Pomegranate Molasses Glazed Pork Chop with Heirloom Tomato and Dandelion Greens

Poached Halibut over Puréed Fava Bean. Sautéed Fresh Local Corn and Heirloom Mini Tomatoes and Basil Oil.

Red and Golden Beet and Green Beans over Roasted Butternut Squash and Leek Farro "Risotto" with Reduced Balsamic

Flower Salad, Smoked Trout, Steamed Snap Peas, Fresh Corn and Raspberries with Raspberry Vinaigrette

Greens, Egg and Ham (Dandelion Greens, Slow Poached Egg and Bacon)

Dandelion greens are a flavor that is hard to explain, at least not without turning off the person you're explaining them to.  They're kind of chewy, they're extremely bitter, but you'll have to trust me, they're delicious.

First thing you'll want to start for this recipe is the slow poached egg.  Frankly, if you don't want to spend the 45 minutes cooking the egg a regular poached egg would work fine.  In a large pot place a steamer basket and fill with hot water from the tap.  Attach a thermometer to the side of the pot.  Place four eggs in the basket and let the temperature come up to 145 degrees.  Do your best to maintain that temperature for 45 minutes.  If it gets too hot, throw in an ice cube and swirl around. 

For the greens, clean at least two bunches of dandelion greens and chop the thick ends off and discard.  Leave the greens in a colander to let as much water drain off as possible.

  Take two slices of very thick cut bacon and slice into "lardons" (large chunks).

Cook the bacon in a large saute pan until crispy and lay out to drain on a paper towel.  Pour off bacon grease. leaving around two tablespoons of the grease in the pan.  Place the pan over heat again and add one crushed clove of garlic, saute for a couple minutes to release flavor and then add in the dandelion greens.  Be careful of splatter from the wet greens hitting the hot oil. Pour in two teaspoons of apple cider vinegar. Saute greens for about 10 minutes over medium high heat until thoroughly wilted.

Place a pile of the greens in the middle of the plate.  Crack one egg into a bowl and pour off excess white.  Place egg on greens and sprinkle bacon over the top.

Roasted Chicken and Carrots with Herb and Garlic Sauce and Sautéed Kale

I love a good roasted chicken.  When you do it right it just comes out so good and juicy and lovely.  Start with a "happy chicken", one that has run around and eaten good stuff.  It makes a difference.  Dry it off and salt and pepper it liberally, inside and out.  Slice a head of garlic in half across the cloves and stick one half inside the chicken.  Stick a few sprigs of thyme and rosemary in there too. Heat your oven to 425.  Put a cast iron skillet on high heat with a couple tablespoons of olive oil in it.

When the pan is good and hot brown the chicken slightly on each side, starting with one side and ending with it sitting on it's back, breast up.  Place in the oven and let cook for 40 minutes, rotating the pan once if you have a hot spot in your oven and the chicken is browning more on one side than the other.  Using a thermometer check the meatiest part of the breast.  If it reads 165 Fahrenheit your chicken is done, if not put it back in and keep checking after 5 minutes.  When the chicken is done cooking remove it from the pan and place on a cutting board to let it "rest".  If you don't do this step the juices will all run out and the chicken will not be as tasty or juicy.

Peel carrots and slice any that are larger than an inch diameter in half lengthwise. Place on a sheet pan and drizzle with olive oil and salt and pepper.  Toss the carrots around with your hands to coat each one with oil and seasoning.  Place in the same oven as the chicken and cook for around 30 minutes, stirring them around a few times during cooking to make for even browning.

For the herb and garlic sauce you can chop up any type of herbs you have on hand (I used dill, rosemary, basil, tarragon, oregano and flat parsley) with several cloves of garlic (you can use the ones from the other half of the head of garlic you stuck in the chicken), a few anchovies and a couple tablespoons of capers.  Chop everything really well and use the side of your knife to smash the capers.  Just cover with olive oil.

