Meatballs and Frybread

Meatballs on Frybread

Makes 15 Meatballs

Ingredients

Meatballs

1 Lb Ground Beef

½ Lb Ground Pork

3 Stalks Parsley

2 Pinches Salt

5 Cloves Garlic

2/3 Cup of Mozzarella Cheese

¼ Cup Water

6 Tb Bread Crumbs

½ Ts Black Pepper

Olive Oil For Cooking

Frybread

½ Ts Baking Soda

¾ Cup Water

1 Tb Sugar

1 Tb + 1 Ts Melted Butter

2 Ts Yeast

2 Cup Flour

Pinch Salt

Olive Oil For Cooking

Sauce

4 Pounds Tomatoes, Stemmed, pureed

4 Tb Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 Tb Chopped Basil

1 Tb Sugar

1 Tb Lemon Juice

Salt to Taste

Directions

Sauce

Mix all of the ingredients for the sauce in a large mixing bowl and then place it in a large pot on low.  Allow the sauce to reduce by about ¼ to 1/3.  You should see the sauce go from a light red color to a richer, darker red color. 

Frybread

Bloom yeast by mixing it with the sugar and warm water.  Allow this mixture to sit for 5 minutes until it starts to foam at the top.

Place the other ingredients into a large mixing bowl and then mix in the water/sugar/yeast mixture. 

Knead this dough with your hands until all of the ingredients are mixed in.  You will probably need to knead for about 5 minutes.  The consistency of the dough should be slightly sticky.  The dough will also have a slight sheen due to the addition of the butter.  Once the dough has been mixed and kneaded, allow it to rise for 1 hour.

Separate the dough into about 10 pieces and roll them out into rounds with about a 6 inch diameter.

Then, place each piece of dough in a frying pan with about 2 Tb of Olive Oil on medium-low.  Cook on each side until it is golden brown.  Also, just be certain that the center is fully cooked.  This may take a little practice. 

Meatballs

Mix the garlic cloves and parsley with the water and blend them in a blender.  Take this mélange and mix it with the other ingredients for the meatballs. 

Use your hands to mix the ingredients until they are evenly spread and mixed together. 

Then, separate the meatball mixture into 15 separate spheres. 

Lastly, brown the meatballs on high in a skillet with a little bit of olive oil.  Do not cook the meat balls through.  They should just be brown on the outside.  Also, it is probably wise to brown the meatballs in batches of 5.  Otherwise, the skillet cools down and the meatballs will not be properly browned. 

After your meatballs are browned, place them in the pot with the tomato sauce.  Cook the sauce in meatballs on low for about a half hour until the meatballs are cooked through.

Serve the meatballs with the fry bread.  You can either eat this with a fork and knife or you can use the fry bread to make wraps with the meatballs.  

Baozi

(An American’s Take on Baozi)

Baozi are small Chinese steamed buns/ dumplings.  They can be filled with meat or vegetables.

This recipe makes 7 Baozi

Ingredients

Dough

3 Cups Flour

1 Tb Oil

1 Cup Warm Water

1 Tb Yeast

1 Tb Sugar

½ Tb Baking Soda

Pinch Salt

Filling

1 Small Tomato, Seeded, Chopped

½ Onion (Rough Cut)

½ Pound of Ground Pork

¼ Pound of Ground Beef

100 G Cheddar Cheese, Grated

Pinch Salt

1 Tb Basil, Chopped

1 Tb Olive Oil

1 Tb Soy Sauce

1 Tb Chili Paste

Directions

Dough

Bloom yeast by mixing it with the sugar and warm water.  Allow this mixture to sit for 5 minutes until it starts to foam at the top.

Place the other ingredients into a large mixing bowl and then mix in the water/sugar/yeast mixture. 

Knead this dough with your hands until all of the ingredients are mixed in.  You will probably need to knead for about 5 minutes.  The consistency of the dough should be slightly sticky.  Once the dough has been mixed and kneaded, allow it to rise for 1 hour.

After the dough has risen, separate it into 7 separate pieces.

Filling

In another large mixing bowl, combine all of the ingredients for the filling.  Stir all of the ingredients together until they are evenly spread out.

Filling the Baozi

Roll one of the pieces of dough on a floured surface to a 6 inch diameter.  Then, position your right hand, pretending to hold a glass.  Next, place the Baozi dough on top of your thumb and index fingers.  The middle of the dough will sag in the middle (where a glass normally would be if you were holding a glass).  Thus, the dough is resting in a concave fashion on your hand.

In the middle of the dough, place 1 Tb to 1 ½ Tb of filling.

Lastly, pinch the four “corners” to the top to seal the dumpling.

Before steaming your buns, allow them to rise again for about 15 minutes.  This will let them be fluffier.

Steaming

The buns should then be steamed in a steamer for about 6 to 7 minutes.  Make sure the dough and meat are cooked through.  Also, make sure to cook the dumpling on a piece of parchment or foil.  It is possible that they will stick without this.

