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Now on to business.  My first recipe post was for my quick version of a great tomato sauce.  It called for canned tomatoes for time sake but, thanks a great friend Elinore, if you have just an extra 20-30 min. to spare you can start your base with some great roasted tomatoes! The recipe calls for use of a grill but for those in an Apt. or without a grill I’m willing to bet a 500 deg. oven would suffice just fine.

The results are most satisfactory to me.  Great texture.  Thicker due to a higher rise and the freshness added by the lemon zest is exactly what I was hoping for.

Ciao and Bon Appetit

While living in Switzerland my access to french pastry was of course excellent.  I was instantly converted and hooked.  The French know how to cook, of course, but their perfect balance of light sweetness with amazing richness is superb.  The first thing I noted was how “unsweet” their pastry generally was.  Nothing at all like the over the top, smash in the face, sweetness of the typical American dessert.  The “unsweet” trend actually extended to almost everything.  Their soft drinks are much less sweet as well and even at a Suisse McDonalds the sodas tasted MUCH less sweet.  It was in this land of moderate sweetness that I learned my love for a great pastry.  In this land of the “unsweet” I developed my sweet tooth.

I didn’t actually get a chance to bake myself while I was there but since I’ve been back stateside I have definitely allowed my culinary explorations take me a bit away from my knives and sautee pans and into the world of mixers, batters and doughs.  When I find something not only really tasty but also E A S Y I get really excited.  When I learned how easy it is to make this I knew I had to get to it for myself.  The strawberries are so good right now the choice of fruit was a no brainer.  I have to say it is definitely best served luke warm but there is certainly no harm in saving it for breakfast the next morning

Strawberry Clafoutis

8 oz . Strawberries, hulled and sliced

2 tbs. corn starch

3 lrg. eggs

1 c. milk

2/3 c. flour

1/2 c. sugar

1/2 tbs. vanilla

1/4 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 350.  Thoroughly butter a shallow 2 qt. glass baking dish or gratin.  Toss berries in corn starch and arrange evenly in the bottom of the baking dish.  In a blender combine eggs, milk, flour sugar, vanilla and salt.  Blend well.  Pour batter mixture slowly over the berries.  Bake approx. 50 minutes, until golden brown and delicious.

This only takes a few minutes to prep and is SOOO good either as a dessert or a great breakfast treat.  The berries can be replaced with black cherries (traditional, and to be REALLY traditional keep the pits in, it’s supposed to add amazing flavor) or any other fresh, in season, fruit.  Another great thing about this dish is that it’s perfect to get those little ones into the kitchen and cooking.  IT IS SO EASY!

Go, get some great berries and make this one tonight!

Ciao and Bon Appetit

Though I was born on the beach (Hollywood, FL), I pretty much spent my whole life land locked growing up in the hot deserts of Tucson, AZ.  While there are great tacos in Tucson, I would have to say their fish is suspect at best.  Stick to the carnitas or carne seca but steer clear of the fish.  Thankfully, while growing up I always had a grandfather with a home on the beach in San Diego and that meant a few things every year:

A reprieve from the 115 deg. summers.

A shot at, though generally failed, a movie style summer romance.

A trip to the museums at Balboa park.

And fish tacos.  Light, crispy, crunchy fresh fish tacos.

Well, I don’t get my automatic summer holiday any more, and even when I do trips to San Diego seem to be a thing of memory.  My craving for that tasty memory of the sea, though, remains strong as ever.  I just had to come up with a way to try and get that taste at home.  After giving batter options a serious thought I realized something.  Pancake mix.  It has exactly everything I need on the dry side of things for a great, light, tasty batter and its sitting on the shelf begging me to use it.  Lets just say, “Shortcut discovered!”  So here you go.  My batter fried fish tacos with a really tasty and fresh avocado sauce.

Joshua’s Crispy Baja Fish Tacos w/ Avocado Sauce

2 lbs. fresh firm fish sliced into even strips(I used tilapia but any firm mild white fish is fine)

1 1/2c. pancake mix

1 1/4c. water

2 tblspn. cayenne pepper

2 c. flower

vegetable oil

Fill a large pot with oil till about 3-4 inches deep and heat to 365.  Put pancake mix, half the cayenne and the water into a blender and blend till smooth.  Should be fairly thin.  Pour into a bowl.  Put flour and other half cayenne in a large freezer bag.  Pat dry the fish pieces and add to the freezer bag.  Seal and shake to cover the fish thoroughly.  Only taking a few pieces (3-4) of fish at a time, shake all excess flour, dip in batter covering completely and place into hot oil.  Cooking each 3-4 piece batch till golden brown, about 4 min.  Remove from oil to a draining rig to cool.  Repeat the process with the remaining fish pieces.  Serve on a small taco sized flour tortilla with thinly sliced cabbage and my tangy avocado sauce.

