Fig and Goat cheese tartlets with balsamic syrup

For me this is dessert , for others it may be a savory tart or appetizer. Any way you define it , Figs, Goat cheese and balsamic... timeless, classic and heavenly.

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp. Sugar
1 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tsp. honey
puff pastry sheets.
crumbled goat cheese
figs
butter

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F.

Start the Balsamic syrup by heating 1 cup of balsamic vinegar, plus 2 tbsp. sugar and the honey. Let it heat at medium high until you have reach a thickness of chocolate sauce.

Prepare the puff pastry. I bought 5x5 puff pastry sheets, but you can work with what you find at store and just cut it down to the desired measurement. In this case I used 5 x 2.5 rectangles.

With a fork, punctuate a frame leaving half an inch aprox. as a border on the rectangle.

A little goat cheese inside....

And then slices of figs....

Sprinkle a little sugar and put a little dab of butter on top...

Arrange on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or silpat and throw in  the oven at 350F for 15 min.

When they are done they are beautifully puffed and browned. The goat cheese melted and the figs sweet and softer. Wait for them to cool a little and drizzle a the balsamic syrup.

Chicken with cremini mushroom and sage sauce

I love chicken!!..it is versatile and always on hand. Goes with a million different flavors,  can be smoked, sweet and sour, salty, lemony, with herbs and sauces or fried , or poached. The options are endless and the limit your creativity.

Today, we had chicken thighs with a cremini mushroom and sage sauce, super easy and incredibly tasty!..as sides, just roasted brussel sprouts ( just cleaned and cut in half, toss with olive oil, salt, pepper,  oregano and rosemary, and thrown in an 400F oven for 15 - 20 min.) and stuffed red pepper with tricolore Quinoa with dried cranberries and caramelized pecans ( cook quinoa in chicken stock, when it is done, season with salt and pepper and add cranberries and pecans, stuff half of a red pepper  drizzle a little  olive oils on top, and throw in a 400F oven for 15 min.), delicious, and super healthy!!

Ingredients:

Flour, as needed
1.5 lb chicken thighs skin on
half an onion chopped
1 lb. sliced cremini mushrooms
2 tbs chopped sage
2 cups chicken stock
salt and pepper.
Vegetable oil. (I prefer grape seed or sunflower, but use any high temp. oil you prefer)

Directions:

Heat a stainless steel skillet with lid at medium high heat.
Pat dry the chicken and season well with salt and pepper. Season also the flour with salt and pepper.
Cover each piece of chicken with the flour and shake off the excess.

Drizzle the bottom of the pan with the oil and start browning each side of the chicken thighs. After each piece has browned, remove form the pan and reserve.

Next, throw the same pan  the mushrooms and leave them there until completely browned. Next goes the onions and let them get translucent. Add the chicken stock let it boil for a couple of minutes and add the chicken and half of the chopped sage. Put the lid on and let it simmer at low heat for aprox. 20 min. Check the chicken for doneness and remove the lid, let the liquid reduce to create a thick sauce.

You must check the amount of sauce in the pan, you do not want it to be reduced to nothing, just a thick creamy gravy, add the rest of the sage and serve.

Shirataki noodles with steak and pomegranate sauce

Shirataki noodles are a God's gift. They are tofu noodles that comes in the shape of fettucine, spaghetti or angel hair. The whole bag of 8 oz. contains just 40  cal. and 10  Fat Cal.  no cholesterol,  are gluten and sugar free. So that means you can load this with veggies and any protein you want, finish the whole plate by yourself and still don't feel guilty. The only thing you have to do with them is rinse them and toss them  with a  sauce and ingredients of your choice.

I have tried these with a tomato base sauce , as marinara, and truth is that they work better with  oriental sauces, think more asian food less italian when preparing these and you will have a pretty tasty good meal.

I always have a package in my fridge, because they are a good way out when you have leftovers of fish, chicken or beef. Today for lunch, I was alone (sniff,sniff!!) with 4oz. of leftover steak, and assorted veggies, and the base for a noodle sauce ( corn starch, soy sauce and sugar) and pomegranate juice. So trying to be creative,  the result, Shirataki noodles with steak and pomegranate sauce.  They were as good as any take-out or delivery and believe me they only took minutes to make, considering the steak was already done and the veggies may be eaten raw!!...very good, here we go!!

