French Toast Pancakes

These are simple, hearty and delicious!

What you will need:
1 1/2 C flour
3 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp sugar
1 1/4 - 1 1/2 C milk
2 Tbsp Greek yogurt
3 Tbsp melted butter
3 Tbsp cinnamon-sugar mix (1/2 C sugar and 1 Tbsp cinnamon)
1 tsp vanilla extract

What you will do:
Mix together flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, and cinnamon-sugar mix.  In a separate bowl combine milk, yogurt, butter and vanilla.  Mix the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients together until smooth.
Grease a pan or griddle (using butter or cooking spray) and cook the pancakes.

You will know the pancakes are ready to flip when the entire top surface has tiny bubbles.  Cook until golden brown and enjoy.  So delicious, you won't even need syrup!

Chicken Fried Steak with Shallot & White Wine Cream Sauce

Chicken Fried Steak

What you will need:
2 Flank or Skirt steaks
3/4C flour
2tsp garlic powder
1tsp onion powder
2tsp oregano
1.5tsp salt
1.5tsp pepper
*These measurements are approximate.  Feel free to increase or decrease depending on your preference.
2 eggs
Splash of water or milk

What you will do:
Portion out your steaks.  Mix dry ingredients and put in dredging dish or on a plate.  Whisk eggs and milk or water.
Coat steaks in flour mixture and pat dry.
Dip steaks into egg and dredge in flour mixture.
Let your steaks sit for 10-15 minutes.
Heat approximately 2tsp of olive oil in a large frying pan over med-hi/high heat.  Cook steaks until the breading is golden brown (just a couple of minutes per side).

Cream Sauce:

What you will need:
1/2 large shallot
1-2 medium garlic cloves
1-2tsp olive oil
1/8C dry white wine
1/2C low sodium chicken broth
1/2tsp flour
1.5Tbsp heavy cream
Salt and pepper

What you will do:
Heat olive oil on med-hi heat in a small frying pan.  Dice shallot and garlic and add to pan.  Season with salt and pepper and saute until the shallots are clear.
Add the white wine and chicken stock and reduce down to about 2/3 of the volume and the sauce starts to thicken.
Whisk flour and cream in a bowl and add to pan.  Reduce heat to low and stir.  Allow to simmer for about 5 minutes.

Top your steak with sauce and enjoy!

Spicy Apple Doodle Pie

This is a longer and more complex recipe than I have done here before, but it is awesome!  The end result is a mini apple pie spiced with just a little cayenne pepper, and topped with a snickerdoodle cookie. The heat is not over powering and if you do it right you will get a full blast of apple pie with an after taste that is warm and a little tingly on your pallet and in your throat.

Serving size: 6 mini pies

Nutritional facts: I don't want to think about it...

Ingredients you will need:

Filling:

1 ½ cups white sugar + 1 cup for the caramel

2 Tbsp. white flour
½ Tsp. cinnamon

1/8 Tsp. nutmeg

2 Tbsp. (packed) brown sugar

½ Tsp. cayenne pepper

3 medium Granny Smith apples

3 medium Fiji apples

2 tbsp. butter

Crust:

1 cups all purpose flour

¼ cup almonds (ground well in a food processor)

1 sticks VERY cold butter

1/2 Tsp. salt

½ heaping Tbsp. brown sugar

4-5 Tbsp. ice water

Snickerdoodle Tops:

¾ cups white sugar

¼ cups soft butter

½ tsp. vanilla

1 egg

1 1/3 cup flour

½ tsp. cream of tartar

¼ tsp. baking soda

1/8 tsp. salt

½ cup white sugar

1 Tsp. cinnamon

Equipment you will need:

Mixing boll

Large muffin pan

Electric mixer (hand held or stand)

Knife or Japanese Mandolin 

Plastic wrap

Large sauce pot

Cooling rack

What you will do:

Making the pie filling: Takes about 1-1.5 hours

Begin the night before by mixing the dry ingredients for the filling and then peeling coring and slicing the apples. I use my handy dandy Japanese mandolin for this task (you really should have one, they are awesome!).

Slice the apples about 1/8” thick. They need to be thin because the pies are so small you will want to be able to layer a lot of apples in. Once you have the apples sliced, toss them with the dry ingredients and add them to a medium pot and just cover with water.

