Most of the time my meals involve a form of pasta, something cheesy and a good dose of vegetables, you know, so I grow up big and strong. One of my favorite things to make for myself are pierogies, and not just any pierogies, but Mrs. T’s Onion Pierogies straight out of the freezer section. Yep, you heard me- frozen food. The thing is, these can be lame, or they can be amazing. I personally think boiled pierogies are sad, so I like to spruce them up. In my house, anything and everything is better with some olive oil and garlic.

There are other flavors of Mrs. T’s but I like the onion ones the best.

Boil up some water, and toss in however many you want, and boil for about 4 minutes. You don’t really want to go longer than that or they’ll get too soft and won’t crisp up when you saute them later. After your four minutes are up, drain them, and throw them in a pan with about a tablespoon of olive oil, and a little scoop of minced garlic- you can go fresh or jarred, garlic is garlic.

Make sure they lie flat in the pan and evenly spaced out so they can get good and crispy. After a couple minutes, take a peek at the side that’s down in the pan, and if they’re a pretty golden brown, give ‘em a flip.

I go by color and sound to know when these are done. My preference is a true golden brown, and when I tap the outside of the pierogie with my fork, it makes a hard little sound, letting me know they’re crispy. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper, and transfer to a plate.

I like to top it off with some shredded parmesan cheese (I told you there would be cheese), and pair it with a simple salad or some roasted veggies, and voila! You have a totally delicious, mostly nutritious meal.

Side note- I wouldn’t advise eating these before or during a date. Not exactly fresh breath friendly, if you know what I’m saying.

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Today, the working bachelor would load up his slow cooker, go to work and then at the end of his day, come back home to a nice warm meal. Lancashire Hotpot was the slow cookers father. In a slow cooker you could cook anything, Lancashire Hotpot is not as flexible. Lancashire Hotpot is specifically meat and potatoes. A layer of mutton or lamb in a gravy topped with a pretty layer(s) of sliced potatoes. It is slow cooked in a thick old casserole dish. This made a filling dinner for the tired family trapped in the beating heart of the industrial revolution.

1 kg lamb/mutton stew cuts
2 onions, chopped
100g carrot, chopped
30 ml Worcestershire sauce
500 ml stock
800 g potatoes
30 g butter
1 tsp crushed pepper
1 tsp thyme
salt to taste

Heat a thick casserole dish, in it melt a little butter or lard. Sautee the chopped onion and carrots. Throw in the cut meat and brown on a high flame. Add in the Worcestershire sauce. Pour in the stock and with it add the crushed pepper, thyme and some salt to taste. Simmer and layer the sliced potatoes over the stew. While building the layers, sprinkle a little salt and dot a little butter over every layer.

Now you may assemble and cook it in your slow cooker, or else, use your oven. You can cook it at 90 degrees Celsius for around 5 hours or at 160 degrees Celsius for 2. However if you do not have the liberty of the two options you may cook the dish over a low flame on your range for an hour. However you cook it, make sure the dish is thick bottomed and that it is sealed properly with a lid. You do not want to let out any moisture, the potatoes will need it. When it is done cooking, open the lid and with the top heat of your oven on, brown the top layer of potatoes until golden and crisp, unless they are already golden and crisp.

The comeback of Lancashire Hotpot is the need of the hour. Now with the whole family out of the house, busy with their schedule, they don’t need to come back home to frozen dinners, instead, they can come back home to a nice slow cooked hotpot.

The post The Man’s Casserole: Lancashire Hotpot appeared first on FactoryTwoFour.

What I love is wandering the local grocer freezers and seeing chef inspired food, which even after trying many of them, I have found them all to be as bland and boring as something quickly tossed together at home. It’s time for this trend of bland to end; chef inspired is one thing, but chef prepared is another. Cuisine Solutions, an American premium foods company that specializes in the sous-vide method of cooking and meal preparation. They have been providing gourmet products to top restaurants, resorts and catering companies for years and is now making its product line available to everyone.

That’s right. Now home cooks now have access to these delicious ingredient, which already come pre-prepared via sous vide, helping to make a quick and easy meal. And it could be the step needed to save dinner at home.

As someone who is working more than I probably should be, I had to give them a try. I am tired of the frozen pizzas and boring, cardboard enhanced ‘meals’ that I had been torturing my body with. And boy, is my stomach happy and filled with gourmet.

Giving the seared short ribs and white beans with thyme and garlic a try, I will admit it was much easier than I thought it would be. Arriving sealed in the sous vide back, it was an almost too easy preparation in the oven. While it says you can cook in the microwave, I found the waterbath a better choice to ensure the perfect preparation. Setting both items in a high heat dish, bag and all, I poured hot water from the kettle over the items and let them come to temperature.. Now, I’ve never cooked with a bag before, and was a bit hesitant, but what came out was beyond gourmet.

The seared short ribs were better than most I have had at restaurants, with the meat falling apart with a knife and the flavor being perfect throughout. The temperature was perfect the whole mean and there was not one hint of dryness in any of the course. The white beans with garlic and thyme, a new combination for me in terms of meal, was amazing from start to finish, and even for leftovers the next day in the office.

So what does this all mean for dinner at home? Well, honestly, if the time isn’t there, we shouldn’t be forced to pick something that isn’t delicious just to fill the space. And Cuisine Solutions? Well, they saved dinner, and it’s not gourmet.

Interested in saving your home cooked dinner? Use the coupon code “MYBLOGGERSPECIAL” for more savings, and all orders over $75 get free shipping.  The benefits of a program like this are amazing, and with food like this coming strait to your front door, it would be silly to not even give them program a shot for your first order.  You won’t be disappointed.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Cuisine Solutions. The opinions and text are all mine.

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The Planning:

This is a crucial step because we all have our listservs and text chains, but you can’t use those. You must start a new chain for Man Dinner. It will be hard enough coordinating everyone’s schedules without the usual emails. With a date set you’ll now need to pick a place which is not as difficult as one would think; you’re going to a steakhouse (this needs no discussion). Now call around and find the place that can accommodate you on your chosen night. I’d recommend Wolfgang’s Steakhouse in TriBeCa.

The Execution:

Since everyone finishes work at a different time you don’t want to have a set plan for the pre-dinner drinks, but rather let the person out drinking first pick the spot. This spot will ideally be a dive bar. Why a dive bar you ask? Dive bars are great: bar games, cheap drinks and music. The only downside and the main reason you or your pals ever don’t wanna go to one is because there are never a lot of girls. Well, guess what? It’s Man Dinner so you get to that dive bar and start crushing beers and taking shots. Raccoon Lodge is great for this given its downtown location and proximity to Wolfgang’s and other steakhouses.

You’re at your steakhouse and it’s time to shed your dive bar persona. Head to the bar and grab a Macallan 12 and buy a couple for your friends nearest you. Let the liquor show your love.

Ordering should be simple with one guy acting as the go between. “Wine for the table.” “Seafood towers for the table to start.” “Steak for the table.” Feel free to improvise the sides.

The Aftermath:

This is when all Man Dinners begin to take a turn because you’re drunk and can no longer resist the urge to want to meet those of the fairer sex. Head to a beer hall. Houston Hall works perfect for this since you can continue to be manly drinking liters of beer while interacting with girls if that strikes you. This will be your last stop as you’ll soon realize you’re bombed and losing people quickly.

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