Savory Mini Cheesecakes with Pomegranate Balsamic Vinegar and Basil Olive Oil Pear Salad

 

This is one of my all time favorite starters.   It is also a tremendous crowd pleaser when I have company over for dinner. 

Prepare the batter: In a medium bowl

Add ½ c whipped cream cheese

½ c lowfat cream cheese

2 large eggs

½ tsp each salt & pepper

1T freshly minced parlsey

Whisk until smooth

 

 

Prepare souffle molds:

Generously coat the inside of the molds with unsalted butter
Coat with bread crumbs
Pour batter into each mold (3/4 up the mold).
Press 1T gorgonzola cheese into each mold- completely cover the cheese with batter.
Top with a pinch of fresh parsley.
Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

Remove from oven and let the molds cool prior to plating.

Salad

I like to use a mixed spring green salad with red onions, cherry tomatoes and slice pear.  The dressing is simple. I use locally produced Pomegranate Balsamic Vinegar and Basil Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

When developing this recipe, we tested a lot of different cheeses (goat, feta, parmesan and gorgonzola).  The gorgonzola stole the show.  This provided the best flavor. 

Enjoy!

Straight from Alaska Salmon on the BBQ

A friend of mine is a pilot on JetBlue. He was frequenting Alaska over the summer. On one excursion, he packed a never been frozen freshly caught salmon and asked me to cook it. What a delight! I kept it super simple. I did want to interrupt the nature flavors of the salmon.

I started off by marinating the salmon in some garlic olive oil. After about an hour, I wrapped the salmon in some tin foil along with fresh green onions, a splash of Montreal Seasoning, the garlic olive oil and a dash of orange juice. I used orange juice instead of lemon. I didn't want to add a sour flavor to the fish. Since salmon has its own sweetness, I wanted to enhance the natural sweetness of the fish with the orange juice. Last, I wrapped the salmon air tight in foil and threw it on the grill. Depending on the thickness of the salmon, the time to cook will vary.

The fish was fantastic! Next summer, I am planning a trip out to Alaska with my our friends from JetBlue. I plan on diving deep into the seafood. I hope to bring back as variety of fish options to play with!

Enjoy!

Shepard's Pie

 

This is the ultimate family style recipe.  You can expand and make it as big as you would like.  It is definitely not for those watching their waistline.

 

I like to slow cook the roast in the crock pot all day on low.  It really cuts down the preparation time with this meal. 

 

I start off by making my roast brew by adding to the crock pot onions, fresh garlic, rosemary, and basil.   For spices, I use montreal steak seasoning.  I cover with one beer, and I let this cook all day on low.  I like to use Fat Tire.  This beer adds a very nice flavor to the au jus.  I highly recommend you pay close attention to the beer you add.  If you add a bitter beer, you will get a bitter sauce. 

 

You will cook all day until the meat falls apart when you try to pick it up with a fork. 

 

Once the meat has finished cooking, you will remove the roast and shred in a deep large casserole pan.  Cover with a couple handfuls of frozen peas.

 

You will strain the au jus into a medium size sauce pan. 

 

 

 

This is when I start to cook my potatoes.  I leave the skin on red potatoes and cut into quarters.  I let them boil  while I make my gravy.

 

Next, you will make the gravy.  These are the components I use to make my gravy. 

First, you will add a couple tablespoons of flour, bring to a boil, then I reduce heat and let it cook.  Once the sauce thickens, I add a teaspoon beef bouillon and let it cook.  Last, I remove the sauce from the heat and add cognac and one fresh small rosemary sprig.  I let the sauce set off heat for about a minute or two.  Then, I reintroduce low heat.  The prevents the cognac from flaming.  I let the sauce sit on low while I mash my potatoes. 

The garlic cheesy mash potatoes sauce starts off in a small sauce pan.  I add garlic olive oil, butter, fresh garlic and a couple leaves of rosemary.  I let the sauce melt and sit on low.  I add a little milk prior to mixing with my potatoes. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By hand, I mash my potatoes and add the garlic sauce.  Last, I add a handful of shredded mozzarella cheese.  I mash everything together until smooth. 

Last, I season the potatoes with montreal steak seasoning.  This spice adds salt, pepper, garlic which really adds a nice flavor to the potatoes.

I add the garlic cheesy mash potatoes on top of the shredded beef in the casserole pan. 

I top the dish off with a handful of mozzarella cheese.  I bake at 350 for 25 minutes. 

You are ready to eat!!



Enjoy!

Cream of Garlic Soup with Prawns

When I was in Austria last year, I came across the most delicious soup.  It was a very simple soup, the cream of garlic soup.  I am not sure how they prepared this soup at the restaurant in Austria.  It was definitely a very tasty soup, but it was very simple.  It was very thin with nothing but chunks of garlic floating around.  It was to die for!  I decided to try a few ideas when I got home, and I came up with this recipe. 

Basically, I start off in a very large and deep pan, I add garlic olive oil, onion, tons of fresh garlic, cauliflower, potatoe, fresh thyme, basil and rosemary from my garden.  I barely cover the mixture with vegatable broth.  I bring the mix to a boil, and then I let it simmer until the potatoes and cauliflower are soft.

I know you may be wondering why I add potatoe and cauliflower?  I am going to use them as my thicking agent when I blend the soup.  When chosing a soup thicking process, you have a lot of options.   I prefer to use veggies instead of bread.  I found that potatoe and cauliflower add a great deal of density and nutrition to the soup without adding a ton of flavor.  They are pretty neutral in flavor. 

Next, I puree the mixture with my handheld.  When finished, the soup should be super thick. 

