Easter Basket to Easter Table

While I was acting as the Easter Bunny and doing the shopping for my kids Easter baskets at Target, it struck me, that I could re-use ALL of the "junk" I was buying to set the table for our Easter brunch.  Suddenly, the "junk" became a treasure and buying all the Easter themed goodies didn't seem such a short lived waste.  For under $75 I got 2 baskets full of goodies and EVERYTHING I would need to set my table.  Here's what it will look like next Sunday morning:

In addition to the purchases I made at Target, I used my Easter egg PlaceTiles and my beaded round PlaceTiles, my china and silver, and some daffodils that were growing in my neighborhood.  I filled the basket with the bags from target and covered those with Easter basket grass.  Then I filled it in with plastic eggs and easter candy.  

I used the remainder of the Easter grass as a placemat for the China, to nest under my PlaceTiles, and to decorate my egg and jelly bean displays at  the corners of each table. 

The vase PlaceTiles were filled with daffodils, and I set up the candy and toys around the basket in the center of the table.  I also used the chocolate bunnies as additional decor at opposite corners of the table.  

I set it all up, took the pictures and tore it all down in under an hour, which is good news since I won't be able to set the real Easter brunch table until after my kids find their Easter baskets that morning.  The added bonus of using their Easter loot, is that hopefully my guests will help eat the candy because, Lord knows my kids don't need any more suger in their diet!!!

This is a guest post by Molly White, an avid fan of PlaceTile Designs.

Passover Celebration

each family has it's own traditions for the Seder meal at Passover; Aunt Betty's 3 layer kugel, Cousin Lisa's special matzo ball soup stuffed with chicken fat fried onions, Mom's mandel breit, the list goes on.  This year why not start a new tradition and try some of the fabulous recipes we found across the 'net.  Each link has a full menu of ideas to chose from and we even found an online Kosher wine shop!  To set the perfect table, use our PlaceTile Designs Vineyard Collection.  

KosherCooking.com

AllRecipes.com

ABC News

Gourmet and Bon Appetit

The Food Network

Cooking Light

Cooking Light Pavlovas

Food and Wine

Kosher Wine Online

Tuna AvaTar-Tar, The Blind Sliders, and District 9 Layer Dip; Eat Up The Oscars!

The Oscars are one of our 3 favorite TV events of the year.  There's the Super Bowl, (we admit, it's the commercials we love even more than the game), the 24 hours of A Christmas Story (You'll shoot your eye out), and the Oscars.  From the fashions that the stars wear to the movies themselves, the Oscars are a tv spectacle to behold.  Plus we love placing bets on how long the show will run.

Hosting a party to celebrate the Oscars makes watching them even more fun.  This year with the help of Chef Paternotte, we came up with a fantastically fun way to make the most out of the nominees for Best Picture at an Oscar party....we let the movies inspire our menu!  

From The Hurt Lockertini to the Tuna AvaTar-Tar, each drink and dish will remind you of the movies in the running for the 2010 Academy Award for Best Picture! You can write the names of the dishes and drinks on an assortment of our PlaceTiles for the finishing touch.   Enjoy our menu and see if you can think of any on your own!

An Evening with Oscar

The Hurt Lockertini

Jameson and Baileys chilled, shaken and poured up and finished with Guinness

Juliatini

Stoli Orange, Cointreau and cranberry, shaken and served up then splashed with champagne and garnished with candied orange peel

smashed black beans, ground beef, roasted tomato, guacamole, red peppers, creme fraiche, cheddar cheese, green onions and crushed blue tortilla chips

pulled pork shoulder, sesame slaw and jalapeno creme fraiche on tiny potato roll ground beef, balsamic onions, grafton cheddar and avocado on tiny potato roll roasted chicken, apple, and walnut salad with roquefort blue cheese

tuna tartare, spicy sweet soy sauce, green onions, on wonton chips

Recipes & Procedures
(all recipes serve 10 people, drinks are per serving)

The Hurt Lockertini:
2 oz Jameson
1 oz baileys irish cream
3 oz guinness

In a shaker pour jameson and baileys over ice shaking vigorously for 10 seconds. Strain and pour into a chilled martini glass and top off with Guinness.


