Hopefully in a couple weeks we’ll be working through the recipe on how to make some tasty bratwurst on The Chubby Cook. We’re going whole hog, literally, with the sausage making deal. For the last three days I have been powering through Michael Ruhlman & Brian Polcyn’s book titled Charcuterie, The Craft of Salting, Smoking and Curing.  I bought the book at Barnes & Noble, but you can find it at Amazon online just as easily.  This book is absolutely incredible.  The idea is to use their technique to form a solid technical and safety base and then branch out with my original flavor profiles.  To say the least, I can’t wait to get going.  Today I bought the curing salt, natural casings, sausage stuffer and some seasonings from Butcher & Packer.  You can also pick stuff up from the Sausage Maker, but I found Butcher & Packer to be a little more to my liking.  There are some other websites out there that I found, but these look to be the best.  Sausage Maker was mentioned several times when I was watching video on how to make sausage on You Tube, so a bunch of other people are using this site as well.  Can’t wait until the gear gets here.

So back to the Sautéed Onion Beer Brats with Chive Mashers.  We’re going to make about the easiest and most crisp sautéed onions you can imagine.  This is a foolproof method.  The brats are going to be cooked slow over medium-low heat on the grill to be absolutely juice and delicious.  The chive mashers are made with Greek yogurt, so they are a lower fat alternative to other mashed potatoes.  These babies are light, fluffy and full of flavor.  The Greek yogurt adds a “what is that” flavor component to the potatoes.  When you combine the entire plate together, it’ll be sure to make you smile.

Enough to make 4 servings of Sautéed Onion Beer Bratwurst with Chive Mashers

Ingredients for the Chive Mashers:

5 medium sized Russet potatoes, peeled and diced large
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
1/4 cup reserved potato water from cooking
1/4 cup fresh chives, cut in 1/4 inch lengths
1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper

Ingredients for the Sautéed Onions:

2 medium Spanish onions, peeled and sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt

Other Ingredients:

1 package fresh beer bratwurst, label of your choice
1 package sausage rolls
Whole grain mustard

In a medium sauté pan, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the sliced onion. Add the salt, stir to break up the onion and cover tightly with a lid. Reduce the heat to medium. Allow to cook for at least 5 minutes before stirring. Keep the pan covered and cook for about 20 minutes, stirring every five. If the onions start to brown fast, reduce the heat. When the onions are browned, remove the lid and cook off any excess moisture.

While the onions are cooking, fill a pot large enough to hold the potatoes with hot water. Make sure to leave enough room in the pot for the potatoes which will be added once the water is boiling. Salt the water- it should taste slightly less salty than ocean water. To prevent boiling over, pour in a one count of olive oil (about 1 tablespoon). Turn your grill on medium-low. When the grill is hot, place the bratwurst on the grill. Turn the brats after about six to seven minutes. Do not pierce the brats, turn with tongs.

When the water is boiling, carefully put the potatoes in the pot. The potatoes will cook for about 15 minutes or until tender. The time will vary on how large your potatoes were to begin with. A good rule of thumb is pierce a piece of potato with a fork. When it separates easily, your taters are done. Reserve 1/4 cup of the cooking water and drain the potatoes into a colander. Turn off the burner and put the pan back on the stove.

Add the butter to the pot and return the hot potatoes to the pot. Add the Greek yogurt and 1/2 of the reserved cooking water. Mash with a potato masher. Dependent on the consistency, either add more yogurt or reserved cooking water. When the desired consistency is achieved, toss in the chives, salt and pepper. Mix with a spoon and adjust seasoning according to your tastes.

After 12-14 minutes, your bratwurst will be done. Turn off the grill. This is a great time to grill the sausage buns if you like to do that. Otherwise, take the bratwurst off the grill and allow to sit for a couple minutes. After they have rested, toss them in buns and slater with whole grain mustard. Top the brats with the Sautéed Onions. Looks good, right? Yeah, that’s the ticket. Mound up some potatoes one the plate and you’re in business.

As you can tell from the picture, I enjoyed this meal with a Samuel Adams Octoberfest. I would probably have enjoyed it more with a Dortmunder Gold, but this beer wasn’t bad at all. The snap of the sausage when you bite in with the savory onion and tart mustard make for just about the perfect bite. The light and super chived potatoes clear the palate for the next bite. You’re gonna love this dish, so dig in tonight.

You're gonna love this meal- dig in tonight! Photo by Scott Groth

The Easy Greek Pizza is just that, easy.  We cut a few corners by using all store bought ingredients to get this thing done.   For this recipe, we use an original Boboli pizza crust.  Could you make your own pizza dough?  Yeah, but that would take extra time and this is a meal that from start to finish takes only 15 minutes.  Although I am not a huge fan of the Boboli, they get the job done in a pinch.  We keep a couple in the refrigerator for when we are a little too tired or frazzled to make dinner.  You can make some delicious pie without the headache of dealing with the dough.

For this recipe pick up pitted kalamata olives from your grocery store. You can usually find them at the olive bar. Buy your feta cheese already crumbled- it’s just easier. And we always have a jar of roasted red peppers on hand to throw down on whatever we can. Using ingredients that are ready to use saves time and makes this meal simply enjoyable because there is almost no work to get it ready.

This is not your typical pizza recipe, however.  We don’t use any red or white sauce, but simply some olive oil and garlic powder.  The cheese and kalamata olive combination give this pizza a salted, savory bite with a little kick of attitude.  The intense flavors are mellowed with the addition of roasted red peppers.  Basil adds freshness and really applies some depth into the dish.  With your first bite, you will be sold on this delicious pizza.

Makes 1 pizza, enough for 2 hungry people.

Ingredients:

1 Boboli Original Crust Pizza
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1/2 Teaspoon garlic powder
1 Cup crumbled feta
3/4 Cup pitted kalamata olives, chopped rough
3/4 Cup roasted red peppers, chopped rough
8 leaves basil (about 1/4 cup) loosely chopped

Turn your oven on to preheat to 450 degrees. Take out a small bowl and add the olive oil and garlic powder. Mix. Using a pastry or silicone brush, lightly coat the entire top of the Boboli crust.

Spread the crumbled feta on top of the Boboli crust. Do the same with the kalamata olives and roasted red peppers.

Pop the pizza directly onto the rack in the oven for about 10-12 minutes, or until it looks done.

Remove the pizza from the oven and top with the chopped basil. Cut and serve immediately.

It’s that easy. I enjoyed the pizza with a glass of Marquis Phillips 2006 Sarah’s Blend and they went very well together.

Quick and delicious with a satisfying crunch. Photo by Scott Groth

An Iron Chef competition is always a winner.  I am a firm believer that competition always brings out the best efforts in people.  For those of you who know me personally, this should come as no surprise.  To toss out a little brag schwag, I was the reigning champion at my former office Iron Chef competitions for four years running.  We all know that in the fifth year as well there was groundswell for the underdog to win.  So be it.  Four years is pretty good.  I won a pig in a chef outfit holding a chalkboard that had #1 written on it.  A pig in a chef’s outfit- who knew that such a thing even existed.  Maybe that is when The Chub was born. Again, who knows.  Needless to say, Iron Chef is a great concept but The Chub has been there and done that, so to speak.

