roasted asparagus

Roasted asparagus with warm sherry and bacon vinaigrette topped with a fried egg, toasted breadcrumbs and shaved manchego cheese is a perfect spring dish.  Early Spring is usually abundant with baby asparagus and roasting them adds a nuttiness to its already sweet flavor.  Roasting asparagus is simple and can be done by using olive oil and salt and pepper.  Start the asparagus in a hot skillet, and finish off in the oven.  

To make the vinaigrette, cook bacon in a saute pan that you have cut into lardons.  Once the lardons become crispy, pour off all but a tablespoon of bacon fat.  Add diced shallots, garlic and sherry vinegar. Adjust seasoning with salt, add chopped parsley and toss with asparagus.  

Plate dressed asparagus and top with a fried egg, toasted breadcrumbs and shaved manchego cheese.  

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carmel apples

Even though lady apple season is during the fall, today is cold and grey and reminded me of a carmel apple recipe Daniel made during the holidays.  French ladies would carry them in their purses for their sweet floral aroma.  

Daniel started with 4 dozen lady apples, and put skewers vertically through the core.  Next he dipped the apples into a Guinness carmel sauce.  After melting 4 cups of sugar in a heavy bottomed sauce pan, he mixed in the Guinness and two tablespoons of butter, along with a pinch of salt.  

 

Allow the carmel to set slightly on greased parchment paper.  While still slightly warm, roll or dip your apples in your desired toppings.  Daniel used toasted hazel nuts and applewood smoked bacon with micro mint garnish for his, but you can use chocolate chips, popcorn, honey oats, or anything you can think of.

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it's the weekend!!

Every Saturday and Sunday we make a BIG breakfast and relax with lots of coppee.  We usually make one of two things, breakfast burritos or poached eggs.  When we make poached eggs we normally serve them with english muffins and goat cheese.  We add either homemade salsa and bacon, or prosciutto.   Salt, pepper and olive oil top it all off.  Messy...but so good.

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culinary trends

Daniel constantly makes revisions to his recipes, especially as the seasons change.  He was approached by Culinary Trends, an industry magazine, to be a featured chef in an article about ancient grains.

They had heard about his scallop dish that was paired with black barley, gypsy peppers, Japanese eggplant, pattypan squash with a sumac vinaigrette and wanted to publish the recipe.  By that time Daniel had already made seasonal changes to the menu, but was asked to create another dish with a similar concept.  The scallop recipe that was featured in Culinary Trends can be accessed here.  

Daniel substitutes the seasons freshest offerings into his recipes, which aides in adding versatilely to his old favorites.   To transition the scallop dish from a more summer feel, Daniel paired the scallops with toasted breadcrumbs, French butter beans, broccolini, mirpox and bacon.  This gave a more hearty and comforting feel to the dish.   

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chicken nuggets

Chicken nuggets, or "chick nugs" are one of my favorite things to make.  I found a chicken nugget recipe awhile back and was recently asked to share the recipe with my bosses wife.  Ah, pressure. Anyway I went to type it up and realized that I had completely misread the recipe.  Trying to impress my bosses wife, I sent her the original recipe.  I made the recipe that night according to the actual directions and was shocked at how different they turned out.  They were dry and not at all like the nugs I had made countless times before.  I jumped back on the computer and sent her my version.

She emailed me a few days later saying her daughter was a very picky eater (she is 14) and that she ate seconds of these little golden nugs.  She absolutely loved them.

Moral of this post, I will be confident in my recipes, and will continue to put my spin on things...intended or not.

14-16 oz (2 large) boneless chicken breast
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
6 tablespoons italian breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons panko
2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
Olive oil spray

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.  Trim fat from chicken breast and cut breasts into bite size pieces.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Set aside.

Prepare a cookie sheet with the olive oil spray.

Combine breadcrumbs, panko, parmesan cheese, and olive oil in a large bowl.  Generously bread a few pieces of chicken breast at a time in the dry mixture.  Place the chicken breast on the cookie sheet and spray the top of the chicken nuggets with the olive spray.

Cook for 8 minutes, flip the chicken nuggets, and continue cooking for another 10-12 minutes.

Serve with criss-cut fries or steamed spinach.


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perfect pairing

Waffles, sliced figs and brown sugar and peppered bacon are a prefect pairing.

 

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