Caprese Salad Pasta My Way

Summertime here in Florida is hot, humid, and very intolerable at times.  You need a dish that is cool, fresh, simple, and delectable.  Caprese salad has a hearty, down to earth, and packed with flavor from a few simple ingredients.  There are many different ways to make this dish, however my way is simple and the results are extraordinarily satisfying.  Preheat the oven to 400F.  Take 5 large cloves of garlic and place them on a piece of foil.  Peel, cut the root ends off, then drizzle EVOO, and wrap the foil around the garlic.  Roast for 25 minutes, remove, and finely chop.  Cook up some farfalle or other pasta of your liking.  No pasta at all is a good option as well.  Take 1/2 a pound of fresh grape tomatoes, rinse them off well, and then slice them in half.  Thinly slice, chiffonade, 1/2 cup fresh basil and sprinkle on top of the tomatoes.  Finely chop 1 heaping teaspoon of fresh oregano and thyme and add it on top.  Dice up some fresh mozzarella, add it to  the mix,  add the roasted garlic, and then your pasta if desired.  Mix well and drizzle some good EVOO into the dish, making sure enough oil is used to coat all the ingredients.  Just do a little at a time and use just enough oil to moisten the delicious garden in your mixing bowl.  Salt and pepper to taste and add a few squeezes of lemon to enhance the flavors even more.  I like a bit of spice in my caprese so I add minced red jalapeno to my serving!  I hope you enjoy this as much as we do.  Food does not have to be difficult, expensive, or fancy to taste amazing.  

              

Making the Flavor

I just wanted to briefly touch on a subject that gets overlooked when creating delicious dishes, making the flavor pop.  There are a few easy things to always remember to do in the kitchen when cooking a dish.  The list below shows some easy steps to making your flavors come alive.

1.  Lightly, I mean lightly, salt and pepper each layer as you cook.  So for instance when cooking your paste salt the water.  Another example would be when you are searing or sauteeing meats, poultry, or seafood, lightly salt and season the protein before it goes into the pan.  Remember that the balance of salt is a delicate one and care must to taken to use it just enough to draw flavors out of each component.

2.  Use very good quality herbs whether dried or fresh.  I prefer using fresh herbs as their essential oils impart a smoother, fresher flavor.  If you are using dried herbs check the labels and make sure they have not been sitting on the shelf for a long time.  If you are not sure ask your local grocery store attendant to find out for you.    

3.  Keep some white and red wines on hand for adding flavors to soups, sauces, and deglazing pans.  When you add wine to a hot pan, after cooking something like chicken, it releases concentrated flavor that accumulated at the bottom of the pan during cooking.  You can then add this liquid back into a sauce, soup, or poor it over the ingredients you just cooked so that they can soak it up.  Wine added to soups or sauces brings a new depth to the dish.  

4.  The last tip is common sense, use the freshest ingredients you can get a hold of without over spending.  Instead of using canned green beans buy them whole, rinse them off, cut them to the size you want, and blanch in a small amount of boiling water.  After they are cooked to be tender crisp add them to some ice cold water to prevent further cooking.  Apply some salt, pepper, butter, and fresh herbs and you are set to go.

  

Scrumptious Organic Bytes

We have been busy in the kitchen again with some fresh organic produce from A Simpler Place in Time.  Here is what we got this last week:

1/2lb okra
1 bunch of kale
1 mango
1 tomato
1 avocado
3 sapodilla

This is what came in the delivery this week.

Main Dish
White Bean and Andouille Soup with Sour Dough Bread

Ingredients:
30 oz cannellini beans drained well
1/2lb okra sliced into 1/2'' pieces
5 andouille sausage links
1 large yellow onion diced
2-3 red bell pepper diced
4-5 sticks of celery diced
1 bunch kale cut from ribs and chopped into medium-large pieces
16 oz can San Marzano tomatoes diced and kept in juice, or you can use regular diced canned tomatoes
3 cups low sodium chicken stock
1 cup white wine, we used pinot grigio
1 tbsp EVOO
2-3 tsp red pepper flakes
3 tsp thyme, fresh or dried, fresh preferable but dried was used
1 tsp salt and black pepper
Extra salt and pepper to tasted

 Step 1:  Prep all items.  Make sure to cut kale away from the main ribs running through the leaves as they are very fibrous.  Make sure that your beans are well drained.  Heat a soup pot on medium and add 1 tbsp EVOO.  Let the oil heat up and then add the bell pepper, celery, onion, and spices.  Saute this mixture until you get a light golden brown color on the outside of the veggies.

Step 2:  Precook the sausage ahead of time and slice into large pieces.  

Step 3:  Add the chicken stock, white wine, tomatoes, okra, sausage, and kale.  Cover the pot and let the dish simmer for 20 minutes or until the kale and okra is tender crisp.  The last ten minutes of cooking add the beans.  Take care not to overcook.  Salt and pepper to taste as needed.  If they soup is bitter from the kale add a little bit of sugar to balance the bitterness.

Serve with your choice of good quality bread.  We used a good sour dough from Whole Foods.

Dessert

Ingredients:
1 1/2 sapodilla chopped
1 mango chopped
8-10 scoops of Bryers vanilla ice cream
4 frozen strawberries
1/4 cup milk for puree
Milk as needed to thin out milk shake as desired
A small squeeze of lime and lime for garnish

Step 1:  Peel, slice open, remove large black seed, and chop up to into smaller pieces.  Prep mango and remove flesh from around the seed.  Add a 1/4 cup milk to a blender along with sapodillas, mango, and strawberries.  Puree as smooth as possible.

