Greek Nachos
1/2 lb ground lamb
½ tsp cumin
½ tsp paprika
1 ½ tsp dill
½ cup greek yogurt
1 roma tomato
16 large potato chips
Brown the ground lamb over medium heat with the cumin and paprika [about 7-10 minutes]. Remove from heat and drain thoroughly on paper towels. Cut the tomato into 16 equal pieces. In a small bowl, mix the dill and Greek yogurt. On each potato chip, stack a dollop of the yogurt mixture, spoonful of ground lamb and a slice of Roma tomato. Garnish with more dill and serve.
For a special treat, deep fry purple or Yukon gold potato slices at 320 degrees until crisp and brown. Drain on a rack over paper towels and lightly salt.
Makes 4 servings.
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Fruit Gazpacho
½ medium cantaloupe
½ medium honeydew,
3 tomatoes
2 mangoes, peeled and cored
1 jalapeno, with the seeds removed
1 medium cucumber, peeled
8-10 mint leaves
1 tsp paprika
Chop all ingredients into 1 inch pieces and add to a food processor. Operate the food processor in three second pulses until coarsely chopped [about 4-5 pulses]. You may have to work in shifts to get through all the ingredients. Chill one hour and serve with lime peels and mint leaves. Add some cayenne pepper or another jalapeno if you like it a little spicier.
Makes 6-8 servings.
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Beer-Battered Fish Tacos
2/3 lb tilapia [approx 2 filets]
6 tbsp all-purpose flour
2/3 c beer
1 c shredded red cabbage
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
¼ tsp chipotle powder
¼ tsp cumin
¼ c mayonnaise
¼ c sour cream
juice from half a lime
½ tsp hot sauce
store-bought chunky salsa [I use Santa Barbara brand]
8 taco size corn tortillas [I use La Tortilla factory brand]
fish:
Cut tilapia lengthwise into ½ wide strips. In a wide, flat dish, combine flour, beer, cayenne, cumin, and chipotle. Dip tilapia strips in beer batter and place in 360 degree oil until browned, approx 4-6 minutes. Remove from oil and drain on a rack.
sauce:
Combine mayonnaise, sour cream, lime juice and hot sauce in a small bowl.
Construct your tacos by layering fish, cabbage, salsa, and sour cream sauce on a tortilla. Serve with lime wedges.
Makes 4 servings.
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Piña y Pasión
4 scoops ginger sorbet
4 scoops lemon sorbet
4 scoops passion fruit sorbet
3 tablespoons lime juice
10 tablespoons vodka
6 tablespoons pineapple juice
To a chilled cocktail glass, add one scoop of each sorbet. In a shaker with ice, combine juices and vodka. Shake well and strain into the cocktail glasses. Serve immediately.
Makes 4 servings.
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Moroccan Chicken
with israeli couscous
2 chicken breasts
2 cinnamon sticks
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 star anise
¼ cup raisins
1 ½ cups dry sherry
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp curry powder
1 tsp cumin
½ tsp paprika
1 cup coconut milk
1 ¾ cup coffee
1 1/3 cup israeli couscous
1 tbsp olive oil
marinade:
In a small saucepan, heat raisins, cinnamon sticks, anise, thyme, and sherry. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer until reduced by half, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and add coconut milk, ground cinnamon, cumin, paprika, and curry. Mix well and let cool about 10 minutes. Put in a bag with chicken breasts and let marinade for at least 2 ½ hours in the refrigerator.
chicken:
Remove marinated chicken from refrigerator and place in a large skillet over medium low heat. Add about a quarter of an inch of the marinade to the bottom of the pan. Cover and let cook for 7-10 minutes, then flip the chicken and cook another 7-10 minutes or until cooked all the way through.
couscous:
In a medium saucepan, add olive oil and couscous over medium-high heat. Roast couscous until lightly browned then add hot coffee. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to medium-low and let simmer, covered, for 10-12 minutes.
Serve sliced chicken on couscous with raisins, carrot sticks, and dill as garnish.
Makes 4 servings.
