Make Something Bold

 Fench Press Coffee with Amaretto over Ice Cream

As the Holiday's get stressful, it is important to do something nice for ourselves. Making a quick fix dessert will take the edge off those long winter nights. Coffee, Almond liqueur, french vanilla ice cream and Hottie Biscotti cookies is a no fuss combination that will make a bold impact on your taste buds.  Instructions and a video demo follow.

Instructions for French Press Coffee

Boil as many cups of water as you would like to drink or your french press will hold.

Grind Favorite Coffee Beans. You want a rough grind for best results

Use 1rounded tablespoon for each cup of water. Add Grounds to the bottom of the press and steep for 4min.

Then press the grounds to the bottom and enjoy.

Tip: Once the coffee is steeped, remove from press so that the coffee won't get overdone and bitter.

For a quick and elegant dessert, place a scoop of french vanilla ice cream in a martini glass. Add 1/2 shot of amaretto

and pour some pressed coffee over the top. Serve with you favorite flavor of Hottie Biscotti.

 http://www.ksee24.com/wearefresno/A-Bold-Dessert-133498203.html

Pumpkin Custard Torte with Hidden Allure Crust

I put this recipe together for the Savor California collection. In the process, I learned some interesting things about baking a torte.

1st thing: If you do not thoroughly crush your biscotti it will not make the airtight crust you think it should make.
2nd thing: Hot custard will run out the bottom of the crust and seep through the edges of torte pan.
3rd thing: The burning custard on the bottom of your oven will make you think your house is on fire.
4th thing: If you grind the biscotti just a bit finer and press it a bit harder to form your crust and put a sheet pan under your torte pan, you will avoid things 2&3.
5th thing: Tortes are delicious and totally worth the risk.

Crust:

2c. Crushed Hidden Allure (Chocolate Orange) Biscotti
1/2 c.  Butter

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Put approximately 8 Hidden Allure cookies in the food processor and grind until you have fine crumbs. Melt butter. In a bowl, combine butter and biscotti crumbs until all the crumbs are coated. Grease an 8" torte pan and press crumb mixture into bottom of pan and up the sides. Bake for 10min, and let cool before going to the next step.

Hint: Bake on a sheet Pan for easy handling.

Pumpkin Custard

1/2c. Heavy Cream
3 Eggs
1/3c. Canned Pumpkin
1/3c. Sugar
1/4tsp. Nutmeg
1/2tsp. Cinnamon
1 Vanilla Bean

Preheat oven to 400. In a mixing bowl, whisk eggs and sugar until the sugar is fully integrated into the eggs and set aside. In a sauce pan, combine cream, nutmeg, cinnamon and a split vanilla bean. Bring to a low simmer for 30 seconds. When your cream is ready, remove the vanilla bean. Slowly add the warm cream mixture to the eggs while whisking constantly. Be sure to add the warm cream very slowly so as not to cook the eggs. Last add the pumpkin and mix in thoroughly. Pour mixture into torte shell and bake for 30-35mins.

Reminder: Leave torte pan on the sheet pan to bake to prevent spills in your oven.

Sea Food Salad in a Parmesan Frico

Parmesan Frico

2c. shredded Parmesan Cheese
2tsp. Flour

Heat a nonstick pan on med heat. Mix Parmesan and flour gently, then sprinkle mixture in pan to for a thin round approximately 6inches in diameter. Let cheese melt and begin to form a crust. Gently turn over with a spatula. Once the cheese has browned on both sides, remove from pan and for over a small bowl or cupcake pan. 

Sea Food Salad

2lbs Blue Crab Meat
1/2lb Shrimp Peeled, De-veined
1 celery stalk finely chopped
1/2c. grape tomatoes cut in half
1 head Butter Lettuce

Dressing
1/4c. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2c. Lemon Juice
1tsp. White Vinegar
3-5 Cloves Fresh Garlic
1/4c. Flat Leaf Parsley finely chopped
1/2tsp. Dry Oregano
Salt & Pepper to taste


You should make this salad the night before for the best results. You can purchase you seafood in various states of readiness. You can buy crab legs and boil, crack and peel them yourself, but I highly recommend asking the person for either cooked cracked crab legs or whole lump crab meat. I recommend buying fresh shrimp that are at the fish counter peel and de-veined. You will need to remove the tails from your shrimp and boil for 3min. Once the three minutes is up remove from the boiling water and lay them in a bowl of ice to stop the cooking.  Once your seafood is prepared, add your celery and tomatoes and set aside.

