Chef Michael's Tomato & Olive Topping - A Chef Favorite

I've seen many dishes feature some combination of tomatoes & olives and have even shared a few from other folks. Finally I decided to create my own blend, and let me tell you... this topping is OMG good! My first use was over a simple baked salmon, which proved to be absolutely delicious, but seriously... I think this topping will also pair well with a white fish or even chicken breast. :-) Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 1 medium tomato - chopped
• 1/2 yellow onion - minced
• 8-10 black olives - minced or cut into eighths... ;-)
• 1 clove garlic - smash minced
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• salt & pepper to taste

Preparation:

Heat a skillet over medium heat. When the pan is hot add the garlic and onions. Saute until the onion is translucent.

Next add the tomatoes and saute until they just start to fall apart.

Finally fold in the olives and gently toss the mix until heated through.

Season with salt & pepper to taste.

Serve over a simple baked salmon as shown here or get creative with a protein of your choosing.

Blessed be... and happy cooking!

Blackened Salmon & Dijon Sauce - A Chef Favorite

Adapted from a recipe found by Debbie Marcum  in Mediterranean for Beginners. 

Beautifully blackened salmon filets with a deliciously creamy sauce... Need I say more? :-) This adapted version of the original dish, now portioned for two with a few minor changes turned out so good that my Carolyn has requested it twice a week until further notice! LOL Enjoy!

Ingredients:

For the Salmon:

• 2 (6-ounce) salmon fillets
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper

For the Creamy Dijon Sauce:

• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp fresh dill - chopped
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1-2 tbsp low fat yogurt

Preparation:

Heat a large skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat.

In a small bowl, mix together the paprika, garlic powder, salt and black pepper. Sprinkle the spice mixture evenly over both sides of the salmon fillets.

Add the olive oil to the preheated skillet. Sear the salmon fillets for 3 minutes per side, or until cooked through.

In a small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, lemon juice and dill. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir in the yogurt, and if needed add another splash of lemon juice to thin the sauce.

Serve the blackened salmon fillets with a dollop of Creamy Dijon Sauce on top. Garnish with additional chopped fresh herbs, if desired.

Blessed be...and happy cooking!

Chicken Fried Barley & Spinach - A Chef Favorite

This dish is a new take on my Venison Fried Rice from 2014 when I was still eating red meats 4-5 times a week. Times change and now the protein is ground white meat only chicken, and the rice has been replaced with pearl barley for a much lower glycemic index. All in all, this was a surprisingly amazing transformation. The dish is healthy and absolutely packed with a restaurant quality flavor pallet. The roasted pepitas (shelled pumpkin seeds) elevate the dish even more with a touch of crunch that will make you smile.... ENJOY!

I must admit I am very proud of this recipe I built from the ground up all those years ago. It is literally me on a plate and even healthier now with the protein change and spinach addition and will be one of my signature dishes going forward.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground chicken
• 1 lge yellow onion
• 2+ cups baby portobello mushrooms
• 1 red bell pepper
• Avocado oil
• 1 tbsp dried parsley
• Salt and fresh ground pepper
• 1 cup pearl barley (45 min version)
• 1/4 cup roasted, salted pepitas
• 1 big bag fresh baby spinach, wilted with just a touch of oil and kosher salt

Preparation:

Start your barley first as it takes 45 minutes to cook. Make sure you rinse it well first.

Roast the pepitas in a small skillet with a dash of avocado oil and salt. Set aside for final garnish.

Cut up onion, mushrooms and pepper to whatever size you like, sautee in a large pan with a little avocado oil, parsley, s&p and set aside.

Fry up chicken in same pan with a little more oil. When meat is cooked, add the peppers, onions & mushrooms. Add cooked barley and mix.

Serve in a ring of wilted spinach and sprinkle with roasted pepitas.

Blessed be... and happy cooking!

Lebanese Eggplant Moussaka - A Chef Favorite

Adapted from a recipe by Ayla Clulee, owner of Cooking Gorgeous.

This deliciously healthy Lebanese Eggplant Moussaka, also known as Maghmour combines roasted eggplants and chickpeas in a tangy tomato sauce flavored with Lebanese spices.