So I’ve been thinking and thinking- what can be done.  Then the idea came to me for a Fall Feast.  Even the name conjures up rustic images of dirty mid-evil men with greasy faces eating a whole turkey leg with one hand and a mound of roast pork in the other.  Throw in a huge table with platters and bowls overflowing with different culinary creations… and there has to be alcohol, lots of alcohol at the table, most likely wine.  Well, we will step it back a little and say that this was the original idea.  I love the concept of a table full of people, most of whom don’t know one another, but are having a great time eating and drinking.  I’m not sure about the turkey leg and roast pork, but they are always a possibility.  When was the last time you were at a table that could fit 25 people?  That’s what I’m talking about- one huge long table overflowing with food, crowded with laughter and chock full of anticipation for what the next course will be.  I think that this sounds like an incredible event- don’t you?

I have been going back-and-forth on what a possible menu might look like.  Should it be rustic like what I was describing?  Maybe we dig a pit and roast a whole pig or something.  That would be pretty cool.  Or we could roast a pig in the pit, a turkey in the deep fryer and have lamb legs slow cooked on a spit.  At least the proteins would be covered.  Sides would include browned new potatoes with garlic and chives, roasted root vegetables and southern cooked greens.  We would start with a fresh artichoke dip made with homemade mayo and my simple sausage appetizer with effin delicious mustard sauce. We would finish with a bounty of desserts that would include blueberry cobbler, a caramel apple pie with an oatmeal brown sugar crust and homemade vanilla ice cream. For a meal like this, there would be an offering of crisp German or Czech beer and big, full bodied wines.  The food would be served family style on platters that would make inopportune stops around the table. I could see it happening and the picture looks great to me.

But then I move away from that idea to a more refined concept.  A sit down meal with white linens and a table full of glasses that have a delicate French red poured into each.  In my minds eye it looks like a table straight out of a William-Sonoma catalog.  While people were waiting, they would nosh on a charcuterie platter with prosciutto, many kinds of saucisson, fresh baked bread, foie gras, cornichon and dijon. When service started, the courses would all be paired with wine and would start with a playful amuse bouche to set the stage for the coming meal.  It would be seven courses in total.  I can envision opening with a warmed duck confit terrine made with roasted root vegetables served on a bed of lemon touched arugula.   Next, we would work in some moules à la Normande with a delicious broth to dunk bread into.  I would follow that with a wild mushroom risotto to fit the season.  For the main course we would devour beef short rib bourguignon with fingerling potatoes and roasted brussel sprouts. The main meal would be followed with a frisée salad with lardon and poached egg. For dessert, we would enjoy a selection of cheeses with quince jelly and grapes. However it goes, it just sounds incredible.

Wow, I just lost myself in that menu for a while. What a great place to get lost though. I would dive into that menu just about any day of the week. Well, I guess I would dive into either menu any day of the week. If you were going to put on a Fall Feast, how would you do it? I know that there are some great ideas out there. Dish up the details. If you’re in Cleveland and interested in enjoying the Fall Feast, if it happens, let me know. If you have been thinking of another event that sounds like fun, toss that on the table as well. I guess this is the whole point, to get people together to make new friends, try new food and leave feeling satisfied. Sounds like a good place to be.

Before I received my Vita-Mix, I was using a Waring Pro Classic blender. It’s a chromed up blender with what I thought was a large glass carafe. It has two speeds, high and low. It was used to make smoothies and to puree soups and whatnot. Typical blending routine, right? I thought so too. There were several issues I had with this blender. First, the base was starting to rust or flake from about three years of use. That’s a bummer to begin with. Nobody wants to use a crappy looking blender. The next issue was the smell that would come from the motor. It was an ozone smell, kind of like what I smell when I am using my cordless drill. It’s not an off-putting smell, but it isn’t anything I want wafting into my nose right before I down a Peaches N’ Yogurt Smoothie (I take my peaches and yogurt very seriously).  I think that this blender was ridden hard and put away wet a few too many times.  Maybe that is why it was rusting and flaking- who knows.

Enter the Vita-Mix 5200. This was a gift from my father and I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it. These blenders are really expensive, even for the bare basic package. I wanted a new blender, but wasn’t going to plunk down $450 for a blender. My price point was more in the $130 to $185 range. After a while I realized that there were not many decent blenders in this range. Most of them felt cheap or didn’t have good reviews online. The last thing anybody needs is to buy a blender for almost two hundred bucks and find out that it is no better than the one you got rid of. Like I said before, nobody wants a crappy blender.  Well, at least crappy looking blender… but crappy blender is probably worse.  So, I started to research commercial style blenders to see what I could find.

Yes, that is some crap on the dial. This baby gets use! Photo by Scott Groth

There isn’t a huge offering for commercial style blenders. There is the Vita-Mix, the Blendtec A1, the Waring Pro 1200XT and the Maxximum product line. The Blendtec A1 is almost $900, which put it significantly outside my price range. It has sound dampening on it and 30 programmed cycles. There are less expensive models from Blendtec, but they didn’t have the rave reviews like the Vita-Mix. I don’t need 30 programmed cycles. We’re just blending stuff, right?  30 cycles?  Sounds like craziness to me.

The Waring Pro 1200XT is almost the exact same blender as offered by Vita-Mix. The price point is set just higher at $550 and I just couldn’t figure out why. Perhaps someone out there who is reading this has been using one of the 1200XT’s and can tell me how this unit is any different than the Vita-Mix 5200. They have the same paddle type controls and variable speed dials and the same capacity carafe. For the extra hundred bucks, I couldn’t justify the cost. This does look to be an excellent blender though.  Buy the Vita-Mix and then use the extra hundred to buy yourself something nice.

The Maxximum product line just seemed to me like an off-brand. I had a hard time finding reviews that I thought I could trust. The model I was researching was the Maxximum 600 series. It has a paddle type on-off control and two dials. The first dial is the speed dial and the second is a timer. I kind of like the idea of a timer, but I am not running a bar or a professional kitchen. Typically I am standing at the blender watching whatever I am blending whirl around. What can I say, it’s fun to watch.  No need for a timer on my blender, at least not at this point in my life. This model lost in the race to the top for me.

The Vita-Mix 5200 has all the bells and whistles that a person looking for a home blender could ask for. It’s got an on and off switch and a high and low switch. It also has a dial for variable speed blending in the low position. I can’t tell you how handy this dial has come in. It’s really nice to start off on a super-low speed to coarsely chop vegetables or ice. Then you can simply twist the dial to increase the speed and make the consistency of whatever you are blending more fine. I typically start everything off on super low and slowly make my way higher.  I suppose it adds a sense of anticipation to blending.  That’s a mighty fine blender that can add anticipation.

If I am looking to make a fine puree, then I start at super low and work my way through high. Then I switch the paddle from low to high and the machine sounds like it is going to take off from my counter. It’s really incredible to hear and see. The carafe torques to the right as if it is going to fly across the room.  The contents swirl at 240MPH- that’s as fast as the McLaren F1 and faster than the Ferrari Enzo and it’s happening right on my counter top.  Sweet.

The power in the Vita-Mix 5200 is nothing short of spectacular. When some recipes say that you should run the puree through a fine mesh sieve after blending, I know they aren’t using a Vita-Mix. I have run my puree through a fine mesh sieve after hitting it on the high level for three or four minutes and never have anything left in the sieve.  I have made a soup with cold ingredients and left it in the blender on high speed for about 10 minutes and it is warm from the friction built up inside.  It’s really just that powerful.  After this review I am going to setup chairs in my kitchen and make popcorn for people to come over and watch as I blend something.

The basic model that I received is plenty for just about any home cook. It comes with the blender, a big 64 ounce carafe, a blending stick and a cookbook with a bunch of recipes included. I tried about ten of the recipes in the cookbook and they were all good. I have to say that I did make homemade butter, which was really cool. I never thought about making butter in a blender before, or that they could even do such a thing. Maybe I will make it again and put it up in a future blog post.

