Charred Shishito Peppers

The first time I had Shishito peppers was at a Spanish restaurant at the recommendation of some girlfriends.  I was surprised by their sweetness with some mild heat.  If you've never had them before you should know they are like playing the lottery.  Most times you will bite into this delicate sweetness with a nice subtle heat and then then every once in a while you get a spicy one. If you like some heat and you don't mind a gamble then this is the veg for you. If you see these little peppers at the farmers market, pick them up, give them a try.  The simplest preparation is the best!

Ingredients: Shishito Peppers, Olive Oil and Flaky Sea Salt

What to do:

1. Heat your frying pan on high with 1-2 teaspoons of olive oil.  You want the pan to be hot but not smoking.

2.  Add the peppers and move them around in the pan. They will very quickly begin to char on the outsides.  Sauté for 3-5 minutes.

3.  Cut the heat on your burner and add a healthy pinch of flaky sea salt.

That's it. I promise. The most simple snack/side dish/app ever.  I have a plate of them next to my computer and have been snacking on them while I write.

Spicy and Fresh Breakfast

Good Morning!

Today is a beautiful 80 degrees fall day.  I'll take it; I am sure within a month I'll be in coat complaining I am cold.  Very rarely do I go out of my way to cook breakfast.  I mean we live in Brooklyn where brunch and bagels are a staple of life.  But today was different, I woke up knowing I was going to cook exactly what you see. And I will not take credit for this recipe.  I saw this Spicy Avocado Breakfast Sandwich  recipe a few days ago and knew i needed to make it.

Now I changed up a few things. First off, I skipped the bacon (gasp, how could I let this happen?), I used a smoked cheddar cheese and I added an arugula salad (lightly dressed with olive oil, salt and pepper) on top.    Here was my order of layering, bread, hot sauce mayo, avocado and cheese.  Then i put it under the broiler.  Once the cheese was all melty, I put the arugula salad and then the egg.  Also, I used an English muffin instead of a roll but, I will be honest, this is only because I wasn't paying attention and burned that roll to hell so I had to sub with English muffin.



I want to also mention, that I think poaching eggs is difficult.  Well I don't think getting an egg poached is difficult necessarily but i think getting an egg poached and it looking nice when you are done is very difficult. So if you notice that my egg yolk and white separated upon serving, I don't know what to tell you, it's true.  But as long as that egg yolk is runny, I could sort of care less that it doesn't look perfect.  The thing about this recipe is that it was really easy.  It is mostly just assembly and i think you could easily put a sunny side up or egg over easy on top and it would be equally just as delicious.



What a delicious mess!

Brooklyn Butcher Block

So tomorrow is my birthday, and of course my boyfriend and I never actually wait till the day to give a present.  I think for Christmas we exchanged presents on December 12th.  Why wait for a good thing? Basically we are children living in grown up bodies.  So on September 26th, two days prior to my 31st birthday my boyfriend showed up with a present for me.  For some girls its jewels; for this girl it's kitchen ware.  My man knows me well.

This is a beautiful chopping block/serving piece from Brooklyn Butcher Blocks. I love it! I am pretty sure it is walnut and you can see the grain and knots of the wood and the shaping has a natural dip in the center.   I think natural wood is beautiful thing and this board is a beauty. I can't wait to throw dinner party and have a cheese tray served on it.

I can't help myself, i must mention, we are also going to Luksus at Torst for dinner tonight.  It is a chef's tasting menu and has received rave Michelin reviews.  I can't even begin to describe my excitement!!!! It hasn't even arrived and this birthday is already shaping up to be a great one.

Cherry Tomato, Goat Cheese and Pesto Tart

So, it's been a while. Don't be mad, I've been saving  children in Africa from starvation. Ok, that's a lie. I've been lazy!

I have been thinking about this recipe for way longer than it is healthy for any person to be thinking about a tomato tart.  And on Saturday my friend Theresa and I went to the Union Square Farmers Market and in addition to a shisito peppers, colorful bunches of carrots and a watermelon I bought beautiful heirloom tomatoes to make this tart on Sunday for my boyfriend and I.  BUT, after way too much alcohol on Saturday night, Sunday's meal ended up consisting of curly fries and chicken fingers from diner.  Opps.  By Tuesday, when i had the time to make the tart, the tomatoes were mushy.  So, here we are on Wednesday and starting fresh. 

All the ingredients are from the regular supermarket, nothing fancy here.  I bought store made pesto from Fairway Market.  If you want to make your own, you most certainly can, but either way it will work fine.  I did a combination of cute little yellow tomatoes (pretty sure that isn't their name) and Kumato tomatoes. The Kumato are my favorite, they have this beautiful purple-brown-ish color and taste divine.

Ingredients:   Puff Pastry
                     Pesto
                     2 pints of cherry tomatoes
                     Goat Cheese
                     Parmesan Cheese
                     1 clove of garlic-finely minced
                     Drizzle of olive oil
                     8-10 chopped basil leaves


What to do:
1. Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees
2. Half your cherry tomatoes and put them in a bowl with a drizzle of olive oil, garlic and basil

3. Line your baking sheet with parchment paper and roll your puff pastry sheet to the size of the baking sheet.
4.  Spread a layer of pesto over the puff pastry, leaving about 1-inch around the edges without and then sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese








5.  Place the cherry tomatoes on the puff pastry, cut side up.








6. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown around the edges.



