Quinoa Salad with Pineapple, Broccoli, and Mint

Pineapple quinoa salad with broccoli. Fresh and healthy.

Spring is beckoning. I can feel it. And my winter-stiff body is aching to stretch and move and shed the yearly inertia that descends like a bear with the shrinking daylight. My brain is flickering awake. My taste buds are tiring of the heavy, creamy comfort foods that sustained me (thank you, lovely spuds, lasagna, and mac and cheese, I love you with all my heart).

I'm craving lighter, cleaner tastes.

Not to mention, missing my warm weather jeans. You know the ones. That stack in the back of the closet you haven't fit into since December, when you began wondering if the laundromat medium heat setting was shrinking your favorite Levi's. The jeans you have to lay down to zip, doing your best imitation of Jane Fonda's pelvic tilt, sucking in your breath and praying to the zipper gods. Your skinny jeans. You know what I'm talking about. You have two sets of jeans, right? Winter. And summer.

So here's what I'm thinking. Quinoa to the rescue.

Vegan. Versatile. Easy. Fresh. Light. This new quinoa salad with pineapple and broccoli and fresh mint is all of the above. And maybe, just maybe, it'll be the first step to fitting into those skinny jeans.


Continue reading

Cocoa Cherry Pork Tenderloin – Based on a True Story

My favorite candy growing up was the chocolate covered cherry. I didn't have them often, but when I did, it was always a special treat. The way that thin, crisp chocolate would break away to reveal the florescent red maraschino cherry suspended in the clear syrup was intoxicating.

I almost never eat them anymore; only on the rare occasion my mother, Pauline, or mother-in-law, Peggy, happen to have some out, usually around the holidays. One such occasion came on my recent trip back to Clifton Springs, NY, and as I enjoyed the sweet treat a strange thought popped into my brain. What about a savory dish that celebrated the same basic flavors?

I remembered seeing Alton Brown use cocoa in a rub for chicken, and since I had a pork tenderloin sitting in the fridge, just a shelf away from a jar of black cherry preserves, I figured, why not?

I really loved how this came out, and while it's obviously an unsweetened version of chocolate being used, the plate definitely had some of the same culinary DNA as my beloved candied cherries. Anyway, that's the odd-but-true story of how this recipe ended up here, and as usual, I hope you give it a try and tell me what you think. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1-2 pork tenderloins

salt as needed

2 teaspoons vegetable oil

For the rub:

2 tablespoons unsweetened dark cocoa powder

1 tablespoon ancho chili powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon ground chipotle

For the sauce:

1/3 cup cherry preserves

1/3 cup white vinegar

big pinch of oregano

Popping Off About the Oscars Tonight

Photo by Flickr User TimShoesUntied

I'm finishing up my last day of work here at the South Beach Wine & Food Festival, and fly back to snowy San Francisco tomorrow. This means I will miss the Oscars, which upsets me about as much as missing a dentist appointment, but had I been around I would have done some kind of special Oscar party snack, probably based around popcorn.

So instead you'll have to suffer though this little collection of popcorn-based content from YouTube. The song, "Popcorn," was the first "favorite song" I ever remember having, and below you get to see Will Ferrell dance to it. We also has a spicy popcorn by Pedro Ceja; a Parmesan Popcorn & Chocolate-Covered Cornflakes snack duo from Amy Blogs Chow; and finally, a super-slow-mo of a kernel of popcorn popping, just because. Enjoy!

Will Ferrell Dances to the Popcorn Song

Spicy Popcorn by Pedro Ceja

Amy Blogs Chow: Parmesan Popcorn & Chocolate-Covered Cornflakes

Popcorn Kernel in Slow Motion

Gnocchi Recipe

This recipe for gnocchi uses potatoes but earlier versions of this dish used semolina flour and eggs. This is another dish that comes from Italy. It has been popular there since the middle ages and similar versions of this dish have become popular in other parts of Europe as well.

