Dinner: Pan Seared Center Cut Pork Chop, Parmesan and Herb Roasted Red Potatoes and Sauteed Vegetables

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Pomegranate Vinaigrette

Pomegranate Vinaigrette

Pomegranates are considered to be one of Natures Super fruits. In season from September to February they are very tasty but for some tricky to eat. Freeze your fresh pomegranates so the edible fruit can be easily extracted.

Ingredients:

1 cup 100% Pomegranate Juice

4 tbsp apple cider vinegar

¼ cup pomegranate fruit

2 tbsp dark brown sugar

2 cups Olive Oil

2 tbsp Fresh crack black pepper

Equipment

Large Bowl

Balloon Whisk

Mason jar

Preheating: None

Preparation

Add pomegranate juice, vinegar, brown sugar to bowl

Whisk together

Slowly add olive oil and whisk until combine

Add pomegranate fruit and pepper

Whisk together

Set aside for 20 min

Add to Mason jar

For Service

Shake and enjoy

The Classic Salmon Niçoise Salad

Salmon Niçoise Salad

This healthy and easy to prepare dish is loaded with flavor but won’t fill you up.

The Niçoise Salad 

Originally from the region in France known as Nice, the niçoise salad is traditionally made with tuna, greens, tomatoes, anchovies, black olives, capers, hardboiled eggs, green beans, and vinaigrette dressing.

Ingredients

1 Salmon Fillet

1 hardboiled egg

1 Roma Tomato

1 cup mixed greens

¼ lb string beans green 

½ cup homemade vinaigrette

¼ string beans white     

Salt & Pepper

Olive Oil             

Potatoes quartered

Thyme chopped             

Parsley chopped

¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese 

Equipment

Large bowl      

Medium Saute pan

Fish Spatula      

Small sauce pan

           

Preparation

Season Salmon with salt and pepper

Sear salmon in hot pan until line goes to center of fish

Turn fish and allow line to go up the other side of the fish

Set aside and drain

Quarter potatoes and boil in salt and pepper

Remove from water when soft but not mushy and drain and pat dry

Toss potatoes in thyme, parsley parmesan cheese and salt and pepper

Coat with olive oil and put on large sheet pan

Roast until fork tender then remove from oven

Blanch string beans in lightly salted water until tender (not soft)

Drain and and put in ice bath to stop cooking

Lightly coat with vinaigrette

Quarter the hardboiled egg lightly coat with vinaigrette

Quarter the tomato lightly coat with vinaigrette

Lightly coat mixed greens

For Service

Mound mixed greens on center of plate

Place salmon on top of greens

Arrange remaining ingredients around the outside of the plate

Enjoy

Banana Fritters with a Peanut Butter Mousse topped with Sweet Cream with a Salted Caramel Drizzle w recipe

Ingredients

1 egg

2 ripe bananas, coarsely chopped

3 ½ Cups Milk

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups self-raising flour

1 tsp Baking powder

½ cup sugar

¼ cup cocoa powder (optional)

Vegetable oil for deep-frying

  

Equipment

Large pot for frying

Stand or Hand Mixer

Large Spoon

Cooling Rack

Paper Towels

Rubber Spatula

Preparation

Slice bananas add to mixer

Add sugar to mixer

Beat until smooth about 2 min

Add flour, salt, baking, powder and cocoa powder to mixer

Mix until combined

Add milk slowly check consistency (pancake batter)

Scrap down bowl

Add one egg

Mix until incorporated

Check consistency if too thick add more milk

Heat oil to 350-360

Drop 2-3 heaping spoonfuls of batter into oil

Fry for 2 minutes on each side

Remove from oil with slotted spoon

Put on cooling rack to drain

For Peanut Butter Mousse

2 cups creamy peanut butter

3 cups Whipped Cream (1 cup for garnish)

½ cup powdered sugar

2 tbsp. vanilla

Put peanut butter into mixer and whip until soft

Fold in whipped cream

Chill until service

For service

Sprinkle powered sugar

Put mousse in center of plate

Add a cannel of whip cream or ice cream

Enjoy 

How to buy the FRESHEST Seafood

• Fresh fish NEVER smells like FISH.
• Fresh seafood smells like sea water.
• If it has a fishy smell it is not as fresh as it should be and you should not purchase it.

• Bright, Clear, Firm and Red
• Colors on fish should be bright and not dull or washed out. Even grays and blacks on fish should have a nice vibrant color.
• Eyes should be clear and not cloudy. This is a sign of freshness of the fish you are purchasing and the longer the fish is out of the water the cloudier the eyes will become.
• Flesh should be firm and spring back when pressed don with the finger. If the flesh does not bounce back the fish is starting to break down
• Gills on a fresh fish should be red or bright pink   

• When selecting live shellfish such as oysters, clams, and mussels here is a good rule of thumb.
• If you knock on the door and no one answers that means they are not at home. They are most likely not alive if the shell does not close or move when tapped. Select another one that is home.


• Live crabs and lobster legs should show leg movement.
• If they are coming out of a cooler they will be a bit slower than if they are coming out of water.
• Raw shrimp meat should be firm and have a mild odor.
• Shells can come in many colors: translucent with a grayish green, pinkish tan or light pink tint.
• Tiger shrimp look like guess… 
• Tigers but the color is a light blue tint with black stripes.

Don’t settle for anything less than the best looking seafood.

Ask your fish monger for what the freshest catch of the day is and they will be more than happy to help you make the right selection for your meal.