Philly Cheese Steak

Recipe for a 12 inch hoagie

Ingredients
1/2 Onion, Diced
1/2 Green Pepper, Diced
300 Grams of finely sliced beef.
3 slices of aged provolone cheese.
12 inch fresh baguette

Vinegar
Salt
Sugar

Suggestions
Beef: Finding beef for a cheese steak can be tough in many places.  If you are near a butcher asked them to slice some rib-eye very thin.  For me, I actually have used slices of beef normally designated for Chinese fondue.  The thickness of the beef is perfect and the cut is normally of a decent quality (as it is meant to be eaten without a fork and knife).

Baguette: Finding the right baguette is really crucial.  I highly suggest an artisan baguette which has a little big more density in the middle and just a slight firmness in the crust.  You do not want factory baked bread.  It is too soft and often too fragile.

Directions:
Place the peppers in a skillet (with a little olive oil) and start browning them.  Two to three minutes later add in your onions as well.  After the vegetables have browned, add about 1/3 of a cup of water.  This will help soften the vegetables even further.  Also, add a pinch of salt and sugar as well as about 2 tea spoons of vinegar to the vegetables.  This will add a little bit of acid to the rich sandwich.  After the liquid has been cooked off, remove the vegetables and put them to the side.

Next, add the beef the a skillet (again oiled).  You can use the same skilled, but its probably wise to clean it off before adding the beef.  As the beef gets close to being browned, add the vegetables to the combination as well as one slice of the cheese.

As the meat gets close to completion, you need to be sure that your sandwich is sliced (lengthwise, but hinged, of course) and that the other 2 cheese slices have been placed at the bottom of the cavity in the sandwich.

As the meat becomes fully brown, remove it from the skillet and place it straight into the sandwich.  The heat from the meat will melt the slices of provolone at the bottom of the sandwich.

French Fries

French Fries are, of course, a rather simple dish, but there are some tricks to perfecting them at home.

Recipe Serves 2 People

Ingredients
4 Potatoes, peeled
Large pan
Olive Oil
Large pot of Boiling Water
Salt (and any other seasonings you like on your fries)

Directions
Cut each of your potatoes into 4 medallions.  Then, cut each of your medallions lengthwise into 4 slivers (Fries).  This should give you 16 fries per potato where the height and width of each fry is approximately 2/3 cm by 2/3 cm.  Try your best to make the fries as even in size as possible.  This will help them cook evenly.

Next, place all of your uncooked fries into the pot of boiling water and let them cook for approximately 7 minutes.  Depending of the type of potato you are using the cooking time can vary.  Every few minutes check the consistency of your potato.  The fries are ready when they are pliable, but still can snap when bent (Andante).

Next, place the now boiled fries into a large frying pan, on medium high.  In the frying pan make sure that there is enough olive oil to coat the entire bottom.  Also, be very careful with temperature.  If the heat is too high the olive oil can burn.

Because you are not using a deep fat fryer you will need to constantly flip your fries to make sure each side browns.

Your fries are ready to be removed when the sides are consistently a golden brown.

Take your fries out of the pan, drain and blot them.  While they are still hot dust them with a dash of salt.  I also like to cover my fries with a little bit of red pepper, black pepper and garlic powder.

New England Clam Chowder

Ingredients

200 Ml Chicken Stock (low sodium)
.5 L Milk
1 Can of Nestle Cream
3 Small Potatoes
1 Ear of corn
1 Onion
3 Slices of Bacon
50 g of Pork belly (precooked)
2 Big Celery Ribs
1 Lb of small fresh clams
Dash Oregano
Dash Basil
1/2 ts Black Pepper

Directions

Prep all of your ingredients.  Cut the potato, onion, pork belly and celery into 1 cm (appx) pieces and put them off to the side.  Also, remove the corn from the cob and put it off to the side.  Lastly, cut the bacon into lardons and also put it off to the side.  In a blender mix the milk, stock and cream.  Once they are blended place them in a large pot on low heat.  Add the spices to the creamy broth.  Also add the vegetables, pork belly and bacon.  Make sure to continue to stir the soup.  The vegetables shouldn't take too long to cook.  They will probably be thoroughly cooked in about 10 minutes, but taste to test.   

For the clams, make sure that they are thoroughly washed.  Then,  cook them in a medium pan with about 1 cup of water.  Cook the clams on high until they all are opened.  Then, remove the clam meat from the shell and place it in the soup pot.  Also, after discarding the shells, add the clam cooking liquid to the soup (you may want to strain this).

Heat the soup up to high and then you are ready to serve (of course with some oyster crackers). 

Braised Pork Belly in Fresh Tortillas

Ingredients
Braising Liquid
1 Cup Orange Juice
1/8 Cup Apple Cider Vinegar
1 Tb Chili sauce
Pinch Salt

Protein
Pork Belly cut into individual pieces (about 1x1x2 inch slices)

Simple Slaw
Grated Carrot (and other root vegetables, cabbage, onion, etc. if you would like)

Tortillas
1 Cup Massa Flour
Pinch Salt
1 Tb Oil
½ cup (+ or -) Water

Other
Grated cheddar cheese

Directions
Pork
Pan Fry the pork belly in a frying pan on high with some olive oil. When the pieces are completely browned, place the pieces of pork belly in an 8 inch pyrex dish with the braising liquid.