Juliatini
2oz Stoli Orange
1 oz cointreau (Gran Marnier works well too)
1 oz cranberry juice
2oz champagne

In a shaker with ice, pour Stoli, Cointreau, and cranberry together and shake for 10 seconds. Strain and pour into a chilled martini glass, and top off with your favorite champagne.

For the candied orange peel, slice peel off an orange and cut into three inch strips. Boil the strips three times in new water each time. Remove from the water the last time and put in a small saute pan with 6 tbsps sugar and one tbsp water. On medium heat stir together, coating the orange peels and allowing the sugar to melt. do not let any color develop, you want to leave the liquid clear. Be careful not to touch peels with your bare hands, it can be harmful. Remove from the pot and immediately toss in a bowl of 1 cup of sugar to coat the peels. Allow to cool in the sugar.


District 9 Layer Dip:
1 Can Black Beans
1 large onion
1/2 bunch cilantro
1 beer (negro modelo preferred)
1 lb ground Beef
3 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp cayenne pepper
2 tbsp cumin
5 vine ripe tomatoes
3 avocados
2 limes
4 red peppers
2 cups creme fraiche (or sour cream)
1 bunch green onions
2 cups blue corn chips, crushed
8 oz grafton cheddar (4 month old)

Procedure:
Dice onion and saute half of it until tender and slightly translucent. Briefly drain then add the can of black beans to the onions. Chop the 1/2 bunch of cilantro and sprinkle two tablespoons into the beans and onions. Add the beer and simmer beans for 10 minutes and when most liquid is absorbed, mash the beans into a mash potato consistency. Spread evenly on the bottom of a 9x9 (pyrex) dish as the first layer.

Saute ground beef in olive oil with the other half of the onion. Add the chili powder, cayenne pepper and cumin and saute for 3-5 minutes. Stir and make sure that seasonings are evenly distributed. remove from the pan and spread evenly over the bean layer.

Cut tomatoes (see red peppers below) into quarters, place them on a foil covered cookie sheet, toss them in olive oil, salt and pepper. Place in a 450 degree oven for 1 hour. Remove and layer on top of beef in the pan.

Peel and remove pits from the avocado. Smash up with the juice from 2 limes, salt and pepper. spread on top of tomato layer.

Roast peppers in the same oven as the tomatoes (450 degrees). Place whole peppers tossed with olive oil, salt and pepper on a foil covered sheet tray and roast until the skin is blackened and blistered. Remove and allow to cool. Peel and deseed the peppers. Lay the large pieces of roasted pepper on top of the avocado layer.

Spread two cups of creme fraiche or sour cream on pepper layer.

Slice all green onions into tiny coins and sprinkle on top of cream fraiche/sour cream.

Crush the blue corn chips into small pieces.and spread evenly over the last layer. Shred the cheddar cheese and sprinkle on top of tortilla chips. Place whole dish in a 450 degree oven and bake until cheese is melted and beginning to brown.


The Blind Sliders:
Pork Sliders:
15 Mini Potato Rolls (parker house rolls are great as well)
2 lbs. pork shoulder, cut into 3 large pieces
2 onions, quartered
1 head garlic, sliced in half crosswise in husk
2 inches ginger, cut in half (if washed well, no need to peel)
1 stalk of celery, chopped (no leaves)
2 cups sake
4 cups vegetable stock or water

For the Slaw:
2 cups napa cabbage, shredded
4 green onions
1/4 bunch cilantro, chopped
4 oz sesame seeds, toasted
2 tbsp sesame oil
1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
2 oz sweet soy sauce (ABC sweet soy)
For the sauce:
1 cup creme fraiche or sour cream
2 jalapenos, roasted and deseeded
1 lime, juiced

