Lazaro Cooks

Le Morel: Morel Ice Cream Sandwich

2012-05-29T09:00:00.000-04:00

Welcome to Le Morel

An exquisite dining expereince showcasing the luxurious Morel Mushrooms. This is quite the posh...i.e expensive item to work with. However prized the world over by chefs.

Our meal gets off to a spectacular start with a Morel Raviolo En Broth by our talented Chef Joan.

The Main Attraction is a tremendous Chard Wrapped Veal Involtini with Morels, Eggs, & Cheese by our crafty Chef Jessica.

As the pastry cook of our fine establishment, I was tasked with making a Morel dessert for you to enjoy. I thought this would be perfect for our current hot, more like scorching Miami weather.

Morel Mushroom Ice Cream? What?! Yeah, exactly what I said.

Ice Cream Base

Whole Milk
Morel Mushrooms
Smoked Bacon
Skim Milk Powder
Egg Yolks
Cane Sugar

There are a few keys in my mind to really making this work...

Clean and scrub the fresh morel mushrooms well.
Roast the morel mushrooms in the oven to intensify flavor.
Render most of the fat from the bacon.
Keep the bacon to a minimum. It should be an accent, not an overpowering force.
Allow the mushroom and bacon to infuse the milk for at least 24 hours.

This ice cream was made with solid carbon dioxide or Dry Ice. Dry Ice is colder, (-194 F) than any domestic ice maker can dream of getting. It is safe to eat. I use it all the time when making ice cream, sorbet, granitas, etc. There are some things to keep in mind when working with dry ice.

Do not allow it to touch your skin, it will burn.
Has a very short shelf life.
Use it pretty soon after purchase.
Keep in a foam cooler.
It will eventually evaporate.
Break into very small pellets before service. Big chunks of dry ice in the ice cream will burn the mouth.

Prepare your Dry Ice concoction at the table. It's always great theater for your guests.

Chocolate Chili Cookies

This cookie dough was made with 2 different chocolates...

Semi-sweet
Chocolate chili

Lindt makes a fabulous dark chocolate infused with premium chilies. In my opinion it gave this unusual dessert another surprise layer of flavor.

Finish the course with candied almonds and a rich chocolate sauce. I wanted to carry through this dessert a few notes of...

Sweet
Savory
Nuttiness

According to our diners...mission accomplished.

Morel Mushroom Ice Cream Sandwich

Morel Mushroom Ice Cream, Chocolate Chili Cookies, & Candied Almonds

Please do drop by and check out the rest of my team...

I cannot thank them enough for their hard work, classiness, sense of responsibility and overall easy to work with.

Two of the best food bloggers around.

That's it for now...till we exchange a few words again...Peace!

Guest Post Spotlight: The Black Course

2012-05-22T17:04:00.001-04:00

Today I welcome one of the two best cooks I have encountered online. Lori from Taste With The Eyes is an amazing talent.

Her technique is flawless.
Her eye for plating is truly inspiring.
Her use of seasonal ingredients is always on point.
Her flavor profiles are complex, creative, and harmonious.

Anything else?!

Yeah...her blog layout is bright and easy to read, the writing is concise and the photography is magnificent. A professional food blog all the way.

However, my personal preference when reading a food blog is focusing on the actual plate of food. Which has always been my problem with Pretentious Buzz, a site I know Lori likes, that particular site celebrates more photography than food.

When I read, Taste with The Eyes, I get to know a cook to respect.

Enjoy...

I'm thrilled to have the honor of writing a Guest Post for my Floridian blog friend Laz! He is an audacious cook, bold & fearless, and his super-creative plating skills are second to none. Reading his blog is never dull...my post would have to include meat, and heat, and a twist of some sort. I knew since conception that this edgy black course was the one to share on Lazaro Cooks!

the black course: negra modelo beer braised beef short rib with chile de arbol wrapped in a grape leaf with oaxacan black mole sauce black mission figs, shiitake mushrooms crispy grape leaf chip, sesame ash, black sesame seed, cacao nibs

Of the seven courses we served at our fundraiser dinner, the black course is my creative favorite. I looked to Mexican cuisine experts - Chefs Rick Bayless, Patricia Quintana, and Javier Plascencia for inspiration. I learned about making sesame ash while Guest-Chef-for-the Day at Moto Restaurant in Chicago last January and had been wanting to try Chef Homaro Cantu's modernist technique in a dish ever since. What appears to be ash is black sesame seed oil converted into a powder. It serves visual interest as well as a flavor complement to the sesame seed in the mole.

Rick Bayless' Beer Braised Short Ribs with Arbol Chile and Shiitake recipe was our guide for cooking the bone-in organic beef short ribs. The March 2012 issue of Sunset magazine showcased a Short Rib Wrapped in Fig Leaf recipe by Javier Plascencia of Tijuana, whom I had the pleasure of meeting at the Top Chef Korean Food Challenge in 2011. Sunset's recipe uses store-bought mole which we did try, but were not completely satisfied, so we turned to Patricia Quintana's indispensable classic cookbook The Taste of Mexico for help with the Oaxacan Black Mole.

Plascencia's fig leaf wrap, while edible, is typically only used to encase foods. We replaced the fig leaf with the more tender, fragrant grape leaf and served a crisp grape leaf chip with the dish. Bitter cacao nibs and sweet black mission figs add contrasting textures and play on the flavors in the Oaxacan mole.

Oaxacan Black Mole with Black Mission Figs

Three days before the party I woke up very early, excited to make mole. Called the Bestway Supermercado, "¿A qué hora abren?" "A las siete." Great, I was there at 7 with this shopping list in hand:

1 sweet roll (pan dulce)
3 oz. raw almonds, skinned
3 oz. raw peanuts
4 oz. sesame seeds
2 plantains
2 white onions
10 garlic cloves
10 chiles chihuacles
4 chiles chipotles
10 black chiles pasillas
1 t. dried anise seed (anis grano)
2 T. whole allspice (pimienta dulce)
1 t. black peppercorns (pimienta entera)
4 plum tomatoes
4 tortillas
2 qt. chicken broth
4 oz. Mexican chocolate (containing cinnamon)
black mission figs

Chef Quintana uses lard in her recipe. I replaced lard with vegetable oil. First the sweet roll is fried in oil then set aside. In the same pan, the almonds, peanuts and sesame seeds are toasted in a bit of oil. Next the plantain is fried. These are all put into a food processor and blended with enough chicken stock to blend smoothly.

Whole allspice, anise, and black peppercorns are toasted separately then ground in a spice mill. Add the spices to the plantain mixture, then set aside.

Meanwhile, sliced onions and tomatoes are drizzled with oil, salt & pepper, roasted at 425°F until half-way charred. Garlic cloves are then added later so as not to burn. Continue to cook until the onions are nicely charred.

Dried chiles are rinsed twice in water. Since they are sun-dried on the ground, they are dusty and dirty. The chiles are then de-stemmed and seeded (OK to leave a few seeds behind).

The chiles are the roasted briefly, taking care not to burn. They will puff and reconstitute slightly. The chiles are then placed in a large bowl and covered with hot water. After 20 minutes the chile-water is drained and reserved. Blend the chiles and onion mixture in a food processor.