Place the pyrex in the oven on low (300 degrees F) and allow to cook four about 1 to 1.5 hours until the pork is fork tender and soft.

I then cut the pork belly into lardoons so that they could be easily placed into the tortilla.

I also removed the fat from the braising liquid and reduced the liquid down, until thick, in a small pan to be used as a sauce in the tortillas.

Simple Slaw
Mix the Carrot with about 2 Tb apple cider vinegar and 2 tb olive oil.

Tortillas
I made my tortillas without a tortilla press which was quite cumbersome, but is possible. In a mixing bowl add the Massa flour, salt, oil and water together in a bowl to form a dough. The dough should be about a “play dough” consistency. For my tortillas I separated the dough into 1 inch diameter balls. Then, using a rolling pin, roll the dough into a round tortilla. You need to make sure you do this on a smooth, possibly greased surface. I then used a spatula to transfer my rolled, raw, tortilla into a frying, ungreased, on high. Each tortilla should then be cooked until brown on both sides. They will, ofcourse, need a flip in the middle of cooking to ensure browning on both sides.

Assembly
Place a tb of root vegetable on your tortilla, then the cheese, pork belly and lastly a little bit of the braising liquid on top.

You are now ready to enjoy!

Caesar Salad

Ingredients
50 Ml Mayonnaise
1 Anchovy Fillet
2 Tb Vinegar
3 Tb Olive Oil
2 Cloves of Garlic
¼ Ts of Hot Sauce (Mustard based preferred)
Few dashes of pepper
1 Tb of grated Parmesan

½ head of romaine lettuce

Directions
Add the mayonnaise, anchovy, vinegar, olive oil, garlic (make sure all of the skin is off the garlic cloves, hot sauce, pepper and parmesan into the blender.

Blend the mixture until emulsified and smooth.

Cut the lettuce lengthwise making slices every 1.5 inches across the leaves. Place the romaine into a large bowl and toss with the dressing. I suggest adding about half of the dressing at first and then topping up to your desired consistency.

If you want, you can add your protein of choice, more grated parmesan/ cracked pepper, and croutons.

Cacio e Pepe

Ingredients

Pasta

A little less than a pack of dried spaghetti; cooked to andante
1.5 Tbsp Butter (salted)
1.5 Tbsp Olive Oil
¼ cup of Shredded parmesan
1 tbsp pepper

Parmesan cup
¼ cup parmesan

Directions

Pasta
In a medium saucepan on medium head add the butter and melt it. Next, add the olive oil. Then toss the pasta with the butter/ olive oil mixture. Lasty toss in the pepper and Parmesan. The result is a rich, slightly spicy, slightly tangy pasta which originates from Rome.

Parmesan Cup
This pasta is often served in a bowl made out of parmesan. To make the the cup use a small frying pan on high heat. Place ¼ cup of parmesan in the bottom pan and let it melt and bubble. When the parmesan has melted together turn the heat off. Let the cheese congeal and cool into a disk. Then place the disk of parmesan on the bottom of a coffee mug and allow the cheese to form around the mug into a bowl shape.

Serve the pasta inside of the bowl.

Cajun BBQ Shrimp

Ingredients
3/4 Pounds Live (If Possible) Shrimp
1/2 Stick butter
1/4 Olive Oil
1 tbs of Chili Sauce
1 ts Cayenne Powder
1/2 ts Black pepper powder
2 tb Apple Vinegar
1/2 lemon squeezed
Dash Salt
3 Cloves of Garlic (crushed)

Directions

Melt the butter in a large sauce pan on medium heat.

When the butter is melted, add the olive oil.

Stir the liquids together and then add the spices, lemon, vinegar and garlic.

Turn the heat up to high, allow the mixture to simmer for a moment, and then add the shrimp.

Cook the shrimp for 2 to 3 minutes or until the shrimp has all turned pink.  Do not cook the shrimp for too long or the shrimp will become tough.

Serve the shrimp over some pasta or with a little bit of crusty bread to sop up the delicious liquid.

Lamb Shank Confit

Serves 3
Ingredients
3 Lamb Shanks
1 Tb Rosemary (Fresh is preferred)
6 Whole garlic cloves
1 Liter of oil (Olive oil is preferred)
1 Ts of salt
1 Tb of pepper corns
1 lemon sliced into rounds

Directions

Preheat the oven to 150 degrees C (about 310 degrees F)
Use a large pot which is oven safe.  Fill it with the oil, rosemary, garlic, lemon, peppercorns, salt, and lastly the lamb. Make sure that the lamb is completely submerged.  If it is not, add a little more oil.

Place the pot, in the oven, covered for 2 hours.

Lamb shanks are a tougher pieces of meat the process of cooking the lamb via confit at a low temperature will allow the tough tissue to break down and become very tender.

When the shanks are fork tender, it is an indication that they are ready to eat.

You will also notice that the meat will reduce in mass by a noticeable amount.  As a raw product, the shanks will be totally covered by meat, that will not be the case after they have cooked for 2 hours (as can be seen in the photo). 

After removing the shanks from the oil, you can briefly broil them to crisp the outside.