In a large and deep oven proof skillet, brown the salt and peppered pork shoulder on all sides in 5 tbsp of vegetable oil over a medium high flame. Remove from the pan, keeping the fat in the pan, add in the onion, garlic and stalk of celery. Saute for 3-4 minutes over medium high heat and reintroduce the pork. Immediately add the sake and stock (or water). Cover and place in a 375 degree oven for 2 1/2 - 3 hours, depending on the oven because baking ovens, opposed to convection, may take longer. To check doneness you should be able to pull apart with a fork. When finished, remove the meat and vegetables, strain the liquid through a fine mesh sieve and return to a small sauce pan and reduce the liquid to 3 cups, the sauce should be thickened enough to gently coat the spoon. Let the liquid rest so the fat rises to the top, then skim off with a spoon or In the meantime, shred the pork using you hands or if its still too hot, forks work well.  Remove the sauce from the heat and toss together with the pork. Season with some extra salt and pepper if needed.

For the Slaw: Thinly slice or julianne the cabbage,  slice the green onions into thin rounds, and chop the cilantro. Toast the sesame seeds in a dry saute pan, tossing frequently until golden brown and set aside. Mix together the vinegar, oil, sesames and soy pouring over the cabbage, green onions and cilantro. Let marinate for a hour in the refrigerator, over night will be fine as well if you want to prepare ahead of time.

For the sauce: In a food processor combine the creme fraiche, roasted jalapeno (roast whole for 10 minutes in a 450 degree oven, then deseed) and lime juice. Pulse until the the mixture is smooth, do not over mix. Add salt and pepper to taste.

To assemble the sliders, place the warm pork on a bun, and top with the cole slaw.


Beef Sliders
10 Mini potato rolls or parker house rolls
2 lbs ground beef (80/20)
1 1/2 large sweet onions, julianned
4 oz balsamic vinegar
1/2 lb Grafton Cheddar, sliced
2 avocados

Form the ground beef into 3 ounce patties, making sure not to over work the meat. In a large saute pan on medium high heat add 3 ounces of butter and the julianned onions. The onions should be mounded up in the pan. Let the bottom layer brown before stirring or flipping the onions. continue to toss the onions every few minutes making sure not to burn them. The bottom of the pan should begin to brown, the deeper brown the better. Once the onions are browned and very soft, and volume is reduced by half, add the balsamic to deglaze the pan. Toss throughly making sure to glaze the onions well with the balsamic and set aside.

Remove the avocado from the skin by slicing lengthwise cutting down to the pit. Spin the top side off while holding the bottom in you hand. To remove pit, stick the blade of a chefs knife into the pit as if to chop it. The blade will stick into the pit, twist and it pops right out. With a spoon, scoop the flesh from the skin and cut into small slices.

Grill the burgers on a very hot grill for 2 minutes on each side for a medium burger. as soon as you flip the burger, add the cheese. Stack the onions and avocado on top and place on the buns.


Chicken Salad Slider:
10 mini potato buns or parker house rolls
1 whole chicken, roasted
2 lemons
1/4 cup olive oil
4 tbsp thyme, chopped
4 tbsp parsley, chopped
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 onion, small dice
1 cup walnuts, chopped
1 granny smith apple, sliced into thin wedges
5 oz Roquefort Cheese

Buying a rotisserie chicken is perfectly acceptable, however it is always more fun to roast yourself, and it tastes better! To roast the chicken preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Using the oil, half of the chopped herbs, salt and pepper generously rub the chicken inside and out. Halve one lemon and stick it inside the cavity. place chicken in an oven proof pan and roast for 2 hours. The Skin should be dark and crispy and the meat falling off the bone.

Remove chicken and peel off the skin and finely chop about half of it (use the crispy parts). Pull all the meat off the bone, being sure to get the meat from the back, there is a lot of meat there. Place both into a bowl, add the small dice of onion, rest of the herbs, mayonnaise, the juice of the other lemon and walnuts. Mix together and taste to see if it needs more salt and pepper.