Char tortillas over an open flame. Add the tortillas to the chile mixture with enough of the chile-water to blend smoothly.

Place a bit more oil in a heavy saucepan and add the plantain mixture and fry over low heat until the fat rises to the surface. Stir in the chile mixture. Continue to cook, stirring constantly. Add chocolate and salt to taste. Add chicken broth to achieve the correct consistency. Lastly, add black mission figs. Let cool and refrigerate until ready to re-heat.

Braised Short Ribs with Arbol Chiles & Shiitakes

We cooked the short ribs the night before the party. And made enough extra for our dinner that night, served with rice and beans. The fundraiser dinner had 16 guests, so all these recipes make enough for 16+. This is now our favorite short rib recipe. Here's why:

16 arbol chiles
16+ pieces bone-in organic beef short ribs, seasoned with salt and pepper
2 white onions, sliced
32+ shiitake caps, whole and de-stemmed
4 c. negra modelo beer
4 c. beef broth
2 heads garlic, cut in half across the center
fresh thyme springs
2 cans fire roasted dice tomatoes in juice

Break the chiles in half, removing the stems. Shake out the seeds. Sauté in hot olive oil until the chiles are dark brown and aromatic. Remove chiles, leaving oil in the pan to brown the meat.

Brown the meat on all sides, taking care not to crowd. We use 3 pans to brown the meat. Remove ribs to a rimmed baking sheet.

Divide the onion and add it to the three oven-proof pots or Dutch ovens. Cook onion until golden, then add the shiitake. Cook for a few more minutes, then add beer and broth.

Add garlic, thyme, and toasted arbol chiles plus salt and pepper.

Nestle the ribs along with their juices into the braising liquid. Cover and cook in a 325°F oven for approx. 2 1/2 hours until the ribs are fork tender. Remove garlic and thyme. Let cool then refrigerate over night.

Grape Leaf Chips

Grape Leaf Chips are surprisingly good! Fan of dolmades will love these crispy flavorful "chips." Brined grape leaves are drained and rinsed, then patted dry. Lay the leaves in a single layer on a baking sheet. Brush both sides with olive oil, making sure to completely cover the leaf with a very light film of oil. Bake at 425°F for only 2 to 3 minutes until the leaves become crispy. Sprinkle lightly with fine sea salt.

Sesame Ash

150 g roasted black sesame seed
75 g grapeseed oil
50 g toasted sesame oil

Roasted black sesame seeds are placed in a blender with the oil and a pinch of salt then pureed to make a black oil. Tapioca maltodextrin is mixed by hand with the black oil until a powder is formed. For finer ash, press the mixture through a sieve.

The Black Course Compostion

Remove bone and excess fat from the short ribs. Let the meat come to room temperature. Drain, rinse, and pat dry the brined grape leaves. Overlap two or three leaves on a work surface. Place the meat and two shiitake caps in the middle of the leaves. Wrap the leaves into a bundle.

Place the bundles seam-side-down in a baking dish. Add a splash of beef broth to the dish. Brush leaves with olive oil. Bake at 325°F until the meat is heated through. Meanwhile, re-heat the mole sauce on the stovetop, stirring occasionally. When ready to serve, remove figs from the mole and slice lengthwise.

Place a grape leaf chip in the center of the plate. Place the hot short rib bundle on top of the chip, seam-side-up. Open the bundle and ladle mole over the meat. Surround the grape leaf with figs, sesame ash, cacao nibs, and black sesame seeds.

This organic meat is super-tender, while the grape leaf - crisp, the mole - complex and spicy, the figs - sweet, the cacao nibs - slightly bitter and mildly chocolate-y, the sesame ash - simultaneously tasty and curious...Our guests were delighted, I hope you are too. Thanks for the invitation Laz!

Please stop by Taste With The Eyes you will not regret it.

That's it for now...till we exchange a few words again...Peace!

Guest Post Spotlight: Spring Greens Stir Fry

2012-05-15T13:48:00.003-04:00

For those of you who read this space and are fans of my work, I suggest you connect with me on facebook. I am infinitely more active there, always posting new dishes and spotlighting some of my favorite cooks.

Lazaro Cooks Facebook

Today I am honored to turn the floor over to one of my favorite cooks, Alisha from The Ardent Epicure. It is a fantastic blog. I've been reading this blog for years.

Alisha does magic with veggies. I've dubbed her "The Veggie Queen." Her recipes are eclectic and expertly put together while the photography is always top notch.

Please do drop by The Ardent Epicure. You will find a wonderful food blog to follow and make a very sweet new friend.

Thanks to my good friend for sharing her marvelous talent here with us.

Enjoy...

Hello to all of the Lazaro Cooks readers, my name is Alisha (aka Magic of Spice). I am the co-author of The Ardent Epicure which I write with my son Adam (aka Truffle Shuffle).

I am very pleased and honored to be invited back to share with you all here by my amazing friend Lazaro. Lazaro’s skill and creativity in the world of food is not only unquestionable, but undeniable. So my friend Laz, again I thank you for not only the invitation, but always your friendship…

Spring Greens Stir-Fry

Today I would like to share with you a simple stir-fry that has a few twists and turns. Basically it has pretty much everything I got my hands on during a trip to the local farmers’ market, then a few goodies that needed to be put to use.

The farmers’ market trips that I make…well quite frequently, sometimes inspire an entire meal. But then like most of you probably, I already have several ingredients hanging around in the fridge wondering just when they will get their turn to shine.

Aside from the eclectic mix of veggies here, I went with more of a Mediterranean style of seasonings. So in essence, this will work with just about anything you have available.

Heirloom Organic Carrots and Purple Asparagus

Above we have our Chrysanthemum Greens…have you ever tried these beauties? They also go by the names shingiku or tong hao. They have just a hint of anise and mustard and work beautifully in any method you would prepare other greens.

The image below is our Kohlrabi-Italian turnip and Baby Bok Choy. Both of these greens have edible leaves as well as bodies. The Kohlrab has a similar texture and flavor profile of broccoli stems.

In this image above the beautiful leafy creatures are known as Tatsoi or Spoon Mustard. The name Spoon Mustard was given as these lovelies have a mild mustard flavor. The stalks are crunchy and do wonderfully as a raw snack with more mature Tatsoi, and both the leaves as well as stalks are wonderful raw or just slightly wilted in a stir-fry or sauté.

Then there are our Collard Greens, similar to kale in nutritional benefits but with a milder flavor.

And finally these Mizuna Greens, they have pointy green leaves and have a similar flavor to that of arugula, although slightly less peppery. I find them to be not only a tasty, but attractive addition to salads as well.

What you will need:

For the wild mushroom broth

4-5 ounces dried mushrooms

1/4th cup plus 2 tablespoons boiling water

For the stir-fry

2 tablespoons avocado oil, halved

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 teaspoon raw sugar

1/4 cup wild mushroom broth

1/4th teaspoon cumin

1/4th teaspoon cardamom

½ teaspoon sea salt

1 stem of fresh savory leaves only

1 stem of fresh thyme leaves only

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

4 baby bok choy, quartered

6 young carrots, quartered then halved, leaves reserved

1 kohlrabi, cut into bite sized pieces, leaves reserved

1 small bunch baby asparagus, trimmed

4 ounces crimini mushrooms

8-10 ounces mixed greens

Let’s get cooking:

For the mushroom broth

Begin by placing your dried mushroom in a bowl of cup, add boiling water and cover. Steep for 5-10 minutes of so, or until you have a fragrant broth.

