I felt like having a little Lamb!

     One of the things that intimidated me the most about lamb was the question of how do I cook it? After all, if im going to pay upwards of 9-10 dollars a pound for something I would hope I make it money well spent. When I was living in southern oregon working as a supervisor for the meat and seafood counter one costumer really helped me get over my fear. (Keep in mind that I am only 20). He suggested keep it simple and let the meat do the talking (Culinerily speaking of course). So, I practiced my technique and worked with a few different flavor profiles and I found that the most simple was the best.

        Ingredients: Lamb loin chops

    4 lamb Loin chops, about 3/4 in thick
    Salt to taste
    Pepper to taste
    1 tbs butter

       Ingredients: Blue cheese Sauce and Mushroom Saute

    2 tbs butter
    1/2 tbs flour
    1 cup cold milk
    1/3 cup blue cheese
    1/4 cup freshly grated Parmasean cheese
    Salt to taste
    Pepper to taste
    12-14 Small mushrooms (Such as Crimini or baby protebello)


      To start, Season both sides of your lamb chops with salt and pepper. Melt 1 tbs of butter in a sauce pan, preferebly an all metel pan as the chops will be finished in the oven. Saute chops for about 1 1/2 minutes on high heat. This allows the outside of the chops to become crisp while leaving the inside to stay tender and flavorful. Once done, place chops in a preheated 400 degree oven, to finish them, for about 4-5 minutes.
      While your lamb chops are in the oven, slice mushrooms and saute in 1 tbs butter for about 6-7 minutes or until soft but not burnt. At this point, you could add a splash of red wine (I did not because I had none at the time). For the Sauce, melt 1 tbs of butter untill just before golden. Add 1/2 tbs flour and cook for 2-3 minutes to rid the roux of the raw flour bite. Add milk and stir to avoid lumps. Once milk has come up to tempurature, add blue cheese, parmasean cheese, salt and pepper and turn off the heat.
      To assemble, take lamb chops out of the oven, plate with slices of sauteed mushrooms and lightly drizzle with blue cheese sauce and enjoy!
   

   

Shrimp Cocktail ANYONE can do

  Shrimp is one of my absolute favorite indulgences. I love shrimp in pasta, salads, breakfast omlets, soups and even just thrown on the bbq for a late afternoon snack. Many of the custumers I see at the block have so many questions on how to cook shrimp, and the truth is they are so easy that EVERYONE can make them. In this recipe I use just 4 ingredients and a whole lot of love to make a shrimp cocktail that is out of this world.         What i find really great about roasting shrimp, instead of buying pre-cooked shrimp, is the depth of flavor the roasting process really leaves the shrimp with. The salt, pepper and olive oil are simply the icing on top of this super easy, super affordable and super healthy roasted shrimp cocktail.

Ingredients:

    1 lb large (26-30 ct) raw shrimp

   Olive oil

   Salt to taste ( i use about a 2 tsps)

   Pepper to taste (I use about 2 tsps)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

      Most shrimp are sold with the shell on. simple remove the shell and place in a baking dish just big enough to let every shrimp touch but not be on top of each other. Drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper and before you know it your halfway there. Put shrimp in 400 degree oven on the middle rack for 10 minutes and they're done. Thats about as simple as it gets!

Chicken Florentine

           The first time I had stuffed chicken was with my Mom and Dad at a restaurant, Callahan's, near the base of Mt. Ashland. While the beer battered onion rings were pretty memorable, the stuffed chicken was absolutely by far the greatest thing to hit my pallet at that point in my life. Chicken is so versatile it can be used in just about any style of cooking: Italian, Thai, French, Indian, Indonesian and the list goes on and on.
          
           Ingredients: Chicken and stuffing.

2 individual (one connected) boneless skinless chicken breast.
1 heirloom tomato
8 spinach leaves
2 slices provolone cheese

         Ingredients: Sauce

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 tbs butter
1 tbs flour
1 1/2 cups milk
salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Fresh Parsley (optional)

            First, Trim chicken of excess fat. Most stores sell hand trimmed chicken breast if that is easier for you. Next, Split each breast length ways leaving a small peace on one side to keep the two halves connected. The end should look similar to the shape of a heart. Salt and pepper the inside of each breast. To stuff, place 1 slice of provolone in each split chicken breast, layer 4 spinach leaves and 3 slices tomatoes (thickness depends on how much you like tomatoes). Roll chicken breast starting the tip/point of your heart shaped split breast. Roll until it resembles the shape of a large sushi roll. Wrap in tinfoil and cook for 40-45 minutes at 350 degrees.
           For the sauce, Make a standard Roux with your butter and flour. Melt butter until just before it starts to brown. Add flour and stir constantly for about 2-3 minutes (this cooks off the raw flour taste). Next, add 1 1/2 cups of whole milk stirring constantly to prevent lumps. Now you have a bechemel sauce. Add your Parmesan, salt, pepper, and fresh parsley and your done.
          To assemble, take the Chicken Florentine out of the oven and out of the tinfoil. Place on whatever dish you decide to use, lightly pour over your Parmesan sauce and enjoy!

