Ceviche with Avocado and Tomato Broth

1 pound white fish halibut, red snapper, sole,
2 teaspoons mild or hot pepper
2 tablespoons cilantro, minced
1 tablespoon shallot, minced
1 large rib celery, cut into a small dice
1 medium tomato, cut into the same size as the fish, squeeze out the seeds
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lime juice, or enough to cover ingredients
1 splash olive oil
Tomato Broth
1 slice white bread
1 can whole tomatoes, with juice
1 cucumber, peeled, rough chopped
1 small shallot, rough chopped
1 cup tomato juice
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pinch garlic powder
Salt and pepper
1 pinch sugar
2 Haas avocadoes, peeled, cut in half, pit removed
1 lemon or lime zested
cilantro sprigs, for garnish

Ceviche:

Chop the white fish into small dice, add to a mixing bowl and set aside.

Clean the pepper of stems, seeds and ribs and mince into a fine dice. You may want to wear glove to do this.

Mix all ingredients together well; making sure it’s all covered by the lime juice and olive oil. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

Tomato Broth:

Place the bread into the bowl of a food processor and process until you have coarse crumbs. Add remaining ingredient and process until pureed. Chill for 30 minutes before serving.

Ladle some tomato broth into a cup or bowl. Place avocado into center of bowl, place ceviche into the center and top with lemon zest and a sprig of cilantro.

Cooking Demo

7 / 7 / 16

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Grilled Pizza

7 / 6 / 167 / 6 / 16

I love pizza on the grill! The first time I cooked pizza on the grill I was worried the dough would slip through the grates but it doesn’t! The grill is a perfect tool for a backyard dinner, the house stays nice and cool and you can relax with a cold drink while your pizza cooks. First you have to heat your grill to it’s hottest! Pizza likes a good 500° – 600° oven to produce a great crust.

Buy or make your crust in the morning so it’s ready to go when you are. Prep your ingredients ahead of time. Grate or slice the cheese, pepperoni or salami, slice the mushrooms (store in a small bowl with a slightly damp paper towel over them), cut or tear your herbs such as basil, thyme and/or make a pesto for your pizza. Be creative and be organized.

Once your grill is at its hottest, roll out your dough on a lightly floured surface (or if you’re into hands on-flour your hands and stretch the dough out into any shape you like). Put your dough on a pizza peel that has been lightly dusted with flour or cornmeal, make sure the dough slides around on the peel so that when you put it on the grill it will slide off easily.

Brush your grill with oil and slide the dough onto that spot. Turn down the burners if you’re using a gas grill.* Grill for 2-3 minutes or until lightly charred. Turn your pizza over, brush the cooked side with a little olive oil if you like, add your sauce and any of the toppings you’ve chosen. Close the grill lid and let the pizza cook until the bottom is nicely charred and your toppings have melted and cooked. Remove from the grill with the pizza peel, let sit for a minute or two before slicing. Enjoy with a cold beer and tossed salad! That’s how to beat the heat at my house. Have a great summer!

*If using a grill with charcoal or wood you’ll want to make a direct heat side and an indirect heat side. You’ll be cooking the pizza on the indirect side.

Here’s the recipe

No Knead Pizza Dough

This is Jim Lahey’s no knead recipe for pizza dough, it’s easy and so much better than store bough pizza dough. The hardest part is to remember to make it ahead of time. You can store the dough up to 3 days in the refrigerator so it’s easy to plan ahead. This recipe makes 4 balls of dough (4 pizza’s). Jim likes to weigh all the ingredients and in reality you do get a much better and more consistent product but if you insist on measuring, I’ve included his instructions for that also.

500 grams all-purpose flour, 17 ½ ounces or 3 ¾ cup, plus a little extra for shaping
1 gram active dry yeast, ¼ teaspoon
16 grams fine sea salt, 2 teaspoons
350 grams water, 1 ½ cups

In a medium bowl, thoroughly blend the flour, yeast, and salt. Add the water and, with a wooden spoon or your hands, mix thoroughly.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel and allow it to rise at room temperature for 18 hours or until more than doubled. It will take longer in a cook room and less time in a warm one.

Flour a work surface and scrape the dough out of the bowl, divide into 4 equal parts and shape them.

For each portion, start with the right side of the dough and pull it toward the center, then do the same with the left, then the top, then the bottom. (The order doesn't actually matter; what you want is four folds.) Shape each portion into a round and turn seam side down. Mold the dough into a neat circular mound. The mounds should not be sticky; if they are, dust with more flour.

