Key Lime Pie

I was in charge of bringing dessert to my mother-in-law's birthday and I needed something quick, easy and hey, lets face it, cheap. Key lime pie was a winner. It literally took 10 minutes to assemble and after that it's just a matter of baking, chilling, and putting it in the fridge to set up. I whipped up some cream and powdered sugar to top it off with just before serving. The canned whipped cream would work great too.

1. Pour 2 small cans of sweetened condensed milk into a large bowl.

2. Add 4 egg yolks (I made it in the morning and made myself and egg white omelette)

3. Add a pinch of salt

4. Add the juice of 1 bag of key limes plus one regular lime. (2 if the key limes aren't juicy)

5. Zest 2 of the key limes and add it to the bowl.

6. Whisk it all together, pour in a ready made graham cracker crust and bake at 350 until the middle sets up. Took about 30 minutes until it wasnt' super jiggly.

7. Refrigerate at least 6 hours and you're good to go!

Steak Topper

My husband cannot walk past the meat aisle without revelling at the steaks. New York, Filets, Rib eyes, he loves them all. The other day he walked to our cart and plunked down a value 4 pack of bone-in New York steaks. They looked like they could double as a small coffee tables. Salt, pepper and 6 minutes per side on the sizzling stainless steele pan and we were ready for steak. Here's the topping I came up with while the steaks were resting under foil:

1.) Pour out the extra drippings from the steak.
2.) Add a tbsp of olive oil & 1 tbsp of butter
3.) Add two handfulls of sliced crimini mushrooms and let them soften up.
4.) Sprinkle some dried or preferably fresh thyme over the mushrooms.
5.) Pour in 1/4 cup of Brandy to deglaze the pan. Let the alcohol burn off.
6.) Add a handfull of gorgonzola and a tsp of prepared horseradish.
7.) Check for seasoning and plate it all up.

You can't have enough topping so don't be shy with the ingredients. You want every bite of steak to bathe in cheesy mushrooms.

Potato Leek Soup

I found some huge leeks in the Mission the other day and as soon as I saw them I knew what I wanted: Potato Leek Soup. I looked online for potentially awesome recipes. Ina...too much cream, Martha...too many ingredients...Emeril..sorry I refuse to buy your "essence" spice. I took a glance over all the ingredients and decided I was going to go culinary comando (underwear on, recipes off). Here's what I think I did:

1. Dice up 5 slices of bacon and throw them in the bottom of your biggest pot.

2. Dice one onion, 3 garlic cloves and 4 leeks (white and light green parts only). Saute 3-4 min.

3. Throw in 3 tbsp salted butter and saute 2 min.

4. Throw in 3 heaping tablespoons of flour in. Mix until you can see the flour turning a little brown.

5. Add in 1/2 quart of beef broth, 1 quart of chicken broth, 1 boullion cube, a glass of rose' wine (I happened to have it open. White would work fine).

6. Gather about 5 shakes of dried thyme, 2 bay leaves and drop them in the mix.

7. Add a half cup of milk.

8. While all the mix is coming to a boil, roughly peel about 4 yukon gold potatoes and chop em up.

9. Add the potatoes and simmer until your potatoes are super soft.

10. Fish out the bay leaves and add salt and pepper. Don't skimp on the salt! It's a lot of soup so be generous.

10. Take a hand blender to half the pot so you still have some chunks but it thickens up the sauce.

The leftover wine, some crusty bread and you'll be in carb heaven my friends. Cheers.

Best Thing I Ever Ate..

Chicken Tikka Masala!!! Man that dish is the crowning culinary achievement of the Indian people in my opinion. Actually I take that back. It's the crowning achievement of the British, who actually developed this dish. It's their national dish! It's gotta be good right? Creamy, spicy (but not too much), chickeny heaven... Doesn't even matter where you get it from, you can't go wrong. Stay tuned cause I"m checking out a variety of recipes in search of an authentic one I can try out.

The Secret

As a novice cook, I would follow recipes and wonder why the dish wasn't as amazing as it looked on TV or in the magazine. Why didn't it live up to the reviews? As I continued cooking, there are a few tricks to help get that restaurant quality taste out of the recipes you find.

1.) A good quality stainless steel pan is indispensable. This one by All-Clad is what I use and it sears tuna, steaks, and chicken like no other non-stick pan can. Actually, non-stick pans should only be used for things like pancakes and maybe eggs. Otherwise they simply don't develop the flavors well. Not to mention, they tend to scratch easily, leading to health problems. If you don't want to dish out 100 bucks for an All-Clad, at least make sure it is 18/10 stainless steel.

2.) Often recipes call for garlic to enter a hot pan first, as to flavor the other ingredients. Garlic burns very easily and I find that it loses flavor as its cooked. Always add garlic after the onions have caramelized and other tough vegetables like broccoli or potatoes have just about cooked all the way. You'll find it will double the flavor you're used to getting out of a clove.

3.) Sea Salt. It's gaining popularity, even amongst pastry chefs and ice cream companies. Sea salt acts as a burst of flavor in your dishes. Your taste buds need to cotransport flavor molecules with NaCL (table salt) before the taste signal is sent to your brain. No salt, no signal to your brain and your food is tasteless. Test your food for proper seasoning before serving.

