Borlotti with Tuna & Pasta

You can see these beans all through the coco rouge in the south of France. I was lucky to find them from a local farmer here in my kent neighborhood. I have prepared them in the classic pasta e fagioli style. This is a fun recipe to try. The beans do not stay their pretty color once they have been cooked. Please note that they are very delicate in flavor. So do not go over board with the seasonings.
1 onion diced
1 carrot diced
1 stick of celery diced
3 slices of pancetta diced
1 pound of fresh borlotti *
* cooked for twenty minutes in chicken stock & bay leaf, then drained
1/2 cup of white wine
1 fresh bay leaf
1 pinch of red pepper flakes
1 garlic clove minced
1 sprig of fresh lemon thyme
a small amount of fresh minced rosemary
1 cup of tube pasta
1 pound of fresh tuna
fresh parsley and olive oil

In a pan, saute the pancetta until golden. Drain and set aside. Now add the onion, carrot and celery to the cooking pot. Cook until the vegetables begin to brown. You will then briefly saute the garlic and chili flakes with the vegetables. Now add the chicken stock from the cooked beans. Then add the white wine, lemon thyme, rosemary, pancetta and beans to the pan. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cook until the ingredients have well melded.

 In a blender, puree half of the beans until smooth. Return to the pot.

Now bring a large pot of salted water to the boil for your pasta.

 At this time you will saute the tuna searing very briefly. You just want a nice golden brown color on the tops and bottoms. Season tuna with salt and pepper. Set the tuna aside.

Now cook the pasta of choice until just tender. Drain the pasta and add to the sauce. To plate the dish you will place the pasta in a serving dish. Add a piece of tuna on top of the pasta. To add flourish to the dish top with olive oil and fresh parsley.

Maque Choux and Shrimp

Maque choux is pronounced "mock shoe" it is a traditional Cajun dish from Louisiana. The Cajun's are Acadian French with American Indian influence. With fresh corn at its sweetest this is a great dish to make. You will need Cajun seasoning mix. Watch out because a lot of them come with msg. The brand I use does not have msg. The traditional recipe does not use pancetta, but regular bacon.
I happen to like the taste here.



1 cup of diced onions
1/2 cup of diced celery
1/2 of a red bell pepper diced
1 garlic clove minced
2 slices of pancetta diced
2 ears of fresh corn shucked
1 teaspoon of cajun seasoning or to taste
1/2 teaspoon of smoked paprika
1 jalapeno seeded and diced
1 pound of fresh shrimp
1/2 cup of cream
1/2 cup of milk
Fresh dill
1 bunch of green onions diced
Fresh cracked black pepper
olive oil and butter





















Saute the pancetta until it has browned and then remove. Add equal parts olive oil and butter. Saute the corn until caramelized and remove from the pan. Now add the onions, celery and bell pepper. Saute until light brown in color. Now add the garlic, chilies and spices. Then add reserved vegetables, pancetta, milk and cream. Bring to a boil and add the shrimp. Shut off the heat and cover. Now when the shrimp are pink add in the green onions and dill for garnish.

Serve with steamed white rice.

Stuffed Cherry Peppers from Abruzzo

This is the season for all those lovely peppers that have ripened over the summer. Traditionally, cherry peppers are pickled or stuffed. I recommend getting a couple of pounds of peppers and pickling them over the winter. They are very expensive in the jars. Once you have pickle them you can stuff them with tuna, capers and bread crumbs or I like them stuffed with cheese and prosciutto. Here is a recipe from Abruzzo. You can use fresh or canned pickled cherry peppers!

For fresh peppers trim off the tops of the cherry peppers and cut out their centers. You will then scrape out the seeds and veins and discard. In a jar place a combination in a fifty percent to fifty percent ratio balsamic vinegar and red wine vinegar. This will be about four tablespoons total for twelve cherry peppers. Then add 1 cup of olive oil to the jar too. You will add two smashed garlic cloves, fresh chopped rosemary and a couple of whole basil leaves. Now stuff the cherry peppers with smoked mozzarella cheese and thinly sliced prosciutto. Drop the peppers in the jar. I like to add a little crushed fennel seeds to the mix. Then cover with more olive oil if there is not enough oil to cover the peppers. Refrigerate them overnight. They will last for about a week.

If using canned peppers take them out of the jar and reserve the pickling juices in the jar. Stuff the peppers as you would the fresh and set aside. Now doctor the pickling juices with the rosemary, garlic and basil. Return the peppers to the jar if they fit. You may need a larger jar. Add additional olive oil to cover the peppers. Refrigerate overnight.

You can serve them hot if you like. Just warm them in the oven until the cheese melts.

Chile Verde with Red Chile Salsa

I would like to say that I created this recipe, but I did not. The credit goes to Bon Appetit. I have made this recipe with chicken for those who do not eat pork. It is excellent with both. It is a little time consuming to roast the chilies, but as any great Mexican Chef knows you can not skip this step. In fact the chilies become more fragrant.