Allow them to cook over medium high heat for about 15 minutes. They should be a little floppy but still have some crunch. Once they are done cooking pull them out of the liquid, and put them in the fridge.

Raise the temp on the remaining liquid, add an additional cup of sugar, and allow it all to cook down.  It will take about 30-40 minutes and you will need to stir almost continuously for the last 8-10 minutes so it does not burn.

Let it cook until it coats a spoon then add the butter, whisk till melted and take off the heat. Store the awesome caramel sauce till tomorrow.

Making the pie dough: Takes about 15 minutes

Add flour, salt and brown sugar together and set aside. Add almonds to the food process and pulverize till they are a fine grain (about 20-30 seconds). Add flour and pulse 2-3 times to mix. Pull the butter out of the fridge, chop into 1/2” cubes and add to the flour and pules 8-10 times.

Begin to add the ice water 1 tbsp. at a time pulsing a few times after each addition; the dough should being to form up into a ball. Once this happens throw some flour down on a board, dump your dough out of the processor and form it into a disk. Cover with plastic wrap, and throw it in the fridge for at least an hour (2 is better).

Baking the pies and making the cookie tops: Takes about 1 hour

While the piecrust is chilling, measure and mix the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt for the snickerdoodle cookies and take out the butter. Once the crust is chilled take it out along with the filling and caramel sauce. Preheat the oven to 400 deg.

Roll out the dough till it is about 1/8” thick. Cut it into 6” rounds and add them to the large muffin pan.

Add 1 Tbsp. of the caramel sauce to the bottom of the pies, fill ½ ways with apples, add another 1 Tbsp. of sauce and fill the rest of the way with apples. Repeat till you have done 6 pies.

Set a timer for 30 minutes, add the pies to the oven and begin to make your snicker doodle dough.

Mix white sugar and eggs on medium speed for 5 minutes. Add butter and vanilla and mix for another 3 minutes. Add the dry ingredients 1/3 at a time. When the dough ready, roll it into 6 even balls, mix the remaining sugar and cinnamon, flatten the balls and cover them with the cinnamon sugar mixture.

When the timer goes off take the pies out of the oven, cover with the cookies and return to the heat. Allow the pies to cook until the cookies are browned. Take them out and allow them to cool for 30-40 minutes before removing them. They should lift right out.

Serve with the remaining caramel sauce on the side.

This is a picture of the pie aftermath at a friend's 5th Annual Pie Off.  These pies came in 2nd place!

Pasta Primavera - Big Daddy Gouda Style

What you will need:
1 large bunch (20-30) cherry tomatoes
1 large (or 10-12 baby) carrots
1.5 Cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
2-3 small sweet peppers (multi-colored looks nicer)
2 large zucchinis
2-3 green onions (just the whites)
1 tsp savory
1 Tbsp corn starch
Salt and pepper to taste

Equipment:
1 heavy bottom stock pot with lid
1 Japanese Mandolin (optional but highly recommended)

What you will do:
Medium dice your carrots and add them, along with the whole cherry tomatoes, stock, savory, and salt and pepper, to a heavy bottom stock pot over medium high heat.
After cooking for about 10 minutes, slice up the sweet peppers into strips about 1/4“ thick and add them to the tomato and carrot mixture.
Next dice the green onions and use your mandolin to julienne just the skin of the zucchinis. (This is where most of the flavor and nearly all of the nutrients are) If you don’t have a mandolin, peel the zucchini and cut the skin into very, very thin strips.**
The veggie mixture is still going to have a lot of liquid, so when the pasta water is about ready to boil make a slurry by whisking together 1 tbsp of corn starch and about 1 cup of the liquid from the sauce pot. Add this mixture back into the pot and give it a stir.
Lastly add the zucchini strips and green onion to the pot, remove from the heat and allow to sit, lidded, while the pasta cooks. The residual heat from the veggies will cook the zucchini and thicken the sauce.


**Note: If you don't want to waste the inside of the zucchini, you can do this step earlier, dice up the inner flesh and add it to the mixture at the same time that you add the peppers.

Add salt to your pasta water and cook your pasta. Spaghetti or any other thin pasta would work well.

Toss together and enjoy.

