Sparkling Passion

Hello Everyone and Happy Holidays! In honor of the holiday season I’m offering up a cocktail with a little fizz, just perfect for New Year’s Eve (or anytime for that matter!)
Simply add one part vodka to one part passion fruit juice and shake over ice. Pour into a cocktail glass leaving a bit of room. Top off with some champagne, just enough to get it a little fizzy. We added a raspberry for decoration.

This brand, Ceres, makes a nice passion fruit juice and is what I would recommend the most. If you can’t find this a good substitute would be Dole juices Paradise Blend, but I would add less juice since this one is sweeter and more concentrated. You can find it with other refrigerated juices.

If you don't have cocktail glasses a champagne flute would work as well.

I’m going to attempt individual Beef Wellingtons for New Year’s Eve. Obviously, I won’t be able to post them before NYE but if they come out nicely I'll put them up here and perhaps they’d be good for Valentine’s Day.

ENJOY!!

Elegant Yet Easy Hors d’Oeurves

As the holiday season gets into full swing I thought it would be fun to post some ideas for finger food to serve at parties. All of these are fairly simple but have a certain “wow” factor and definitely match up well with a glass of bubbly.

Smoked Salmon Toasts

Toast white bread, let cool and then spread generously with softened unsalted butter. Trim off the crusts and then cut into your preferred shape. For the ones pictured I cut the toast into four squares and then diagonally to get 8 small triangles out of each slice. Pick and put a piece of dill on each one, sticking it to the butter and placing it so it hangs a bit over the edge. For each slice of salmon cut lengthwise in a way to make a long triangle. Roll the piece of salmon up starting with the thicker side to form the middle of the “rose” and the thinnest to make the outer “petals”. Stick the rose to the toast. I would not make these too far ahead, maybe no more than a few hours. If you do make them ahead the way to keep them fresh and from drying out moisten paper towel with cool water and wring it out well, then place it very gently over top.

Pate with Red Wine Onion Jam

To make red wine onion jam, thinly slice up an onion and sauté in butter over medium heat. You want the onions to cook slowly and get soft, not brown and crunchy as happens when you cook them quickly on high heat. When they are getting pretty soft add in two tablespoons of sugar and continue cooking letting the sugar melt and help to caramelize the onion, then add in ½ cup of red wine. Let this all boil and reduce until most of the liquid is gone. Remove and let cool in the refrigerator.
Purchase a mousse type liver pate. Follow the same directions for the toast as in the Smoked Salmon Toasts except that you might want to cut them so that they are slightly larger. I did quarters. Working with well chilled pate (you want it to be easy to cut and if it’s too warm it will get soft) slice small pieces and place on the toasts. Top with a small amount of the red wine onion jam.

Roasted Asparagus with Lemon Aioli or Roasted Asparagus with Parmesan

This is a super simple way to cook asparagus that is good as a side dish also. Heat the oven to 400 degrees. On a baking sheet drizzle some olive oil and salt and pepper the pan, if you are doing the parmesan version add a clove of garlic put through a press. Place the raw asparagus on the pan and roll back and forth to coat the asparagus, if you are doing the parmesan version then sprinkle the cheese over them now. Place in the oven. Check them after 10 minutes and begin keeping an eye on them, when they are close to done you can stick them under the broiler to get some nice brown color. These can be done far ahead and should be served at room temperature. If you made the parmesan version then just serve them as is. For the lemon aioli one make the sauce by combining lemon juice, mayo, and lemon zest. Grate some more lemon zest over the top of the asparagus for decoration and flavor.

Roasted Fennel Bulb with Parmesan and Olives

Slice up a couple fennel bulbs saving and setting aside the stems and fronds. Follow the same instructions as the asparagus except do not add garlic and do not put the cheese on before cooking. Sprinkle a handful of pitted calamata olives over the top of the fennel. After cooking, when the dish has come to room temperature sprinkle with some parmesan flakes. You can make parmesan flakes by using a vegetable peeler. Pick a few sprigs of greens from the fennel fronds and sprinkle over the top. This dish is also best served at room temperature and can be done fairly far ahead of time. I do this one in a shallow baking dish and just serve it in that.