Just like traditional Turkish Moussaka, this healthy Lebanese eggplant dish is packed with Mediterranean flavors, making it a dream come true for eggplant lovers.

Ingredients:

• 2.5 lbs eggplant - peeled and 1" cubed

• good quality olive oil as needed (for eggplant and sautéing the onions)

• 2 onions - chopped

• 3-4 cloves garlic - smash minced

• 2 tbsp tomato paste

• 3 cups fresh tomatoes - chopped

• 1 1/2 tsp salt

• 1/2 tsp black pepper

• 1/2 tsp crushed Aleppo pepper

• 1 tsp cumin

• 30 oz chickpeas - drained

• ~1 cup water

• handful minced parsley - add last 10 minutes of simmer

Preparation:

Preparing the Eggplants

Preheat the oven to 390 F and line one or two baking trays with parchment paper. Peel the eggplants and cut them into 1" cubes.  Place cubes in a large bowl and toss with 2-3 tablespoon of olive oil and some kosher salt. Place them on the baking sheet in one even layer. 

Bake them for 30 - 35 minutes or until they are slightly softened and brown. Remove the eggplants from the oven and set them aside until the tomato/chickpea mix is ready. 

Preparing the Tomato Sauce

While roasting the eggplants, start making the tomato & chickpea mixture. 

Place a large skillet, or as I prefer, a Dutch oven, on medium heat and add 2 tablespoon of olive oil. When the pan is hot, add the onions and sauté for a few minutes until soft.

Stir in the tomato paste, cumin, salt, and pepper, and give it a good mix. Add the chopped tomatoes, along with the garlic and Aleppo pepper and stir well. 

Add water to the sauce, depending on the juiciness of your tomatoes, ranging from ½ cup to 1 ½ cups. Give the sauce a stir.

Lastly, add the chickpeas and roasted eggplants to the tomato sauce, give them a good stir, and simmer for 20-25 minutes until the eggplants are tender to your liking. Add minced parsley with 10 minutes remaining.

Remove the pan from the heat and serve immediately. If so inclined, shredded parmesan adds to the overall delight. :-)

Blessed be... and happy cooking!

White Bean Salad - A Chef Favorite

This fresh and bright white bean salad is another example of a restaurant cook not willing to share a recipe back in 2013. After finishing the bacon wrapped scallops that included this tasty treat I could not stop thinking about it all through dinner. Instead of dessert I ordered a second appetizer and we deconstructed right there at the table.

What follows is my version of a white bean salad inspired by the chef at S&P Oyster Company in Mystic Seaport, CT. I hope you enjoy this as much as Carolyn and I do. :-)

I never did write up the recipe back then, but fortunately I was smart enough to take a group shot of the ingredients I used, so that gave me a place to start.

After studying the old pic it was time to get to work cutting up the ingredients using sizes best I could see in the decade old images and guessing at quantities.

This looked like a pretty good balance so I just put it all together, taking really bad notes along the way. LOL Hey... creativity is not always pretty! :-)

Now that I had my salad it was time to create a proper dressing. I could see from the old picture that lime juice was included, so I immediately went to my Luscious Lemon Vinaigrette recipe for guidance. Trial and error came up with this mix.

My mix really brought it all together to create a fresh, vibrant, flavorful salad than can actually stand alone. And finally, here is the ingredient list I can call my own... Enjoy!

Salad Ingredients:

• +/-3 cups baby spinach - should yield 1.5 cups chopped
• 2 15oz cans white beans - drained and rinsed
• 1 orange bell pepper - diced
• 1 shallot - minced
• 2 medium tomatoes - seeded and then diced
• 1/2 English cucumber - peeled, quartered, seeded and diced - should yield 1 cup

Dressing Ingredients:

• 1/8 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/8 cup fresh squeezed lime juice
• 1/4 tsp table salt
• 1/8 tsp black pepper

Blessed be... and happy cooking!