To assemble, spoon the chicken salad on the buns, top with two slices of the apple, and  a small slice of the roquefort cheese.

**You can skewer all of the sliders with cocktail picks to hold together.


AvaTar-Tar
1/12 lbs raw sushi grade yellow fin tuna
2 oz siracha sauce (asian hot sauce, clear bottle with green top)
3 oz ABC sweet sot sauce
2 oz sesame oil
3 green onions, thinly sliced into little coins
3 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
1 package of wonton wrappers

Finely dice the tuna removing any silver skin if prevalent (white material holding the layers of muscle together). Mix the other ingredients together and toss with the tuna. Season with salt and pepper.

In a small pot, heat about 1 to 2 cups of vegetable oil. heat over medium heat and drop in the wonton wrappers one at a time. Remove with a slotted spoon when they stop bubbling. Drain on paper towels and season with salt while still hot.

To serve, spoon the tuna onto the wontons, to make more bite sized pieces, break the wontons up.


**Note:
For the correct soy sauce (Kecap Manis ABC Sweet Soy, medium)  and Sriracha Sauce (Huy Fong Foods) goto an Asian Foods market near you, you can find it online at efooddepot.com

Pet Love

If you're anything like all of us, you heart your pets. Some people we know (who shall remain nameless) post more pics of their pets on facebook than they do of their children. While other people we know, consider their pet to be their child. It's hard not to love those wet noses and adoring eyes, we swear they even smile!

The only downer to loving your pet that much is that many places aren't pet friendly. Not all of us can work in places where you can bring your pet to work.  And finding pet friendly hotels while on vacation is like finding a needle in a haystack...in other words: GOOD LUCK!!! At the end of the day, you simply can't take your pet everywhere you go. Lucky for us pet lovers, some enterprising person years ago invented the job of pet sitter. A good pet sitter is as valuable a commodity as gold if you ask us!

And like children, our pets come with a laundry list of needs, wants and vital info. Fido likes wet food not dry food, and he must be walked before bedtime. Fluffy needs her litter box emptied daily & Nemo needs his tank cleaned once a week. This is important info that should be readily visible to the petsitter and PlaceTile Designs has the perfect solution.....behold the PetSitter MessageTile, an erasable ceramic tile, that's just the right size to scrawl all of your pet's info.

No Reservations Needed, Valentine's Day Dinner for Two at Home

Booking a reservation for 2 at your favorite romantic restaurant on Valentine's Day is sometimes more challenging than scaling Mt. Everest.  Suddenly the booth in the corner that you can always get at the last minute, is booked all night and if you are lucky enough to get a table, you'll end up sharing your romantic dinner with a restaurant FULL of other couples, which isn't so romantic.

Instead of going out, stay home, and make a romantic, gourmet meal for two.  Set up a little bistro table by the fireplace and enjoy the company of your special someone.  Valentine's Day is on a Sunday this year, so you can spend the day preparing the meal and then once you're finished you can let the dishes wait until the morning!

To top off the special evening, pick up a PlaceTile Designs beaded vase , fill it with fresh flowers, and write a love letter to your sweetheart, right on the vase!

Chef Paternotte has created a Valentine's Day dinner menu that is sure to knock the socks off your special someone.  Trust us, if you take the time to make this mouth watering meal, your sweetheart will truly be yours forever!

