Il gusto rustico - Easy baking - Pear tart

I know most people can appreciate a nice dessert, baking one however is usually cause for distress. Distress usually caused by the silly idea that baking is extremely hard and requires an insane amount of patience and precision, thing that is not always the case. Yes, yes, there is measuring involved in this recipe but let's be honest here, if you can pour and see lines, you probably can get the proportions just right. Also what I like about this particular dessert is that it requires no "complicated" frosting design or silly decorations. This is just a plain delicious dish anyone can make easily.One could even use a refrigerated store bought pie dough roll, although making this from scratch is really easy to do as well.
Here is what you will need :
For the crust :
 1 cup of all purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon of salt
2 teaspoons of sugar
4 tablespoons of cold unsalted butter cut into small pieces
2 tablespoons of buttermilk
3 tablespoons of ice water
For the filling you will need:
3 ripe pears
3 tablespoons of brown sugar
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
1 tablespoon and 1 tsp of corn starch
1/8 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

If you choose to make your own crust here are the directions:

In a food processor mix the flour, salt and sugar. Add the pieces of butter and pulse until mixed into a coarse mixture. In a bowl combine the buttermilk and the ice water and then slowly add them to the flour mixture. Pulse until evenly combined. Remove the dough from the processor and pat it into a 4 inch round, cover and refrigerate for at least an hour.

In the meantime preheat the oven to 425 degrees and start preparing the filling.

Peal and core the pears and cut them into 1/4 inch slices. Place them in a bowl with the lemon juice,brown sugar, cinnamon and cornstarch. Toss until evenly coated and set side.

Roll the refrigerated dough into a 9 - 10 inch round and place it onto a parchment paper on a baking sheet.

Arrange the pears in the center leaving about 2 inches of dough all around. Fold the border over the pears only covering them partially. Pinch the border on the corners to make it stick together.

I brushed the crust with an egg wash to help it turn nice and golden. An egg wash is simple a beaten egg with a little water added to it.

Place in the oven and bake for 15 minutes then Reduce the heat to 350 degrees and bake without opening the oven for another 40 minutes.

Remove from the oven. I combined 1 teaspoon of honey with 1/4 tsp of boiling water and brushed the crust and filling with it for an extra little hint of sweetness. Allow to cool and ENJOY!

spaghetti all'aglio, olio e peperoncino

This is the absolute easiest and quickest italian dish ever, and yet I find it so comforting and filling. The first dish to jump to mind after a long day at work.My kids always ask for pasta with il and parmigiano and this can be cooked right along their dish so...well...i won't hear complains about the amount of dishes in the sink....Oh yes... there is also really no measuring involved here. and not that many ingredients you will need.

Pasta, I chose Spaghetti Rigati, the ridges help the sause grab onto the pasta making each bite that much more flavorful.
Garlic, minced and about 2 to 3 cloves.
Fresh spicy peppers, traditionally we use Cayanne Pepper, however I like to mix different peppers to add flavors and colors...depending on what's ready in my garden, this time it was Fresno, Cayanne and a jalopeno.I love spicy foods so I used the al of them ,cut into very small pieces.Also I used a few minced parsley leaves,  to add a little extra freshness to the dish and enough Extra Vergin Olive Oil to allow all the ingredients to blend smoothly. Salt and black and Pink pepper to taste. The pink pepper just adds a little fresher taste to the black pepper.

VEGAN Beef bourguignon

There are a lot of great vegan dishes out there but this one...well I just had to try it for myself. Beef bouruignon is the definition of comfort food, especially for us European's. The Sunday night dinner you'd spent the whole day drooling over. And what could be better? Beef slow cooked in red wine scented with fresh herbs de provence....
So I was watching tv and saw this guy on the Martha Stewart show prepare his wife vegan bourguignon....with saitan instead of beef....but beside that, he followed a pretty traditional recipe.....and I needed to try to see if it really was as good as he said it would be. I do have to admit Saitan is my favorite vegan protein as far as consistency....and this dish, though I altered it a bit, for sure lived up to expectations.

I prepared my soffritto in a dutch oven pot. 3 sliced carots, 1 onion,cubed,( traditionally it is pearl onions but I only had white onions, and I'm not a huge fan of peeling little tiny pearl onions) 3 cloves of garlic, minced , and combined them all with 2 tbs of extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper to taste and fresh herbs from the garden, rosemary, thyme, sage and bay leaves.

