Spring Greens Salad with Radishes and Kumquats And Fennel Sausage

Spring Greens Salad With Radishes And 

Kumquats And Fennel Sausage

Ingredients:
For The Sausage
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon paprika
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon fennel seed
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 pound ground beef

F‍or The Salad
1–2 heads spring greens/lettuces
10 kumquats, thinly sliced
1 bunch radishes, larger ones cut in half
1 lemon, juiced
Extra-virgin olive oil

Directions:
Make the Sausage:
In a medium mixing bowl stir together the seasoning and then add the ground beef. Mix with hands until well combined. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes. With lightly oiled hands, gently roll mixture into 18 golf ball-size meatballs and then flatten slightly.
Heat a grill pan or outdoor grill to medium heat. Cook on each side 4-5 minutes, until cooked through. Set aside to rest.
Make the Salad:
On a large serving platter, arrange greens/lettuces, kumquats, and radishes. Drizzle with lemon juice and olive oil. Add the cooked sausage to the salad platter, tucking between greens. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Carrot-Orange Gazpacho Shooters

  

Carrot-Orange Gazpacho Shooters

The juicing craze has swept through L.A. and onwards into Hollywood North. Serve these chilled sippers as a welcome hit for guests as they arrive.

Serves 6 to 8
Ingredients:
2 cups (500 mL) fresh, cold carrot juice (available at health food store sand juice bars)
1½ cups (375 mL) freshly squeezed cold orange juice
2 tsp (10 mL) grated fresh ginger
½ cored Granny Smith apple, finely chopped
2 small radishes, finely chopped
1 tbsp (15 mL) snipped chives
1 tsp (5 mL) red wine vinegar
Generous pinches of salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions:
Combine carrot and orange juices and ginger in serving jug. Chill until using.

In a medium bowl combine apple, radishes, chives, red wine vinegar and salt and pepper.

Pour cold juice into small glasses and top each with a heaped teaspoonful of apple mixture.  Serve immediately.

Serves 6 to 8

Blackened Octopus

Blackened Octopus

Octopus is a popular dish at my restaurants, but not many people cook it for themselves. I have created this fun and easy recipe that anyone can make at home. Appetizer,

Serves 6 to 8,  Prep time 15 minutes,  Cook time 5 hrs 15 minutes.
Ingredients
For the Hot Honey:

1 cup raw honey
1 habanero, torn
For the Octopus:

1 head octopus
2 sprigs rosemary
1/4 cup olive oil
2 cups blackening seasoning, store brought or prepared on own

For the Corn Puree

6 pcs corn cobs cleaned, washed, and kernels taken off, reserve the 

   cobs
6 tablespoons olive oil plus 1/4 cup
1 pinch chili flake
Water as needed
Salt as needed

For the Garnish:

1 cup sauteed corn
1 cup cherry tomatoes
4 basil leaves torn
Olive oil
Salt as needed
1 radish thinly shaved

Directions
For the Hot Honey:

Add the honey and habanero to an 1.5 Quart Sauce Pan. Simmer on low heat for 15 minutes.
Take off heat and allow to steep overnight, leave the pepper for any extra spice if you like.

For the Octopus:

Set the Sous Vide Immersion Circulator at 175°F.  Cut the octopus into separate tentacles, place 1/8 cup olive oil and rosemary in a vacuum sealed bag, or if not available use a ziplock and cook for 5 hours.
Remove from the circulator vessel and immediately cool down in ice water. Remove the octopus from the bag and dust generously with blackened seasoning.
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Heat a 10 i nch fry pan on high heat, add the remaining olive oil, and sear on all sides. Then, finish in the oven for 5 minutes.

For the Corn Puree:  

In an 3 Quart Sauté Pan on medium heat, add the olive oil. Add the corn and sauté for 5 minutes, season with salt. Reserve 1 cup of corn for garnish.
Add the cobs and cover with water and simmer on low for 20 minutes.
Remove the cobs and place cooked corn in a quart sized container. Use the Immersion Blender and puree until smooth, drizzle in olive oil, and adjust seasoning.

For the Garnish:

Gently warm all ingredients on low heat in a 2 Quart Sauce Pan for 3 minutes.
Once complete, place the corn puree on the plate. Brush the honey on the blackened octopus and place it over the corn. Top the octopus with the remaining sautéed vegetables.