So what are the drawbacks of this big, powerful blender? Well, I think that for most smoothies the 64 ounce carafe is just too big. I would like to pick up the 32 ounce carafe, but it is $130 bucks. That’s as much as I once wanted to spend on an entire blender, not just a plastic container. It’s a little disappointing that a plastic container is over a hundred dollars. Additionally, if I wanted to make a small batch of pesto, I wouldn’t use this kitchen tool because the blades sit too high in the base of the container. I think you need at least a cup of liquid in this blender to make it work right. Maybe the 32 ounce carafe would solve this problem, I’m not sure.

It is also just a LOT of blender. It’s big and a little bulky. The base of the blender is about twice the size of my Waring Pro Classic.  The blender is really heavy as well at almost 11lbs.  The biggest issue for me is that the blender doesn’t fit under the cabinets when it is fully assembled.  It is over 20″ high, so it takes up even more counter or cabinet space because of the height alone.  But, this is a commercial blender so I guess they weren’t thinking of the home cook when they designed it.  I get it.  I don’t like it, but I get it.

Here’s the scoop: if you blend a lot (I mean you are dedicated to blending) then this is a great blender to have in your kitchen.  From what I can tell, it is indestructible.  It has ample power to blend just about anything and comes with some cool recipes to blend stuff you would never have thought about before.  But, remember that it is an investment of more than just money.  You’re investing counter or cabinet space for this behemoth.  I keep it on the counter so that I remember to use it, always.  Most small kitchen appliances that get put in the cabinet only make it out for special occasions.  This bad mamba jamba gets used constantly.  Most recently it made some homemade ketchup and homemade chili sauce.  Don’t stop there though, make pureed grilled vegetable soup, mango salsa and no-hangover margaritas.  Try some smoothies or a milkshake- kick it back a couple decades and make a malted milkshake.  Whatever you do, if you have this machine, just blend.  The Vita-Mix 5200 get’s the Chub’s emphatic stamp of approval.

It’s time the indelible memory was overhauled.  I thought that there had to be a way to make really excellent homemade ketchup, so I started my research.  The whole idea came about with the desire to make my own homemade barbecue sauce.  Most of the recipes I was researching listed ketchup as the primary ingredient.  The easy way is to use Heinz. Unfortunately for me, I watched a program called BBQ Pitmasters on TLC.  One of the teams made their barbecue sauce with homemade ketchup and it really stood out to the judges.  Why not do the same for my sauce?  Onward and upward, or so they say. Heinz is out the door.

My recipe for homemade ketchup makes a thick and rich sauce with lots of depth of flavor.  It’s slightly sweet with just a twinge of vinegar that provides excellent contrast with whatever its slathered on.  The smell is somewhat intoxicating and makes my mouth water whenever I open the jar.  The biggest problem with this sauce is that I didn’t make nearly enough of it.  Next time a double recipe is on order.

Makes about 2 cups of homemade ketchup

Ingredients

1 bay leaf, crushed
6 whole allspice dried berries
1 stick of cinnamon, broken in half
6 whole dried cloves
1/4 teaspoon celery seed
1/2 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
5 tablespoons organic kane sugar
1 teaspoon blackstrap molasses
1 large Spanish onion (about 4 inches in diameter)
1 Anaheim chili, seeded and chopped
1.5 teaspoons kosher salt
6 medium (apple sized) tomatoes, cored and chopped
1 clove of garlic, chopped
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

For this homemade ketchup recipe, there is a little preparation that needs to happen before we start to cook. I stopped off at Sur la Table and picked up some tea steeping bags to put all my herbs and spices in. You can also put them in a double layer of cheesecloth if you can’t find tea steeping bags. Wrap the bay leaf, allspice, cinnamon, cloves, celery seed and red pepper flakes. Set aside.

Measure the kane sugar and put in a bowl. Add the blackstrap molasses. Mix with a fork until incorporated and set aside. If you don’t have molasses, you can use dark brown sugar instead of the kane sugar and molasses. 5 tablespoons will work.

In a large sauté pan, add a 2 count of vegetable or canola oil. Heat the pan over medium-high heat. When hot, add the onion and chili. Add 1/2 teaspoon of salt and stir frequently for about 5 minutes, or until the onions start to turn golden. Next, add the tomatoes and garlic. Add the remaining salt and stir for another 4-5 minutes.

Add the white vinegar, apple cider vinegar, sugar mixture and spice pouch. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

After 45 minutes, remove the spice pouch and discard. Turn off the burner and wait until the remaining ingredients have cooled for about 10 minutes. If you put the ingredients in the blender while they are piping hot, the top may pop off and splash hot liquid. Not fun and not safe. When the ingredients are cooled, blend them at high speed for 5-6 minutes.

Push the puree through a fine mesh sieve over the sauté pan. Turn the heat to low and reduce for another 25 minutes. Pop open a couple canning jars and you’re good to go with a couple weeks of delicious homemade ketchup. The ketchup will be good for about 3 weeks in the fridge. As a quick note, I use a label machine to put the date the sauce was made on the side of the jar. They are easy to remove and look better than masking tape.

Hope that you like the ketchup. You can play around with it as well, adding more heat if you like that or more spice in the spice pouch. One thing is for sure, my impression of homemade ketchup has changed forever. I’m looking forward to making the next batch and sharing with my family. Enjoy!

One of my biggest issues is working with lenses that are just not made for the job.  When I bought my Nikon D70s about six years ago, it came with two lenses in the package deal as well as a carrying case.  I immediately dumped the case because it was cheap and not constructed well.   I should have known that the Promaster lenses were along the same lines.  Cheap and not constructed well.  Neither lense has appropriate macro capability, so I rigged the 100-300 telephoto lense with magnifying filters to avoid plunking down some hard earned cash for the appropriate lenses.   This method works, but doesn’t produce great pictures and the good pictures that happen really come about through a lot of hard work.  It is terrible in low light situations and the magnifying filters are incredibly difficult to use.  It’s time to look into some higher quality glass.

Lenses are not the only issue.  Appropriate use of natural lighting has been casting a shadow on the shots, literally.  We have excellent natural light at our house, but it is sometimes overpowering and creates these huge, distracting shadows.  I have tried to diffuse the flash on the camera and then tried to bounce the flash off the ceiling to counteract.  Neither method worked well.  I never thought about using a reflector, but will start doing so now.  I just have to go and make one, which should be done by the weekend.

I suppose that since natural light is an issue, artificial light is also an issue.  At one point, I was using some nice light boxes for my pictures, but they are no longer available.  The price for these items online is not what I am looking to spend, so I have been doing without.  Unfortunately the lights in our house are all bright white.  They cast a shimmering light on the food that is really obnoxious.  I have tried dimming the lights, but the light turns more yellow and the food takes on a jaundice look.  Not quite the look we are going for- right?  I learned on another blog Food Bloggers Unite how to make a setup that can be used in low or night light settings.  This site is a great blog that will be in my blogroll after today as well.

Yet another area needing work is staging and props.  Some pictures look appropriately staged, like people are about to eat there or have just eaten there.  My guess would be that those shots were taken when we were about to eat or had just eaten- not by design otherwise.  The problem we have in our house is that most meals are just eaten in a utilitarian style.  We don’t put out placemats or cloth napkins.  Most times our table is a mess from Jackson doing all those things that baby boys do at mealtime.  Paper napkins and a fork are usually about as far as we go when it is just the two of us.  Seems as though to get the shots that I want, it will take a little more get up and go.  It can be done, just needs a little thought.

The last part I need to workout are backgrounds for some of the shots.  It’s fine to have the background blurred out for most, but there are some dishes that can be made to pop right off the page with the right background.  It’s time to visit the craft store and get moving on some of this stuff- that’s for sure.

