Melon Mango Salad

Melon and Mango Salad, I came up with this idea when I wanted something a little more than just the usual prosciutto and melon that we enjoy so much during the summer months.  When I serve this salad with prosciutto, I call it “Deconstructed Prosciutto and Melon”.  Not only does this go well with thinly sliced imported Prosciutto, but, can accompany grilled pork chops or pork tenderloin.  Its sweet, tangy, spicy, crisp…. we love this salad and hope you do too!! Lets cook!

• Servings: 6-8
• Difficulty: easy
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A summertime favorite takes the simple prosciutto and melon to another level

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2 ripe mangos

1 ripe Cantaloupe melon

2 scallions

1 lb cherry tomatoes

1 lemon

1 lime

3 tbls extra virgin olive oil

1 tbls balsamic vinegar

1 tbls white wine vinegar

1/2 fresh red hot pepper (to taste)

1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves

Sea salt and fresh ground pepper (to taste)

Directions

-Peel the mango and score diagonally on both sides cut the mango off it’s seed

-Peel and cut the melon into bite size pieces place both melon and mango in a serving bowl

-Quarter the cherry tomatoes and add to mango and melon

-Peel and dice the scallions into tiny pieces add to melon

-Depending on desired heat, chop the red pepper into tiny pieces add to salad

-Add the chopped basil, the juice of both the lemon and lime, both vinegars and the olive oil.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Mix well and serve with imported prosciutto or with grilled pork

Buon Appetito!

Mickey

 

 

Cheese And Tomato Stuffed Eggplant

As promised last week, here is a stuffed eggplant recipe that was not only beautiful, but tasted great.  Eggplants, always so abundant in the summer months are probably one one the most versatile vegetables, they can be fried, grilled, puréed, sautéed and stuffed. Today, we will use this deep purple vegetable as a shell to hold a tomato and cheese filling . Let’s Cook!!

• Servings: 4-6
• Difficulty: easy
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Great as a side dish, appetizer or even as a main course

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Ingredients

4 Globe eggplants

1 Sweet onion

2 Garlic cloves

1.5 lbs of ripe tomatoes

3/4 lb Scamorze cheese

Fresh oregano

Parmesan Cheese

2tbls Extra virgin olive oil + more for drizzling

Fresh Basil 
-Cut the Eggplant in half, with a knife carefully leaving 1/2″ border cut along the shape of the eggplant, with a spoon,scoop out the pulp leaving 1/2 along the bottom

-Cut the pulp into cubes place in a colander add salt and let sit for at least 1/2 hour

-Chop the garlic, add 2 tbls olive oil sauté until lightly brown on medium heat

-Chop the onion, add to the garlic and sauté until onion becomes translucent, add the eggplant mix well and continue sautéing until eggplant softens

-Chop the tomatoes into cubes or in quarters if using cherry tomatoes, add to the eggplant mixture

-Salt and pepper to taste, add fresh oregano, mix well

-Take the mixture of the heat, add the scamorze 

-Line a baking dish with parchment or foil, fill the Eggplant shells with the filling and place into the baking dish generously sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and drizzle with olive oil

-Bake in 350F oven for 30-40 minutes (depending on oven) until eggplant shell is soft but still holding it’s shape and cheese is melted and golden

-Chop a handful of fresh basil and sprinkle on top

-Serve and enjoy

Buon Appetito!

Mickey

Tuna Stuffed Peppers, Fish on Friday!!

Instead of stuffing your peppers with meat, try stuffing them with a flavorful tuna filling.  This recipe is light, great for summer entertaining, easy to make and has few ingredients.  Now when you see those lovely sweet (or hot)  banana peppers at the farmers market bring them home and make this fun fish alternative.  Let’s Cook!

Tuna Stuffed Peppers

• Servings: 4
• Difficulty: easy
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An alternative to meat stuffed peppers, light, easy and flavorful

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Ingredients

1 1/2 cup of canned tuna, oil or water

4-6 depending on size,  long, sweet or hot banana peppers

1 cup of ricotta cheese

1/2 cup of breadcrumbs (depending on the moisture of the ricotta you might need to add more)

1/2 cup Parmesan Reggiano

2 cloves of garlic

1 egg

1 1/2 cup easy tomato sauce

1/2 lb fresh Mozzarella cheese

Fresh thyme to taste

Sea salt and ground pepper to taste

Directions

-Preheat oven to 350F

-Clean and cut the pepper in half, if the peppers are large you can fill whole

-Drain the tuna and put in a mixing bowl, add the ricotta, garlic, parmesan cheese, bread crumbs, egg, thyme, salt and pepper mix well.  If the mixture is too wet to hold a shape, add more bread crumbs and or parmesan cheese

-Fill the peppers with the tuna mixture

-Top with tomato sauce

• Slice the mozzarella and lay on top of the each pepper

-Bake for 25-30 minutes, peppers should be soft and mozzarella melted

-Serve

Buon Appetito!