At this time, you will add the cream.  I decided to go with a lowfat option.  In this area, you have a variety of options.  If you want the full cream, that would be the first option.  Or, you can substitute a heavy cream with a can of low fat or fat free evaporated milk.  Or, you can do a combination of low and fat free. 

Next, I sautee prawns in a garlic oil and fresh garlic mixture.  It is a quick cooking time.  You should serve this the second the prawns turn pink.

I pour the prawns and the garlic juice over the soup and serve!  You can garnish with parsley or scallions.

This is one of my all time favor soups.  It is hearty  and very filling.  When you use a lowfat or fat free creaming method, it is more healthy than traditional cream soups.

 PS- Probably best to make this on a night when you know you are not going to be out and about.  The garlic is rather strong!

Enjoy!

Spicy Red Thai Curry Mussels & Prawns

 

First, you will need to wash and de-barnacle-ize (my new word for the day!) your mussels.  I use 1 lb of each of mussels and prawns. 

Wash your prawns, and I would suggest you keep the shells on the prawns.  When cooking with shrimp, I highly recommend that you always leave the shells on. The shells add so much favor.  If you would like to prove this to yourself, I recommend cooking one dish with the shells and one without.  You can run your own test and see if you can taste the difference.  I use to get complaints (of laziness)- why do you have to leave the shells on?  One day , I cooked the same dish with no shells.  My family could tell the difference.  A little shell won't kill ya.  God gave you fingernails!  Use them!  It is worth the hassle.  Definitely, make sure the shrimp is deveined.

Sauce steam mussels:

  

For the steam sauce, add dry white wine or filtered sake, onions, lemongrass, red curry paste, kaffir (lime leaves) and a pinch of sugar- simmer until the wine evaporates.  Basically, you are releasing and concentrating flavor in this brew. You are building a new paste.



Next, add fish broth to the new paste and a steam sauce, then add mussels and turn stove to high heat- cook for 5 to 6 minutes or until you see all the mussels open. 

Remove mussels from the sauce and strain the juice. 

Next, add more white wine, onions, red curry paste to the juice and make your final sauce.  I add some heat the sauce at this point by adding hot chili oil.  I add the prawns, bamboo shoots and straw mushrooms to the sauce and cook until the shrimp turn a beautiful pink color.

Last, I add a can coconut milk to give it that thai spin.

  

When I serve, I add back the mussels and taste the sauce to see if I need to add anymore seasoning like salt or pepper.  Or, you can add fish sauce.  I would taste the fish sauce prior to adding.  It is very salty.  To me, it tastes like soy sauce to the 1 millionth power!  Add very carefully…

In this dish, I used fetticini rice noodles, or you can substitute sticky rice,, basically whatever you like!

When you are serving, I like to add fresh cilantro and lime.  I know this dish looks small in the picture, but this bowl is actually a very large bowl.  It could feed 5 to 6 people, easily.

Enjoy!

Brownie Explosion Ice Cream Sundae

 

 

I start off by make a typical peanut butter cookie dough.  I make half a recipe. I like to add some milk chocolate chips to the dough.

 

I make a full box of brownie dough.  I like to add a little Godiva Chocolate Liquor to the dough.  I replace half the water the recipe calls for with the liquor.  I also add milk chocolate chips to the dough.  I LOVE THIS DOUGH!!!!  If you are a cookie dough lover, you will love this dough!

I bake the brownies along first for about half the specified baking time.  After about 15 minutes or so, I add granola on top of the brownie batter.  Next, I add big chunks of peanut butter chocolate chip cookie dough.  I bake for about 20 minutes more. 

 

The baking time will depend on the size of the pan you use for baking.  Keep in mind, when you add liquor, this will increase your baking time.  You will need to keep an eye on your brownie dough.  Use a toothpick to determine if the brownies are ready. 

I like to serve these brownies with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce- warm of course!

Enjoy!

Orange Basil Chicken

The three key elements in this recipe is naval oranges, sweet basil and orange infused extra virgin olive oil.

The first thing I did was juice 2 naval oranges.  I took a few tablespoons of the juice and I mixed with the other two ingredients to create a marinade. I salt and pepper to season the meat.

With this recipe today, I am focusing on a healthier style of cooking that would be considered a recipe used when you are watching what you are eating.  I use skinless chicken breasts to start with.  I watch the amount of oil I add to the dish.

After the marinating, I bake the chicken at 350 degrees with a meat thermometer to make sure the internal meat was cooked to proper temperature of 170 F (for breast meat). 

Next, I prepare the sauce of glaze.  In a small sauce pan I add the rest of the orange juice, 1Tb orange infused EVOO, one sweet basil leaf from my garden, 2 cloves, fresh ginger, garlic and 1/4cup of orange marmalade.  I let this mixture simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. 

At the final step of cooking the meat, I add some glaze to the meat and turn up the oven to broil to help create a crust and caramelize the topping on the meat. 

I serve this dish with brown rice and spinach.  The glaze goes well with all these components in the dish.  I add freshly chopped sweet basil as the finishing touch.

 This is a super easy and very healthy dish. 

Another variation, you can substitute salmon in the dish. 

Another more variation for those not caring about the waistline, you can make a macadamia nut crust for the chicken and broil the chicken and glaze.  The idea comes from Hawaii.  They love to add finely chop macadamia to build crust.  You can add this fish and poultry.  The main issue with macadamia nuts is they are crazy high in fat!  If you want to add a top layer of crust, then you would add the flavor with less fat.

In this picture and dish, I add some heat to fit my personal taste.