Roasted Potato with Sour Cream and Caviar or Bacon

This one is a little more labor intensive than the first few. Using small red new potatoes and a paring knife carve around the side of the potato to form a sort of column. See picture. Now on the opposite sides that sill have peel, in other words the ends of the columns, take a melon baller and scoop out a shallow cup in the potato and then slice the potato in half making two pieces. Boil the potatoes until they are about half cooked in heavily salted water. Put the potatoes on a baking sheet and very lightly coat them with olive oil. Roast them in a 400 degree oven letting them brown a little. Watch them closely and check the bottoms to make sure they’re not browning too quickly. Remove and let cool completely. Now fill the cups with sour cream. You can do this with a piping bag or just a small spoon. Top with a bit of caviar or some cooked cubes of bacon. Cut chives so you have about inch long pieces and stick two into each cup sticking up out of the sour cream. If you are making these ahead you can go as far as filling the potato with sour cream and then just top them off when you’re ready to serve them.

Endive Cups filled with Crab and Tarragon Salad

This one is super simple. Buy a container of cooked lump crab meat and pick through to remove any shell still in it. Mix the crab with mayo, lemon juice and chopped fresh tarragon. Cut the end of the endive off and pull apart the leaves, using these for cups scoop about a tablespoon of the crab mixture onto each leaf. You can decorate the top with a frond from the fennel bulb if you did that recipe or a little red caviar, or just some chopped parsley or chives.

Smoked Trout Mousse on Cucumber

In a food processor combine one package of cream cheese, at room temperature, about a tablespoon of horseradish and one and half filets of smoked trout. For the half fillet use the thicker side so you can use the thinner one for decorative purposes later. Process everything until smooth. Taste and adjust seasonings and put into a piping bag. Cut a seedless cucumber into rounds that are about ½ inch thick and using a mellon baller scoop out a shallow cup on one side. Set them upside down on a tray that is covered with paper towel until you are ready to use them. For an extra decorative touch I use a zester to carve channels on the side of the cucumber as shown in the photo below.

You can fill the cucumber cups around one hour before you are serving them, but not much more than that since the cucumbers start to give off water and will cause the mousse to slip off. When filling them leave a small mound as shown. Top each one with a small piece of the trout from the leftover ½ fillet and a sprig of dill.

Sirloin Tips with Spicy Cherry Peppers

This one didn't get photographed but it's super easy and was a big hit. Take sirloin tips or other chunks of steak, cut into small bite sized pieces. Cook according to the directions here. Once it gets a good browning throw in some spicy pickled cherry peppers out of a jar (not too many, they are very spicy) and cut in half and stick under the broiler for a couple minutes. Serve hot with toothpicks.

Holiday Rehab, Part 3

Another meal in the Recovery from Thanksgiving project. This meal is a total standard in our house. It’s basically a Scandinavian style dish that we picked up from travelling there and eating it in several incarnations (my husband is from Sweden and I give him full credit for this one). It’s got so much going for it: quick, easy, elegant, delicious and super healthy. We eat this very frequently and also often serve it to guests as it looks quite lovely on the plate and is very easy to throw together without being stuck out in the kitchen for long stretches.

Boil some new red potatoes, or better yet red creamers. My husband has a trick he learned from his mother that is after he has drained the potatoes he puts them back in the pot and places a paper towel over the top and covers with a lid. I’m not totally sure this does anything but it feels as if it helps the potatoes take on the waxy consistency that is very appealing.

Mix together some sour cream and chopped dill. You can also add chives if you have them. You can substitute Greek yogurt for the sour cream if you want to be more calorie conscious. Salt and pepper to taste. By the way, if you have any of this left over, add some garlic and you have a really good potato chip dip.

Sear salmon using these instructions to guide you.

Make a salad dressing using lemon juice, Dijon mustard, salt, pepper and olive oil. I leave the proportions to you. Lightly toss salad greens in dressing.

Place everything on plate. Top the potatoes with the sour cream mixture and sprinkle with chopped red onion. Top off the salad with cucumbers and tomatoes. You can top off the whole plate with a little more chopped dill.

This meal works really well with smoked fish such as trout or kippers too.