For the stir-fry

In the meantime, pep all of your vegetable and set aside, placing your greens together and your kohlrabi and carrots together, leaving your mushrooms and baby bok choy separate.

Now prepare your herbs and spices (except sugar), then toss them briefly setting aside in a small bowl.

Heat your wok on a high flame until hot, add half of the avocado oil until very hot. Add sugar and then quickly add the baby bok choy. Caramelize, turning occasionally until browned on all sides, about 5 minutes.

Remove pan from heat and set aside.

Return pan to heat and add remaining oil. Add garlic while continuously moving around the pan until fragrant and slightly translucent, about 1 minute.

Quickly add carrots and kohlrabi, toss a bit until they just start to get a hint of brown. Add the asparagus and continute to toss for another 1-2 minutes. Add mushrooms continuing for another minute.

Now add your mushroom broth and herb/seasonings. Continuing to cook on high heat until most of the liquid is absorbed and vegetables are tender but firm.

Now add greens and toss a few moments until wilted…Serve immediately
Serves 4-6

Enjoy~
Alisha~Magic of Spice

Please stop by The Ardent Epicure and follow one of the best blogs on the net.

That's it for now...till we exchange a few words again...Peace!

Guest Post Spotlight: Broccoli Rabe with Beans & Sausage

2012-04-24T08:42:00.001-04:00

Today I am stoked to present the second member of our team, Joan from Foodalogue. I am telling you between Joan, Jessica and myself; we are gonna make morel mushrooms look good!

I was fortunate enough to meet Joan recently. She's classy, engaging and truly knowledgeable about food. This is clearly evident in one of her recent offerings..

Salmon and White Asparagus Soup with Caviar Floating Island

Her photography is second to none. If you appreciate off the charts good photography then this is certainly the site for you. Joan loves to travel and shares all of her interesting excursions.

All in all, Foodalogue is one of the best and well-rounded food blogs I have encountered.

Enjoy...

Broccoli Rabe with Beans & Sausage

Guest posting is a natural phase of food blogging because that's what the community is all about ... sharing.

It's an honor to be asked to imprint your work on someone's blog because it's their way of saying "I like what you do and I'd like to introduce my readers to you." By accepting the offer, it's your way of saying "ditto, right back at ya".

Laz and I have a little bit of history. I've followed his blog for a while now and then about 3 months ago I became a member of the 5 Star Culinary Makeover Cooking Group which he co-hosts ... then, we recently met in person for a 3-hour fab tasting lunch in Miami ... and, now, we're collaborating as teammates for our next cooking club challenge. But, it's hush-hush and I can't tell you anything about that ... yet.

When I visit Laz's blog, I laugh at his irreverent bad boy language and admire his sophisticated (even delicate) artistic plating. So when he asked me to guest post, I knew I wanted to try to do something 'al estilo Lazaro'. I hope he likes this.

This dish has been a standard in Italian kitchens for a very long time. When served at home, the broccoli rabe (rapini), white beans and sausage are usually served tossed together in a bowl - or heaped on a large serving platter - and served family style. But, I thought Laz would prefer this presentation.

Also, our friend, Laz, is not a big fan of techy menu templates. Like me, he favors telling readers the ingredients and cooking technique, leaving quantities and spices to individual tastes.

So, once again, al estilo Lazaro, here's the recipe:

• White beans slow braised in chicken broth with garlic, olive oil, a small chunk of Parmigiano Reggiano, rosemary and grape tomatoes.
• Rapini wilted in chicken broth; then drained and sauteed with garlic, olive oil and red chili flakes. Squeeze of fresh lemon to finish.
• Sausage roasted in high heat oven with drizzle of balsamic glaze. Cut on angle.
• Finish with a fresh grating of Parmigiano Reggiano and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

Note to Laz: Still not as refined as your presentations, but a step up from dumping in a bowl. :) I do need a lesson, however, in olive oil plate spotting!

That's it for now...till we exchange a few words again...Peace!

Olive Oil Poached Barramundi with Insalata Caprese & Balsamic Reduction

2012-04-19T11:20:00.000-04:00

Here's a simple Sunday lunch that was a big hit at the crib this weekend...

Barramundi is a wonderfully sustainable fish. Farm raised in the United States and Australia in fully recirculating systems. The flesh of the fish is thick and meaty. I was able to purchase some through my business, however U.S. farm raised Barramundi is readily available on the net. Find a reputable supplier and have at it.

I decided to use a two-step procedure to cook the fish. Here's my method...

Preheat oven to 190 F.
Remove the fish from the fridge.
Lightly season with sea salt and allow to sit on a rack to come to room temp.
In a rectangular baking dish, add enough olive oil to completely cover the pieces of fish (without actually adding the fish at this point), 4 springs thyme, 2 bay leafs, and a few black peppercorns.
Transfer dish to oven for 30 minutes. This allows the flavors to meld with the oil.
Remove dish from oven.
Add the pieces of fish.
Poach fish for 25 minutes.
Remove the fish from the oven to a wire rack. Allow excess oil to run off.
Heat equal parts clarified butter and blended oil in a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat.
QUICKLY SEAR THE SKINNED SIDE OF THE FISH.

This cooking method produces textural contrast...

Tender moist interior.
Crusty exterior.

Best of both worlds.

I served the fish with a simple salad of diced plum tomato, fresh mozzarella, fresh basil & a balsamic reduction.

NOTE: When reducing anything, it's better to go low and slow. Take your time, be patient, reducing at a low temperature takes time but you'll be rewarded with the final product. Try and reduce something faster at a high temp and you run the risk of burning it.

Trust me, it happens much faster than you think and once it burns, it's fucked!

That's it for now...till we exchange a few words again...Peace!

Guest Post Spotlight: Burrata Salad

2012-04-17T14:05:00.000-04:00

Here's my teammate Jessica from Bacon and Souffle. I am happy to report that we are deep into creative sessions for our Makeover event. Our team will be doing it up big in late May. Do not miss it!

Jessica recently shared with us a flavorful, balanced and bold Mustard Seed Pork Chops Dish.

Again, I am fortunate to be working with Jessica. I have long been an admirer of her cooking style. She's a smart, fun & creative cook. Finally, she loves pork, a big plus in my book.

Make sure you stop by Bacon and Souffle. Here are some reasons why...

Fantastic varied range of cuisines
Top notch photography
Well written
Clear, bright, easy to read blog layout.

Enjoy...

Hello, readers of Lazaro Cooks! I'm so happy to be guest posting here again. This time I am even more thrilled because as Laz mentioned in a previous post, we are on the same team for our May 5 Star Makeover! It is going to be mind blowing - just to build some anticipation without giving anything away. Every team is going to be amazing and I am excited to be planning and sharing ideas with a creative mastermind like Lazaro. Taste and inspiration. The two most important things to me when it comes to cooking. Be prepared as we share with you our "menus" in May!

In the meantime, I wanted to share with you one of the best salads I've made. A salad that has sweet cantaloupe with tossed arugula, sliced prosciutto, and fresh burrata. I love the freshness and flavors of this salad. It is the perfect Spring/Summer dish. Enjoy!

