Today’s recipe is a quickie as I gear up for the St. Paddy’s Day madness. ‘Nuff said.

RECIPE:
Serves 4

2 lbs Organic/grass fed beef fillet
2 tbsp olive oil
drizzle grape seed or olive oil (for searing beef)

12 oz baby bella mushrooms
2 lg shallots – thinly sliced
2 tbsp fresh tarragon
1/2 cup red wine (whatever you’re drinking will work)
2 cups organic beef broth
S&P

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 420°F

Preheat saute pan for 1 minute on medium heat. Add 2 tbsp olive oil and saute mushrooms & shallots for 4 mins to soften. Add red wine and reduce heat to simmer. Reduce wine by half (2 minutes) and add broth and tarragon. Simmer for 10 minutes. Taste and season with S&P.

Preheat another skillet on high for 1 minute. Season fillet on all sides with S&P. Add drizzle grape seed (excellent for cooking on high temps) or olive oil in hot pan and sear fillet on all sides until browned, 2 minutes each side approx.
Once fillet is seared remove to a foiled oven tray. Pop in oven for 8-10 minutes for medium rare.
Let rest for 10 minutes when cooked to let the juices redistribute back into the meat.

Spoon sauce over sliced steak and Bob’s your uncle!

All recipes are made with the finest quality farmers market whole foods, natural and non-processed ingredients as much as possible.

Tomorrow is Fat Tuesday aka Mardi Gras, Carnival and Pancake Tuesday. It’s a BIG party day down in the Big Easy and you bet everyone there is going to be eating and drinking like kings. Though I’ve never been to New Orleans I can only imagine what typical Mardi Gras food consists of. I imagine it contains lots of seafood from the Gulf with French influences such as gumbo, bouillabaisse, bisque, crawfish, you get the picture. (My stomach is growling as we speak.) This is my simplified version of a bouillabaisse. Typically, and according to tradition, there should be at least five different kinds of fish (not including shellfish) in a proper bouillabaisse. That can get pretty pricey so I thought I’d use some key seafood ingredients saving money yet without compromising flavour (which I may have used for a six-pack). This version is light, fresh and brothy just the way I roll.

RECIPE:
Serves 4

20 mussels – rinsed
20 Manila clams – rinsed
1/2 lb large locally caught wild shrimp – P&D’d (peeled & de-veined)
1 lb white fish (Pacific cod, Tilapia, Pacific halibut) – 1″ cubes
3 cups leeks (whites only) thinly sliced, washed
1 red bell pepper – small dice
3 bay leaves
1/2 tsp chili flakes
1 x 15 oz can diced tomatoes – drained
1 cup white wine (whatever’s in your glass will work) OR an 8 fluid oz bottle of clam juice*
3 cups water
about a handful of fresh basil – chiffonade
2 sprigs fresh thyme (for steaming mussels & clams)
2 tbsp olive oil

*TIP: Bottled clam juice is easily found in the States though it might be hard enough to find across the pond. Steaming the shellfish in the white wine is a great alternative for making your own clam juice.

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat large soup pot on medium heat for 1 minute. Add olive oil along with leeks, red pepper and chili flakes. Saute, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes. Cover with lid while they’re sauteing. This will keep in the moisture and help prevent them from going brown. You don’t want any colour on the leeks, just softened.
As leeks and pepper are cooking, preheat a large saute pan on high heat for 1 minute. Very carefully add mussels and clams to pan along with the wine and thyme or bottled clam juice and thyme. (Be careful of splashing the liquid.) Cover with lid and cook until all the shells are open. Give the pan a shake after 30 seconds or so to move them around. Cook for 2 minutes approx or until all the shells have opened.
NOTE: If there are any unopened or cracked shells when the majority are cooked, discard them.

Holding a colander over the soup pot drain the shellfish into the colander. This steaming liquid will be the base of your soup and it’s delicious. Add the water, bay leaves and chopped tomatoes to the soup pot and bring to a boil.
Next remove all the mussels & clams from their shells. Set the meat aside and throw away the shells or even better you could use them with your saved veg and the shrimp shells to make a seafood stock.