It is quite simple to make as it only has three ingredients and it does not require a pasta maker. This is a great way to make fresh pasta that is healthier and tastier than anything that you can find in a store. For this recipe I used the Bolognese Meat Sauce with flat leaf parsley as a garnish.

Ingredients:
3 Russet potatoes
1 tspn kosher salt
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Wash potatoes and then pat them dry with a towel.
3. Place potatoes on a baking sheet and bake them for 1 hour.
4. Remove potatoes from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes.
5. Using a oven mit and paring knife, peel skin from the potatoes.
6. Place potatoes in a large mixing bowl. Using a fork, flake the potatoes so that no large pieces of potato remain.
   
7. Let potatoes cool for another 20 minutes.
8. Pour flour and salt over the flaked potatoes.
9. Using your hand, mix the flour, salt, and potatoes together so that they form a ball of dough.
   
10. Using 1/4 of this dough, form a long rope about 3/4 of an inch in diameter on a well floured counter top. If rope breaks apart as you are rolling it, you may need to add a little flour to the dough.
    
11. Cut the rope into 3/4 inch pieces.
    
12. Roll each piece along the grooves of a fork to give each gnocci texture. This will allow the sauce to adhere to the pasta when it is served.
13. Repeat steps #10 - #12 until you have used all of the dough.
14. Place the gnocchi on a baking sheet and place in a freezer for 1/2 to 1 hour.
15. Remove the gnocchi from the freezer and boil a large pot of water.
16. Place one of the pieces of gnocchi in the pot. After a few minutes, the gnocchi should float to the top. Now that you are sure that the water has reached the proper temperature, you can add enough gnocchi to cover the bottom of the pot.
    
17. As the pieces float to the top, remove them from the pot using a slotted spoon and place them in a colander to drain any off any residual water.
18. Serve the gnocchi in a large bowl, alternating a layer of your favorite pasta sauce with a layer of the gnocchi.
    

Italy

Hello From South Beach!

Just wanted to do a quick hello from the 10th Annual South Beach Wine & Food Festival. Today was the first of three days in the Grand Tasting tent, where I'm serving as Chef Ambassador for Tonnino Tuna.

Here I am standing in front of our table just moments before the gates opened and we were three-deep in hungry foodies eager to taste this great tuna. The fish was sampled very simply with "flavor enhancers" in front of each different variety. The consensus was, as I knew it would be, that the tuna was awesome.

Anyway, stay tuned for more foodie fun soon, including a brand new video recipe I shot before I left. Thanks!

Bolognese Meat Sauce Recipe

This recipe for Bolognese meat sauce is an all purpose recipe that can be used with any type of pasta. This style of sauce can be traced back to Bologna, Italy. It differs from the common red sauces often served with pasta in that it only uses a small amount of tomato. Most of the sauces flavor and color comes from the soffritto (combination of onions, celery, and carrots).

Ingredients:
2 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp butter
1 yellow onion, diced
1 rib celery, diced
1 carrot, quartered and finely diced
3/4 pound ground beef
1 8oz. can tomato paste
1/2 cup white wine
salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

1. In a large pot, heat the olive oil and butter over medium heat.
2. Add the celery, onion, carrot, and ground beef.
3. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
4. After the beef is brown and the onions are clear and translucent in color, add the tomato paste and white wine.
5. Reduce heat to low and cook for 1 1/2 hours. If sauce gets too thick during this time, add a small amount of water.

Related Posts:
Gnocchi Recipe

Italy

Sweet and Sour Pork Tenderloin Medallions – Half the Fat, All the Inauthenticity

Whenever you see those headlines like, "Worst Take-Out Food Choices Ever," on the various websites, you can be sure that sweet and sour pork will be near the top of the list. 

That's because it's usually made from fatty pieces of pork shoulder, cut into cubes, dipped in a thick batter, deep-fried, and finally coated with a super-sugary, thick, starchy sauce.

