The Mother of all Calzones

Sautee chopped onion, garlic and asparagus till half cooked

Cool and then combine with:

Fresh ricotta

Chunks of Mozzarella

Chunks of Fontina

Chopped fresh arugula

Chopped basil and chives

Chunks of mortadella

Chopped olives

Salt pepper

Grated parm to taste

Roll out pizza dough to a large square

Preheat over to 500

Place cookie sheet in hot oven for 5 min then brush with olive oil

Take dough and place down on cookie sheet, Add the filling and roll the dough on top and seal

Brush top with olive oil and bake till golden brown

artichoke and marscapone ravioli with sweet italian sausage and broccolli rape

I bought the ravioli form a local Italian deli that had just been made.

Sauteed chopped onion and garlic in olive oil , then added sliced sausage to brown

Add chopped broccoli rape and sautee till wilted

Add 1/4 cup white wine , reduce

Add 1/2 cup chicken stock and reduce till syrupy

Add cooked ravioli and serve with parm on top

Coffee and Chile rubbed Rib Eye with shaved fennel and Roasted Japanese Yam

Get a ribeye with the bone in

Take 1 tablespoon each of ground coffee (espresso), Chile powder, brown sugar and 1/2 tsp salt and pepper . Mix well

Rub steak with chile rub and let sit for at least an hour

Grill over charcoal till medium

For Fennel ;

Slice fennel on a mandolin or very thinly

Add thinly sliced red onion

Mix together

Wrap Yam in foil with olive oil and roast on top of coals or in 350 oven till soft

Add 1/4 cup olive oil and rice wine vinegar and salt and pepper

southwestern egg rolls for Ben's 50th Bday

Sautee one onion chopped in olive oil

Add 1 lb ground turkey

Add 2 tablespoons chile powder

When turkey is half cooked add

1/2 cup cooked corn

1/2 cup black beans

1/2 cup chopped roasted peppers

1/2 cup chipotle salsa

Cook for 5 min

Remove and put in fridge to cool

When cool

In a small bowl put 1 tablespoon corn starch and 1/4 cup warm water and mix

Grate 1 lb monterey jack cheese

Take Egg roll wrapper

Brush edges of wrapper with cornstarch water

Add a large tablespoon of the turkey and 1 tablespoon of cheese

Fold side edges of wrappers and then fold gently into packets

When done put in fridge for 30 min to cool

Fry in 350 degree canola oil til llight brown

Serve with guacamole and salsa

Lettuce Wrapped Shrimp Salad

Boiled shrimp chopped finely with red onion and jalapeno, fresh mint, mayo, sour cream, lime juice

With a mango salsa limejuice sauce and fresh avocado

Wrap in iceberg lettuce leaves

Baked Cod Provencal with chorizo

1 stick of chorizo sliced thinly

2 lemons sliced thinly

1 pd of cod

1 onion sliced thinly

3 small thinly sliced tomatoes

3 cloves of garlic chopped fine

1 inch of ginger chopped fine

¼ cup of white wine

Tbs of butter

Sauté chorizo on medium heat until caramelized and brown

Remove chorizo from pan

Add 1 layer of sliced lemons

Place the fish on top of the lemons

Add all other ingredients from above

Place in a 450-degree oven with salt and pepper on top and bake until fish is flaky (approximately 20 minutes.

Cider Braised Chicken with chanterelle mushrooms and sautéed Westport turnips (macomber turnips)

Take 2 whole chicken breast on the bone and split them in half

Sprinkle salt and pepper n top of them

Sautee in a medium hot pan with olive oil for 8-10 minutes turning frequently

After chicken is brown on all sides remove from pan to rest and drain sauté pan

Put pan back on stove on medium high heat

Add one and a half cups of apple cider

One and a half cups of fruity white wine

A half a cup of cream

A Tablespoon of Dijon mustard

And a tablespoon of chopped fresh sage leaves

Reduce by half on medium high and add chicken back to sauce when the sauce has thickened

Add a cup of chanterelle mushrooms (have them sliced-any kind of mushroom will do)

Place the cover on pan for 3 minutes

Check after 3 minutes and serve

The turnips-peel and slice one large turnip

In a large sauté plan over medium heat melt a tablespoon of butter and a ¼ cup of olive oil

When melted and oil in pan starts to simmer add the sliced pieces of turnips covering the entire pan

Sauté on medium heat for at least 5 minutes.

Check to see if it’s browning at 3 minutes

Continue to turn them until you can cut the turnip with a salt/

Add salt and pepper.

Right before serving add additional fresh herbs-parsley, marjoram, thyme, etc.