Ingredients for 1 entree plate (the pkg. says that it will be enough for two servings, honestly I can eat by myself the whole bag  if there is nothing to eat but this, I mean, no appetizers or sides) :

2 tsp. corn starch
2 tsp. brown sugar
1/4 tsp. chili paste
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/2 pomegranate juice
1 tbsp. fish sauce
1 tsp. minced garlic
4 oz. Thinly sliced steak
assorted veggies, here I used snap peas, thinly slivered carrots, thinly sliced onions and cilantro
1 pkg. Shirataki  noodles (rinsed and drained)
vegetable oil

Directions:

Let a stainless steel skillet over medium high heat reach temp. to be very , very hot. Throw in enough oil to cover all the bottom.

Meanwhile mix the ingredients for the sauce, chili paste, garlic, sugar, soy sauce, pomegranate juice, fish sauce and corn starch. Taste, season and reserve.

Put in the onions, carrots, and snap peas.

Let them get soft and the onion translucent and add the steak slices.

Brown the meat , and add the noodles, previously rinsed and drained.

Toss it in with the veggies and meat and then add the sauce. Heat it until it reaches thickness, toss the cilantro and serve.

Grapes and Balsamic Steak Salad

We needed a quick lunch this sunday,something that worked with what I had in my pantry and fridge,  (not until monday I was going to the grocery store for my weekly trip). So in the freezer I had  a good ribeye steak , took that out with time for it to defroze. In the fridge there was spring lettuce mix, some grapes, goat cheese, and candied almonds ( which I just made yesterday and this was an excellent excuse to use them!!)..so with a balsamic-honey vinaigrette, lunch was served in less than 20 min.!

Ingredients (for two persons):

1 ribeye 1 in. thick
mix of lettuce
green seedless grapes sliced in half
cherry tomatoes sliced in half
goat cheese
candied almonds (or any candied nut you like or can find at the grocery store)
1 tbsp. mustard
1 tbsp. honey
2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
4 tbsp. olive oil
salt and pepper


I don't put quantities of the grapes , tomatoes or goat cheese, because I feel that these should be according to each cook taste. But please, don't take them out, the tyanginess of the cheese, in union with the acidity of the vinaigrette and sweetness of the grapes  and candied nuts makes everything sooo good!!..also all together with steak!...heaven!!

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400F.

Heat an oven  proof skillet until it is very, very hot.

Season the meat with salt and pepper on both sides. Sear it on the skillet, about 4 min. per side . Don't move it until is it browned and you can easily lift it from the pan, you want Caramelization of the meat.
Get it in th oven for 5 min. Take it out and fold it in aluminum foil. Meanwhile, prepare the salad and vinaigrette.

Mix mustard, honey, oil, Balsamic vinegar ad salt and pepper. Whisk it until it emulsifies, taste it and season it if needed.

Arrange the lettuce, grapes, tomatoes, nuts  and crumble goat cheese on top. Slice the stake and present it over the salad. Drizzle a little  the vinaigrette over meat and salad and , done!!..lunch in less than 20 min.!

Baked Sweet potato "fries" with chipotle dressing.

This is my favorite comfort food. Sweet potatoes are full of vitamins and nutrients, plus they can be savory or sweet.

The plus with this "fake fries"  is that they are healthier than the fried version, obviuosly, because of the lack of grease on them thanks to the different cooking process. I had tried to bake fake fries again and again and they always turned out soggy. Either I cut them to thin or I covered them with to much oil. Well after a lot of trial and error, this came all right. They didn't bend, they were not greasy or soggy and  the skin (which I like, but is optional) turned out salty and crunchy. Perfect! In addition,  considering that a medium sweet potato baked skin-in has more less 100 cal. and adding the small amount of oil required for the dish, I don't feel that guilty after finishing all by myself with the whole plate!

Ingredients:

Sweet Potatoes ( depending on how many people you are serving, I think that a big one per two persons is a good ratio, except if you are baking them for me, in that case is a whole one just for me.)

olive oil just 1 tbsp.

salt and pepper

paprika a dash

cookie sheet

parchment paper or silpat.

Mayonaise

chipotle (to taste)

Cilantro

salt and pepper

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400F. Oven the temp. is reached  insert the cookie sheet with the silpat or parchment paper into the oven and wait for 1o min.. It helps a lot to the consistency of the fake fries if the cookie sheet is super hot.

 I did not peel the sweet potato because I like the taste and nutritional properties of the skin, but you can do it if you want.