If you don't intend to use the dough right away, wrap the balls individually in plastic and refrigerate for up to 3 days. Return to room temperature by leaving them out on the counter, covered in a damp cloth, for 2 to 3 hours before needed.

Galette, Crostata or Tart

6 / 24 / 16

Galettes, Crostata and Tarts are similar in nature, they all can be sweet or savory and they all have a tasty butter crust. Really the only difference is Galettes (French) and Crostata’s (Italian) are free form on a baking sheet lined with a piece of parchment. A tart is always cooked inside a ring or a tart pan so the sides are nice and neat and usually scalloped. There, that’s it!

Whatever you call them this is the best time of year to make them with all the wonderful fresh fruit at the farmers market. You can use any kind of fruit which makes this recipe so versatile and the crust is easy to make. Make some dough ahead of time, wrap it well in plastic wrap and store in the freezer for up to 2 months, defrost overnight in the refrigerator. Please don’t buy frozen pie dough from the market, you’ll be disappointed in the finished product. Most of them have no butter in them which is what makes this crust so flaky and tasty. It’s easy to do in a food processor, try it this weekend.

Rustic Fruit Galette

Notes:
Flour can absorb water from the air so on hot dry days the flour may take more water to come together than on a humid day. Always fluff your flour by swiping a knife through it to lighten it, flour compacts as it sits. Unless you weigh your flour this is the best method to ensure you get an even product every time you bake.
The dough can be refrigerated up to 2 days or frozen up to 2 months.

1 cup sugar, divided
2 cups all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon. salt
2 sticks cold butter, cut into small pieces
4 tbsp. ice water
1-1½ cups berries or any fruit mixture
1 large egg yolk, lightly beaten with 1 tbsp. milk or cream

Place ½ cup of the sugar, all the flour and salt into the bowl of a food processor, pulse to mix briefly, add the butter and pulse until butter is the size of peas. Pour the mixture into a bowl and begin to add the ice water one tablespoon at a time until the dough comes together in a ball. Divide into two and form a disc, wrap tightly in plastic wrap or parchment and chill for 1 hour.

Cut any pieces of large fruit into pieces and mix together in a bowl with ½ the remaining sugar (1/4 cup). Refrigerate until ready to bake tarts.

Preheat the oven to 450°.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. Take the dough out of the refrigerator one disc at a time. Roll into a round ¼” thick on a rol mat or floured surface and place on the parchment, repeat with the other disc. Use as little flour as possible to roll out the dough.

Split the berry mixture into the center of each round leaving a 1 ½” border around the edge. Fold up the edges pleating or folding to cover most of the fruit. Brush the dough with the egg wash and sprinkle the remaining sugar over the dough.

Bake for 12 minutes or until the crust is lightly browned, cool and serve with ice cream or whipped cream.

Hot Weather Dinner

6 / 20 / 166 / 20 / 16

There is nothing like summers sweet corn on the cob. The tables at the farmers market this weekend were loaded with all kinds of corn and great prices make you want to stock up but corns sweetness will turn to starch the longer it’s stored. There’s an old saying that you should start the water boiling for the corn before you pick it. But if you don’t have a corn field in your back yard here are a couple of tips to help maintain that sweetness.

One, don’t peel and husk your corn, leave it in its little corn jacket and store in the refrigerator. This won’t maintain it’s sweetness long but it will stay sweet for about a day.

Two, peel and husk your corn, freeze separately and when frozen wrap in plastic and pop into a freezer bag. Use within a few weeks for best results.

Three, (this is my favorite), peel a few leaves off the outer ear but leave the husk and some leaves still attached. Chop off the very top and the bottom. Here’s another tip for you-usually corn worms are only found in the top of the ear, just lop that part off, the corn is still good to eat and it means that the farmer didn’t dust the corn with insecticide (a good thing). Put the corn into the microwave and cook for 5 minutes, remove carefully it will be hot. Place in a colander in the sink and run some cool water over it. After it cools, refrigerate and it will hold it’s sweetness for a day or two.

Here’s one of my favorite hot weather dinner salads using sweet corn right off the cob!