Homemade Mayonnaise & Tartar Sauces

Making sauces from scratch is not only easy to do but it allows you to create your own flavor profiles. Let’s take a look at some simple recipe bases that you can add your own twist to and make it fit your dish perfectly.

The start to any tartar sauce is a great mayonnaise base.

Mayonnaise is often referred to as the Mother of Cold Emulsified Sauces.

An emulsification takes place when two items in this case oil and egg yolks are bound together and made stable as not to separate.   

Homemade Mayonnaise

This recipe will yield 2 cups of mayonnaise

Ingredients

2 cups salad oil

2 egg yolks

½ cup lemon juice

1 tbsp. Dijon mustard

Salt & pepper to taste

Equipment

Balloon whisk

Large glass bowl

Preparation

Add mustard, egg yolk, salt and pepper to bowl

Whisk until yolks are pale yellow

Add 2 tbsp. of lemon juice

While whisking slowly drizzle in salad oil

Add 1 cup oil and then add remainder of lemon juice

Whisk in remaining oil until thick

Adjust seasoning

Refrigerate until ready for use

Now you have a base for many different tartar sauces 

Equipment

Large glass bowl

Rubber Spatula

Sesame Tartar Sauce

Ingredients

1 cup homemade mayo

2 tbsp. pure sesame oil  

2 tsp. sesame seeds

¼ cup sweet relish

Saffron Mayo

Ingredients

1 cup homemade mayo

1 tsp. of saffron powder

Spicy Remoulade

Ingredients

2 cups homemade mayo

8-10 gherkins chopped

2 tbsp. capers

2 tbsp. dried parsley

2 tbsp. dried chervil

2 tbsp. dried tarragon

1 tsp.  Cayenne pepper

Roasted Garlic and Thyme Tartar Sauce

Ingredients

2 cups homemade mayo

1 head roasted garlic

2 sprigs fresh thyme chopped

¼ cup sweet Indian relish

Cajun Spice Tartar Sauce

2 cups homemade mayo

4 tbsp. your favorite Cajun spice blend

¼ cup sweet Indian relish 

Ginger Bay Scallops with Sesame Rice

Here is a simple, sophisticated and healthy dish that packs a lot of flavor. Ginger is the key ingredient here so use it and enjoy the flavor and the results. Serve with your favorite vegetable and Enjoy

Ingredients

2 lbs bay scallops

4 cups white rice

1 bunch parsley chopped

½ cup sesame oil

8 cups water

3 cloves chopped garlic

¼ cup Chopped Ginger

Cayenne Pepper

Salt & Pepper

Equipment

Sauté pan

Medium sauce pan

2” ring mold or ramekin

Large bowl

Preheating: None

Preparation

Drain scallops and rinse

Put scallops in bowl

Add chopped ½ ginger

Add cayenne pepper

Boil water

Add sesame oil

Add rice to water cover and lower heat

Add parsley

Cook rice for 20 minutes

Remove from heat set aside

Heat Sauté pan

Add olive oil and remainder of chopped ginger

Add in scallops

Sauté scallops for 2 minutes

Remove from sauté pan

For service

Put ring mold in center of plate

Add rice to bottom of mold

Add scallops

Add rice to mold to complete

Add a few more scallops to top of mold

Drizzle sesame oil around molded items

Enjoy

Exploring Food!!!

And now for something completely different. Macaroni and Cheese Cake with Buffalo Chicken and Buttermilk Ranch.

Seafood the Story

The world of seafood is vast as the ocean itself. Today there are so many available options that is could be overwhelming for some.

Let’s take a look at some common terms and purchasing tips to help you select the right seafood for your recipe, table and the environment.

We will begin with the most common issue that faces most types of seafood today sustainability. Yes that is a major issue and one of the most important when select seafood. As you make your choices you have to really think about the impact that it will have not only on the environment but also on the Eco system that the seafood came from.

As over-fishing and the depletion of spawning grounds for seafood disappearing at a rapid rate has a major effect on not only what we will eat today but what we will be able to eat tomorrow. Be sure to select seafood that is not on the brink of being endangered or so over-fished that the Eco system that it supports is also on the verge of collapsing.  

For the really really technical stuff on sustainability read this: An Evaluation of Sustainable Seafood Guides: Implications for Environmental Groups and the Seafood Industry Marine Resource Economics, Volume 24, pp. 301-310 0738-1360/00 $3.00 + .00

Printed in the USA All rights reserved Copyright © 2009 MRE Foundation, Inc. web ref: http://cels.uri.edu/urissi/docs/08%20ROHEIM%20THAL%2024-3.pdf

OK next thing we look at is farm raised vs. wild caught.

Having a clear understanding of where your food lives will help you understand why it tastes the way it does and why some things pair with it then others.

The picture above is of farm raised fish they are in large tanks and don’t really do much but swim in a circle all day. Their diet consists of man-made feed and items (in some cases corn) hmm feeding corn to fish.

Well some feel that the farm raised fish have to receive higher levels of antibiotics because of their living conditions. In addition they are said to be fed umm let’s say enhancements to improve their appearance.

All of these things are said to be the reason for the noticeably different flavor of farm raised fish.

Wild caught fish however are totally different they swim in the wild, they eat things found naturally smaller fish plant life etc. they spawn in the wild.

They provide balance to the Eco system and encourage the growth of other organisms.

The flavors they impart tell the story of how they lived and what they consumed on a daily basis.

The oils the subtle hints of the plant life they fed on are all right there for you to taste and play off of in your dish. For better or worse the choice is up to you and you will have to try both and see what flavor appeals to you.

Always keeping in mind how you choice will affect the planet, the environment and the generations of fish to come.