Tag Archives: cooking

Zucchini Blossom Quesadilla

 

 I first tasted these at The Santa Monica Farmers Market about 15 years ago when The Two Hot Tamale girls were doing a demo for their restaurant, Border Grill (now closed, sadly). It’s a perfect little snack for an early summer day, zucchini plants are going wild with flowers and are daring to be picked & stuffed. Make sure you pick all male blossoms rather than female blossoms or you won’t have any fruit. To tell the difference look at the bottom of the flower, you’ll see a round little nub or small zucchini attached, this is a female blossom….move on. The male blossoms are attached just by them stem with no nub at the bottom, you’ll be able to tell. Open the flowers gently as there may be a bee inside collecting pollen, he will fly away when you open the petals, be gentle. If you want to wash them use cool water and dry well but do this just before you’re ready to prepare the dish. Or you can buy them at your local farmers market, the blossoms are delicate and will last no more than a day so pick right before you’re going to make the quesadillas.

Squash Blossom Quesadilla

Print
  • 4-6 squash blossoms, stems and stamens removed, chopped
  • 4 roasted red peppers, drained and chopped
  • 2 ears of corn, roasted, cut off the cob
  • 4 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
  • 1-2 cups Monterrey Jack cheese, grated
  • 8 flour tortillas
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Tomatillo Salsa
  • 1/2 pound tomatillos, husked, rinsed, and quartered

  • 1/2 - 1 jalapeño pepper, chopped
(depending on how much heat you want)
  • 1 clove garlic, peeled and chopped

  • 1/2 cup packed cilantro leaves

  • 1/2 teaspoon salt,
or more to taste,
  • squeeze of fresh lime juice

Mix together all ingredients together seasoning with salt and pepper, to taste.

Heat a grill pan or griddle, add 1 Tb. butter. Add a tortilla and cook it on one side until it puffs (about 30 seconds).

Flip tortilla over and sprinkle over entire surface 1/4 cup of squash blossom filling.

Top with another tortilla, and after cheese has melted and the two tortillas stick together (a couple of minutes), flip quesadilla and cook for a couple of minutes more.

Repeat for the remainder of the filling and tortillas.

For the Tomatillo Salsa

Place all ingredients in a blender or food processor and pulse to combine. Blend on low speed until a coarse puree is formed.

Pour into a bowl, taste and add more salt or lime if desired. Salsa can be thinned with a bit of water if desired.

Lemon Roasted Chicken

This is by far my favorite dish with hints of Meyer lemon and sea salt and I like to add some roasted baby potatoes to the pan to soak up some of the juices. I use ‘Mary’s Organic Chicken‘ always for the best meat, always tender & juicy, it costs a little more but I think it’s worth the extra few bucks. (And they didn’t pay me to say that). And I love to tuck into the pan the ‘Baby Dutch Yellow Potatoes’ from Melissa’s Produce!

You can dress this up by making the ‘pan’ sauce listed in the recipe of you can by pass it. I’ve also made brioche dressing for the side and it makes a great holiday dish without the hassle of cooking a whole turkey dinner. Add a beautiful green vegetable and you’ll find an easy weeknight dinner. It pairs well with my Spring Asparagus recipe. Prep all the ingredients the night before & you can walk in the door, pop the chicken in a preheated oven and within the hour you’ll have the best meal in town, no drive through chicken can EVER take the place of a chicken roasted at home.

Lemon Roasted Chicken

Print
  • Serves 4
  • 1 whole chicken -- rinsed, drained and dried
  • 1 medium onion -- peeled and chopped
  • 3 baby carrots -- peeled and chopped
  • 3 celery stalks -- cut into chunks
  • 1 lemon -- zested and juiced; preferably Meyer lemon
  • 1 bunch Italian flat leaf parsley -- minced
  • 1 bunch fresh sage -- minced
  • 1/2 bunch fresh thyme -- minced
  • 2 tablespoons butter -- room temperature
  • 1 tablespoon lemon olive oil, butter or regular olive oil
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1 cup white wine
  • 1 cup chicken stock
  • 2 tablespoons chicken demi glace -- optional for sauce

Preheat oven to 400°.