Butternut squash raviolis in a thyme butter cream sauce

            I was staying with a friend in Portland a couple of months back and I went out to a fine dining restaurant where they served butternut squash stuffed raviolis in a hazelnut cream sauce. As absolutely delicious as it was my wallet didn't like the fact that it had to pay upwards of $21 dollars for it. So, as any great food lover would, i decided to make it at home.
           Butternut squash is a squash I find highly underused, and yet it it so simple. it has the sweetness of butter while having a similar texture of a sweet potato. Roasted and stuffed into pasta or roasted and lightly drizzled with butter and thyme served with your favorite white fish; butternut squash is a must have in the kitchen. 

Ingredients: Butternut squash stuffing.

 1 1/2 cups diced butternut squash (peeled)
1 tbps Honey
1/2 cup Ricotta cheese

Ingredients: Thyme butter cream sauce

1/4 tsp dried Thyme (Or 2 springs fresh Thyme)
2 tbs of unsalted butter
1 tbs all purpose flour
1 1/2  cups of whole milk
1/2 cup crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste

Ingredients: Pasta for Stuffing

Store bought Wonton skins
1 egg yolk

Recipe:
       Place peeled butternut squash cubes (cubes should be about the size of a bottle cap) in a 425 degree preheated oven. Let roast for 40 minutes. After 35-40 minutes check squash to make sure they are cooked through and fork tender. Take the butternut squash out of the oven and slide into a medium size mixing bowl. Add honey and ricotta cheese and mash together to form a kind of gritty past. Don't over mash or you will loose texture that the butternut squash will offer the final result.
     Lay wonton skins across a cookie sheet about a half in apart. With egg yolk, add a dash of water and beat in small bowl until smooth. Brush the outer 1/4 inch of your wonton skins in this "egg wash". Place about about 1 tsp of butternut squash stuffing per wonton. Once wontons are stuffed fold skins over the stuffing and you have made raviolis. ( keep in mind that cooking time on these will be significantly less than dried pasta or even frozen raviolis). Boil water and place raviolis in for only 2 minutes.
      For the sauce, first melt butter in a small sauce pan on medium heat. Just before the melted butter turns brown add flour and stir for 2-3 minutes to cook out the bite in the flour. This is a classic roux. Next, add cold milk while stirring constantly to prevent lumps. Adding milk to the roux now makes this a bechamel sauce. Next, just add your Gorgonzola, thyme, salt and pepper to taste and remove from the heat.
    Dish up your ravioli. drizzle with the thyme Gorgonzola cream sauce you made and enjoy!

Salacious salad

   

            Homemade salads can be kind of tricky. What do I put in? How can I make a salad that taste great but still has all the health benefits... while still making it easy enough to make on any day of the week for my family, my kids, my significant other, or just myself? One of the simplest recipes to making a salad, loaded with vegetables as well as protein, is to really get the protein to flavor the salad and to keep as much excess dressing off your salad. Excess salad dressing will make your salad wilt, become soggy, and loose that refreshing crunch that comes with eating a salad.

         I was really burnt out on salad that I either bought either prepared in a carton or from restaurants that just all tasted the same. So, I decided, why can’t I choose the flavor? I chose chicken because that is what I could find fresh at the grocery store and I chose lettuce because chicken is a lighter meat and lettuce is a lighter vegetable. The technique, marinate your chicken breast in your favorite type of salad dressing and sauté. How easy is that! I marinated one chicken breast in Caesar dressing, sautéed the chicken to just tender (about 7 minutes per side), cracked some black pepper and crumbled some feta cheese over a bed of iceberg lettuce and helped myself to a chicken Caesar salad that was out of this world.

       The Key to this concept is that there are so many different flavors and palate profiles available for adequate prices that it’s almost impossible to get bored with a quick salad. Pick your Flavor and Pick your Vegetable and have fun with it. I know I did. 

Ingredients for: chicken Caesar salad.

1 lb chicken breast trimmed of fat

3 tbs Caesar dressing (or your own favorite dressing for your favorite type of salad)

1/3 cup feta cheese, crumbled.

1/2 head iceberg or red leaf lettuce

1/8 tsp crushed black pepper

In a Ziploc container, combine chicken breast and dressing. Let marinate for 45 min to 1 hour. Crumble Feta cheese, and chop iceberg lettuce to size. In a medium low saucepan, sauté marinated chicken breast (with leftover dressing from Ziploc) for about 7 minutes on each side... adjust depending on the thickness of the breast. Once chicken is done cut chicken into slices. Place over a bed of lettuce with crumbled feta cheese and freshly cracked black pepper and... Enjoy!