Another variation on this meal that is particularly good for summer is to poach the salmon and serve the whole meal cold. To poach the fish just bring water, a little white wine, a tiny bit of sliced onion and carrot to just barely a boil and put your fish in. The poaching liquid should be a little more than half way up the fish. Cover and cook. For me, I would say about 8 minutes but I like salmon just barely done. You can practice or simply peek inside one filet and see if it’s done enough. Remember that the fish will cook a little more even when removed from the cooking liquid. One of the great things about poaching salmon, and the reason why it’s a popular catering dish, is it is difficult to truly over cook it to the point where it would really be dry or unappealing. When it is done take it out of the poaching liquid and put it in the refrigerator to cool.

Eggplant with Tahini, Brown Rice, and Tomato/Cucumber Salad

Keeping with the mode of recovering from eating so much over the holiday weekend I made this healthy and delicious vegetarian meal.
If you are going to serve this with brown rice then start that first. Heat your oven to 400 degrees. Take a couple of eggplants and cut slices that are about ¼ to ½ inch thick. I like to first peel my eggplant a little as shown in the photo, but it’s not necessary, I’m just not wild about a lot of peel.

On a sheet pan (cookie sheet) or two pour enough olive oil to coat them with a thin layer. Put one clove of garlic through a garlic press onto the sheet pan. Add salt and pepper and then swirl it all around to combine it and spread it evenly over the surface. Now place the eggplant on the sheet pan in one layer quickly turning them over after you put them down. This is so they get a little of the oil mixture on each side. Put them in the oven and start checking on them after about 10 or 12 minutes. You want them to brown on the side facing down on the pan and then turn them over and let the same thing happen on the other. Once they start browning keep a close eye because it happens fast. Also, keep an eye on the pieces closest to the edge as they tend to finish cooking sooner than the ones on the inside.

For the salad, cut up one seedless cucumber, a cup or two of chopped tomato, one chopped red onion and at least two tablespoons of chopped dill. Add a couple tablespoons of white vinegar and olive oil, salt and pepper and toss together.

Make a tahini dressing by mixing a couple tablespoons of tahini first with some warm water. When you’ve added enough to get the consistency you want (think creamy dressings) squeeze in half a lemon’s juice and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Watercress, Fennel, Endive Salad with Pomegranate

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and got to eats lots of yummy things. I'm figuring after the feeding fest that people may be craving something pretty light at this point. I actually served this yesterday as part of the Thanksgiving meal to act as sort of a palate cleanser.

Trim a couple inches off the stems of two bunches of watercress. I do this with the rubber band still on to hold it together and then cut it off after trimming. Cut a fennel bulb in half, top to bottom. Trim the end and then slice on a slight diagonal as thinly as possible. The endive can either be chopped up or pulled apart into separate leaves. That’s just an aesthetic choice. All these ingredients can be tossed together in a bowl. Make a dressing of a couple tablespoons of lemon juice and about a tablespoon of honey, salt and pepper and whisk together until the salt dissolves completely. Always do this when making salad dressings because once you add oil the oil covers the grains of salt and prevents them from dissolving and incorporating into the dressing. Now add a light oil like canola to taste, probably around ¼ cup. Drizzle the dressing over the salad mix and toss gently together to cover every leaf. Your hands are the best tool for this. Pile the salad on a plate lightly and in such a way as to create as much height as possible. Sprinkle a few tablespoons of pomegranate seeds over the top. This is easily enough for four, possibly as many as six, people.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hello all and Happy Thanksgiving. I can't do much this year in the way of actual recipes because I post those here as I do them to make sure my measurements and timing are correct but what I can throw out there is a few tips. Next year I'll post the recipes I do today.

The biggest tip I can give you is this- the secret to moist turkey? A good thermometer! Toward the end of your cooking time check the bird frequently and as soon as it reaches 165 degrees pull it out. You may be using a recipe that says 170 but that's an old measurement that has been revised in recent years. http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/Turkey/Techniques.html When you are cooking such a large thing it continues to cook even when taken out of the oven. Check the temp in the thickest part of the breast and thigh, being careful not to touch the bone.

Here's a good article that dispells the long standing myth that you need to rinse the turkey. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/24/dining/24WASH.html?_r=1

Just like any other meat, turkey needs a resting time, and because of it's size I would recommend at least 20 minutes. Don't worry, that thing has so much internal heat it's not going to get cold. I usually have ours out for 30 minutes or more.