I cooked them for a few minutes over medium heat while browning the 2 pakages of seitan in a frying pan.

Once the onion and the garlic absorbed the olive oil I added 1 cup of veggie stock and the Seitan, and cooked the mixture with the lid on for 20 minutes, keeping the heat on medium. I then added about 1 lb of fresh mushrooms, some flat leaf parsley and then 3/4 of a bottle of red wine, I went with a French ta

ble wine, just trying to keep the dish as traditional as possible.

The combined smell of the mushrooms, garlic and the wine was simply AMAZING! Nothing short of a traditional beef stew!

The freshly chopped parsley added such freshness to the dish.

I put the lid back on and cooked for another 20 minutes or so. I scooped the Seitan and the veggies out and placed them on a serving dish. I added 1 tbs of corn starch, 2 tbs of vegan butter ( spectrum is a really good one )  and 1 tbs of tomato paste to create a creamier consistency to the sauce. After cooking for a few minutes, once the cosnsistency of a gravy is reached,  I poured some over the seitan. It was delicious!

Heirloom tomatoes, hatch chiles and arugula quesadillas

Just fire up the Grill, and pour yourself a nice glass of VINO. This is easy and will only take a few moments.

Hatch chiles are only available for a few weeks out of the year but the are spectacular in their heat and smoky flavors combined. You can buy them fresh...or roasted. I got mine fresh...well what's more relaxing than cooking at the grill on a hot summer night?..NOTHING!

I washed my chiles and dried them with a towel, they cook better dry. You want to cook them on high flames till charred, once done place them in a Tupperware container and close it with its lid. The steam will allow the skin to be easily peeled off, and that's when they are ready.

Once cool enough to touch I peeled them ad cut them into small pieces. I opened 4 taco size flour tortillas and filled them with cheese and some chiles ( amount desired), I folded the tortillas in halves and placed them on the hot grill for a few minutes on each side until clear marks were created....

and yes, this dish is this simple and quite tasty, we each had seconds!

Can you smell it ? breathing in the ocean

Seafood is something I was raised around. My father loved seafood, shellfish in particular and growing up in Milan, in a valley, closed to lakes and sweet water fishes,but far from the seaside and crustaceans, we learned to truly savor those summer at the seaside, where seafood was almost part of our daily diets. We were taught the difference between fresh or frozen seafood, our palates trained toward the right choices, fresh and local. Nothing else would do, nothing else should really do. I remember my father explaining "if you can smell the fish, you should not eat it, it should just smell like the salty clean water, that's how you know it's good!"...And I have to say, the only two times I did not smell my seafood before cooking it I got sick......and bad seafood can really hurt, if you haven't experienced this, please take my word for t!    And shellfish in particular, it holds a lot of bacterias, clams and muscled are bottom feeders, they need to be perfectly fresh, tight when bought, kept cold and washed thoroughly before even being cooked......kind of a pain...but totally worth it!!!!! 

The muscles I got are local to Carlsbad....and they looked amazing....so good I got 3lbs of them. After scrubbing them clean I ran cold water over them while i made my soffritto. 1 onion, thinly sliced, 4 to 5 cloves of minced garlic, 1/2 red bell pepper cut in small dices  and a fennel bulb cut into four pieces. I cook them together in a dutch oven pot with 2tbs of extra virgin olive oil for a few minutes then added 3/4 of a bottle of white wine. I wanted something somewhat sweet to compliment the fennel so I chose a french white table wine that sells at wholefoods for $11.99, Vallee Loire - VOUVRAY -  Chenin Blanc...and it worked perfectly!

I turned the heat off and let everything simmer and combine for 20 minutes before turning the heat back on and adding the muscles and 1/2 cup of chicken stock. 

