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MAKE AHEAD: If you want to make these ahead of time, fry them until they are golden, then refrigerate after they come to room temperature. Reheat in the oven at 450 for about 10 minutes, until crispy and golden brown.

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This particular recipe is great for a family of 4. You can also turn the delicious jus into a gravy, which is next level. Or just drizzle that jus alll up in there.

What to pair this delicious lamb with? OH well don’t forget my spring salad! Or go with classic roasted potatoes – you can drizzle them with the jus as they finish baking in the oven for an extra burst of flavor. If you do want to make the spring salad, just combine greens, sliced radish, dill, mint and feta with olive oil and lemon juice.

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My spin on coq au vin honors the traditional flavors of the dish, while adjusting some elements to meet my taste. If your taste is similar to my taste, you will love it. If you prefer the OG stewy coq au vin that we’re used to, then check out Julia Child’s recipe or the NY Times.

Back to my recipe. I did a few things differently here. First of all, I really don’t love boiled vegetables. (Do you?) So, instead of boiling my root vegetables throughout, I decided to boil them to cook internally, then halfway through the stew’s simmer time, transfer them to a sheet pan and roast with some potatoes until crispy. This way, they get the wine/stew flavor but also develop a crispy, caramelized and roasted texture that I love. If we’re going to make a recipe that takes over an hour…we better LOVE it.

I bumped things up another notch with some crispy seared maitake mushrooms (instead of traditional button mushrooms) and some green beans to serve with. Instead of adding the mushrooms and rest of the vegetables back to the stew, I just combine all of the elements in the bowl, and let each person choose how much of a stewy vibe they want.

Finally, the red wine I used in my recipe is totally different than the traditional nod to Burgundy (i.e: Pinot Noir or Gamay.) Pinot Noir would of course go beautifully here because it has an earthy element to it…however…most Burgundy pinots are pretty pricy. Now that I actually have a wine education I feel confident in this little switcharoo that I did here…which is to use a GSM (Grenache Syrah Mouverdre) blend from the Rhone Valley instead of a Burgundy. First of all, the prices from Rhone are more approachable than Burgundy. Second, I really like the taste that it brings to the chicken — the Syrah has a meaty/gamy element to it that blends beautifully with the Grenache, which has an herbal element to it along with ripe fruit. A nice, safe choice would be to get a bottle from Chateauneuf du Pape. You can drink whatever is left, of course.

If you don’t have cognac, use bourbon. If you don’t have either, just use some extra red wine. If you don’t want to use more red wine, use some chicken stock. THERE’S ALWAYS A WAY TO MAKE IT HAPPEN!!!

Make this gluten-free by substituting the flour used in the roux with a GF all purpose flour.

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For reference, here is the original Carbone spicy rigatoni vodka! Not trying to toot my own horn, but it looks almost identical to mine.

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You know I love to drop some history about these dishes that we all know and love, so here’s my little vodka sauce spiel. Pasta with vodka sauce is an Italian-American invention. Alcohol (vodka) is used to release the flavors from tomatoes, but in Italy, the alcohol is usually wine. Mario Carbone is the inventor of the spicy rigatoni vodka which is most likely a spin on penne alla vodka. The latter was first seen in 1974 in a cookbook by actor Ugo Tognazzi and the dish was called “pasta all’infuriata. In other words, “furious pasta,” which I find interesting because vodka sauce makes me anything but furious. It’s kind of the key to my soul and makes me super happy. I would have called it “pasta that opens the soul,” but that’s just me.

In all seriousness, the “furious” term is probably used to describe the heat of the Calabrian chiles used in spicy rigatoni vodka. These peppers are medium-hot and named after the Italian region of their origin, Calabria. Their flavor is unique and distinguished with their smoky, fruity, and slightly salty notes. In this dish, I used whole Calabrian chili peppers that I hand chopped. You can buy them pre-chopped or as chili paste, but for a nice texture, they are best hand-chopped. If you can’t find Calabrian chiles, I think you can use pepperoncinis as well. These peppers are pickled, green, and contain a little bit of heat, and sweetness. I added some to my sauce and they add a bit of tanginess and less heat. I thought it was delicious! By the way, if you can’t handle the heat, skip the peppers all together!

