Beet Salad w. homemade goat cheese ice cream

Mario Batali’s Duck w. Chocolate Sauce

Ingredients

• 1 (3-pound) duck, cut into 8 pieces
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 celery stalks, chopped
• 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1 tablespoon pine nuts, un-toasted
• 3 cloves
• 1 tablespoon golden raisins
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 1/4 teaspoons sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons unsweetened chocolate, chopped fine
• 3/4 cup white wine vinegar
• Chopped parsley leaves, red pepper flakes, extra-virgin olive oil, for garnish

Directions

Heat a 12 to 14-inch saucepan over medium heat. When the pan is hot, add the duck pieces, skin side down. The duck skin will provide more than enough fat for browning without adding excess oil. Cook, occasionally pouring excess fat off carefully, until golden brown, about 8 minutes per side.

Meanwhile, in medium-sized saute pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat until hot but not smoking. Add the onion, celery, and carrot, and saute over medium heat until softened, about 12 minutes. Add the fennel seeds, pine nuts, cloves, raisins, bay leaves, flour and 1/2 cup vinegar and continue cooking for 2 minutes. Add duck pieces and 1/4 cup vinegar. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, cover and lower the heat. Braise over low heat until the sauce is thick, about 30 to 40 minutes. Remove the cloves.

Remove the duck to a large plate and spoon vegetables over.

Stir the chocolate and sugar into the cooking liquid. Serve sauce with the duck and garnish with chopped parsley, red pepper flakes and a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil.

Gordon Ramsay’s Baked Pork Chops w. Picante Sauce

Ingredients for Pork chops:

• 4 pork chops, about 9oz each
• a little olive oil
• few thyme sprigs
• few rosemary sprigs (leaves only)
• 1/2 head of garlic separated into cloves (unpeeled)
• sea salt and black pepper

Ingredients for Sauce:

• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 large onion (peeled and minced)
• 1 red bell pepper (seeded and minced)
• 1 red chili (seeded and minced)
• 7oz cremini mushrooms (trimmed and finely sliced)
• 14oz can chopped tomatoes
• sea salt and black pepper
• 1 tsp sugar

Directions:

Chops:

Heat your oven to 400 F. Place the pork chops in a large, lightly oiled baking dish and scatter the thyme sprigs, rosemary leaves, garlic cloves, and salt over the top. Drizzle with a little olive oil and bake for 20 minutes or until pork chops are cooked through. Make the sauce while your waiting.

Sauce:

Heat the olive oil in a wide pan and add the onion, red bell pepper, chile, and mushrooms. Stir over high heat for 3-4 minutes until the vegetables begin to soften. Tip in the tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper and add the sugar and a splash of water. Simmer for 10-12 minutes until the onions are tender and the tomato sauce has thickened. Taste and adjust the seasoning.

Putting it all together:

Take the pork chops out of the oven and let rest in a warm place for 5 minutes. Pour any pan juices into the sauce and reheat. Ladle a generous amount of sauce over the chops to serve.

Creamy Chicken Artichoke and Mushroom over Wild Rice

A creamy hearty dish combining recipes from Food & Wine magazine and The Pioneer Woman

Ingredients:

1. 8 chicken thighs, about 6 ounces each
2. Salt and freshly ground pepper
3. 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
4. 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
5. 1 medium onion, chopped
6. 4 ounces cremini mushrooms, quartered
7. 1 1/2 cups Chardonnay
8. 1 bay leaf
9. 4 thyme sprigs
10. 6 ounces frozen artichoke hearts, thawed and squeezed
11. 1 1/2 cups chicken stock
12. 2 tablespoons heavy cream
13. 5 whole garlic cloves
14. Freshly chopped chives
15. 2 cups of Wild rice
16. 1 teaspoon of ground cumin
17. 1 teaspoon of ground coriander
18. 2 garlic cloves crushed
19. 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
20. 1 medium onion

21. Marinate chicken pieces overnight with 2 crushed garlic cloves, cayenne pepper, generous dash of salt, cumin and coriander. 

    Heat olive oil and butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken pieces and brown for 1 to 2 minutes each side. Remove chicken from skillet.

    Add sliced mushrooms to pan with the garlic and onion. Stir around and cook for a couple of minutes. Add wine and cook until wine is reduced by half.

    Pour in chicken broth, bay leave, thyme. Stir to deglaze the pan, the add chicken back to pan. Add artichoke hearts. Put the lid on the skillet and continue cooking over medium-low heat (or in a 375 degree oven) for 30 minutes, checking to make sure chicken broth doesn’t completely evaporate. (Add more as needed).

