Stormy Monday With Some Friends...

Thinking about taking the day off from cooking and writing tomorrow!

So just for fun, here's what I do when I'm not attached to the stove. Gosh I'm missing it already!

This is a good time to thank everyone who's been so supportive of me doing this thing!

First, thank you to my wife Deborah for helping me with this.  And to Ian Byington for all his help, support and love. Cheers Mate!

And thank you to Jim Le Blanc, Chuck and Ian Cooper, and all my Facebook friends...

Roasted Cauliflower and Garlic...

My friends love this dish.  Even if you hate cauliflower you will love this!  It's quick and easy, and you can serve it on its own or as a side dish.

Heat your oven to 400* then slice a cauliflower into 3/4" steaks.  Lay on a roasting pan or sheet pan, then drizzle with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper.  Break open a whole head of garlic, and cut the little hard bit off on the root end.

Cook for 30-45 minutes, turning the cauliflower once.  What you will be trying to achieve is to caramelize one side before you turn it.  Isn't that  easy?!

If you're serving this own its own, try this simple little vinaigrette.  While the cauliflower is roasting,  mince and mash one garlic clove, add a pinch of salt, then whisk together with 1 to 2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice to taste.  Then finely chop 1/4 cup pitted kalamata olives and combine with the other ingredients....  Yum!

Bon Appetit!

Grilled New York Steak With a Wonderful Herb Sauce...

There's a few of tricks to cooking a really good steak.  The first one is to take the meat out of the refrigerator an hour before you start to cook, as this brings the meat up to room temperture.  Whether you're cooking beef, pork, lamb, chicken or fish, the same applies, you just have to make sure the product is fresh!

The second trick is not to season too early, salt can dry out the meat.  The third trick is to have your grill, pan, oven or barbecue hot!  And the last trick is, after cooking, let it rest for 5-10 minutes before slicing or plating.  When the meat is cooked and rested, then slice and serve on hot plates.

Alright then, let's make the best herb sauce ever!  You will need to make this an hour or so before you serve.  I used three different types of thyme because I have a large herb garden, you just need one.   Lemon thyme is a big plus if you have it.  But they must all be fresh, not dried.

Recipe for two:
Start with a nice handful of fresh thyme, rosemary, tarragon and basil
4 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons olive oil

Pick the leaves off all the stems and remove any woody parts.  Peel and rough chop the garlic.  Place the herbs and garlic on a cutting board and chop together until finely chopped, this infuses the flavors of the herbs and garlic together.  Move to a small bowl or ramekin and add oil.  Let sit for an hour or two...

We served our meat with roasted cauliflower and sauteed onion, celeriac and sweet potato.  Recipes to follow on my next posts.

Bon Appetit!

Fresh Berry Sauce For Fish Or Dessert

I just picked the very last of the strawberries, they were not quite ripe enough to eat, so I made a simple sauce with them.  You can use any kind of berry for this sauce which is great on fish!

Here's how:

Puree one cup of fresh berries using a blender.  If the berries have a lot of seeds, then you may want to strain the puree.  Heat a saute pan over high heat, and add one cup of white wine, and one tablespoon of Chambord liquor.

When liquid has reduced by half, add the berry puree, and reduce a little more.  Turn the heat off and add one tablespoon of butter and one tablespoon of honey, shaking the pan back and fourth.

Bon Appetit!

Ginger Tea...

So, I was in the store yesterday, and heard two ladies complaining about how sick they were and that all their friends had the bug!

So here's a recipe to help you, if you have a cold, or if you just want to build your immune system up a bit...

2"-3" fresh organic ginger peeled and sliced
1/2 organic lemon
1 large teaspoon local honey

Bring two big cups of water to a boil and add ginger, turn heat down so you have a vigorous simmer. Simmer for about 20 minutes, then strain liquid into a cup and add honey and the lemon half. The tea will be spicy hot so you may need more or less honey...

Cheers!

Robyn O'Brien TED Award Winner

This is a must see, if you care about your food and your health...

Killer, Killer Roasted Root Vegetables...

This Dish is Killer!  And It's Easy!


Tonight I roasted beets, turnips, apples and garlic.
Recipe for four:

6 red, gold or chioggia beets peeled and cut into wedges
6 turnips peeled and cut into wedges
1 large red onion quartered
1 medium size apple cubed
1 whole head of garlic separated and root end trimmed but leave skin on
1 sprig rosemary
3 sprigs lemon thyme
1 stick of butter
1 cup Madeira wine
1 cup chicken or vegetable stock
1 teaspoon each or salt and pepper
1 pinch chili flakes

Turn your oven on to 375*

This dish is flexible you can add carrots, parsnips or whatever else you want to cook.