Burrata Salad

Ingredients

For candied pecans (1 cup sugar, 1 cup pecans).
2 tbsp champagne vinegar
1/4 cup plus 3 tbsp EVOO, divided
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 tsp sugar
1 small sweet cantaloupe
10 cups of baby arugula
4.5 tsp champagne vinaigrette
1/2lb thinly sliced prosciutto
1 lb fresh burrata
1.5 tsp aged balsamic vinegar
fleur de sel
1/2 cup chopped candied pecans
3 tsp vincotto
3 tsp of chive oil

Recipe

Heat oven to 250F. Combine sugar with 1 cup of water in a small saucepan and bring it to a simmer, stirring until sugar dissolves. Add pecans and simmer on low until tender (15 minutes). Strain pecans and spread them in a single layer on parchment paper. Toast until crisp, about 30 minutes.
Whisk vinegar and 1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp of the olive oil in a bowl. Add 1/2 tsp of salt, 1/4 tsp black pepper, and sugar. Adjust seasoning to taste and set aside.
Halve and seed cantaloupe. Cut cantaloupe into wedges then slice cantaloupe. Arrange them among 6 plates.
Dress arugula with 4 tsp of vinaigrette and season with salt and pepper. Toss lightly and arrange them among salad plates.
Divide prosciutto among plates and then top prosciutto with fresh burrata. Drizzle 1/4 tsp of balsamic vinegar and 1/2 tsp of olive oil among each of the 6 plates. Top each salad with a pinch of sea salt. Scatter candied pecans over the salads and drizzle each with 1/2 tsp of vincotto and chive oil.

That's it for now...till we exchange a few words again...Peace!

Berkshire Pork Chops with Mozzarella & Yukon Gold Puree

2012-04-07T09:35:00.001-04:00

Before we get to this dish...

I have an exciting announcement. During the months of April/May we have a two month extravaganza for the 5 Star Makeover Event.

Without giving up too much info, what's gonna happen is we broke the group up into teams of 3 for a collaborative project.

Here I will introduce the two creative cooks I have the pleasure of working with. You'll see them both in the coming weeks here on LC. Both blogs have many qualities in common I look for in blogs I enjoy reading

Good food.
Amazing photography
Interesting stories
Wonderful clean blog layouts that are easy to read

Joan from FOODalogue is a classy and engaging lady from South Florida whom I recently had the pleasure of meeting during a fantastic lunch here in Miami.

Jimmy Z's Kitchen & The Wynwood Art District of Miami

Jessica from Bacon and Souffle is a firecracker. She's smart, creative and fearless in the kitchen. Here's some cheesy pork goodness that I am in love with...

Gourmet Pork Shoulder Pizza

Communication and creative sessions with these two amazing ladies has been fantastic. I can promise that our group's project is going to be pretty fantastic.

Berkshire Pork Chops with Mozzarella & Yukon Gold Puree

About this course...

Berkshire pork is expensive but worth every cent. The best pork money can buy.
Use a high-quality mozzarella and be rewarded in the final product.
Start the pork chop on very hot pan just to get some good browning on both sides.
DO NOT OVERCOOK.
Finish under the broiler to melt and brown the cheese
If you want my method of making silky smooth potato puree Click Aqui.
Finish with a drizzle of olive oil and fresh thyme.

That's it for now...till we exchange a few words again...peace!

Deconstructed Ravioli with Mahi Balls, Melon Relish, Crispy Prosciutto, and Mint Cream

2012-04-03T20:44:00.000-04:00

The more it changes, the more it stays the same. Balance has been restored to the Force!

Having my dear friend Natasha from 5 Star Foodie back on LC makes me happy.

Natasha, my co-host for our 5 Star Makeover Crew, is one of the best cooks on the net. She's a creative, fearless and inventive cook. Her flavor profiles and course presentations never cease to inspire. Natasha also has a lovely little daughter, 5 Star Foodie Jr, who's a future star in the food world.

A few weeks ago Natasha and I were talking about our love for the sea creature called Mahi Mahi. From those chats our long overdue next collaboration took shape.

Stop by 5 Star Foodie Culinary Adventures for my Mahi Mahi dish.

Sit back and enjoy the culinary acumen to rise up another level for at least one day on LC. Don't get used to it.

Enjoy...

***

It has been quite a while since I have been on LC and it is a pleasure to be here again! My friendship with Lazaro has been the best part of blogging for me. Our collaboration posts are always so much fun and inspire me to really focus on what's important for us, food bloggers, and that is to create. I was very excited to work with today's featured ingredient, Mahi Mahi, a delicious fish common in Pacific waters with a Hawaiian name that means "very strong".

The very first time I actually tried Mahi Mahi was in an Italian restaurant, and although I don't remember the way it was prepared then, I decided on making my Mahi dish in the Italian style. I made an open-faced ravioli, circles of handmade delicate egg pasta prepared with the special "00" flour.

The ravioli circles were topped with a melon relish, composed of honeydew melon, cantaloupe, fresh red bell pepper, and green onions. The relish was a very refreshing component bringing a little bit of sweetness and a lot of bright flavors to the dish.

The star part of the dish was the mini Mahi balls, the size the ravioli filling would have been, placed in the center of the melon relish. To make the Mahi balls, I first sauteed the onions and garlic, then put those along with Mahi filets through the grinder. The ground Mahi Mahi mixture was then combined with egg, breadcrumbs, and seasoned with salt and Grains of Paradise. The Mahi balls were tender and had a wonderfully fragrant natural salty flavor.

The crispy fried prosciutto crumbles added a very nice crunchy texture to the dish and went just perfectly with both the melon relish and Mahi balls.

A final finishing touch for the dish was a creamy mint sauce.

This was a very successful dish, with all of the components coming together beautifully.

5 Star Makeover March: Junk Food Round-Up

2012-03-30T08:23:00.000-04:00

hosted by 5 Star Foodie & Lazaro Cooks!

This month our 5 Star Foodie Makeover Crew reconvenes to attempt to disprove one of my deepest held kitchen axioms, "You cannot make chicken salad out of chicken shit."

Our challenge was to make a 5 star dish out of Junk Food. Not recreating junk food, but making junk food the...umm...star of a dish.

This group is all about challenging ourselves. If you are gonna be in this group the limits of your cuisine will be pushed. Many of us really do not eat junk food.

I want to thank my fellow crew members for coming through in a big way.

You want a tease? OK. How about this...

The very gifted, Lacy from NYCity Eats, a fabulous blog you should really check out. Her junk food of choice was Kettle Cooked Sour Cream & Onion Chips.

What did she do with them? Nothing really, just use them to make fresh pasta!

Hop on over to my amazing co-host Natasha's marvelous,5 Star Foodie Culinary Adventures , for the complete round-up of these fabulous creations.

That's it for now...till we exchange a few words again...Peace!

5 Star Makeover March: Junk Food Mac & Cheese

2012-03-26T22:23:00.001-04:00

hosted by 5 Star Foodie & Lazaro Cooks!

So how did that go over in the house? It went a little something like this...

The Lawyer: "You are making what now? What is your junk food?"

Kitchen Hack: "Well, I am gonna use three actually."

The Lawyer: "You did not answer the question."