I cooked the shellfish in the soffritto and wine for about 7 minutes, occasionally stirring but mostly keeping the lid on to steam all of the muscles open. I turned the heat off and added about 3/4 of a stick of butter. I allowed the butter to melt, added the juice of one lemon and freshly chopped flat leaves italian parsley. make sure you SERVE ONLY THE MUSCLES THAT HAVE OPENED,DISCARD THE REST. Enjoy

fresh hairloom tomato caprese pasta salad

Summer, summer ,summer indeed!
This is a perfect dish to cool off with during those hot summer days. I saw this on the cover of " living" magazine and simply had to make it myself. It just looks stunning, nothing is brighter and cheerier than the colors of ripe heirloom tomatoes. And nothing quite sweeter.
For the pasta I chose curly lasagna sheets simply because they look pretty. I boiled in water for 11 minutes according to the direction on the package....(whole foods brand ) then I ran them under cold water in a colander to stop the cooking process.
In the meantime I sliced a colorful assortment of tomatoes and placed them on a serving plate with some organic capers, organic fresh mozzarella disks. Once the pasta felt cool to touch I cut the sheets  into square pieces and put them on the plate with the other ingredients. I sprinkled some salt, a little black pepper, some extra virgin olive oil and of course some freshly sliced basil......
Light, Refreshing...and certainly pretty.

Honeydew and vodka soup...

This is the perfect way to start any Summer Dinner. A nice mixture of  soup and  cocktail, did I mention is super quick and easy? You can impress any guests with the vibrancy of its colors and elegant presentation.....and it won't take you more then 5 minutes to make it!

All you need to do is take one honeydew cut into pieces, 2 TBS of extra fine sugar ,the juice of one lime and 1 shot of vodka. Combine all the ingredients into a blender and pulse until smooth and evenly combined. pour into a soup bowl, garnish with Cantaloupe ,fresh mint and creme fraiche. I suggest serving with prosciutto wrapped grissini.

Quesadillas Italiana

What I love about tortillas is that they are so versatile. They can help turning any dish from just about any cuisine into a virtually mess - free perfect dish. Available in corn, flour, and now so many flavors, they are the perfect tool to turn any old fashion dish into a mobile perfectly hand sized creation.
This is another very simple dish that plays on the contrast of sweet and savory using one of my favorite flavor pairing, Figs and Prosciutto. If fresh figs aren't available you can always substitute for a fig spread although, the playful texture and natural sweetness of figs can't be copied.

A taco size flour tortilla, filled with one slice of prosciutto di parma, one fig( thinly sliced ) , a smear of Caprino cheese, a creamy Italian Goat cheese, and 1 slice of Monterrey Jack cheese  grilled on each side for about 2 minutes or until clear grilling lines are formed. I chose to serve it whole as a main dish, but it could easily be cut into 4 triangles and served as an appetizer.

Bourbon bratwurst

Bourbon and sausages, the two giants of good ol' American culinary culture. Both staples in the everyday Americana, so to speak. It only seemed fair they'd crash at one point....and so here they did creating the perfect balance of rich sweetness brightened by a delicate kick of cayenne and smoothed by a touch of amber agave.
I chose to brown the sausages in a pan with a TBS of extra virgin olive oil to create a nice crispy texture on the outside of the meat, and then slow cooked the sausages to maintain the softness inside the casing.
 I diced a half of a large sweet onion and tossed it in a sauce pan with a little olive oil and 3 cloves of minced garlic. I moved them around for about a minute or two, not long enough for them to brown, then added my sausages to the pan as well with 1 cup of bourbon and 2 cups of chicken stock.
I left the heat on MD for about 30 minutes with the lid on. Then I added 2 TBS of Amber Agave and 1 1/2 minced fresh cayenne pepper to contrast the sweetness of the agave and the Bourbon and I cooked the sausages for another 30 minutes.
Then I thinly sliced the remaining half of the onion and sauteed it for a few minutes until tender and golden. I set those aside. I took about two strained scoops of the sauce from the pan and cooked them down with 1tbs of unsalted butter and 1/2 tsp of flour to thicken the juices to a creamy sauce consistency. I plated the sausages, placed the onions on top of them and poured my creamy bourbon sauce, I finished the plate by drizzling a little agave and sprinkling some freshly chopped parsley on top to create a little touch of color to the plate.....and had a few shots with dinner....like I said, whiskey and sausages go very well together :)

Crudite...all'Italiana

We've all heard the saying "everything tastes better with bacon"....and well, who can argue?
the salty crunch of a little bite of bacon is great....however i find the delicate combination of saltiness and sweetness that prosciutto brings to a dish even more interesting and its soft textures makes prosciutto more adatable to a broader scale of recipes.
So like a true Italian would say, "Everything tastes better with prosciutto"...or better "Tutto e' megliore con un po' di prosciutto!"....

