New Recipes

Bay Scallop Crudo

This is not the typical way to make a crudo. In this case, it's more like a ceviche but just as delicious!

Ingredients:

1/2 lb super fresh bay scallops

Juice of one Meyer Lemon (strained)

Juice of two Clementines (strained)

1/2 of a Thai Green Chile-sliced very thin (use more if you like spicy)

1 tbsp soy sauce

1/4 cup good quality extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp finely chopped chives

1 doz ripe yellow grape tomatoes (sliced in half)

Salt to taste

Directions:

Combine and gently stir together all of the above ingredients and let sit in fridge for about an hour. Stir every ten minutes. Adjust seasoning right before serving. Serve immediately. This recipe is also delicious with large scallops, thinly sliced.


Serves 2 or 4 small portions

Carrot, Parsnip and Arugula Salad

Ingredients:

16 oz carrots and parsnips (I used mutli color carrots for presentation)

1 tbsp Caraway seeds

1 tbsp Coriander seeds

1 tbsp Cumin seeds

Arugula (use enough for four servings, use your judgement)

2-3 cloves of garlic (mashed or put through a press)

Salt and Pepper to taste

Extra Virgin Olive Oil to coat veggies, use liberally

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Combine all spices and garlic in a mill or mash them in a mortar and pestle; add oil to make a thin paste. Peel carrots and parsnips. Massage spices, oil and garlic mixture into veggies. Salt and pepper generously to taste and roast on 425 degrees until the veggies are soft and slightly caramelized. Remove and let cool to room temperature. 

You can easily adjust all ingredients to make more, or use more spices and garlic to adjust the flavor.

For the salad, toss the arugula with our lemon-garlic vinagrette (see recipe on meal #4 of our "Seven Meals for Seven Days" post). 

Arrange the veggies on top of the salad on a plate for family style or single servings. A sprinkle of pink 

salt is nice with it as well.

Serves 4

Enjoy!

BF&C

Turkey Tetrazzini

After three days of eating turkey, it needed a make over. So, I made turkey tetrazzini, it can be eaten with rice, boiled potatoes or pasta. I prefer egg noodles. This is a warm, cozy, comfort food-kind of dish. Waste not, want not.

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1/2 cup flour

2 cups chicken broth

2 cups heavy cream

1 cup milk

Big sprig of thyme

Nutmeg

Cayenne pepper

Salt and black pepper

4-6 cups diced turkey

6 oz. Parmesan Reggiano or Asagio cheese

10 oz. mushrooms (I used half white and half shitake mushrooms)

1 tbsp. butter

Dash of chicken broth

1-2 lbs. egg noodles

Chopped parsley for garnish

Melt butter over medium-high heat. Add flour and whisk until incorporated for a few minutes. Slowly add 2 cups heavy cream and 1 cup of milk. Add a nice big handful of thyme, nutmeg and cayenne pepper (use as much nutmeg and cayenne as you want -- always taste your product) and stir constantly until mixture has thickened. Basically, you have just made a bechamel sauce. Continue cooking sauce for about 5-7 minutes over medium-low heat, then remove thyme. Add 2 cups of broth, add the turkey and mix together. Turn up heat to medium-high and bring up to a low boil and lightly boil for a few minutes to incorporate flavors. Stir constantly so it doesn't burn. You may have to adjust your heat.

For Mushrooms:

In a separate saute pan, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms, a pinch of salt, and the dash of chicken broth. What I mean by a "dash" of chicken broth is a quarter of a cup. Continue cooking mushrooms by stirring until they are soft enough to add to turkey mixture.

Roasted Whole Branzino with an Herb Garlic Rub

A branzino is a European sea bass, ranging from 1-3 pounds and has firm white flesh. Great for grilling and roasting. Here, I roasted it with a garlic and herb rub and it is the easiest thing in the world to do. 

1 Branzino, gutted; if you don't know how to do this, have your fish monger do it; leave the head on for presentation

Rosemary

Thyme

Oregano, use as much as you want of these 3 herbs

3-4 garlic cloves

1 1/2 tsp salt

Freshly ground pepper to taste

Enough extra virgin olive oil to create a paste

1/2 lemon sliced into 4 slices

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees with rack in the center of the oven. 

Make 4 scores with a sharp knife in the fish on both sides. Remove desired amount of herbs from the stalks and process in a small food processor with garlic, salt and pepper and just enough olive oil to create a paste. It will take about 1/8 cup of olive oil. Smear the inside of the fish with the paste and then continue smearing the paste over both sides of the fish.