Mickey

 

 

“Baby” Caprese

The Caprese Salad is one of the most popular Italian summer plates.   Beautiful ripe, red tomatoes sliced with buffalo or regular mozzarella cheese, topped with fresh green basil leaves then drizzled with extra virgin olive oil, delicious.  The Caprese, with it’s colors of the Italian flag, is easy to compose, a hit for summer lunches or dinners.   As much as I adore the traditional sliced version of this salad sometimes it is easier to serve this bite sized “Baby Caprese” Salad to your guests.  Lets Cook!

• Servings: 2-4
• Difficulty: super easy
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A bite sized version of the classic Italian Caprese Salad

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Ingredients

1 lb baby plum or cherry tomatoes

1/2 lb fresh mozzarella regular or Buffalo  *try to find the small round mozzarella balls

10 large basil leaves

2 tbls imported extra virgin olive oil

sea salt

Directions

-Wash and dry the tomatoes, cut into quarters and add to a serving bowl

-if using the tiny mozzarella balls, cut into 1/4 or 1/8 pieces depending on the size (if using a large mozzarella, cut into pieces more or less the size of your tomatoes, add to serving bowl

-stack the basil, roll it lengthwise and slice it thinly across the width, add to the bowl

-add sea salt, generously to taste

-add olive oil and mix

Serve

Buon Appetito!

Mickey

Onion Soup with Two toppings, Savory Cheese Bread or Classic Toast Topping

Two things you need when making Onion Soup, lots of onions and lots of time . Today I am making a Onion Soup and serving it with two different  toppings.  The first, is the classic version, with it’s crusty, cheesy French bread, the second version is with a large savory, thyme scented gruyere cheese bread crouton.  Give them both a try.   Lets Cook!

Onion Soup with Two Toppings

• Servings: 6
• Time: 1.5 hours
• Difficulty: easy
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The longer the onions cook and caramelize the deeper the flavor

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Ingredients

For the soup:

1/4 stick of butter

3 tbls extra virgin olive oil

2 lbs of yellow onions

1/2 lb scallions

1 tsp sugar

1 cup of dry white wine

6 cups of broth (vegetable or beef)

1 tbls flour

Sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

For the Savory Cheese Bread:

1 lb grated gruyere cheese

1 cup of all purpose flour

2 tbls baking powder

1 tsp salt

8 large eggs

1 tbls finely chopped fresh thyme

For the Classic

Loaf of Crusty Italian or French bread

Grated Gruyere Cheese approximately 1/4 lb per ramekin (to liking)

Directions

-Peel and slice all the onions and scallions as thin as possible

-In a soup pot, add the butter, olive oil and on a low heat cook the onions for 20 minutes until they become soft stirring often you do not want the onions to brown, add the sugar and continue to cook on low heat for at least another 25-30 minutes.

When the onions start to caramelize (turn a golden brown) add the white wine, turning up the heat, add the flour, stirring until it is mixed and dissolved into the liquid

-Add the broth, salt and pepper to taste, continue cooking on low heat for another 10-15 minutes

-Serve with French bread or Crouton topping; both recipes below

Gruyere French Bread

Spoon the soup into an ovenproof ramekins, cut the baguette into 1- 1 1/2 ” slices (for a crunchier version) lightly toast the bread on both sides, (softer version) place the sliced  bread directly onto the hot soup, grate the cheese directly onto the bread  place the ramekin under the broiler watching closely as you melt the cheese to golden brown

Savory Cheese Bread Crouton

-Butter a Jelly roll pan and cover with parchment paper

-In a bowl add cheese, eggs, baking powder, salt, thyme and flour, mix well

-Pour and spread mixture onto the jelly roll pan

-Bake in pre-heated 350F oven for 20-25 minutes (convection) the bread should be golden brown and an inserted toothpick should come out clean

-With a pastry ring, cut into large circular croutons, place onto hot soup

 

-Serve the Onion Soup with either the Savory Cheese Croutons or the Classic French Bread and Cheese

Buon Appetito!!