Thai Larb Salad

Thai Larb Salad

A fresh and flavorful recipe for Thai Larb Salad using your choice of ground chicken, turkey, beef or lamb! Serve this with lettuce wraps or rice, or both!  Served 3/20/22.  Excellent Flavor!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup hot water

2 tablespoons vinegar- white or rice wine
1 red onion (divided, see instructions)
——-
3 garlic cloves, rough chopped
4 tablespoons lemongrass, finely minced
1 teaspoon chili flakes, more to taste
16 ounces ground chicken, turkey, beef, lamb,
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
—–
2 cups cucumber, sliced or diced
2–3 radishes, sliced (or watermelon radish)
3 scallions, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon fresh chili, finely minced (optional, or sub jalapeno, Thai red chili)
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1/2 cup chopped mint
1/2 cup chopped basil (Thai basil elevates)
2 tablespoons fish sauce
4–5 tablespoons lime juice
1 teaspoon brown sugar, maple, or honey
finely chopped fresh chili- optional!
Serve with lettuce wraps or jasmine rice or both!
  
Directions:
Dice half the onion (you’ll need 1 cup diced) and thinly slice 1/4 of the onion ( 1/4- 1/2 cup).

Place the sliced onions in a bowl, cover with 1/2 cup hot boiling water and 2 tablespoons vinegar, place in the fridge.

Cook the meat: Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add 1 cup diced red onion, saute 3-4 minutes, add garlic, lemongrass and chili flakes. Saute until fragrant, 2-3 minutes. 

Add the ground meat, breaking it apart with a metal spatula. Season the meat with the salt and pepper and continue cooking until all the liquid releases and evaporates about 10 minutes. Drain the fat from the meat, using a fine-mesh strainer.

While the ground meat is cooking, prep the remaining ingredients. Place the cucumber, radish, scallions, mint, basil, cilantro, fresh chili (optional) in a bowl. 

Add the drained meat and the strained pickled onions. Add the fish sauce, lime juice and sugar.  Taste, adjust salt, lime and heat. I’ll usually add more chili flakes. or finely diced fresh chilies.

Serve with lettuce wraps and/or cooked rice. Serve warm or chilled. ( If chilling, make doubly sure to strain all the fat from the meat -it will harden in the fridge.)

Note: Larb will keep up to 3 days in the fridge.

Fine Herbs Fondue

Fine Herbs Fondue

There’s no better way to bring people together than over a table of delicious communal dishes—with a touch of interactivity thrown into the mix. A burbling pot of decadent cheese fondue tweaked with the freshness of herbs makes for a fun, dippy dinner.  Serve with Warm Lentil Salad Recipe.

Ingredients:

For Dipping
1 large baguette, sliced or ripped into bite-sized pieces
1 ½ lbs (680 g) baby potatoes, boiled and cooled
1 cup (225 mL) classic cornichons (sour, not sweet), drained
1 bunch radishes, trimmed and halved
8 oz (225 g) cremini mushrooms, trimmed and halved
4 links favourite sausage, grilled or roasted and sliced

Fondue
3 cups (750 mL) good dry white wine
2 lbs (905 g) shredded Gruyère cheese
1 ½ lbs (680 g) shredded Emmenthal cheese
1 tbsp (15 mL) cornstarch
1 garlic clove, sliced in half
1 tbsp (15 mL) finely chopped chives
1 tbsp (15 mL) finely chopped parsley
1 tbsp (15 mL) finely chopped tarragon

Directions: 

Prepare your dipping ingredients on platters so that they’re ready to go when the fondue is. Place baguette pieces in a basket for easy access.

Set up your fondue pot in the middle of the table, making sure it’s fuelled up.

To make fondue, pour wine into a large heavy saucepan on medium-high heat. In a bowl, toss shredded cheeses with cornstarch. Just before wine comes to a boil, gradually add cheese to the wine, about ½ cup (125 mL) at a time, stirring continuously with a wooden spoon, until each addition of cheese has melted. Keep going until all the cheese has been added and fondue is smooth. Never let the fondue come to a boil. Reduce heat to low.

When ready to serve, rub fondue pot with half garlic clove. Discard clove. Stir herbs into fondue, and pour the fondue into fondue pot. Encourage your guests to skewer nibbles and bites of bread, and joyfully dip away.

Serves 8

Alubia Blanca Bean Salad With Pineapple Vinaigrette

Alubia Blanca Bean Salad 

With Pineapple Vinaigrette

Ingredients:

Vinaigrette

1 garlic clove, minced

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon dried Mexican oregano

2 tablespoon Rancho Gordo Pineapple Vinegar

1/2 cup Rancho Gordo EVOO

Salad:

1 carrot peeled

1 1/2 cups Alubia Blanca Beans *See Rancho Gordo

1 roasted red pepper, cut into 1/2" squares

3 radishes thinly sliced

1 celery stalk sliced

S&P

Directions;

In a salad bowl, Make a paste with garlic, and salt.  Add the mustard, oregano and pineapple vinegar;  mix well.  Slowly whisk in the olive oil.  