PROSCIUTTO WRAPPED CRUDITE

for this appetizer you can use a wide variety of seasonal veggies. I chose baby lettuces, orange and yellow bel peppers (thinly sliced) ,carots (thinly sliced), cantaloupe (thinly sliced and removed from skin) and fennel bulb ( also thinly sliced and cleaned from the greens).

the idea is to keep each wraps to a bite size appetizer that will look preety and will not be too messy. For the fennel and the bell peppers i suggest wrapping no more than 3 slices with a slice of prosciutto and for the baby lettuces a little olive oil and lemon helps adding extra flavor to the wrap.

Once all the wraps have been made and placed on a serving dish i sqeezed a little bit of lemon and drizled some home made basil olive oil. Some freshly ground black pepper also adds to the presentation.

prosciutto wrapped figs

It's kinda funny to think I had sworn that I would never eat figs again!...hahahaha

I am the youngest of three, and as such my duty growing up was to climb on top of barns and chicken coops with the help of old wiggly ladders, and of course the loud direction of my fathers trombone-like voice, to pick just the right (as you probably guessed) figs, and apricots too.

The hard work wasn't what scared me, it was, well, the combination of my acute fear of heights and the fact that I am allergic to bees, bees tend to hover around fruit trees. And if this wasn't bad enough there was my mother's compulsive need to make jams, not for our family, but for an entire army even though we were a simple family of 5!

I remember the restaurant size steel pot, steaming up the kitchen during the already hot summer days, the sound of the simple sugar bubbling and popping, the smell of the fruit slowly taking over the humid air...quite a beautiful painted memory indeed!

I also remember asking my mom for strawberry jam, which happens to be my favorite, and I recall her answering " yes, just after we finish the apricot (or fig) jams I made". That usually didn't seem to bad, until I opened the cabinet and saw what to a child seemed like a million jars of the same homemade jam.  Though excessive they were nothing, I meam NOTHING, like Smucker's!!!! NOTHING LIKE IT AT ALL!

But now, 30 years have passed and what I wouldn't give to re-live those moments, what I wouldn't pay for my senses to experience  once again all of those overbaring sensations.  

And the figs, my grandfather's figs....my shaky knees climbing up rung by rung with my eyes shut tight worried I was going to fall....all of these memories come back every single time I cook with figs. They hold such a dear place in my heart....on pizzas, in salad or wrapped in prosciutto and grilled for a few minutes as in this appetizer. Such a nice balance of sweet and savory in each bite, an amazing combination of textures  that add such intrigue to a dish so simple... the mysteries, so to speak, behind every simple family.

red white and...greek

So I'm sure you guessed I made this for the 4th...the red white and blue all American theme should have given it away, but I do make this though out the summer. Mostly because I have a 5 year old daughter who loves to help me cook and well, while she's not old enough to turn on a burner she can most certainly mix a few ingredients.

It is a win- win situation, she has a blast putting on her play pretend chef 's outfit and i get to do less work and enjoy a great fruit salad.

All I had to do was cut the jicama in small pieces and halve the strawberries. she washed them ans mixed in the blueberries. Her favorite part was to scoop out 3 tbs of jogurt,( I chose my favourite Greek jogurt, rich and creamy ) 1 tbs of honey and 1 tbs of sugar and mix them well together...:( with her hands...

She wanted pretty cups to make it "seem like a party" and what's prettier than a martini cup?

Lighten up your day with the perfect summer salads

TERYAKY CHICKEN SALAD

It's summer, the temperatures are rising and the yearning to fire up the grill is ever so powerful.

This is when we leave behind the hot cozy soups, the over - filling steamed rice for the refreshing taste of salad...but not just any salad. One whose taste will leave you wanting more, a salad that will make you forget about those old teryaki bowls, at least until next winter.