To serve. Make your Fricos and set aside on a cutting board. Wash and shred your butter lettuce. Line the bottom of each Frico with your Shredded lettuce and top with a generous portion of the Seafood Salad. Finish by adding a pinch of lemon zest to each piece. Serve and enjoy.

Salmon Salad with Dill Yogurt Dressing

http://www.ksee24.com/wearefresno/Salmon-Salad-for-Two-130164633.html

Salmon Preparation
3/4lb- 1lb Salmon with out the Skin
Season Generously with Salt, Pepper and Granulated Garlic
Heat up a skillet on Med/High Heat
Drizzle 2tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil in the Pan
Cook for approximately 4min each side
Remove From pan and let cool while preparing the Salad


Salad
4 Cups Baby Spring Mix
1/4 c. Red Bell Pepper Sliced
2tbsp Sliced Spanish Olives
1/2 Avocado Sliced
1 Hard Boiled Egg Sliced

Salad Dressing

1/4c. Plain Greek Yogurt
1/2 Lemon Juiced
1tsp Honey
1/4 tsp Dill Finely Chopped
Salt & Pepper to Taste



Copy and Paste this link for the recipe and a short demonstration.

Special Video Demo

http://www.ksee24.com/wearefresno/Zesty-Grilled-Lamb-and-Cous-Cous-Salad-127909228.html

 Lamb Preparation

4 lamb loin chops
1tbsp olive
2tsp Sherry Vinegar
1 Sliced Shallot
2 tbsp chopped Flat leaf Parsley
Salt & Pepper to taste

Marinate Lamb chops for 1/2 an hour. Heat up your grill or indoor grill pan to med/high heat. Pat the lamb chops dry and cook for 4min on each side to cook your chops to medium.

Cous Cous Salad

2 cups dry cous cous
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
3/4 cup lemon juice (reserve 1/4c.)
2 large tomatoes
1 med cucumber
1/4 cup Kalamata olives
1/4 cup Feta Cheese
2tbsp olive oil
1/2 bunch flat leaf parsley
Salt & Pepper to taste

Dinner In A Hurry

I frequently come home and realize that I have nothing planned for dinner. Last night, after shaking it for an hour to Latin beats at Zumba class, I had a major craving. I was in the mood for ice cold mango with lime and red chili powder. This may sound a little strange, but it is a Mexican street food that I find at events all over California. I ended up making a whole dinner based on this craving and a quick trip to the Latino Market for some mangoes.

Flank Steak Fajitas and Mexican Fruit Salad

Mexican Fruit Salad

1 Mango

1 Granny Smith Apple

Juice of 2 Limes

2 tsp Red Chili Powder

Salt (pinch)

Mix lime juice, chili powder, and salt into the bottom of your salad bowl.

Wash and peel your apple and mango. Then dice the fruit into 1” cubes.

Add your fruit to the salad bowl and coat juice and chili mixture.

Refrigerate for ½ an hour, or until you finish making your fajitas.

Flank Steak Fajitas

Ingredients

Flank Steak

Medium Flour Tortillas

Sliced Red, Green and Yellow Bell Peppers*

Green Onions

Olive Oil

1 Avocado

Juice of 1 Lime

The Rub

½ tsp Red Chili Powder

¼ tsp Ground Cumin

1 tbspYellow Mustard

Salt and Pepper

Wash and slice your bell peppers in the thin strips and set them aside for later.

Wash green onions, cut off the bottoms and set aside.

Wash your avocado. Cut in half and remove the pit. Using a spoon, scoop out the flesh and slice into think pieces. Squeeze lime juice over the avocado and set aside.

Get your grill pan hot on med/high heat. While the pan is heating, rub the flank steak down with the spice mixture. Once the pan is hot, put the steak on. The cooking time will depend on the thickness of your steak and whether or not you like any pink. It should take approximately 7min per side and you will have a flank steak that is medium (some pink).

Once your steak is done, set it on a plate and cover with foil. While the meat is resting, put peppers and green onion in the pan you cooked the meat in. Drizzle a small amount of olive oil on them and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Once the pepper start to soften and you get some grill marks on the onions, it is time to slice your meat. You want to slice your steak against the grain in ½” strips.

Warm your tortillas in a dry pan on the stove on low heat.

Assemble your fajitas. You can add salsa, sour cream, cheese or any other condiment you enjoy.

Don't for get your fruit salad in in the fridge.