Step 2:  Add ice cream, a small squeeze of fresh lime juice, and blend together adding milk as necessary.

Step 3:  Garnish with Lime and serve in a chilled glass.

The texture of the sapodillas may be odd for some people but we enjoyed it.  Even my picky brother Andrew, who was hanging out with us for dinner, asked for seconds.

   

Food For The Soul

     I have been thinking about many things pertaining to cuisine lately.  In particular the lack of love in the food we consume.  When you cook you should feel happy, relaxed, and poor your soul into your dishes.  Whether they are gourmet or simple creations, love transforms all food into medicine for the soul.  I know it may seem like a hassle to cook with the busy lives we lead, however, make it a habit and you will see the difference it can make in your life.  The dish for this week is one of simplicity, heartiness, and flavor.  There are no deep fried morsels, no heavy creams or cheeses, no complicated techniques, just pure nature combined to satisfy the palette.

Roman Chicken with Roasted Thyme Potatoes

Red potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions, fresh thyme, olive oil, with a pinch of salt and pepper, roasted in the oven, make an excellent side dish for any occasion.

Giada De Laurentiis has a superb and easy to make recipe for Roman style chicken which can be found here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/roman-style-chicken-recipe/index.html

This recipe was the inspiration for this dish.  You can add your own flair to it as I did but keep the core unchanged as it will please the entire family.

     Remember that food is life!  

Braised Kale and Beets with Spicy Sausage and Feta Farfalle

        Hello everyone, it has been quite sometime since I put time into posting things for everyone but here is something new. This post is the start of an exciting new venture using local, sustainable, organic crops to create delicious meal ideas.  The produce is supplied to me by a local company, A Simpler Place in Time, and is a great alternative to driving to the grocery store as they deliver to your door every week.  For those of you who do not live in the area you can find the same ingredients I used at your local grocer.  The best part about this dish is that it is simple, healthy, and delicious.  

Produce for this week:

asimplerplaceintime.com

1 Bunch green kale

1 Beet root

2 Large yellow squash

3 Medium zucchini squash

4 Yellow Peaches

1 Tommy Atkins Mango 

Main Dish

Ingredients:

Green kale leaves cut away from ribs and roughly chopped

Beet root peeled and diced

Squash large dice

6 cloves garlic minced

1/2 large yellow onion diced

1 cup chicken stock

1/2 cup pinot grigio

1 tsp freshly grated black pepper

Kosher salt to taste

4 spicy Italian sausage links-  The sausage I use is made by Paulie O's Italian Gourmet, local only.  Any other quality Italian sausage can be used.  

1/3 cup small diced panchetta

Sun dried tomato chopped for garnish

Feta cheese for garnish

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1.  Prepare all of your vegetables and ingredients ahead of time.  Let all ingredients come to room temperature including your stock and wine.  Make sure they are rinsed well.  When you prepare the kale, cut away from the main rib in the middle and roughly chop it.  As it cooks it will wilt down considerably.  Do not expect kale to keep its rich green color as it cooks.

2.  Heat up a large skillet on medium high and add 1/2 tbsp of oil and coat pan well.  Cook the sausage until it temps at 155F, about 8-9 minutes.  Make sure you turn often to cook evenly on all sides.  Set to the side and let them cool down.  After they are cool enough to handle dice them up. 

3.  Heat the skillet back up on medium high and add 1 tsp oil to the pan.  Let the oil heat up until slightly smoking.  Add your diced beets, onion, and garlic and saute for 2 minutes.  Add the chicken stock and let the beets braise for about 6 minutes.  Add your kale, a pinch of salt, a pinch of pepper, and white wine. Cover the skillet and braise until the kale and beets are tender, about 8 minutes.  

4.  Put your pasta onto to cook and make sure to salt the water.  Farfalle takes about 11 minutes to cook.

5.  Now that you have the pasta and veggies set, wait for the last 5-6 minutes of cooking. Heat another skillet on medium high, add 1 tsp oil until it slightly smokes, add your panchetta and      saute for 1 minute, and then put your squash into the pan.  With just a pinch of salt and pepper, cook the squash until they are tender.    

5.  Once the kale and beets are finished cooking mix in the sausage so that it will get hot again.  Plate your pasta and place the braised kale and beets on top.  Make sure to use a spoon with holes to drain off excess liquid.  Garnish with sun dried tomatoes and feta cheese.  Serve with the sauteed squash to the side.  

Dessert

For dessert my lovely wife, who does most of the baking in our house, made this simple, yet tasty morsel.

Ingredients:
1 Mango chopped
3 peaches chopped
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp granulated cane sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 package Pillsbury pre-made pie crust dough (contains 2 crusts)
Pre-made Vanilla pudding optional

1.  Combine fruit, sugars, and cinnamon.  Let the mixture sit and macerate in the refrigerator for 20-30 minutes.
2.  Pre-cut the dough into desired shape.  Place the macerated fruit, and pudding if you choose, in the middle of the dough.  Make sure there is about an inch of space on all sides.  Cover with a second piece of dough cut into the same shape.  Use a fork around the edges to create a seal.  Preheat the oven to 350F and bake for 15-25 minutes or until crust is light golden brown.  If you want add extra fruit on top with a dollop of vanilla pudding.