I have served my lamb with the cauliflower puree and a sweet red wine reduction sauce (wine (40 cl), tomato paste (1 ts), sugar (2 tb), (lemon 1 ts))

Cauliflower Mash

This is a great alternative to mashed potatoes with more flavor and less carbohydrates

Serves 4

Ingredients
1 Cauliflower head
Salt to Taste
1/4 Cup of milk
2 Heaping tbs of cream cheese
Dash Pepper
1 Tb Butter

Directions
Wash Cauliflower, remove stem and leaves and cut into 1 to 2 inch pieces.

Place cauliflower in a steamer and steam until soft.  This will probably take 10 to 15 minutes, but keep and eye on the cauliflower because it could be more and it could be less time.

Drain the cauliflower and place it into a large bowl.  Then, puree the cauliflower with an immersion blender.

Next, add all of the other ingredients and repeat blending and pureeing with the immersion blender.

Moussaka

Serves 4 People.  

Ingredients
One half pound ground beef
1 Onion, Chopped
1 Potato, sliced into very thin (1/8 inch thick) rounds
3 Eggplant, Peeled and sliced into rounds

1 Tb tomato paste
1 ts Balsamic vinegar
1/2 ts garlic powder
Salt and pepper to taste

Roux Mix
2 Tb butter
Flour
75 g Cheddar Cheese
Salt to taste

Tomato sauce

Directions
Coat the potatoes with salt, pepper and olive oil.  Cook the potatoes in the oven until they are soft.
Cook the onion and eggplant in some olive oil in separate skillets. Make sure that the onions are translucent and the eggplant is completely soft.

After they are all cooked, place the onion, potato and eggplant off to the side.

Next, cook the meat in a skillet until brown.  When the meat is cooked, add the tomato paste, balsamic, garlic, salt and pepper.  This will give the meat a little more flavor.

Place the meat off to the side.

Lastly, you need to make a roux.  This will go on the top of your moussaka.  Melt 2 tb of butter in a skillet on medium heat.  Add enough flour to form a thin paste.  Next add 1/2 cup of milk and stir until the liquid thickens.  Lastly, add the salt and cheddar cheese.  If you think that your mixture is too thick, you can add some more milk.  The consistency should be similar to yogurt.

The ingredients will now be assembled in a square baking dish.  You probably should use a 10" or 8" pan.  First, place the meat on the bottom.  Then add rotating layers of eggplant, onion and potato.  You can also add a little bit of tomato sauce with the layers if you prefer.

On the top spread your roux mixture.

Cook the Moussaka in the oven at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes and then broil it at the end to brown the top.

Sweet and Spicy Chili

Serves 3 to 4 People

Ingredients

2 Diced Onions
2 Bell Peppers Diced (You can choose the color)
1/2 Pound ground beef (the quality of the meat is your choice)
3 Tb Tomato Paste
3.5 Tb Cumin
2 Tb Tobasco
2 Tb Sugar 
1 Diced, Grilled Green Chili Pepper
2 Dried Red Chilis
150 g can Kidney Beans
Dash Cinnemon
Salt to Taste
Crushed Black Pepper to Taste
Water

Directions

In a medium sized pot, sautee the the onions and bell pepper.  You want to cook them until they are translucent. Take the pot off of heat if the vegetables start to over cook.

In a skillet, cook the ground meat.  This should be done at the same time that the vegetables are cooking.  When the meat is completely brown, add it to the pot with the cooked peppers and onion.

Allow the meat and vegetables and meat to simmer together on low for a minute or two and then add the tomato paste and enough water that the vegetables are are about 1 to 2 inches submerged. 

Make sure that the tomato paste is dissolved and then add cumin, tobasco, sugar, chilies, cinnamon, salt, and pepper.

Allow the ingredients to mingle on medium low heat.  Stir occasionally to make sure things are not sticking to the bottom.  The liquid will evaporate off during this time. You have a good consistency when the liquid coats the back of a spoon. 

Lastly, before serving, stir in the beans. 

Samosas

Makes 7 Samosas


Filling
3 Potatoes Skinned
2 Onions Chopped
1/4 Cup Peas (frozen)

4 Tb Yogurt
4 Tb Masala Seasoning
Pinch Salt

7 Won ton Skins

Directions
Boiled the potatoes until soft and caramelize the onions
Mix all of the filling ingredients together

Make the filling smooth with just a few lumps of potato in the mix.

Add 1 tablespoon of the filling into your won ton skin and fold it into a triangle.

Fry each samosa until brown in a frying pan filled with cooking oil.

Stuffed Blue Cheese Burgers

In my opinion there are two types of burgers.  There are those which showcase the meat and there are others which showcase flavors.  This burger was done with less expensive cuts and thus showcases added flavors.  

Makes 8 Burgers

Ingredients
Beef Mixture
1 Kg Ground Beef
1 onion chopped
Dash Pepper
1.5 tablespoons bbq sauce
1 Tsp Hot Sauce
1 Tsp Garlic Powder

Filling
80 g Blue Cheese
1 Cl Water
1/5 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions
Mix the beef mixture together in a large bowl.  Mix the cheese filling mixture together in another bowl.

Separate the beef mixture into 8 separate balls.