Add the white fish and shrimp to the soup and stir. (They’ll cook in the broth.) Once soup comes to a boil reduce heat to a simmer. Cook for 15 minutes on medium low heat.
Just before serving add all mussels, clams and fresh basil. Stir and taste. Season with S&P.

All recipes are made with the finest quality farmers market whole foods, natural and non-processed ingredients as much as possible.

I don’t think anyone is exempt from the winter weather that’s hitting us all at the moment. Between the snow, the cold and the days upon days of rain we’re having here in LA at the minute, I thought a quick n easy soup would hit the spot. I made chicken for dinner last night and had some left over so I thought the obvious choice was to bust out a soup for lunch today and hey presto here it is. If you don’t have any leftover chicken like I did, buy a roast chicken and just use that. You’ll get a great flavour as well as having the carcass to make your stock. Perfecto! This is one of the simplest ways to make a soup as you basically just put everything in the same pot and simmer it.

Did I mention it’s flu season? A bit of homemade chicken soup and vitamin C are sure to help!

RECIPE:
Serves 4

1 organic roast chicken or 4 cups leftover chicken – shredded
6 oz shredded carrot (about 2 carrots)
1 cup celery – thinly sliced
2 bay leaves
2 quarts low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup thin egg noodles (like spaghetti cut into 2″ pieces. I bought a packet in the supermarket)
S&P
freshly chopped parsley

DIRECTIONS:
Add the broth to a soup pot and place on a medium-flamed burner. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer. Add shredded chicken, bay leaves, carrot and celery and cook for 20 minutes, partially covered.
NOTE: This can all be done ahead of time and refrigerated until ready to eat. When you are ready bring the soup to a boil and add noodles. Simmer for 15 minutes.

Add noodles and stir soup. The noodles are small and thin like spaghetti so they’ll cook in about 10 minutes. Once noodles are done taste and season with S&P. Remove bay leaves, top with parsley and freshly ground and serve. Easy!

All recipes are made with the finest quality farmers market whole foods, natural and non-processed ingredients as much as possible

This is a great time of year for comfort food and you’ve got to agree that a good healthy lasagna is as good as it gets. I love pasta but along with everything else in life, all things in moderation. Typically lasagna is filled with heavy meats and cheese thrusting you into a food coma but this recipe is lighter since I cut the typical amount of cheese in half and used fresh veg. Combining seasonal squash with mushrooms is the business and it works brilliantly here with the earthy fresh herb flavours.

I had two different types of squash I had picked up at the Farmers’ Market, butternut and what I think was a Carnival or Kabocha squash, so I used half of each. You don’t have to mix the squash, you could use all butternut if you wish, but I really liked adding in something different.

RECIPE:
Serves 8

2 1/2 cups white onions – chopped
8 oz “baby bella” mushrooms – sliced (baby portobellas)
1/2 a butternut squash – peeled, seeded and cut into 1/4″ slices
1/2 a Carnival or Kabocha squash – peeled, seeded and cut into 1/4″ slices
2 cups veggie broth
3 tbsp fresh thyme – chopped
4 tbsp fresh sage – chopped
1 lemon – zested
1 x 15 oz container fat-free ricotta cheese
1 x 8 oz container fresh buffalo mozzarella
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese (optional for topping)
2 tbsp Olive oil
2 cups organic marinara sauce
12 no-boil lasagna sheets
S&P

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat large saute pan for 30 seconds. Add 2 tbsp olive oil and saute onions for 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Don’t brown. Add sliced mushrooms and continue sauteing for another 4 minutes until mushrooms soften. Season with S&P to taste and remove to a plate.
Return same pan to heat and add sliced squash, broth and herbs. (Leave some herbs for sprinkling on top once the lasagna is fully assembled.) Bring to a boil and once boiling reduce heat to a simmer. Cover and cook until squash is almost tender, 5 minutes approx. Uncover pan after allotted time so some of the broth can evaporate and when squash is fully cooked, remove pan from heat. Set aside.
Meanwhile mix the ricotta with the lemon zest, S&P to taste.