Mickey

 

Cucumber Radish Herb Crunch

A recipe example of “Less is More”.  I am amazed that something so simple can be so good.  I make versions of this Crunch all summer long, everyone loves it.   The first time I tried this salad was at the home of a friend, she served just cucumbers and herbs to accompany our aperitivi, what a great idea!!  This is a fun way to use all the herbs from your garden all summer long,  try it!!

• Servings: 6
• Time: 10 min
• Difficulty: super easy
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Letting the veggies sit in the lemon herb salt for at least an hour increases the flavor

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Ingredients

3 large English style seedless cucumbers or 5 firm long homegrown cucumbers

10-12 large radishes

Herbs of choice  mint, basil, parsley, thyme, oregano.  chopped yielding at least 1 cup

Sea Salt 2 heaping tablespoons course grind (*Salt is our friend in this recipe…..the salt is the most important component but it must be Sea Salt Course grind)

2-3 large lemons or lemons and limes

Directions

-Peel and Cut the cucumbers, if seedy scoop away the seedy area cut into finger size pieces

-Clean radishes and cut into halves or quarters

-Add vegetables to a bowl, add the juice of your lemons, limes or combination of both

-Add salt

-Chop together all your herbs and toss them into the bowl with the cucumbers and radishes

-Let sit in or out of the refrigerator

-Serve as snack or as a salad

Shrimp and Swordfish Lemon Mustard Kabobs…Fish on Friday!!

Its time to fire up the grill!  When entertaining friends and family this summer try this recipe, it is easy, fast and  makes a great impression.  The shrimp and swordfish are skewered together after marinading in a mustard lemon thyme sauce.   What is great  about this dish it can be made ahead of time, it is as good  at room temperature as it is hot off the grill.  I am serving mine kabobs with  Cucumber Herb Crunch and  Russian Salad  (both on the blog).  Pour a crisp glass of white wine and your all set….Let’ cook!!

Shrimp Swordfish Kabobs with Lemon Mustard Thyme Marinade

• Servings: 6-8
• Difficulty: easy
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Once your shrimp are cleaned and deveined marinate for an hour, the kabobs will cook in 10-15 minutes

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Ingredients

2 lbs of shrimp (medium size) peeled and deveined

1 lb of Swordfish cut into cubes

2 lemons

2 tbls Dijon mustard

2 garlic cloves pressed

fresh thyme sprigs, at least 2 tbls

Salt seasoning i.e. Lawry’s Seasoned Salt or Montreal Chicken Seasoning McCormick’s to taste

fresh ground pepper to taste

Directions

-Clean, peel and devein the shrimp, cut the swordfish into bite sized cubes and add both to a bowl.

-Add, the juice of 2 lemons, the dijon mustard, garlic, thyme, salt mixture and fresh ground pepper stir well and let sit for at least 1 hour

-Skewer the shrimp and swordfish, retain the marinade

-Heat the grill,  when hot ,place the kabobs on the grate, on low direct heat grill until golden on each side.  The reserve marinade can be brushed on during cooking. Approximately 5 minutes per side.

-Place on a platter and serve

Buon Appetito!

Mickey

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Bruschetta with Tomatoes

Everyone needs to have this in their recipe boxes.  Bruschetta, this  one, topped with tomatoes (the CH is pronounced like SK,  please!!).  A grilled piece of garlic rubbed Italian style bread topped with chopped fresh tomatoes.  Yesterday, for Mother’s Day, I served it along with  baby buffalo mozzarella balls as an appetizer, it was a big hit!  I like making it early in the day so the tomatoes become flavored with the garlic, olive oil and basil.  Lets cook!!

Bruschetta with Tomatoes and Basil

• Servings: 6-8
• Time: 15min
• Difficulty: easy
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Always good to have this as a go to recipe, put it in your recipe boxes

Ingredients

2 lbs of ripe plum tomatoes (* I used Piccadilly tomatoes)

2 large cloves of garlic peeled

4 tbls extra virgin olive oil (Imported)

Sea Salt course ground

1 cup fresh basil leaves chopped

for the bread:

12 large slices of Italian style crusted bread

3 tbls olive oil

2 cloves garlic crush

 

Directions

• Rinse the tomatoes, cut them in quarters then chop into even sized pieces, place in a serving bowl
• Add the olive oil, generously add sea salt to taste
• Cut the garlic in quarters and add the pieces (*if they are visible you can remove them before serving)
• toss in the basil
• Let sit at room temperature, the tomatoes will breakdown a bit, and the flavors will develop.

