Christmas time 2025, I had my friend David Liu over for dinner to celebrate some holiday cheer. He enjoyed the festive and family atmosphere my sons and I create, so he got a bit emotional and asked me to join him at his wedding in Italy in May 2026. I think he was emotional, as…
Tag: meat
Beef Wellington with Vilardius 🥩
It was my time to host the Iron Chef cook-off with Joe Vilardi. Joe is a great friend, and we have cooked for each other many times. Joe had hosted at least the past 4 times, so I really needed to pull off an impressive and amazing meal. I went all out with my Beef…
Pork Chop Suprise 🐖
The making of old school goodness. When I was a latchkey kid in the 1980s, my Mom would prep my meals before heading to work. Early on, she would pre-make this dish, which I called Pork Chop Surprise. It was better than Shake & Bake pork chops. As I got older, I prepared the dish…
HadBurger XII 🍔
It was just after my 57th birthday when I cooked up three whole prime filets for my guests. My good friend Kenny could not make it, and bemoaned that he had never had a HadBurger, please! If you’ve read my site, you know that making and eating these is an endeavor and an endurance test….
Red Wine Braised Short Ribs 🍖
With autumn, my favorite season, upon us, I wanted to make a warm your soul, something hearty and stick to your ribs kind of meal, so what better than some red wine braised short ribs? I have been on a mission for years to teach my sons how to cook, and this goal was the…
75 Day Dry Aged Porterhouse 🥩
I visited my favorite butcher, The Beast and Cleaver in Ballard, WA, where butcher and head chef Kevin Smith specialize in whole animal butchery, unique cuts of meats, Pate en Croute (Kevin recently won a competition in Canada and the first American from England to place), house-made sausages, and also serve excellent meals in their…
Chicken Souvlaki Skewers with Tzatziki 🐓
I have been making this dish all summer in an attempt to reduce my steak consumption. It is super easy to make, tastes fantastic with the tzatziki, and is relatively healthy. I like to pair it with my Grilled Corn Greek Salad – channeling my inner Zorba the Greek. My family and friends love it,…
Steak au Poivre 4.0 🥩
Adding another iteration of my Steak au Poivre I have been making this year. Ingredients 4 Servings 3 – 1½”-thick New York strip steaks (about 2lb. total) Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper 1 – Tbsp. whole black peppercorns (I had been using much more but the sauce became too chunky – vary to taste) 2…
Cast Iron Lasagne 🍝
My good cooking buddy Nick Haddow and I had been cooking lasagne over the winter of 2022, and he had the brilliant idea to cook a cast-iron lasagne over his many fire sources the evening of January 15th. We knew the recipe by heart and were looking forward to channeling his inner sportsman and our…
Steak au Poivre 🥩
It’s been a few months since I have posted after a recent spate of cooking many varieties of #thehadburger this summer and fall. I was reviewing many recipes coming into my inbox and Steak au Poivre caught my attention. I rarely order this at steakhouses as I often am a purist and prefer salt and…