limehouse chicken

You seriously can't go wrong with some well-made chicken. It's not the craziest dish in the world, but done right, it can be incredibly tasty. I tried a new one a few nights ago with ingredients I'd never used with chicken - mint, lime, brown sugar. It turned out great, a definite addition to my permanent rotation. Here's what you'll need:

• Chicken breast
• 1 lime, zested and juiced
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• A few shakes of red pepper flakes
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/4 cup chicken broth
• 1 sprig fresh mint, chopped

leftover omelets

To some of you, the idea post may seem beyond obvious. I'm not a huge breakfast person. Usually I grab something simple - a croissant and coffee, a bowl of cereal, etc. However, I've been making a conscious effort to use leftover ingredients in the same week in order to stop letting things go to waste. Most often, the things I have laying around are herbs (basil, arugula), cheese and vegetables (onions, tomatoes, etc). Finally, the idea occurred to me to try tossing some of these ingredients into omelets.

Now, I also have to admit that up until a few weeks ago, I'd never made an omelet before. Ever. Turns out, they're super easy (I figured as much) and you seriously can't go wrong. I've been tossing in whatever I have laying around and it turns out amazing every time. Most recently, I took the leftover bacon, onion and green pepper from the traditional meatloaf recipe and tossed them with some cheddar (pictured) - amazing! The week before that, I used the basil and fontina from the chicken w/ fontina & proscuitto recipe and threw in some arugula for good measure - even more amazing! So for those of you out there who, like myself not too long ago, haven't tried your hand at the wonderful world of omelets, here's the basics:

• 2 eggs
• Pinch of salt

traditional meatloaf

Bon Chappétit actually started out as a recipe bank of sorts. It was a way for me to begin documenting and storing recipes that either my mother had passed down to me, or new ones that I'd tried and wanted to tell her about. It was a much more organized method than the random emails and newspaper clippings, Word documents (she gave me a Word doc recipe book when I'd gone to college) and the other various means we've used over the years.

That's really at the core of what this is all about - sharing recipes with those you love. Whether it be your parents, grandparents, friends back home (some of who may have blogs of their own), friends from wherever you may be now, or perfect strangers. Sometimes even more so than photographs, a meal can evoke all kinds of memories and emotions.

You may be wondering what this all has to do with meatloaf? Well, meatloaf has always been one of my favorites. I've always loved my mom's - even if it was one of the simpler dishes she made. It was hers, and it always reminded me of home no matter where I had it. Recently, I found my great grandmother's recipe buried in an email from my great aunt. I decided to give it a whirl, and even though I never had the pleasure of having the meal directly with my great grandmother, I still had nostalgic feelings while preparing and enjoying the meal. It was a true pleasure to make, and I got several meals out of it (including a breakfast, which I'll post soon). So without any additional rambling, here's what you'll need:

For the loaf:

• 2 lbs. of meat (I used 1 lb. of ground beef, and an additional lb. of beef/pork/veal combo)
• 1 cup cottage cheese
• 1/2 onion, grated
• 1/4 finely chopped green pepper
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup cracker crumbs (I crumbled up Ritz)
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon pepper
• 3 slices bacon

roasted pears w/ raspberries, blackberries & ricotta

Today we have the rarest of all types of posts here on BonChap - dessert! I'm not a huge dessert person in general, usually I'll just have a yogurt or piece of fruit. Which, now that I've typed that, I see that this recipe is just a baby step away from that. Still - baby steps! It's a great dish that actually fills you up. Best of a night when you've had an early dinner and need something to hold you over 'til bedtime. Here's what you'll need:

• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 6 unpeeled pears (I used half Bosc and half Bartlett), quartered, cored
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 12-ounce package frozen blackberries and raspberries (or really any frozen berry combo)
• 1 cup fresh whole-milk ricotta cheese (it'd be perfectly tasty with vanilla ice cream as well)

bucatini all'amatriciana

There's seriously nothing better than a spicy pasta in my book. If you follow the blog, you've seen it pop up pretty often. No one does spicy pasta better than the Romans, and last night I tried an easy recipe for one of the quintessential roman sauce - amatriciana. Here's what you'll need:

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 ounces thinly sliced guanciale (or pancetta ... or prosciutto ... or just bacon if you can't find any of those)
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 3/4 cup minced onion
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 1 28 ounce can peeled tomatoes
• 12 ounces dried bucatini (spaghetti will totally work as well)
• 1/4 cup finely grated Pecorino

pot roast / leftover sandwiches

Sometimes the best meals in life are the simplest. Pot roast is definitely one of the dishes that proves this true to me. It can sound intimidating, as you can certainly get your Julia Child on with a pot roast. Or, you can put in minimal effort for maximum culinary pleasure. Here's my in-sane-ly simple pot roast recipe:

• 1 giant pot roast
• 1 onion
• 1 bag of baby carrots
• 4 potatoes, sliced
• Deli rolls
• Provolone

steak picadillo soft tacos

Confession: I love tacos. I make the chicken tacos featured on the blog awhile back all the time. I'm obsessed. I was craving them again tonight, but I came across a different taco recipe, and decided to give it a whir. Shocker: it was awesome! Here's what you'll need:

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 12-ounce strip of skirt steak
• 3/4 cup canned diced tomatoes with jalapenos
• 1/3 cup halved drained pimiento-stuffed green olives
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/2 cup feta cheese
• 8 corn tortillas

chicken w/ fontina & prosciutto

I love a good stuffed chicken. I tried a new one last night with fontina and prosciutto, and I mean, with those ingredients, how could it not turn out to be a simply delicious dish? Here's what you'll need:

• 1/2 cup coarsely grated Fontina cheese
• 1/3 cup (packed) soft garlic-herb cheese (such as Boursin)
• 1/3 cup chopped prosciutto
• 2 tablespoons chopped basil
• Chicken breasts
• 2 tablespoons butter, divided
• 3/4 cup chicken broth
• 1/2 cup dry Marsala

jamaican jerk salmon w/ mango pineapple salsa

Salmon has been a pretty consistent staple on the blog, usually incorporating dijon mustard for some odd reason (not really that odd, I just like it). However, on occasion I like to branch out, try something new. I felt comfortable with this, as even though I've never cooked with a jerk rub (ha!) before, I have served my salmon with a variation of the mango salsa, so it wasn't THAT much of a stretch. Still, it turned out to be really great, especially with the weather (occasionally) turning warmer - the bit of kick and the citrus flavors felt like a giant step into Spring. Here's what you'll need:

• 1 mango, peeled and diced
• 1/4 pineapple, cored and diced
• 1/2 cup rinsed and drained canned black beans
• 1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
• 1 teaspoon fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
• Salmon fillets (5 ounces each), skin on
• 1 teaspoon olive oil

pork loin w/ tarragon cream

Now that I have over 100 recipes (!!!) and counting on the blog, I find myself longing for some past recipes, and totally forgetting about others. One of those I've been thinking about for awhile actually the very first recipe posted - the pork loin Dan and I made about a year ago. That's right: April will be the one year anniversary for Bon Chappétit! Anyways, that pork loin was effing delicious, so I decided recently to go back and try another one, and had another great success. These things are so ridiculously easy it's not even funny. Here's what you'll need:

• 2-3 lb pork loin
• 3 large cloves garlic, slivered
• Salt and pepper
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons shallot, minced
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon
• Olive oil