Cioppino for Dinner

I cooked up my cioppino dish last night and actually took notes. Writing up the recipe now. Stay tuned for the best cioppino recipe ever...

Yes, I'm tooting my own horn, but I've made this dish at least a hundred times and convinced it's the best one yet.

La Honda Wine & Treats

How lucky am I to have a wonderful mother that invites me to her work event: a "make your own appetizers" + wine tasting event, sponsored by La Honda Winery, CuisineStyle & Morrissey/Compton: and the staff was a MAJOR bonus. Getting to chat up Ken (the founder) & Cynthia Wornick was such a highlight.

And the wines... Oh the wines... My faves were the Chardonnay & Pinot (the Pinot paired w/wasabi peas was a delightful and bizarre discovery, but I tested it on a couple of party-goers and the confirmed the perfect pairing). I ended up buying a couple bottles of each (and a bag of wasabi peas on the way home)….

They split the guests between 4 tables, where they were instructed by the La Honda Winery chefs, including head chef, Pamela Keith, in creating amazing appetizers for all to share. And the winning appetizer? Mozzarella/grape tomatoes:

- Mozzarella Bocconcini

- Fresh Grape Tomatoes

- Pesto Sauce

- Melba Toast

It’s so simple and, yet, so deliciously good! I watched one person take seven off the tray – I would have done the same if I could’ve gotten away with it. I’ll give you the deets on the rest of the apps (description and recipes) in a day or so, with pics.

Authentic Taqueria Tacos – Carne/Carnitas/Polo Asada

These tacos are a tasty meat-treat with all the freshness you crave. They have a nice bite, yet They're not too spicy, with street flavor and citrus undertones, that provides a healthy and delicious meal. You can cook it up and serve it hot and fresh or let it cool to serve on a hot day with an ice-cold beer. It’s a perfect dish for those big get-togethers where your guests can serve themselves and keep going back for more.

This dish pairs perfectly with a glass of homemade Sangria or a cold beer.

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds steak (flank, skirt, filet) or pork (tenderloin) or chicken (breast)
1/3 cup white vinegar (dry sherry will sub)
1/2 cup soy sauce
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
3 limes, juiced/zest
2 red jalapeno peppers, chopped
1 tablespoon minced onions
1 tablespoon salsa Verde (green tomatillo)
1 teaspoon salsa Brava (hot not mild red salsa unless you are timid)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ground white pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon paprika
1 tablespoon ground cumin


Garnish and finish elements

Fresh Tortillas (corn recommended)
Lettuce
Tomatoes
Green onions
Cilantro
Sour Cream or Crème Fresh
Guacamole
Hot pepper sauce

Cut the peppers and onions and roast in a dry pan adding a little peanut oil (or high smoke point oil). Once the veggies have sweated a bit add all the dry spices to a side of the pan a let them bloom. Remove from heat and let cool.

Cut the meat into slices about ½ inch (1 cm) thick and give it a few whacks with a mallet or add tenderizer to break up some of the meat fiber.

Once the veggies have cooled put them into a big storage zip-lock bag and add the liquid ingredients, saving the oil for last. Squish & mix the delicious marinade then add the oil and then the meat. Place in the fridge for at least two hours (it’s even better if you leave it overnight).

Meal time…Fire up your BBQ or grill pan and grill the meat to your desired texture. Once done, remove the meat from the pan or grill and let it rest for 10 minutes. While you are grilling, have a friend prepare the garnish, veggies, and sauces. Once the meat has rested, warm the tortillas – not for too long or they’ll become crunchy and unusable.

Viola! Assemble as you like and eat a healthy authentic south of the border style meal. Squeeze a lime over the top to brighten the heat of the tacos.

Jill Silverman Hough’s Lamb Chops with Fig and Orange Tapenade

So, for the past few years, I’ve been really into pairing the perfect wine with the dishes I cook up. Sometimes it’s not always just about the type of wine (Zinfandel, Cabernet, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, etc…) but the specific label and year can have a major impact on the pairing as well.