Take one ball and split it into two pieces.  With one piece, form it into a patty that is about 2 inches in diameter.  In the middle of this patty form a well where the filling will be placed.  Then place about 1 ts of the filling into the well.  Then, with the second piece of beef create a flat patty that has a diameter that is slightly larger than 2 inches.  Place this patty on the top of the welled patty and seal the two together.

Repeat this process with each burger.

Lastly,
grill on the grill!

Chicken Tikka Masala

Serves 2

Ingredients
1 Chicken Breast ( seasoned with a dash of curry powder, salt, garlic powder, black pepper)
1 Onion diced
1 Potato (sliced into wedges and tossed with salt, pepper, and olive oil)

Sauce
3 Tbsp yogurt
1.5 Tbsp Tikka Masala spice (1/3 cumin, 1/3 coriander, 1/3 turmeric)
1 tsp tomato paste
dash of salt
1 Tsp of sugar
1 dried Chili crushed
7 tbsp water

Rice

Directions
Before dealing with the chicken portion of this dish, place the potatoes in the oven at 400 degrees and cook until soft.

If you want rice, also boil a pot of water and cook your rice. 

Main portion:
Mix the sauce ingredients and place to the side

Caramelize the onions and spice with a dash of vinegar

In the same pan, sear the chicken.  Then, add the sauce.
When the chicken is no longer pink, cut it into bite size pieces. 

Lastly, plate with rice and potato.

Lemon Garlic Chili Asparagus Tips

Serves 3

Ingredients
20 Asparagus stalks
Garlic powder
Salt
1 dried chili crushed
1 tsp lemon juice

Directions
Remove the bottom half of each asparagus stalk.  You want each asparagus to be about 3 inches long.  This is because the bottom can be stringy and touch.

Place the asparagus in a pan with a few tea spoons of water and the lemon.  Cook for 4 to 5 minutes until the asparagus turns bright green and softens.

 Drain the water and add one tbsp of olive oil to finish the asparagus.  Also add a dash of garlic, salt and the crushed chili.

Allow the Asparagus to saute until the asparagus browns on each side.

Eggplant Parmesan

Serves 4

Ingredients
3 Medium sized eggplants
3 Eggs
Breadcrumbs seasoned with salt, pepper, paprika and garlic powder
Flour (1 to 2 cups)

Sauce
Same sauce as lasagna.  I used 4 times each ingredient for this recipe.

Cheese
2 to 3 cups of Mozzarella
1/2 cup of Parmesan 

Directions
Skin and slice your eggplant into 1/3 inch thick coins.

Then set up a station as shown below.  In the first bowl is the flour, then egg and lastly the bread crumb.  Each piece of eggplant should be submerged in each of these bowls.  First, flour.  Then, egg,  Lastly, breadcrumb.

Then, place the pieces of eggplant in a skillet on medium high with enough oil to keep the eggplant from touching the bottom of the pan.  Cook each piece until golden brown. 

Once all of the eggplant is cooked, stack the eggplant in a casserole dish lasagna style: Layer eggplant, layer sauce, layer eggplant, layer cheese (both cheeses)

Lastly, place in an over until the cheese is all melted and the top is brown.

Beef Bourguignon

Ingredients
1.5 Pounds of Beef, cubed.  (This should be a tougher, fattier cut of meat)
1/2 Cup of Spicy Italian sausage cut into small lardon pieces
2 Carrots (Rough chopped)
1 potato (Rough chopped)
1 large onion (Sliced into strings)
1 bottle of red wine
1 cup of beef stock
Olive oil for cooking
Salt
Garlic
Black Pepper
1 tb of flour


Directions
Quickly pan fry the Italian sausage and then place the sausage into a separate sauce pot.  Replace the sausage in the frying pan with the onion and carrot and fry them in the grease.  You should season the vegetables with some salt and garlic.  Allow them to brown and then place them in the same sauce pot as the sausage.  Lastly, pan fry the beef (which should be seasoned with salt and pepper).  You may need to add some more olive oil for cooking.  Also, this should be done in batches as the beef will not brown if its all added at the same time.
Once all of the beef is browned, place it in the pot with the sausage and vegetables.

The pot now contains vegetables, beef and sausage.  Add one bottle of red wine to the pot as well as one cup of beef stock.  You should also add a some garlic powder (to your desired amount), a pinch of salt, a pinch of black pepper and 1 tb of flour.  Take this mixture and place it on the stove on low and allow it to cook for 2.5 to 4 hours.  They is that the beef should be tender upon serving.

The last component is the potatoes.  They should not be added to the pot as the wine will dye them red.  Cut your potato into slivers, coat with salt, pepper, garlic and a tablespoon of olive oil and cook on high in the oven.  The potatoes will be served under or next to the beef bourguignon when it is plated.   

