my new savory and sweet addiction the flavor was no longer on the menu.  It has been nearly four months since and I cannot get this unusual concoction out of my head so I decided to make my attempt to re-create it..

Before you laugh or wince at the thought of this Fall combination of flavors in a frozen dessert I must remind you that many of you have been to the Gilroy Garlic Festival just to try the garlic ice cream and I am sure there were skeptics when salted-caramel made it onto the dessert scene, and you love that, right?

Garlic Cheese Frosting

 

I'm the girl who takes cupcake indulgence to a whole new level, savoring each bite with a meticulous equal balance of cake and frosting that's just perfection. But that's not where my culinary adventures end—I've got an unabashed passion for garlic bread that knows no bounds. If only I could dive into the buttery garlic spread with the same enthusiasm I reserve for my beloved cupcakes, life would be a true gastronomic delight. This is a low and slow baking process for very good reason.

This is TALLBlonde's exclusive recipe that offers that same balance of a 2 cheese frosting and bread delivery system.  You may not initially understand this theory, but every time I serve it to my guests they go wild and beg for more. Serves 8.

Sour Cherry Chocolate Bread

Here is a cheerful bread recipe that mixes a simple savory dough with that classic combination of cherries and semi-sweet chocolate chips. This recipe comes from Master Bread Baker Paul Hollywood.  It is his recipe that TallBlonde has adapted the measurements to Imperial instead of metric.  This makes two medium loaves, one for you and one to wrap and gift to a friend during the holiday season.. Serves 8.

Lobster, Baby

 

Lobster cakes

This recipe is luscious,  buttery, delicate yet decadent and very Lobster-y!

I do have a ProTip cheat, wanna know wat it is? You will just have to watch TALLblonde three minute "how-to" video. And away we go. Serves 4.

3 small uncooked lobster tails, or 8 oz. cooked lobster

1 Tbl. salted butter

1 small shallot, finely diced

1/2 tea. lemon zest

1 Tbl. fresh Italian parsley, finely diced

2 tea. hot sauce

1 egg

Secret cheat

-> Watch this 3-minute HOW-TO You Tube Video (you'll be glad you did)

QUESTION: What do I do with excess stuffing? Easy, roughly spoon 1 inch drops of stuffing onto a cookie sheet and bake at 400-degress until the shaggy edges are browned and crispy.  These are fabulous as a topping to any hot bowl of soup especially chicken noodle.

• Calories: 180 kcal
• Protein: 17.94 g
• Fat: 5.31 g
• Carbohydrates: 13.55 g

TALL Blonde Style

TALL Blonde Bottoms Up

TALL Blonde Stories - Archive

Pumpkin-Bok Choy Ravioli & Lemon Cream Sauce

Let me go off topic regarding this recipe for just a moment. When I share my home cooking experiences to my kitchen-curious friends I always end my conversation with the following: "If you learn to prepare your favorite dishes at home you can reward yourself with the title of Best Cook on the Planet. Why? Because your food will always taste the way you like it.".

This recipe was inspired during a recent luncheon with a friend at a classy Italian restaurant. Eating a plate of ricotta/spinach ravioli that was totally uninspired and lackluster, served with a lemon sauce that swam at the bottom of the plate in a sloshing liquid pool I decided to create something much more original and exciting for the taste buds. The ingredients and preparation began to take shape in my mind during the hour long drive home. Serves 6.

Good Reason For Fruit Cake

 

Still holding on to that fruitcake your neighbor gave you over the holiday season? Maybe they are re-gifting a fruitcake from their neighbor; and so on and so on.

This recipe may have you rethink next years' fruitcake.  TALLblonde uses hers to make a fabulous bread pudding and it only takes a few basic pantry items.

Brie en Croute

 

A little frozen puff pastry, a little sweet, a little imagination helped to make my NYE appetizer table very tasty.  Many recipes make one large wheel for parties to share with all your guests.  Mine are individual servings and you don't have a messy unappetizing platter on your party table that looks like zoo animals trampled through it. These cheesy puffs are crispy, creamy and sweet. Serves 12.