After recently joining Twitter, I connected with Jill Silverman Hough (@JillSHough), author of “100 Perfect Pairings: Small Plates to Enjoy with Wines You Love”, and discovered her recipe for Lamb Chops with Fig and Orange Tapenade on her website. I’m a huge fan of lamb and an even bigger fan of sweet & savory dishes: her lamb chop recipe looked so inventive and just jumped off the page. I couldn’t wait to try it out. When I mentioned to Jill that I was going to try it out and blog about it, Jill seemed very happy. However, she warned me that the suggested wine pairing wasn’t quite as perfect as she had hoped… I took that as a challenge!

I decided to invite some close friends over and try it out with 3 wines (all reasonably priced and 2 of them were my staple pairings for most of my red meat dishes). Per Jill’s blog post, I knew the wine had to have a touch of sweetness to balance out the sweetness of the orange and fig tapenade. So, I selected a Clos du Bois Zinfandel 2006 and Chateau Ste. Michelle “Indian Wells” Cabernet 2008. The latter was definitely a gamble that didn’t pay off (great wine though). But the one that took the prize and had everyone jumping in their seats was the La Cabotte 2008 "Colline" Cotes du Rhone. It added just the perfect balance and enhanced the orange elements on the dish, really making the perfect pairing.

Overall, the dish was absolutely amazing and everyone loved it. I can’t wait to try it again!

Crab Quesadillas with Fresh Mango Salsa

After a very long day’s work, I wanted to make something for dinner that was light, low fat, and uncomplicated. So, I made one of my favorites: Crab Quesadillas with Fresh Mango Salsa. I absolutely love this dish because it’s fun and pretty and the mango salsa is very therapeutic to make (well, I think so anyway). I suggest preparing the mango salsa and hour or so before preparing the crab quesadillas, so that the flavors have a chance to blend. So, here’s the recipe for one of my favorite dishes!


Mango Salsa

• 2 mangos, diced small
• 1 red pepper, diced small
• 1 small red onion, diced small
• 1 large jalapeno pepper, diced small (remove seeds first)
• 2 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
• 1 Tbsp. raw sugar
• ¼ cup of cilantro, chopped
• For a little extra spice, add a few drops of hot pepper sauce
  

Combine ingredients in a medium to large bowl and place in your refrigerator.

Quesadillas

• Flour tortillas
• Swiss Emmental cheese
• Fresh crab meat
• Green onion, chopped
  

I'm assuming I don't need to explain how to make the quesadillas. But if you would like more instruction, just leave me a comment and I'll be happy to walk you through it.

And my suggested pairing? A Sauvignon Blanc – Chalk Hill is usually the one I go with. Chardonnay or Pinot Grigio may also work well, but the Sauvignon Blanc is always my first pick.

Try it out and let me know what you think!

Steak Dry Rub + Spiced Butternut Squash + Home-style Spinach

Tonight I tried out a new dry rub for a New York Strip Steak. It's a strange combination, but it turned out AMAZINGLY well…

AMAZING Dry Rub for Ribeye or New York Strip Steak:
- Garlic powder
- Rosemary
- Thyme
- Minced cloves
- Chille powder
- Black pepper
- Brown sugar

The side dishes included for tonight’s meal...

Spiced Butternut Squash:- 4 cups of butternut squash, cubed
- Butter
- Garlic (fresh is better, but garlic powder is fine)
- Rosemary
- Garam Masala
- Sea Salt
- Maple Syrup (grade A)

Pre-heat oven to 450°. In a medium-sized Pyrex dish, combine melted butter and seasonings. Add maple syrup and mix thoroughly. Add cubed butternut squash and stir until the butternut squash is completely coated. Total cooking time is about 40 minutes. Make sure to stir after 15 minutes and then another stirring after another 10 minutes.