Fresh Lasagna

Ingredients

Sauce

7 Tomatoes (De-stemmed and skinned)
2 Tbs Olive Oil
6 Cloves Garlic (Minced)
.5 ts Black Pepper
Salt to taste
1 to 2 ts of Sugar
1 ts lemon juice
1 Fresh Chili Chopped
1 Dried Chili Chopped

Pasta
3 Eggs
3 Cups Flour
Pinch Salt
1 Glug Olive Oil
Water if the dough is dry

Cheese
1 Cup Mozzarella Shredded
300 grams Ricotta

Directions
Preparing the sauce

Add the tomatoes to a large sauce pot on medium with the olive oil. Mash the tomatoes with a potato masher. Add the other ingredients and allow the sauce to simmer for about a half hour, or until the sauce gains the right consistency.  If you prefer, you can  blend the sauce with an immersion blender. 

Preparing the Pasta
Mix the ingredients.  You are trying to get a pasta dough with just a slight stickiness.   Separate the dough into 6 balls and roll each ball out into a 7 by 7 inch square.  Make sure that the dough is about 1/8 inch thick.  Next, quickly boil each pasta sheet.  Because the the sheets are rather big, you probably want to do with one at a time.

Assembling the lasagna
This lasagna will be 7 layers.  I prefer to alternate sauce, ricotta and mozzarella in between layers of pasta.  The top layer should be sauce and mozzarella.

The Ultimate Omelette

This is an omelette inspired by the Hershey Pantry in Hershey, PA

Makes 1 omelette

Ingredients
10 thin slices of spicy Italian sausage
1/2 of a small potato cut into thin translucent slices (2 mm thick)
1/3 of an onion cut into thin shoestrings (2 mm thick)
2 eggs
Salt and pepper
30 g of Feta cheese
Vinegar

Directions
Flash fry the sausage in a frying pan (10 inch) and then put it off to the side

Replace the sausage in the pan with the potato. There should be enough grease from the sausage to cook the potato. Also, season the potato with a dash of salt and pepper. When the slices are brown on both sides they are done.

Lastly, replace the potatoes with the onions. You might need to grease the pan again at this point. Cook the onions until they begin to brown and then add 5 tb of water and 3 tb of apple cider vinegar to finish the onions off. The vinegar will give the onions a nice tang. When the liquid had evaporated, the onions should be finished.

All of your fillings are now prepared.

Next, beat two eggs and pour them into a different, clean, greased, hot 10 inch frying pan. Allow the omelette to set and then flip it.

Method of flipping an omelette if you can not flip omelettes

I have a lot of difficulty flipping omelettes and the thickness of the egg in this recipe is especially think which makes the task harder.

What I do, is I slide the omelette off of the pan onto a large dinner plate once its has set. I then place another plate on top of my omelette and flip the two plates over. The omelette will now rest on the second plate with the omelette flipped. I then slide the omelette back onto the frying pan.

Once the egg is solidly cooked on both sides, remove it from the pan and place it on a plate.

Place your fillings in the middle of the omelette. I did mine in the order of

1. Potato
2. Onion
3. Sausage
4. Cheese

This alternated the rich and tangy offerings in the filling.

Lastly, fold the two sides into the middle.

I again flipped my omelette before serving by placing a plate on the top so that the folded side was on the bottom.

Stuffed Mushrooms

Serves 3

Ingredients
250 g Button Mushrooms
100 g Cheddar Cheese (sliced or finely chopped)
1 Tb Cream Cheese
5 Large Crackers (roughly crushed)
1 Lemon
1 Tb Olive Oil

Directions
Pre heat the oven to 375 degrees F

Wash and de-stem the mushrooms.

Mix in a separate bowl the cheddar, cream cheese and cracker meal to make the filling. Make sure that the mixture is entirely consistent.

After the filling is made, use a spoon and fill each mushroom cavity with the filling. The filling does not need to be overflowing.

Place the mushrooms in a 10 inch baking dish and drizzle with lemon juice and the olive oil.

Place the making dish in the oven and cook until the filling becomes brown on top.

Curried Chicken Salad

Serves 3 to 4

Ingredients

2 Chicken Breasts
1 Tb Curry Powder
1 Tb Sugar
Dash Salt
1 Tb Orange Juice
1/2 Tb Lemon Juice
3 to 4 Tb of Fresh unflavored light yogurt
1 Cup Shredded Carrot
1/2 Cup Shredded Onion
1/4 Cup Raisins (optional)

Crackers or small slices of bread

Directions
Slice chicken into 1/2 inch pieces, season with salt and pepper. and pan fry in a skillet until the pieces are lightly browned.

After the chicken is cooked, allow it to cool to room temperature. To can put it in the fridge or freezer to expedite the process.

After the chicken is cooled, mix with the vegetables and raisins. Then add the wet ingredients, spices, sugar etc.

Mix together are you are ready to serve.

For my preparation, I served this with some crackers and small slices of bread. Diners can make their own mini sandwiches or open faced sandwiches.

Pesto Aioli

Sauce
Pesto Aioli

I made a pesto aioli for the burgers which I would like to quickly share. It is actually tasty on paninis, hoagies and traditional burgers.

This recipe is enough to use on about 9 burgers.

1 Tbs pesto
3 cloves minced garlic
2 tbs Mayonnaise
1/2 ts lemon juice
Dash Pepper
Dash Salt
1/2 ts sugar

Mix ingredients together and add to your favorite sandwiches.