Here's a menu that'll knock your socks off. Don't forget to use an All-Clad, add the garlic last and stay away from the cylindrical blue can with yellow umbrella.

Goat Cheese Stuffed Chicken with Herbed Quinoa

Quinoa is a wonderfully healthy grain. It acts as a carb in this menu but is actually very high in protein and fiber. If you are watching your figure but like me have a hard time with self control, quinoa is your new best friend. Serve this with steamed asparagus on the side.

For the Chicken: Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

1. Cut a pocket into the side of 2 chicken breasts. Season the outside with salt and pepper.

2. In a pan, saute with olive oil 1/4 of a large onion, minced. Add 1 cup of frozen spinach and two sliced green onions. Season.

3. When the onion and spinach are soft, add 2 cloves of minced garlic cook for 1 more minute.

4. Pour the mixture into a bowl and add a slice of goat cheese about 2-3 cm thick. Mix and add 1/2 tsp of thyme.

5. Stuff the chicken breast, close the pocket and secure with a toothpick or two.

6. Sear on both sides and put into the oven for 15 minutes or until the internal temperature is 165 degrees.

While the chicken is cooking, start the Quinoa:

1. Saute in a saucepan, a quarter onion and 2 garlic cloves for 1 minute on medium heat.

2. Put in 1 cup of Quinoa and 2 cups of chicken broth. Add 1 tsp of salt and a bay leaf. Bring to a boil.

3. Cook on low 15 minutes just till the chicken is ready.

4. Add 2 tbsp of fresh parsley and toss.

To Serve:

1. Plate the quinoa and add some steamed asparagus on the side.

2. Place the chicken on top of the quinoa.

3. Deglaze the pan over high heat with more chicken stock and flour to make a runny but slightly thickened gravy using the browned bits on the pan. Add more dry thyme and black pepper to this mixture.

4. Pour the gravy over the chicken.

I promise you will not be dissapointed!

Roasted Salsa with My Secret Ingredient

Christmas is just around the corner. I know, it's a little early, but hey it always catches me by surprise. There's always that person who gives you something that you didn't expect. I decided this year that my salsa making skills are honed and ready for the gift giving season. Salsa's already got Christmas colors. They just need a pretty jar, great ribbon and a gift tag and they're good to go. Not to mention they can be an easy hostess gift. The one ingredient that will give a hint of sweetness, creaminess and that unknown depth of flavor is butternut squash. Here's a recipe for one spaghetti sauce sized jar.

Gather up these ingredients:

5 medium tomatoes

1 onion, pealed and cut in half (yellow or white)

2 jalepeno peppers

2 large cloves of garlic

1 small handfull of cilantro

1/2 lime

1/2 cup of roasted butternut squash or pumpkin (I used frozen leftovers from ravioli night but you can also use canned)

2 tbsp canned chipotle peppers in adobo

1 tbsp salt

Steps:

1. Place the tomatoes, onion halves face down and whole jalepenos on a baking sheet.

2. Drizzle with olive oil and coat

3. Place under the broiler for 10 minutes. Turn and keep them under until the top of the onion has turned dark brown/black. Don't discard the blackened bits!

4. Place everything from the oven and the rest of the ingredients into a food processor and give it a whirl until everything is pureed.

5. Place in jars and refrigerate.

Recipe For Cheaters

This recipe comes to us from my favorite vegetarian, Kalindi from Pennsylvania. It's a butternut squash ravioli with a brown butter sauce. The kicker is that she uses wonton wrappers instead of homemade pasta. It's not as thick as hand rolled pasta, but hey, it tastes great and does the job. Here's how to do it:

1. Peal the squash and cut it lengthwise down the middle. Scoop out the seeds and cut it into large square chunks.

2. Roast at 400 degrees for about 45 minutes or until the squash are soft through and golden.

3. Allow the squash to cool and freeze half of it in a ziplock bag for later use. (squash soup is deelish).

4. In the food processor whirl through the following until well blended: squash pieces, 1/4 cup of parmesan, 4 large sage leaves, 1/2 tsp of nutmeg, 1 tbsp onion powder, 1 tbsp garlic powder, 1 tbsp brown sugar, 1 egg, salt and pepper, and 1 shallot if you've got it.

5. In a separate bowl mix an egg white with 2 tbsp of water. This will be used to seal the ravioli packets.

6. Place a dollop of the squash mix into the center of the wonton wrapper, moisten the edges of the wrapper with the egg wash, fold and seal.

7. When you're done making all the ravioli, let em sit 10 min so they're fully sealed before boiling. Boil them in salted water.

8. While the pasta is boiling, take a 1/2 stick of butter and heat it in a saucepan until it's golden in color. Add 3 chopped sage leaves and a squeeze of lemon and let it sizzle till the sauce is browned. Add salt and pepper to taste.

9. Drain your ravioli and spoon the sauce over. Don't forget to top with grated parmesan and a sage leaf to make it fancy.

Buen Provecho!