Rack of Lamb

Allow 1 rack for each couple.

Ingredients:

For Crust:

1/2 C Italian Bread Crumbs

4 T Minced Garlic

1 T Finely Chopped Rosemary

Zest of 1 Lemon

1 T Dijon Mustard

2 T Olive Oil

Mix together and set aside.

For Lamb:

1 – 7 bone Rack of Lamb, frenched

Olive oil

Kosher Salt

Coarse Pepper

Directions:

Start gas grill warming – our goal is to reach a temperature of 450 degrees. If you don’t have a barbeque you can cook this in your oven at 450 degrees.

Mix together crust ingredients and set aside.

Cover rack of lamb with olive oil, salt and pepper. Heat up cast iron skillet and sear all searable sides (bones curve the wrong direction so you cannot sear that side).

Let cool 5 minutes.

Slather crust mixture on lamb, then put on top rack in BBQ, bone side down.

Cook for 15 minutes or until instant read thermometer reads your desired doneness.

Remove from heat, cover with foil and let rest 10-15 minutes.

Carve between the ribs and serve.

Today the AC guy showed up to do the service and replace a couple of motors. Now the house is not too humid and not too hot. Very nice. For lunch we will be having Monchong, zucchini, caprese salad and steamed broccoli with grated cheddar cheese. Got the barbecue started and now it is time to season the fish. I will use olive oil, some mixed herbs for fish (seems to be primarily dill), salt and pepper. I wanted to try something new with the zucchini, so I thought about a little fried squash. I sliced the zucchini in 1/2″ slices, sprinkled with salt and pepper, tossed in egg wash, dipped in Italian Bread crumbs, then lightly fried in coconut oil. It turned out super yummy. I put the fish out on the grill at 350 Fahrenheit for about 12 minutes on the top rack. I didn’t want to over cook it. After letting it rest for 5 minutes, we were ready for lunch.

Worked the rest of the afternoon then enjoyed a nice cheese and cracker snack. We have some nice Maui fillets to fix for dinner tonight, but first a dip in the jacuzzi. Actually I did season the steak with some Montreal steak seasoning, Worcestershire sauce, oyster sauce and dill weed before going out to enjoy the sunset. Let it marinade nicely while I marinade in the jacuzzi. Got the barbecue up and running and cooked the steaks for 3 minutes on each side. It was a perfect medium rare. Since it was a later than normal dinner, I only served up one of the steaks. We’ll save the other one for breakfast. It’s a good thing that I put the second steak away because we would have been tempted to eat it. I served it with Kale salad and some leftover garlic mashed potatoes.

I was thinking those leftover crab stuffed mushrooms would be really good in scrambled eggs. Along with the scrambled eggs we had some Canadian Bacon and a piece of toast with coconut oil and honey, and of coarse some wheat grass. I actually remembered to get out our vitamins today so we had a bowlful of those as well.

Today, I am planning on Spaghetti Squash with red sauce for lunch which really takes a little time a effort to prepare, so here I go. Started out with one pound of mild Italian sausage from Whole Foods.  That amounts to 3 sausages. This is the easiest way to make meatballs. I simply squeeze the meat out of the casing and make meatballs. Done. In the pot I put a couple slugs of olive oil (extra virgin and enough to amply cover the bottom). Then I added the “meatballs”. I almost feel guilty about these meatballs as I do absolutely nothing other than rolling them up. To this mixture I added onions, garlic, turmeric (yes! turmeric. Although it is not an “Italian” spice it can be added to a red sauce without even noticing), a little jarred marinara sauce, chopped tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, chicken broth, bay leaves, crushed red pepper, honey, basil and oregano. My trick to a great red sauce is starting off thin, being patient and ending up with a flavor that is to die for.

Spaghetti Squash is a fabulous creation that God made. I’m thinking that man discovered spaghetti squash and decided to make spaghetti to mimick it. Super simple to cook and very much like “real” spaghetti, this winter squash is the perfect base for my red sauce. All I do is trim the two ends off, cut in half length wise, put upside down in a 13×19 glass pan with 1/2″ of water. Bake in the oven at 375 F for about 45 minutes or until fork tender. Once the squash is done, you simply turn it over, and using a fork, scrape out the insides. It naturally turns into these lovely spaghetti type strands. For those of you that are gluten-phobic or heaven forbid…gluten intolerant, this is the perfect dish to satisfy your Italiano side. Well, except for the fact that I did serve it with some bread. Nothing sops up that extra liquid like bread. Of coarse, the whole thing was topped off with some freshly grated Parmesan cheese and Henry added a really big sprinkle of those dried pepper flakes.