The sauce for spicy rigatoni vodka is a classic vodka sauce. This is a tomato-based sauce with heavy cream. The pan is glazed with vodka, picking up the golden brown bits on the bottom of the pan. So you have this bitter, intense alcohol adding flavor to your sauce and complementing the acidity of the tomatoes. It’s perfect alchemy.

In Carbone’s original version of this dish, a classic rigatoni is used. This is a large type of pasta. For my version though I chose to use conchiglie pasta. The name derives from “conchiglia”, the Italian word for seashell. This is also what the pasta looks like and its curved shape is excellent for holding sauce. But you can also go with any type of rigatoni — a rigatoni mezze for example. 

Here’s one step that you can’t miss!!! For my recipe, I include a step where we “toast” the tomato paste in the pan, causing it to impart browned bits onto the pan. Brown bits = flavor. This is where you get this sweet, intensified, caramelized tomato taste. I also recommend grating or finely mincing the garlic to avoid chunks and so that it just melts away in the sauce. I made this recipe in around 30-40 minutes so it’s a quick and easy yet impressive dish to make.

Is there a vegan version of this dish?

Yes, I have a recipe for vegan gluten-free spicy rigatoni vodka which has a dairy-free, vegan version of the sauce. And to make it gluten-free you can use chickpea pasta or gluten-free rigatoni. 

Do you have a non-spicy version?

If you don’t like heat, you can skip the peppers. You can chop up sun-dried tomatoes and add 1-2 teaspoons into the sauce for a deep caramelized flavor. 

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Love lobster tails, but what if I want the whole lobster?

I don’t recommend poaching the claws, knuckle, etc. in butter because this particular meat is delicate and could fall apart in the butter and absorb too much fat. However, I do recommend poaching the entire lobster for 2-3 minutes (just as I do for the tail in this recipe) then, remove the tails. From here, follow the lobster tail recipe that’s below. For the claws and knuckles, continue poaching in the water until fully cooked. Once the claws and knuckles are cooked, remove that meat from the shell. Plate the tails and then put the claws on the side of the tail. Drizzle a big puddle of the sauce onto both the claws, knuckle meat and the tail and plate like the image below. That’s what I did on Christmas Eve for our family dinner and it was a hit. It’s easier for me to source lobster tails at the store, so that’s why I made the adjustment to this recipe. You are more than welcome to make this sauce and enjoy it with the whole lobster.

 

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I’m gluten-free, can I still make this sauce?

Of course! Sub the all-purpose flour with a gluten-free starch or flour of your choice. If going for a starch, I would start with 1 tsp to thicken. If it needs to be thicker, add another tsp. It shouldn’t need more than that.

What kind of butter should I be using?

Usually I would say: “the best kind!” but we are infusing it with so much flavor that I would just go for any unsalted butter. Don’t use a cultured butter here because that’s going to yield way more milk solids than a regular butter. Of course, Irish butter is spectacular here….

What kind of seafood stock or broth should I be using? Can I make my own?

I’m not sure if any of you are really asking this question, but I wanted to throw this in here because it’s important!! You can *easily* make your own lobster broth and use it in the recipe. All you do is boil your own lobster tail shells in the poaching water (from the first poach) as you continue to move forward with the rest of the recipe. By the time you get to the sauce, the broth will have enough lobster flavor to add a light touch of it to the sauce. If you go this route, your sauce will be light and bright, but also rich with the butter. If you go with store bought seafood stock, your sauce will have a deeper flavor, since the stock is highly infused with many different kinds of seafoods that will contribute to your sauce. I personally liked this store bought version more, but regardless, it’s going to taste amazing. To be honest, everything else in the sauce is just a guest at the butter’s party.