Home-style Spinach:
- Fresh spinach leaves
- Garlic (fresh)
- Balsamic vinegar
- Olive oil
- Sea salt

In a large pot (to fit uncooked spinach leaves), add ¼ cup of water and a tsp. of sea salt and bring to a boil. Add spinach leaves, reduce heat to medium (low), cover, and cook for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and strain spinach in a colander, making sure to remove all excess liquid (pressing down the a large spoon helps). Put the well-drained cooked spinach back into the pot and add the balsamic vinegar, garlic, and olive oil. Turn the stove on to medium and chop the spinach while cooking off excess liquid.

This meal pairs perfectly with the Clos du Bois Zinfandel 2006.

Retro Cooking

My mother just presented me with two amazing gifts:

The first, my great-grandmother's cook book, The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book, by Fannie Merritt Farmer (1928). And... it has notes and clippings inside that include the recipes for my great-aunt's wedding cake and our family recipe for crumpets...

The second, my grandmother's favorite cook book, "A Guide to Good Cooking" (22nd edition that was "designed for today's busy homemakers"), which includes inserts of her personal recipes for walnut fingers and nanaimo bars. Can't wait 'til Christmas, though baking isn't at the top of my list of talents.

But, maybe I should share some of their favorite recipes and you can tell me how they turn out...

Grilled Meat-Fest 2010

Last night I finally nailed down my BBQ'd Babyback Ribs recipe! This time I marinated the ribs in a homemade apple cider vinegar-based BBQ sauce for 48 hours. The ribs cam out juicier and more flavorful than ever - blew my guests away. I also served up grilled shrimp, beef satay and a spiced corn salad.

I've been playing with the corn salad concept for the past couple of days and came up with the following...

Spiced Corn Salad:
4 ears of grilled corn
1 red pepper, diced
1 small red onion, diced
1 jalapeno, diced (but next time I'll use 2)
2 Tbs. of finely chopped cilantro

Dressing:
2 tsp. of apple cider vinegar
4+ tsp. of fresh lime juice
1/2 tsp. of cumin powder
1 Tbsp. of raw sugar
Dash of coarse sea salt & cayenne pepper

Try it out and let me know what you think!

Garlic-Rosemary Sirloin-Tip Steak

Trying to find a decent sirloin-tip steak recipe is impossible!! I searched online and looked at about 20+ “sirloin-tip steak” results and all of them were either for “sirloin-tip roast” recipes (not the same thing) or required the cook to cut their sirloin-tip steak into pieces prior to cooking.

After much frustration, I called a friend, who I consider to be a red-meat specialist, and asked him for advice, which he successfully provided. And here’s the recipe I used (my own concoction) and the steps I took to prepare my sirloin-tip steak (cooking meathod credit goes to my wonderful friend).

Meat:
- Sirloin-tip steak (1lb 23 ounces, about 1 inch thick)

Dry Rub for Sirloin-tip:
- 1 Tbs. Garlic powder
- 1 Tbs. Dried rosemary
- 1 tsp. Fresh black pepper
- 1 tsp. Brown sugar (to seal in the juices)

Prep at least 7 hours in advanced: Apply a heavy amount of the dry rub to both sides of the steak and wrap tightly and thoroughly in plastic wrap (I used three 16 inch sheets to ensure the juices wouldn’t leek). Put the steak in the fridge for at least 6 hours.

Remove the steak 1 hour before cook-time to bring down to room-temperature. I would suggest using a pan that is compatible both on the stove top and in an oven.

Add sea salt for taste just before searing steak (note: NEVER add salt to a dry rub. Salt extracts moisture from meat). Pre-heat the oven to 375°F

Add about 4 tablespoons of olive oil to your pan and turn heat to medium high. When your pan is heated (use 1 drop of water to test) add your steak to the pan. Sear on high heat about 1 to 1 ½ minutes on the first side. Turn the steak over and sear for approx. 1 minute. Then remove the pan + steak from the stove top and move it to the center of your pre-heated oven. Bake for approx. 15-17 minutes.

Remove the steak from oven and let stand for approx. 10 minutes. Slice thinly and serve, pouring the juices from the steak on top.

I would suggest pairing your sirloin-tip steak with Dry Creek Heritage Zinfandel 2007 – it’s absolutely fabulous!

Enjoy!