Pesto Stuffed Baked Chicken Breast

This is a wonderful dish to include in your chicken repertoure. It doesn't have to be boring, but can be elegant enough to serve for a company or a regular night diner.

Usual Pesto sauce is made with basil, I changed it up to arugula as it has a wonderful bite to it that I love.

You will need a bad of prewahsed arugula, garlic, parmesan cheese and 4-6 small organic chicken breast. Also I make breading with gourmet bread crumbs to give it a crusty top.

To start make pesto sauce. In you food processor place one bag of arugula, two cloves of garlic and mix it gradually adding olive oil. Next add a hand full of Parmesan crumbles and mix it all together.

Next wash chicken breast and pat dry using bounty towel. Place breast on the cutting board. Using a small paring knife slit one side of breast of from one side only do not cut completely through making a pocket.

Stuff it with a few spoons of pesto sauce add salt and pepper. Finish all breasts at once.

Next set up a breading station. One plate with two beated eggs, one plate with gourmet breadcrumbs. Take one breast at the time and dip it in eggs then breadcrumbs. Finish all.

Preheat a large saute pan with olive oil and butter. Once it is hot place chicken breast into it and saute until golden brown on both sides. Remove it onto a baking sheet.

Preheat your oven to 375 degree and place it in the oven for 35 minutes. Enjoy!!!

Pasta with Roasted Tomatoes and Vodka Sauce

I was watching food network one day ( which I do on many occasions:)) and they had a guest chef from Nick and Tony's the famous Hampton restaurant that has been hard to get into for the last 22 years. The chef prepared this dish and said that owners brought this recipe from Italy and they are serving it from the day they opened this restaurant. Well, with this kind of introduction how can I pass by this recipe?!?! Sure enough I'm making it tonight.

To start preheat you large saute pan (oven Prof) and start it with chopped onion and garlic, sweat for a few minutes then add dry oregano and few crushed red pepper flakes. Heat of the olive oil will release a lot of aroma in dry spices. Then add two rounds of vodka around the pan and cook for few minutes.

Next take two 28 oz. cans of whole tomatoes. I always use whole tomatoes when making a tomato sauce from scratch because they are premium quality and everything less then that gets crushed and chopped and then put in the can. Squeeze it in the pan just tomatoes drain the juice with you hand (wear an apron because it will splash!!!) then mix it all together in the pan cover with lid.

Place in in the 375 degrees preheated oven for 0ne hour and a half. Once it will be ready remove from the oven open lid and cool down to room temperature.

Next place you tomato mixture into blender or food processor and blend it completely to a smooth consistency. When are you ready to serve diner cook a pound of you favourite pasta according to package direction to Al dente (firm to the bite) . Reheat you sauce in a deep sauce pan and add a smal box and a half of half and half and mix it together.

Cook for another 5-10 minutes on low then add pasta to it and sprinkle some grated Parmesan cheese to the sauce in the pan.

Place in a big plate and sprinkle some more cheese on top and if you have fresh oregano available add a few spring to it. ENJOY!

Roasted Eggplant Spread (addictive!!!)

In many cultures eggplants are widely used in a variety of dishes. Most Mediterranean countries have various methods of cooking it and throughout our travels I discovered that they are very similar. This dish was created as a result of testing many different recipes using various accompany vegges to eggplant and I found this one is the best way to cook it.

Both of my kids agree and LOVE to eat it! They eat it on the toast as a afternoon snack or just a spoon full. If you need to send cold lunch to school with you kids this is a perfect thing for it. I fill a small Tupperware for my daughter and she dips stone ground wheat crackers in it. Yummm!

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Pill 3 medium eggplants partially leaving some of the skin strips on. Cut it in a small cubes and place it on the baking non stick tray.
Cut red and yellow bell peppers one each and 2 tomatoes in a similar manner. Cut one big red onion and mix all veggies together, toss with lots of extra virgin olive oil, sprinkle with sea salt and freshly grounded black pepper.

Place it in the oven for one hour. During this hour check periodically and stir to make sure nothing sticks to the tray. Remove from the oven and cool completely.

Once it is completely cooled transfer vegetables to your food processor and PULSE it a few times, not too much. Then add half of bunch of cilantro (leaves only discard the steams) and pulse one more time. I like for it to be a little chunky. If you prefer to have a completely smooth consistency pulse it few more times. Enjoy!

Classic Egg Salad Revised

This is one of the items that people either Love or hate with passion. A lot of times just the appearance of the yellow mushed egg can look very unappetizing to one's eye. I myself on the other hand feel very strongly that it can be a very good breakfast of lunch item that takes only minutes to make.

To have a very good egg salad you need to start with a good quality eggs of course plus cook it to perfection.