Chop a head of kale by slicing it across the leaves.  In a large saute pan heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and one clove of garlic roughly chopped.  Throw in the kale and saute until it's your desired tenderness. Don't forget salt and pepper. I like mine well cooked so it took about 10 minutes.  Optional- squeeze a lemon over the kale.

Serve the chicken with the herb and garlic oil drizzled over top.

Seared Flank Steak, Roasted Peppers and Potatoes with Arugula and Reduced Balsamic Vinaigrette

Everything about this meal is pretty straight forward except the vinaigrette. To do the dressing simply empty a bottle of reasonably priced balsamic vinegar into a small saucepan and place over medium heat. Let the vinegar to reduce by at least half. Let cool and place in a container, I prefer a squeeze bottle. You can use the vinegar straight or as you would normally in vinaigrettes. For the one in this recipe I crushed one clove of garlic and mixed with equal parts reduced balsamic vinegar and olive oil, salt and pepper.

Try the reduced vinegar with fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, burata, goat cheese or strawberries.

Brûléed New Jersey White Peaches and Fresh Homemade Organic Ricotta Cheese with Honey and Herbs

So this dessert came out of the fact that I finally made my own fresh ricotta cheese.  Does it make a big difference?  Oh yeah, it does.  The texture is rich and the taste is slightly sweet even just on it's own.  I won't go into detail on how to make it here because there are hundreds of hits on "homemade ricotta" and they're all pretty much the same.  I will tell you that I used lemon juice (some other alternatives are white vinegar or buttermilk) and that it took more than the recipe called for to get the curds to truly form.  The other thing I will tell you is, it's true, it's ridiculously easy.  Maybe not cost effective (a half gallon of milk produced maybe a cup of cheese), but so delicious. 

For the peaches I simply cut them in half, removed the pit and placed the peaches on a baking sheet.  I sprinkled some brown sugar over the peaches and placed them under a broiler.  I left them there, turning the pan every couple minutes, until they developed the browning and crust I wanted.

I let the peaches cool slightly and then placed two halves on each plate and topped the peaches with the ricotta.  I then drizzled a little honey over them and topped the ricotta off with Marjoram and Thyme.  It all made for a delicious combination of sweet and savory and really worked well.

Asparagus, Creamy Shitake Mushroom with Poached Egg and Micro Greens

Pork Shoulder Roast with a Peach And Veal Demi Glacé Sauce. Sautéed Fresh Corn and Sugar Snap Peas. Roasted Balsamic Glazed Cippolini Onions.

Seared Salmon with Yellow Tomato and Raspberries with Baby Lettuces

Instead of a Cupcake How About a Jar-Cake?!

For this whimsical presentation I used a jelly sized Bell canning jar.  I list the ingredients that I used below but really you can dream up and combination you like.

I had kids in mind when I made this dessert, though the flavors can stand up to an adult palate too.  First I made a flourless chocolate cake.  When it cooled I punched out circles of cake using ring shaped cookie cutters.  The bottom of the Bell jar is less wide than the top so I used a slightly smaller ring for the bottom layer.

I scooped small scoops of vanilla ice cream onto a tray and placed it back in the freezer so it will be easier to handle and ready to go when it is time to assemble and serve the dessert.

To assemble I popped the smaller circle of cake into the Bell jar.  I topped that layer with a few fresh raspberries and then the ice cream scoop.  I added a layer of raspberry sauce and topped that with the larger cake circle.

I topped the whole thing off with fresh whipped cream

It was a hit.

Roasted Carrots and Sautéed Kale with Tahini Sauce

Vegan meal for client.

Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Apples and Onions and Brussels Sprouts

A low fat, low calorie and low carbohydrate meal for a client.