To Assemble:
I used a 13 x 9 x 2-inch glass Lasagna dish.
Begin by brushing the baking dish with oil (to prevent sticking) and spread a thin layer of the ricotta mix on the bottom of the baking dish. Also spread a thin layer on one side of all the lasagne sheets.

Ricotta side up, lay down 4 lasagna noodles. Using a slotted spoon gently drain the squash and place on top of the lasagna in a thin layer. You’ll be making two layers of the squash so just use half now. Next spoon half the mushroom mixture on top of the squash and finally tear the mozzarella in small pieces and sprinkle around.

Repeat as above ie, ricotta-side-up lasagna noodles, drained squash, mushrooms and dollops of mozzarella.

Top with the final 4 lasagna sheets this time ricotta side down. Spread marinara sauce on top evenly so you coat the entire lasagna. To finish sprinkle with parmesan cheese (optional) and remaining fresh herbs.

After a serving of this bad boy you actually won’t get that ‘I can’t walk’ feeling!

All recipes are made with the finest quality farmers market whole foods, natural and non-processed ingredients as much as possible.

Fast forward to Friday afternoon or Saturday. Thanksgiving’s over. You can’t fit another turkey sandwich in you and to be honest really don’t want to. The carcass is sitting in the fridge and you’re sick of the sight of it. You’re tinking ‘get this thing outta my fridge and into the bin’ but……. hoooooold up wait a minute. Instead of doing that how ’bout putting it in a pot with some veggies and making your own stock. It really isn’t that big of a deal and will not only save you some cash but you can say you made your own stock. I usually make a batch of veggie or chicken stock, put them in little tupperware containers, let the stock cool and pop them in the freezer. Then when I want to make something I just pull one out. Believe me you’ll be glad you did.

Organic Chicken Stock recipe.

Organic Veggie Stock recipe.

RECIPE:

1 leftover turkey carcass
2 carrots – chopped
1 leek – chopped, washed
2 large onion – peeled, chopped
3 bay leaves
thyme – whatever you have
parsley – one bunch (or whatever you have)
10 peppercorns
5/6 celery stalks – chopped, washed

DIRECTIONS:

Pop everything in a large soup pot or if you have one of those turkeys that’s as big a baby horse, cut it up and use two pots. Fill the pot with lots of veggies. When I’m cooking throughout the week I keep all the stalks and bits of leftover veg from my prep. Then when it’s time to make stock I have lots of bits n pieces to go in there. The more veggies you add the better flavour you’ll get.
Note: Rule of thumb. Don’t add anything into your stock that you wouldn’t eat so no rotten veggies.

Bring stock to a boil and once boiling reduce to a simmer and cook for 2 hours. If the liquid is reducing to quickly turn the heat down more.

HAPPY TANKSGIVING!

All recipes are made with the finest quality farmers market whole foods, natural and non-processed ingredients as much as possible.

Gobble Gobble (as the actress said to the bishop). It’s Turkey time! If you saw my turkey post recently you’ll now know what type of turkey you should be getting as we know there’s going to be lots eaten over the next month or so. There will be soups, sandwiches, stews, stocks, casseroles and God knows what else we can think to make with Mr. Turkey. Salting, roasting, brining–each American family has their own style to cook the bird. But what if your family is small and you’d rather not cook an entire turkey? I’ve got you covered!

I’ve made stuffed turkey breasts before (here and here) but for this recipe I wanted to give you the idea of stuffing the breast with something a bit more out of the ordinary yet still in keeping with Thanksgiving flavours. Guess you could say it’s a modern twist on the classic turkey & stuffing. I came across Persimmons in my CSA box and though I don’t have much experience with them after one bite I knew I had to use them.  In November and December persimmons are at their peak. I kept expecting the fruit to soften like a peach but as it turns out this type of persimmon, the Fuyu, is eaten like an apple. The taste of the flesh inside reminded me of a sweeter cantaloupe with the texture of a firm pear. The persimmon’s delightful flavour and texture turned out to be lovely addition to this dish.

