YUMMY~

After finishing 4 open houses yesterday at

194 Riverside dr #6B

230 Riverside Drive #16B

2025 Broadway #17F

240 East 35^th street #5B

……………………………….and the Super Bowl about to begin, I needed to come up with a quick refreshing pasta dish for my 8 month pregnant wife and hungry little baby in mommy’s tummy.

I zipped over to the local fine food store and picked up the following:

1 pound dried spaghetti

2 lemons

16 ounces chicken stock

1 pound peeled garlic

1 bunch chives

1 head of watercress

4 ounces of parmesan cheese

Sea salt, cracked black pepper and a pinch of crushed red peppers

1 loaf of sourdough bread

Method:

In a large sauce pot, caramelize the garlic pearls in olive oil

Add the chicken stock or vegetable stock to the garlic and reduce the broth by 50%

Season with salt, pepper and crushed red pepper flakes.

Cook the spaghetti in a large pot of salted boiling water until al dente.

Once the pasta is cooked perfectly- add the watercress and chives to the garlic broth and heat until the greens wilt and then add the pasta.

Your simple sauce~

Mix thoroughly and serve pasta bowls. Garnish with grated parmesan cheese, cracked black pepper and serve with crispy hot sourdough bread!

Congrats to the Giants!!!

YUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!

Cous cous can be such a delicious side dish, salad or entrée, if you cook it correctly.

Ingredients-
1 pound dry cous cous
Vegetable broth equal the volume of the 1 pound of dried cous cous
3-4 ounces of sundried tomato and basil presto- can probably get this premade at the supermarket or you can make your own.
1 sliced red onion
1 sliced white onion
1 red pepper- slice into julienne pieces
1 green pepper- slice into julienne pieces
1 yellow pepper- slice into julienne pieces
1 pinch of crushed red peppers
Sea salt and cracked black pepper to taste
2 ounces whole sweet butter
3 ounces XV olive oil

1 bunch chopped chives

Method-
Sauté all of the vegetables in Olive oil and season with salt, pepper and crushed red peppers- place the vegetables once they are tender and brown on a cookie tray to cool.

Place the vegetable broth in a sauce pot- remember it is a one to one ratio based on volume to cous cous.
Bring the broth to a boil, and then stir in the pesto.
Add the cous cous to the boiling liquid and keep on a high heat for 1-2 minutes.
Stir the cous cous one time and then turn the heat off and place a cover on the pot, for 3-4 minutes or when the cous cous is tender.
Place in a casserole dish and mix in the sautéed vegetables, whole butter, and remaining olive oil and season the mixture again.

Garnish with chopped chives and serve~

Enjoy!

On Sunday afternoon my wife emailed me and said that she needs to eat Sardines 1X per week, while she is preggo. HUH?

I had open houses all day and told her to get me the following:

10 whole Sardines (heads removed)

1/4 cup Wondra flour

1 bunch watercress

1/4 cup olive oil

The juice of one lemon

Sea salt and fresh Cracked Black Pepper

Method-

I would certainly have your fish man filet the sardines for you. Don’t worry about the little “hair like” bones. They will get crunchy and go down easy.

Season the filets with Sea Salt and Pepper ,then dredge the filets in the wondra flour.

Place dredged filets into pre-heated sauté pan and sear, skin side down at high heat until the filets get crispy (about 2-3 minutes).

They are getting crispy~

Flip the filets to the flesh side and cook for another 30 seconds.

Remove crispy filets and place on some paper towels.

In a separate bowl, place watercress, lemon, 4T XVOO, salt and pepper to taste.

Toss the cress lightly. It is a delicate green and can bruise easily!

Place 4-6 filets on a plate and a small amount of the salad tilting on the filets.

Drizzle a few drops of XVOO around the plate and serve.

Yummy~

They are good for you, delicious and if you are preggo, they are great for the baby’s brain development!

How many times in your life have you gotten out of bed and fantasized about the perfect hash brown? You throw on your clothes and head to your favorite diner or restaurant and order your breakfast with well done hash browns. Your mind is racing with anticipation and you can barely hold a conversation, when all of a sudden your breakfast arrives.