Shave the carrot into razor-thin slices using a mandolin or vegetable peeler.  Add the beans, roasted red pepper, radishes, celery, and carrot

slices to the vinaigrette; toss together gently.  Season with salt and pepper.  Serve slightly chilled or room temperature.  Serves 2 to 4

Note:  Alubia beans are soft but hold their shape and are good in salads with an added crunch of radishes and celery.

Summer Taco Salad

Summer Taco Salad

This taco salad is fresh, tangy, flavorful, and hearty enough to be a meal. The dressing gets its creamy consistency from Greek yogurt, jazzed up with lime juice and chipotles in adobo.

Ingredients:

Which beans to use? We like creamy and firm beans like Bayo or Flor de Junio. 

 
The details

Serves: 6-8
Time: 40 minutes (plus bean cooking)
Cookware: rimmed baking sheet, grill, small bowl, large bowl
 
What you’ll need
Chipotle-yogurt dressing
2 garlic cloves, finely minced 
Juice of 1 large lime
¾ cup Greek yogurt
½ to 1 chipotle with a little adobo sauce, finely chopped (if you don’t want that much heat, skip the chipotle and use 1-2 tsp sauce)
¾ tsp honey
½ tsp coarse salt, plus more to taste
The rest
8 corn tortillas, cut into thirds and then ½ inch strips
Olive oil
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
3 ears of corn, shucked and silk removed
1 head romaine lettuce, roughly chopped into 1-inch pieces
1 bunch lacinato kale, stems removed and roughly chopped in 1-inch pieces
1-½ cups of strained beans from a batch of beans (cooked according to our guide)
1 avocado, cubed
6 radishes, thinly sliced
⅓ cup grated cotija cheese, plus more for serving
Toasted pepitas, for serving
Lime wedges, for serving

 

Directions:

Prepare the dressing: In a small bowl, combine garlic and lime juice; set aside for 5 minutes to let the garlic flavor mellow. Stir in remaining ingredients and season with salt to taste.

Make the tortilla strips: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place tortilla strips on a rimmed baking sheet; toss with a little olive oil and season with salt. Spread in a single layer and bake until golden and crisp, stirring halfway through, 8-10 minutes. Let cool.

Grill the corn: Heat the grill over medium-high. Brush ears of corn with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill, turning occasionally, until kernels are tender and charred in spots, 10-12 minutes. (Alternatively, you can broil the ears of corn, turning occasionally until tender and charred.) Once cooled enough to handle, cut the kernels from the cobs. 

Assemble the salad: In a large bowl, toss lettuce and kale with half the dressing. Add corn kernels, beans, avocado, radishes, and cotija cheese. Toss gently to combine. Add more dressing to taste and season with salt. To serve, garnish with tortilla strips, roasted pepitas, and lime wedges, and top with more cotija cheese.

Best Egg Salad Skip The Mayo, Bring On The Beans

Best Egg Salad

3 hard boiled eggs

1 can white beans
1 or 2 cloves garlic finely grated

2 teaspoon Dijon Mustard
1 Tablespoon capers chopped
Bunch tender chopped herbs
Squeeze lemon juice
Drizzle olive oil
Cracked black pepper
Sea salt

Radishes sliced thin
Peppery arugula

Directions:

Chop or Dice the boiled eggs.  Drain the can of beans. Place in blender and smooth to a paste. chopped herbs, squeeze of lemon juice,  Add the garlic, Dijon mustard, chopped capers, squeeze lemon juice,, Stir to mix well. Add chopped herbs, cracked pepper, sea salt,  Spread on toasted bread or crackers,: garnish with radishes, arugula, and drizzle of olive oil. 

Ultra-Creamy Hummus

Ultra-Creamy Hummus

And here’s the best part: Superlative hummus requires only a little more time and effort to make than that lunch box stuff. Here’s my component-by-component approach.


2 cans Chickpeas, drained and rinsed well. 

1/2 tsp baking soda, will help take skins off.

Cook in 6 cups water, bring to boil for 20 minutes

While the Garbanzo Beans are boiling 

4 cloves garlic, minced  

Measure 1 tablespoon minced garlic and add to 1/3 cup lemon juice

Add 1 teaspoon salt  

Stir and let set for 10 minutes 

Strain to remove garlic, dispose garlic

When ready, drain garbanzo beans.  Add cool water to pan.  Swish with hand in water which allows skins to release and scoop out released skins. Rinse 3 or 4 times to remove skins.