Kitchen Hack: "I am gonna make a mac & cheese out of Velveeta, Beef Jerky & Funyons."

The Lawyer: "OMG, that sounds disgusting!"

Kitchen Hack: "It could be good, maybe?!"

The Lawyer: "I am not eating that crap. It's gonna be really salty."

True these ingredients on their own are quite salty ridden. Imagine together?! Look I would not use Velveeta, like ever, ever. Even here I augmented it with grated Fontina & cream cheese. In the end, I did not salt the mac and cheese, the salt level comes entirely from the cheeses, ground beef jerky and Funyons topping.

I ate a lot of Funyons growing up, so adding them here was a no-brainer for me. Actually was a perfectly crisp topping.

Funyons are onion "flavored" ring chips.

I found one last way to incorporate the Velveeta by breading and frying it, to make a crispy fried cheese treat.

Junk Food Mac & Cheese

The Lawyer: "You know it's not as horrendous as I thought it was gonna be!"

Kitchen Hack: "Umm, thanks. I guess!"

The Lawyer: "It's true, in the kitchen, anything in your hands tastes good."

Agreed.

Please check back on Friday for our complete 5 Star Makeover Cooking Group Junk Food Makeover.

That's it for now...till we exchange a few words again...Peace!

Tripleta Burger with Yukon Gold Chips

2012-03-24T11:53:00.000-04:00

La Tripleta is quintessential Puerto Rican street food. Basically it is a sandwich that combines 3 different types of meat, Tripleta, into one eating experience.

Beef
Chicken
Pork

My lovely and talented wife, The Lawyer, is Puerto Rican. A glance at the fine print in my blogging contract reveals a clause that requires me to mix in a PR dish every now and again, or face repercussions. Errrr, I mean, I love Boricua food and I am glad to spotlight it here.

I decided to take the traditional sandwich concept and turn it into a stuffed burger.

Lets discuss the flavor layers...

Beef - An 8 oz NY Strip steak freshly ground. Divide into two equal 4 oz patties.
Chicken - Chicken leg confit. Organic Free-Range chicken legs slow cooked in duck fat.
Ham - Jamon Serrano provides the perfect hammy accent to our burger.
Lime Mojo - A combination of fresh orange juice, lime juice, onion, cilantro, cumin & roasted garlic.
Creamy Havarti cheese - Melts like a dream.
Colombian Bread - The Latin version of a Brioche.

When making the Yukon Gold Potato Chips you want your potato slices to be as dry as possible. Use paper towels to dry up as much excess moisture from the potato. Fry at 375 F until golden & crispy.

Roll the pics...

4 oz NY Strip Patty with Chicken Leg Confit

Serrano Jam

4 oz NY Strip Patty - Seal those edges!

Sear to Perfection

Time to get building

Toasted Colombian Bread, Melted Creamy Havarti Cheese, Olive Oil Mayo & Avocado

Stuffed Tripleta Burger

Lime Mojo Sauce

Tripleta Burger with Yukon Gold Chips

Helluva Saturday Lunch in the Magic City...

That's it for now...till we exchange a few words again...Peace!

Breaded Coconut Shrimp Pizza

2012-03-19T14:36:00.000-04:00

Here's my latest pizza concept. I decided to take a popular fried food and slap it on a pizza.

Breaded Coconut Shrimp:

Take your favorite shrimp.
Peel, devien & butterfly the shrimp.
Make a batter of flour, coconut milk, coconut flakes & seasonings.
Deep fry at 350 F for 2 minutes
Here's what you get...

After frying please cut off the tails on the shrimp. Unless you want the extra crunch, then by all means leave them on...

Here's the pizza construction....

Pineapple BBQ sauce. I found this to be the perfect companion for the coconut shrimp. Made an awesome sauce. Thanks to my brilliant wife for the suggestion of using pineapple.
Sliced Leeks. Add an onion punch.

Shredded Fontina cheese. Awesome mild tasting and great melting cheese.

Flat leaf Parsley. Adds great color.
At this point bake the pizza at 450 F for 8 minutes.

Add the quartered fried breaded coconut shrimp.
Add a light drizzle of avocado oil.
Return to the 450 F oven to finish baking.

Breaded Coconut Shrimp Pizza

Sometimes kitchen ideas are better in the mind of the cook but when executed do not work. Well, this one was tremendous. My wife called it a tropical pizza. Agreed. It had a very Caribbean feel to it.

That's it for now...till we exchange a few words again...Peace!

Mad About Macarons: Guest Post Spotlight

2012-03-13T07:00:00.001-04:00

I am honored to welcome to LC, The Queen of the Macarons, Jill Colonna. Jill is the author of the fantastic book, Mad About Macarons.

Jill's work is consistently witty, smart and well-written. She's mastered the art of macarons. Elevating the mac to new heights with varied and eclectic flavor combinations. Jill always has a surprise up her sleeve.

Here's Jill's gallery on Kitchen Artistry it's a true feast for the eyes.

Please stop by Mad About Macarons check out her work, she's an absolute superstar. I guarantee you make a classy and sweet new friend.

Enjoy...

It’s great to be on Lazaro Cooks. Personally I wish I could be here in person: somehow living in Miami with continuous BBQ weather must turn you into a real dude. Miami Vice? Pah! Miami's Lazaro should have his own TV show, don’t you think?

No need to go on how Laz rocks, as that’s why you’re here. So what on earth could I make for such a brilliant chef? I thought of Florida’s sun and its citrus fruits, and as I had a few macarons left over (this happens at times), I kept with the same flavour combination and added a couple mini desserts with different textures. I suppose it’s a kind of Café Gourmet à la Laz.

The flavour combination is intriguing. If you’re into refreshing bitter cocktail drinks then this concoction will talk to you.

As one of my favourite pre-dinner summer tipples is a Campari and orange on crushed ice, I first wondered what it would be like to add the same kind of bitter appeal from carcadé. Carcadé is a dark red infusion made from dried hibiscus flowers that I discovered in the sizzling heat in Egypt – and it resurfaced the other day when I was cleaning out my kitchen cupboards (this often happens, too.)

Somehow the infusion’s bitterness quenches your thirst, it’s an antioxidant and it’s pretty addictive. There’s a lot to be said for healthy stuff that’s compulsive eating/drinking! A little added to freshly squeezed blood oranges and topped up with Campari and ice? This reddish-pink cocktail just looked at me and pleaded, “Macaron me, baby.”

Then this macaron said…. Och enough. So this macaron turned into a wee trilogy, served with a blood orange-campari ice cream with hibiscus jelly and an inverted tartlet.

As the recipes could be quite long here, I’m following in Laz’s style by just talking you through it briefly, but if anyone is really interested in me posting the full recipe later, just contact me via MadAboutMacarons.com.

Instead of going for a sorbet, I chose a custardy-based ice cream. Let’s just say when you use whites for making macarons, I’m always looking for egg yolk recipe excuses. In place of 1/10 of the cream, I used Campari and the grated zest of an untreated organic blood orange then served it on blood orange segments and an hibiscus jelly: infused the hibiscus flowers in water, added sugar and pre-soaked gelatine (2g for 200ml infusion.) It’s my adult version of my childhood jelly and ice cream. Note that the ice cream melted quite quickly due to the alcohol content. It’s a beautifully soft ice cream but not ideal for someone like me who’s long at taking photos!