Prior to roasting I always make a mixture of butter, chopped fresh herbs (sage, thyme, rosemary, with sage being the most prominent), salt and pepper that I massage under the skin of the breast leaving a fairly thick layer. This acts as sort of self basting. Also, when the turkey is finished it leaves behind the herbs trapped beneath the skin which I think, aside from being tasty, looks pretty.

I'll take a moment here to say that I am so thankful for all my wonderful friends and family, who are the inspiration for this blog, and to everyone who takes the time to read it.

Have a wonderful holiday!

Very Easy Pear Tart

This tart requires very little actual cooking. It's more about just assembling the pieces.

The first thing that makes this tart so easy to make is buying premade puff pastry dough. Even my super old school French chef instructor when I was in cooking school told us that the culinary institute would probably be the last place that we would ever make puff pastry (mille feuille) from scratch because the labor involved is just not worth it since companies like Dufour are making very high quality, ready to use, dough. Just look for a dough that uses only butter. That’s key.

Dust surfaces of the dough and the counter with a small amount of flour. Roll the defrosted but cold pastry dough to ¼ inch, or so, thickness. Cut the dough into a rectangle that is about 6 inches wide. The length doesn’t matter. Just be sure it fits on the baking sheet you’ll be using. Cut two lengthwise strips, about 1 inch thick, off the sides. Place the rectangular piece on an ungreased baking sheet and prick it a lot with a fork. This keeps the center from rising.

Cut two ripe and sweet pears in half and remove pits. Slice very thinly lengthwise. Slices should be about 1/8 inch thick. Arrange the pear slices in an overlapping fashion on the rectangle piece leaving an inch of space on either side.

Now using an egg wash (beaten egg with a couple tablespoons of water) brush the bare sides of the rectangle. Then place the inch thick strips you cut off earlier on top of the egg wash. For a decorative touch, and to help seal the two pieces together, you can cut diagonal slices a couple inches apart, ½ inch deep, up both sides of the tart. Now lightly brush egg wash on the top of the strips.

Sprinkle the pears liberally with sugar and lightly with a little cinnamon.

If all of this has taken a long time and your dough has become gooey stick the whole thing in the refrigerator for half and hour. This will help the pastry dough rise better. If things don’t seem to have become too warm then skip this.

Stick it in an oven around 375 degrees and bake for 30-40 minutes, rotating it once during that time.
The sides should be a rich brown and cooked through.

Let cool for a few minutes and serve with ice cream or whipped cream. It can also be served completely cooled and it doesn’t necessarily need the cream. It makes a great morning pastry too.

If you want to get really fancy (here comes the trick of the trade) just melt a little apricot jam with a little water and bring just to a boil. Brush the mixture gently over the fruit. This gives it that super glisteny look you see in pastry shops.

Impress Your Guests

T- this one's for you. Thanks for the inspiration. xo.

I get the question often of “How do I make everything come together at the same time?” particularly when someone is getting ready to serve dinner to guests. That’s a tough question because a lot of it is just practice. When you are cooking on a line in a restaurant you have hundreds of opportunities for trial and error, even in just one night, and begin to learn instinctively how long things take and even more importantly what can be done ahead.
I’m going to give you instructions here for an entire meal that is perfect to serve to a dinner party, primarily because everything is brought close to finished long before anyone arrives. Hopefully you will be able to enjoy some time with your guests, slip away for 15 minutes, and reappear with a fabulous plate.

Braised Short Ribs with Potato/Parsnip Puree and Glazed Carrots

Pick out some really nice, large, meaty beef short ribs at a butchers or specialty shop. Whole Foods usually carries really beautiful ones. If you are in New York, Fairway seems to always have really nice ones too.

You'll be starting out with something like this.

First, the day before, or morning of your gathering, prepare braised beef short ribs. This recipe will pretty much follow the exact same as I gave you for beef stew except I would double the red wine. Make sure the liquid only goes a little more than ½way up the meat. Also, be sure to set the oven at 350. The liquid should continue at a low boil when in the oven. If it seems like it’s boiling really heavily adjust the heat down. Turn the ribs over in the liquid about an hour into the cooking time. After you pull the pot from the oven let it sit for an hour while it cools down. Pull out the ribs and set aside. Strain out the vegetables. Skim the fat from the surface of the liquid and set aside. If you are preparing a day ahead you can skip the skimming for now and just put the liquid back with the meat and refrigerate. The next day the fat will have risen to the top and solidified and you can just pull it off.