Shrimp and Avocado Salad

Dressing
¼ cup Pomegranate vinegar or good red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon finely diced shallots
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Dash of dried parsley flakes, crushed
½ cup olive oil, approximately
Salad
1 head Bibb lettuce, peel the leaves from the core, rinse with cool water and dry well
1 ear fresh sweet corn, prepare the corn as directed in the notes.
1 small Persian cucumber, cut in half lengthwise and then into half moons
1 medium tomato, chopped into bite-sized pieces
8 large shrimp, (U16), cut into bite-sized pieces
1 Haas avocado cut in half; pit removed and scoop out the whole half
2 rashers (slices) bacon, cooked and crumbled
¼ cup crumbled blue cheese, optional

Dressing

In a jar or small bowl add vinegar, shallots, Dijon mustard and parsley flakes, add a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Slowly whisk in the olive oil to emulsify. As soon as the dressing starts to thicken stop and taste the dressing, if it needs more continue to add the olive oil while whisking. Any extra dressing may be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks.

Tear the lettuce leaves into large pieces and add to a large bowl and toss with a little of the dressing. Add the corn, cucumber, tomato and shrimp and toss again with a little dressing. Lightly mix in the avocado and place into shallow bowls or large plates, sprinkle with bacon and cheese and serve extra dressing on the side.

Makes 2 entrée salads

Notes:

Pick up fresh corn from the farmers market, not the supermarket. The sugar in corn starts to turn to starch when it’s picked so by the time it gets to the supermarket much of the sweetness will be gone. When you get the corn home here’s an easy trick to help keep the sweetness in for a day or two. Remove some of the outer leaves but not all. Cut the top and bottom off the ear and microwave for 5 minutes. It will be hot when you bring it out of the microwave so run some cool water over it and set it aside to cool completely. This method is similar to blanching and shocking your vegetables. Use right away (peel the remaining leaves and silk then slice off the cob) or store in the refrigerator for a day or two.

In the hot weather buy the shrimp already cooked for an easy meal at the end of the day. If you purchase raw shrimp to cook it simply bring a large pot of water to a boil, add a tablespoon of Old Bay Seasoning and cook at a slow boil (bubbles just break the surface) until the shrimp is done, about 5 minutes. To test the shrimp simply take one out, run cool water over it, peel, devein and eat it!

Pomegranate vinegar can be ordered from Temecula Olive Oil Co.

Pop Up Cooking Demo

6 / 14 / 16

Seal Beach tasting room
June 23rd
Thur, 6:30 – 8:30

Tuscan Al Fresco Dinner

Artichoke Pesto Bruschetta

Tuscan Summer Salad
Gigante White Beans with Roasted Red Bell Peppers
Pork Tenderloin Stuffed with Sundried Tomatoes, Goat Cheese, Basil & Toasted Pine Nuts
Bucatini with Porcini Mushroom Sauce
Rustic Berry Tart

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Slow Cooker Carnitas

6 / 14 / 16

For everyone who missed this recipe from class, I thought I’d put it up on the blog for you! A great recipe for easy summer dishes!

Adapted slightly from Rick Bayless

2 pounds boneless pork shoulder
Salt
1 ½ - 2 cups freshly rendered pork lard (you can buy good-quality lard from a local butcher or Mexican market; I don't recommend the hydrogenated lard that's sold in bricks)

Cut the pork into 2 ½- to 3-inch pieces and sprinkle generously on all sides with salt. Scoop the lard into a 6-quart slow cooker and turn on high. When the lard is melted, fit in the pork in a single layer (there should be few gaps between the pieces and they should be barely covered with the fat). Cover and cook until thoroughly tender, about 3 hours. Turn off, uncover and let cool.

Remove the pork to a cutting board, leaving behind as much fat as possible. (You can refrigerate the lard to use for another round of carnitas, to season beans or fry potatoes or the like.) Shred the carnitas into very large, coarse pieces. Set a heavy skillet over medium heat. When the pan is very hot, spoon in enough carnitas-cooking fat to film the bottom generously. Scoop in the pork, spreading it out evenly over the bottom of the pan. Cook undisturbed for a couple of minutes, until it is richly browned and releases itself from the bottom of the pan. Gently turn the pieces to brown the other side. Remove to a plate lined with paper towels. Sprinkle with salt (coarse salt is welcome here, if you have it).

Tomato Confit

6 / 11 / 166 / 12 / 16

Is your garden overflowing with tomatoes? I always grow too many and one of my favorite ways to make them go a little farther is to oven dry them. Much like sun dried, these concentrated gems pack a powerful punch and can be used in any dish where you’d use tomatoes. Especially nice on a cheese plate with some creamy goat cheese nearby.

To preserve them I turn them into a tomato confit and keep in my ‘pantry’ refrigerator. They can’t be water bath canned because of the oil, but they will keep for about 6 months in the refrigerator, if they last that long. The refrigeration will also help to preserve the oil and keep it from going rancid quicker. Use only fresh organic herbs and make sure you wash and dry them very well, you don’t want any water going into your beautiful confit.