The Veggie Burger for the person who doesn't like veggie burgers

Ingredients (9 burgers)
Package with appx 20 button mushrooms
2 tbs flour
1/4 cup of rolled oats
1/2 ts paprika
1 ts garlic powder
1 ts cumin
1 1/2 ts salt
1 ts pepper
150 g cream cheese
70 g white cheddar cheese (shredded)
2 Eggs

Oil for pan frying

Directions
Wash the mushrooms and then separate them into two halves. With one half pulverize in a blender or (if you need to take out some aggression) with a hammer. If you use the hammer method make sure to put the mushrooms in a freezer bag first. With the second half use a kitchen knife and cut the mushrooms into 3 mm diameter pieces. So, the second half should still be small pieces, but not pulverized. These larger pieces will offer some texture to the burger. Remember the mushrooms are the "meat" of this burger.

Once the mushrooms are prepared you can add the rest of the ingredients to form a batter.

It will honestly not be the prettiest batter:













This is OK. Remember real hamburgers can be messy before they are cooked.

Once the batter is mixed place a heaping tablespoon onto a liberally greased frying pan. Once the batter has been placed into the pan, pat it down a little to form a "patty".

Wait for the bottom to before golden brown and then flip to cook the other side.

I normally cook 2 at a time.

This was one of my burgers which had just been added and patted down:











.



Here it is again after being flipped:














Once both sides are golden/ dark brown, you are ready to eat.

Here is my finished product. I used a fresh baked flat bread (cut into rounds) for my buns, but you can use a traditional burger bun if you prefer.

Kim's Caprese Salad

A Caprese Salad is definitely a nice simple refreshing dish. Traditionally it is a mixture of tomato and mozzarella cheese which is drizzled with balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

The salad here has a couple of slight modifications which were thought of by my friend Kim. Thus, this posting and recipe would not be possible without her ideas.

This salad has the extra inclusion of basil and avocado to give the salad some more freshness, color and body. The avocado works as a very good intermediary between the cheese and tomato.

The salad is also unique in that it offers the diner a little individual serving.

This recipe will make about 12 individual servings

Ingredients
4 Tomatoes
12 basil leaves
1 avocado sliced into 12 pieces
12 mozzarella slices (make sure to use fresh mozzarella and not the reduced moisture stuff)
Dash sugar
Dash salt

Directions
Preparing the tomatoes
Slice the top of the tomato just barely removing the stem on the top. Next, use a teaspoon and remove all of the watery seeds and membranes. Basically you want to remove the inside areas that are translucent and thus will be left only with the red outer flesh. Lastly, cut the tomato into quarters.

Repeat this for each tomato.

Layering the salad
Layer the ingredients in the following order (from bottom to top): basil, avocado, mozzarella, tomato.

Then place each completed "stack" into a pyrex dish. Place them side by side, in rows.

Here is mine:












Prior to serving.
Drizzle some olive oil and balsamic over the salad to your liking. Remember 3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar. Also top with just a dash or salt and sugar.

Pho

Serves 2

Ingredients Broth
1 Lt beef stock
1 Sliced Mushroom
1 Tbs of sliced onion
1 Tbs chopped scallion
1 Slice pork belly
1 Ts ginger
1 Bay leaf
Pinch cinnamon
Pinch pepper

Noodle
Appx 70 g cooked Rice Noodle

Protein
1 Chicken Breast

Condiments
Sprouts
Sliced fresh Jalapenos
Lime quarters
Chopped Scallions
Flat Leaf Parsley
Chopped Ginger

Directions

Broth
Place ingredients in a medium pot on medium heat and let simmer for 15 minutes. Before adding noodles and chicken, remove bay leaf, chili, and pork belly. These things can be disposed of.

Here is my broth:












Add noodles to broth. Make sure they are cooked before adding.

Lastly, sear your chicken breast. It does not need to be cooked through. Cut it into 1 cm squared pieces and place the chicken in the broth. Give the chicken about 10 minutes in the broth to cook through. Once the chicken is cooked through, you are ready to eat!

Serve the broth, noodles and chicken in a large bowl with your condiments:

Mine were

• Sprouts
• Sliced fresh Jalapenos
• Lime quarters
• Chopped Scallions
• Flat Leaf Parsley
• Chopped Ginger
• Onion slices
  

Add these condiments to your Pho to preferred amounts.

Here is my finished Pho:

Fresh Cheese Ravioli

Makes 20 Raviolis

Ingredients
Pasta
3 Cups flour
3 Eggs
2 glugs of Olive Oil
1 ts Salt
3 tbs Water

Filling
200 g Ricotta Cheese
1/2 Egg
2 Roasted Red Peppers
20 Spinach leaves

Directions

Creating the Pasta
Mix ingredients in a bowl. Once the mixture begins to form a dough, knead the mixture on a flower surface. You want a thicker dough that is only slightly sticky.

Here is my ball of pasta dough:













Making the filling:

Coat the spinach with a little olive oil and broil it on a baking sheet in the oven. Once it cooks down by half, cut the spinach into small bits (a few millimeters squared)

Here is my spinach for the filling:













Cut the red pepper into similar sized pieces:














Lastly, mix the pepper and spinach with ricotta and 1/2 egg. Your filling is now ready.