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First peel the beets and turnips, and cut into wedges and then cut apples in to cubes.   In a roasting pan, place beets, turnips, apples and garlic, and a good drizzle of olive oil and mix with your hands.  Then add all of the ingredients and cover with foil, and place in the oven for 45 minutes to an hour.  This dish is fantastic, you can serve it with meat, fish, rice or quinoa...

Bon Appetit!

Sauteed Onions and Apples with Chard, Spinach and Arugula

It's the Fall, so cook with apples, pears and winter squash....

If your kids won't eat vegetables, I bet they will like this dish!  You can use chard, kale, spinach, arugula, beet greens or collards.  Or you can use a combination like I did.

Recipe for two:


1 small apple, chopped
1 small red onion, chopped
A nice big handful of greens or your choice, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
Salt and pepper
Splash of balsamic vinegar

Put olive oil and butter in a pan over high heat.  When the pan is hot and butter foaming, add the onions and shake or stir pan.  Then add the apples and season with a nice big pinch of sea salt and pepper.

Cook for about 2 minutes, then reduce heat to low and caramelize.  When onions and apples look cooked down (see photo), turn the heat up to medium and add your greens and a splash of balsamic vinegar.  Keep stirring the greens to melt them down. Serve when melted...

Bon Appetit!

Roasted Butternut Squash and Garlic Soup

This soup is easy to make and is a fantastic seasonal Fall dish:

Recipe feeds around six:
1 small to medium sized butternut squash peeled and seeded and cut into cubes or wedges
6 cloves of garlic, peeled
16 oz cream
4 cups vegetable or chicken stock
A few good pinches salt and pepper
About two tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
Mirepoix:
     1 carrot, chopped
     1 small red onion, chopped
     2 stalks of celery, chopped

I make this soup with cream but you don't have to.  Heat your oven to 350* then get a nice heavy baking pan or sheet pan, spread the butternut squash and garlic out on the pan, and coat with olive oil, then season with salt and pepper.  Don't skimp on the seasoning!  Then place in the oven for about 45 minutes.  What you're going to want to end up with is nice color on the squash but not burned.  The garlic will cook quicker, so you will have to take it out before the squash so you don't end up with a burned mess.

While the squash is cooking, heat a saute pan up over medium high heat and add butter.  Spread out chopped mirepoix on a cutting board and chop it all together a little bit more -- this will combine the flavors.  When the pan is hot and butter foaming, add the mirepoix and some salt and pepper, be generous with the seasoning!  You don't want to brown it so stir or shake the pan a lot, and just cook until soft.

When everything is cooked, place all the cooked food and stock in a blender and puree.  You don't have to add all the stock, or you can add more, it's up to you on the consistency you want to end up with.  When you have a nice puree place the mixture in a pan over medium low heat.  When it's warm enough add the cream, turn heat to low and stir until warm.  Ladle into a bowl and garnish with a drizzle of creme fraiche, and add chives or tarragon.

Bon Appetit!

Baby Leeks with Feta Cheese and a Balsamic Drizzle

This is a killer Fall lunch treat.

First set your oven to 350 degrees. Trim and clean your leeks -- with a knife take off the roots and the green tops, then lengthwise with your knife cut the leeks in half about 1" from the root end, which means you will have a leek that is cut in half but still attached! Holding the leek with root end or white end up, wash leek under running water so the dirt runs away from the attached end, then dry.

Place leeks in a roasting dish and drizzle with olive oil, then salt and pepper. Place in the oven and cook for about half an hour, turn if needed, you don't want too much color, just a little.

When done, place leeks on a plate and crumble room temperature feta cheese on top, then drizzle with Balsamic drizzle and serve...

To make Balsamic reduction/drizzle: In a pan bring one bottle of balsamic vinegar to a boil, then simmer until reduced by about two-thirds of the volume. When the vinegar starts to stick to the spoon, turn off the heat and add a big tablespoon of honey and stir. You may not get this right the first time, but when you do, well baby, this is liquid gold! You Will Have To Hide It!!!

Bon Appetit!

Rock Cod with a White Wine Butter Caper Sauce

Don't be afraid of cooking fish -- the secret is having a good, heavy, shallow pan, and having the oil or butter hot!


Recipe for two:
Two 1/3 pound pieces of fresh rock cod, skin removed
A good pinch or two of salt and pepper
1/2 cup all purpose flour
About two tablespoons olive oil for cooking

Sauce:
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup vegetable, chicken or fish stock
2 tablespoons capers, rinsed and dried
1 tablespoon butter

With fish already cut, cleaned, floured and seasoned, get your pan and oil nice and hot. Then add the fish, presentation (nice) side down, and shake it back and forth to keep it from sticking. Once it's seared the chances of it sticking are slight.