For the inverted tartlet, I blind-baked some short crust pastry and made the tartlet ‘filling’ using

Egg yolks

· Superfine sugar

· Blood orange juice

· Hibiscus infusion

· Campari

· Butter

· 1 sheet of pre-soaked gelatine

then broke up the pastry and plonked it on top. Et voilà.

A Trilogy of Blood Orange, Hibiscus and Campari

Please stop by and say hello to the very talented Jill at Mad About Macarons.

That's it for now...till we exchange a few words again...Peace!

Mahi with Cauliflower "Mashed Potato", Green Beans & Broccoli

2012-03-09T11:25:00.002-05:00

"Presentation is there for fifteen seconds; ultimately it's the flavor that holds the memory."

Gordon Ramsay

One of my favorite quotes from one of my kitchen mentors. He's absolutely right.

No matter how lovely a course may be composed, if it tastes like the dog's dinner, no one will remember it.

Likewise, if a dish looks like a pile of shit but is magic in the mouth, people will remember it.

Now does it have to be either extreme? Of course not. My food is evidence of that...silly people.

I live for plating. It's my creative outlet; a blank canvas to play in. Food has to taste good, that's a given. I've been cooking since I was 12, learning to create flavor profiles, layering flavors, varying textures and temperatures within courses.

However, it was not until 2001 when I read The French Laundry Cookbook that my mind was totally opened to plating. Thomas Keller's flawless and exquistie presentations blew my mind. That freak was making food look otherworldly. I wanted my food to look like that.

Now, I am no Thomas Keller, nor did I stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night but I will share some of my thoughts on what it takes me to try and make food look half-decent.

Curiosity - Colors, textures, and shapes all play a role. You can't just throw it on a plate and it's ready to go to the pass. Think about how it looks, move things around, investigate.
Patience - Give yourself a break. It may not happen on the first go. Sometimes I plate a dish 10 times before I am happy. It's an organic process.
Persistence - It may take weeks, months or years to find your voice, or in this case style. Quitters never win though.

The point is not to copy the way someone plates a dish. Any asshole can do that.

True creation is honestly expressing the self. To be able to stare at a completed dish and honestly say inside your heart of hearts, "Fuckin' A, that's me on the plate right there.

Learn concepts, techniques, theories and apply them. Express yourself, it's fun.

Quickly about this dish cause your attention span went about 3 minutes before you came here today.

Cauliflower puree makes an awesome fake "mashed potato."
Green beans are the universe's gift to cooks.
When searing fish on a pan, DO NOT USE TOO MUCH OIL, or you will never get a good sear. You want maximum fish contact with the pan.
If you are frantically searching for the broccoli...it's the pretty dots.
The pepper used on the cauliflower was Piment d'Espelette. Thanks Tanantha.

That's it for now...till we exchange a few words again...Peace!

Broccoli, Roasted Garlic, & Mozzarella Pizza

2012-03-06T08:00:00.002-05:00

It’s always a good day when I can collaborate with my uber-talented friend Natalie.

Last week we were discussing about folks who have trouble with acid in their foods. My lovely wife, for example, struggles with too much acid in foods.

I love my salt & acid. Then again I am a salty and acidic bastard.

Now, the Lawyer and Natie, do not do well with acidic foods, because they are nice and sweet.

Indeed then, for all you sweet people out there, that struggle with this condition, this one’s for you.

Here’s a look behind the curtain at the creative process between cooks…

Laz – How about broccoli and cheese? If you like it in a soup, you’ll love it on a pizza.

Natie – Nice, we should add roasted garlic in there.

Laz – Should we puree it in the broccoli puree, or shave it thin as a topping.

Natie – It would add depth of flavor to the puree.

Laz – You certainly are the brains of this operation. What about cheese?

Natie – I love mozzarella. Lots and lots.

Laz – Cause you’re cheesy.

Natie – That’s me! The more cheese the better.

Laz – We can use fresh and shredded mozzarella, make it super cheesy.

Natie – Now we're getting somewhere.

Enjoy...

Broccoli, Roasted Garlic & Mozzarella Pizza

Cheesy Goodness

For the complete recipe go over to FoodAtick.

That's it for now...till we exchange a few words again...Peace!

Blue Mussels with Sweet Potato Fries

2012-03-03T11:46:00.000-05:00

Here we have what according to the Monterey Bay Aquariums Seafood Watch List is a "best choice" for sustainability. Blue Mussels worldwide are farmed using environmentally safe practices. Now, add to that the little fact that they are easy as hell to cook.

How can you go wrong for a Saturday lunch?

Blue mussels are readily available anywhere but if you live in Dade, Broward, or Palm Beach counties you can get them shipped to your door from Fish On Dish.

This is the bit of goodness you eat.

Do not eat the pretty shell. But you can use it to...

Make a bed of lobster stock, mussel juice, crispy bacon, shallots, & jalapeno.

Dude, I'd wanna sleep in that.

Blue mussels cook quickly. That means they over cook quickly. Please do not over cook your mussels. You will end up with something truly inedible.

Drop your mussels in a pan with liquid, cover with a tight fitting lid. Count on about 4 minutes of cooking time. Then get them the hell out.

For this Dish, I used:

Lobster stock
White wine
Applewood Smoked Bacon
Shallots
Jalapenos
Orange Juice

Note: Once the mussels open up in your pan, they will release their lovely mussel juice, which of course will add to your sauce.

I paired my mussels with Sweet Potato Fries. Now, for flavor contrast and balance, I served the fries with a tangy chipotle sauce, in place of ketchup.

Finish the dish with two ingredients that always go a long way...

Edible Flowers
White Truffle Oil

Blue Mussels with Sweet Potato Fries

That's it for now...till we exchange a few words again...Peace!

Strawberry Bread Pudding with Whipped Vanilla Mascarpone & Chocolate

2012-02-27T22:08:00.002-05:00

This past weekend in my fair city, where I lay my scene, was the South Beach Food & Wine festival. Normally an event I avoid like the plague. What pay the maniacal prices they want for a day pass? To what end? Rub shoulders with the Food Network's, um...what's the word I am looking for...just a second...um..."chefs."

You got's to be out of your Vulcan mind.

However, my lovely and brilliant wifey, The Lawyer...

A true connoisseur of the good deal found us one on Living Social Miami. So we were able to catch a lecture/demo from two of the most talented people in their fields in this country.

Christina Tosi from Momofuku Milk Bar in NYC is one of the finest pastry chefs in the business.
Andrea Robinson is one of the foremost American Sommelier or expert on wine to you and me.

Plus, as an added bonus we got Christina Tosi's pretty damn awesome cookbook Momofuku Milk Bar shown here...

More on the genius of Christina Tosi in future posts. This post is long enough and your attention span at this point is toast.

Anyway, the wife already has more than one order in for me to take a hack at recreating Tosi's magic. No pressure, right?!

This dish is not from the book. However, it's been 1000 years since I posted a sweet dish on LC, so in honor our our little sojourn into dessert land on Saturday I give you this course.

Strawberry Bread Pudding with Whipped Vanilla Mascarpone & Chocolate

By the way, it's not just the damn berry on top! There's a decadent strawberry puree blended in with the custard for the pudding.