First Course: Oyster Stew

You will need: a 3 quart sauce pan

•   2 Shallots

•   1 Leek

•   2 Cloves Garlic

•   1/2 Head Fennel, Chopped 

•   2 tbsp Unsalted Butter

•   1/4 cup Pernod (French Licorice Flavored Liqueur)

•   1 1/2  Cups Fish Stock (or Water)

•   1 Cup heavy Cream

•   3 Sprigs Italian Parsley

•   8-10 Freshly Shucked Oysters

•   Juice from oysters

•   1 Tsp Chives

Procedure:

Soup: Peel Shallots, trim all dark green from leek and rinse very well, trim stalks off of fennel (reserve a couple small choice fennel tops for garnish), and peel garlic.  Chop all vegetables into a small dice and saute in butter. Keep heat on low and do not brown. Once tender add Pernod, parsley (whole) and fish stock and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in cream. Return to heat and add strained oyster juice. Remove parsley sprigs and using a hand blender (if none available, use Cuisenart) blend soup until smooth. Strain through a fine mesh strainer and return to pot. Minutes before serving add oysters and lightly simmer, when edges of oyster curl, they are ready, do not over cook the oysters.

To Serve: Spoon soup into hot bowls with desired amount (4-5) of oysters, and garnish with chopped chives and a fennel top. 

Second Course: Rack of Lamb

You will need: either a Kitchen Aid or Beaters, Sharp Knife, Grill

•   2 Four bone cuts from rack of Lamb

Marinade:

•   2 Cups White Wine

•   4 tbsp dijon mustard

•   1/2 cup Olive oil

•   1 sprig fresh rosemary

•   1 sprig fresh oregano

•   1 tsp black pepper

•   1 tsp kosher salt

The sides:

•   4 LargeYukon Gold Potatoes

•   2 cups Heavy cream

•   4 tbsp unsalted butter

•   1 ounce White Truffle Oil

•   8 spears Asparagus

•   Olive Oil

Procedure:

With a sharp knife, split your lamb into 4 two bone racks or double chops.

Day before Marinade: In a food processor, combine the wine, mustard, rosemary, oregano, salt and pepper. Blend until combined. While blending, slowly drizzle in the olive oil. This should create an emulsification, or harmonious mixture. Place lamb in a container that barely fits the size of the lamb and pour the marinade over. Let rest in refrigerator over night in the marinade.

Potatoes: Peel and leave whole and place in a pot with cold water. Bring to a boil and cook until fork tender. Drain water and allow potatoes to steam off for a few minutes (do not let them get cold).  If you have a Kitchen Aid with a whisk attachment this is the best, but beaters will work just fine. Place potatoes in bowl and beat to break them up. Meanwhile heat the cream and butter together, do not boil. As the potatoes are mixing, add the cream and butter and whip for a minute. Drizzle in truffle oil. DO NOT over mix or they will be wallpaper paste. Season with salt and pepper to your liking. Keep warm until ready to serve.

Lamb: Remove form marinade and lightly shake off. Place on a hot grill and sear each side for 2 minuted each for a medium rare. There will be some flame up so keep an eye on the lamb while grilling.

Asparagus: Trim bottom 2 inches and discard, toss top portions in the olive oil and grill for about 5 minutes.

Serve two double chops per a person, resting them over truffle mash. Prop asparagus against chops and enjoy!

Third Course Dessert: Chocolate Ganache Tart

You will need: a Cuisenart mixer, 12” tart pan (removable bottom preferred), foil, 2 quart heavy bottom pot

Crust:

1 1/4 sticks Unsalted Butter (room temp)

3/4 cup  Powdered Sugar

1/3 cup Finley ground Almonds

pinch of salt

2 tsp Vanilla extract

1 XL egg (lightly beaten)

1 3/4 cups flour

Filling:

1 1/4 heavy cream

12oz Bittersweet Chocolate (chopped)

1/4 cup dark rum

Caramel Sauce:

2 cups sugar

1 cup water

1 tablespoon lemon juice

4 tbsp Unsalted butter (small pieces)

1/2 heavy cream

1/3 cup rum

1 cup heavy cream, whipped, for garnish

Procedure:

           

Crust: place butter and sugar in a Cuisenart with the metal blade and beat until fluffy (5 min). Add in almonds, salt , vanilla and egg and pulse a few times. Add in flour and mix until a ball forms. Do not over mix dough, scrape down bowl and make sure all ingredients are incorporated. Remove and pat into a disc, dust with flour and wrap with plastic and refrigerate for an hour (overnight is fine too). Dust table with flour and roll out into 15” circle to cover a 12” tart pan. Gently pat into the pan and prick surface with a fork. Spray the foil with pam or oil and place the wet side down on the dough, pressing into the corners firmly. Refrigerate for 30 min.