I'm no shrinking violet around high-calorie food, but classic Chinese-American take-out sweet and sour pork is basically deep-fried, sugar-coated, fatty pork chunks. And yes, once in a while, it's pretty damn awesome (like twice a decade).

For a more reasonable way to enjoy the same basic flavors, I think this pork tenderloin version is a nice alternative. As I say in the video, pork tenderloin is lean, very easy to cook (as long as you can get past those ridiculous fears about slightly pink pork), and the sauce takes about two minutes to prep.

By the way, this is not simply fake Chinese food; it's actually fake, fake Chinese food. The aforementioned death nuggets we call sweet and sour pork are not even remotely close to any kind of authentic sweet and sour preparation in real Chinese cuisine. Or at least that’s what I heard Anthony Bourdain say one time. Now that's research.

Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed this plate of florescent food, and if you're a fan of the Chinese take-out version, I believe you will too. Also, I would suggest tossing in some green onions (the white parts) along with the garlic, and save the green tops to garnish with as I did with the chives. Enjoy!

Sweet and Sour Pork Tenderloin Ingredients:

For the sauce:

1/3 cup ketchup

1/3 cup seasoned rice vinegar

reserved pineapple juice from can

2 tablespoons brown sugar

4 cloves minced garlic

1/4 cup chopped green onions, white parts, optional

2 teaspoons Asian hot chili sauce (sambal or sriracha), or to taste

1/4 cup water or chicken broth to thin sauce

1 teaspoon soy sauce, or to taste

For the pork medallions:

1 pork tenderloin, trimmed, cut, flattened into four medallions

salt and fresh ground black pepper as needed

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 teaspoon butter

1 can (8-oz) pineapple chunks, drained, juice reserved

4 cups cooked white rice

2 tablespoon chopped green onion tops or chives to garnish

Heading to South Beach to be a Tonnino Tuna Ambassador!

Well, that's one blog title I couldn't have anticipated writing, but that's exactly what's happening tonight as I board a red-eye for Miami. 

As many of you know, I won the Tonnino Tuna Chef Challenge recipe video contest, and one of the prizes was getting to serve as their Chef Ambassador for the year. As part of my duties, I'll be representing them at the 10th Annual South Beach Wine & Food Festival.

Pictured here is an "Upside-Down" Tonnino Jalapeño Tuna Taco Bite that I created to celebrate the event. Recipe cards will be available at the Tonnino booth at the Grand Tasting, but I've posted the written recipe below, just in case you're looking for a cool app for your upcoming Oscars party. Enjoy!

Note: I've finished the sweet and sour pork video, and will be posting that tomorrow, so stay tuned! Also, be sure to follow along with me on Twitter for my bite-by-bite coverage of the #sobewff, as we refer to it in the tweets.

"Upside-Down" Tonnino Jalapeño Tuna Taco Bites

Makes about 24

1 small jicama (about 1 1/2 lbs), peeled

1 jar (6.7-oz) Tonnino Tuna Fillets with Jalapeno in Olive Oil

2 tablespoon diced roasted red pepper, or pimento

1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro

1/4 teaspoon ground dried chipotle

1/4 cup crushed corn nuts, or as needed

Using a sharp knife, trim the peeled jicama into a cylindrical shape, about 2-inches in diameter. Using a vegetable slicer, or knife, slice the jicama into about 24 "chips" (about 1/8-inch thick).

Drain the tuna (saving the oil for a salad dressing), and add to a small mixing bowl. Pick out the pieces of jalapeño that came with the tuna, and dice fine. Add back to the bowl. Add the red pepper, cilantro, and chipotle. Mix with a fork until combined. Divide the tuna mixture onto the jicama chips, and top with the crushed corn nuts.

