Risotto ai Funghi, Italian for mushroom risotto, is traditionally made with porcini mushrooms. However, with porcini mushrooms hard to come by aside from the foragers at local farmer’s markets, I whipped up this risotto with good ol’ cremini (baby portabello) mushrooms and it’s still a comforting, hearty meal for a cold night. You really could use any mushrooms or blend of mushrooms of your choosing, although I would not recommend using only white button mushrooms – those little guys are a bit plain in flavor.
Risotto ai Funghi (Mushroom Risotto)
June 5, 2013
Main Noms, Side Noms, Small Noms arborio rice, comfort food, cremini, italian, mushroom risotto, risotto, risotto ai funghi 4 Comments
Potato Gratin (and Bonus – Homemade Potato Chips)
March 26, 2013
Side Noms, Small Noms baking, gratin dauphinois, gruyere, meatless, potato chips, potato gratin, potatoes au gratin, recipe, side dish 1 Comment
“What’s a potato gratin?” “It’s like the mac & cheese of the potato world.” “Really?” “Yeah, seriously.”
Yup – I totally had that conversation last week. But layered with cheese, simmered in milk, and beautifully browned with a crunchy crust, the classic potato gratin really does bear resemblance to a baked macaroni and cheese dish. The fork-tender slices of potato glued by savory Gruyère and a golden crust worth fighting over both make this dish a winner!
Roasted Bone Marrow
March 11, 2013
Side Noms, Small Noms beef marrow, comfort food, crostini, dey dey, grass fed beef, offal, roasted bone marrow, winter 6 Comments
Roasted bone marrow has to be one of my all-time favorite comforting meat-treats. One Sunday as Martin and I were strolling through our local Mar Vista Farmer’s Market, we stumbled upon Dey Dey Farms, now our go-to vendor for grass-fed beef and pasture-raised chickens. The vendor stall lists their many products on a whiteboard and two words caught my eye — marrow bones. “DIY marrow?” I asked Martin. He was game (haha – no pun intended) and we selected a pound, approximately 4 cross-sections of the cow’s femur. The man behind the table told us that marrow is best consumed raw to really take advantage of its nutritional content, but I just could not resist the thought of gelatinous, rich marrow spread over toast.
Do-it-yourself roasted bone marrow is actually quite easy, and I wish I had learned that sooner. To me, this is the perfect hearty dish for a cold winter’s night. “Recipe” below!
Comfort Food: Nui Xao (Stir Fried Macaroni)
July 9, 2012
Main Noms, Side Noms comfort food, nui xao, one pot wonder, quick and easy, recipe, stirfried macaroni, tomato paste, vietnamese 2 Comments
Growing up, one of my favorite one-pot-wonders was tomato stir fried macaroni. Just the aroma of the pasta tossed in tomato paste with garlic and onions brings to mind memories of watching my mom stir fry a quick, hearty meal. The base is similar to Vietnamese tomato rice (com do), and the add-ins can vary from ground beef to chopped shrimp to ground shrimp. The shrimp is my personal favorite, but using ground beef can give it a Hamburger Helper-like flavor (in the good, no-frills, comfort food sort of way). Leftovers keep well and the recipe below will make 4-5 servings — for us that’s a dinner and a lunch per person!
Looking for a quick recipe for dinner? Look no further!
Edamame Fried Rice
June 11, 2012
Side Noms comfort food, edamame, eggs, fried rice, maggi, quick and easy, recipe, trader joes, vietnamese 1 Comment
Some days we get to go out and splurge on decadent dinners, but most days we’re just a couple of recent college grads who want to sit down to some homemade comfort food after a long day at work. For us, fried rice is one of these comfort dishes that always comes through for us with a satisfying meal when we’re pressed for time. Recently, I started added edamame to my fried rice. It was a weird change since, as a child, I didn’t even like peas in my fried rice and I would spend the first five minutes in front of my bowl carefully extracting each pea one by one with my chopsticks. But for whatever reason, I love adding edamame to my fried rice, and Trader Joe’s sells them already shelled and frozen, making life that much easier. Edamame, or green immature soybeans, are a great way of kicking up a plain ol’ fried rice with some beautiful bright green color and a nice crunchy texture, not to mention the high protein and fiber content! Martin doesn’t like the change in texture, so sometimes I just add some to my portion, or if I have leftovers, I’ll toss in a handful of edamame straight out of the freezer and heat them up together in the microwave.
Without further ado, here is the recipe for making this ovo-vegetarian (that is, vegetarian + eggs) dish that you could serve as a side dish or eat on its own as a hearty, well-balanced entree.


