3 cups of chicken broth
1 pound of tomatillos, husked and well rinsed
1 bunch of green onions
6 cloves of garlic
1 cut up chicken or
4 pounds of pork shoulder trimmed and cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces
1 large onion diced
1 tablespoon of cumin seeds
1 teaspoon of powder Chipotle Chile Peppers
1 heaping teaspoon of ground coriander
3/4 of a cup of diced roasted and peeled Anaheim chilies
2 teaspoons of Mexican Oregano
1 pound of Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes

Puree the tomatillos, green onions, cilantro with stems, and garlic in a food processor. Set aside for later use. In a heavy skillet with oil; brown the meat and remove with a slotted spoon. Remove excess fat and add the diced onions. Cook until a light brown. Add the cumin seeds and spices and roast for a minute or two. Now add the tomatillo's mixture and roasted Anaheim to the heavy pan. Add the roasted meat and the chicken stock. Bring to a boil. Then simmer for 30 minutes for chicken and two hours for the pork shoulder. Add the potatoes in now. Continue to simmer for another 30 minutes. This dish is great for several days and freezes well.

Serve this dish with Red Chile Salsa

1 tablespoon of oil
12 ounces of ancho chilies, stemmed, seeded and coarsely torn
3 cloves of garlic sliced
2 tablespoons of honey
1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon

Heat the oil in a heavy cast iron frying pan. Add chilies and fry until they turn light orange. Remove the chilies and set aside. Add the garlic slices and saute for a minute until just light golden. Add one cup of water and remove the pan from heat. Puree the chilies, garlic water, honey and cinnamon in a blender.

Serve the dish with fresh made tortillas you can get at Metropolitan Markets.

Cranberry & Pistachio Shortbread Cookies

1 cup of room temperature unsalted butter
1 cup of dried cranberries
1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla
1 cup of lightly toasted unsalted pistachios
1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon of salt
2/3 of a cup of sugar



Lightly roast the pistachios and chop in a nut grinder. Set aside the nuts. Now in a bowl sift the flour and salt. In a standing mixer cream the butter and sugar for a few minutes until they are well mixed. Add the remaining ingredients and mix until well incorporated. Divide the mixture in half and roll the dough in parchment paper. Chill for two hours before slicing. You can freeze the dough for several months at this point too.

Now preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Slice the logs into 1/4 inch slices and bake for 16 minutes.
They are delicious!

Kabocha Flan

For those who have not had Kabocha before, it has the flavor of acorns. It takes quite well to honey. I think this recipe is a nice change from a regular flan. You will enjoy the nice hints of acorn and Frangelico.






To prepare this recipe you will need to bake the squash cut up into slices in a 350 degree oven for an hour. Do not peel the squash until it has been baked. As it will be easy to peel when done.Then place the peeled cooked Kabocha into a food processor and blend until smooth. Next you will need to make the caramel. Place two cups of sugar into a sauce pan with one cup of water. Add half of a split vanilla bean to the pan.Turn the heat up and cook until deep amber. Then place the caramel into ramekins or a flan pan. Remove the vanilla bean. Set aside to cool.    

2 1/4 cups of milk
1/4 cup of sugar
3 tablespoons of honey
1/2 of a vanilla bean

3/4 teaspoon of salt

5 whole eggs and 2 egg yolks

1/4 teaspoon of grated fresh nutmeg

3/4 teaspoon of cinnamom
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1/2 teaspoon of ground cardamon
1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger
1 tablespoon of Frangelico

Preheat  your oven to 325 degrees and place a kettle on for the boil.Then place the milk into a sauce pan and bring just to a boil. Set the pan aside. In a mixer place the eggs and all the other ingredients into the mixing bowl. Turn the mixer on and add the milk in a stream. You will then pour the mixer through a fine sieve. This will remove any cooked egg or spices that did not get mixed well. Once the mixture has been forced through the sieve, pour the flan into your ramekins or flan pan. Place the flans into a roasting pan and pour the boiling hot water around the ramekins. Cover the flan loosely with foil. Bake for one hour or so. Remove the plan from the water bath and cool for a bit. Then you will refrigerate overnight. To unmold the flan dip bottom of pan into hot water for a minute, then run your knife around the edge of the pan. Invert pan onto serving plate.

White Balsamic Dressing Potato Salad

3 pounds of yukon gold potatoes
1/4 cup of white balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons of  kosher salt

Pour 1/4 cup of the Napoleon White Balsamic Vinegar and 2 teaspoons of kosher salt into a mixing bowl. Set this aside. Then place a large stock pot full of cold water on the range. Add two tablespoons of kosher salt and the 3 pounds of whole unpeeled yukon gold potatoes. Bring the contents to a boil. Cook for 30 minutes. Now drain the potatoes and peel. Dice the potatoes and add them to the vinegar mixture.

You will now prepare the added ingredients to the salad.

2 diced stocks of celery
1 small garlic clove mashed into a paste
3 hard boiled eggs diced
1/4 teaspoon of fennel seeds crushed
zest of one lemon
2 teaspoons of lemon thyme
1/4 of a red onion diced
12 small cornichon diced
1 tablespoon of pepperoncini diced

Add the above ingredients to the bowl of diced potatoes.

For the dressing add the following to the bowl.
1/3 cup of best foods mayonnaise
1/3 cup of sour cream
1 teaspoon of kosher salt
crushed black pepper
juice of half a lemon

Refrigerate overnight and enjoy over these hot next couple of days.