RECIPE:
Serves 6

1 1/2 lb Organic, Grass fed, or Sustainable boneless turkey breast
1 cup organic chicken broth

1 cup couscous – dry
2 cups organic chicken broth
1/2 lemon – zested
1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup celery – fine dice
1/2 white onion – fine dice
2 Fuyu persimmons – sliced and small diced
1 tbsp fresh thyme – chopped
1 tbsp olive oil

DIRECTIONS:

Begin by bringing 1 cup of the chicken broth, lemon zest and salt to a boil. Once boiling turn off heat and add couscous. Cover with lid.

Preheat saute pan on medium heat for 30 seconds and add 1 tbsp olive oil. Add celery and onion and saute for 5 mins, stirring, until softened. Once soft add diced persimmons and thyme.
Saute together for 4-5 additional minutes until persimmons are soft. Taste and season with S&P.

Add the cooked couscous to the persimmon mixture along with a drizzle of olive oil. Taste and season. Let cool before adding to turkey.

Preheat oven to 400°F.

To Assemble the Turkey: Lay the turkey on a clean cutting board. Using a sharp knife butterfly the breast by slicing along the side creating a book effect. Do not slice all the way through. Open the ‘book’. Place some plastic wrap on your work surface and lay the open turkey skin side down. Lay another layer of plastic wrap on top. Using a kitchen mallet or in my case a heavy bottomed saucepan, give the breast a few poundings to flatten. Don’t beat the living daylights out of it but you just want to thin it a little.

Lay 5 pieces of kitchen twine, about 12″ in length parallel to each other 2″ apart (If you’re saying, huh?….look at the photo). Lay the open turkey breast on top of the string, skin side down and season with S&P. Spoon enough of the couscous in the center to fill. You may have extra so don’t worry. Pat down the filling.

Fold over the top half and stuff any of the filling that falls out back in. Tie the strings tightly but not where the stuffing falls out too much.

Place turkey on a foiled oven tray. Drizzle olive oil over skin and season with S&P. Rub seasoned oil into flesh.
Add broth to oven tray and pop in the oven for up to 1 hour or until internal temperature of 155F.

Remove and let rest for 5-6 minutes to let juices redistribute back into meat.

Notice those glazed pearl onions? Recipe here. Cheers!

All recipes are made with the finest quality farmers market whole foods, natural and non-processed ingredients as much as possible.

Halloween is just a few days away and you know what that means—sweets (candy) overload!! There’s no replacing sweets on this day of all days. Try giving a kid an apple and see what happens. (It won’t be pretty.) But back home, after the trick-or-treating fun, how do you keep your likkle ones from plowing through the entire bucket of sugar? I started thinking about this and I thought, if you had a ‘healthier’ treat to offer, would they even notice?

If I’m way off base here with the whole healthy snack idea (after all I’m not a dad…yet), then this is at least a good healthy cookie recipe to have on hand for any occasion!

This recipe is a special gluten-free recipe given to us by my good friend, Sarah. She’s an excellent home baker who’s looking to start her own bakery one day. Until then I’m trying to get her to be a guest blogger for me. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m no Pat the Baker but I dabble here and there. Sarah’s specialty is making wheat-free goodies. How many of you are interested in gluten-free desserts? Help me convince her to write for us!

From the lovely Sarah:

RECIPE:

1 1/2 cups whole rolled oats
1/4 cup ground flax meal
1 tablespoon brown rice flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon cardamom
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/3 cup grade B Maple Syrup
1/3 cup Grapeseed Oil
1/2 cup low sugar berry or apricot jam

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Mix all dry ingredients thoroughly, then add in maple syrup and oil, stirring until entire oat mixture is coated.
In an ungreased 9×9 baking dish, pour half of oat mixture and spread evenly, pressing into the dish with a spatula as with a pie crust.
Using a spoon, whip jam until it spreads easily to cover entire oat mixture.
Lightly spread remainder of oat mixture over jam and press with back of spatula until smooth
Bake for 25 min, cool completely and then cut into desired squares.

* a note to the creative and the health-wise (as I am sure you all are both) feel free to experiment with your favorite spices and preserves within this recipe. If you cannot find low- or no-sugar-added jams, cut back the maple syrup by a tablespoon to balance out your sugar. I recommend using any expeller-pressed high heat oil of your choosing. I like grapeseed because of its clean flavor and high polyunsaturated fat content but there are many delicious others. I also very much enjoyed this recipe with an additional half teaspoon of almond extract, cherry jam and an extra 1/4 cup chopped almonds!

