Simple Work Projects

Here are some simple work projects.  Some were for consumption and others were just for experimentation purposes for new side dishes.

Pickled carrot and daikon as a side for beef terriyaki skewers

Roasted cremini with herb goat cheese and roasted bell peppers

Pickled red cabbage, daikon, carriot, and mango salad

Fruit display for some bride and her bridesmaids

Simple fruit display for 10 people

Simple fruit display for 50 people

Simple cheese displays for 200

Seared Tilapia with Sauteed Sweet Pears and Jalapeno Goat Cheese

A Simpler Place in Time has provided us with some great produce again and here is what we came up with.  This dish is packed full of flavor and heat but is tempered by the cool, refreshingly simple flavors of the cucumber sandwich and melon salad that we put together to accompany the main dish.

This week's produce:

Pears
Avocado
Cucumber
Tomato
Jalapeno
Cantaloupe
1 bag chopped romaine lettuce

Main Dish- Serves 2-  Adjust accordingly for more people

Ingredients:
2 fresh tilapia fillets cut in half
Good quality paprika
Black pepper
Kosher Salt
4-5 tbsp goat cheese or just enough to mix with pears and jalapeno room temp
2 tbsp unsalted butter room temp
1.5 tbsp brown sugar
1-2 jalapeno diced and seeded, if you want less heat remove the veins as well.  I recommend leaving them in for the heat as the cucumber sandwich will cool the heat when eaten
3 pieces of lettuce per cucumber sandwich, veins pulled out
4 cucumber slices
4 tomato slices cut into circles the same size as the cucumber slices
4 avocado slices cut into circles the same size as the cucumber slices, cover in lime juice to prevent browning
2-3 pairs depending on size, diced small and covered in orange juice to prevent browning
1 cantaloupe and 1 honey dew cut in half and seeded
EVOO

1.  Prepare your fish by lightly applying salt and pepper.  Evenly cover with paprika and put back into the refrigerator until you are ready to use it.
2.  Prepare your veggies and fruit.  Cut melons as you see fit.  I used a melon baller for a different look and texture.  Put melon salad into the refrigerator and pull it out when you are ready to eat.  Prepare your cucumber sandwich how you would like and place on a plate with paper towels.  When putting this together very lightly salt and pepper each layer.  Cover and keep in the refrigerator.  
3.  Let goat cheese and butter sit so they are room temp by the time you are ready to use them.  Drain your pears and make sure you dry them as much as possible with paper towels.  Melt the butter in a skillet and once it has heated up add your pears and jalapeno.  Add a pinch of salt and sautee until the pears are slightly golden.  Add the brown sugar and continue to cook until the sugar has completely melted.  Remove from the skillet and add to the goat cheese.  Make sure you add enough goat cheese to completely coat the pears and jalapeno.  Do not refrigerate.
4.  In a clean skillet add 1 tbsp of EVOO and heat up on medium high heat.  Place fish in the hot oil and sear on both sides for about 1-2 minutes depending on the thickness.  Do not overcook the fish.  Plate up how you would like with the pear and jalapeno goat cheese and cucumber sandwich.  Serve with the melon salad.

The goat cheese spread was not put on top of the fish as it would have ruined the beautiful color.  Instead we hallowed out a slice of cucumber and place it in side to made sure it doesn't move around.  

It is important that you place the cucumber sandwiches on paper towels before serving as the salt you added will make the ingredients bleed.  

Everything on this plate is edible.  When garnishing strive to do garnish that is both functional and compliments the dish.  I recommend putting the goat cheese on the fish but you can eat with the cucumber garnish or cucumber salad.  

I hope you guys enjoy this flavorful dish.

What Matters Most

Food is not just a vessel for energy that we use to sustain our daily activities, it is nature's gift for a healthy life.  If you look at the spectrum of food that can be consumed you will see a dizzying selection to choose from.  There are countless combinations of ingredients to create dishes that not only please cellular respiration but provide medicine to heal the mind, body, and soul.  It is very important to understand what food does to our overall health and quality of life.  Discarding highly processed foods from your diet and returning to kitchen basics with raw ingredients can make an enormous difference in how you feel, and how your body heals.  The best example I can give you starts with my mother.  For many years she has been fighting obesity and emotional eating issues.  Her food choices have caused her high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity, fatigue, and so on.  When I started showing her different dishes she would enjoy, made with quality ingredients, her health problems slowly began to fade.  It takes time for the body to heal itself but given the right sustenance it  can do amazing things.  In the last 6 months her cholesterol has dropped to a healthy level, her hypertension has decreased, her fatigue has reduced, and her weight slowly began to drop and continues to slowly dissipate.  Pick your food wisely.  Your wallet and your health will appreciative of your efforts.  You do not need books or recipes to show you what is best to eat and what is not.  Some general rules of thumb for finding the best ingredients are:

1.  Make sure your produce and animal proteins come from local, organic or traditional, sustainable sources.  Organic foods will cost more but are worth the extra expense.  The only thing I have to say about organic though is know where it is from.  Just because it says organic on the package does not mean it is truly a one hundred percent organic product.  

2.  Animals proteins should be free range, grass fed, and raised with sustainable farming.  Again watch out for free range labels as this does not necessarily mean free to roam around and eat.  

3.  Whole Foods does not mean the best foods!  You can find great produce from local vendors like A Simpler Place in Time at a fraction of the cost.  

4.  Do not be afraid to use ingredients you have never used.  Youtube is a wonderful tool for finding out how to use an ingredient and how to cook it properly.  

5.  Any packaged food items that have more than 20+ ingredients in it you should stay away from.  

6.  Foods with natural flavorings, MSG, nitrates, nitrites, and preservatives should be avoided.  If you do not know what ingredient may or may not be a preservative then look it up online.  These chemicals are added to foods to increase shelf life.  Home make it if it is easy and not too time consuming.

7.  Buy more raw vegetables and fruits and reduce your animal protein consumption.  Sometimes my wife and I will go a whole week without animal protein.  

8.  Instead of feeding your babies and kids canned or jarred foods invest in a good food processor.  You can make a plethora of things for your kids to eat using this tool.  Instead of feeding your little ones jarred baby food, throw in some cooked sweet potatoes, carrots, and peas into the processor and pulse away!

Some summer fun.  Dry rubbed, slow roasted, then a thin layer of sauce
caramelized on top!