Entree Archives - Cooking In Stilettos™

Slow Cooker Pork Tinga With Potatoes, Avocado and Fresh Cheese

January 21, 2017 By Aly 13 Comments

Slow Cooker Pork Tinga with Potatoes, Avocado and Fresh Cheese is a game day favorite! Tender pork and potatoes are slow cooked with chipotles and fire roasted tomatoes and served with tortillas, ripe avocado, and fresh cheese!

This recipe originally appeared on Cooking In Stilettos in February of 2010. The recipe has been updated with new photos and any recipe changes that I have incorporated over the years. This post may contain affiliate links to products I adore and use in my kitchen. Thank you for supporting Cooking In Stilettos.

In Rick Bayless’ Mexico – One Plate At A Time, Rick Bayless mentioned his Pork Tinga recipe which apparently was the best thing ever according to his daughter. I filed that recipe in my mental “must try” recipe box. While in the grocery store, I saw a gorgeous cut of pork that was on sale and thought “No time like the present” as I was craving some seriously good tacos for dinner.

I love using a slow cooker when it comes to pork. My favorite slow cooker has a stovetop safe inset which makes things so easy when it comes to browning the meat and you don’t lose any of the flavor that is on the bottom of the pan. I tend to use a bit of water or broth and deglaze the pan after browning so every bit of flavor is incorporated into the sauce. Plus, as you know, I’m a fan of any slow cooker recipe that is essentially “set it and forget it”….

Three Cheese Baked Mushroom Pasta – An Easy Vegetarian Pasta Bake

November 30, 2016 By Aly 9 Comments

This Three Cheese Baked Mushroom Pasta is chic and comforting, perfect for the holidays or a chilly evening dinner.

Created with De Cecco

This post has been sponsored by De Cecco Authentic Italian Pasta. My love for the brand is all my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that make Cooking In Stilettos possible.

On a chilly evening, there is nothing better than a pan of baked pasta hot out of the oven. The browned cheesy pasta with crisp edges on the top peels away to uncover a creamy sauce laden pasta for the ultimate comforting bite. In my house, it takes some skilled negotiation for those crisp edges. Of course, when you are the chef, you might be able to claim seniority but that’s an argument for another day.

Today I’m thrilled to share a delicious vegetarian pasta dish that is fabulous for the holiday menu or days when you want a meat-free dish – a Three Cheese Baked Mushroom Pasta that is made a little lighter but tastes oh so decadent.

If you open my pantry, you will see that I have a thing for cavatappi pasta – specifically De Cecco cavatappi pasta. It’s one of the first dried pastas I reach for whenever I’m in the mood to make pasta. De Cecco is a premium Italian pasta brand that is delicious on its own or complimented with a sauce. It never gets mushy or falls apart– even if you cook it a minute or two over because you were browsing Snapchat at the stove (not that I’ve ever done that *cough*). De Cecco pasta is a durum semolina pasta that always comes out perfectly al dente and stands up well in baked pasta dishes. While I keep a number of different types of De Cecco pasta in the pantry, there is something about the curly q-esque shape of the cavatappi pasta that has me enamored – it’s fun yet chic and my guests always seem to love it.

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Bourbon Slow Cooked Pulled Pork

May 25, 2016 By Aly 20 Comments

This Bourbon Slow Cooked Pulled Pork is one of my absolute favorite recipes! Tender pork is slow cooked for hours in a smoky rich bourbon sauce that will have your guests singing your praises. This will be your new favorite pulled pork recipe.

Disclosure: This recipe originally appeared on Cooking In Stilettos in October of 2010. The recipe has been updated with new photos and any recipe changes that I have incorporated over the years. This post may contain affiliate links of products that I adore and trust in my kitchen. Thank you for supporting Cooking In Stilettos.

When I made Nigella Lawson’s Bourbon Glazed Ribs way back when, little did I know that I would adore this sauce so much that I would try to jazz it up in the slow-cooker. This will be the ONLY sauce I use for pulled pork for quite some time. The flavor is phenomenal and this Bourbon Slow Cooked Pulled Pork, served with my poblano rice, is a winner of a dinner! …

Tried and True: Citrus Roasted Chicken

July 4, 2012 By Aly 3 Comments

One good thing about roasting your own chicken, you control the ingredients and flavors. Have leftovers? Well, this chicken works beautifully in lemon chicken noodle soup or a roasted chicken orzo. I tend to roast a chicken over the weekend and the leftovers come in handy for busy weeknight suppers. My favorite way to roast the chicken is to stuff it with loads of citrus, some garlic, an onion and viola! Simple, right? Sometimes I toss some onions, potatoes and carrots at the bottom of the pan as a type of “roasting rack” and add a bit of chicken stock halfway through to keep everything moist.

The good thing is you can stuff the chicken with pretty much whatever you want to flavor it. As the Barefoot Contessa would say, use a “good chicken”. I often pick up a kosher chicken from Whole Paychex and it always comes out perfectly. For your next Sunday dinner, why not say “adios” to grocery rotisserie chicken and give this recipe a try.

What’s your favorite way to prepare chicken?…

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Secret Recipe Club: Shepardized Peppers

June 18, 2012 By Aly 21 Comments

This month’s Secret Recipe Club assignment was a fun one! I printed out about 10 recipes to mull over and I could have easily picked 10 more. Her recipes are fabulous, her photography is stellar and I just love love love her blog – The Kitchen Witch. Little known fact, I do have a kitchen witch in my kitchen. I got my kitchen helper in Salem many moons ago when I finally stood on my own two stilettos and told the ex-fiancee to take a hike. So, when I was perusing The Kitchen Witch, I had to smile because, while I don’t often look at my own KW, it’s always there overseeing all the simmering pots on the stove from its perch on my wall.

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