Sopa de Jerimum (Pumpkin Soup) Recipe

Pumpkin soup is a hearty soup that was first made popular in Portugal. Here in the States, it is a great choice if you are looking for an easy, inexpensive meal during the autumn months. This recipe for Sopa de Jerimum only uses half of the average pumpkin so I usually use the other half to make pumpkin pie.

Ingredients:
1/2 to 1/4 pumpkin, seeded, skinned and chopped into 1 to 1/2 inch peaces
3 tbsp olive oil
2 tspn kosher salt
2 tbsp butter
2 cups diced yellow onion
1 leek, sliced into rounds
1 bay leaf
1 tspn pepper
2 tspn brown sugar
8 cups chicken broth
1/2 tspn dry sage
2-3 sprigs parsley
1/2 tspn dry thyme
1/4 cup white wine
1/2 - 3/4 pound Italian sausage or chorizo
Parmesan cheese for garnish
baked pumpkin seeds

Preparation:

1. In a large pot or dutch oven over medium heat, heat the olive oil and butter.
   
2. Add the pumpkin, onions, leak, bay leaf, brown sugar, sage parsley, thyme, salt and pepper.
   
3. Cook until onions are clear and translucent in color and the pieces of pumpkin are soft.
4. Transfer the contents of the pot to a food processor or blender and puree. You may have to do this in two batches depending on the size of your food processor.
5. Pour the puree back into the pot and add the chicken broth.
   
6. Brown the sausage in a skillet over medium heat. Drain off most of the fat and add sausage to the pot of soup.
7. Cook for at least 1 1/2 hours.
   
8. Serve hot and garnish with Parmesan cheese and/or baked pumpkin seeds.
   

Portugal

Coming Soon: Pork Tenderloin Times Two

I'm getting things ready for my flight to Miami tomorrow, where I'll be attending the South Beach Wine & Food Festival. I'll have much more on that tomorrow, but the good news is I'm almost done editing a couple terrific new video recipes. One features my much lighter take on sweet and sour pork, and the other a very sexy concoction inspired by, believe it or not, chocolate covered cherries. Stay tuned!

Gluten-Free Pizza Crust - My New Recipe

The best gluten-free pizza crust to date. A few tweaks make all the difference.

For years I've missed pizza. Not because there isn't gluten-free pizza available. It's out there. You can find it if you look hard enough. Take a gander in the frozen food aisle of your favorite natural market. Snoop around in the dairy case, next to the gluten-free bagels. You might even hit pay dirt at your local pizzeria. Especially if you happen to live in Arizona (Picazzo's gluten-free pizza is by far the best pizza joint fare I've tried). So yeah. There are choices.

Problem is, most gluten-free pizza sucks.

It's usually big on the chewy aspect. Or cracker crisp dry. With not much flavor. Yawningly bland. Certainly nothing to brag about. I mean, you wouldn't eat it if you didn't have to. You know what I'm sayin'? It's just that after years of pizza deprivation some of us are desperate for a decent slice. I'll try anything.

Twice.

Continue reading

Arusuvai Friendship Chain: Season 2 and a mystery ingredient

Arusuvai Friendship Chain is about sending along a surprise ingredient as a gift to your friends for them to prepare something tasty with it, share the recipe, and pass on other surprise ingredients to more people. Arusuvai means six tastes (aru=six, suvai=taste) in Tamizh and is used to refer for Tasty preparation with six tastes – inippu/ thithippu (sweet), orappu/ karam (hot), kassappu (bitter) , pulippu (sour), uppu(salt), tuvarpu (tastes that one gets in raw leaves).

When you receive a package with a “surprise ingredient” as a part of Arusuvai here are the basic rules you need to follow:

1. Prepare something tasty with it and post recipe with a picture if you are a blogger with the logo, a link to person who passed it to you and to this post if you like for reference.
2. If you don’t blog, do share the recipe with the friend who gave it to you or post it as a guest post on someone you know who blogs.
3. Pass on a “surprise ingredient” to two or more friends, one of whom must preferably blog. We all want to have some fun together right?