Mangia (Eat!)

1 pound tomatoes, cut in half lengthwise
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup olive oil, approximately
1 tablespoon basil, chiffonade
2 teaspoon fresh thyme
1 clove garlic -- minced

Preheat the oven to 350°.

Arrange the tomato halves cut side up and close together on a baking sheet, season with salt and pepper.

In a bowl, combine olive oil, garlic, and herbs. Drizzle over tomatoes and bake until the tomatoes are soft and shriveled but still retain some moisture, 1-2 hours or more.

Let cool completely. Tomatoes can be stored in a glass jar, cover tomatoes with olive oil, add a fresh sprig of thyme, seal and refrigerate.

Photo: Chez Pim

Grilled Artichokes

6 / 2 / 16

2 large artichokes
1-2 lemons
Sea salt and pepper

Place a steamer basket into a large pot, fill with water to just above steamer bed, bring to a boil while you prepare the artichokes.

Cut about 1” – 2” off the top of the artichokes with a serrated knife. Trim the stem to the desired length. Pull off any of the smaller leaves near the bottom and take a pair of kitchen shears to cut the prickly edge off the remaining leaves. Cut the artichoke in half lengthwise, rub the artichoke with a cut lemon, add the lemon juice and rind to the pot of boiling water and place the artichokes in the steamer. Cook for 30 minutes, remove the artichokes and let cool. Remove the choke with a spoon and set the artichoke halves into a large bowl. Toss the artichokes with olive oil and season with a little sea salt and pepper.

Heat your grill to medium-high heat and grill artichokes until slightly charred, turning occasionally, about 8 minutes. Serve with Walt's Wharf dipping sauce.

Walt’s Wharf Dipping Sauce

June Cooking Class

5 / 17 / 165 / 17 / 16

Chef Debbi Cooking Demo

with

June

Thur. June 9th

6:30 – 8:30. approximately

Blue Cheese & Heirloom Tomato Tartlettes
Dilled Smoked Salmon & Cucumber Toasts
Peculiar Pickled Veggies& Pickled Deviled Eggs
Bacon Wrapped Bourbon Glazed Shrimp Skewers
Broccoli Bow Tie Salad
Apricot Jam Shortbread Bars

Seal Beach Tasting Room
$45.00
By Reservation Only (562) 296-5421

Square Foot Gardening

5 / 12 / 16

When I got my first community garden, the city had to run an ad to get people interested in gardening. That was 20 yrs ago, today we have a 3 year waiting list for available plots.

The first thing I did was research, which I love to do, on the best way to grow organic vegetables. The one book I kept going back to was ‘Square Foot Gardening’ by Mel Bartholomew, an engineer who redesigned the backyard garden in order to grow more vegetables in a smaller space. We all learned to garden from books and farmers who grew in large spaces on large farms, we don’t need to use their methods in our little backyards.

Photo:http://simplysquarefootgardening.blogspot.com/

Mel’s design was basic, a 4 x 4’ raised bed with 6” sides (or taller) set upon landscape fabric to prevent weed or grass growth, other materials could also be used, then filled with equal portions of vermiculite, peat moss and compost and then divided into 16 one foot spaces. In each space Mel created a planting guide depending on the recommended space for each seed. Such as corn gets 1’ space to itself and so do tomatoes because they are large plants, smaller veggies can be planted 4, 16 or 18 to a square. We can help you understand that, we’ll be talking about Square Foot Gardening this Sat, May 14 at 10 a.m. at The Plant Stand in Costa Mesa.

You can also check out Mel’s book and website,

http://www.melbartholomew.com/what-is-square-foot-gardening/

http://squarefootgardening.org/square-foot-gardening-method

2972-A Century Place
(In the back)
Costa Mesa, Ca

(714) 966-0797

May Cooking Class

5 / 5 / 165 / 5 / 16

Join

Chef Debbi

Temecula Olive Oil Co., Seal Beach Tasting Room

For a Demo Cooking Class

Thursday May 5th

Second Class Added

Thur, May 19th

6:30 -8:30

May Menu

Bacon Roasted Chicken Rillette Crostini

(Similar to Paté) with Olives & Cornichons

Italian Chopped Salad

with Radicchio and Spring Vegetables

Mushroom Florentine Penne

San Francisco Style Cioppino

Meyer Lemon & Blood Orange Cannoli

Call (562) 296-5421 for reservations