Joshua’s Baja Avocado Sauce

1 lrg. very ripe avocado

4 cloves garlic whole peeled

1 jalapeno seeded and chopped

1/2 c. sour cream

1/2 c. plain yogurt

1c. fresh cilantro (with stems!)

juice of 2 large limes

water as needed

Chop up the avocado and put into a blender.  Add all the other ingredients and about 1 cup water and blend till smooth.  Depending on the ripeness of your avocado you may need to adjust the water content.  The final product should be very smooth and creamy, almost like ranch dressing.  This makes a great dip for tortilla chips but it shines brightest on the crispy fish tacos.

I hope you enjoy my version of an old summer beach favorite.  The crispy fish taco.

Ciao and Bon Appetit

As it was winter my mind drifted off to cozy food.  Warm food.  Hearty food.  Soup.  I mean I really got on a soup kick.  I just started throwing stock and veg and meats and legumes and herbs and pasta into pots in various quantities and curious combinations until greatness seemed to unfold.  Besides, who doesn’t love a great food experiment that turns out to be a happy accident.  Needless to say, I’d like to think I came up with a few really great soups.  Today I’m going to give you one of my favorites.  Wild Mushroom and Cream soup.  Not only is it great as a starter for a meal, but it’s hearty enough to be a meal with the simple addition of a nice crusty bread.  To make it one step better, use the leftovers in place of canned cream of mushroom next time you make a casserole or any other recipe that calls for it.  It will take the dish to a whole new level.  So here we go, my Suisse market inspired, Wild Mushroom and Cream soup.

Wild Mushroom and Cream Soup

15oz. various wild mushrooms (I like to use shitake, oyster and crimini but have fun with what looks good at your market)

1 package white button mushrooms

2 tblspn. Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 stick butter

1 c. onion chopped

1 carrot roughly shopped

2 stalks celery roughly chopped

3 sprigs fresh thyme

2 leeks chopped (stay away from the dark green part)

1/4 c. flour

1 c. white wine

1 c. half and half

1 c. heavy cream

1/2 c. flat leaf parsley chopped

kosher salt

fresh pepper

Start by rough chopping the button mushrooms and placing in a bowl.  Now with the other mushrooms separate the caps from the stalks.  Rough chop the stalks and add to the white button mushrooms.  Evenly slice the remaining caps (I use a wire egg slicer for this, it’s perfect and you know every slice is the same) and set aside in their own bowl.

In a large pot add olive oil and 1 tblspn. of the butter over med high heat until melted.  Add onion, carrot, celery, buttons and stalks, 1 sprig of thyme (pull the leaves from the remaining sprigs and chop, set aside), a pinch of salt and 5 turns of fresh pepper.  Saute 15 min. stirring often.  Add 6 cups hot water and bring to a boil.  Cover, reduce heat and simmer for at least 30 min.  Strain the stock through a fine sieve and reserve the liquid in a separate container.

Placing the pot back over med. heat, melt the remaining butter.  Add the leeks and cook until they start to brown.  Add the sliced mushroom caps cooking for about 10 min.  Add the flour and stir well to coat everything in the pan.  Continue stirring and cook for about 1 min.  Deglaze the pan with the wine making sure to really scrape up the tasty brown bits off the bottom of the pot.  Add all the stock, chopped thyme and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer covered for 15 min.  Slowly stir in the cream and half and half and bring back to a simmer over med. heat.  Add the chopped parsley, reduce heat to low and serve.

This is one of my very favorite soups.  Creamy, hearty, earthy.  It’s rich and it really fills you up.  Don’t forget to save your leftovers in a good container.  I usually have a couple cups left.  Just perfect for making a great Tuna Casserole.  Hrm, maybe sometime soon I’ll have to toss out my Tuna Casserole recipe and give you something to use your leftovers for.

Ciao and Bon Appetite

Living on Lac Leman (Lake Geneva) near the foot of the Swiss Alps I had my first ever taste of a snowy winter.  It was also my first real appreciation for the art of the warm, cozy beverage.  Ciders, warm wine, coffee, tea and I think my new favorite: thick, creamy, and if I have it my way slightly spicy, hot chocolate.