If everything works out, I think that I will start posting to Flickr and some other sites.  Who knows where it will lead to, but I know one thing is for sure, I’m having a good time doing it now and am looking forward to improving.

Let’s see what happens in the next couple weeks, but I am expecting that the pictures you have seen will really start to improve.

With the tomato season still pumping out bumper crops, I suggested that we make our Panini Caprese recipe, which is just so fresh and tastes great.  Caroline suggested that we change it up, perhaps to make Baguette Jambon Fromage recipe that is a family favorite.  Then she suggested that we make Croque Monsieur in the panini press.  I thought it sounded like a great idea, particularly when paired with the Effing Delicious Mustard Sauce.  The plan was made.

This recipe is an exploration of the senses.  The crispy bread cracks to reveal the melted savory Gruyère cheese and sweet saltiness of the ham.  The tangy and rich mustard sauce adds moisture and ties all of the flavors together.  When the buttered bread first meets the hot grill plates on the panini press, the sizzle and resulting toasted bread aroma are intoxicating.  I hope that you enjoy this sandwich as much as we do.

Makes 4 six inch sandwiches

Ingredients for the Effin Delicious Mustard Sauce

3 tablespoons mayonnaise
3 tablespoons spicy brown mustard
2 tablespoons whole grain Dijon mustard

Ingredients for the Croque Monsieur

2 batards or baguettes (any hard crust bread with soft interior will work) about 18″ long
Spreadable butter or margarine
1 pound shaved or thin sliced ham (smoked or double smoked is preferable)
1/2 pound of sliced Gruyère cheese

Serve with Maille Cornichon (French mini-pickles)

Special Equipment: This recipe is most successful when using a panini press. I use the Villaware Panini press in my kitchen, but anything will work, including a George Foreman grill.

Let’s make the mustard sauce first. In a bowl, combine all the ingredients. Mix well and set aside.

Turn on the panini press to high heat.

For the sandwiches, I slice off the top and bottom of the bread very thinly to expose the bread surface. This lets the panini press do its work and adds that delicious crunch to the sandwich. Once the top and bottom are sliced off, I carefully slice down the middle of the bread to create the two halves of the sandwich as shown in the picture below.

Slice the top and bottoms off, then cut down the middle. Photo by Scott Groth

At this point, get out the ham and Gruyère cheese. A trick that I use to ensure that the sandwich is heated all the way through is to microwave the ham for 40 seconds before putting it in the sandwich. Take about 1/2 of the ham and warm it in the microwave. While it is warming, move to the next step.

Using the spreadable butter, lightly coat the top and bottom (not the part where you will be putting the meat and cheese) with the butter. Place the bottom piece, butter side down, in the panini press. My panini press is only large enough to make 2 sandwiches at once, so this is how many I typically make. You will hear a sizzle when the butter hits the hot grill plate.

With a spoon, smear a dollop of the mustard sauce on the bottom half of the bread. Do this carefully so you don’t burn yourself on the grill plate. Layer on some ham and then about a piece and a half of the pre-sliced Gruyère cheese. Coat the top piece of the sandwich with the mustard sauce and place on the cheese and ham. Carefully close the panini press.

After 3-4 minutes, check the progress on the sandwich. The cheese should be starting to melt and the bread should have some nice grill marks. Leave the sandwich in for another minute or two until the desired level of crispness is achieved. Remove from the press and serve immediately. If you have them, the Maille Cornichon pickles are delicious with this sandwich.

This Panini Croque Monsieur pairs wonderfully with a Stella Artois or a Pilsner Urquell. This is one delicious panini baby!

Yum. Crunchy and delicious. Eat it up. Photo by Scott Groth

The dish that I made today is different than the one made in January. This version is also semi-homemade but has less calories and is faster to make. When you serve this recipe, everyone will think that it took you hours to make the sauce alone but you can get all the prep work done in less than thirty minutes. The smell of the cooking garlic with fresh oregano, rosemary and sage will make your mouth water and your house smell like your grandmother was there cooking all day. For this recipe, we use a little wine so there will be a lot left in the bottle- be sure that you pour yourself a glass and enjoy making this baked pasta dish.

Makes enough for 8-10 large servings

Ingredients for the Sauce:

1 package of mild Italian Sausage (six links)
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons minced garlic (about 6 medium cloves)
1 can (6 oz) large black olives
1 teaspoon tomato paste
1/4 cup red wine (Chianti or Merlot)
1 jar (24 oz) Four Cheese pasta sauce
1 jar (24 oz) Vodka pasta sauce
1 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano
1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh sage
Salt and fresh cracked pepper

Note: To prepare the black olives, drain them and then chop them roughly.

Ingredients for the Pasta:

1 sprig of fresh Rosemary
1 box (16 oz) penne or other pasta
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt

Additional Ingredients:

1 bag (2 cups) shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup grated parmesan cheese

For this recipe you are going to need a few items at hand. The first is a large mixing bowl. This bowl will need to be large enough to hold all of the ingredients. You will also need either two 9-inch baking dishes or one 9X13 inch baking dish.

Start this recipe by heating the grill to high heat and preheating your oven to 400 degrees. You will also need to fill a large pot with hot water for the pasta. Salt the water until it tastes like sea water. Add the sprig of rosemary and the tablespoon of olive oil. Set this pot over high heat (covered) and bring to a boil.

When the grill is hot, cook the Italian Sausage for about 8 minutes, turning throughout the cooking process until cooked through. Allow the cooked sausage to rest for 4-5 minutes, then cut into 1/4 inch wide coins. Add to the large mixing bowl and set aside.

In a large sauce pan, heat the 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the minced garlic. Cook, stirring constantly, for 2-3 minutes. Add the black olives and cook for another 2-3 minutes, stirring to prevent burning. Add the red wine and tomato paste. Stir until the tomato paste has incorporated into the wine. You will know this has happened because the sauce will start to thicken.

Add the jars of pasta sauce to the pan. Stir for about a minute and then add the oregano, sage and rosemary. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for about 15 minutes.

While the sauce is simmering, add the pasta to the salted water. Cook for about 9 minutes. You want slightly undercooked pasta for this recipe because we will be baking the dish. When the pasta is cooked, drain in a colander. Move the cooked pasta to the mixing bowl.

Pour the sauce over the pasta and cooked sausage in the mixing bowl. Mix together. Grab either you two 9 inch baking dishes or one 9X13 inch baking dish. Spray with cooking spray to prevent sticking. Spoon in about half of the pasta mixture. Use 1/2 of the shredded cheese and the parmesan, coating the pasta in the dish entirely. Spoon the remaining pasta mixture over the top of the cheese. Coat the pasta with the remaining shredded cheese and parmesan.

Place the dish, uncovered, in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until the cheese is golden brown. Serve immediately.

I would serve this with some Chianti, Shiraz or Syrah. It goes great with some fresh made garlic bread as well, or take the faster route and heat up some premade Texas Toast. A nice side salad with Italian dressing would be a winner as well. However you serve it, this dish will taste like it took you all day. Your guests or family don’t need to know that it was ready in under an hour.

Wine and baked pasta make a great meal. Photo by Scott Groth

To make this meal a little more appealing, I thought that some reduced onions would be good. Then I thought that some balsamic reduced onions would be even better. I had a fresh zucchini from the farm stand staring me in the face, so I thought that would go well with the whole dish. A little balsamic on it would pair it well with the onion. With a plan formed, it was time to execute.