I chose to grill chicken thigh filets,those pieces already come cleaned off the bone which allos the meat to cook faster and skin free, well which just cuts a whole lot of calories I don't want to have during bikini season. To shave off even more calories chose thinly sliced breast pieces, I went with dark meat because it usually stays more moist.
I placed my chicken pieces in a mixin bowl and poured enough teriaky sauce to cover each piece nicely and I added about an inch of freshly grated ginger then  I let them marinate in the refrigerator for about an hour. I fired up the grill a little bit before putting the meat to allow the temperatures to reach a medium.
I placed the chicken on the grill and cooked it for about 30 minutes turning each piece often in order to not burn the teryaki sauce and giving it a bitter taste. Once done I allowed the meat to cool down in order to not wilt the greens of the salad. While that was happening, I prepared my greens, some thinly sliced napa cabbage, some green onions and some ginger/soy snap peas. Those were easy as well, i mixed up some fresly grated ginger, one minced garlic clove and 2 tbs of soy sauce and I coated a couple of hanfulls of snap peas. After mixing well i put all the mixture in a grilling basket and cook for about 6 to 7 minutes, just until they were softer but still nice and crispy. I then put themin an ice bath to stop the cooking process.
I cudes a nice avocado and added that to my salad bowl with the sliced chicken filets once cool to touch. For dressing I smimply mixed, salt and pepper to taste, 2 tbs of red wine vinegar, 1 tbs of extravergin olive oil and about atsp of teryaky sauce to make the dressing a little sweater but still very light and refreshing.
to this day this is one of my favourite salads!

watermelon cocktail

Nothing screams "summer" as much as a nice, cold and juicy watermelon!
I bought one of those small sedless watermelons and put it in the refrigerator for a couple of hours as soon as I got home. Once chilled I cut it in a half and balled it and put it in a mixing bowl with about 2 shots of vodka, a little lemon juice, some of the watermelon juice and about 10 leaves of basil from my garden......Seved in a nice glass it makes the pefect summer cocktail!

What does your childhood smell like?

On my morning drive to work I heard this news caster talk about the importance of smell. He was explaining how "smell" is the strongest of our senses and the most commonly used  in reference to memories. He was trying to show how some of our culinary preferences are not solely based on our sense of "taste"but somehow triggered by "smell" awakening certain dear memories....and YES! I can see that!

I was at work, walking toward the back room as I passed the mushroom display and there they were, these huge perfect meaty Porcini mushrooms. I suddenly had the urge to run my hands through the basket and the smell they left on my hands just instantly brought me back to those rainy days in Italy. The smell of the rain evaporating from the browning reddish leaves on the floor, the mud accumulated from the fertile rainy season....a wide eyed 6 year old following her dad...exploring the woods, listening to wild stories. And the earthy steam coming up from my mom's stove every Sunday morning before church when she would start slow cooking her Rabbit stew and the porcini risotto which are to this day my favourite dishes ever.....And even as strong is the recollection of the warmth that would built up in the kitchen after a few hours.

So here it is, my mom's risotto....

The most complicated part of this dish is the cleaning of the porcini, which is quite time consuming, but definitely rewarding. Just like those saturday evening after a long day in the woods, I sat at the table with a bowl of cold water and soaked the halved porcini for a bit. Once all slippery, I took a spoon and cleaned out the porous part underneath the cap. here i rinsed them under cold water and sliced them into pieces of the desired sized for cooking. This is the tricky part....at times once the mushrooms are sliced you can find little dark spots or holes. If so, break the part where the hole is to see if a worm is still inside.......and rinse it out if so. I guess the meatiness of porcini is quite mouth watering to them as well! :). I cook the mushroom separately in dry white wine for about an hour with the lid on before I start the rice.



Take a sauce pan and glissen 1/2 a yellow onion,diced, 3 cloves of garlic, minced, and about 2 handfulls of Arborio rice per person. This takes about 2 minutes, do not allow the garlic or the onions to brown because that will add a bitter taste to the risotto. add about 1 cup of chicken stock and 1 1/2 cups of dry white wine and the cooked porcini mushrooms.

 Trn the heat down a bit and cover the pan with a lid. Cook down, stirring every 4 minutes or so, do not allow all the fluids to evaporate. Taste the rice to make sure it's ready before turning the burner off. You might have to add another cup of stock, always make sure that when the rise is cooked it is still moist. Add a little bit of saffron and parmigiano reggiano to taste.

Fusilli with rainbow chard, leeks and portabella mushrooms

This is one of those dishes that usually surprises everyone. It is Vegan, full of Healthy Greens....and yet it is one of the most flavorful pasta  dishes I have ever had....and trust me, I've had my share!It is really easy to prepare as well and won't take you longer than 15 Minutes...which will leave you with plenty more time to enjoy it.

Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil, add a pinch of salt to it and cook the pasta of your choice following the cooking times given on the box.( I'd chose fusilli or penne rigate, pastas with twists or ridges hold the sauce better making each bite more flavorful.)