Preheat oven to 350. Place dough in oven for 15 min covered with foil, remove and bake for 10 more. Let cool before adding the filling.

Filling: Bring the cream to a boil with the rum, place chocolate in a bowl and pour hot cream mixture over. Gently whisk together until smooth and homogenous. Let cool slightly to where ganache thickly coats a spoon. Evenly pour into tart shell and let stand.

Caramel Sauce: Put sugar and water and lemon together in heavy bottom sauce pot. bring to a rapid boil and make sure all sugar is dissolved. Let boil without stirring for 12-15 minutes, or until a nice amber color. Pull off the heat and stir in butter piece by piece, add cream and rum and mix throughly. set aside to cool.

Whip Heavy cream to stiff peaks (so it stands up on a spoon when held vertically).

To Serve: Cut a slice of the chilled tart, top with whipped cream, and drizzle the caramel sauce over both. Dive in!

Great Grapes Wine Tasting Party

Drinking wine is one of life's simple pleasures.  A good glass of wine at the end of the day can relieve stress, bring out the flavors in a home-cooked meal, and bring together friends.

There are so many varieties of wine available today. From the most educated wine enthusiast to novices like myself, most drinkers of wine will profess to prefer one variety over another. Putting these preferences to the test can make for an enjoyable evening with friends.  Invite a small group over for a wine tasting exercise to put everyone's palette through a blind tasting.

Start by selecting 3 varieties of wine, like Malbec, Shiraz and Merlot.  Cover the labels of each with paper; we used a cut up brown paper bag.  Using PlaceTile WineTags (you'll need 3 for each guest) write the name of each variety on a tag so that every guest has one tag for each variety.  Let guests sip and sample each wine to try and figure out which variety they are tasting.  Then have them place the varietal WineTag on the bottle they think it matches.

Once everyone has voted, you can unveil the bottles and see who got it right & who got it wrong.  You can even spice up the competition by giving a bottle of wine to the person who got the most correct.  It makes for a fun evening and really gets the conversation going. You can add some wine knowledge to evening by printing out information about each wine and grape that you have selected.   Cellar Notes is a great site for inforation about wines.

Healthy Year, Healthy You

Welcome to PlaceTile Designs Blog.  It's our New Year's resolution to blog at least twice a month for the year.  Our focus is on food and entertaining since that's what we love and that is what PlaceTile Designs is all about.  We hope you enjoy the blog!

Keeping the new years resolution to eat food that is better for you, can be challenging.  Especially when you're juggling all the other balls that life has thrown at you.  One way to make it easier is to plan ahead and remind yourself what's for dinner each night of the week.  Seeing your weekly menu written down on  PlaceTile Designs MessageTiles will help to remind you to stick to the plan and it can give you something to look forward to each day.  The MessageTile can be displayed in your kitchen and reused each week.

To help kickstart your weekly menu's we have provided 5 delicious meals and a grocery list for the week.  To simplify your life, many of the ingredients are used more than once in the week; turn the roast chicken and barley salad into chicken and barley soup and the bison burger into tacos.  Bison is a great low fat, high flavor alternative to cow's meat and can be found at most grocers. For more information on bison, click here.  These recipes are courtesy of Chef Christopher Paternotte, a graduate of The French Culinary Institute, who has been Exuctive chef of Kali's Court, Vin, and most recently Taverna Corvino in Baltimore.  More great weekly menus can be found at Epicurious and MyRecipes.com among others.