All people in India who blog or have blogged or those who’d like to be a part of this chain to show themselves up – we’ll ensure you get to be part of the fun.

The Arusuvai network has already forged many friendships. This network was initiated by Srivalli, Bharathy and Lathamma. This network is on its second season and hosted by a very friendly and warm person SAYANTANI. Its a pleasure interacting with her. Thank you for linking us up.

Shalini send me very nice ingredient to me in little nice pink color jar. She wrote very heart touching latter to me also with great gift. She gifted me the recipe book of rice …She send these entire on Valentine’s Day this is my Valentine’s Gift from you dear. Thank you very much.

Actually I like to make different type of rice and she gifted such a great recipe book….

Thank you dear sending all these things.. When I see your recipe book and your pink color jar I have little smile on my face which I never explain what I feel it….

This is my entry to the Arusuvai friendship chain…

I made two items from Poppy seeds one is Spicy Potato curry and one is sweet Poppy seeds Seero.

Spicy and yummy Potato carrot curry with Poppy Seeds....

Poppy seeds Halwa...sweet dish...

Potato Curry – Potato with Poppy seeds (Khas-Khas)

Ingredients:

2 medium size Poatoes

1 big size carrot

3 tbsp Khas-Khas (Poppy seeds)

3 fresh green chillies

3 tbsp oil

Salt and lemon to taste

Method:

Step 1: Sock the Poppy seeds (Khas-Khas) in a little water for an hour.

Step 2: Cut the green chillies in small pices.

Step 3: Remove the extra water from Poppy seeds.Grind the green chillies with sock poppy seeds in mixer. I have used the traditional way of making the paste because my grinder jar is not working condition. Use this type of steel vessel and then crush with heavy handle. Keep aside.

Step 4: Peel and cut the potatoes and carrot into medium size.

Step 5: Heat the 3 tbsp oil in pan.

Step 6: Add half of the potatoes and fry in low flame.

Step 7: Fry until it becomes slightly change in color.

Step 8: Remove from the pan and add remaining potatoes and carrot together.

Step 9: When they cook and become soft and color is change then also remove from the oil.

Step 10: Put all dry ingredient in another plat.

Step 11: Remove the one tbsp oil from pan then add crush poppy seeds and green chillies paste in it on low flame. Beware of spluttering (you can immediately close the pan with a lid).

Step 12: Stirring in low flame until all water part is burn and it become very light chnge in color of poppy seeds.

Step 13: Then add fry potatoes and carrot in it.

Step 14: Add salt as par taste.

Step 15: Turn off the flame after stirring for 5 minutes when nice aroma of poppy seeds with fry potatoes fills your kitchen.

Step 16: Turn off the flame and last add the lemon juice for great taste of curry.

Step 17: Serve Hot with Roti or Paratha with Riyata.

Benefits -
1. Poppy seeds are rich in linoleic acid (an important omega-6 fatty acid), which protects the heart against heart attacks.
2. Poppy seed oil is also rich in oleic acid, which is believed to help prevent breast cancer.
3. It contains 45 to 50% of unsaturated essential fatty acids, which make it a good source of nutrition and health food.
4. Consuming half teaspoon of poppy seeds everyday is a home-remedy for the symptoms of asthma and whooping cough.
5. A paste made from the seeds can be used to get relief from swellings and joint pains.
6. Finely ground powder made from poppy seeds can also be consumed to treat insomnia and diarrhea.
7. It gives essential enzymes and fatty acids to body as a form of nutrition.
8. The oil derived from poppy seeds is used in various cosmetic like for the head and skin as balms and conditioners. Many pharmaceutical companies use poppy seed oil in the manufacture of various drugs and medications.
So now I will teach you how to make a quick recipe with poppy seeds using potatoes.

Next post for Poppy seeds Halwa…that is Khas-Khas sero...