Remember that you really do need to let your meat proteins sit on the counter to come to room temperature so they cook all the way through, particularly if there is a bone in them. I can’t tell you how many times I have rushed this step and found that the meat around the bone was raw. It’s always a huge disappointment to have to put the uncooked portion of a dinner into the microwave to finish it off. I season the meat while it is coming to room temp which imparts good flavor as well.

Makes 2 thick cut chops and fixings

Ingredients:

2 thick cut, bone in pork chops
1 red onion, peeled and sliced crosswise very thin
1 zucchini, washed and sliced lengthwise into 4 slices
Olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
Onion powder
Garlic powder
Salt & Pepper
Fresh thyme leaves for garnish

Brush the zucchini on both sides with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Drizzle a sparse amount of balsamic vinegar on the zucchini. Set aside. Take the meat out of the fridge, rinse and pat dry. Brush with olive oil on both sides. Coat with a light dusting of salt, pepper, onion and garlic powder on both sides. Allow to come to room temperature. Turn on the grill to high heat. When the grill is hot, add the chops and zucchini. Grill each side about 4 minutes, turning at the 2 minute mark. When the pork is cooked, allow to sit for 5 minutes before eating to let the meat rest.

For the reduced onions, add 2 tbsp olive oil to a pan over medium high heat. When the oil is hot, add the sliced onion. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt. Mix and cook for 5-7 minutes. Reduce heat to medium low and continue to cook for another 5-7 minutes. Add 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar, stir constantly for 1 minute. When absorbed, remove onions from heat.

Serve the pork chop over the sliced zucchini with reduced onions on top. Garnish with some thyme leaves.

You’re gonna love this pork chop. I enjoyed it with a glass of Michael Cosentino’s “The Zin.” It was pretty darn good.

Succulent pork chops with reduced onions and grilled zucchini. Photo by Scott Groth

Typically I would make a sauce for it with some cilantro since that is my favorite summer herb, but our cilantro in pots have bolted to seed and the cilantro we had inside was a little too passed its prime.  Caroline suggested that we use some of the chives we had in pots, so that is what we made.  A lemon, chive, shallot and caper sauce that really added a lot to the dish.  It’s simple to make, just add lemon, chives, capers, shallots and some olive oil together and mix.  Put in some salt and pepper for good measure and you’re off to the races.

We changed up the pita for some flatbread that we had in the freezer from when we made our Greek Flatbread Pizza recipe.  If you haven’t tried that one, it is really delicious.  I would call that a vegetarian delight.  So full of flavor that it’s hard to stop with just one.  The hummus flatbread that you are reading about today is really terrific, but on a more subtle level.  The flavors don’t punch you in the face like they do with the Greek Flatbread.  All told, either one is great.  Try them both and you decide.

Makes enough for 4 flatbreads

Ingredients for the hummus:

2 cans garbanzo beans (chick peas) drained and rinsed
2 lemons, juiced
1 head roasted garlic
1 tsp ground cumin seed
1/3 cup good tahini paste
1/3 cup sour cream or plain greek yogurt
1/3 or more cups olive oil (more if the consistency is too thick. Or add water if you are avoiding adding more oil.)
Small handful of Italian flat-leaf parsley leaves
Salt & Fresh Cracked Pepper

Ingredients for the Summer Veggies

1 summer squash, washed and halved lengthwise
1 zucchini, washed and halved lengthwise
1 green or red pepper, washed and quartered
2-3 scallions, washed
Olive Oil
Salt & Fresh Cracked Pepper

1 large tomato, washed and sliced thin. Set aside.

Ingredients for the Caper Sauce

1 tbsp chopped chive
1 heaping tbsp capers, drained
Zest from 1 lemon
Juice from 1 lemon
1 shallot, minced

The first thing to do is roast the garlic for the hummus. Turn a toaster oven or oven to 400 degrees. Trim the top off a head of garlic and place in a ramekin. Coat in oil and sprinkle some salt and pepper on. Cover with aluminum foil and make a tight seal. Put in the oven for 40 minutes to an hour. If you choose, skip this step and use 4 cloves of minced fresh garlic instead. If you roasted the garlic, when it is done squeeze the cloves from the head into a food processor.

To the food processor, add in all remaining ingredients for the hummus with the exception of the olive oil. Start to process and drizzle the olive oil into the hummus. Allow to process for 4-5 minutes. Taste and adjust salt and pepper. If it is too thick, add some water or some more Greek yogurt. Too thin, add some more tahini as it is a thickener. The hummus is ready to go!

For the vegetables, turn on the grill to medium high heat. Coat the vegetables in olive oil, but leave the tomato set aside. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill the vegetables for about 4 minutes a side or until cooked through. Remove from the heat. Place the flatbread on the grill and turn every 20-30 seconds until both sides are slightly crisp. Remove from the heat. With the vegetables, slice thin, half-moon coins from the squash and zucchini and slice the pepper thin. Set aside.

In a bowl, combine all the ingredients for the Caper Sauce. Set aside.

Spoon some hummus on each flatbread and spread evenly. Layer the thin tomato slices over the hummus. Add on the sliced grilled vegetables and spoon some of the sauce over the top. This dish has it all- great flavor as well as tons of proteins and vitamins. It’s a great lunch or dinner option. Chow down on this grilled flatbread pizza recipe as soon as possible.

Grilled veggies over some hummus makes a great meal. Photo by Scott Groth

Cabrilla is typically found in all Mexican waters and can grow as large as 50-60lbs. It looks like a grouper which means that it is just ugly. Unfortunately, I did not realize that this striped fish is not on the shelves mainly because it has historically been heavily fished. I can understand why, it is absolutely delicious. It is also known as Pinto Bass or Spotted Grouper in the event that you see it on the shelves somewhere.

I love cilantro with fish. I don’t know why, it just tastes good to me. Add in some lime, lime zest and olive oil and I think you have a pretty good and quick sauce. The dish needs something to give it some body, so I tossed on some grilled corn. The cilantro and corn combination is killer, particularly when you add in some lime. For the topping on a delicate and sweet fish, I thought it would be a winner that wasn’t overpowering. Caroline said it best, “The fish tastes great, you can still taste the flavor of it even with the lime sauce. The corn gives it a nice crunch.” We enjoyed this delicious fish with a fresh side salad with garden tomatoes and a homemade Dijon vinaigrette. Just delicious.

Makes enough for 4 entrees

Ingredients:

4 fillets of Spotted Cabrilla or other flaky, thick white fish
Zest from 1 lime
Juice from 1 lime
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 bunch of cilantro
2 ears of corn, shucked
Salt & Fresh Cracked Pepper

Light the grill and set to high heat. Lightly coat the corn with olive oil or cooking spray. Place on the grill and cook about 5-7 minutes, turning occasionally. Bring inside and slice off the kernels. Break up the kernels in a large bowl and set aside.

In a small food processor or a blender, combine the lime zest, lime juice and cilantro. While the machine is running, drizzle in the olive oil until the sauce emulsifies. Keep the machine running and add a pinch of salt and some fresh ground pepper. Set the sauce aside.

Heat a large non-stick frying pan. Add a four count of olive oil. Salt and pepper the fish. Add to the pan and cook, without moving, about 3-4 minutes depending on the thickness of the fillet. Carefully flip with a spatula and cook to desired temperature. I like my fish more well done, so would cook for another 3-4 minutes. Most people would probably cook for another 2-3 minutes.

Plate the fish. Spoon some of the lime sauce over the fish and top with the grilled corn kernels and a piece of cilantro for color. The pan searing should have made a crisp exterior to the fish and the corn adds a nice sweetness and crunch. The cilantro lime sauce ties everything together for a great main dish. This would be wonderful with some grilled asparagus or some sautéed green beans with garlic and lemon zest. It went great with our salads and come to think of it, would probably have gone great with some fresh tomato topped iwth a pinch of salt and cilantro. Whatever you pair this with, keep it light and fresh.