Cheers!

Sarah

NOTE: I found a fruit spread that I really like from the 365 line at Whole Foods. In the strawberry spread there’s only 3 ingredients: white grape juice, strawberries, & fruit pectin. No preservatives, artificial colors or flavors. If you don’t live near a WF Market, be sure you’re reading the ingredient labels when choosing a jam at your regular grocery. Even the sugar-free jams are loaded with strange ingredients.

Thanks Sarah!!

All recipes are made with the finest quality farmers market whole foods, natural and non-processed ingredients.

This week I’ve been talking about what has come in our CSA box(es) and the diamonds so far have been sweet peppers, which have been turning into hummus. Any day now the Missus will be turning into hummus herself so I got the idea to try pairing it with something a bit healthier than crackers. I’ve been hearing rumblings about kale chips for a while now and though I was skeptical, I decided to give it a go with both elephant and curly kale. Tossed in a drizzle of olive oil, S&P and baked for nearly 10  mins at 350F (in case you wanted to try them out for yourself)….these were….em….interesting. Did they make a nice “chip?” Eh no. Would they make a nice garnish cut in strips? I’m thinkin’ that’s a much better idea. But I just wanted to show you that even the so called ‘pros’ like myself  learn by trial ‘n’ error. The real star here is the hummus!

RECIPE:
Makes 1 1/2 cups

1 can garbanzo beans
1/4 cup +  1 tbsp. roasted sweet peppers
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp white pepper
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp cold water

First things first, roast your peppers. I used a variety of sweet peppers in this batch as well as a jalapeno from my garden. I used 1/4 cup of roasted plus a tbsp. total in the recipe. There’s no science here so just use what you have and as little or as much as it makes once roasted. Let your taste buds do the talking!

YOU NEED: Assorted sweet peppers & olive oil
ROASTING DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 420F. Toss the whole peppers in a drizzle of olive oil. Lay them on a foiled sheet pan in a single layer. Pop in oven for 20-25 mins, turning occasionally, until the skins are dark and charred. Once all sides of the skins are browned, put them into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap for 10 mins approx. Remove peppers and peel skins, discarding. Next remove stems and seeds and rough chop.
NOTE: Though it’s easier to peel peppers under running water, DO NOT do it. Rinsing roasted peppers under the tap will wash away most of the flavor. Bad idea!

HUMMUS DIRECTIONS:
Put the roasted peppers, garbanzo beans, S&P into a food processor and blend. While running, add in the water in a steady stream followed by the oil, same way. Taste and season.

Now in our second CSA box there were more sweet peppers so of course I knew I’d be at this again. This time we only had two peppers so I robbed a beautiful red bell from the neighbors (thanks Kitchens!!) and roasted them off. I added a squeeze of lemon, a couple squeezes of M’lady’s favorite hot sauce and a touch more olive oil and man, this was fantastic! It only took 2 days before it was gone so best of luck keeping it in your house!

All recipes are made with the finest quality farmers market whole foods, natural and non-processed ingredients as much as possible.

My neighbor not only has a fantastic fig tree (that I’ve been delving into for the past few weeks), but she also had success this year growing fresh tomatoes. The poor crater hasn’t even been in town to enjoy the fruits of her labor so to speak, but we certainly have (with her blessing of course!)

left on our doorstep

Thanks Cristina but now what to do with them? Figs and tomatoes….

You see, I wasn’t really big on figs until I found myself with a tree full of  ‘em so pardon me if I went searching for recipes online. Didn’t take me too long to find this gem created by A Gluten Free Guide. I know it may sound strange but this salsa is the dogs bollix. Right now figs are in season so it’s the perfect time to make this with fresh figs vs. dried. For those of you that missed my
Fig and Goats Cheese Pizza from last week it’s well worth a gander. Quick and damn tasty!