Wash and dry chicken inside and out then dry well. Fit chicken into a roasting pan (you want no more than 1" of space on any side of the chicken otherwise the juices will burn).

Mix together onion, carrot, celery, lemon zest, and 1/2 of the minced herbs. Loosely stuff cavity with some of the ingredients, place the remainder on the bottom of the roasting pan and place chicken on top of the aromatic vegetables.

Mix remaining minced herbs with butter. Gently separate the chicken skin from the breast meat and carefully rub herb butter on breast under the skin.

Rub the chicken with lemon olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Squeeze lemon over chicken and place rind into cavity. Insert probe thermometer into thigh and set for 165 degrees. Pour half of the wine and chicken stock in the bottom of the pan and place, uncovered in hot oven.

Baste after 1/2 hour, if you don't have enough juice in pan use some chicken stock. Do not cover bird until browned and then loosely place foil over breast. If wings start to brown to early wrap with foil.

Remove chicken to a warm plate and loosely cover with foil. Let rest for 10 minutes before carving.

Remove some of the fat in the pan by using a paper towel or ice cubes. (Dredge the paper towel through the juices to pull out some of the fat or pour off the juices into a heat proof measuring cup. Add a few ice cubes; the fat will stick to the cold cube, discard cube. You may have to do this several times).

Put the roasting pan on top of the stove over medium-high heat and bring a boil, add remaining wine and stock scraping the fond (the yummy pieces stuck to the pan) from the bottom of the pan. Reduce by half, add demi-glace if using and serve with chicken.

Temecula Olive Oil, Seal Beach Cooking Demo for April & May

Seal Beach Store Cooking Demo

April 20th & May 4th

6:30 – 8:30, approximately

 Menu

Rick Bayless Slow Cooker Carnitas

Roasted Tomatillo (Carnitas) Enchilada’s With Mexican Crema and Monterey Jack Cheese

Fresh Tomato Salsa 

Refried (Heirloom) Black Beans

Corn, Cherry Tomato Salad with Hatch Chili Vinaigrette

Hatch Chili Chewy Brownies 

For reservations call

Temecula Olive Oil

(562) 296-5421

Sponsored by

Puff Pastry Tart

This recipe is great as a side dish, an appetizer or a light lunch with a salad. It’s easy to make, most of it can be done ahead of time and assembled just before baking. Be sure to use a quality puff pastry dough such as Dufour’s which is made with 100% butter and no preservatives. It’s a little more expensive but if you want real puff pastry, this is it. Be sure to keep the dough refrigerated and if it warms up a little while you are rolling it out, pop it back in the refrigerator until cold. It won’t puff correctly unless the dough is as cold as possible into a hot oven. Be creative and add some chopped (blanched) asparagus to this, it’s a perfect spring time recipe. Enjoy!

Leek and Goat Cheese Puff Pastry Tart

Print
  • 1 cup baby leeks, sliced thin
  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • Sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme
  • 1 box (14 ounces) frozen puff pastry, such as Dufour, thawed
  • 1 large egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water
  • 1/4 cup Nicoise olives, pitted
  • 6 ounces goat cheese, room temperature

Rinse leeks well, and drain; set aside.

Melt butter with oil in a medium sauté pan over medium heat. Add leeks and sprinkle with salt; cook, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes, cook until translucent and soft, add thyme. Leeks can be refrigerated in an airtight container up to 1 day; bring to room temperature before assembling tart.

Cut or roll out pastry to a 6-by-14-inch rectangle; place on a parchment-lined baking sheet (reserve remaining pastry for another use). Score a 3/4-inch border. Brush with egg wash; sprinkle with Parmesan. Refrigerate 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375°. Bake pastry until light brown; remove from oven, and press center area with spatula. Using an offset spatula or a spoon, smear the pastry with the cheese within the border, add leeks and olives, and bake until crust is golden brown, about 10 minutes. If bottom is soft, bake 3 to 5 minutes more.

Remove tart from oven place tart onto a wire rack; let cool slightly. Cut into pieces; serve warm or at room temperature (tart can stand at room temperature up to 1 hour).

Olive Magazine Photo

Temecula Olive Oil Cooking Class March 2017

Celebrate the Irish with us in downtown Seal Beach !