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Cucumber Pepper Salad
with apple cider vinaigrette
2 medium seedless cucumbers
2 slices bacon
1 medium red bell pepper, diced
1 tbsp Greek yogurt
1/2 cup baby spinach chiffonade
3 tbsp crumbled goat cheese
Pinch of Kosher salt
Pinch fresh ground black pepper
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 ½ tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Peel cucumbers and use a mandolin or slicer to cut into 1/8” thick slices. Cut the slices into 1/8” square “noodles.” Blanche the cucumber noodles by putting them into boiling water for 1-2 minutes, then immediately removing to ice water for 2-3 minutes. Repeat with diced bell pepper.
Cook bacon to extra-crispy, remove from pan and let drain on a paper towel. When cool, dice bacon to 1/8” squares.
vinaigrette:
Combine vinegars and olive oil in a ketchup style sauce bottle.
In individual serving dishes, combine [from the bottom up] blanched cucumber noodles, diced bell peppers, chiffonade spinach, diced bacon, goat cheese, salt, and pepper. Top with Greek yogurt and vinaigrette.
Makes 4 servings.
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steak with red wine reduction
2 1 lb. rib-eye or filets, 1 ½” thick
5 pearl onions, peeled
1 medium shallot, minced
1 ½ cups dry red wine
2 cups beef broth
1 small carrot
4 sprigs fresh thyme
8 cherry tomatoes
1/4 cup porcini mushrooms
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
2 tsp Kosher salt
4 thick slices bleu cheese
In a small saucepan, heat beef broth, onions, carrot, half of the mushrooms, and thyme over medium-low heat. Do not let the broth boil. You want to simply warm the ingredients and draw the flavors of the vegetables into the broth. Do this for about 15-20 minutes.
steak:
Place cast iron skillet in oven and heat to 500 degrees. Cut steaks in half, making four half-pound servings. Lightly coat with olive oil, salt and pepper. When skillet is heated through, place on burner on high heat. Two at a time, place steak on skillet and don’t touch it for 30 seconds. After 30 seconds, flip and sear it for another 30 seconds. This may cause a bit of smoke—that is okay, it’s worth it. Once seared, place on a baking sheet in oven for 8-10 minutes [this is for medium-rare; add 3-5 minutes for medium].
wine reduction:
Add the minced shallot to the cast iron skillet after the steak is in the oven. Brown shallots for about 30 seconds, then add red wine. Simmer over medium heat stirring occasionally until reduced by half, about 10 minutes. Add the beef broth mixture from the saucepan, the tomatoes and the rest of the mushrooms. Let this simmer another 10-15 minutes, or until reduced by half. If desired, whisk in a small amount of flour to thicken the sauce. Place a slice of bleu cheese on each steak and spoon sauce over steaks. It is especially nice if you serve with the tomatoes, onions, and mushrooms from the sauce.
Makes 4 servings.
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Key Lime Pie
with vanilla graham crust
1 cup key lime juice
1 tbsp key lime zest
4 egg yolks
1 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
4 graham crackers
1 cup Nilla wafers
¼ cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 vanilla bean
6 tbsp melted butter
1 tbsp dark chocolate shavings
Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees.
crust:
In a zip-top bag, combine sugar, crackers, and cinnamon. Use a rolling pin to crush the crackers into even granules. Cut vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape insides into the bag. Shake the bag to thoroughly combine all ingredients. In a medium bowl, mix the cracker-mix with melted butter. The mix should be slightly moist and start to clump and stick to itself. Pat the cracker mix into the bottom of four 8 oz. oven-safe ramekins or one 8 inch pie pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 8-10 minutes.
pie filling:
In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together egg yolks and lime zest until greenish [about 5 minutes]. Add sweetened condensed milk and lime juice and whisk together thoroughly. Add filling to ramekins or pie pan and bake at 325 for 10-15 minutes, until edge is firm and middle still jiggles when shook. Remove from oven and let cool 10 minutes. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours before serving. Sprinkle chocolate shavings over top of pie before serving.
Makes 4-6 servings.
