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Pasta Rules. Bacon Rules. Cheese Rules!

8/15/2016

If you're as old as I am, you probably remember that cool toy the ViewMaster? It was a little binocular shaped toy that allowed you to scroll through a story from an inserted wheel with images. It allowed you view all the images in 3D!! You pushed your finger on a paddle to advance the images that felt life-sized. It was the precursor to what would become 3D Virtual gaming.

But what if you could do that with food? I found myself thinking that as I plated up this beautiful, cheesy pasta dish. What if I was standing on the edge of this bowl, with a little, tiny lifesaver strapped to my waist, and I had the ability to just swim next to all this color, and flavor and texture? How would it be to wrap my arms around crispy bacon. Or drink the nectar of creamy Jack cheese from a shell?

I'd certainly be sitting next to greatness, just like those beautiful kalamata olives that absolutely rocked the dish. I mean, what would be better than a front row seat of flavor-fabulousness, dipping your toes into the salty broth as though you were a fork with a soul? If I told you there was also a bit of caramelized onions added, would you jump in with me?

The only thing better would be EATING IT with friends. Yes!!!!!

RECIPE: Cheesy shells and bacon with caramelized onions
and kalamata olives.

Serves 4 / Click here to download printable version

Ingredients
Method

¾ lb thick cut bacon cooked almost crisp
3 C shells pasta uncooked
1 can Campbell’s French Onion Soup
1 pint Kalamata Olives
2/4 lb Monterrey jack cheese
½ t fresh grated nutmeg
4 T butter
2 C 2% milk
3 T flour
Handful of fresh flat leaf parsley
1-2 t kosher salt

Cook the bacon, let it cool, and chop into chunky pieces. Drain the broth off the soup and squeeze all of the moisture out of the onions. Set these both aside. Cut the parsley and set aside.

Bring a pan with 10 C water to boil. Let it simmer so it’s ready to use. While the pasta is cooking, heat butter in a saucepan and add the flour, cook for about 2-3 minutes creating a roux. Add the milk and stir to make sure it’s smooth. Then add the cheese, stirring with a spoon on medium low until it is all melted in and the sauce is thick and silky but not too thick. (Note: if it’s too thick add a bit more milk.) Add the nutmeg and some salt, appx 1 teaspoon, to taste. Ladle the al dente shells into the cheese mixture. No need to drain. Whatever water is dripping off the pasta will create the consistency you want. Stir to combine. Then add the onions from the soup, and the bacon. Stir to combine. When all it hot and steaming, but not bubbling, serve. Top each bowlful of pasta with a little parsley and about 4-5 kalamata olives.

NOTE: You can substitute ham or other salty meal for the bacon. Can leave vegetarian for a side dish.

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Oh the crunchy salty, sweet and tangy, tender juiciness of it all!!! ~~Salmon dinner delivers FLAVOR explosion...

8/13/2016

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I believe you go big, or go home!!!! Right?

Well, I'm already at home I guess. So let's change it to 'Go Big or Leave The Kitchen!' How's that? It's completely appropriate to say if you're biting into this dinner, since it contains all your favorite flavors and textures. And since it was so, so, so easy to make, going big is more accessible than ever.

Salmon is such a versatile canvas. The sweet and tender texture of its flesh is so easy to pair with any flavor. And one of my favorites is the fruity and zingy sauce you see above. By taking a few Kadota figs and cooking them down with some sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, fresh ginger and a bit of cranberry balsamic, you'll get a sweet/spicy combination that is both sophisticated and simple. A buttery braised stalk of bok choy is the perfect textural and flavorful accent along with the earthy flavor of black lentils, helping to complete this dish.

But the real star here, if you haven't looked closely, is that crispy, fatty thin skin that is still there on the salmon. Searing the fish in oil, butter and sea salt in a very hot pan creates a thin but crunchy topping. And if you've lost count for the number of flavors we've created so far, that's okay. You'll just realize it is everything you've ever loved. And it will be your new favorite!

Wow, this turned out even better than I thought it would. That beautiful fig sauce, the juicy and medium rare salmon, the crunchy skin, the hint of butter on the seared bok choy. I say go for it all.