The breakfast is like a bad blind date and something has to be done!

There is a 20% chance that those hash browns we’re made with love. More likely, they are boiled potatoes that sat on a griddle and were barely seasoned.

Well folks- here is to no more lousy hash browns, EVER!

Ingredients:

5 peeled Idaho potatoes sliced into 1/4″ disks

1 diced green pepper

2 small diced vidalia onions

A pinch of crushed red pepper

Salt and pepper to taste

4 ounces XV olive oil

Method:

Place potatoes in a pot of salted boiling water. Cook until tender.

Strain all of the water from the potatoes.

Sauté the onions and peppers until golden brown and tender. Season to taste.

Remove onions and peppers and sauté the blanched potatoes in the same pan until they begin to get brown.

Add Salt, Pepper and Crushed red pepper to the potatoes and also add the onions and peppers.

Let the potato mixture get brown and then turn the mixture. The goal is to get as much of the potato brown and flavorful as possible.

Serve with your favorite breakfast items!

3 pounds Chicken thighs

Sea salt

Cracked Black Pepper

1 cup peeled garlic

1 tsp crushed red chili

The juice of 3 lemons

The juice of 3 limes

¾ cup extra virgin olive oil

2 bunches rosemary

 Method-

Place chicken thighs in a roasting pan-

Season with salt, pepper, red chilis

Pour squeezed lemon and lime juice over the thighs

Add olive oil

Add whole garlic and try the have the garlic go in between the thighs in the olive oil and citrus juices.

Sprinkle picked rosemary leaves all over chicken

Roast at 375 for 1 hour and then turn up to 425 for 10 minutes.

Make sure the garlic is tender

Serve to your happy guests!

Wishing you a fantastic holiday season~

~butternut squash~ about to get roasted!

Roasted butternut squash with Pears, Maple syrup and toasted pumpkin seeds

Feeds 6 people

Ingredients:

2 large butternut squash- remove the skin and remove the seeds- dice into 1 inch cubes

8 diced pears- skin on

1cup toasted pumpkin seeds

4-6 ounces pure maple syrup

4 ounces olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Method-

Place the diced butternut squash onto a cookie tray that has been brushed with olive oil

Pour ½ of the maple syrup onto the squash and make sure the pieces are all coasted in oil and syrup. Season the squash with salt and pepper.

Roast the squash at 375 degrees for 30 minutes or until tender

            (* this can be done during the day, before your guests arrive)

When it is serving time, place butternut squash back in the oven for a few minutes until the squash pieces get hot.

In a sauté pan- sauté the diced pears at high heat and as soon as they get hot, add the toasted pumpkin seeds and sauté for a few more minutes.

Add the remaining maple syrup to the pears and then place in a large serving container.

Lightly mix in the squash and serve-

I can’t wait to try these! Dawn makes some mean meatballs~

Dawn’s “Ridiculous” Meatball recipe

I get rave reviews so try the recipe out.

The secret is to make sure the meatballs stay intact when you brown them. Carefully drop them into your sauce pot (I use my electric Cuisinart Pressure cooker on the “simmer” setting).

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs Meatloaf blend (pork/beef/veal ground meat)
• 2 pieces of sliced bread (whole wheat) edges cut off
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1/3 cup grated onion
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• salt
• pepper
• 1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs (for coating before browning)
• Vegetable oil (for browning)

Makes around 28 small meatballs

Sauce

• (3) 28 oz cans crushed tomatoes
• Diced onion, carrot, celery (I buy the already chopped from Whole        Foods or Trader Joes) about 1/2 cup each
• dash of Balsmic
• dash of red pepper
• salt
• pepper

Get sauce going: Sauté vegetables in olive oil for 20 minutes (low-med). Add tomatoes and season with other ingredients to taste. Or use Raos bottled sauce as your base.

Preparation:

Heat milk in small sauce pan. Add bread and simmer for 5 minutes. Let bread mixture cool. Mash up with a fork.