The meat should be falling off the bone. Being careful to keep the meat intact, pull the bones away. Now you will have a piece of meat with a skin-like tendon covering one side where it was attached to the bone. With a sharp knife carefully remove this (see video). What you have left is a super powerful, rich flavored chunk of meat. You’ll probably use two per person. Set aside the meats.

Boil some carrots. Be sure to use this technique. Put aside or refrigerate depending on how far ahead you’re doing it.

Peel one Yukon Gold potato per person and half as much parsnips (unless you hate parsnips, in which case just do mashed potatoes instead). Cut them up in similar sized chunks and put them in a pot with water and salt and cook until soft. Drain and leave in the pot on the stove covered with a lid. Do this sometime within the hour of guest’s arrival time.

In a small sauce pan boil down (reduce) the liquid from the short ribs until it begins to get syrupy and adjust the seasoning. Leave this, too, in the pan on the stove.

All these things can be done prior to your guests arriving.

Now, here’s where the timing part comes in. You’ll need ready for yourself in the kitchen- the cooked potato/parsnip combo on the stove(not over heat yet). Cooked carrots (or other side you’ve chosen) and a sauté pan for reheating. The trimmed meat and a pan. Some butter. A little chicken broth. The reduced cooking liquid (now your sauce) in the small sauce pan on the stove.
About 15-20 minutes before you want to serve the meal slip away to the kitchen. Spread out all your plates. Pour some milk and cream into the cooked potatoes and parsnips and turn the heat on medium. At the same time turn the heat on low under your sauce. When the milk/cream starts to get hot begin mashing the potato mix until smooth and everything is hot. Throw in a lump of butter, mix in and check salt and pepper level. Turn the heat off ,cover and leave at the back of the stove where it is warmest. Turn heat on under the pan for the meat and place a small bit of butter in it. When hot, place the meat in with top side down and let it sear, should be about two to three minutes. Turn heat on under pan you’ll be reheating carrots (or other side dish) in. Follow the instructions here for glazed carrots. When you put the carrots in the pan turn the meat over in its pan and let sear on other side then turn off heat and leave it there. Finish off the carrots and turn the heat off and leave it there. Check your sauce to make sure it’s ready to go.
Time to plate. If you can keep you plates warm in a very low oven it will help keep the food warm when you are ready to put it on the plate. Just make sure they’re not too hot or they’ll cook the sauce, in a bad way. If this stresses you out just skip it. It's not that big of a deal, especially if you have someone helping you to get things out quickly.

Put a large spoonful of the potato mixture slightly off center on the plate (do each step for all plates at the same time, production line style, this is the most efficient way). Try to create as much height as possible by pulling spoon upward after placing puree on the plate. Stack carrots on the plate next to the potatoes (a pair of tongs work best). Create a small pool of sauce in the empty spot on the plate and then place two pieces of the meat crisscrossed and propped up against the potatoes. Drizzle a little more sauce over top the meat. For a little added decoration you can stick a sprig of rosemary and thyme in the potatoes.

Serve!

Some ideas for sides other than the carrots.
Asparagus. – Prepare ahead. Be careful not to overcook! When ready to serve heat up in sauté pan with a little butter. You can add a crushed clove of garlic too, if you’d like.
Baby Bok Choy – Split the bok choy in half, salt it generously, and place flat side down in a sauté pan over high heat with a little boiling water or broth and a bit of butter. Cover pan and let the bok choy steam for a few minutes. Remove lid and let moisture evaporate and the side facing down to get brown.

Pomegranate Martini

It's Friday and five O'clock somewhere.



You'll need simple syrup for this. It's a handy thing in general for cocktail making. Put 2 parts sugar together with 1 part water and heat over medium heat just until the sugar disolves. Cool and put in a container for future use.

1/4 cup vodka

1/4 cup pomegranate juice (POM for example)

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1/2 tablespoon of the simple syrup

Shake over ice. Strain into martini glass and float a thin slice of lemon on top.

Warm Artichoke and Spinach Dip

Always a huge hit at a party.

This recipe is so easy and you’ll notice a recurring theme- the number “ one”. It makes it very easy to remember. Of course, if you like things a little more creamy you can add more sour cream or cream cheese. This recipe is pretty veggie heavy.