Thur. March 2

(Additional class March 16th  if March 2nd sells out,) BYOB

6:30 – 8:30, approximately

See below for reservations

Guinness-Beef-Stew-Recipe-wonkywonderful

Kerrygold Aged Cheddar Cheese Sandwich Fingers with Sun Dried Tomatoes

Irish Pub Salad

 Beef & Guinness Stew

Potato Torte with Bacon & Cabbage

Guinness Chocolate Cake 

For Seal Beach Reservations please call:

562-296-5421

Sponsored by

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Photo: Wonky Wonderful

Fullerton Arboretum Demo Cooking Class with Chef Louise

Fullerton Arboretum Cooking Demo

I’ll be pairing up with my friend, Louise Mellor for monthly cooking demo’s and foodie tastings, tips on how to stock your pantry, cooking with seasonality and celebrations at the table with design and style

Sat. Feb 11th

11 – 2, approximately

See below for reservations

Cupid in the kitchen…

Chocolate Tasting

Beef Wellington Tarts with Mushroom Blue Cheese Sauce 800 2765

Roasted Spring Asparagus salad with Meyer Lemon vinaigrette

Elegant Beef Wellington Puff Pastry Tarts with Caramelized Onions, Maytag Blue Cheese, Sautéed Mushrooms

Dark chocolate hazelnut flourless cake with vanilla bean ice cream and fresh berries

Wine will be available in class

Sponsored by

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For a full 6 month class schedule and to register for a class click

Fullerton Arboretum

Temecula Olive Oil Tasting Room, Seal Beach Cooking Demo

Temecula Olive Oil Tasting Room

Seal Beach

Thur. Feb. 2nd  (Additional class  Feb. 16th  if Feb. 2nd sells out,)

6:30 – 8:30, approximately

See below for reservations

salmon blood orange

Pear, Pecan & Feta Salad

Farro & Balsamic Roasted Butternut Squash

Blood Orange Butter Broiled Salmon

Raspberry Dark Chocolate Mousse

For Seal Beach Reservations please call:

562-296-5421

Sponsored by

Melissas logo small

Extra January Class!

Cooking at Temecula Olive Oil, Seal Beach

Jan 19th

6:30 – 8:30, approximately

pork-braciole

Minestrone Soup with Italian Meatballs

Pork Braciola Porchetta Style

     (Stuffed pork cutlets stuffed with Italian herbs & cheese)

     Served with Mushroom Ragu

Saffron Risotto

Tangerine Panna Cotta

By Reservation Only
(562) 296-5421
148 Main Street
Seal Beach, CA 90740

SPONSORED BY

New Cooking Class Venue

Cooking at Fullerton Arboretum

New Events!

outdoor-table-setting 

Celebrating the seasons around the table with demonstration style cooking class and a specialty food tasting each month.

Join my friend Chef Louise Mellor and I in the beautiful gardens at Cal State Fullerton’s Arboretum for a meal as we celebrate the seasons.  Learn how to stock your pantry and together we’ll use garden fresh, seasonal ingredients with classic French techniques to create simple, exciting dishes for special occasions and everyday meals.

We will also be sharing how to entertain with simplicity and style.  Most importantly, we hope you will be inspired to get into the kitchen at home and share life around the table.

Full lunch servings will be offered and wine will be available if desired. Here are upcoming classes for Jan, Feb and March, take a look here for class registration and the schedule through summer! Hope to see you there~

Saturday, Jan. 21, 11 – 2
Book Signing and Demo

Soup from the pantry

Join us for a demonstration on soup basics and enjoy a hearty bowl of minestrone soup with puff pastry ‘rolls’.

 

February 11th, Saturday, 11 – 2
Cupid in the kitchen…
Chocolate Tasting

Roasted Spring Asparagus salad with Meyer Lemon vinaigrette

Elegant Beef Wellington Puff Pastry Tarts with Caramelized Onions, Maytag Blue Cheese, Sautéed Mushrooms

Dark chocolate hazelnut flourless cake with vanilla bean ice cream and fresh berries

March 25th Saturday, 11 – 2
I left my heart in San Francisco…
Olive oil tasting

Homemade herbed ricotta with lemon, Parmesan & blistered tomatoes served on sourdough crostini

San Franciscan style Cioppino with fresh seafood in a rich tomato white wine broth.