Strawberry Shortcake

Strawberry shortcake. So simple but so delicious when fresh and done right. Simply use the same recipe for the crust on the peach cobbler here. Instead of leaving it crumbly, pull it together gently and form a ball, then press it out until it's about an inch thick. Use a round cookie cutter to cut out discs of the dough and place on a cookie sheet. Bake in a 425 degree oven for about 18 minutes. Let cool.
Cut up fresh strawberries and mix with a bit of lemon juice and a little sugar. Make sweetened whipped cream with vanilla.
Place the strawberries on a plate or in a bowl, scoop a large spoonful of whipped cream on the berries and top with a shortcake.
That's it!

Grilled Peach, Sugar Snap Pea, Roasted Corn and Feta with Arugula Salad and Balsamic Vinaigrette

Crispy Skin Black Sea Bass, Braised Leek, Roasted Fingerling Potato andAsparagus Tips with Sauce Americaine

Miso Glazed Roasted Eggplant with Quinoa, Heirloom Cherry Tomato and Cucumber Salad

Super Peach Cobbler

It's that time of year!  Fresh, juicy, local peaches! This cobbler has a light airy crust and is not too sweet.  Perfect for serving with vanilla ice cream or some slightly sweetened whipped cream.


For the filling-
6 good sized, very ripe peaches
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp corn starch
cinnamon

For the crust-
1 1/2 cups of flour
3 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
6 tbsp butter, cold
3/4 cup heavy cream
3/4 tsp vanilla

Peel and slice the peaches into one inch thick slices and place in baking dish.  Sprinkle 2 tbsp sugar, 1 tbsp corn starch and a dusting of cinnamon over top of peaches.  Gently stir together until the peaches are coated.

Mix together in a bowl the dry ingredients reserving 1 tbsp of sugar.  Slice the butter into tiny cubes.  Bring together the butter and dry ingredients gently using a fork to cut until they form pea sized pieces.  Pour in heavy cream and vanilla and barely mix together until it just forms larger balls.  Sprinkle the crust ingredients, big and small pieces, evenly over the peach mixture.  Sprinkle the remaining tbsp of sugar over the crust.

Bake in a 425 degree oven for 18 minutes.  If the crust is not brown enough bake a couple more minutes.

Tagine Style Lamb Shanks with Prunes and Carrots

As I often do when preparing to execute a recipe I looked around online at examples of this traditional tagine combination.  What struck me was that so many recipes made things very complicated, using many pans etc.  To me, a tagine is a "simple" one pot dish.  This is my version.  Simple. One pot. Delicious and complex.

4 lamb shanks
4 tbsp vegetable oil
1 med onion, chopped in 1/2 inch dice
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tbsp chopped cilantro
one pinch of saffron (optional)
1 cinnamon stick
2 tsp ground ginger
4 large carrots
1/2 cup white wine
2 cups chicken stock
1 cup prunes
2 tbsp roasted sesame seeds

Heat vegetable oil in Creuset style dutch oven.  Dry lamb shanks and salt and pepper liberally.  Sear the lamb shanks so that they are nicely brown on each side.  Remove from the pan and set aside.  Add onion, garlic, cilantro, saffron, cinnamon stick and ginger to the pot and reduce heat.  Sweat these ingredients over low heat until the onion is soft.  Add carrots and combine and let cook another 5 minutes.  Add in white wine and scrape any crusty stuff off the bottom of pan.  Add in the chicken stock and raise heat to bring ingredients to a boil.  Place lamb shanks back into pot making them submerged up to half of their height and place lid on pot.

Place in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes.  Pull out pot, turn shanks over and again submerge them half way in liquid.  Add in prunes to liquid.  Put back in oven for another 45 minutes.  Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees, turn the shanks one more time and cook for 30 minutes more.  Remove from oven and let sit at least 15 minutes still covered.  Serve over couscous, basmati rice or polenta and sprinkle toasted sesame seeds over top of the shanks.

Crab Cake with Red Cabbage and Carrot Slaw. Roasted Red Pepper Coulis.

Seared Flank Steak with Garlic Roasted Fingerling Potatoes, Arugula Salad and a Lemon Mustard Vinaigrette