Sweet & Spicy BBQ Sauce

What you will need:
1/2 Cup ketchup
3 Tbsp white sugar
1 Tbsp white wine vinegar
1 Tbsp spicy brown mustard
1 Tbsp A1 Steak Sauce
1 Tbsp Cholula Hot Sauce (optional)
1/2 Tbsp dried garlic flakes
1/4 Tbsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp salt

What you will do:

Blend the red pepper, garlic flakes, and 1/2 of the salt in a coffee grinder or similar device until it turns into a powder.
Mix all other ingredients and spices together and bring to a simmer in a small sauce pan.
Allow to simmer for about 5 minutes.
Take off the heat and allow to cool for a minimum of 10-15 minutes.
The sauce can sit for longer, but it gets spicier the longer it sits. If you like it really spicy, add more red pepper and let it sit for a day or two.

This recipe makes enough sauce for 6 large chicken breasts, with enough left over for dipping.


How to cook the chicken:

Get boneless, skinless chicken breasts and trim any excess fat off of them. Rinse them well and slice them in half long ways (or butterfly them if you like). Place half of the BBQ sauce on prepared chicken and allow to sit while you prep your coals (this usually takes me about 15-20 minutes).

Cook your chicken until it's almost completely done on both sides and then add another thick layer of sauce and allow to cook for an additional 1 minute on each side. This will caramelize the sauce and make a nice crispy crust on the chicken.

Stovetop Marinara

This is a sauce created by one of my my Mother's cousins in New York. It has passed through the family. I have taken it and revised it in places to suit my own personal taste, as well as my family's.

For those of you who know me from the East Coast, this is not the gravy I made back then. That sauce is older than my Grandmother and impossible to accurately measure out. As such, it is unlikely that you will see a recipe for that here.

What you will need:

1 large can of diced tomatoes (I prefer medium to petite because it provides a chunkier sauce)

1 medium can (15oz) of tomato puree

2-3 cloves of garlic

2 Tbsp. of olive oil (regular, not extra virgin)

1-2 oz Chevre goat cheese

2 Tbsp. salt

Basil (fresh or dried) and black pepper to taste

Take the goat cheese out of the fridge and allow it to sit at room temperature while you cook.

Open and drain the can of diced tomatoes in a colander (retain the liquid for later). I like to add about 1 Tbsp of salt to the tomatoes and allow them to drain for 5-10 minutes, stirring them a few times. The idea here is to get the tomatoes as dry as possible so that they brown better in the pan.

While the tomatoes are draining, use 1 Tbsp. of olive oil, 1 tsp. of salt, and 2-3 garlic cloves to make garlic paste. Put a large pan on medium-high heat and put a pot of water on high heat to boil pasta.

When the tomatoes are well drained, throw your garlic paste in the hot pan and allow it to cook until you see the first hints of browning. Then add the drained tomatoes and toss. At this stage, if desired, you can add a pinch or two of red pepper flakes for some extra spice.

You are going to cook the tomatoes for 15 minutes, stirring every 3-5 minutes. You want them to brown well, but not burn.

Just before the 15 minutes are up, combine the can of tomato puree with the reserved liquid from the drained tomatoes. Reduce the heat on the tomatoes to low/simmer and add the puree/liquid mixture.

Allow the sauce to come to a slow simmer and then cover loosely and continue to cook for 15 minutes.

By this time, your pasta water should be boiling. With about 5 minutes left on the sauce timer, salt your water and add your pasta. I like medium shells, rotini, or rigatoni.

When the time goes off, add a little basil (fresh and dried are different here - so add, taste, and repeat).

At this point, you could be done. This is the completed sauce. What I do here, and what I think really sets it apart, is add about 1 oz of goat cheese (you can add more or less - taste it and add more if you want). Stir this until the sauce begins to get creamy and you don't have any chunks of goat cheese left.

Drain your pasta and toss with the sauce. Serve hot.

**As an addition, I sometimes like to add sauteed vegetables to the sauce right before I toss in the pasta. I like red bell peppers, onions, or asparagus. Or all three.