Just as a side note, since the oven was preheated, and I did still have cookie dough in the fridge, I thought that it would be “green” of me to use the heat in the oven to bake some cookies. Mmmmmm, it worked. By the way, when I make my cookie dough I only bake 1 cookie sheet at a time (12 cookies). I then store the cookie dough in the fridge and whenever I have baked something, hence heating up the oven I will throw in a batch of cookies. This way, the cookies are ever fresh and delightful. Nothing worse than a stale cookie.

Because lunch was so late today, we decided to just enjoy a little cheese and crackers for dinner. We had one of those meat and mozzarella rolls in the fridge so we just had a few slices of that and some of those super yummy Rain Forest crackers. The good thing about eating like this is you don’t go to bed with a full stomach and you sleep better.

Having had a full breakfast, it was time to get tot the desk. Did some bookwork and about 12:30 I was wondering why I was hungry. It must be time for lunch. When we went shopping the other day we got some Mahi Mahi and I think it is time to throw that bad boy on the barbee. I seasoned it with olive oil, garlic ormus and pepper, then grilled it at 400 F for 5 minutes on the first side and 2 minutes on the second side…Perfect. When I took it off the grill I squeezed some lemon on top and let it rest for about 5 minutes. To compliment the fish we had some of that pea salad leftover from yesterday and some fresh asparagus. I did make a tarter sauce (although it was not needed as the fish was so good). The quickest, easiest tartar sauce is made simply from mayonnaise and pickle relish.

Back to work. I had several bags of bottles ready to recycle as well as some checks to deposit, so it looks like time for a trip to Pukalani. When I got out to the highway at the intersection, there was a dog that was running. I honked at him trying to get him to stop, but he ran right out into the intersection and got blasted by a truck. He hopped up and continued on his way across the highway. The truck stopped to see what happened as well as everyone else on the road. I did not follow the dog across the highway so I do not know of his demise, although it seemed when he hopped up and across the road that all was well. I completed my errands and headed back home.

A couple more customers and it’s time to call it a day. My chair is calling and my back is not terribly happy. After a short rest I started thinking about that leftover coconut curry shrimp soup. I think it must be time for a bowl of soup. It’s the perfect way to end the day. I put a little in a pan to heat up and got out a little baguette as an addition. Yes, this sounds like the perfect foodie day…For breakfast eat like a king, For lunch eat like a Prince, and for dinner eat like a Pauper. Good food just does not suck.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t have a container (other than a cooler) that is large enough to hold my turkey.  The method of the brine goes something like this:

Brine for the Bird

This recipe is for turkey, but if you divide it in two you can use it for duck, chicken or goose.

Ingredients:

1 Cup Raw Sugar

1 Cup Salt

Water – enough to absorb the sugar and salt (maybe a quart or two…or three…or…)

2 Cinnamon sticks

1T Anise Seed

2 tsp Fennel seed

1T Coriander seed

6 whole cloves

1T Mustard Seed

2T Whole Pepper Corns

Boil together for  30 minutes then cool to use as a brine for the bird.

Variations include adding citrus juice or liquid smoke.

OK now you know how to make the brine. What do you do with it??? Here’s what I would do – get a cooler (you know the kind that you use for a beach picnic) that is big enough to hold your turkey. For a smaller bird, you probably have a pot that it will fit in. Put your bird in the cooler and pour the cooled brine over it. Yikes!!! It doesn’t even come close to covering the bird. If I add enough water to cover the bird all the flavor from the brine will be too diluted. What should I do??? Oh now I remember, put in a big pot filled with water. This will fill up some of the space without diluting the flavor (I think this was geometry or something).  You can also use juice from oranges with the water and ice used to cover the bird. I love the flavor that citrus adds to this brine. Make sure the bird is covered (just barely is ok). You can now leave the bird for several days. For instance, a turkey can be brined for 3-5 days as long as you make sure that there is fresh ice in the brine. For smaller birds, only leave for one or two days.

Once your bird has been brined, cook using your favorite method. One thing you will find is that no matter how you cook the bird, brining will add flavor and moisture.