MENU
Each recipe serves 2

Grilled Salmon with Feta and Barley Salad

•   2, 8oz salmon fillets
•   1 cup barley
•   1Red bell pepper

•   1/2 sweet onion

•   1/2 cup French feta

•   1 tbsp  fresh rosemary (chopped)

•   1 tbsp  fresh oregano (chopped)

•   3oz. balsamic vinegar

•   6 oz olive oil (use the best you have)

•   sea salt

Procedure:

            Bring 2 quarts of water to a boil. Add barley and simmer until tender, about an hour (if planning to use barley within a couple days, boil off what you need, drain and reserve in refrigerator). Dice peppers, and onions into small dice. Sweat onion over low heat until translucent. Add in diced peppers, and cook for another 3-4 minutes. In the mean time rub salmon with a tablespoon of oil, salt and pepper. Make sure grill is clean and on high when placing salmon on. Always begin searing fish on opposite side of skin when skinless, when skin on always start with skin side first.  Whichever you decide, skin on or off, begin by searing for 4 minutes while turning heat to medium. Flip salmon over leaving there for an additional 4-5 minutes. To check for doneness  look for the white fat of salmon to bead up on outside of fillet. Remove salmon from grill. Add in barley, rosemary and oregano to the onion and pepper and mix together over heat. Remove from heat and toss in vinegar, olive oil and feta. Season with sea salt and serve warm underneath salmon.

Roasted Chicken and Edamame Succotash

•   1 whole Chicken (3-4 lbs)

•   1/2 cup minced  fresh rosemary, oregano, parsley

•   Sea Salt (or kosher), Black pepper

•   olive oil, lemon

•   1 cup edamame beans

•   1 cup corn off the cob

•   1 cup lima beans

Procedure:

            Very thoroughly rub chicken with the minced herbs (reserve some for succotash), sea salt, olive oil and lemon inside and out, let stand for several hours, over night is optimal. Remove from refrigerator and let come up to room temperature prior to roasting, this will aid in more even and true cooking. Place in an oven proof baking dish, preferably one with sides. Roast chicken at 425 for an hour and a half (depending on size). In the mean time, remove the edamame from the shell, cut the corn off the cob and combine with the lima beans in a sauce pan with an ounce of olive oil and salt and pepper. Simmer for about five minutes on medium heat or until corn is tender and not starchy. Set aside. Use some of the juice from roasting the chicken and the reserved herbs to flavor the succotash. Pull desired meat off the bone and serve with the succotash. By sprinkling a little sea salt or kosher salt over food when plated, you will boost  the flavor of the dish, but keep in mind to never over season your food!


Bison Burger with Caramelized Onion, Feta, and Roasted Pepper and Olive Spread

•   2, 6 oz hand formed Bison patties

•   2 Whole wheat buns

•   4 oz olive oil

•   1 sweet onion

•   Fench feta

•   1 roasted red pepper

•   1/4 cup black olives, seeded

•   3 cloves roasted garlic

•   Large pinch of chopped oregano and parsley

•   1/2 cup roasted eggplant

•   1 oz Balsamic vinegar

Procedure:

       For the onions: halve and julienne onion into thin slices. In a small (6”) saute pan on low heat add a teaspoon of oil, and onion. Slowly cook onion stirring intermittently to allow caramelization to occur on pan and onion. If needed, deglaze (or clean bottom of pan) by adding a splash of water and color on onion will richen.

            For the spread: halve a small eggplant and toss with the whole red pepper, an ounce olive oil, salt and pepper. Place pepper, and eggplant in the oven on 425 and roast until pepper skin is dark brown and blistered. Toss one head of un-peeled garlic with salt, an ounce of olive oil and pepper and wrap in tinfoil and roast along side the eggplant and pepper. The garlic will take longer, so anticipate for this time. When all is roasted, extract the 3-4 cloves of garlic (reserve the rest for another night), scrape the eggplant, and peel and deseed the pepper. Place the roasted ingredients, olives, and the herbs in a Cuisinart and blend. Add any additional olive oil as needed to create a harmonious spread, and finish with balsamic vinegar.