Mix first 8 ingredients. Combine with your hands, don’t overwork. Form meatballs (not too big) and be careful not to pack them (think light and fluffy!). Roll meatballs in breadcrumbs and place on a baking rack.

Heat oil in large pan with high sides. Add oil (1.5 inches in depth minimum). Brown meatballs, turning gently.

Add browned meatballs to sauce in batches carefully. Simmer on low for at least 2 hours.

He wanted to make something easy for dinner for his wife and needed a super easy vegetarian dish.

Scanning my brain quickly, I came up with a vegetarian Cous Cous meal with roasted bread and a nice bottle of Pinot Grigio to go with it.

This is how my friends meal turned out~ His wife was psyched!

Feeds 4

Ingredients:

1 pound Cous Cous

1 teaspoon yellow curry powder (you can make your own or buy the powder from your grocery store)

Vegetable broth (you can make your own or buy the powder from your grocery store)

2 oz extra virgin Olive oil

1/2 cup chopped sun dried tomatoes

1/2 bunch sliced scallions

1 sliced sweet Vidalia onion

3 ounces sliced shitake mushrooms

3 ounces sliced white mushrooms

2 long green chiles

2 long red chiles

1 loaf of French bread

Making Couse Cous is simple- if you know what you are doing- The ratio for liquid to Cous Cous is 1 to 1 based on volume. (Secret- decrease the liquid by approx 5%, based on volume.

Method-

Bring vegetable broth to a boil-

Add curry powder, salt and pepper to taste to the broth and simmer for 2 minutes.

Whisk in the Cous Cous and as soon as the liquid comes to a boil- remove the pot from the fire and cover for about 3 minutes.

You want the Cous Cous to be slightly al dente.

After approx. 3 minutes or when the Cous Cous is perfect- remove the Cous Cous from the pot and place in a large bowl.

Take two forks and fluff the Cous Cous and add the olive oil. You can add a few tablespoons of butter as well, if you are not a Vegan.

Place the Cous Cous on a cookie tray and let cool-

*Note- this is a very delicate product, so don’t mush it or mash it up.

* This can be done a few hours before your guests arrive.

When you are ready to eat, in a separate sauté pan- sauté the onions and sliced chiles first. Once they are tender, add the sliced mushrooms and cook until tender as well.

Right at the end of cooking, add the sliced scallions and add your Cous Cous as well! It only needs 3-4 minutes to get hot-

Serve on a nice platter and you can garnish with coriander leaves and sliced scallion.

Serve the dish with some hot French bread and enjoy your healthy dish!

When we owned Rain at 100 west 82^nd street and at 1059 Third Avenue, the amount of

Mae Ploy Sweet Chili sauce- aka- Nectar to the gods, was staggering. I should have bough shares in the company.

Nectar of the gods~

Sadly both Rain locations are gone, but people still stop me and still crave the Thai Beef Jerky, Crispy Fish and papaya salad.

The though of Rain gets me excited for sweet, salty, spicy, and sour flavors of Thai Cuisine.

Here is a really simple recipe that will wow your friend sand family.

Feeds 4 people-

2# pounds of boneless skinless chicken breast cut into strips, lengthwise.

5 ounces corn starch

1 cup sweet chili sauce

Salt and pepper to taste

1 Bunch cleaned baby bok choy or 2 cups sugar snap peas

1 sliced Vidalia onion

3 ounces Olive oil

Method:

~place corn starch in a bowl and add water. Mix with your fingers. You want to have the consistency of a cream sauce. Add 2 T sweet chili sauce to the mixture, plus salt and pepper.

~ season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper and place into the corn starch mixture.

The breast are ready to meet the corn starch slurry!

~in a preheated sauté pan- place the individual chicken pieces into the pan (make sure they have a nice coating of corn starch)

~ cook the chicken on both sides until golden brown.

Crispy Chicken~

~ In a separate pan- sauté the sliced onion until caramelized and then add the bok choy or sugar snaps to the onions and sauté for about a minute.

~ add the remaining sweet chili sauce to the veggies and serve with your crispy chicken.

veggies

• Note- I like to toss the crispy chicken into the sweet chili sauce as well!

Bon appétit!