For the bread

-Heat grill pan, gas grill or the oven broiler

-In a small bowl, add the olive oil and the crushed garlic, mix

-With a pastry brush, lightly brush one side of the bread with the garlic oil and grill.  Grill or broil the bread watch it carefully it browns very fast, brown both sides of the bread

-Serve the bread oil side up and spoon the tomatoes with their juices onto the bread

-Enjoy

 

Buon Appetito

Mickey

 

 

Grilled Eggplant with Basil, Parsley and Garlic Oil

Grilled Eggplant is a great summer side dish, cover it with lots of fresh chopped basil and parsley seasoned with garlic oil.   If you are lucky to find the long eggplant use them, if not, the large globe eggplants will work too.  Another fast and easy recipe, just give yourself time to salt the eggplant so it can expel some of it’s water before grilling.  Let’s cook!

• Servings: 6
• Time: 10 min
• Difficulty: easy
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Nothing says summer, like vegetables on the grill, try this delicious eggplant recipe, so much flavor

Ingredients

3 large globe eggplants or 6 large long eggplants

1/2 cup chopped Italian flat leaf parsley

1/2 cup chopped basil leaves

3 garlic cloves

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Sea Salt course grain

Directions

-Cut the eggplant into 1/2″ slices lay them in a colander, generously salt the layers, allow the eggplant to rest for 1 hour to expel its water

-chop together the basil and parsley, place in a bowl

-add the garlic (either minced or pressed), and the olive oil to the parsley and basil leaves, mix and let sit 

-heat the grill direct heat, medium low

-Place the eggplant on the grill, each side should take about 3-5 minutes,with tongs, carefully turn

-Place the hot eggplant on a platter and pour on the herb oil mixture, try to coat all the pieces with the herbs

-As the eggplant sits it will absorb the oil and herb flavors, can also be served at room temperature

Buon Appetito!

Mickey

 

 

Grilled Roman Artichokes with Lemon, Roasted Garlic Mayonnaise

It is great when you  find grilled artichokes on a restaurant menu,  I always order them for an appetizer, with the delicious dipping mayonnaise served alongside, they are so good.  Well I decided  to try and make my own version of the recipe I love so much in my kitchen….Do not let the artichoke intimidate you, clean, cut, boil and grill them, it is as easy as that!!  Let’s cook!!

Grilled Roman Artichokes with Lemon and Roasted Garlic Mayonnaise

• Time: 45min
• Difficulty: easy
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A great party appetizer, easy to make, fun to eat

Ingredients

Artichokes

4 large Roman Artichokes (if you can find ones with their stems, better yet, the best part)

Extra virgin olive oil

1 lemon

Sea salt course grain

 

Directions

-Cut the Artichokes in half taking care to split the stem evenly, remove the outer hard leaves.

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-With a paring knife cut away the choke (the spiny part of the inside) being very careful not to cut away the heart

-Next, cut the top thorns of the leaves, the inside and top should look like the photo below

-Place the cleaned artichokes in a pan with cold water and add a sliced lemon, this will prevent discoloration. 

-Add the artichokes to a pot of cold salted water, bring to boil and boil for at least 10 minutes, testing the artichokes, they should be soft, but not be falling apart.

-With cooking tongs, carefully remove the Artichokes from the water and let drain

-Preheat a gas grill direct heat

-Place the artichokes on a tray and drizzle generously with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt

On med/low direct heat, place the artichokes on the grill carefully with kitchen tongs leaf side down first, turn after 3-4 minutes onto the heart side and grill another 3-4 minutes until light golden brown being careful not to burn the artichoke

-Place the artichokes on a platter with the lemon garlic mayonnaise, serve hot

Buon Appetito!!

Mickey

 

Lemon and Baked Garlic Mayonnaise

• Servings: 1 cup
• Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

6 tbls mayonnaise (high quality)

2 tbls lemon juice

1 1/2 tsp sea salt course grain

2 tbls finely chopped fresh flat leaf parsley

1 head of  garlic

fresh ground pepper to taste

Directions

-Wrap the head of garlic in aluminum foil and either bake in the oven or place on the grill, bake until soft.

-Squeeze the garlic from the clove it should come out like a cream, use the quantity of baked cloves to taste

-Add the mayonnaise, lemon juice, salt, ground pepper and parsley.  Stir until blended

-Serve withGrilled Roman Artichokes with Lemon, Roasted Garlic Mayonnaise