Important this to remember:

1. Taste early and taste often. The only way to know if you are on track is to taste test.

2. Add ingredients slowly. If you put too much salt in the sauce there is no getting it out.

3. Don't overcook your pasta. Unless you have no teeth with which to bite it, it should be "to the tooth" or al dente.

Lemon Lime Chicken with Lemon Tomato Pasta

This recipe goes out to my self-proclaimed "Favorite Aunt." (Love you, Aunt Mary)

This is another recipe that starts out with a marinade (I told you that I liked them!) However, unlike many of my recipes, we are going to steer clear of any spices more exotic than salt and pepper. The title of this post tells you almost everything you need to buy for this dish.

What you'll need:

1 Tbsp. of olive oil

3 medium sized tomatoes (Roma or the like)

1 large clove of garlic

2 lemons

1 lime

1/2 lb. pasta (I like Mezzi Rigatoni, but anything with ridges is good)

2 medium boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Salt and pepper

Grated Parmesan cheese

The marinade:

Begin by making garlic paste. If you don't know how to do this, click HERE to view my post with instructions. Roll, cut, and squeeze 1 lemon and 1 lime and whisk together with the garlic paste. It adds a nice visual touch if you cut the squeezed lemon and lime into thin strips and add that to the marinade as well. Add 1/2 tsp. of salt and 1/2 Tbsp. of black pepper.

Trim all excess fat off of your chicken breasts. Slice them in half long way so that you end up with four 1/2" thick pieces of chicken and add them to the marinade. Place the chicken in the fridge for 45 minutes.

Prepping the sauce and cooking the chicken:

30 minutes after putting the chicken in the fridge, put a large pot of water for the pasta on the stove and begin to heat it. After another 15 minutes, take the chicken out of the fridge and allow it to sit at room temperature for about 15 minutes.

While the chicken is sitting, you can prep your tomatoes. Slice them in half and then cut them into 1/4" thick strips.

When your pasta water is about 10 minutes away from boiling, heat 1 Tbsp. of oil in a large skillet and add your chicken. Cook until the chicken comes off the pan without sticking. Flip and repeat. You will also want to turn your oven on as low as possible to have a warm place to let your chicken rest while you make your sauce. When the chicken is done cooking, transfer it to an oven safe container (preferably one with a lid) and put it in the warm oven.

Add the tomatoes to the same skillet you used for the chicken. Add the juice of the second lemon and place a lid on the skillet. You will need to stir the sauce every minute or so to keep it from burning.

Generously salt your boiling pasta water and add the pasta. The sauce will cook for as long as it takes to boil the pasta -- about 8 minutes. When the pasta is tender, but not limp, drain it well (reserve about 1/2 cup of the water in a measuring cup), add it to the skillet with the tomatoes and toss. Add some of the pasta water to the pasta and tomatoes if you feel it's not "saucy" enough.

Sprinkle the pasta with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and serve with the chicken.

*Makes 4 servings.

How To: Garlic Paste

One of the things I wanted to do here was to provide not only recipes, but also techniques that I use regularly. One such technique is making garlic paste.

Garlic paste is a means of prepping garlic so that you do not have any large chunks of garlic in your food. it also provides maximum flavor out of a smaller amount of ingredients. You can use this in marinades, on garlic bread, in pasta sauces... Basically anywhere you use garlic.

What you will need:
2-3 cloves of garlic
1 tsp olive oil
1/4 tsp of kosher salt
Cutting board
Knife or board scraper (these are awesome, and if you don't have one I suggest getting one.)

What you will do:
On a cutting board...
Peel and crush/rough chop garlic
Add olive oil and salt
Scrape the garlic/oil/salt mixture across the cutting board using the edge of your knife/board scraper.
Continue until you have made a paste that is roughly as sticky as Elmer's glue (but smells much better.)

Voila... You are done

Why you would do this:
1: No big chunks of garlic to accidentally bite into, potentially ruining your meal.
2: It's fun.
3: You get to smash stuff.

Enjoy.

Asian Mahi Mahi with Rice and Stir Fry Veggies

As you will come to learn, I am all about marinades and vinaigrettes. Laying at the intersection of science and the culinary arts, they pique two of my greater interests. Additionally, they are quick and easy to make, can render even the toughest cuts of meat tender and delicious, and add a complexity to your food that will impress your friends!

Basically: Acids (e.g. citrus juice, vinegar, wine) work to break down the connective tissue; oils help preserve the marinated product over long marinating periods and prevent sticking while cooking; and aromatics (herbs and spices) impart flavor.