Once I saw this method on TV that I use exclusively to cook egg. Place you eggs (I always use organic) into you boiling pot to cover with cold water. Once it comes to a full boil turn off the heat and cover with lid. Leave it on the stove with heat off the 7 minutes. Then plunge in the cold water and then pill. You will end up with he most beautiful yellow color yolk that will still be moist and cooked to perfection.

Once eggs are cooled and you are ready to assemble your salad get other ingredients ready. I like to have some crunch in my salad and for that I add a couple of ribs of celery stalk. Also I don't mush eggs, but rather chop it in small pieces. Make sure to have similar size pieces for eggs and celery. Next add chopped scallions if you like or chopped red onion. Add salt and pepper and a good quality organic mayo and mix it all together.

To serve it I always toast wholewheat or rye bread. Then line the toasted bread with a leave of you favorite green (romaine or red leave) salad place egg salad on the top and ENJOY!!!

Roasted asparagus

Asparagus is a member of the Lily family. Asparagus is a nutrient-dense food which in high in Folic Acid and is a good source of potassium, fiber, vitamin B6, vitamins A and C, and thiamin.
Asparagus has No Fat, contains No Cholesterol and is low in Sodium.

With all the greatness of it nutritionally it taste great and takes minutes to make. When trying to buy asparagus at the market look for thin, bright green spears. It can serve as a perfect side dish to any roasted meats, mixed with risotto or just served with shavings of Parmesan cheese.

To start clean the spears under cold running water and snap the ends. Ends of the spears tend to be very taught to chew and not suggested for consumption. Placed all the spears on the baking sheet sprinkle with sea salt and pepper and toss with extra virgin olive oil.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and place you tray there for 15 minutes. That's it-ready to enjoy it! Place it on the plate and sprinkle some Parmesan cheese on top. Enjoy!

Pasta with pancetta, sweet peas and zucchinni

This is a fast and nutritional recipe you can wipe up any night of the week given you have ingredients on hand. You will need, a bag of frozen peas, 2-3 small zucchinis, one bag of pasta and one piece of pancetta about half pound. Pancetta is a very good ingredient to have in your freezer. It is cured pork meat Italian style just like beacon, but not smoked instead just cured with spices.

To start this dish take a large skillet and preheat it. Cube you pancetta and place it on the hot pan, render the fat and brown the pieces for about 6-10 minutes. Once it is done remove pancetta slices with slided spoon leaving the rendered fat in the pan.

Next add one chopped onion and sliced zucchinis and sweat it for a 5 minutes. Then add a bag of frozen peas to it and cook for a few more minutes till defrosted and cooked, but not mushy.

Meanwhile start you pasta pot and bring it to a full boil. Drop you pasta and cook according to the package direction. Once the pasta is ready drain it completely. Then add it to the pan with your vegetables and mix it together.

There are few different way how you can finish off this pasta dish. If you would like a creamy texture you can add a few spoons of goat cheese or Italian marscapone cheese. Just make sure you add it to the pasta pan once the pasta is drained so it can melt it with the heat of the pan. If you prefer a sharp tasting cheese just add a few crumbles of feta cheese or shredded Parmesan. When ready to serve place it in the plate and top it with crunchy pancetta pieces. Enjoy!

Corn bread

Corn bread is loved by many us included!

It is one of the items that comes out great out of the box and takes only 30 minutes to bake.

Some nights when we have a light diner I make it to accompany the salad or vegetables. I tried many different brands of it in the past most came out very good, just make sure to check ingredient list on the box to minimize harmful additives consumption.

Today's bread I purchased at Fairways from the company that apparently has a very long standing in organic ingredients and also has gluten and wheat free items.

I just followed the box direction. In a mixing bowl crack one egg, add 2 table spoons of olive oil and 8 oz. of whole milk. Next add box ingredients slowly whisking it.

Once all incorporated transfer to a non stick cake pan previously sprayed with olive oil spray.

Bake at 375 for 30 minutes and ENJOY!

Eggplant Casserole

This is a great dish for a vegetarian or just a passionate eggplant lover. The idea for this dish came out of a simple lasagna recipe. Yes, it is that simple in fact much simplier then acutal lasagna since it doesn't have meat and pasta steps in it.

To start take 4-5 large firm eggplants and slice about quarter of an inch round slices without piling the skin.

Preheat the largest saute pan you have with olive oil and once it is hot start pan frying eggplant slices in it for a few minutes on each side. Do not brown it completely, just make it soft and playable. Once you are done with all slices start layering your casserole dish.

Take two cups of Italian ricotta cheese and mix it with 2 eggs, add salt and pepper to it.

Layer the casserole dish completely with eggplant slices till the bottom is covered.