Place the 4 slices of lemon into the cavity of the fish and place in a roasting pan that is just large enough to hold the fish. Place in oven and roast for 25 minutes. 

Chicken Milanese

Milanese is usually made with a veal cutlet -- pounded, very thin, breaded and then sauteed. But because some people have an issue with veal, I made this with chicken. It is usually topped with a chopped salad. It is good any time of the year, and you can put any kind of chopped salad you want on top, but it is usually made with arugula, tomatoes and red onion. I like to add a few slices of good quality Parmesan Reggiano. 

1 whole skinless chicken breast

2 eggs

1/4 cup flour

1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 oz unsalted butter

Salt and pepper

For salad (use as much as you would like):

Arugula

Red onion (diced or sliced)

Cherry tomatoes (cut in half)

Radicchio (chopped; optional)

Parmesan Reggiano

Garlic lemon vinagrette (see previous post)

Assemble the flour, eggs and Panko in separate containers. Butterfly the chicken breast and place between two sheets of saran wrap and pound to about 1/4 inch thick with a meat pounder. If you don't have a meat pounder, you can buy one at any grocery store or have your butcher do it for you. 

Peel away the saran wrap. Salt and pepper chicken on both sides. Coat the cutlet in the flour, then the egg, then the bread crumbs, patting the bread crumbs so that they adhere to the chicken. Set aside. Prepare your salad and vinagrette, but do not dress until the last minute.

Next, in a saute pan large enough to hold the cutlet, heat 1-1/2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil and 1 oz of butter over medium-high heat. Do not let it burn. Add your cutlet. Cook for several minutes until golden brown. Transfer to a dish, add the rest of the extra virgin olive oil and butter and brown the other side.

Plate and place a mound of salad on top with a few slices of cheese and some of the grated lemon zest from the garlic vinagrette and a sprinkle of salt and freshly ground pepper. Even though this is one piece of chicken, adding all the other ingredients expands the size and two people could easily share this, so feel free to either indulge or share! 

Puree of Butternut Squash and Sweet Potato Soup

Top with a dollop of creme fraiche or sour cream. Sprinkle some croutons on top and some chopped chives. Because this is a very hearty soup, you could serve this as an entree with a salad and a delicious piece of crusty bread. Because this recipe makes a large amount of soup, you can be sure people will ask for seconds or you can cut the recipe in half before cooking. It is hard to find small squashes, besides acorns, so I recommend if you take the time to make it, take the time to freeze out portions for another time. It should also be frozen before you add the milk or heavy cream.

3 lbs butternut squash (peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch cubes)

2 lbs sweet potato (peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes)

1/2 oz ginger root (peeled and sliced)

1 Gala or Macintosh apple (cored and sliced; no need to peel)

1 large Vidalia onion (peeled and thinly sliced)

6 large cloves of garlic (peeled and chopped)

1-3 sprigs of thyme

1 large bay leaf

3 tbsp brown sugar

12 whole peppercorns

4 oz unsalted butter

2 cups apple cider

Milk, heavy cream or skim milk

4 cups chicken broth

1/2 tsp or more nutmeg

1 oz Jack Daniels (optional)

Creme fraiche or sour cream

Salt and pepper to taste

6x6 double layer of cheesecloth

4-inch piece of butcher's twine

For croutons:

Pepperidge Farm white bread

Butter

Over medium high heat, melt butter. Add onions and garlic and start to caramelize. Stir constantly, this will take about 5 minutes or so. You want to see them turn brown but not burn. You may have to adjust the heat. Add the Jack Daniels (optional) and stir for 1 minute or proceed with brown sugar. Add brown sugar and continue stirring until onions are a beautiful brown color.

Add the apple cider, chicken broth, nutmeg, sweet potato and squash. Bring up to boil. As you are waiting for squash to come up to a boil, make your spice sachet. Using the cheesecloth, place the bay leaf, thyme and peppercorns in center of cheesecloth. Gather up corners and twist. Now use the twine to tie up the bundle. Trim off ends of twine and any extra cheesecloth at the top. Add sachet to soup. 

When soup comes to a boil, lower heat, cover and simmer until potato and squash are very tender. Remove sachet and discard. Puree soup in batches in a blender or food processor and place in bowl large enough to hold each pureed batch. Wash out pot and return pureed soup to the pot. At this point, you will add the milk or skim milk (if you want less calories) or heavy cream (if you want a more luxurious texture). The amount of liquid you add is up to you, the soup should not be too thin or too thick. It is a matter or preference, but it should have good body. Reheat your soup but do not boil and add salt and pepper to taste. 