Pour some of your favorite Chenin Blanc or a Viognier in a wine glass and enjoy. I know we did.

Delicious. Photo by Scott Groth

Instead, I settled on whipping up a soup.  How to make the soup was the only question in my head.  Should I make it a clear vegetable broth and add in some cannellini beans and some noodles to make a vegetable noodle soup?  That sounded pretty good to me, but I didn’t think that the squash would have made it through the process and it would have come out a little stew looking, which isn’t what I was going for.  I needed to make these veggies into a puree.  Done and done. With a full wine glass it was time to get to work.

I knew that I would have to do something for the base, so I pulled out a Spanish onion and diced it up.  Next I blanched a huge beefsteak tomato to remove the skin and chopped that roughly.  I made up some garlic paste (minced garlic with a pinch of coarse sea salt, mashed together either in a mortar and pestle or on the cutting board with the edge of a knife blade) and brought in a handful of fresh thyme from the container garden.  In my head, this soup was coming together quickly.  I looked in the fridge and found about an inch and a half of the goat cheese log that I used in the pasta from the night before.  That would make this soup really have some good depth.  In the pantry I found a box of organic vegetable stock and I knew we had a winner.  The soup has a lot of layers of flavor.  Here’s the recipe:

Makes enough for 6 large bowls of soup

Ingredients:

2 summer squash, washed and halved lengthwise
2 zucchini, halved lengthwise
2 red peppers, cored and quartered
1/2 fennel bulb, trimmed and cut in half
3-4 whole scallions, washed
1 large beefsteak tomato
1 large Spanish onion, peeled and medium dice
4 cloves garlic, peeled, minced
10 fresh sprigs of thyme, stripped
1 box organic vegetable stock
1/4 cup goat cheese
3 tbsp olive oil
Salt and Fresh Cracked Pepper
Fresh Basil, sliced chiffonade

Fire up the grill. While the grill is heating, bring some water to a boil in a pot large enough to cover the tomato you are using. While the grill and water are heating, prep the squash, zucchini, peppers, fennel and scallions. Lightly coat all in olive oil and sprinkle with salt & pepper. When the grill is hot, place the veggies on the grill, turning every couple minutes for 6-9 minutes or until the vegetables are cooked through. Remove from the grill and chop into large pieces for the soup. Set aside.

In a stock pot, heat a three count of olive oil over medium-high heat. When the pan is hot, add the onion. Sprinkle with salt. Cook the onion for 5-7 minutes, or until translucent and slightly golden. While the onion is cooking, blanch the tomato to remove the skin. Kitchen Tip: Cut an X in the bottom of the tomato prior to placing in the water. It allows the skin to be removed more easily. Take the tomato out of the water after 20 seconds. Remove the skin carefully as it will be hot. Core the tomato and chop into large pieces. Add the chopped tomato and minced garlic to the onions and sprinkle with salt. Cook for another 2-3 minutes.

Add the grilled vegetables to the onion mixture. Add the vegetable stock and thyme. Bring the soup to a boil. Once the soup has boiled, reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 20-30 minutes stirring occasionally. Check the soup for seasoning. Adjust salt and pepper. Using an immersion blender, blend the soup for 5-7 minutes or until the soup has reached a fine puree stage. Add in the goat cheese in chunks and puree again. Taste and adjust seasoning again. Let the soup sit for about 30 minutes prior to serving to allow the flavors to develop further.

Ladle into bowls and top with a pinch of the basil. I think that a dollop of crème fraiche would be perfect in the center of this soup with the basil on top. Unfortunately, we didn’t have any nor did we have any sour cream. Nonetheless, the soup was fantastic and all takers went for seconds. I served this with some toasted, thick cut whole wheat bread with some butter. The soup with the bread was a real winner. The next day Caroline enjoyed the leftovers with a grilled cheese which paired perfectly. This soup is versatile enough to serve as a starter or as the main meal. It really feels great to take advantage of the summer’s harvest with the last couple recipes that I have posted up. Tomorrow I am headed back to the farm stand to get some more. That vegetarian hummus pizza that I was thinking of making really sounds delicious to me. Maybe it’ll be up here in the next couple days. In the meantime, enjoy this soup. I know you and your family will love it.

I put in some additional ingredients which aren’t necessary, but really make the smoothie taste so much better. A drop of vanilla and a quick squeeze of agave syrup really kick this up a notch or two. Give it a shot, I know that you will like it.

Quick tip: Crush your ice in the blender BEFORE making the smoothie to avoid getting huge ice chunks.

Makes enough for 2 large smoothies

Ingredients for Strawberry Banana Smoothie

4-5 strawberries, washed and hulled
1 banana, broken into quarters
1/4 cup skim milk
1 cup ice
3 heaping TBSP plain low-fat yogurt
Touch of good vanilla extract
Squirt of agave

Toss the ice into the blender to crush. If some cubes just won’t break down, grab em and toss them in the sink. Add the remaining ingredients and blend until smooth. Pour into some tall glasses and enjoy immediately.

To make the basil oil, simply toss the basil and the oil into the blender.  If you don’t want the pulp in your oil, you can strain it through a fine mesh sieve lined with cheesecloth.  At the lake, I don’t have a fine mesh strainer or cheesecloth, so we enjoyed it with the pulp and it was great.  Not as refined as I would have like, but flavor is king around this house.

Make as much or as little as you would like.  I like my tomato sliced relatively thin, but if you like it thick cut just make sure that you buy additional tomatoes so that everyone can have some.

Makes enough for 4 side dish portions.

Ingredients:

2 large beefsteak tomatoes
1 cup loosely packed basil leaves
1/2 cup good olive oil
1/3 cup or thereabout crumbled goat cheese
2 ears corn, shucked
Salt & Fresh Cracked Pepper

Fire up the grill to high heat. Lightly spray the corn with oil or cooking spray. Place on the grill, turning every 2-3 minutes, for 8-10 minutes. When the corn is done, bring it inside for prep. When it is cool enough to handle, cut the kernels off the cob. Break up into individual kernels. Set aside.

Place basil leaves and olive oil in a blender. Blend until fully emulsified- about 4 minutes. Set aside.

Wash the tomatoes. Slice to whatever thickness you like. Place the tomatoes on a platter. Spoon the basil oil over the tomatoes. Crumble the goat cheese over the tomatoes. Sprinkle the corn kernels over the tomatoes. Sprinkle with salt & pepper. You’re ready to go.

Be sure when you are serving that everyone gets a good dose of the basil oil and corn. Nobody wants to get the short stack, so be proactive or serve them on individual plates to begin with.

So, I thought that we would make up some penne pasta in a tomato jus topped with some grilled fresh garden vegetables. I decided that I would wait to see what looked the most fresh at the store and road side markets and work from there. On my trip for groceries, I was extremely fortunate. I found mini-plum tomatoes, fresh summer squash, zucchini still warm from being in the field and local red peppers that just looked amazing. For the finishing touch, I found some huge local beefsteak tomatoes which I would have to figure out what I was going to do. At the grocery I picked up some fennel because it was still on my brain from the salad idea and some organic scallions.

The colors in this dish are vibrant and it is extremely easy to make. I went a little overboard purchasing the vegetables simply because they were so fresh. It worked out in our favor though when I whipped them up into a delicious soup the following night- that recipe will be posted up soon as well. I made three medium zucchini, three bell peppers, three summer squash, one fennel bulb and an entire bunch of scallions. I could have made one of each and we would have had plenty of food. For this recipe, I have scaled the amounts back from what I made in the event you aren’t interested in making something from the leftovers.