Sarah has a friend from work named Alexa.  She is from Veracruz, Mexico.  She is also cute as a button and fun as hell.  At Christmas this year she gave us a huge jug of what was probably the best hot chocolate I have ever had.  It was AMAZING.  When, a week ago, we had a chance to hang out with her at our place for her Birthday Sarah wisely decided to parlay it into a chance to learn her secret recipe.  We called, we asked, she agreed.  What you find below is smooth, creamy, dark, slightly spicy and rich.  Like I said before it is AMAZING.

Alexa’s Mexican Hot Chocolate

6c. water

2 7oz. Hershey Chocolate Bars

2 tablets Abuelita Mexican chocolate drink (link at bottom of post)

1 250g (approx 9oz) bar authentic Mexican dark chocolate, I used POLAR Chocolate Tradicional Mexicano (if you can’t find Mexican chocolate other high quality dark chocolates will probably work as well)

5 sticks cinnamon

3 cans evaporated milk

In a large pot add the water and cinnamon.  Bring to a boil.  While the water is coming up to a boil start breaking up all the various chocolates into small chunks.  Once at a boil add all the chocolate to the water and stir continuously till all the chocolate is melted.  Bring back to a boil.  Add all the milk and bring back to a boil.  At this point you taste.  I like it this strength.  If you find it too strong you can add milk, a little at a time, to taste.  Remember after adding anything bring it completely to a boil before considering it “done”.  Store in an air tight jug at room temperature.  DO NOT REFRIGERATE.  Always bring portions to a full boil when serving leftovers.  Some things to experiment with are hotter additions like cayenne or red chili flake or dried ancho chilies, have fun with it.  I also use this base with coffee, 2:1 coffee to chocolate, for a great after dinner desert coffee.

I hope you enjoy Alexa’s family recipe for Mexican Hot Chocolate.  If you give it a try write back and tell me what you think.  Especially if you make custom variations of your own.

Abuelita Mexican Hot Chocolate Mix

Ciao and Bon Appetite

Ask anyone the secret to a perfect ziti and they will tell you the sauce.  It must be home made and is MUST cook   All  Day  Long!  Anything less wouldn’t be right.  Well it was about 2 in the afternoon when I decided ziti was for dinner.

“That’s not enough time to make All Day Sauce!”, you say.

“It IS!”, I say and here you have my special recipe for “All Day Sauce” (and I dare you to tell the difference) and then of course the recipe for my Baked Ziti.  On to the sauce.

“All Day” Meat Marinara Sauce

1 lb. ground beef (I like to use 85/15)

2  14.5oz. cans tomatoes (whole)

1/2  12oz. can tomato paste

1/2 medium onion chopped

4 cloves garlic (2 thinly sliced and 2 chopped)

1 tblspn  dried oregano

1/2 c.  fresh basil thinly sliced

kosher salt

fresh ground pepper

Brown the ground beef in large sauce pot.  Add oregano and mix well.  Add onions and the chopped garlic, cooking till soft, about 2 min.  Add both cans of whole tomatoes and their juice, roughly breaking up the tomatoes with a spoon or your fingers (my preferred method).  Add the sliced garlic.  Mix well and allow to simmer about 5 minutes.  Add the tomato paste stirring until completely incorporated.  Add the fresh basil and mix well.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Allow to simmer at least 30 min more before serving.  You can of course let this cook as long as you’d like but then that defeats the purpose of a great and FAST sauce that tastes like it’s been cooked all day.  Serve this over pasta for a great spaghetti and meat sauce or do like I did and make a great Baked Ziti.

Baked Ziti

12oz dried pasta (mostacholi, rigatoni or similar pasta)

“All Day” Meat Marinara Sauce

2c shredded mozzarella

10oz. mozzarella sliced thin

seasoned bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 350.  Thoroughly butter the bottom of a 9×13 glass baking dish and coat with seasoned bread crumbs, shaking out excess.  In a large pot boil 2 quarts of water with about 3 pinches salt.  Once boiling add pasta and cook till al dente.  In a large bowl mix the sauce, cooked pasta and cheese.  Add to the baking dish and top with the sliced cheese.  Bake for 20-25min or until cheese is melted and starting to brown.  Allow to rest for at least 15min before serving.

And there you have it.  A great sauce made in a short evening, and a baked ziti that even Tony Soprano would swear was made by his mother.  This is even better the next day reheated in the oven.

Ciao and Bon Appetite

I hope you enjoy your stay.