Cut 1/4 inch thick slices,  and toss them with a dash of salt, pepper, paprika, and just a tbsp of olive oil. I f you put to much the fries will get soggy, put in there just a little amount , toss everything  so as every slice is covered in spices and oil.

Take out from the oven the cookie sheet and spread  the slices on it, they CAN NOT TOUCH each other. If you are making a lot of this, the best thing is to work with two cookie sheets or batches.

Put the "fries" inside the oven for 15 min. After this time, take them out and carefully turn them over. Get them inside again, for another 15 min. Keep watching them, they will start changing color, and you don't want them to burn. Remember every oven is different.

After this time they should be a wonderful orange color and soft in the inside and dry on the outside, the slices with skin should be nice and crunchy.

For the dressing, mix in a blender the mayo,cilantro,  the chipotle, salt and pepper, and done!!

Hope you like them.

Lamb chops and Strawberry Salad with Honey-Mint vinaigrette.

I love lamb, my favorite , lamb chops. I like about them that they are so small that I can have like ten by myself. They can be serve as little and cute appetizers , one by one, or as a beautiful and rich entree with vegetables or a salad.

Some times when I buy lamb , the smell of the uncooked meat s already very strong, in those occasions I like to marinate it all night with balsamic vinegar or wine and spices; but this time, the meat was so fresh, that I wanted to  exalt the flavor as much as possible. So it was only marinated for a couple of hours in a mixture of olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic, dry oregano, and dry rosemary.

The Salad, one of my favorites is a lettuce mix with strawberries, candied pecans, and  goat cheese with a mint and honey vinaigrette.

 Ingredients ( for a small dinner for two) :

6  - 7  lamb chops about half an inch thick.
1 tbsp. olive oil.
1 tsp. dry oregano
1 tsp. dry rosemary
salt and pepper
Spring mix lettuce.
strawberries
candied pecans
goat cheese
2 tbsp. chopped mint
1 tsp. mustard
1 tsp. honey
1 tbsp. white wine vinegar
2 tbsp. olive oil.


Instructions:

For the chops, preheat the oven to 400F.
Heat an oven proof  Skillet in medium high (if you dont have an oven proof skillet, preheat in the ovean a cookie sheet with foil.

Season the chops with salt and pepper. When the skillet is really hot, put a little oil in there and accommodate the chops. don't lete them touch each other. We want them brown on each side. Don't move them!!.Let them caramelize.

After browning on both sides, throw them in the oven for 4-5 min. They should look something like this.

For the salad, mix, the mustard, mint, honey, vinegar, and olive oil to make a vinaigrette. Season with salt and pepper.

In a bowl mix the lettuce, strawberries, candied pecans and goat cheese. Add the vinaigrette and done!!

The meat is supposed to be pink on the inside, the flavor was great rich and tender . The strawberry salad is a nice complement with its sweetness and acidity to the richness of the meat ........they are very good!!!

Shrimp salad....Shrimp, shrimp, shrimp

Yesterday I went to the grocery store, ask the  lady behind the fish counter for a pound of big shrimp, she gave 2 and I didn't noticed until I got home. A little bit angry because I payed more than I was expecting and because that day I was cooking only for me ( I cannot eat 2 lb. of big shrimp by myself! no matter how much I love it! and I don't like to freeze for too long sea food) the only thing left was cooking them. At first I thought of just toss all of them in olive oil and salt and pepper and throw them on a skillet, but then I reserved half and made the Serrano Jam Shrimp I posted yesterday. the other half I did toss it and thew it on the skillet and reserved it for today.

So while   I was waiting for inspiration to come as to what or how I was going to eat the shrimp today, looking through my pantry I found a lovely ciabatta bread. That was it, shrimp salad sandwich was going to be.  

So the result was this amazing  Shrimp - avocado salad with cilantro chipotle dressing. Simple,  delicious, and satisfying.

Ingredients:

8 to 10 medium to large shrimp cooked
1/2  avocado chopped.
1/4 cup greek yogurt
1 Tsp. mayonaise
1 bunch cilantro
1 chipotle pepper
juice of 1 lime
salt and pepper.

Step 1:

Chop the shrimp in half an inch pieces, reserve.

Step 2:

In a blender mix, mayo, yogurt, cilantro chipotle and lime juice. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Step 3:

Mix the shrimp. avocado and dressing together, being carefull of not breaking the avocado to much.

Step 4:

Slice the chiabatta bread , spread olive oil on the inside sides and toast it a little.

Step 5:

Plate the sandwich, put a little of the shrimp saldad on top and serve.