Sylvan Run Chowder - A Chef Favorite

This elaborate and very tasty chowder was created at our place upstate New York during the pandemic lockdown in 2020. My kitchen became my safe space once we realized how deadly the virus was becoming. I was very fortunate to be able to escape the insane death toll in the New York metropolitan area, and I kept my sanity during all the madness with help from my forest, my kitchen and my One. This chowder is something good that came out of the 2020 lockdown, and it is my gift to you today. 

Don't freak when you read the ingredients list.... even diabetics have to live a little sometimes! :-)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb sliced bacon
• 1 tbsp salted butter
• 2 yellow onions, chopped
• 2 cups regular chicken stock
• 8 oz clam juice
• 3/4 lb of your favorite potato cut to bite size cubes
• 2 celery ribs, chopped
• 1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1+1/4 tsp salt
• 2 cups frozen corn kernels
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1.5 lbs cod or pollock cut to 1" chunks - the best can be found at Wild Alaskan Company
• 2 medium tomatoes, diced
• 1/3 cup chopped basil
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 loaf good Italian bread (optional)

Preparation:

In a large pot, cook the bacon until crisp. Drain the bacon on paper towels and crumble when cooled.

Add the butter and onions to the pot. Cook over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, until the onions are translucent, about 5 minutes.

Add the stock, clam juice, potatoes, celery, red-pepper flakes, and salt and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes.

Return the bacon to the pot. Add the corn, tomatoes, basil, milk and cream and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in the cod and black pepper. Bring back to a simmer and cook until just done, about 3-4 minutes longer.

The juice from the tomatoes will make this more of a soup than a chowder, so make a little roux to thicken the broth if you like.

For a fun addition to this already great chowder, consider making some crostini!

Crostini:

Cut loaf into 1/4” slices on an angle so they’re larger than loaf diameter and also prettier.

Brush both sides of each slice with olive oil and arrange on baking tray. It’s ok if they touch each other.

Bake at 375 degrees for 6-7 minutes or until tops just start to brown. The bottom side will be more toasted so JUST browned tops is when you want to take them out.

Blessed be... and happy cooking!

Spicy Shrimp & Veggie Stir Fry - A Chef Favorite

I have found culinary love in Shirataki noodles. LOL This is only my second dish using them and I am incredibly eager to explore them further. They are quite easy to use, but they do require a process to make them shine. Visit my post Shirataki (Konjac) Noodles - Diabetic Gold :-) for background info as well as a detailed cooking process.

Today's stir fry was originally inspired by my friend Angela who introduced me to Shirataki noodles. In the end I played with ingredients, flavors and process to make this dish my own. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 1 lb jumbo shrimp - peeled, deveined, tail off & cut in half
• 3 scallions - cut at an angle into 1 - 1.5" pieces
• 6 oz asparagus - cut to 1.5" sections
• 6 oz broccoli - cut the florets to bite size
• 5 oz carrots - peeled and julienned in 2" lengths
• 1 lge yellow onion - diced or minced - your choice
• 3 lge gloves garlic - smash minced
• olive oil as needed
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 2 tsp toasted sesame oil
• 1/4 tsp Aleppo pepper
• soy sauce as needed - just a few splashes
• kosher salt to taste
• 16 oz Shirataki noodles

Preparation:

Rinse the Shirataki noodles for 2 minutes. Dry them in a  nonstick pan, tossing frequently. When most liquid is gone, remove from heat and keep in pan, covered, to stay warm. While dry frying them add a touch of salt and a splash of soy sauce for flavor & color.

Season the shrimp with salt and pepper. Heat 2+ tbsp of olive oil in a saute pan on medium-high heat, and saute the shrimp for ~1 minute on each side, or until they just turn pink. Remove them from the pan place them on top of the noodles - covered.

Add the garlic & onion to the skillet with another splash of olive oil and saute for 5-6 minutes. Add ginger, toasted sesame oil and Aleppo pepper and blend.

Add all veggies and another bit of oil if needed. Toss gently so everything is well blended. Cover and steam for 3 min on medium heat, toss and repeat. 

Finally add the shrimp and noodles and fold into the mix. Maybe add a splash of soy sauce or salt if needed.

Blessed be... and happy cooking!