Muffuletta Omelette!
On a recent canoe trip I provisioned myself with muffuletta sandwiches for lunch. Northern Neck Muffuletta It seemed only natural to use the unused fillings to make an omelette upon my return. It worked out pretty good. I sauteed some onion and red bell pepper. I added the diced deli meats and crisped them up a bit. I mixed four eggs, a splash of milk and a hint of creole seasoning nand poured it on top. Once cooked halfway, I tilted the pan and lifted the omelette to let the uncooked eggs run underneath. Rotate and repeat. When the bottom is done, flip the omelette.On one half add the olive tapanade, on the other, the cheese slices. Fold and cut in half for two omelettes. Top with a lattice of Swiss Cheese...
Lamb & Yam
It’s Spring…that means LAMB! This is my Lamb and Yam meal. We have four nice lamb chops. Marinaded in olive oil, Italian seasoning, garlic, lemon juice, black pepper and kosher salt for about 3 hours. Meanwhile, a beautiful sweet potato air fried at 400° for 40 minutes. Pan sear the chops on a medium high heat, you want a slight warm pink center, so about 4 minutes each side and let rest 5 minutes. We did our in a cast iron pan. Get that olive oil just smoking before you put in the chops. I love my Moroccan olive oil. Served with a nice bright side...
Sea Bass Florentine
In a bowl we mixed a couple handfuls of baby spinach, a couple heaping tablespoons of Greek yogurt, a handful of fine shredded parmigiana Reggiano, a tablespoon of minced garlic, about a quarter of a diced orange bell pepper and a few tablespoons of minced sweet onion. I did my best to fillet a beautiful sea bass provided by my friend Jim Goetz. I actually did come up with two decent fillets. The first fillet went down in a glass baking dish lined with foil and coated with Moroccan olive oil. This was seasoned with Kevin’s Cajun Seasoning (low salt) and black pepper. Onto this went half the spinach/yogurt filling. Then the top fillet, and this was covered with the rest of the filling. This baked in a pre-heated 370° oven for 35 minutes, and then the oven...
Peposo, Tuscan Black Pepper Beef
I know I cook some complex meals. But this one is SO easy…but you just need to give it time. Time is what makes this fantastic. Peposo, Tuscan Black Pepper Beef This is the first time I’ve cooked this. I’ve done braised beef in red wine before, and never really cared for it. The secret here is…just let it cook till it is done. 3 Hours. My previous attempts resulted in tough meat that tasted like red wine. Do it right, and it ends up tender and full of flavor. The history is that this was made by Italian tile workers who needed their cheap meats to taste better. So they slow cooked them in red wine, garlic and herbs for hours to have an edible meal. So here we have a couple pounds of round chuck, cut in ‘fist-full’ pieces. These...
Veggie-Centric Chicken Air Fried Egg Roll
Fine dice red bell peppers, onions, garlic, cabbage, garlic, green peppers and carrots. Mix with ground white chicken meat. Season as you like, I did salt and pepper. Roll and fold the eggrolls with the mix. Use a little water to seal the edges. Brush with a mix of olive oil, sea salt and garlic powder. Air fry for about 14 minutes, rotate and air fry again for a about 10 minutes, till everything is a crispy brown. Served Spanish Cauliflower and whatever dip you like! This was a sweet and sour. Make a dipping sauce you like. I did a teriyaki/fish sauce. This was so much better than doing the sauce inside of the veggie mix and then cooking it. It makes for much better...
Stuffed Pork Chops
I came across two beautiful thick bone-in pork chops at the Food Lion tonight and dinner quickly fell together. I had everything else at home already! Stuffed Pork Chops! In a bowl I mixed about a cup of Greek yogurt, a tablespoon of minced garlic, a tablespoon of pesto, about a cup of baby spinach, chopped parsley and a handful of finely shredded Gruyere cheese. The chops were sliced horizontally with a razor sharp slicing knife and the yogurt/spinach mix was spooned in and flattened. This was seasoned with my rub, which is essentially a low-salt Cajun rub. Tony’s would be fine here, but it has too much salt for me. I pan seared mine in a Moroccan olive oil for about 3 minutes a side and then slid it into a 400° oven for 20 minutes, then let it rest on a...