            For the Burger patties: form two 6 oz patties by hand trying not to over work the meat. Let rest for 20 minutes at room temperature. Place on a clean grill on high. Wait 4 minutes and flip while turning heat to low. Wait 3 minutes and  remove for a medium burger. After cooking let meat of this size rest for minimum of 2 minutes, other weights may vary.        


Chicken and Barley Soup with Rosemary Garlic Bread

•   roasted Chicken Carcass

•   1 sweet onion

•   2 small carrots

•   2 stalks of celery

•   thyme, parsley (reserve some for presentation) and bay leaf

•   one head of garlic

•   3 cups lima beans

•   3 cups cooked barley

•   Rosemary (chopped)

•   Olive oil

•   Rustic Italian loaf

Procedure: 

            Using reserved carcass of chicken with leftover pulled meat aside, place into oven at 500 for 15 minutes or until complete browning had occurred. Sweat chopped onion, peeled garlic, celery and carrot together in a soup pot. When onions are translucent, add in browned carcass , herbs, and 2 quarts (8 cups) of water to cover bones. Bring to a boil and keep at a low simmer for 2 hours. Strain through a fine sieve. Bring liquid to a boil, add lima beans, and barley. Lightly toast bread then slice and drizzle with oil and chopped rosemary. Taste the broth and season with salt and pepper to your liking. Garnish each bowl with warmed pulled chicken.


Bison Tacos with Spicy Napa Cabbage Slaw

•   1 lb ground Bison

•   1 tbsp Cayenne,

•   1 tbsp Chili Powder

•   1 tbsp cumin

•   1 tsp Garlic powder,

•   1 tsp onion powder

•   1 tsp sea salt

•   12, 6 inch Corn ( or wheat ) tortillas

•   3 cups Nappa Cabbage

•   1/4 Sweet onion

•   1  Jalapeno

•   1/2 red pepper

•   1/4 cup lite sour cream

•   Juice of one -two limes depending on juciness

•   1 Tbsp Siracha Sauce

•   Crumbled queso Blanco

•   1/2 an Avocado

Procedure:

            Slice cabbage, red pepper, jalapeno (deseeded) and onion in a thin julienne, juice the lime(s), and set aside. Toss the vegetables, sour cream, Siracha sauce, lime juice and salt together. Let sit for up to 24 hours.

            Combine all spices and coat ground Bison. Heat a large saute pan with a splash of olive oil and add seasoned Bison to the hot pan. Stir often to keep meat ground and separate. Keep tortillas warm in foil in a low oven.

             Slice avocado and crumble Queso Blanco for use as toppings for the tacos. Keep some Siracha sauce on the side as well if more hot sauce is desired. Assemble tacos as preferred.

GROCERY LIST

2 8oz salmon fillets

2 lb ground Bison

1 whole Chicken (3-4 lbs)

5 cups barley

1 Red bell pepper

jar of roasted red bell pepper

1 eggplant

3 large sweet onions

carrots

celery

1 lemon

2 limes

2 bags of frozen edamame beans

1 box of frozen corn

4 cups lima beans

Avocado

a head Nappa Cabbage

1  Jalapeno

1/4 cup black olives, seeded

1 bunch of fresh rosemary

1 bunch of fresh oregano

fresh thyme

fresh parsley

bay leaf

1 head of garlic

Cayenne,

Chili Powder

cumin

Garlic powder

onion powder

sea salt

Black pepper

balsamic vinegar

olive oil (use the best you have)

Siracha Sauce

Whole wheat buns

Rustic Italian loaf

12, 6 inch Corn ( or wheat ) tortillas

1/4 cup lite sour cream

Crumbled queso Blanco

1 cup French feta

Happy Dining and please be sure to visit us again soon to get more recipes and more entertaining ideas!