Black Bean Soup with Sherried Shrimp

Every time I make this soup I think of the 1980′s in St. Thomas, USVI.  There was a marvelous cafe in the St. Thomas sub-base area called L’Escargot.  The roof of the restaurant sported a huge Caribbean lobster (crayfish) and obviously their specialty was seafood.  It was the in-place to be seen and party.  One of my favorite places to eat out for sure.

L’Escargot served a Black Bean Soup with Shrimp for lunch which was exceptional.  I finally met the chef and asked him what wine he used in the soup and he said sherry in a very off-handed manner as if I couldn’t boil water.  Little did he know…  I was crewing and cooking aboard chartered yachts at the time and developing a pallet for all things gourmet.

By the end of the yacht season I had succeeded in making a creamy black bean soup with  sherried shrimp that everyone loved.  Topped with a dollop of Greek yogurt and fresh cilantro this soup is a delicious experience.  Serve it with

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Whiskey Orange Marmalade

Whiskey Orange Marmalade

Bread and jam always invokes memories of The Sound of Music and Mary Poppins.  Marmalade is one of the easiest jams to make and citrus fruits are ideal for making marmalade since they have abundant natural pectin.  The addition of whiskey is borrowed from an Australian friend of mine who is of Scottish heritage…makes perfect sense since the Scots are known for their fondness of whiskey…and adds another flavor dimension as well as preventing mold.  The whiskey is actually floated on top of the marmalade before sealing the jar.  Of-course you can leave out the whiskey or if you prefer the whiskey can be added to marmalade in the last 3 or 4 minutes of boiling. read more

Quick and Easy Focaccia

This truly is quick and easy focaccia you can make before dinner.   Just mix everything in the food processor, push it into a flat pan and proof it for 1 hour and bake.  No-kneading required!!  This is my kind of fresh bread.

Not only does this recipe make superb focaccia it makes the best bread sticks to go with soup or serve with a marinara sauce.  The variations of toppings are as numerous as pizza toppings.  You could even make this into a sweet version with cinnamon and sugar or jam.

Make an extra batch to freeze for last minute meals or when friends drop by.   The dry ingredients can be packaged with the recipe in a gift basket including your favorite homemade marinara sauce, pasta, wine and chocolate truffles or espresso beans.

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Sweet Potatoes with Basil Pesto and Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

This is my recipe for the 2012 NC Sweet Potato “No More ‘Mallows” Blogger Recipe Contest!  Every year I try to create a sweet potato recipe that will WOW my friends and the NC Sweet Potato Commission.  This could be it!   It all started with picking basil for pesto this morning and thinking about a sweet potato sformato seasoned with basil and garlic.  The pesto actually provided all the seasoning needed to enrich the sweet potatoes.  My neighbors tasted the resulting dish and all I heard was yums so lets hope the rest of my fans think so too.  My bumper crop of cherry tomatoes provided the topping and gave it a lovely fresh tweak.

This is a super easy recipe so I hope you’ll give this a try and tell me what you think.

Ingredients:

• 1-1/2 lbs. sweet potatoes, peeled and boiled until tender
• 2 Tbsp. butter
• 1 Tbsp brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp basil pesto
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup milk
• pinch of nutmeg
• Italian bread crumbs to line ramekins
• 1 cup roasted cherry tomatoes (recipe below)

Method:

1. To make basil pesto:  rinse 2 cups of fresh basil in cold water and towel dry.  Add basil to a food processor with 2 cloves of garlic, 1/4 cup grated parmigiano cheese and 1 tsp salt. (Nuts, 1/4 cup of roasted pinenuts, almonds or walnuts is optional).  Pulse to chop fine and add 1/2 cup olive oil and process until well combined…do not over process.  You want a bit of texture.  Refrigerate or freeze leftovers.
2. To roast cherry tomatoes:   wash and slice tomatoes in half and place in a bowl.  Drizzle 2 Tbsp olive oil over tomatoes and add 1 heaping tsp sea salt, freshly ground black pepper to taste and 1 tsp finely minced garlic (1 clove).  Toss until the tomatoes are covered.  Place on a baking sheet and roast in 375° F. oven for 25-30 minutes.  Remove from pan and cool slightly.  Cover with olive oil and refrigerate up to 2 weeks or freeze leftovers for pasta, bruschetta or pizza.
3. Butter 6 ramekins and sprinkle with Italian bread crumbs.  Place in the freezer until ready to fill.
4. Drain the boiled sweet potatoes and return to the pot to dry out a bit.  Mash potatoes with the butter, brown sugar and pesto.
5. Whisk the eggs and milk together and add a pinch of nutmeg.   Stir into the seasoned sweet potatoes.
6. Remove ramekins from freezer and fill.  Bake in 350° F. oven for 20-30 minutes or until knife tests clean.
7. Run a knife around sides of ramekins and invert onto a platter or individual plates.  Top with roasted cherry tomatoes and chopped basil or parsley.