Blood orange olive oil cake with whipped Grand Manier marscapone

 

Chicken Marsala for a Quick, Easy Weeknight Dinner

chicken-marsala

 

Chicken Marsala

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There is a simple trick that you can do ahead of time to make life a little easier cooking during the week. Buy chicken cutlets*, place them between 2 sheets of plastic or parchment paper and pound to ¼” thickness. Stack them with parchment paper between each breast, freeze on a sheet pan separately then wrap in plastic and place the entire stack into a freezer bag. Now you can remove 1 or 2 or 4 when you get home from work and proceed with any recipe. The chicken breast (you can do this with pork tenderloin as well), will defrost almost immediately and you’ll have dinner on the table in ½ hour.

  • 1/3 cup flour plus more for mushrooms
  • Sea salt and pepper, to taste
  • Olive oil
  • 4 Chicken cutlets, pounded ¼” thick
  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
  • 6 ounces brown crimini mushrooms, sliced or quartered
  • 1 ½ tablespoon minced shallot
  • 2 teaspoons minced garlic
  • 1⁄2 cup chicken stock
  • 1⁄3 cup dry Marsala wine
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon lemon zest
  • 1 tablespoon Italian flat leafed parsley, minced

Season the flour with sea salt and pepper and dredge the chicken in the flour shaking off the excess.

Heat the slow cooker to sauté if you can or use a skillet, add enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan and lightly brown the chicken on both sides. Set aside.

If needed add a little more oil to the pan, just enough to coat the bottom and add the butter, when melted sauté the mushrooms until browned. Add the shallots and cook until translucent, add the garlic and stir briefly until it’s aromatic.

To finish on stove top:

Sprinkle the mushroom mixture with a little flour and cook, stirring until flour is incorporated and browned. Whisk in the chicken stock, Marsala wine and lemon juice, reduce until slightly thickened. Add the chicken back to the mixture and cook for about 2 minutes. Serve with chopped parsley and lemon zest over the chicken breasts.

*If you want to buy chicken breasts or cut from a whole chicken just butterfly them before pounding.

Christmas Roast

A Christmas Roast, Dec. 2016

rib-roast

After the huge cooking spree for Thanksgiving I’m happy to create a simple elegant meal for Christmas and I always turn to a rib roast. Most people refer to them as a ‘prime rib’ yet that really refers to the grade of meat. While USDA Prime Grade is the best, it can also be on the expensive side, while a good ‘Choice’ grade is nearly as good as the prime, it can be purchased for much less. Both roasts are considered ‘standing rib roast’ and you treat them equally in cooking.

Costco has the absolute best deal on both Choice and Prime Grade roasts, choose bone in for the best flavor and juiciness. Either roast will need to cook a little longer with the bone in but the flavor is superior. A trick you can do is cut the bones off the roast and tie them back onto the roast, you’ll still get juicy flavor but won’t need to roast quite as long.

The roast will take some time to come to room temperature so remove from the refrigerator 3 house before roasting. Pre heat your oven for 30 minutes and roast for approximately 15 – 20 minutes per pound, start with a high heat, 450°, for 15 minutes, then turn the oven down to 325° and continue cooking. Use a digital probe thermometer for best results, it’s worth spending $15 or $20 on a digital thermometer for a $75.00 roast.

For rare roast remove from the oven when the thermometer reaches 120°, for medium rare, 125° or 130° for medium, the meat will continue to cook (called carry over cooking time) while it rests. I like to serve the roast with a Red Wine Sauce or Bordelaise Sauce but remember that your sauce will only be as good as the beef stock you use so use the best. Homemade is tops but if you must purchase a stock try More Than Gourmet Glace de Veau (veal stock). Standing rib roasts are great on the grill also but that’s another story.

 

Photo: Josh, The Meatwave

Prime Rib or Standing Rib Roast

Print

Serves 8
Total preparation time: 1 hr. 30 min. – 2 hr.