Different meats require different lengths of time in the marinade. While beef can reside in a marinade for days and come out tender and delicious, fish will become tougher and actually begin to cook if exposed to an acid-based marinade for more than about 30 minutes (this is how ceviche is made).

A longer explanation can be found HERE.

For the marinade:

In a resealable bag, combine:

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup white wine vinegar (If you don't have any, buy it! It's inexpensive and awesome!)

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp sesame oil (A little goes a LONG way)

1 garlic clove crushed and roughly chopped

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

**This marinade gets better with age. If you can make it and let it sit for an hour, that is what I would suggest.

Fish - Two Mahi Mahi filets (approx. 4oz each)

Rice - Boil in a bag is fine if you don't have or don't want to deal with the regular stuff. I like short grain brown rice for this recipe.

Stir Fry Veggies - We have a frozen mix from Trader Joe's that we like, but feel free to use whatever you like. Carrots, broccoli, water chestnuts, mushrooms, baby corn, snap peas, etc.

Read the instructions on your rice and veggies to plan accordingly. It will take 15 minutes to marinate your fish, and 12 minutes/inch of thickness to cook it.

Begin by thawing your fish (if frozen) in cold water. While this is happening, reserve 2 Tbsp of the marinade to add to the vegetables while they cook.

Once the fish is thawed, add the filets to the marinade bag and allow it to sit, unrefrigerated, for 15 minutes. Normally you would refrigerate a marinade to prevent bacterial growth, but because the period is so short and you want your fish at room temp when you cook it, allowing this to sit on the counter is OK. I would also suggest putting the bag on a plate to prevent any possible spillage.

While your fish is marinating, heat one cooking surface for your fish and one for your veggies. After 15 minutes in the bag, remove the fish, take off and large pieces of garlic, and place on your stovetop cooking surface.

Two things to remember:

1) You don't need to add oil to your pan/grill because there was some in the marinade.

2) Fish need to cook for 12 minutes/inch of thickness, flipped once halfway through.

Sine we usually use frozen stir fry veggies, it generally takes the same amount of time to thaw and heat the veggies as it does to cook the fish. Throw the veggies into a hot pan, and add the reserved marinade. Cover the pan and allow to steam. Stir once to prevent sticking.

Toss the cooked veggies and rice together and plate under the fish.

Potato Tacos

I thought for my first entry I would do something that was near and dear to my heart: Potato Tacos.

It is possible that some of you may have never heard those two words put together in such a way, but let me assure you that these are akin to a religion in San Diego. Finding the real deal can be difficult, but the search is well worth the reward!

For the potatoes:

6-8 medium potatoes (I prefer red skin or Yukon Gold. NO RUSSETS!)

3-4 Tbsp oil: Canola or corn are good due to their high smoke points.

1 tsp rosemary

1 tsp Thyme

1 tsp Savory

Salt

¼ cup Greek yogurt

Toppings:

1 Can refried beans (whichever you like)

Hot sauce (which ever you like)

1 tomato

Mexican white sauce (Click HERE for the recipe)

6-8 flour tortillas

Cheese (jack, pepper jack, queso fresco, queso blanco, or a Mexican blend)

Directions:

Begin by making your Mexican white sauce early - an hour before is OK, the night before is better. Also, I like to add a little crushed red pepper to the recipe above.

Chop the potatoes into bite sized pieces; put them in a large pot with enough water to cover them by 1”; add a healthy amount of salt (think pasta water here) and bring to a boil. Allow to cook for until the potatoes are fork tender. Drain the potatoes and heat your oil.

When the oil is hot (but not smoking) add 2/3 of the cooked potatoes to the oil. Toss once and add your rosemary, thyme and savory. Toss again and allow to cook for an additional 10-15 minutes, tossing occasionally. The potatoes should develop a crispy brown skin.

Mash the remaining 1/3 of the potatoes while still hot and add the Greek yogurt. You can add pepper here if you want, but I like them just like this. You don’t want to overdo it on the spices with the massed potatoes because the pan fried potatoes are going to be very flavorful. These are more just about the hint of tartness (from the Greek yogurt) and texture.

Dice your tomato, heat your tortillas, and serve.