Pork - Sweet Sour Sauce

 

Classic Sweet and Sour Pork recipe will bring you back in time.  This is the flavor you remember and crave. This recipe has simplified steps from other recipes TALLBlonde has researched and tested.  The deep frying method of cooking the pork morsels coated in corn starch has been changed to dry frying in a skillet making this recipe a bit more heart smart. This recipe also uses well trimmed pork tenderloin instead of a traditional fattier cut of pork shoulder.  Dice all ingredients to same size pieces to your liking, anywhere between 1/2-inch to 1'inch in size. Serves 6

Dark Chocolate Fudge Sauce

 

Perhaps the best dark chocolate sauce on the planet.  This recipe comes from America's Test Kitchen and I cannot find any room for improvement.  It is perfection in a bowl and simple to make. Makes 10 servings.

Vietnamese Shaking Beef

 

I have a personal story related to this dish through being brought up by my very old fashioned Western European parents. I live in the San Francisco Bay Area surrounded by a bounty of great food both through local grocery store offerings and restaurants of food from around the world. San Francisco is home to a popular Vietnamese restaurant known for their Shaking Beef dish, correctly known as Bo Luc Lac. This is a deep, dark, rich beef perfumed dish. 

A few years ago we finally made the trek to try this dish. It arrived to our table in a steaming loud sizzling presentation dish.  To make shock, this dish was chunks of seared beef served on a bed of fresh watercress salad. Wha? Huh?  I have been eating  beef steak with watercress since I was old enough to eat adult food.  This is a French inspired dish obviously developed during the French occupation of Vietnam.  So when I hear someone refer to Vietnamese Shaking Beef, I quietly smile inside.

TALL Blonde's recipe below uses fresh arugula salad for ease of supply and makes a great compliment to the seared beef. Serves 6.

Orange - Olive Oil Cake

 

In my past culinary experiments, in an effort to add healthy ingredients to my family meals I attempted substituting olive oil for vegetable oil in my loaf cakes such as banana bread.

Cut - Void - Blue Pencil - Delete - Scratch That - Unsuccessful

I had no clue that perhaps olive oil may be heavier than vegetable oil. It pretty much sank to the bottom of the baking pan and stayed there.  The loaf was fully baked and not undercooked but it was not appetizing.

I have played around researching other recipes and came up with this set of ingredients to create a moist and creamy everyday cake, and yes it includes olive oil. This is perfectly eaten on its own as a light morning breakfast pastry, embellished with a slathering of orange icing, a scoop of vanilla ice cream or with a healthy blanket of sugar macerated fresh ripe strawberries poured over a generous slice. The combination of fresh orange slices and olive oil is a classic dessert in Mediterranean cuisine. My husband born in England carries with him his definitively British appetite for warm "Bird's" <click link> custard poured over cubes of a simple vanilla cake. This sweet treat will replace even your favorite pound cake. Serves 10.

Nashville Hot Cauliflower

 

A Nashville Hot is an old Southern staple taking a head of cauliflower and indirectly grilling in a smoky BBQ covered pit.  The overall process is to marinate a whole head of cauliflower in a spicy buttermilk dressing and baste regularly with a sweet spicy sauce of brown sugar, garlic, cayenne and melted butter. This recipe was inspired by Steven Reichlin.

As I do not have access to an outdoor BBQ, this is TALL blonde's oven roasted version and it is mighty tasty.

Party Eggplant Parmesan

 

I named this dish 'Party' Eggplant Parmesan for its elegant personal portion rather than cutting a messy square from a large flat casserole.  This is also a perfect make-ahead dish to pop in the oven for busy home life or dinner party.

