Curry crusted Tuna in Passion fruit sauce

I made this for MJ Power. It was quite tasty.

The passion fruit sauce is rich, sweet and very tangy with a little numbness from the jalapeno (not a huge spice hit)

4 1 inch mignons of sashimi quality tuna.
Homemade curry powder (ask Cheryl - this is her responsibility)
Juice of 3 passion fruit, strained
1/2 shallot, minced
2 tbsp butter
1/2 japaleno pepper deseeded and minced
oil for frying (grapeseed or peanut is good)

1. sautee shallot in butter until translucent.
2. Add passion fruit and jalapeno and cook over low heat 5 minutes.
3. salt and pepper tuna and dust with curry
4. Heat pan over medium hit heat and add oil.
5. Add tuna and cook 1 minute per side.
6. Serve with passion fruit sauce.

Sardine in Citrus Escabeche

Made this for Dan and the lovely Marla
It was pretty tasty. Not rock my world tasty but pretty tasty. The citrus did a good job of cutting the rich oiliness of the fish.
I avoid vinager bc of its effects on the palette (red wine killer)

8 sardines, gutted and scaled
flour, salt and pepper
juice 2 oranges
Juice 1 lemon
6 mint leaves, julienned
15 tarragon leaves
1/2 red onion thinly sliced
olive oil for frying

1. sautee red onion in olive oil over medium heat 15 minutes until they start to caramelize.
2. Add Citrus and herbs to shallow pan and toss in red onions, reserving oil
3. dredge sardines
4. raise heat to high and when almost smoking add sardines
5. Cook 2-3 minutes per side until done
6. Add to citrus
7. Let sit at least 1/2 hour per side.
8. Serve in sauce.

If you want to increase the sauce intensity, you can double the citrus and cook, reducing by 1/2.
Also, if you can get them, use blood oranges or perhaps passion fruit. Both will be more intense than regular juice oranges.

Shrimp and Leek Pizza

Made this for Dan and the lovely Marla tonight. It is better with the citrus cipolline but this is easier.

12 large shrimp, deveined, deshelled and
sliced in half horizontally
1 cup arugula
salt
pepper
2 cups sliced leeks
pizza dough\olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 550 with pizza stone
2. Sautee leeks in olive oil until soft, reserve together
3. salt and pepper shrimp
4. Mix arugula with olive oil and salt
5. Roll out dough, place on pizza stone and cover with leeks and their cooking oil
6. Cook 5 minutes until dough is semi-crisp
7. Add shrimp to pizza
8. Cook exactly 2.5 minutes - you want the shrimp cooked just a point
9. Remove pizza and add arugula
10. Serve

Roquefort Ice Cream with Oven Roasted Figs

Made the ice cream last night and served with orange sorbet. Didn't work. I hope that this is better.

1 cup milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
3 egg yolks
1/3 cup roquefort at room temperature, mushed up.

figs, halved

port aspic, cut into 1/2 cm squares

1. beat egg yolks
2. heat 1/2 cup cream and 1/2 cup milk, remove from heat
3. drizzle 1/2 of hot cream/milk into eggs to heat them; drizzle egg/cream/milk mixture back into cream/milk
4. cook until coats back of wooden spoon.
5. add roquefort and cook until blended.
6. chill roquefort and make ice cream
7. roast figs until cooked in 400 degree oven.
8. serve hot figs with a scoop of ice cream and port aspic.


Here is a port aspic recipe

1 tsp unflavored gelatin
½ cup port wine
1 tbsp sugar
1tbsp water

Dissolve 1 tsp unflavored gelatin in ½ c port wine and set aside. Dissolve the sugar in the water in a small saucepan and cook it rapidly until the sugar melts and begins to caramelize; remove immediately from the heat and add the port wine and gelatin.

Strain through sieve and set aside until almost cool. Place in dish and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Roast pork with Rosemary and Cider

This dish, if prepared properly, is profoundly good. The rosemary really makes it incredibly aromatic.

Pork roast
2 large sprigs rosemary
2 sweet onions, sliced
2 bottles hard cider
2 granny smith apples
olive oil

1. brown pork in olive oil (all sides)
2. sautee onions in olive oil until wilted
3. sautee apples in olive oil until wilted
4. add pork, onions, apples, rosemary to enameled cast iron pot.
5. add cider to cover.
6. cover pot and cook 2 hours until fork tender.

You can add butter to the sauce if you want to thicken or just serve the pork in the soupy cider/apple/onion mix (my preference).

Pizza with pancetta and arugula

This is my favorite pizza. The rich saltiness of the pancetta and the sweetness of the sauce are cut by the bitterness of the arugula.

Pizza dough
Tomato sauce (cherry tomatoes or canned tomatoes sauteed in olive oil with onions)
pancetta (good soppressata is good as well)
arugula
good quality olive oil
sliced mozzarella

1. roll out pizza dough
2. add sauce
3. add mozzarella
4. cook 8 minutes at 500 on pre-heated pizza stone
5. add pancetta - cook until done
6. mix arugula with olive oil and a dash of salt
7. place arugula on pizza and serve.