Seared Salmon with a Lemon & Ginger Kodota Fig Sauce

Ingredients
Method
Extras

4, 4 oz salmon filets, skins on
2 T olive oil
2 T butter
3 T sugar
1/4 C white wine, such as a Riesling or Pinot Gris (or use 1/3 C mild vegetable stock)
Kosher salt and black pepper to taste
1 C Kadota figs, sliced into small pieces
zest of 1 lemon
2 T lemon juice
1 T fresh grated ginger
1/4 C sweet balsamic, such as Cranberry

Add chopped figs, lemon zest, lemon juice, grated ginger and sugar to a saucepan and bring to a boil. Let cook on medium to medium low (don't let it burn!) until the sugar is dissolved, about 2 minutes. Add the cranberry balsamic and let simmer for about 6-8 minutes, watching to make sure it doesn't dry out. If it does, add a little water a tablespoon at a time. When it has reduced and it starting to become syrupy, turn off heat and transfer sauce to a bowl. Let sit for at least 30 minutes, or cover and let sit on counter for up to three hours before dinner time. This allows the sauce to thicken a bit so it's prettier on the plate.

In another saucepan brought to high temperature, melt the butter and add the oil. Place the salmon filets, skin side down into the hot butter/oil. Sprinkle a little salt and just a bit of black pepper (you can use white pepper) on the side of the filet not searing. Let it sear for a few minutes until nice and browned. Turn the heat down to medium and turn it over when you see the opacity at about 1/3 of the way up the filet, which only takes about 3 minutes or so. Now, deglaze with the wine. Cook/braise the fish on this side until you still see some pink remaining only in the center. Remove to a plate, cover loosely with foil and let sit for 10 minutes. It will continue to cook through. Cook longer if you prefer your salmon more done. But seriously, eat it this way so you can discover how moist and sweet it is just like this!!

To serve 4, take 8, trimmed and cleaned stalks of bok choy and sear for about 2 minutes on each side in butter. Remove, sprinkle with sea salt, serve.

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Sure, Chicken Soup is for the Soul...But Roast Chicken is for Body AND Soul!

8/10/2016

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And now, right on the heels of a post about NOT needing meat in your entree is an entire post about meat! I know, you love how I think.

But you also love how I cook! At least that's what I hear! And nothing is better than the comforting, and celestial aroma that wafts from you oven when you're roasting a GOOOOD chicken. I can't make the perfect chicken, but I can make it butter...I mean better. Well, you know what I mean!

This recipe is inspired by the Standard Grill's Million Dollar Chicken as featured on The Barefoot Contessa. However, I decided to change things up a little when I discovered I did not have Creme Fraiche. It worked out perfectly. And you have NO IDEA how tender, juicy, and full of flavor this dish contains. I don't know how, in only 1 hour of cooking the flesh becomes so infused with flavors, but it does.

The secret, or the answer is most likely in the basting, and then the herbed butter that is slathered on at the end and allowed to crisp up during the last few minutes of cooking. Then, let the chicken rest. SO, SO, IMPORTANT.

And while we're on the subject of slathering, take a look at these beautiful Kadota figs from my friend's garden, that she laid atop Manchego cheese and then slathered with artisanal honey. DELISH.

It's a wonder we didn't get arrested this meal was so sinful. Even the dessert was gasp-worthy. Your guests will stop breathing for a moment as well when you serve Brandy Poached Bosc pears and then top it with Cream Almondine and a small sprinkling of lavender sea salt. (Uh, they got eaten before I had a chance to take a photo.) Lucky for you the recipes are below!

Scrumptious Herb and Butter Roasted Chicken

Click here for printable version.

Ingredients
Method

3-4 lb organic chicken
1 lemon
Handful of fresh thyme
3 garlic cloves grated
2 garlic cloves whole
¼ small white onion
½ C + good olive oil
Sea salt and pepper
3 T fresh flat leaf parsley
½ c unsalted butter
1 small shallot grated finely
1 C white wine
2 thick slices of hearty, crusty French bread

Mix together the room temperature butter, the finely chopped parsley, the shallot, grated garlic, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Set aside.

Wash and pat dry the room-temperature chicken, being careful to remove all of the giblets from the inner cavity. Sometimes I trim off a bit of the extra fat at the opening, but it is up to you. Generously oil the bird, and then rub with generous amounts of coarse sea salt and ground black pepper inside the bird and out. I simply pour about 2-3 T of the salt into a small container so I can just grab and rub. Cut the lemon into 6ths, chop the onion into large ½ inch cubes, cut two of the garlic cloves in half, and stuff all of that, along with the handful of thyme into the cavity of the chicken. Using twine, tie the legs together to keep all the good stuff inside the bird. Drizzle more olive oil atop.