The recipe is simple, admittedly we all know the components of a basic eggplant parmesan but this also removes the pre-salting method that so many recipes use to remove water from the eggplant.  Instead these are fried in olive oil after being dipped in an egg wash bath.  Olive oil is a healthy fat and eggs add protein to the dish. Serves 4.

Yummy Bear Claws

 

Almond Bear Claw pastries

Simple to make

Easier than you think

As yummy as your neighborhood bakery

For ease, this recipe is tailored to use Pepperidge Farms Puff Pastry Sheets to minimize extra work and portion control.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Serves 8.

California Hummus

Avocado Sauce is prominent in Central Mexico but not limited to this region.  This is not Guacamole for chip dipping or sandwich spread as a replacement to mayonnaise. This glorious sauce is a thick but pourable consistency and used liberally on grilled fish or grilled sliced meats. I had a version of this at a Mexican hotel located in a little fishing village Los Barriles in Baja Sur.  It forever changed my culinary grilling-life. 

The common avocado sauce recipe uses crème fraiche, sour cream or yogurt as a base with fresh avocado.  TALL Blonde has revamped this recipe to eliminate dairy while adding nutritional value in the form of protein with white beans. Upping your protein game seems to be all over the news today in a concerted effort to look for healthy options. All of this and I have to mention the HDL good fats that comes from avocado. Serves 4.

With this recipe you won't miss that creamy texture either.

ADOBO - Quick & Dirty

 

I have been cooking for so long and mastered nearly all the basics that I find myself branching out to dishes and cuisines that are outside of my comfort or familiarity zone. I have simplified a classic adobo recipe compared to the traditional but still offers complex flavors. To add to this recipes' simplicity I used regular cubed stew beef instead of a more classic flank steak.

Note: there is spicy heat.

Adobo weather it is Mexican or Filipino is generally served as a sauce with chicken or pork. For all you red blooded eaters out there this recipe features beef. This recipe leans towards Mexican cuisine and while a great adobo takes hours of preparation and dozens of warm toasty ingredients you can make a great tasting  adobo with fewer ingredients and prep. steps.  I also prefer to use my crockpot for my long slow braise dishes rather than the oven. The oven simply over heats one's small apartment and clean up is so much easier. Serves 6.

Spanish Rice, Stupid Easy

 

This is "stupid simple" Spanish rice that has the same ingredients you would be slaving over chopping onions, tomatoes, green chilies, etc. Serves 6.

Best Pork Chile Verde

 

I found this pork chile verde when I was a kid and loved it.  Mexican food for me at that time, still living in my parental home was a unknown cuisine. Over the years I tailored it to my adult lifestyle in ease of preparation and taste buds. This recipe is perfect for a crock pot or mindless roasting in the oven. Serves 8.

Momma's Pecan Rum Gateau

 

This is an adult affaire...

This is a richy-rich cake...

This is a super moist cake...

...is why I could not understand why it tasted so good made by my restauranteur mother. She was in the biz most of her adult life although her food at home and at the restaurant was always outstanding, without complaint, sweets were never her strong apron, never, nada, zip.  I begged for the recipe and voila, of course, it uses a box cake mix. It all makes sense now.

So here it is, a rich cake elegant enough to take to parties and simple enough for anyone to bake. Good enough to enter in a bake-off contest and win!

Poulet Roti a la Francais

The very BEST roast chicken is the simplest roast chicken. Few ingredients, no cooking skills required and while roasting you will simultaneously make the most incredible sauce. In France a roasted chicken is commonly served with French fries. Below are both recipes for a roasted chicken and how to season French fries in the French manner. Serves 4.

Honey Pecan Shrimp : Just Like Fast-Food

 

There are those times when I am really craving fast-food, even if I have to make it at home. Here is TALL blonde's version of Honey Walnut Shrimp, but using pecan nuts instead of walnuts simply because pecans were available in my pantry and I am not a big fan of bitter walnuts. Feel free to substitute it back if you are a recipe purist.