The Lederman Kitchen

I'm a big Cobb Salad fan, but I've never made it at home before.  I typically spend $15 for the salad all over town.  My version at home was just as good as the restaurant staple and costs half as much. For a delicious dinner for two: 1 head of lettuce (I used Romaine) 4 strips of thick cut bacon 1 tomato About 1 cup of croutons 1 avocado 2 green onions 2 eggs 1 cup of cooked, chopped chicken 1/2 cup of crumbled blue cheese For the dressing: 1 shallot 1 garlic clove 1 tablespoon of dijon 1 tablespoon of vinegar (White Wine, Red Wine, or Champagne all work well) 1 tablespoons of olive oil This is just a salad so it should be super simple.  Start by hard boiling the eggs and cooking the bacon.  Stack the bacon and cut into strips.     While the eggs and bacon cook, chop up the rest of the ingredients.  I used some leftover roasted chicken, but you can just buy a rotisserie chicken or grab a fe...

Two of my favorite things: soup and Chinese food...  I am continuing my mission to expand my Asian cooking skills.  Wonton soup is one of my favorite comfort foods and perfect for this time of year.  While it's easy to get delivery or take out, I was surprised at how easy it was to make at home.   You can actually follow this wonton recipe to make pot stickers.  Just fry them up at the end instead of boiling in the broth for delicious homemade pot stickers. For the soup (at least 4 servings) you will need: 1/2 lb of ground pork 1/4 lb of shrimp 1 teaspoon brown sugar 1 tablespoon of rice wine vinegar 1 tablespoon light soy sauce 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce 1 green onion stalk 1 teaspoon chopped ginger wonton wrappers 8 cups of chicken broth You can make Wor Wonton Soup if you want by adding some noodles, meat, veggies, and so on. Again, this is super simple.  Chop the ginger, shrimp, and green onions.  Then...

Seriously, don't knock it 'til you try it.  Steak tartare is delicious.  If you are looking for a good version in the City, Garibaldi's is spot on.  I hear the one at Wayfare Tavern is pretty tasty as well.   I like to order tartare in restaurants but I never thought of making it at home until recently.  Thanks to an  episode of Chuck's Day Off I turned a corner and decided that it makes sense to try it at home.  I was blown away at how delicious and simple it was to make.  Similar to mussels , I will have a hard time paying top dollar for this dish when I eat out now.  For the less adventurous you can always give the steak a light sear, but please resist the urge. I made this while the wife was away so I just made a half recipe which was a lot.  The recipe below is good appetizer for 4, or maybe a nice lunch for 2. For delicious steak tartare: 1 good baguette 1 lb of steak (NY strip, filet, and tenderlo...

We are a few weeks behind on the blog, actually about a month behind...  Last month my in-laws were staying with us and I had to whip up a quick lunch for everyone.  I decided to make a few finger sandwiches to try and please the crowd.  I paired the sandwiches with a light tomato salad to round out the meal. We had 3 sandwiches on the menu. Toasted pesto, prosciutto, and mozzarella on Italian batard  Turkey, dijon, swiss cheese, and arugula on Italian batard Roast beef with white cheddar, caramelized onions and horseradish on a pressed sweet baguette My tomato salad is basically a crapese salad, but chopped in a more rustic style instead of sliced and stacked like a traditional Insalata Crapese.  I usually only make the classic version in the summer months when heirloom tomatoes are available.   For a great salad for lunch or dinner, just chop up a couple of tomatoes.  Use whatever variety looks good at the time. ...

There are few things better on a rainy day than tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich.  It's a comfort food staple and the original soup and sando combo.  The Wife and I where doing chores around the house while it rained outside, exactly the type of day this lunch pairs well with. While I am definitely a fan of the traditional Campbell's Tomato Soup, why buy the can when you can make a great soup from scratch with fresh ingredients in hardly any time at all? For a delicious weekend lunch for two, you will need: 12 Roma Tomatoes 1 cup of basil (chopped) 4 cloves of garlic (chopped) 1/4 cup of olive oil 3 shallots (halved) 1 cup dry white wine 1 cup of water (or stock if you have it) a sprinkle of parmesan cheese for garnish salt and pepper 4 slices of good bread  a few slices of cheese for the sandwiches a little butter Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Prep the veggies by slicing the tomatoes and shallots in half, and cho...

After last week's  Mediterranean Vegetable Couscous with Grilled Chicken Breasts and Yogurt Sauce  the Wife asked me to make her a Greek Style Salad for lunch with the leftovers.  It's a great way to use up the extra yogurt sauce and vegetables.  For the salad you will need: 1/4 small red onion 1/2 red pepper 1/2 green pepper 1/2 a small cucumber 1/3 cup olives (any type is fine, I had a Greek mix left over from Whole Food's olive bar) 1 tomato 1/4 cup feta cheese This salad is super simple, just roughly chop the peppers, cucumber, and tomato.  Thinly slice the red onion, and cut the olives in half.  To finish just mix the vegetables with some feta cheese.  We had plenty of yogurt sauce  left over for the dressing from dinner.  The Wife likes the dressing on the side, and like any salad that you are not eating right away, hold off on adding the dressing so your salad doesn't get soggy. That's it, quick l...