That's it for now...till we exchange a few words again...Peace!

5 Star Makeover: Beets Round-Up

2012-02-24T07:44:00.000-05:00

hosted by 5 Star Foodie & Lazaro Cooks!

This month the 5 Star Makeover Cooking Group convened and the task was to make beets shine. Beets are in season right now, perfect to use in your kitchen.

This may sound self-serving because I am the co-host of this group and helped select the members but the talent and kitchen acumen in the group is outrageous. These fantastic cooks have taken the beet and raised it to a level it has rarely seen.

I want to thank each and every one of our fabulous group members, for your talent, passion, creativity, and absolute inspiration you provide for anyone who is willing to pay attention.

Bravo!

Please hop on over to one of the best blogs on the net, my co-host Natasha's 5 Star Foodie Culinary Adventures and check out all of the awesome beet creations.

5 Star Makeover: Beets Round-Up

That's it for now...till we exchange a few words again...Peace!

Yellowfin Tuna Crudo with Couplet of Beets

2012-02-22T00:11:00.001-05:00

hosted by 5 Star Foodie & Lazaro Cooks!

This month our cooking group takes on the challenge of making perfectly in-season produce shine; Beets.

I love working with beets and in this dish I used both red and golden varieties.

I decided to pair the beets with sustainable sushi-grade yellowfin tuna, another staple in my kitchen. If you purchase fantastic ingredients, your job as a cook is to do as little as possible and let them shine. Which is what I did here by serving the tuna raw.

My original concept for this beet challenge was gonna be a pasta dish. However, I always leave myself open for inspiration to hit. When it came time to cook, I was in the mood for a light dish and thus this dish was created; on the spur of the moment. Always keep your mind open in the kitchen, who the hell knows what may pop in there.

Let's attack each component in this course from the plate up...

1. Beet Sauce - Beet juice reduced by 75%, then mounted with butter and cut with white soy sauce. Silky smooth, sweet & tangy.

2. Beet Green Leaf - Adds to the presentation and keeps us in beet theme.

3. Yellowfin Tuna Crudo with Couplet of Beets - Raw sushi-grade yellowfin tuna with roasted golden beets, roasted red beets, and Fuji apple slices. All tossed in Meyer lemon vinaigrette.

4. Beet Cream & Goat Cheese - Beets and goat cheese are a perfect match, so I had to work it in somehow. A tiny final flourish of a roasted red beet cream, goat cheese, & chives.

This course was light, simple and elegant. Perfect for a hot Miami lunch rendezvous in the sun.

Please check in Friday for the complete round-up of amazing beet dishes from this most talented group. The round-ups are found on one of the best blogs on the net, my amazing co-host Natasha's 5 Star Foodie Culinary Adventures.

That's it for now...till we exchange a few words again...Peace!

Pan Seared Scallops with Thai Papaya Salad & Pomegranate Reduction

2012-02-21T00:01:00.003-05:00

Today I am proud to introduce the newest member of the 5 Star Makeover Cooking Group, Kym from Free Spirit Eater. Kym's food is always on-point and her photography outstanding. However, her words are most engaging. She weaves tapestries of experiences and rendezvous with foods. She writes from the heart, with never-ending passion.

We are sharing with you a simultaneous guest post, so when you are done here, flip on over to Kym's awesome site for my Tagliatelle Carbonara.

Hey there pretty awesome people!

I assume you’re awesome because Laz over here is one of the coolest food bloggers (maybe even the coolest) I’ve come across in the blogging biz. I am in awe with his technique and impressed by his recipes. Never lacking flavor, color and sensuality in a dish, Lazaro’s recipes are the embodiment of food porn. The sort of dishes I can help but drag my chef fiancé away from the kitchen to drool over with me.
Well, enough ass kissing. Here’s a shortened version of how my blog began.

Girl “runs away” from home to pursue her dream of going to culinary school.

Girl meets boy in culinary school.

Girl graduates, gets engaged, becomes a line cook, but still doesn’t feel fulfilled.

Girl discovers intense fulfillment in combining her lifelong passion of writing with her biggest love, food, as her deep infatuation with photography begins to evolve.

I believe there can be sensuality, arousal and seduction in even the simplest of dishes. Marrying the right colors, depth, presentation and of course taste is what can turn a casual meal into a “casual encounter”. I’ve had love affairs with dishes and even written poems about the burning desire for butter as if she were a temptress. I blogged about a crepe eating session in a parking garage as if it were mid-afternoon rendezvous, leaving the scene of the crime re-buttoning my pants and composing myself, yup, the dessert crepe walk of shame. After having a love/hate relationship with food most of my life, I began to see it in ways most normal people would frown upon. I’ve compared dieting to the 5 stages of death, talked about ingredients as if they were the sexy maid who just won’t stop teasing me and even questioned myself and others on what their final meal would be.

We all know pomegranates are considered the fruit of the gods, as well as an aphrodisiac. Basically any succulence that comes from the sea is exciting and downright seductive. Place the flavors together and picture this..

Cuddling close with your honey while being consumed with the unmistakable aroma of perfectly seared scallops. You wipe a drop of the scarlet pomegranate reduction running down the side of her lip. As you kiss her you taste the savory sweet layers of flavor left behind from the Thai papaya salad. The flavors in this dish are meant to excite your palate and tantalize your significant other. Sure V-day already passed, but it doesn’t mean you can’t make your sweetie’s heart beat faster from what she thought was just an ordinary appetizer.

We luckily found the inspiration to create this Thai papaya salad from Leela over at She Simmers.

Pan Seared Scallops w/ Thai Papaya Salad & Pomegranate Reduction

6 Scallops
1/3 cup of shredded papaya
1/2 tsp of fish sauce
1/2 tsp minced ginger
1/4 tsp minced chilies
2 cilantro leaves, chiffonade
2 mint leaves, chiffonade
1/4 tsp brown sugar
1 cup of pomegranate juice
2 wonton wrappers
2 cups of canola oil + 1 tbs separate
Salt & Pepper to taste

Procedure:

Place 2 cups of oil in a medium sized pot over medium high, this will be your wonton frying oil.
Combine papaya, fish sauce, ginger, chilies, cilantro, mint, and brown sugar, let sit for 5 minutes for flavors to infuse.
Pour pomegranate juice into small pot over high heat, keeping an eye on it until it reduces into a thick syrup, remove from heat.
Add 1 tablespoon of canola oil into a medium pan over high heat, season your scallops with salt and pepper. When pan is hot, sear scallops for 1 1/2 minutes on both sides for a medium temperature (this also depends on the size of the scallops).
Your frying oil should be hot by now, if you have a thermometer, it should be between 350-375 degrees Fahrenheit, make sure to test your oil with a small piece of wonton skin.
Have a plate with layers of paper towel ready. Fry both wonton wrappers until golden brown, remove from oil and place over paper towels, allow to cool, season with salt on both sides.
Now add a spoonful of pomegranate reduction on a plate, place scallops over the reduction, and top with Thai papaya salad, and crushed fried wonton skins. Serve warm. Serves two people.

Please hop on over to Kym's fantastic site for my Tagliatelle Carbonara.

That's it for now...till we exchange a few words again...Peace!