Save  2 tablespoons of chick peas for garnish

Place chick peas in food processor with marinated lemon juice, 

1/4 cup water (I would suggest starting with 3 

   tablespoons) 

1/4 tsp cumin

1/4 cup Tahini. (light colored tahini is not bitter)

Stir in by hand, 2 T olive oil

Serve with:

Carrots cut at a diagonal 3" or 4"

Radishes

Persian cucumbers, quartered lengthwise

Pita bread (thick)

For Garnish:

Sprinkle of cumin

Couple of chick peas 

Parsley

Drizzle of olive oil

Notes:
How you treat the chickpeas impacts the consistency of hummus more than any other factor, because they are firm (even when cooked) and covered in tough skins.

My most effective tricks were overcooking them and removing their skins. It takes hours to soak and simmer dried chickpeas, but simmering canned beans took about 20 minutes. (There’s no shame here: Dried and canned beans are equally good in this recipe.) I also added baking soda to the saucepan, which raised the water’s pH and helped the skins break down and slip off. By the end of cooking, there was a “raft” of skins floating on the surface that was easy to remove by draining and rinsing the beans a few times.


Tahini
Tahini is hummus’s major source of richness and flavor and significantly affects its consistency. Brand and color matter here, since the tahini’s shade indicates how much the sesame seeds have been roasted. Lighter tahini, made with lightly roasted sesame seeds, tastes distinct but mild, whereas darker tahini, made with heavily roasted sesame seeds, is unpleasantly bitter.

One thing I discovered: It’s important to process the other hummus ingredients before adding the tahini. That’s because its proteins readily absorb water and clump, resulting in overly thick hummus. Processing the other ingredients without the tahini allows the water to disperse throughout the mixture; then, when the tahini is eventually added, its proteins can’t immediately absorb the water and clump, and the hummus doesn’t become stiff.

Water
Water is often added to enhance the spread’s creaminess. I started with 1/4 cup and, depending on the consistency of the tahini and the hummus itself (it thickens as it sits), added more water by the teaspoon.

Olive Oil
Typically, all the fat in hummus comes from tahini, but 2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil made my version especially silky. To avoid overprocessing the oil, which can release bitter-tasting compounds, I added it with the tahini.

Lemon Juice + Garlic
Instead of incorporating garlic directly into the hummus as most recipes do, I briefly steeped a few minced cloves in lemon juice, strained and discarded them, and added only the infused juice to the dip—a technique from chef Michael Solomonov’s popular hummus recipe and one that we’ve used in the past for Caesar dressing. The juice’s acid neutralizes alliinase, the enzyme that creates garlic’s harsh flavor. That way, we capture some—but not too much—of the garlic’s sharp, raw bite and strain out the pulpy bits.

Spring Grain Bowl

Spring Vegetable Grain Bowl 

Yield: 4 servings 

Ingredients:
1 cup quinoa
3 tablespoons tahini, well stirred
3 tablespoons water 
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 small clove garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
12 asparagus spears
3 carrots
6 radishes
1 jalapeño, seeds removed if desired
1/2 cup fresh parsley leaves 

Directions:
In a medium saucepan, combine the quinoa with 2 cups of water over medium-high heat and let come to a boil. Stir once, cover with a tight-fitting lid, and reduce the heat to low. Cook for 15 minutes, until the water is absorbed. Remove from the heat and fluff with a fork. Let stand, covered, for 5 minutes more. 

In a small bowl, whisk together the tahini, water, lemon juice, garlic, and salt. 

Using a vegetable peeler, peel the asparagus and carrots into long ribbons. Thinly slice the radishes and jalapeño. 

Divide the quinoa among bowls and add the vegetables. Drizzle on the dressing and scatter the parsley leaves over the top. 

Shrimp And Mango Shrimp Rolls

Shrimp & Mango Spring Rolls

Ingredients:

2 tbsp Thai fish sauce
2 tbsp lime juice
2 tbsp packed brown sugar
¼ tsp red chili flakes
8 oz frozen, cooked shelled shrimp, thawed
1 large mango, peeled, pitted and diced
3 radishes, cut into matchsticks
2 green onions, thinly sliced
2 tbsp finely chopped cilantro
2 tbsp shredded fresh basil
1 tsp Asian chili-garlic sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
6-inch rice paper wrappers, about 12

Directions:

In a small bowl, whisk together fish sauce, lime juice, sugar and red chili flakes until sugar dissolves. Set aside.

Pat shrimp dry, then chop. In a bowl, toss together shrimp, mango, radishes, green onions, cilantro, basil, chili-garlic sauce and sesame oil.

Working with 2 wrappers at a time, dip them in a bowl of warm water and lay out in a single layer on a clean tea towel.

Spoon about 2 heaping tbsp shrimp mixture in a strip just below centre of each wrapper, leaving a 1-inch border on either side. Fold in sides of each wrapper, then roll up wrappers to enclose filling. Repeat with remaining wrappers and filling.

Serve spring rolls with dipping sauce.

Makes about 12 spring rolls