Enjoy

Flash fried striped bass over a butternut squash shallot and garlic shoot ragout

Flash fried striped bass over a butternut squash shallot and garlic shoot ragout

(Can substitute bass with scrod, chicken, porlk, shrimp, etc)

To make the butternut squash shallot and garlic shoot ragout:

You need:

one butternut squash

one large shallot

half a cup of garlic shoots or scallions

1/8th of a cup of olive oil

salt and pepper

Peel and chop into half-inch dices one butternut squash

Chop one large shallot and a half a cup of garlic shoots

In large sauté pan that’s preheated to medium high heat add an 8th of a cup of olive oil

When oil shimmers add chopped butternut squash and let sauté for 3-4 minutes and then shake the pan

Add shoots and shallots

Reduce heat to medium

Add slat and pepper to taste and let cook for 20 minutes stirring frequently

To create coating for the fish:

Use a half a cup of rice flour, tbs of chili powder, tsp of salt and a half a tsp of pepper.

Mix all ingredients in a bowel

Add pieces of any type of fish that are about 2 inches long (shrimp, cod, calamari)

Put each piece of the fish in the coating, stirring frequently to cover all pieces

Sauté pieces in a sauté pan with a half-inch of canola oil

Combine the squash and the fish onto a plate

Serve with slices of lime, fresh tomato salsa, and chopped avocado or chopped mango for fun decadence!

Garlicky Cauliflower Salad

1 head chopped cauliflower

3 green onions sliced thinly (scallions)

3 cloves of garlic finely chopped

1&1/2 lemons squeezed into juice

3tbl spoons of mayonaisse

¼ cup of chopped cilantro

Add all ingredients into a bowl and stir and then add salt and pepper

Let sit for an hour before serving

Rice and Lentil Baked Loaf

Rice and Lentil Baked Loaf

In a rice cooker put one cup of lentils

1cup of brown rice

Tsp of slat

2 and ½ cups of water

And let cook in a rice cooker

In a large sauté pan sauté:

1 chopped onion

1 red and 1 yellow pepper chopped

5 cloves of minced garlic

With 2tbs of olive oil and salt and pepper

When onions and peppers are mostly cooked add:

1 can of chickpeas

1 large bunch of spinach chopped up and cleaned

Cook mixture until spinach is totally wilted

Take one large package of American mozzarella and chop into small chunks and leave it on cutting board

Grate one cup of Parmesan cheese and leave it

Take 4 eggs and put it into a bowl and beat them until combined

Chop one cup of chopped basil

When rice and lentils are done put them into a large bowl

Add spinach onion mixture

Add the chopped cheese, the basil, the grated Parmesan cheese, and the 4 eggs that were mixed together thoroughly

Pour mixture into a baking dish covered with sliced fresh tomatoes and grated cheese and bake for 45 minutes at 400 degrees

Turkey Burger

Turkey Burgers

1 Pd of ground white turkey

½ cup of finely chopped white onions

1 cup of grated mimolette cheese

2 tbs of pumpkin seed oil

Salt and pepper

Mix all ingredients together and sauté over medium heat until brown on all sides

Place in a lovely bun and enjoy!

Easy Tortellini soup

Tortellini soup

2 containers of chicken stock

One onion

Half a bunch of celery

4 carrots chopped thinly

Half cup of sun dried tomatoes

1 ear of corn

I package of tortellini’or Russian raviolis

Sauté onions, celery and carrots cooked corn off the cob, in olive oil with salt and pepper in POT BIG ENOUGH TO COOK PASTA IN For 7-10 minutes on medium heat

Add a half a cup of chopped sun dried tomatoes

Add 2 containers of chicken stocks

Bring to a boil

Turn heat down to medium low

Add frozen tortellinis, or Russian dumplings or raviolis and a bunch a green onions (scallions) sliced thinly

Turned to low, cover and come back in 30 minutes and serve

Drizzle a little salt and olive oil at the endon the serving portion. Squeeze lime on it as well if you’d lie or lemon.

you can use the Teriyaki sauce for stir fries with tofu

Slice tofu into 1 inch thick slices and marinate in Teriyaki for an hour.

Roughly slice and chop any combo of veggies - onions, carrots, bok choy, leeks, snow peas,

On high heat sautee each veggie separately and remove from pan

Once veggies are done , sautee the tofu.

When tofu is cooked, remove from pan and add chopped garlic and ginger

After a minute, add all the veggies and tofu let stir fry for a few min.

Add a 1/4 cup of Teriyaki sauce and finish

We Don’t Need No Stinking Bottled Teriyaki Sauce!

1 Cup of Premium Soy Sauce Try to get a Soy Sauce that has just Soybeans, Water, Wheat and Salt as ingredients, if you can.

1/4 cup fine chopped ginger

1/4 cup - finely chopped garlic

1/2 cup of Chinese Rice Wine, or a combination of Sake and Mirin. A dry white table wine like a Pinot Grigio (not an oaky Chardonnay) is fine if you can’t get any of these.