Cajunlicious: The Cookbook

2012-02-18T10:04:00.001-05:00

Today is your chance people to support a fellow food blogger. Yes, SUPPORT. That is what the food blog community is built on right? You cook your food. You photograph your food. You stress and anguish over which photographs to post. Then you hit, POST, sit back and hope that someone in the infinite space vortex that is the internet will drop by your little plot and SUPPORT you.

Jessica C. Wood, who runs the food blog Cajunlicious, has just published her first cookbook. A labor of love that took her eight months to complete. An homage to her family roots which are most definitely, "All Things Cajun."

I found Jessica about a year ago and have been an admirer of hers. I like her style. She's very much like myself, she cooks the food of her youth with passion and verve.

I purchased Cajunlicious, the cookbook, from Jessica's site in January for $24.99 plus shipping. That's it. A big time bargain for all the Cajun cuisine goodness presented in the book.

Uncle Benny's Jambalaya: Pg. 52

Cajunlicious is thorough, well-researched, well-written & beautifully photographed. You will find chapters on Cajun kitchen staples, breads, cocktails, soups, sandwiches, entrees, sides & desserts.

Crawfish Pie: Pg. 61

Whether you are a NOLA expert, if you are, you know what that means, or a Cajun novice; this book is for you.

King Cake: Pg. 72

The dish I chose to produce is my favorite Cajun classic, Crawfish Etouffee on page 56.

Jessica's recipe was spot-on. The only difference is that crawfish etoufee is generally served with white rice. Well, I turned it into a lasagna.

Really?! Why the hell would anyone do that?

It's just what I do, people.

Crawfish Etouffee Lasagna

Crawfishy goodness. Thanks Jess!

For more information drop by Cajunlicious. Check out the blog, the cookbook and say hello to Jessica.

That is a girl really crazy about "All Things Cajun."

That's it for now...till we exchange a few words again...Peace!

Sugar Coma Dessert Pizza

2012-02-14T09:23:00.000-05:00

Happy Valentines Day 2012

Glad the world is still here. For now!

Today I am stoked to share with you a collaboration piece. Those who read this spot regularly know that collaborating with like-minded cooks is my favorite part of blogging.

This collaboration is between two Miami foodies.

I am proud to welcome my friend Natalie from The FoodAtick.

Natalie is everything I love in a cook; passionate, creative, smart & fearless. Hopefully, you will see much more her work here on LC.

We got together to create a festive dessert perfect for the holiday.

Please hop on over to FoodAtick.

Say hello
Leave a comment.
Sign up to follow her posts.
Make a new buddy.

Sugar Coma Dessert Pizza

That's it for now...till we exchange a few words again...Peace!

5 Star Makeover: Meatball Round-Up

2012-01-27T11:15:00.001-05:00

hosted by 5 Star Foodie & Lazaro Cooks!

It is awesome to have our group up and going again.

If you really want to be amazed with what the humble "meatball" can become in the hands of talented cooks?

Please drop my good friend Natasha's 5 Star Foodie Culinary Advenutres.

5 Star Makeover: Meatball BBQ Plate

2012-01-25T10:11:00.000-05:00

hosted by 5 Star Foodie & Lazaro Cooks!

We're back!

It's great to start up our monthly meeting of the fantastic cook minds. The month our theme is Meatballs.

Our mission is to get creative with Meatballs and have fun in the kitchen. Right in my wheelhouse.

I recently sat down to a wonderful BBQ lunch at my local smokehouse. Staring at all the disparate goodness on my table sparked the idea in my brain. I decided to turn our BBQ lunch, into this month's Meatball makeover. Yeah, that's how my mind works.

BBQ, Laz, really? It's not BBQ or grilling season.

Listen, it may look like this where YOU live....(Sorry T)

I live in MIAMI, we have no seasons...

Each component in this course represents a component that was on my BBQ lunch table.

Brisket
My meatballs are a blend of twice ground meats...

80% Lean, trimmed beef brisket
20% Pork belly - added for fat content.

I used three different cooking methods to produce my meatballs.

First, steamed for 15 minutes in a bath of beef broth and white wine. To cook through.
Second, smoked over hickory wood in a smoker. Just 5 minutes to add that smokey flavor. (BBQ remember?)
Lastly, quickly seared in Duck Fat. To add a nice crusty exterior.

Is this labor intensive? Probably. However, is the final product worth it? Will you wow your guests?

Hell yeah!

Potato

Buttery melt in your mouth tender potato croquette. Again, fried to a crunchy golden brown exterior.

Corn

Florida sweet corn puree. Reduced to intensive the pure sweet corn goodness.

BBQ Sauce
Tart, sweet, vinegary, smokey. Perfect.

Cole Slaw

My posh version of the cole slaw I ate. Assorted greens, buttermilk dressing, and sauted Florida ocean shrimp.

That's it for now...till we exchange a few words again...Peace!

Guest Post Spotlight: Mustard Seed Pork Chops

2012-01-18T19:27:00.000-05:00

This week I am stoked to highlight a fellow 5 Star Makeover Cooking Group member, Jessica from Bacon and Souffle. Jessica's food is exquisite and refined. I love her flavor combinations and thought process that goes into her dishes. She's a self-professed student of the kitchen and it shows.

Today she's spotlighting one of my favorite chefs, Michael Mina

Be sure to check out Bacon and Souffle. You will find great food, recipes, photos, restaurant reviews and make a sweet new friend.

Enjoy...

Thank you so much for having me on LC! It seems like yesterday that I first stumbled upon Lazaro Cooks! because I was invited to join the 5 Star Makeover Cooking Group. I remember wondering if I would be able to match the talent and creativity of someone like Lazaro. His cooking is inspiring, and always filled with surprises. Those are things I strive for whenever I cook.

My name is Jessica and I write the blog Bacon and Soufflé. I currently live in Los Angeles with my husband of 1 year and my new 7-month-old Sheltie puppy. I try to fill every free minute with learning and experimenting in the kitchen. I just love making something different every day. I always thought that if I managed to cook something different every day then I would learn something new every day.

Today I am sharing a simple and elegant pork chop recipe, Mustard Seed Pork Chops.

Mustard Seed Pork Chops

Ingredients

1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
8 pork chops pounded thin or pork cutlets
salt
freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup chopped shallots
1 cup dry white wine
3/4 cup chicken stock
3/4 cup heavy cream
2 tbsp of Dijon mustard (I prefer mustards that are seed-style)
1 tbsp of chopped parsley

Recipe

Pat pork chops dry and season with salt and pepper.
Heat olive oil in a pan over medium high heat, and stir in the butter. As soon as the butter has melted, add pork chops and sear for about 1-2 minutes each side depending on thickness.
Remove pork chops and pour off most of the fat. Add shallots and cook them on medium high heat for about a minute. Stir in the stock and return the chops to pan. Reduce the juices by half, about 3 minutes. And the heavy cream and boiled for 3 minutes.
When the sauce is thickened, whisk in the mustard and parsley. Serve chops on plate and spoon sauce over them. This is perfect with a bottle of wine and a refreshing arugula salad on the side.

Enjoy! And thank you again, Laz, for having me on LC. LC Readers, until next time!

Please stop by and see Jessica at Bacon and Souffle.

That's it for now...till we exchange a few words again...Peace!