Potatoes a la Ariella

These were made for my #1 daughter and are a favorite.

16 medium fingerling potatoes sliced lengthwise
1/2 cup goose or duck fat
salt and pepper

heat fat to medium high in cast iron skillet.
salt and pepper potatoes
add cut side down
cook 5 minutes
move around to ensure even cooking
flip
cook 5-8 minutes until done

Serve as a side or with tarragon mayonnaise or with truffle oil as a starter.

Yellow Chive King Oyster Mushroom Pizza

Not sure if I loved this dish - it was very interesting.

1 package yellow chives
2 king oyster mushrooms
pizza dough
2/3 mozzarella
butter
truffle oil
olive oil

wilt yellow chives
sautee oyster mushrooms in olive oil and then finish in oven at 300.
Slice diagonally.

Roll pizza
spread chives
Add cheese
Cook 5 minutes
Add mushrooms
Cook 3 minutes until done
drizzle with truffle oil.
serve.

Chinese Chicken Wings

35 Wings, cut in 2 (4 lbs)

1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tbs Chinese BBQ sauce
4 tbs hoisin sauce
juice of 3 lemons
Pepper

Mix wings in sauce, place on cookie tray
Cook at 450 degrees for 30 minutes
Cook at 500 degrees for 10 minutes

Red Snapper Agrodolce

2 sweet onions, sliced thin
olive oil
1 tbsp fennel seeds
2 tbsp choped dried cherries
1/4 cup cidre vinegar
1/4 cup white wine
bay leaf
1 2 lb red snapper, scaled, gutted and definned
ground black pepper

1) preheat oven 400
2) salt and sautee onions in olive oil until just beginning to brown (do not fully caramelize or they wil burn later)
3) add cherries, fennel seed, white wine, vinegar, bay leaf and pepper, mix
4) add fish on top
5) place in oven and cook 25 minues until done
6) serve with sauce

Chicken Fricasee

I made this and it was fairly close to the chicken fricassee I had at a Parisian Bistro.

Cut 1 whole chicken breast (preferably kosher) into 8 pieces, salt and pepper.

Hydrate ½ cup dried porcini mushrooms in ½ cup hot water. Let rest 30 minutes.

Cut ½ lb thick sliced bacon into ¼ inch strips

Sautee bacon in 2 tbsp olive oil (in enameled cast iron pot) until fat renders – the bacon should NOT be crisp, remove bacon.

Brown 3 garlic cloves in oil, tipping dish to coat cloves. Remove garlic, smash and mince.

Sautee 8 shitake mushrooms, cut in ¼ (stems removed) in hot oil. Porcinis or chanterelles are better if you can get them.

Sautee 2/3 sliced sweet onion (1 inch strips) in oil, remove.

Sautee 3 medium carrots cut in ½ inch cubes until brown, remove.

Sautee 2 celery strips cut into ½ inch dice, remove.

Deglaze with mushroom juice, ½ bottle red wine and 3 tbsp veal demiglace, Add salt and pepper.

Add chicken, cook 1 minute, turn cook 1 minute.

Add bacon and vegetables and 8 sprigs thyme, tied together.

Cook 45 minutes in 400 degree oven, covered,

Remove chicken, place sauce on stovetop.

Add ¼ cup butter in slices. Correct sauce.

Re-warm chicken.

Serve

If you want to make a classic coq au vin, you can refrigerate the chicken before the 45 minute oven cooking and cook the next day. This is superior to browning after marination because the chicken will brown better.

I served this with haricot verts and pureed potatoes with extra virgin olive oil.

Tuna Crostini

I made this with Ariella with leftover fibrous tuna. She scarfed it - absolutely delicious and our little secret (well no more). Uses leftover firous parts of tuna if you want, avoiding waste.

1/8 lb sashimi quality tuna
1/2 sweet onion roasted with chicken, crushed and minced
French olive oil (buttery)
3 sprigs thyme, minced
fleur de sel - crushed with flat of knife.
pepper
8 slices fresh bread - I used Puglian bread

1. slice tuna, crush with flat of knife and remove any fibrous parts.
2. Add onion, olive oil, thyme, fleur de sel and pepper
3. spread n bread

Sausage Soup

I did this to get rid of some sausage (which was not really that great) and it was very good. The fennel seeed makes this dish. I ate 4 bowls - couldn't stop.

1. Brown on all 4 sides 6 sweet sausages in olive oil. quarter lengthwise and then cut into 1/8 inch slices, reserve
2) sautee diced 2 onions, 2 celery sticks and 6 carrots until soft
3) add sausage, 1/2 bottle red wine, 1 can crushed tomatoes, 2 tbsp fennel seeds, 6 minced roasted garlic cloves, salt, pepper and 1/4 cup chopped parsley
4) cook 45 minutes uncovered
5) correct sesonings and serve