Father’s Day Round-Up of Easy, Meaty Recipes

ribeye-with-brocollini

Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there, especially to my own super dad!

After my graduation last month (where Aretha Franklin sang the national anthem!) I took a couple of weeks off from blogging to enjoy some time with my family. I’m just popping back in today to share some mouth-watering recipes with you guys but I’m going to extend my break until the rest of the month – I’m traveling locally plus I’m in the thick of job hunting! In the meantime, I put together a round-up of my favorite easy, meaty recipes. You can call it “dad food” or “man food” but I’ll just call it good food.

stovetop rib eye 2Ribeye Steak – this is my favorite cut of steak and I learned how to cook it from my dad. It’s easy to cook a great steak – with a golden brown crust, and a tender pink inside – on the stovetop.  No grill, no oven roasting time, but just with a hot pan, some seasonings, and a lot of patience.

polpettePolpette (Tuscan Meatballs with Prosciutto) – I love meatballs and this Tuscan version has prosciutto and chopped mushrooms, both of which add even more meaty flavor. Each ball is peppered with little pockets of fat and saltiness from the prosciutto, and the whole dish is finished in a bath of white wine. I originally paired it with spaghetti, but these meatballs can easily stand on their own.

mustard roasted potatoes and sausagesDijon Roasted Baby Sausage and Baby Potatoes – Can’t go wrong with this version of meat and potatoes. A message to the men: don’t let the word “baby” turn you off. This is a dish that’s inherently masculine, but I, of course, made it adorable. It’s an extremely easy dinner/potluck/picnic idea, so easy that I felt like I was cheating. And in reality, this appeals to both males (sausage, good; potatoes, good) and females (those teeny tiny potatoes!)

pimiento blt sandwichPimiento BLT – how to make BLT even better? Slather on a generous layer of spicy, creamy pimiento cheese. This is going to be a messy kind of sandwich. With each bite, your fingers will smush the toast. The juice from the tomatoes will drip on your plate. The bacon will crumble. And you might get a smear of cheese spread on your cheek. It’s the best kind of sandwich.

sagria roast chickenSangria Chicken – it’s not beef, it’s not pork, but this chicken dish is a hearty, comforting meal. Plus it has alcohol in it. I meant for this Sangria Chicken recipe to sound fancy, but it’s not – it’s really just a hop and a skip away from regular roast chicken. Or more specifically, it’s red wine and orange juice away from regular roast chicken.

filipino salpicaoFilipino Beef Salpicao – this is Filipino comfort food at its finest: tender cubes of steak in a buttery, garlicky sauce, usually served with garlic fried rice. I ate this a lot when I was in college. The rich dish with chunks of beef and steaming rice seemed like the perfect meal during exam week (when we were all craving comfort), and also the perfect companion for a cold glass of beer or five (when we are all craving something rich to soak up all the alchohol).

beef chili with sausage Classic Beef Chili – this recipe is as close to a classic beef chili that I can get. It’s meaty and filling, and it also has a few special ingredients that add a little zsa zsa zsu. In addition to the ground beef, I added small chunks of beef chuck and spicy Italian sausage. I threw in some red wine to further add a depth of flavor. And I added one habanero pepper. You’d think that one little habanero pepper won’t make too much of a difference in a big ole batch of chili, but it does.

I hope you are all enjoying Father’s Day with your dads (and if you’re a dad yourself, enjoy this special day!) By the time this post publishes, I’ll be on my way back to Boston from my NYC getaway, and I’ll be catching the Red Sox game later in Fenway with my own dad. Many of you know that I think the world of my dad, and I am so happy that we can spend today together. He’s my fellow sweet tooth, my number one fan, and my hero.

dad and biancaIf you’d like to read more about my father, check out these other posts: Salted Chocolate Banoffee Pie, A Story About Trust and Statistics, and Nutella Banana Pudding. I also wrote about my dad in this Cockfighting piece I wrote for Offline Magazine (which is an app you can download from iTunes).

On another note, if anyone is looking for a nice but affordable hotel in New York, I highly recommend The Bentley Hotel in the upper east side. I typically stay at smaller luxury hotels midtown but my family and I stayed at The Bentley last week and I can’t say enough good things about it. Their service is impeccable (staff was so friendly and accommodating), the bed was so comfortable, and the hotel was perfectly clean – a big deal to me.

I’ll be back here in July and I already have something delicious in the works! Hint: it involves bacon… and chocolate.

   

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