 

Vinegar Peppers from a Soprano Fan

It seems nearly all of America was in love with the T.V. series “The Sopranos” so much so that they wrote a cookbook filled with old world Italian recipes.  Vinegar peppers or Pickled Peppers, if you will, are a traditional condiment in several Italian meat dishes.   They really put a zing in the deliciousness of sauteed sausages, grilled pork and flank steak.  In fact I would proudly add them to an antipasto platter and bruschetta toppings…they are so flavorful.

Personally, sugar in pickles is not my thing unless its supposed to be sweet like bread ‘n’ butter pickles or cornichons but in this recipe I’ve added a little sugar to cut the abrasive vinegar and the taste is still decidedly savory more than sweet so I’m a happy camper.

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Dad’s Spaghetti Sauce

Dad learned to cook in the Navy during WWII aboard a ship in the Virgin Islands.  After the war he was a chef at the Top Hat Cafe in Bremerton, Washington, a naval port and my birthplace.  The words Bolognese and Ragu were not common in the 1940s so it was called Italian Spaghetti Sauce and  the star of the dish was Meatballs.  In fact, I can’t remember ever eating pasta as a child except for spaghetti and meatballs and macaroni and cheese.  Anyway, I inherited this recipe in the 1970s and tweaked the ingredients as our culinary world advanced into the 21st century.  My Italian friends from Milan and Naples love this sauce…and that’s quite an endorsement.  I think fresh herbs is the secret.

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Fish Chowder with Tarragon and Thyme

Comfort food seems to be appropriate for cold weather and one wouldn’t expect Puerto Rico to be cold but when the thermometer drops from 84° F. to 74° F. it feels like soup weather.  Albeit one’s blood is thinner in hot climes it’s all relative to the climate zone and season.  Its actually the dry season now in the Caribbean but we’ve had an unusual amount of rain for the last 2 weeks.

One can never have too many soup or chowder recipes and even though they all start with a basic mirepoix the star of the soup is the main ingredient which distinguishes one soup or chowder from the next.

So, okay I was cleaning out the freezer and frig and dumped it all into a pot of happy mirepoix in white wine.  A fillet of tilapia, a piece of salmon, a small seabass fillet, one russet

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Brownie Pops for Valentine’s Day

Those little bites of cake on a stick are all the rage these days and what a terrific medium for artistic creation.  It’s very similar to making and decorating truffles.  This recipe is for my favorite  brownie which is super moist and holds together when rolled into balls.  You’ll have to forgo the nuts in the batter though and use them on the outside.  This brownie is incredibly chocolaty and the chocolate coating is thin enough to not overpower the cake’s flavor.  Such a novel idea, brownie on a stick!

There are numerous demos available on YouTube with directions for making cake pops from box cake mixes blended with store-bought frosting.  There’s also a little cake pop electric iron that makes the balls for you.  But, after watching a video (below) on brownie pops I decided this method was the best for me.

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Potato Casserole Peruvian Style

Three for lunch and this is all that’s left of my crazy Peruvian Potato Casserole…really delicious.  2012 may be the year of the Dragon but it’s also the year of the Potato.  This year is a double whammy for Peruvian food because Peruvian cuisine is not only all about the potato but its also on the list of culinary trends predicted for this year.  This dish is a hot version of a Peruvian causa which is filled layers of seasoned mashed potato.  This hot version is topped with a very simple cheese souffle, more like a meringue than a souffle.  Its cooking 101 here so don’t be intimidated with those French terms:  souffle and meringue…they’re no big deal.

This dish is real comfort food for the winter months and easy to make for a crowd.  I’ve used a pork picadillo and cheddar cheese for my filling but spinach and chicken with feta would be awesome and any sauteed veggie medley would work as a vegetarian alternative.   There’s no butter, sour cream or bacon to raise the calories of the potato so it’s nearly quilt free eating.  Give this a try next time you’re hungry for mashed potatoes.

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Chicken with Olives and Preserved Lemon

This started out as chicken noodle soup but when I went to grab the homemade stock from the freezer it wasn’t there.  So be it!  The mirepoix was ready so I deglazed with some white wine, threw in the chicken breast left over from a rotissery chicken, added herbs, olives, some preserved lemon and a small can of red kidney beans.  By the time the pasta was cooked al dente the chicken sauce was ready and dinner was served.  The preserved lemon and Spanish olives was the perfect addition for salt and tang.  The chicken was moist and tender with hints of fresh sage and rosemary.  Garlic bread, a simple Romaine salad with a lemon vinaigrette and a bottle of Chardonnay topped off the meal.  Amazing what can be created at a spur of the moment.  I will remember this improvisation next time I have to cook for company.  Quick and easy wins the day.

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