Chop one medium onion. Sauté onion in ½ stick of butter until soft. Stir in one block of cream cheese and one 16oz container of sour cream. Squeeze water out of a thawed box of frozen chopped spinach and either 2 cans or 1 frozen package of quartered or chopped artichoke hearts and stir that in. Stir in ½ cup of parmesan cheese. Salt and pepper to taste. Spread in a small casserole dish and sprinkle a layer of parmesan cheese on top. Put in a 400 degree oven until browned.

Serve warm with pita chips or crackers.

To make pita chips cut up pita breads into wedges. Coat a baking sheet with olive oil and squeeze one clove of garlic through a garlic press onto the baking sheet and sprinkle the whole sheet with a bit of salt. Scatter the pita wedges on the baking sheet and swirl around so they get coated (at least partially). Put in a 400 degree oven and watch for browning. Swirl around once and let brown a little more.

Tomato Sauce

I never buy ready made tomato spaghetti sauce for one major reason, it’s always so SWEET! On some brands I believe corn syrup is the number two ingredient. Even good ole Newman’s Own has added sugar. I just don’t get it. Tomatoes are sweet to begin with. Anyway,another big reason I don't buy pre-made stuff is that making your own sauce can be so incredibly simple and it tastes so good. The biggest secret is time. That and really good olive oil.


Finely chop one medium onion, put it in a pot with ¼ cup of olive oil and two crushed cloves of garlic and salt. Cook over low-medium heat until soft, but do not let it brown. Add one 28oz can of crushed tomatoes with basil and one 28oz can of whole tomatoes, liquid and all. I just squeeze the whole tomatoes with my hands to break them up as I put them in but you can also dump them in whole a smash them up with your spoon. Now just let it simmer for at least one hour, stirring occasionally. If you can let it go longer, then even better. That’s it. If you have fresh basil you can add some when you’re adding the tomato. If you’re a fan of oregano you can add that too. I don’t bother with any of that anymore as I find this basic version very satisfying.



You may be thinking, doesn’t all spaghetti taste the same? I mean, it is just wheat and water. Well, I don’t believe that anymore and this brand, Bionaturae, is the reason why. It’s so good! Italian, organic, delicious...give it a try and see if you taste a difference.

Of course, fresh pasta is as good as it gets. If you happen to live in Park Slope Brooklyn or the East Village in Manhattan, then I recommend checking out Russo’s. Fantastic pastas made fresh and a mozzarella so fresh it’s sometimes still warm when you buy it.

A Really Delicious Margarita

So, aside from many years in the kitchen I also spent a few behind a bar and have, in my opinion, perfected a few libations.

In a shaker with a lot of ice add 2/3 cup of tequila, 1/3 cup of orange juice, a heaping tablespoon of sugar, and the juice of 1 very juicy lime. Shake like crazy. You’re done. Yup, that’s basically it. If you like things sweeter you can add a couple tablespoons of triple sec, or more sugar. Pour it over lots of ice. Ice is key to a good cocktail. It will be pretty strong but the ice will dilute it (especially if you shake for a couple minutes). This is about two drinks worth.

If you want to salt the rim of the glass you rub a piece of lime along the edge of the rim, only on the outside since you don’t want the salt actually inside the drink. Then just roll the edge in kosher salt. You gotta use kosher, the regular kind just comes out weird.

If you want to make a frozen margarita, or any frozen drink, the trick to a really smooth one is this-
Fill the blender almost to the top with ice and leave about 2 inches at the top. Pour in your alcohol and sugar and blend it until it’s smooth. The liquid should not go further up the ice than half way so if there's more than that hold it aside. If the mix is too solid for the blender to really spin add in a little more liquid at a time. A frozen drink will tend to need more sugar than a rocks one. One trick I've found for Margaritas is to use a coouple tablespoons of frozen concentrated orange juice instead of fresh, which you will need to add in at the same time as the alcohol and sugar. After you have your smoothly blended base, add in the rest of the ingredients and blend for another second just to mix everything in. If you are using whole fruit, like frozen stawberries, then add that in the initial blending with the ice, alcohol and sugar.

By the way, if you have heard that Margaritas are crazy high in calories they are referring to restaurant Margaritas which are usually full of this stuff called LemonX which is chock full of corn syrup and is just pretty gross. If the restaurant is using fresh juices you are much better off both flavor wise and calorie wise.