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For this casserole, I used fresh par-boiled green beans instead of canned (takes literally 3 minutes.) I also made my own fried shallots for topping (shocking easy and I promise you can do it!) The casserole itself is made of green beans, scallions and farfalle pasta, tossed in the creamy sauce used in the Campbell’s® Green Bean Casserole recipe. Guess what the secret ingredient is? Soy sauce. I’m serious! Soy sauce brings this creamy mushroom sauce to a whoooole new level with almost an umami element to it.

This recipe feeds up to 10 people, if you’re serving the casserole as a side. If you want to go main-course with it, I would say it feeds about 6 people.

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What is chai?

If you’re new to the chai bandwagon, allow me to introduce you. Chai literally means tea in India. So when you order a chai, you don’t have to call it a chai tea, by the way. Food and Wine posted a very informational article on the origin of chai and what it is. To summarize for the purpose of this recipe: chai is a tea that is prepared with a variety of spices. The base of the tea is typically black tea, and the spice blend can also vary, but almost always has a cardamom base with some influence of cinnamon, ginger, star anise and cloves. To make this recipe as easy as possible, I used ground, dried versions of all of these spices and combined them with my dry ingredients. I also couldn’t find a ground star anise, which means you might not be able to find it either, so I skipped it. Feel free to add it to the spice blend if you do find it! Even though chai literally means “tea,” there is no tea int his recipe. It’s inspired by the spices that go into the tea instead.

If you’ve never had a chai latte, I would recommend going to try one before you commit to this recipe. It’s a warm, piney, spicy, cinnamon-y, aromatic tea that will taste like a hug. If you aren’t a fan of spices, this isn’t going to be for you. But!!!  Even if you aren’t a chai fan, you can still make this recipe. A few variations include:

1. Snickerdoodle Blondies — just use cinnamon to your taste, instead of the spice blend!
2. Basic Blondies (don’t knock a basic blondie) — this recipe yields buttery, dense, gooey blondies and you don’t need a spice blend to enjoy them.
3. Salted caramel blondies — make the recipe without the spice blend and top with the salted caramel from my salted caramel apple cinnamon roll recipe.

So long as you stick with the method of this recipe, you can jazz the blondies up however you’d like. Also, I have some great news! You don’t need a standing mixer to nail this recipe! You just need mixing bowls, a whisk, rubber spatula and a baking dish to make the magic happen. Now let’s get baking.

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BAKED BALSAMIC BERRY BRIE I originally made this for the 4th of July but this is actually great for the fall too I add rosemary and thyme to give it cozier vibes, and the herbs pair beaaaauuutifully with the tart berries. You can even use pomegranate and cranberries with honey to make it extra seasonal….which I think I’m going to have to do myself and post a recipe for this week!! Recipe is on withskyler.com

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I also have a baked brie stuffing recipe for Thanksgiving that is UNREAL. But, I do understand that stuffing isn’t really an everyday kind of dish, so I decided to make a new, easy Fall/winter/holiday baked brie recipe for all of us to enjoy.

What is goat brie?

For this particular recipe, I’m switching it up with a goat brie, instead of the classic sheep’s milk brie. Goat brie has a similar buttery, nutty, mushroomy and grassy flavor to sheep’s milk brie or camembert, but it’s made with goat milk, so it tastes a bit more grassy and has a subtle tangy flavor. It also thins out immensely if its baked for too long, so you have to watch it carefully. This goat brie will be sliced open and stuffed with garlic, rosemary and thyme, then topped with some whole cranberry sauce for a pang of sweetness. The cranberry is optional, but if you’re a fan of cheese platters that come with a fruits or jams, you will love this. Goat brie typically comes in 6-6.5 oz servings, so it’s usually a smaller wheel. If you want to make this for a large group, go for 2 wheels of goat brie. On the other hand, you can skip the goat brie all together and go with a more traditional sheep’s milk brie or camembert as well. It will still taste amazing. I made this recipe with two different brands of triple creme goat brie and the brand didn’t affect the outcome.

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