Healthy Fig and Avocado Salsa Recipe

1 cup diced dried figs or 3 cups diced fresh figs
juice of one lime
3 medium firm ripe California avocados, diced
3 fresh jalapenos, small diced, seeds and ribs removed
2-3 medium, vine-ripened tomatoes, diced, seeds removed
4 teaspoons honey
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 small cloves of garlic, minced

TIP: If you use agave like I did, you can use less than honey because it’s sweeter than honey.

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and stir gently. Refrigerate several hours to let flavors blend. Serve with gluten-free corn tortilla chips.

(It’s great right away if you are like me and aren’t patient enough to wait for it to come out of the fridge.)

This salsa lasted about 2 days in my house because it was so good. Thanks to Catherine for this idea!
Cheers!

All recipes are made with the finest quality farmers market whole foods, natural and non-processed ingredients as much as possible.

I saw this idea in a recent Cooking Light magazine and I must admit, it intrigued me. What?–Chefs can’t get inspired by another’s recipe? Bollix!
I loved the fact that it used ingredients perfect for this time of year and it used something I don’t usually cook with, blackberries. This is seasonal cooking at its best guys.
The original recipe was Grilled Pork with Blackberry Sage Sauce but I decided to take it a step further, transforming the fresh blackberries into a marinade instead. I’m telling you, I was bang on!

As you know, pork has had some bad raps in the past but you can easily work it into your healthy diet with out worrying. The tenderloin is the leanest cut of pork. A 3-ounce serving contains 120 calories and 2.98 grams of total fat, which is as lean as a skinless chicken breast. I will stress that buying organic or grass-fed meat is the way to go here. (More of my research on this to come.) Don’t be afraid of this recipe. It probably looks complicated but it really is super easy.

RECIPE:
Serves 4

1 lb Organic or grass fed pork loin
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth (for roasting)

PORK MARINADE:
1 lb blackberries
2 shallots – minced
1 tbsp fresh sage – chopped
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp agave (vary this amount depending on how sweet or tart the blackberries are)
1 tbsp lemon zest
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat medium saute pan on medium heat. Add 1 tbsp olive oil and saute shallots for 1 minute, stirring. Add everything except broth and simmer for 2/3 minutes until berries start to break down.

Add broth and simmer for 5-6 minutes. Pass the marinade through a sieve retaining the liquid. Discard the contents of the sieve. Let liquid cool completely before adding pork loin to marinate.

Marinate pork from 2 to 6 hours, refrigerated. You could marinade it over night if you wish.

Remove pork from fridge 1 hour before cooking.

Preheat oven to 420F.

To cook: either sear on a hot grill or in a hot saute pan. I used the grill to get some added flavor from the charcoal and brilliant grill marks. Sear all sides until nicely browned, 4 min. each side approx. Place seared pork on a foiled oven tray. Add the chicken broth to the tray and pop in the oven for 20 minutes approx or until internal temp. of 165F. (You probably know this is one on my favourite tricks to keep lean meat moist.) Once cooked, remove and let rest for 10 minutes loosely foiled before carving. This will let the meat relax and the juices redistribute back into the meat.

NOTE: Resting meat after roasting is an important technique and ensures the meat stays juicy.

TIP: I add the broth to the pork while roasting to create some steam in the oven and helps keep the meat moist. I use this technique when cooking lean proteins like pork, chicken or turkey.

SERVE WITH
I paired my berried pork with glazed baby carrots. DID YOU KNOW? For the best anti-cancer boost you should cook carrots whole? A new study from scientists at Newcastle University found that the anti-cancer properties of carrots are enhanced 25 percent if they are cooked whole rather than chopped up beforehand AND they taste better when cooked this way. It happens to be my favourite way to cook (and eat) carrots so this is great news.

GLAZED BABY CARROTS:

8-10 oz baby carrots
Trim the green tips from the carrots. Place them in a mixing bowl with 1 tsp agave/honey, 1 tsp ground cumin, S&P, drizzle olive oil. Toss together and lay in a single layer on foiled oven tray. Lay a sheet of foil over and pop in oven for about 10 minutes. Easy and delicious.

All recipes are made with the finest quality farmers market whole foods, natural and non-processed ingredients as much as possible.