When it's cooked half way though, turn the fish with a good, wide, steel spatula and cook until it's almost done, then remove from pan, place on an oven plate, and finish in the oven.

Now wipe and/or scrape out your pan so it's free from bits of cooked fish, return pan to high heat. When pan is hot, add wine and cook until liquid is reduced by half, then add the stock and repeat the same steps. When you're happy with the amount of liquid, turn the heat off and add capers and butter, once again shaking the pan back and forth until the sauce has a nice shine. Do not add any heat otherwise the sauce will break.

Bon Appetit!

Hole in the Wall...

Here's a quick, cheap and easy breakfast for you Moms and Dads that are on the go and trying to

feed your kids good food, instead of that processed crap...

Hole in the Wall...

First cut a large hole in a piece of bread (I use sourdough bread from Bakery San Juan), in heavy skillet over medium heat add your fat of choice butter, olive oil or coconut oil. When the oil is hot place the bread in the pan, then crack an egg in to the middle of the bread, season with salt, pepper and little pinch of cayenne (trust me, the cayenne brings it all together), cook for about a minute and then flip and cook for another minute. Serve on a plate, or cook it a little longer so the egg's not runny, then they can eat it from a bag in the car!! Fast, simple and cheap...

Bon Appetit!

Chicken Curry with Indian Puppodums

This is a great dish, and it's quick and easy.

Recipe for two:
1 cup jasmine rice
1 large skinless chicken breast, sliced
1/2 cup red onion, chopped
1/2 sweet potato, cubed
2 teaspoons garlic, finely chopped
2 teaspoons ginger, finely chopped
Juice from a lime
1 cup stock
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
2 tablespoons curry powder
1/2 cup whole milk Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 teaspoon each salt and pepper

Garnish with 2 scallions thinly sliced or you can use chives

First get your rice going, by placing rice in a small pot, add a pinch of sea salt and a little olive oil. Over high heat stir rice until you can hear it start to cook (don't brown), then add stock or water, enough to cover rice by about 1/4", bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and cover.

Thinly slice chicken and season with salt and pepper, then in a large heavy saute pan, over high heat, add the coconut oil.  When oil is hot add chicken and brown on both sides. Remove cooked chicken from pan and place on a dish to rest. Still over high heat add the onion and sweet potato and cook until almost done, then add ginger and garlic, keep stirring ingredients so not to burn.

Reduce heat to medium high and add cumin and curry powder, stir and coat onion and sweet potato, then add stock, lemon juice and tomato paste. Stir and reduce heat to low and add yogurt and stir, add chicken and cook for a couple of minutes with heat still on low. Cook a little more enough to warm chicken, by this time your rice should be done.

Now fry your puppodums in a little olive oil -- the trick to these tasty little lentil rounds is when the oil is hot, with a pair of tongs place puppodum in oil and turn it over on the other side, keep doing this as they cook very quickly. Serve over rice and garnish...

Bon Appetit!

Sexy King Salmon, with White Bean Puree'

Don't let this dish scare you, it's easy and quick...

Recipe for two:
1/4 yellow onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 handfull chard leaves, chopped course
1 handfull spinach, chopped course
2 good pinches each salt (Eden is the best) and pepper
1 tablespoon butter
2 king salmon fillets around 1/3 pound each, skin and bones removed and seasoned with salt and pepper
1 can organic (Eden) beans, pureed course

First stick two plates in a warm oven, then open a small can of white beans and place in a blender and puree course. Add beans to a small saucepan with a lid and warm over low heat; when beans are warm, then saute onion in a little olive oil and season with salt and pepper. When onions are soft (1-2 minutes)  add the garlic and lower heat. In another saute pan over high heat, add the butter; when butter has melted and foaming add seasoned salmon presentation/"pretty" side down, cooking until brown on that side (about 2 minutes) then turn and cook the other side. It is important only to turn fish once! When salmon is almost done, remove from heat and place in an oven dish and place in the oven.

Turn the heat up to medium and add chard and spinach to the onions and melt greens. When greens are done, remove plates and salmon from oven, ladle some of the bean puree onto the middle of each plate and then place some of the greens on top of the beans, then place salmon on top of that. If you like you can drizzle any remaining butter from the pan you cooked the salmon in over the fish. It is really important to use salt on this dish, because the beans will make everything seem bland if you don't.

Bon Appetit!