Quick Tip*

My grocer started carrying frozen sliced bell peppers. It is a tri-color mix, and the quality of the peppers is excellent. I never shy away from frozen produce especially in the winter months when fresh, local produce is hard to find.

If you have a hard time following a weekly meal plan, frozen produce can help you eat at home because it is on hand and cooking can be very straight forward. If you find you are throwing a lot of food away during the week, frozen is a great way to prevent waste. Frozen produce is often a great value and since it is already cut and cleaned, it saves time.

Easy Winter Warm Up Stew

This is a great one pot recipe and you can make as much or little as you like. I would do double if you have big eaters or want leftovers.

Get your best soup pot out of the cupboard. 

Get a good loaf of bread to serve with this and you are set.

Grocery list.

Beef 3/4-1lb(stew meat or boneless beef short ribs) something inexpensive.

Creamer potatoes ( the little yellow potatoes)
Little red roasters if you can't find the creamers. Approximately 6 potatoes

2 whole carrots, a head of garlic, an orange, fresh rosmary, dry bay leaves, cheap merlot, small can of beef broth

Make sure you have a little butter, olive oil, flour, salt and pepper.

I cut all my produce first. Cut the creamer potatoes in half. Peal the carrots and slice them fairly thin at an angle. Peel two cloves of garlic and hit with back of knife to crack them. Set this aside.

Then cube beef into one inch cubes. If you bought it already cubed, you are ahead of the game. Coat with about 2tbsp flour. They don't have to be fully coated, just enough to absorb some of the moisture from the outside of the beef.

In your soup pot, heat up 2tbsp olive with 2tbsp butter on med/high heat. Once it's hot, drop the beef in to brown. While the beef is browning add 2tbsp salt anf 2tsp pepper or to taste. Let it cook on each side mostly undesturbed so that the fat renders and the meat gets nice and brown. Once the meat is half way cooked and brown all over remove meat from the pot and set aside.

Next add your carrots and garlic to the pot. Stir until the carrots have a nice shiny glow, then add 2c red wine and your small can of broth. Bring to a simmer and add the beef back to the pot.

To this add two bay leaves and about three thynes of rosmary. Peel half your orange (try to get big pieces of peel so you can find them later) and add peel to the pot. Then squeeze the juice of half the orange into the pot. Simmer this for 10 min on high. Last add your potatoes and simmer for 30 min with a lid until beef and potatoes are tender.

Dish up for a warm and flavorful dinner. If your feeling fresh, add a dollop of sour cream to finish off your plate.

Quick Tip: Warm Crusty Bread without the Burn
I always forget my bread under the broiler and end up with blackened bits. I picked this tip up from my grandma. Wrap your loaf in foil and put it in the oven on bake. The bread will be warm and have a crusty fresh baked taste, but it takes a lot longer to burn.

What do I like to eat?

I personally like everything, but you need to discover what foods make you happy. So do a little homework assignment. Get a small notebook, and when you have a dish that you really love; write it down and describe to yourself what it is that you like. Is it crunchy or soft, is it salty or sweet, or is it just beautiful to look at. As you put things together you'll find the foods that truly make you happy. Use these foods to fuel your drive to create great meals.

Approachable Gourmet

The concept of approachable gourmet has been developing as I grow in my business and in my experience as a cook. Growing up, I honestly didn't cook much. I'm surrounded by great cooks and as a kid the notion of cooking for myself was bizarre. Mom made the meals, and if Mom didn't cook; Dad did. And if Dad didn't cook Grandma or Auntie or Good old Firebaugh Restaurant were there to feed me. It wasn't until I got my first apartment that I even tried to cook. I started out making some of my favorite home meals, and I found that after being in school all day, I really enjoyed standing in my kitchen and treating my roommates and friends to something warm and homey. Needless to say, our apartment became a hot dinner spot.

As I got a little more seasoned at my craft (pun totally intended)., I began to branch out from my typical Italian and American dishes. I bought Middle Eastern and Asian cookbooks and I tried cooking anything and everything. I love to experiment with food, but time and budget are frequently an issue. So, I started taking base ideas from cookbooks, restaurants, and even home favorites and adapted them to my taste and budget. This is where Approachable Gourmet began.

Great food starts with what we know. Your family recipes are a great starting point for learning how to be a gourmet. You'll find when you go through your tried and trues that you have a wealth of knowledge and experience that will help you break down any gourmet recipe into a manageable, achievable, and delicious meal.

I hope that trying my tips and recipes will change the way you think about your kitchen.

Be brave, make a mess, make mistakes and you too can be an Approachable Gourmet.