How to Boil Vegetables So That They Keep Their Bright Color

First, lots of water. Don’t crowd two pounds of green beans into a small sauce pan. Salt your water. It doesn’t have to taste like the ocean but you should be able to tell it’s salted. Make sure it comes to a complete boil. Throw the vegetable in.

Here comes the part that takes experience but don’t worry, you’ll get there. You need to take them off the heat a little bit before they are cooked to your liking because you will be reheating them which will cook them a tiny bit more.

This is why you’ll be reheating them. It is the absolute key to a bright color that the vegetable is cooled, very quickly, after being removed from the heat. This is called “shocking” and it seals the color. I don’t know the chemistry behind it, but believe me, it is what works. In a restaurant, where you have endless supplies of ice you would create what is called an ice bath by putting a bunch of ice and some water in a large bowl and dumping the just strained vegetables into it. Sometimes I still do this but the reality is most of the time I just run cold water over the vegetables in the strainer while moving them around. The idea is that they get as cold as possible as quickly as possible. Sometimes I dump a tray of ice over them while doing the running cold water technique, or I cool them down a bit with the running water and then put them back in the pot with cold water and some ice. Just make sure they are truly cold, inside and out.

When you are ready to serve them you can reheat them by sautéing them in olive oil, or butter, or throw a little water in the bottom of a sauté pan.

Here’s one of my new favorite things- cook string beans with the method above. In the pot that you cooked the beans put a little butter and two crushed cloves of garlic. Heat, dump in beans and cover. After a couple minutes turn the heat off and move the pan around so as to toss the beans in the butter and garlic. Serve. I love the super fresh garlic taste created by the steam that comes off the beans.

Another Trick of the Trade (or TOT as I will now refer to them) -Chicken Stock

Chicken stock is a fantastic tool. In most professional kitchens a line cook will always have a container of chicken stock at the ready (veal, if it’s an extra fancy restaurant). You can make your own and freeze it. In fact some people freeze it in ice cube trays so as to have handy little portions of it. I will gladly admit I don’t do this. I like short cuts so I have many cans and cartons of ready made chicken stock in my pantry. They work just fine and organic and free range ones are readily available now.
Stock adds depth. When reduced stock becomes increasingly rich and thick and creates a sticky base that carries flavor in a way that is similar to fat (even if the stock is fat free!). If I want to create any kind of sauce for something I’ve just sautéed in a pan, I throw in some chicken stock, let it boil down (reduce) and voila, yummy (see recipe for Chicken with Artichoke, Tomato and Capers). Chicken stock is very accepting of other flavors so you can use it for pork, beef, duck, anything with a stronger flavor than chicken will take over and the stock will just act as a base to build on. Try cooking rice with stock, or better yet, try Arroz con Pollo. I will put my recipe for this up at a later date.
Here’s a little trick for something you may have seen in a restaurant and wondered how they did it. Have you ever been served baby carrots with a shiny glaze on them? This is very easy to do. In a sauté pan place a bit of stock, maybe ¼ of a cup, a lump of butter, a pinch of sugar. Heat to when it starts to bubble and throw in the already cooked carrots and salt and pepper. Swirl around while it cooks and you will see the glaze start to form as the stock reduces and the sugar caramelizes slightly (you don’t want it to brown). This should happen quickly; you don’t want a lot of liquid to start with so use your judgment.

Chicken Breast with Artichoke, Tomato and Capers

This recipe is super easy and has a lot of flavor bang for your calorie buck.

Pound out some boneless, skinless chicken breast so that it’s somewhere close to a ¼ inch thick. This helps make it tender by breaking up the fibers. Salt and pepper and dredge them in a little flour. Sauté them in olive oil. The little bit of flour should help them get a nice brown color and a little crispiness. Remove and set aside. In the same pan heat another tablespoon of oil and when pan is very hot throw in a can or bag of chopped artichoke hearts and sauté for a couple minutes then add two chopped plum tomatoes and a couple tablespoons of capers and continue to cook for a couple more minutes. Put this mixture aside in a separate container. In the same pan pour in 1 can of chicken stock and reduce. When the stock is beginning to get thick (let it get pretty syrupy) pour back in the artichoke heart, chopped tomatoes and capers mixture and squeeze half a lemon in. Let it cook another couple of minutes so the flavors get a chance to mix. Pour sauce and vegetable mix over the chicken. I like this with basmati rice. In this recipe be careful not to over salt the vegetables while cooking because the capers are salty and the canned chicken stock will get more and more salty as it reduces.