    Remove lid and reduce heat to low. Remove chicken from pan. Pour in cream and shake/stir to distribute. Add chives, then add chicken back to pan. Put lid on pan again and cook for an additional 10 minutes to thicken sauce. Stir and check for seasonings; add salt and pepper to taste. Serve with wild rice. 

Emeril Lagasse’s recipe
Ingredients

• 8 ounces chorizo, removed from casings and chopped
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 cup finely chopped yellow onions
• 1 cup roughly chopped fennel
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 cup fresh tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
• 1 cups white wine
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley leaves
• 3 pounds fresh mussels, well scrubbed and debearded
• French Bread, as an accompaniment

Directions

In a large saute pan, cook the chorizo until brown over medium-high heat, about 4 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Drain off all but 1 tablespoon of fat from the pan.

Add the butter and when melted, add the onions, fennel, salt, and pepper, and cook, stirring, for 4 minutes. Add the garlic and tomatoes, and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the wine, cream, and parsley, and bring to a boil. Add the mussels, cover, and cook until the shells have opened, about 4 minutes.

Remove from the heat and stir in the sausage. Discard any shells that do not open. Transfer to a deep bowl and serve immediately with hot French bread for dipping.

Fried Egg topped with Spicy Grounded Turkey and fresh Arugula

A low-fat, high protein recipe perfect for that after work-out meal. 

3 eggs

1 tsp of chopped chives

1/3 lbs of ground turkey

3 diced tomatoes seeded, sauteed with garlic, onions, cayenne pepper (for spicy turkey), salt and pepper

handful of fresh arugula

shredded cheese (optional)

Fry egg sunny side up (or omit yolk for extra healthy eggs) until desired runniness. Place on plate. Saute ground turkey until cook, add tomatoes and spices until liquid is reduced by half. Top eggs with ground turkey and shredded cheese. Top dish with fresh arugula. 

Mediterranean Fish Soup

A deliciously light and flavorful soup that gives off the aroma of saffron from Emeril Lagasse. The below recipe serves 6. I halved it for a perfect serving for 3. I also added artichokes to my soup for that extra Mediterranean flare, and would recommend using sea bass for this recipe due to its buttery and fatty taste which greatly compliments the soup. 

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 large onion, thinly sliced

2 medium ribs celery, cut thinly on the diagonal

8 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed

1/3 cup white wine

2 tablespoons tomato paste

3 pinches saffron threads

8 cups fish or shrimp stock, or a combination of both

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 orange, juiced

2 (3-inch) strips orange zest

2 fennel bulbs, cut crosswise into 1/3-inch slices (about 3 cups)

3/4 cup peeled, seeded and chopped fresh tomatoes

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more for seasoning fish

Freshly ground black pepper

1 1/2 pounds firm white fish fillets, such as halibut, snapper, grouper, or cod

1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley leaves

In a 6 quart saucepan or soup pot, heat the oil over low heat. Add the onion, celery, and garlic and cook until tender, 6 to 8 minutes. Add the white wine, tomato paste, saffron, stock, crushed red pepper, orange juice, and orange zest and bring to a simmer. Cook uncovered, for about 45 minutes, or until liquid is reduced by about one-third.

Add the fennel and tomatoes and cook until the fennel is tender, about 20 minutes. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste.

Season the fish fillets with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Cut the fillets into 1 1/2-inch chunks. Add the fish, shrimp, and parsley to the broth and allow to cook, gently stirring only once or twice, until the fish is cooked through, about 5 minutes. 

Dragon Fruit Bowl with Mango

Slice dragon fruit in half and cube. Toss cubes with lemon juice and mix with tropical fruit of choice. Reassemble in Dragon fruit shell. 

Lamb chops with sweet potato gratin and sauteed pea sprouts, corn and edamame

For lamb chops: 1 box of Trader Joe’s seasoned rack of lamb (follow instructions on box for cooking)

For Sweet Potato Gratin: 2 large sweet potatoes peeled and sliced crosswise very thinly. Each slice should have equal width. Spread slices in an even layer over buttered shallow casserole dish.

Pour hot cream (stirring 1 cup of whipping cream, 1/3 tbsp of grated orange peel, 1/8 tsp of nutmeg, 1/8 tsp salt, 1/8 c of sugar and dash of cinnamon in medium heat until steaming) evenly over sweet potatoes.

Bake in 350 degree oven for 1 hour until top is browned and tender when pierced.

For Sauteed Pea Sprouts: Saute sprouts in pan with olive oil and minced garlic for about 30 seconds. Add dash of salt for taste. Saute corn and edamame beans separately and mix with pea sprouts.