Directions for croutons:

Use about a half a slice of bread per person. Cut off the crusts and stack the bread on top of each other. Cut into half-inch slices and then half-inch cubes.

Melt as much butter as you want in a saute pan. Add croutons and constantly shake the pan back and forth. Remember the bread will soak up the butter so you need to use enough to get the croutons brown. Also to save calories, I use Grapeseed spray to coat and that can give you a good result as well. You can also use a soft spatula to toss the croutons around. It will take several minutes for them to brown. Season with a little salt. 

Ladle out soup, top with a dollop of creme fraiche or sour cream. Sprinkle some croutons on top and some chopped chives would be lovely as well. Because this is a very hearty soup, you could serve this as an entree with a salad and a delicious piece of crusty bread. Because this recipe makes a large amount of soup, you can be sure people will ask for seconds or you can cut the recipe in half before cooking. It is hard to find small squashes, besides acorns, so I recommend if you take the time to make it, take the time to freeze out portions for another time. It should also be frozen before you add the milk or heavy cream.

How to Cook the Perfect Steak Without a Grill

Grilling season is coming up and some of us who don't have backyards with grills because we live in cities should not despair. You do not need a grill to make a delicious steak. In fact, this is my favorite way to make steak as the butter seals in all the juices and creates a delicious crust.

1 2-inch prime ribeye steak

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1-2 large sprigs of thyme

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 oz of unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 450 degrees with rack in center of the oven.

Generously salt and pepper the steak. In an over-proof pan that is just big enough to hold your steak, melt the butter and olive oil on medium-high heat and sear steak approximately 2 minutes on each side until golden-brown. 

Pop pan in the oven and roast for approximately 5-7 minutes for med-rare. Use a digital thermometer in center to test temp if you do not know how to test by hand yet. It should read 120-125 degrees for rare, 130 for medium rare (but remember, it continues to cook when you take it out of the oven, so I recommend taking it out a few minutes early to achieve the results you want). I prefer this cut of meat medium-rare; anything under or over makes it tough. I also recommend placing it on a platter so it does not remain in the hot pan cooking away. Let meat rest for 10 minutes before carving.

Roasted Salmon with Creamed Fennel and Onions

This recipe is simple, delicious, very elegant, and great for dinner parties. You can substitute the salmon with halibut or monkfish. Remember to buy wild fish only.

2 pieces of salmon 5-6 oz each

1 small fennel bulb, with root removed and thinly sliced

1 small-medium onion, thinly sliced

1 inch of fresh ginger, peeled, sliced, and julienned (thin strips)

2 oz ginger liquor, I like to use Domaine de Canton -- they make the prettiest little 50mL bottles, drink what's left, use it as a vase

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

4 oz good quality chicken broth 

2 oz heavy cream

Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and start preparing your vegetables. Salt and pepper both sides of salmon, some people like the skin, some don't; have your fish monger remove it if you don't. Place in a saute pan, non stick is ok and place in heated oven in center rack while you do your creamed fennel. The skin will cook without having to sear it. Salmon will take about 15-20 minutes; if you like salmon on the rarer side, check it after 15 minutes. You can remove the skin after salmon is cooked as well.

Heat oil on medium-high in a non-stick pan and add sliced fennel, onion, and ginger with a generous pinch of salt. Lower heat to medium and sweat for approximately 7-10 minutes. Adjust heat if it starts to brown. "Sweating" is to soften the vegetables without adding color. Add the ginger liquor, cook for a minute or two and then add the 4 oz of chicken stock, stir, cover, and continue to soften the vegetables over medium heat. This only takes about 5 minutes or so. You can judge by tasting a piece of fennel and if it is soft or has a bite, adjust your cooking time. Stir occasionally until stock is almost absorbed and vegetables are soft. 

When veggies are softened, the salmon should be just about done. Test the temperature with your handy dandy digital thermometer or pinch the salmon with your fingers; there should be some spring to it, meaning it will be about medium. Remember less time for medium rare. Remove from oven and tent with tin foil while you finish your fennel.

Add 2 oz of the heavy cream to the fennel, salt and pepper to taste, stir to incorporate. Place desired portion in center of plate and place 1 piece of salmon on top. Accompaniments can be rice, roasted potatoes, and a salad.