I like canned Artichoke Hearts just fine but I just discovered these at Trader Joe's and I'm loving them. Not only are they less water logged but you can use part of the bag and put the rest back in the freezer.

Common Mistakes People Make When Trying to Get a Good Sear on a Piece of Meat

Pan too cool
The pan should be as hot as possible. The oil can be just verging on smoking.

Meat is Wet
If you put wet meat in a pan it will release moisture and you’ll end up with gray steamed meat. Use a paper towel to blot it as dry as possible. Salt meat right before putting in pan because salt left too long on meat will begin to draw out moisture.

Too Much Meat in Too Little Space.
Ideally you should have 1/3 to ½ of the area of the pan left open, otherwise the temperature drops too quickly and also the steam being released by the meat gets stuck and again, gray meat.

Moving Meat Around Too Much.
When you are trying to get a really nice crust on a piece of meat it is absolutely essential that you put it down in your very hot pan and then leave it. Do not stir around stew meat or push your steak around the pan. I always tell people to leave it be as long as you think is right, and then wait one more minute. This goes for grilling too.

Trick of the Trade
The reason why steaks in steakhouses are super crunchy on the outside is that they are finished with butter. You can either start with a mix of oil and butter or throw a lump in at the end, but the milk fat helps to create that crust you are seeing and also enhances the flavor.

Couple more items on cooking meat- don’t be afraid of salt. You can basically coat a steak in kosher salt before cooking and it will not taste “salty” at all. The other important item- meat has to have a “resting period” once it’s left the pan. If you let it sit for 5 minutes before cutting into it the juices inside redistribute and make it much more moist.

Beef Stew

I use one of my all time favorite kitchen items for this recipe, my Creuset dutch oven. Get some really nice brown color on a couple pounds of stew meat, I like chuck. Set aside. If the pan has a lot of brown crust in the bottom then throw in ½ a cup of red wine in the hot pan and quickly scrape so that they release. Pour it in the same dish as the meat that you set aside. In oil in the pan let 2 sliced onions slowly brown along with a couple chopped up carrots and a few crushed cloves of garlic. Add one sprig of thyme and one of rosemary while this is going on. When things seem about ready add 2 tablespoons of tomato paste. Cook a couple more minutes. Add a cup or so of red wine (or ½ a cup if you already used some to get the pan clean after cooking the meat) and stir around to release anything stuck to the bottom. Put the meat and juices back in the pan with the veggies. Pour in just enough chicken stock(or water if you don't have any around) for the top of the meat to be sticking out of the liquid. In other words, make sure everything is not totally submerged. Bring back to a low boil. Cover the pot and put it in a 350 degree oven for 1 ½ -2 hours. Stir it around a couple times during this time. Technically this is braising since I’ve told you to cover it and put it in an oven but I find this so much easier than worrying about something sitting on the stove.

If you want to thicken the sauce you can pull out the veg and meat pieces. Stir a couple tablespoons of flour into cold water. Drizzle the flour/water mix in the simmering sauce while whisking briskly. Do this slowly so you can judge as to when it is thick enough for you. Once it's all incorporated be sure to let the sauce simmer on the stove top for at least 5 minutes as this is what cooks out the flour flavor. If you are going to use the mustard(see below *) you will probably not need this step as the mustard acts as a thickener.

You can make this into Beef Bourguignon by cooking chopped bacon in the pan before browning the beef and setting aside and place back in when you put the meat back to stew. At the end sauté some mushrooms so they’re nice a crusty brown and throw them in. To get mushrooms nicely browned you basically use the same instructions I gave for browning meat except that I really recommend using straight butter. I would skip the thickening part if doing this one, but that's just me.

*My favorite trick with a beef stew is to add a big tablespoon of dijon mustard stirred in at the very end. It should not taste of mustard but instead simply taste more intense and complex. When I do that version I always throw in some frozen peas too.

Remember what I always say about salt! You need to be seasoning your food every step of the way. If you add salt to a dish at the very end you will end up with food that tastes “salty” instead of well seasoned.
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I like to serve these stews over mashed potatoes or egg noodles.