  • 1 (7 lb.) Rib Roast, Bone-In or Boned & Tied
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1 clove garlic, minced – optional use 1 teaspoon ground garlic (NOT garlic salt)
  • Sea Salt and ground pepper

Place roast in a shallow baking pan bone down, melt butter in small saucepan and add garlic and salt and pepper. Mix well, brush over roast, and let stand at room temperature for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 450°F. Use a probe meat thermometer*, placed into the center of the roast but not touching bone. Roast for 10 minutes in uncovered pan, then reduce heat to 350°F and continue for 1 hour and 20 minutes for rare. Baste with pan drippings from time to time. Thermometer should read 120° - 125° for rare, 130° - 135° for medium rare. Do not cook beyond 140°, medium. Let the roast stand for 15 minutes, with the probe in the meat, before slicing. Slice either between the bones or cut off all the bones at once and the slice the meat into serving pieces.

Roast 15 minutes more if you want a medium roast, another 15 minutes for well done.

Remove from oven when done, and allow the meat to rest for a few minutes before carving. Transfer to a warmed serving platter.

• A digital probe meat thermometer – the probe remains in the meat while in the oven and the control sits outside on the stove or counter. See link below

Bordelaise Sauce

Print
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 2 carrots, sliced in rounds
  • 2 cloves garlic, cut in half
  • 4 peppercorns
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 11/4 cups beef broth*
  • 1 sprig thyme
  • Sea Salt
  • 2 tablespoons flour
  • 1/2 cup dry red wine
  • 1 tablespoon Italian flat leaf parsley, chopped

Melt the butter in a heavy skillet and sauté the onion until transparent. Add the carrots and cook until soft.

Place garlic, peppercorns, and bay leaf in cheesecloth bag. Add to pan along with 1 cup of beef broth. Boil until broth has been slightly reduced, about 10 minutes, then season with thyme and salt.

Remove cheesecloth bag and put mixture through a coarse strainer. Return to pan.

Meanwhile, dissolve flour in the other 1/4 cup of broth and add gradually to sauce. Stir constantly until sauce thickens, then add the wine. Reduce heat and allow to simmer until ready to serve, and then sprinkle chopped parsley on top.

Use a quality beef broth if not making your own such as More Than Gourmet Glace de Veau (veal stock).

Easy Thanksgiving Shortcuts

How to Make Stock & Gravy for the Holidays

These are two great project to make this weekend and freeze for your holiday next week. You don’t need to wait until the turkey is cooked before making your gravy. You can make the stock in a slow cooker, much hands off and you don’t need to precisely cut the vegetables since you will discard them after the stock is made. 
This time of year all grocery stores, especially the high end ones, Whole Foods, Gelsons, Lazy Acres, Bristol Farms will carry turkey and chicken pieces for your stock. You can mix chicken parts with the turkey and you won’t notice a difference.

Even if you say you don’t want ‘pre-made’ gravy and want to wait until your bird is done, make the roux (flour and fat which thickens the gravy) ahead of time and refrigerate. Cut up the vegetables for the stock, put them in a freezer bag and pop in the freezer until you make the actual stock. There’s enough to do at the last minute! I know many of you will balk at not stuffing your bird but it’s very dangerous and takes so much longer to cook that the turkey is usually overdone. If you insist that the dressing tastes better there are a couple of ways you can accomplish more ‘turkey’ flavor in the dressing. One, use turkey stock to make the dressing/stuffing and mince some turkey parts to mix in with the dressing. You can buy gizzards, hearts etc. and use them to make stock then mince and add to the dressing. Here’s a really great trick to cut down on time in the kitchen….Cut your turkey into pieces instead of cooking a huge unwieldy bird. Add the dressing to the pan with the turkey 30 minutes before it’s due to come out of the oven and you’ll have that ‘cooked in turkey’ taste. The turkey not only cooks faster, it’s easier to serve, easier to carve and the clean up is next to nothing. You won’t have that carcass that you try and cover and stick in the overcrowded refrigerator and you will have a perfectly cooked bird as you can now remove the breast pieces from the oven when they are done rather than take the chance the breast will be overdone before the legs/thighs are cooked. 

So those are my simple tricks to make Thanksgiving an easier meal to cook. Get started with these two short video’s and get cookin’ this weekend! 

Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

Here are a couple of video’s that I made with my friend, Christina Peters from
Food Photography Blog

 

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