Forming the Ravioli
Take your pasta dough and roll it out on a flat, floured surface. Roll the dough out until it is 2 to 3 mm thick. It is important the the dough is thin and it its important that the dough has an even thickness throughout. If you have a small workspace you may need to separate your dough into a few pieces and carry out the forming process a few separate times.

Here is my dough rolled out. I separated my dough into 4 pieces.













Place some dollops (3/4 tbs) of filling onto the dough. These dollops should be placed about 4 inches in from the top edge and 3 inches apart. I could fit 3 onto my dough.














Next, fold the dough over itself leaving dough on top and bottom of the filling. Lastly, use a cup with an appx 2 inch diameter to cut out your ravioli.














Your ravioli should now be cut out and ready to boil.

Here are mine:















Tomato sauce

Ingredients
9 Tomatoes
2 Tsp Lemon Juice
1/2 tsp Apple vinegar
3 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 tsp Garlic Powder
dash Salt
1/2 tsp Pepper
1/4 cup Sugar
1/2 cup water
2 tsp tomato paste

Directions: First, cut tomatoes into small pieces (1/2 cm by 1/2 cm) and seed them. Next, place olive oil in a frying pan and let it heat up. Once the pan is hot, add the tomatoes and let them sautee. Add the spices, lemon juice, vinegar and water and allow the tomatoes to become tender. The consistancy should be almost that of a tomato sauce, but that tomatoes should still retain some of their form.

The Perfect Panini

Ingredients (Per Sandwich)
Fresh Panini Bread
Fresh Mozzarella slices (2 to 3 slices per sandwich)
Fresh Turkey (2 to 3 slices per sandwich)
Greens
1 tbs Chopped Roasted Red Pepper (I recommend chopping the pepper because otherwise it tends to not stay in/ on the sandwich)
A smearing of Franco American Dressing

(Note: make sure you choose a good quality Mozzarella, not a low fat or moisture variety)









Directions
Load up the sandwich in the following order:








To finish up, if you desire, you can put the sandwich in a sandwich press or under the broiler to make it toasty.

Panini Bread

Makes 5 pieces of Sandwich bread.

Ingredients
Pizza Dough Recipe x 1.5

Directions
After the dough has risen, on a floured surface, separate the dough into 5 separate balls. Shape each ball into a "brick" 1.5 inches wide, 4 inches long and 3/4 inches tall. Then, place the shaped dough onto a greased and inverted baking sheet.

Once all of the dough balls have been shaped, place the inverted pan on the bottom of your oven at 350 degrees F.

Allow to cook for about 17 minutes. You may want to flip the rolls at some point to allow each side to brown.

Allow to cool before eating.

Fresh Deli Turkey

Ingredients
1 lb Turkey Breast
Franco American Dressing (Double the recipe posted earlier with the addition of 1 ts extra mayonnaise and 1 ts thyme)
1 Liter of oil for cooking
4 sheets of Aluminum foil (appx 1 foot squared)

Before beginning this recipe begin heating a pot of oil on high.

Liberally coat the turkey with the dressing. Then, tightly wrap it with the 4 layers of foil. I recommend curling the turkey breast into itself, then placing the turkey at one end of your foil, rolling it into a tube and then lastly rolling in the left and right openings.

Your final product will look like this:








Next, place the entire foil package into the pot of oil and cover with a lid. Because the Turkey is sealed in the foil, it is not actually coming into contact with the oil. Thus, the turkey is not technically frying.

After 13 minutes, remove the turkey package from the oil. Allow to cool and then unwrap the turkey.

When the Turkey is at room temperature, you can slice it. Make sure to slice against the grain.

Spinach Rounds with Fresh Yogurt

This Recipe was inspired by the Namli restaurant in Istanbul. It will make 6 spinach rounds.

Ingredients
1 Pound Fresh, Washed Spinach Leaves
1 Glug olive oil
1 Tbs Lemon Juice
1 Ts Garlic Powder
1/2 Ts Hot sauce
Dash Salt
Yogurt for Topping

Directions
Take the Spinach leaves and toss them with just a little olive oil (1 ts).














Take the olive oil coated spinach and spread it on a baking sheet.











Then, place it in the broiler on high. Every 2 minutes or so toss the spinach so that each leaf receives some direct heat. After the spinach has wilted by more than half, remove it from the oven. Let the spinach cool to room temperature and then mix it with the lemon juice, hot sauce, garlic and salt. At this point, I used a pair of scissors and cut down the sides of my leaves because some of the stems were long, but this is not a necessary step.

Lastly roll the spinach into 6 1.5 inch diameter boules and top with just a dollop of yogurt.

Baked Apple Fritters

Makes about ten fritters

3 apples peeled, sliced, and pureed in blender
1.5 cup flour
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 ts baking powder
1 egg
35 g butter softened

Mix all ingredients together in a mixing bowl. You will have a relatively loose batter.













Preheat oven to 400 Degrees F. Spoon 1 tbs size amounts of batter evenly throughout a greased baking sheet.














Cook for about 10 minutes until the fritters retain their shape. You may want to finish them off with a quick broil on the top and bottom of the fritters to make them a little crispier.