The key to this dish is appropriate prep. Just because the veggies are fresh doesn’t mean they don’t need to be washed. I say wash them all first, then slice. After they are sliced, you can oil and salt them and leave them on the counter until needed. They don’t need to go on the grill right away.

Summer squash and scallions ready to grill. Photo by Jamie Ginsberg

Makes enough for 4 people

Ingredients for the Penne with Tomato Jus

1 box of penne pasta
3 cups of cherry or other small tomatoes, sliced
2 tbsp olive oil
4 cloves of garlic, minced and crushed with salt
1/2 tsp fresh lemon zest
1/4 cup crumbled goat cheese (optional)
Salt & Fresh cracked pepper

Ingredients for the Char Grilled Summer Vegetables

2 summer squash, washed and sliced lengthwise
2 zucchini, washed and sliced lengthwise
2 red bell peppers, washed, cored and quartered
1 fennel bulb, trimmed and quartered
1 bunch of scallions, washed
Salt & Fresh cracked pepper

Ingredients for Whole Wheat Garlic Bread

1 loaf rustic whole wheat bread (hard crusted)
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp garlic paste from ingredients for the Tomato Jus (robbing Peter to pay Paul?)

Salt a large pot of water and get it heating up to a boil. Remember that it should taste like sea water. Fire up the grill to medium-high heat. Wash all the vegetables and get to slicing. Once they are all sliced, you can either use a basting brush to oil them up or put about 1/2 cup of olive oil into the bottom of a work bowl. Hold the vegetable over the bowl and use your hand to coat. Once the veggies are oiled, make sure they are laid flat on a work surface and sprinkle salt and fresh cracked pepper over them. You do not need to take the roots off of the scallions- they can go on the grill just as they are.

Slice the rustic whole wheat loaf on the bias, about 3/4 inch slices. Brush with the olive oil on both sides. I don’t have a brush at the lake, so I drizzle some oil on each and spread around with the back of a spoon. On one side, smear some garlic paste. Remember that a little goes a long way! You’re ready to grill after the veggies are done.

When the water is boiling, toss in the pasta and cook according to the instructions. About 2-3 minutes after the pasta has gone in the boiling water (unless you are using fresh pasta, in which case you should cook that AFTER you have taken the veggies completely off the grill) put your vegetables on the grill. My suggestion is to put the red peppers on a shelf if you have one because their skins burn so quickly. Cook the vegetables about 5-7 minutes, turning and rotating throughout the cooking process. When the veggies are done, put them on a large platter.

Char grilled squash and zucchini. Delicious. Photo by Scott Groth

Reduce the heat to low and begin grilling the whole wheat garlic bread. Grill each side about 1 minute or until perfectly toasted. I start grilling with the garlic side up. You will like this garlic bread for sure.

To make the tomato jus, once the pasta is done cooking be sure that you reserve 1 cup of cooking liquid (pasta water). Pour off the pasta into a colander. Return the pasta pot to medium heat and add the olive oil. Once the oil is hot, add the tomatoes and cook for 2-3 minutes. As they begin to break down, add in the garlic paste and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Return the pasta to the pot and stir. Add in the lemon zest and goat cheese if you are using. Pour in 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid and stir. If the pasta looks dry, add more cooking liquid. Adjust salt and pepper to taste. Transfer to a warm serving platter.

Slice the vegetables crosswise so they are in large sized chunks. I say mix the chunks all together, but you could keep them separate if you wanted. Move to a platter and serve family style alongside the pasta.

We served this meal in bowls that were layered first with the pasta, then the veggies and topped with the garlic bread. Everyone loved the dish and left the table completely satisfied, which is always a good thing. Upon reflection, I agree with Caroline that a salad bar would have been kinda lame. Thanks for pushing me a little bit- we got some great meals out of it!

Who says vegetarian can't be delicious? These are good eats. Photo by Scott Groth

This dish is best made in August and September when the tomatoes are at their peak. We visited a market in Canada just north of the border which was really incredible. I was completely shocked at the depth of the market for kinda being in the middle of nowhere. The people there were extremely nice and the produce was just fantastic. We made our way around the entire market sampling as we went. Here’s a shot of one portion of the market. Reminded me just a little bit of the Marché Provençale- just a wee little bit. It was a nice feeling to be there, that’s for sure.

Tons of fresh produce at this Farmer's Market. Photo by Scott Groth

So the key to making this dish is to let the goat cheese and the juices from the tomatoes do their work on the pasta. It’s critical that you reserve some of the pasta water- you will be amazed at just how much liquid the cooked pasta will soak up. The one thing you don’t want to have is dry pasta- trust me on this one. This recipe comes together quickly and is best served family style in shallow bowls. It’s really delicious, so just give it a shot.

Makes enough for 4 hungry people

Ingredients:

1 box penne pasta
3 cups yellow or red cherry tomatoes (or get a mix)
1/2 cup crumbled semi-soft goat cheese
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp lemon zest
About 20 good sized basil leaves
3 tbsp good olive oil
1/4 tsp fine sea salt
fresh cracked pepper
4 chicken breasts, preferably lemon marinated

Start the water boiling on the stove- make sure that the water is nice and salty. It should taste like ocean water. Fire up the grill after you have the water on the stove and let the grill get good and hot. While you are waiting, slice all the cherry tomatoes in half and set aside. Mince the garlic and prepare the lemon zest. Be sure that you have cleaned the lemons really well. Don’t cut the basil until everything else is done- it should be added at the absolute last minute.

When the water is boiling, toss in the pasta and give it a quick stir. Take the chicken breasts out to the grill and cook them for 10-12 minutes or until cooked through. They should be done about the same time the pasta is done. When they are cooked, bring them inside and let them rest while you are prepping the pasta.

For this recipe, you want your pasta cooked pretty well through. When the pasta is ready, reserve 1 cup of the pasta water. Drain the pasta but do not run cold water over. Put the pasta pot back on the burner and turn to medium-high heat. Add the olive oil. Add the garlic and stir for 1 minute. Add the cherry tomatoes and salt. Stir for 1 additional minute. Remove from the heat and toss the pasta back in the pot. Add the goat cheese crumbles and lemon zest. Stir. If the pasta looks dry, add in the pasta water in quarter cup increments while stirring until it looks as though the pasta has a light coating on it. Adjust seasoning to taste. When it tastes right, move the pasta to a serving bowl.

Slice the chicken into rough strips. Chiffonade the basil quickly and mix into the pasta with a couple stirs. Lay the chicken strips on top of the pasta and serve family style. This is light and tastes fresh. You can lighten the dish by using whole wheat pasta or other types of pasta (for example Soba noodles would be great). I like this recipe simply because it shows you don’t need to have tons of oil or fat to make a dish taste great. I hope that you guys enjoy it as well.

Family style is the only way to serve this meal. Photo by Scott Groth

You can use this salsa on so many different things. It is great by itself with some chips or you can put it on chicken, pork or even a turkey sandwich instead of the mayo. About a week after I made the fish taco’s, I made up some shrimp taco’s with this salsa on them and it was delicious. The recipe for my shrimp taco’s is forthcoming. Whip up some of my Grilled Corn with Cilantro as a side dish or just go with some grilled corn on the cob with a little cilantro lime butter on it.  I think that if you made a jerk chicken or pork that this Mango Salsa would be an incredible complement to the spice of the dish.  If you put this salsa on other stuff and like it, be sure to leave a comment so that we can try it as well.