In the meantime melt 2 TBS of Vegan Butter spread. Add the white and light green part of a leek stem, minced,1 portabella cap, cut in small dices and the stem pieces of 3 rainbow chard leaves.Cover with the lid and cook for 5 minutes. Then add 3 minced garlic cloves, 1/3 cup of veggie broth, 1/4 TSP of red pepper flakes and cook for 5 more minutes occasionally stirring.Add 1/2 TBS of Walnut oil and 2/3 cup of vegan cooking cream and the sliced chard leaves. Cook uncovered until the sauce get thicker, but not longer than 5 minutes not to over cook the greens. Once ready serve over the hot pasta and garnish with fresh sage and a few halved walnut pieces.

rasberry/penut butter and chipotle pepper duck served with oyster musrooms and white truffle oil risotto

I was at work and Max from Max's chilli sauces came in and gave me a bottle of this sauce he had been working on. He explained how this was his first trial, so the sauce was a little thicker than he had originally wanted. I  was obviously very curious, I mean, once you hear rasberry, penut butter and chipotle peppers...wouldn't your curiosity be tickled as well?
So i tried the sauce and immediately loved the combination of the sweetness of the rasberry with the nuttiness of the penut butter and the smoky heat of the chipotle peppers.....
At first i though of using it as a glazed over a nice steak, mostly because of its thickness...but then i decided to go with duck. i felt the sweetness and smoky flavors of the sauce would compliment its  gamy richness of flavors....
I decided to order a whole duck and I asked the butcher to cut it into 4 pieces just so that I wouldn't have to do any extra work at home. while in the store i also purchased some nice oyster mushroom and a box of carnaroli rice. I though a truffle oil and oyster mushroom would compliment the sweetness of the sause without over - powering it.
Once i got home i spread the duck p[ieces on a plate and i seasoned them with salt and pepper. I minced 3 garlic cloves and sliced a brown onion and put them in a duch oven pot with a table spoon of extra vergin olive oil and cook them until shiny, about 4 minutes. In the meantime I browned the duck pieces in an oiled pan and then transferred them in the duch oven pot with a cup of chicken stock and a cup of chardonnay.I placed the lid on the pot and turned the heat on medium.....and cooked the meat for about 2 hours untill it started to separate from the bones.Then I removed the meat from the pot, and continued to cook the liquid down till reduced to half and then added 3 TBS of the rasperry penut and chipotle sauce to the liquids and i cooked it for about 5 minuted untill its consiatency was creamy. Then i placed the meat back in the pot and cooked it a couple of minutes with the sauce to add both heath and flavor....then i placed the pieces of duck on a baking sheet and placed them in the oven with a little bit of sauce over them to glazed them, this took about another 5 minutes with the oven pre heated to 500.....
I have to say this dish turned out great....it's probably one of my favourite dishes to this day!



easy going appetizers

Here are some super easy but ver pretty appetizers sure to catch your guests attention.

Bite Size Insalata Caprese

Simply slice off the top part of each cherry tomato, leaving enough of the tomato to fill. With a melon baller, hollow each tomato creating edible miniature cups. Fill each of the tomatoes with diced mozzarella and sprinkle with minced fresh basil. Arrange the filled tomatoes on a serving platter and drizzle a little extra vergine olive ioil over them. 

Pear and Brie plate

Slice up a pear, I chose Bartlett because of their beautiful golden tones and their sweetness of course. Don't make the slices too thin, you want to be able to lift them as if they were crackers. Place the slices overlapping one other on a serving platter. Spred over them your choice of BLUE CHEESE or BRIE. Add a few crumbled walnuts and drizzle honey over them. Add a little pinch of black pepper.

Grilled Zucchini Rolls

Slice and grill a few italian zucchine. Grill the slices on both sides untill the grill marks are visible and the slices get soft enough to roll. Allow all the slices to cool down. Spread a little cream cheese and a thin piece of roasted bell peppers and roll up. Use small pieces of chives to decorate. Stand the rolls on a platter and drizzle some rosemary olive oil over them.

Prosciutto Wrapped Grilled Asparagus

This is another super easy appetizer that's sure to make everyone of your guests happy.