3 Tablespoons of Sugar (White or Brown, brown will give you more of a molasses flavor).

2 Scallions, Finely Chopped

Optional Components: Chopped Jalapeno Pepper or other mild chili, Chopped fresh Pineapple, Honey, Orange Juice.

Combine all ingredients into a saucepan. Cook on medium-high heat, stirring with wooden spoon until sauce just starts to stick to the back of the spoon. Taste for saltiness. Add more sugar, or Orange Juice to taste. Remove from heat. Add toasted sesame seeds or toasted sesame oil.

chicken breast stuffed with herbs and sausage and rolled in bacon

Ingredients

Chicken

• 6 flattened chiecken breasts
• sea salt and pepper
• approximately 24 slices of bacon
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1/8 cup sherry vinegar
• 1/4 dupMarsala
• ladleful of brown chicken stock
• a couple of chunks of butter

Stuffing - Mix all in a bowl

• pork sausage meat
• handful of skinned pistachio nuts, roughly chopped
• 1 egg yolk
• 4 thyme sprigs, leaves stripped and chopped
• handful flat parsley, chopped

Flatten the chicken breasts

Take a large piece of foil and lay out bacon on foil

Place chicken on top of bacon

Place two large tablespoons of sausage combo on top and form into a log

Take the foil and roll it up making sure the bacon goes all around the chicken

Roll the ends of the foil tightly

Place Chicken rolls in lightly boiling water for 30 min, turn every 10 min

Let cool for at least an hour in the freezer so that the bacon sticks to the chicken

TO COOK

Unwrap the chicken carefully

Sautee in olive oil on medium heat turning frequently to crisp the bacon and heat the chicken

Remove from pan and drain off most of the bacon fat

Add Marsala wine and sherry vinegar and reduce

when syrupy,turn off heat add butter and swirl to mix

Slice chicken on the diagonal and serve over risotto

Bolognese sauce recipe so tash doesn't have to call

Every time Natasha makes this sauce , she calls me for the recipe. Hopefully, she will bookmark this and call me to tell me how great her version is !!!

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 2 cups chopped celery
• 6 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 lb ground veal
• 1 lb ground pork
• 4 ounces pancetta or bacon, finely chopped
• 2 (14 1/2 ounce) cans whole tomatoes, in juice
• 1 (14 1/2 ounce) can Chicken Broth
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 5 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme or 2 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme
• 12 ounces fettuccine
• 1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

Directions

1. 1
   heat oil in heavy large pot over medium heat.
2. 2
   Add onions, celery and garlic an saute until vegetables are tender and beginning to brown, about 10 minutes.
3. 3
   Increase heat to high; add veal, pork, pancetta or bacon and saute until meat is brown, breaking up meat with the back of a fork, about 10 minutes.
4. 4
   Add tomatoes with their juices, 1 3/4 cups chicken broth, milk and thyme.
5. 5
   Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer uncovered for 1 hour 15 minutes, breaking up tomatoes with the back of a spoon, adding more chicken broth if mixture is too thick and stirring occasionally.
6. 6
   Season to taste with salt and pepper.
7. 7
   Cook fettuccine in large pot of boiling water just until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally.
8. 8
   Drain.
9. 9
   Add fettuccine to pot with ragu and toss to blend.
10. 10
    Transfer to large bowl.
11. 11
    Sprinkle with 1/2 cup Parmesan.
12. 12
    Serve, passing remaining Parmesan seperately.

Moroccan Bistilla appetizers

In Morocco, Bastilla is traditionally made with pigeon, but I use ground Turkey

Ingredients:

1lb ground turkey 1 onion, chopped 1/2 teaspoon ginger 1/2 teaspoon turmeric 1/2 teaspoon black pepper 1 whole cinnamon stick 1 cup chopped cilantro 6 eggs 1/2 pound almonds 1/2 cup sugar 2 tablespoons cinnamon 2 large sheets phyllo pastry dough 1/4 cup melted butter Sautee the onions and ground turkey in butter Cook eggs, along with 1/4 - 1/3 cup reserved cooking liquid from turkeyin a large skille tuntil soft scrambled, do not overcook the eggs. Mix cooked eggs with turkey until well combined. Process almonds, sugar and cinnamon in a food processor until almonds are crushed. Mix all the ingredients together The above steps can be done ahead of time, if desired. refrigerate ingredients until ready to cook. phyllo dough can be a little tricky to work with. For best results, thaw completely. It's important to keep the dough you are going to work with wrapped in a slightly damp kitchen towel, as the dough dries out very quickly and becomes fragile and breaks apart. Work quickly and cut filo into halfs, brush with melted butter Take a heaping table spoon of turkey mix and place in center on filo halves. Roll on the diagonal until you have triangles and wrap any filo under. Brush each with melted buter and bake at 375 until golden RIght before serving , sprinkle with Confectioners sugar and ground cinnamon