7. When it comes out of the oven crumble the goat cheese over top and a little more Parmesan cheese.




8.  Serve and Enjoy!

 This was delicious!  My boyfriend described it as 'heady', which after having to use urban dictionary to explain exactly what that means as it relates to food was 'thrilling' and/or 'intoxicating'.  Either way, the crust is sooooo flaky and the sweetness from tomatoes with the tartness from the goat cheese and the rich pesto really came together nicely. 

Curry Chicken Burgers with Mango Avocado Salsa

I have been thinking about these burgers longer than is healthy I am sure.  Did I mention I am a tad obsessed with cooking and recipes in general?  I wanted the burger to be spicy and juicy and the salsa to provide a nice cooling to the heat in the burger.  I gave much thought to how i will go about getting chicken burgers to be juicy.  Then I got a message from the Gods, aka Lidia Bastinach.  My boyfriend and I were watching her cooking show when she was making meatloaf and she ground up veggies and combined it with the meat and claimed it will help keep the meatloaf juicy.  Great Idea #1.  Then I had the idea to add some sausage in with the burger mix and the fat from the sausage would help keep the burger moist, Great Idea #2.  I wanted this recipe to stay on the healthy side (New Years Resolutions in place and all), so I used turkey sausage.  And I must say, these burgers were actually juicy!  As for the heat, I added a jalepano to the ground veggies.  You can totally adjust to your taste, add some more or less peppers and do it your way!  I served these with the salsa, lime mayonaise and brioche buns.  On a cold winter day in Brooklyn, they definitely brought a little bit of the Islands home.  Enjoy!

What you need...

Burgers                                                                    
1 package of ground chicken                                  
2 links of turkey sausage (hot or sweet), removed from the casing            
1 cup of Panko bread crumbs                                  
1 egg                                                                        
1/4 of a bell pepper                                                  
1 jalapeno pepper - want more heat keep the seeds.                                                    
1/2 large carrot
1/4 medium onion
1 clove garlic
1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
2 Tablespoons of curry powder
1 teaspoon each of paprika and cumin
1 lime
Large pieces of Romaine Lettuce
Burger Buns
1/2 Cup Mayonaise ( I used light mayo)

Salsa
1 Tomato, chopped
1 Lime
2-3 Tablespoons Cilantro
1/2 Red Onion, finely chopped
1 Avocado, chopped


What to do...






1. Make the salsa by chopping all the ingredients and the juice of the lime in small pieces and combine with lime juice.









2.  In a food processor combine the bell pepper, jalapeño, carrot, onion, garlic clove ginger.  Process  until very small.



3. In a mixing bowl, combine the chicken, turkey sausage, vegetable blend, curry, paprika, cumin, panko and egg.    After all the ingredients are incorporated form into four large patties or five medium size patties.

 4.  I decided to cook the burgers in a little bit of oil in a cast iron skillet.If you want to grill them you can.  About 5 minutes per side.  




5.  While the burgers are cooking take the mayonnaise, the zest and j  uice of one lime and combine.  I also warmed up the buns in the oven (but this step is optional).

6.  After the burgers are cooked, it is time to build your burger!  

                                               

             
                Lime Mayo, Curry Chicken Burger, Lettuce, Mango Avocado Salsa= Super Delicious.

Snow Day Sweet Potato Hash with Poached Eggs

Happy 2014!  

It has been quite sometime since my last post, but I promise I will be a better blogger this year.

So New York got eight inches of snow last night and I am a very happy to say today I had a snow day. I woke up this morning to a winter wonderland outside and an aching to make some eggs and hash inside.  I have never made hash before and I have never poached an egg before, so this morning was a bit of an adventure.  This was also a 'kitchen sink' sort of recipe, i used what I had around the kitchen and it turned out delicious!

What you need...

1 Sweet Potato, Peeled and Chopped
1 Small Apple, Peeled and Chopped
1 Bell Pepper, Chopped
4-5 pieces of Turkey Bacon, cut into small pieces
2 Eggs/per person
1-2 Tablespoons Butter
Olive oil
Salt + Pepper
Cinnamon
Chili Powder
Paprika
Red Pepper Flake


What to do....

1. Bring water to boil in a medium saucepan and add sweet potatoes. Cook until fork tender and then drain.

2.  In a large çast iron skillet over medium high heat, sauté peppers and turkey bacon in olive oil.  ( I added some onion powder at this point but if you have a real onion, add it now).  After these have cooked for a 3-4 minutes add the apples.  Season everything with salt and pepper.

3.  Once the potatoes are done cooking add them into the pepper, bacon, apple mix with the butter. Add  chili powder, red pepper flake, paprika and just a dash of cinnamon. Let cook for another 5 minutes and use a wooden spoon to break up the potatoes to really give it that hash texture.

5.  At this point it is time to make the eggs.  I learned from  Smitten Kitchen Poached Eggs  and it worked out great!

6.  Serve the eggs on top of the hash and Enjoy!