Turn on your grill on a medium - high heat.  Place all of the Asparagus stalks on a dish after trimming about 1/2 an inch of their bottom. Brush them with a little of olive oil and sprinkle some pepper over them.

Mince one or two cloves of garlic depending on the amount of asparagus you are preparing and add them to a TBS of olive oil and add a drizzle of fresh lemon juice.

Place the stalks on the grill and cook for about 2 minutes per side. Remove from het and once cooled down enough to touch, wrap each stalk of asparagus with a slice of prosciutto. Then place all of the stalks back on the grill for an additional 2 minutes per side.Once you're reday to serve it place the asparagus on a dish and drizzle with the olive oil /minced garlic and lemon sauce prepared. For a more smokey flavor substitute the prosciutto with SPECK..

Guinness soaked bratwurts with green grapes and sweet souerkrauts

Things you will need :

1 pkg of bratwursts

2 bottles og guinness beer

1 cup of chicken broth

1 1/2 sweet yellow onion, sliced

10 to 15 pieces of green grapes cut in halves

1 green apple ( pulp only)

1 tbs agave

1 1/2 cup of souerkrauts, drained

1tbs olive oil

Cooking instructions:

Let the bratwursts marinate in the beer for about 1 hour in the refrigerator and 30 minutes at room temperature.

Heat the olive oil in a skillett and add the bratwurts when it sizzles. Keep turning them untill they are evenly browned on all sides. slowly add the guinnes that you used to marinate the meat and let it cook down a little bit, about 10 minutes. Add salt and pepper if desired.

Turn the heat down to MD - Low and add the chicken broth, the onions and the grapes. Cover and cook with the lid on for about 40 minutes.uncover and cook for an additional 15 minutes untill some of the juices are evaporated.

In a mixing bowl combine the sauerkrauts, agave and the grated apple pulp and serve over the brats using some of the juices left in the pan.

Enjoy :)

Spicy apple jam glazed tilapia tacos with mango and chipotle pepper salsa

Things you will need:
4 Tilapia filets
White corn tortillas
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 mango
1 to 2 cups of shredded napa cabbage
1/4 large brown onion
1 leek
1/2 navel orange
1 lemon
cilantro
extra vergin olive oil
1tbs MAX's Chipotle peppers in oil
1 tbs sriracha chili/garlic sauce
4 tbs spicy apple jam
Black Lava Salt  and pepper
...For the salsa, cube the mango and cut the orange in pieces of equal size. Add a pinch of salt, the juice of 1 lemon, the chili/chiopotle peppers and the sriracha chili/garlic sauce. Add the minced garlicand the leek. Add  1 tsp of extra vergin olive oil and some freshly ground black pepper, a few leaves of chopped cilantro mix well. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

For the tilapia, preheat the oven to 425. Heat up a tbs of olive oil in a skillet. When the oil is hot enough that you can hear it sizzle, add the tilapia filets and brown them on both sides, about 2 minutes per size. When done transfer all the filets to a greased baking sheet. Coat the top side of the tilapia with the spicy apple jam and bake in the oven for about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and sprinkle black lava salt on it according to tastye.
Heat the corn tortillas directly on the oven rack for about 4 minutes per side. Place the heated tortillas on a plate and fill with the shredded cabbage, mango salsa, tilapia and a little more salsa and garnish with fresh cilantro.

Apples, Apples and more Apples!

Granny smith apple and Moscato wine Risotto paired with apple italian sausages.



For the Risotto you will need :

6 handfulls of Arborio rice

1 cup of moscato wine

1/2 cup to 1 cup of chicken broth or stock

1/2 diced granny smith apple

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1/2 small yellow onion,inced

1 1/2 TBS of extra vergin olive oil

In a saucepan combine the olive oil, rice,garlic, onion, apple and cook on MD heat for a couple of minute while stirring until  they are all evenly coated. Add about 1/2 cup of broth and 1/2 cup of the moscato wine and cover. Let a few minutes go by and check to make sure the rice stays in liquid untill cooked. Slowly add the remaining liquids, little at the time. Occasionally stir to make sure the rice doesn't stick to the pan. it should take about 20 minutes for t he rice to be fully cooked .Do not overcook,you don't want the rice to be a mushy mess, and a little liquid should still be in the pan to create a creamier dish. Garnish with a few leaves of fresh mint.