Drizzle a little oil in the bottom of a roasting pan. Place the two pieces of bread on the bottom, and add a bit more oil, and then place the dressed bird on top with the breast facing up. Pour the wine into the pan. Place in a 450 degree F oven and cook for about 60 minutes, or until juices run clear and a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh reads 170 degrees F. Marinate the chicken with the juices every 15 minutes and about 5 minutes before chicken is done, (the juices will be a little pink, and the leg will just be starting to pull away from the body,) brush a good part of the herb butter mixture all over the top of the bird and cook for the remaining 5 minutes. Remove, test with thermometer, and rest bird, covered for 10-15 minutes.

Brandy Poached Bosc Pears with Cream Almondine
and Lavender Sea Salt

Serves 8 / Click here for printable version.

Ingredients
Method

4 medium ripe Bosc pears, peeled and cut in half, seeds removed
3 oz good brandy
1 C unfiltered apple juice
1/3 C + 3 T white sugar
Dash of cinnamon
3 C whipped cream (about 1 C heavy cream unwhipped)
1 t vanilla extract
½ t almond extract
Lavender sea salt (You can use pink Himalayan salt, too.)
Fresh mint for garnish

Rub the 1/3 C sugar all over the peeled, seeded and cut pear halves as you go to keep them from turning brown and to help caramelize when cooking. Then place the 8 peeled, seeded halves, with the stems on, open side up in a large baking dish. Drizzle the brandy over the top working to get the brandy mostly into the indentations and on the top of the pears. The rest will spill into the dish. That’s okay. Then add the apple juice to the pan, but don’t pour it over the pears. Sprinkle pears with a bit of the cinnamon. Bake at 375 degrees F for 45 minutes or until the pears are soft. Remove and cover with foil. They can remain in the pan, covered, on your counter for 3 hours.

Whip the heavy cream. When almost to stiff peaks add the vanilla, 3 T sugar and the almond extract. Whip those three ingredients in. Cover and keep in fridge until ready to serve.

To plate, use a shallow dessert bowl and place a half of the pear in the bowl. Drizzle with the juices from the baking dish. Add a generous dallop of the cream to the side a bit, partially covering the pear. Drizzle VERY LITTLE of the lavender sea salt atop. Only a few strategic granules are needed. Top with a bit of the chopped, fresh mint. Serve!

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what I'm making right now...

Pasta Rules. Bacon Rules. Cheese Rules!

RECIPE: Cheesy shells and bacon with caramelized onions
and kalamata olives.

Oh the crunchy salty, sweet and tangy, tender juiciness of it all!!! ~~Salmon dinner delivers FLAVOR explosion...

Seared Salmon with a Lemon & Ginger Kodota Fig Sauce

Sure, Chicken Soup is for the Soul...But Roast Chicken is for Body AND Soul!

Scrumptious Herb and Butter Roasted Chicken

Brandy Poached Bosc Pears with Cream Almondine
and Lavender Sea Salt

Watch my short video about getting comfy in the kitchen.

Click the image to buy the book!

Meet the Cook...

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what I'm making right now...

Pasta Rules. Bacon Rules. Cheese Rules!

RECIPE: Cheesy shells and bacon with caramelized onions​and kalamata olives.

Oh the crunchy salty, sweet and tangy, tender juiciness of it all!!! ~~Salmon dinner delivers FLAVOR explosion...

Seared Salmon with a Lemon & Ginger Kodota Fig Sauce

Sure, Chicken Soup is for the Soul...But Roast Chicken is for Body AND Soul!

Scrumptious Herb and Butter Roasted Chicken

Brandy Poached Bosc Pears with Cream Almondine ​and Lavender Sea Salt

Watch my short video about getting comfy in the kitchen.

Click the image to buy the book!

Meet the Cook...

Archives

Categories

Home

RECIPES

BLOG

Connect

RECIPE: Cheesy shells and bacon with caramelized onions
and kalamata olives.

Brandy Poached Bosc Pears with Cream Almondine
and Lavender Sea Salt