Kale Salad

Using Lacinato AKA Dino Kale

Ingredients:

1 pound Kale

1 Red Bell Pepper

1/2 Red Onion

1 small jar (8 oz) sun dried tomatoes in olive oil

2T Ume Plum Vinegar

Optional 2 T toasted pine nuts

Chop Kale fine. You can roll up the kale like a cigar, chop one direction then turn it and chop the other direction. Sprinkle on the Ume Plum Vinegar and massage into Kale. Let sit while you chop up the bell pepper and onion. Add to kale. Chop up the sun dried tomatoes adding all the oil that comes off onto the cutting board (you do not need all the oil in the jar, just what naturally comes off the tomatoes). That’s it! You can add the pine nuts just before the final tossing.

By the way, this salad is a perfect compliment to my Leek Soup!

Shoyu Chicken

Ingredients:

3-5# Chicken Thighs (with bone and skin)

Ginger Root

20 cloves Garlic

1 – 2 C Raw Sugar (to taste)

Soy Sauce

Water

Start by covering the chicken thighs with water in a Dutch oven sized pot and bring to a boil. Simmer 5 minutes. This is done to “clean” the meat. You will see some icky foamy stuff come off of it. Using a slotted spoon fish out the chicken pieces and leave behind the foamy stuff. If you have dogs, this broth makes a great “people food” addition to their dry food. My dogs think they have died and gone to heaven when I add this to their food. Rinse the pot out so there is no more icky stuff. Put the chicken pieces back in the pot and cover about halfway with Soy Sauce. Add enough water to almost cover the chicken. Slice the ginger root in 1/4” slices (on a slant). Using the handle of your knife give a quick whack to each exposed side of the ginger slices. Add to chicken. Use the side of your knife blade and smash the garlic. Add to chicken. Add 1 C sugar and after it melts into the sauce taste it and add enough sugar to give it that sweet salty flavor that’s oh so good. Boil on low, stirring occasionally for about 2 – 2 1/2 hrs. until the chicken falls off the bone. Fish all the chicken out of the sauce, then turn the sauce on high and reduce for a real yummy sauce. Strain out the ginger and garlic, then skim off the fat. The chicken can also be baked in the oven in a 13×19 pan at 350 for about 2 hours.

I like to serve this with brown sweet rice and some sort of veggie.

Eggplant Ricotta

Sauce Ingredients:

1 – 15oz can Tomato Sauce

1 Bell Pepper, Roasted, Skin and seeds removed

2 cloves garlic

1/2 tsp each dried basil and oregano

1/4 tsp salt and fresh ground pepper

To roast the pepper, rub with olive oil and grill or broil until the skin has blackened. Put in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let sit for about 15-20 min. Under running water, peel off the skin (it should slip right off). Open up and take out the stem, seeds and ribs.

Put all sauce ingredients into a blender and liquefy.

Eggplant Ingredients:

2- medium eggplant

olive oil

salt and pepper

3 C packed fresh spinach or kale

1-15 oz container skim milk ricotta

1/2 tsp each dried basil and oregano

1 clove garlic, crushed

Start by preparing the eggplant. Cut off both ends. Holding the eggplant lengthwise cut a thin slice off each side. Then slice lengthwise in slices just a bit smaller than 1/2”. Make sure you cut the eggplant in an even number of slices as we will be using them two by two. Brush with olive oil and broil 2-4 minutes until lightly browned. Preheat oven to 350 F.

In a medium skillet add a little water and the spinach or kale. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper, cover and cook about 2 minutes until wilted. Remove from heat and drain the water. Mix together with ricotta basil, oregano and garlic. Add salt and pepper to taste.

The next step is to make little sandwiches with the eggplant. Put a dollop of sauce under each slice of eggplant. Then layer, first with eggplant, then ricotta mixture and topping off with another slice of eggplant. Once all is layered top with remaining sauce and bake for about 20-25 minutes. Top with toasted pine nuts if you want.

Saffron infused Beurre Blanc Sauce

1/3 C  Champagne or Rice Vinegar

1/3 C White wine

2 Shallots or green onions

2 T lemon juice (about 1/2 lemon)

Pinch of Saffron threads

1/2 C heavy cream (or 1/2 and 1/2)

1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter

salt and pepper to taste

In a 2 qt saucepan mix together vinegar, wine, shallots, lemon juice and saffron. Heat to boiling, reduce sauce to about 2 tablespoons. Add cream and reduce a little keeping on low heat. Slowly whisk in the butter 1T at a time. Keep heat low enough so sauce will emulsify without curdling.  If it does start to curdle, remove from heat and add a little ice whisking like there’s no tomorrow, then continue whisking in the butter. Add as much salt and pepper as you like.

Enjoy.