For the italian sausages you will need :
1 pkg of ground turkey
1 pkg of ground pork
1clove of garlic minced
2 tbs of  minced onion
1apple sliced thick
2 to 3 tbs fennel
salt and pepper to taste
agave to coat the patties
balsamic reduction to garnish the patties.
in a large mixing bowl combine the pork, turkey,the galrlic, onion , the fennel, salt and pepper and mix until all the ingredients are evenly combined. mince a couple of the apple slices and add to the mixture.
by hand form circular sausage patties about the size of the apple slices.
Pre heat the oven to 425
in a skillet heat 2 tbs of olive oil and brown each side of the patties ( about 2 minutes per side)
Place the apple slices on a baking sheet and coat them with a little agave and some pepper, place each patty on an apple ring and coat with a little more agave.
bake in the oven for about 20 minutes. Garnish the top with a little balsamic reduction if desired.

Lazy Day Fish tacos

there's always a night when we're in the mood for something delicious but also do not feel like cooking for hours and hours....well that's when you pop open a nice bottle of wine and poke around in the pantry and freezer for some inspiration. This recipe is for that kinda night. Main ingredient...FROZEN FISH STICKS, we all should have those handy!
Other INGREDIENTS:
Corn tortillas
1/2 Mango, diced
1 bunch fresh spring garlic

fresh cilantro

1/2 stick of butter
1 lime
2 lemons
2 cloves of fresh garlic
1 roma tomato

1TBS sriracha chili/garlic paste and 1 TBS of MAX'S chili sauce (Chipotle or medium hot )

1/2 lb cooked shrimp

7 kumquats(cut in halves)

ok so this is super easy:

while your oven is defrosting the fish sticks grab a sauce pan and add 1tbs of extra vergin olive oil.Turn the heat on MD, add the 2 cloves of minced garlic, let is simmer for about a minute.add the 7 kumquats,the juice of 1/2lime and 1/2lemon and 1/2 stick of butter.Turn the heat on low and cook for about 10 minutes untill the sauce thickens.

turn off heat and add the shrimp and cilantro, satl and pepper to taste.

In a mixing bowl, combine the diced mango, spring garlic(thinly sliced), chili and garlic sauce, the remaining lime and lemon juice, cilantro, salt and pepper to taste.

heat up in the oven the corn tortillas, 2 per tacos, about 2 minutes per side.
fill them with 3 fish sticks, some shrimps,1 or 2 TBS of the kumquat/citrus reduction and some of the spicy mango salsa....ENJOY :)



key products every Kitchen should have

I am very aware that in today's world what's keeping us out of the kitchen isn't fear or lack of interest but rather Time. We are out of the house  8 to 12 hours of the day working and we have families that demand our attention and energy once we get back home. However I remember looking back at my childhood and both my parents worked full time and somehow my mother managed to create amazing dinners every night. Perhaps they weren't gourmet dinners, she did not make fresh pastas,her sauces were not made from scratch but a combination of pre - made sauces and home made sauces but they were amazing dinners. I can't remember any incidents when me or my brother and sister were not happy to eat her food...or dad's actually, both my parents loved to cook. and beyond the food...it was the whole Dinner Time Experience, the family time around the table, the arguments, the joy,the discussions...the Discovering Each Others while sharing amazing foods.....
I know that finding the time to cook dinner every night seems hard but, with the right recipes and well, the right products available to our pantries, it can be a nice time to relax from the stress of our demanding jobs, a place for us to be creative and free.
So what are some key ingredients I always have at home? Well let me add that I work in a grocery store so I am lucky to have access to amazing things daily but come on, we all have a store near by!
Extra Virgin olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper,chillies....chili sauces, glazes, I usually roam the grocery store and pick a different sauce every time i go. Other staple items should be frozen meat and fish for lazy nights, canned tomatoes both diced and sauces, these are amazing bases for many sauces and an easy and inexpensive substitute for fresh tomatoes.And of course fresh veggies and fruits according to the season. I will share with you some of my favourite products and spices along with my recipes. Enjoy !

Here's the first product you should try:

MAX'S CHILI/OIL SAUCE



This is one of my favourite newly discover sauce I have used in quite a few dishes, Max's Chili sauce, it comes in 5 different flavors, some mild, some hot, smoky, chipotle....I will post a full vendor profile to help you find the product and try it. Trust me it's delicious! and to those in the San Diego area it is also LOCAL.