The Best Mango Salsa Recipe

Makes about 3 cups of salsa

Ingredients

1 ripe mango, peeled, medium-small dice
2 scallions, white and green parts, chopped medium
1 shallot, diced fine
3 tomatillos, chopped
1 large tomato, diced medium
1 poblano, seeded, diced fine
1 jalapeño, seeded, diced fine (optional)
1/4 bunch cilantro, chopped
1.5 limes, juiced
3 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp salt
Fresh Cracked Pepper

Chop and dice everything. Put the tomatillos into a food processor and pulse 2-3 times. Add to a large bowl along with all the other ingredients. Mix thoroughly. Add salt and pepper. Taste. If it tastes like too much citrus, add more salt. If you want some more heat, add in some hot sauce or more jalapeño. If it is too hot, add in more mango if you have it or a pinch of sugar to level out the heat. If it tastes just right, leave it alone.

Let the salsa sit for about 30 minutes to allow the flavors to blend. Give it a quick stir before you serve and one last taste. Slap it onto whatever you are eating and enjoy. It’s just really good stuff.

This isn’t called Light Green Juice simply because of the color. It just tastes light as well. There are no heavy flavors at all, so it goes down easily.

Makes 25 fl oz of juice

Ingredients:

1/2 field cucumber
1/2 head romaine lettuce, washed
5-6 stalks of celery, including leaves, washed
1 lime, peeled
1 golden delicious apple, washed
pinch of sea salt

Toss everything into the juicer and juice it up. Add in the pinch of salt and mix. Put into a tall glass and enjoy.

If you don’t have a juicer, you can put this in a blender that will liquefy and then strain it. In that case, you might want to core the apple.

This is a fast juice that will hydrate you all day.

Caroline and I had been looking forward to this past weekend for several weeks. We were visiting her parents in Ft. Erie which is about 25 minutes south of Niagara on the Lake. The plan was to leave Jack with her parents and enjoy an afternoon of good food and wine. We did not have reservations, but have been to the area enough to know where is good and where to avoid. Our first stop was at La Cachette which is associated with Strewn Winery. This location is unique due to the cooking school, restaurant, winery and store which are provided all under one roof. Unfortunately for us, the menu looked completely uninspiring, so we sampled some wine (which was not all that great… also unfortunate) and headed out to Hillebrand Winery.

Hillebrand has been the standard which we have compared all meals in the Niagara region. We have spent several four hour dinners at their location and have always been impressed by their food. The Trius wine they offer at one point seemed like the best wine to us in the region, but we have since found better up on the Bench. I’ll get to that in another post or check out my reviews on Yelp. When we arrived at the restaurant at Hillebrand, we were behind another couple who were interested in the desert menu. The hostess was completely rude to them. They left and we idled up to the stand, asking to see a menu before we committed to the restaurant. A long story short, the menu looked boring- I had seen everything on it at other locations in Cleveland. The hostess was rude to us as well, so we decided that this was not the location for us. There’s no need to be a jerk to people looking to spend a bundle on a nice meal. We left the restaurant and figured we would taste some of their wine. Good grief- do they have their heads up their asses. They moved to a flight tasting menu where you have to pay $7 for three one ounce pours of their wine. The girl behind the counter was a complete idiot, justifying the price by stating that there are two $18 bottles and one $25 bottle being tasted. Give me a break. I was interested in tasting their Sauvignon Blanc and their Cab. I would have had to pay $14 to do it- what a ripoff. So, Hillebrand is off our list for a return as well as any recommendations that we might have for people looking in the area.

We left Hillebrand and headed over to Peller Estates hoping that we would be successful, otherwise it would be strike three. The hostess at Peller was exceptionally nice and put us at a wonderful table for two overlooking the courtyard and vineyard. The day was beautiful at about 75 degrees and we couldn’t be happier. The menu was a bit strange however. It was Saturday at 2:00PM and they were serving brunch. Brunch? Yes, brunch. Seemed a little lame to me overall- why not have a full menu on Saturday? Brunch is supposed to be on Sunday. The brunch was set at $47 per person, which is a bit steep when you consider that they were offering essentially soup or salad for starters and basic lunch fare for your main meal. Dessert is included as well, but certainly didn’t justify the price tag. For an additional $25 you can enjoy a wine paring chosen by the chef. We both chose the wine paring and different meals.

Caroline started with the potato soup with goat cheese, bacon and basil. It was really incredible. Rich and layered with flavor. I started with the tomato caprese salad with soya (soybean) oil and goat cheese. It was absolutely delicious with huge heirloom tomatoes and just the perfect amount of salt and oil. Very satisfying. My dish was paired with the riesling which I thought overpowered the dish. My second dish was served with a chardonnay, which was mellow enough that it would have been better paired with the tomatoes.

For our main course, Caroline ordered the capon over pasta with tomato and goat cheese. Unfortunately, they forgot to add the goat cheese. This really sucked since our waiter explained to us that the flavor for the dish was drawn from the hot pasta being mixed with the goat cheese and tomatoes. They delivered the goat cheese on the side, but it still was a big bummer. I ordered the Croque Monsieur. My sandwich was way overcooked. The ham was completely dry and crumbling out of the sandwich. There was’t any moisture to be found anywhere on the plate. The icewine slaw they served with the dish was as dry as the sandwich. They said that there was berry compote, but it was enough for about one bite of the sandwich. I say BOO to the main dishes. Chef Jason Parsons should have been paying more attention to the food going out. These are the basics, like making sure that dishes are seasoned. All the ingredients? Check. Good. Nothing WAAAY overcooked? Check. Good.

Layered with flavor- this is one good soup. Photo by Scott Groth

The dessert was really not great. Essentially they were sheet cakes with some different toppings. I don’t think I need to go into more detail here. If you’re going to charge $50 bucks, give me something other than sheet cake. The saving grace for the dessert was the icewine which was oak aged. We have had a lot of icewine between us and neither have had an oak aged icewine. It was really delicious with a thick and rich mouth-feel and just enough sweetness from the honey flavor which was offset by the spiciness of the oak. Wow. It was really a tremendously delicious wine. That glass alone made the $25 chef’s paring worth the price of admission.

Delicious: View, Icewine and so-so dessert. Photo by Scott Groth

So, I spent a bunch of time going over the good and the bad of this joint. What I can say is that we will go back in the future in hopes of a better outcome. To Chef Parson’s credit, we were seated just after two huge parties (one was at least 35 people) were served so the kitchen was probably in the weeds. Weeds or not, forgetting ingredients and overcooking food is really for the birds. Next time we will most likely visit for dinner rather than lunch so that we can work into a full menu rather than a limited brunch menu. The wine parings will be purchased again because they were all enjoyable. Our server was courteous and professional, which is what I expect at a location like this. He stayed out of our business and checked in at the appropriate times. The only letdown there was when we commented on our dishes and less than a halfhearted gesture was made to remedy the issues. Maybe next time we won’t have any issues, which would be great.

Peller is a sister winery to Hillebrand. I say congrats to Peller for insisting on at least decent customer service. Maybe Hillebrand will teach some manners to their hostess and rethink their menu to excite the palette rather than dull the senses. I also say congrats to Peller for creating an icewine that is different enough to make me take notice. Their rosé was just interesting enough for us to buy a bottle and the sauvignon blanc is worth buying as well. The people working in their store are extremely knowledgeable and courteous, which goes a long way with us. If you are in the area, be sure that you check out Peller Estates. Buy some wine and then head to Cheese Secrets in Niagara on the Lake proper to pick up some goodies to eat with some fresh bread in your hotel room. Now that sounds the a great start to an evening.