Next spread ricotta mixture in a thin layer to cover eggplant layer completely.

Next layer another eggplant level to cover ricotta. For next layer I use Organic Marina sauce from Trader' Joe's spread it generously.

Then do another eggplant layer and sprinkle the top with mixture of mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.

Place your casserole in the preheated to 350 degrees oven for about 30 minutes. Then place it under the broiler for about 5 minutes to brown the cheese top.

This amount will serve 4-6 people generously.

Enjoy!!!!

Variation on Italain Wedding Soup

This is my favourite Italian soup! I make many variations on it. Original recipe has chicken meatballs in it which makes it the whole meal in itself. It is a wonderful dish to make on a regular night or even to serve for a company during winter season.

Today I made it without meatballs, just a simple recipe that took only 30 minutes from start to finish.

Start by preheating a large pot with some olive oil in it. Next chop one large onion, two carrots and few celery sticks. Add to olive oil and sweat for about 5-7 minutes until it becomes translucent.

Next add 2 piled and cubed potatoes.

Then add two boxes of organic chicken stock and bring it to a boil.

Once it is boiling add whole wheat small pasta about one cup for this amount and let it cook for about 6-7 more minutes.

During this time beat one egg and one cup of grated Parmesan cheese together in a bowl. Once pasta cooked for 7 minutes add 10 onzes of fresh organic baby spinach and stir. When it is all incorporated keep stirring and add your egg and cheese mixture to the soup. You will end up with a beautiful white stings of cheese in your soup.

Serve it right away with a crusty bread and if desired add some more grated cheese to the bowl. Enjoy!

Pan Fried Filet of Skate

This is a type of fish that many people never heard off. It comes from the shark family and is a type of a sting ray fish. Only wings of the fish are eatable to my knowledge. It has a distinct texture and can not be missed!

The best way to prepare it is to pan fry it with butter and caper sauce. I was making it for diner for all of us and omited capers part because I did not have any on hand.

Wash the fillet thoroughly and pat try with bounty sheet. Preheat a large saute pan with butter. Dredge fish fillets in flour on both sides and place it in the pan. Fry it for about 5 minutes on first side till brown crust forms then flip and fry for about 3 more minutes and add more butter and drained capers at this point if you are using any and cook for few more minutes. That's it the diner is ready!

I served it with a side of a garden salad dressed with sour cream.

Great experience!

Ricotta Stuffed Chicken Breast with Roasted Brussel Sprouts

This past weekend we went to do grocery shopping to Fairways. It is a legendary store here in NYC that has the biggest variety of grocery items from all over the world. I like going shopping to different stores to keep my cooking repertoire going with different ingredients that I can experiment. Sometimes we take a little help from the store and buy items that are already half way prepared for us.

This week I purched ricotta and spinach stuffed chicken breast from there that looked very good to me. The tecnique of making anything staffed with ricotta is very uselfull to know. Since ricotta is a creamy Italian cheese that makes a lot of things that can be boring (like chicken) to become extremely tasty and gives it the whole new level of taste!

Whole chicken breast with skin on were staffed with ricotta cheese and fresh baby spinach and rolled tightly in a roll.

I placed it on a roasting pan along side with about 1 1/2 of fresh Brussels sprouts. Then sprinkled everything with sea salt and olive oil and placed it in preheated to 375 degrees oven for about 45 minutes.

Everything was ready together and tasted just delicious. I highly recommend making it this way of just buying it there!

Italain Style Meatballs

Meatball have become our favorite dish living here in this area. I love making it and we all enjoy eating it regular nights or even for a company. Like with many dishes I make, there are many variations of ingredients, but technique remains pretty much the same.

I like to use veal as a main meat in its preparation because it has a soft texture and a lot of flavor. I take 2 ponds of veal and one pound of beef and mix it with 3 eggs, cup of grated Parmesan cheese, chopped parsley, one cup of gourmet breadcrumbs, salt and pepper. Make the mixture and refrigerate it for some time before making it.

Once ready take a large deep pan where you will pan fry the meatballs at first and then cook it in the sauce. Preheat it on high and start making meatballs and place it in the preheated oil in the pan. Fry it for about 5 minutes until crust forms then turn oven and continue cooking for a few more minutes. Do not overcrowd the pan, otherwise it will not fry and just steam. Work in batches. Once all meatballs are fried remove all from pan and start working on your sauce.

Chop one large onion, 3 big carrots and 3-4 stalks of celery and drop it in the same pan. It should deglaze (pick up all bits from the bottom of it) and cook it on low flame for 5 minutes.

Then add one table spoon of tomato paste and cook for 5 minutes. Add one cup of a good quality red wine bring to simmer and finally add one pack of Pomi chopped tomatoes, salt and pepper. Bring it to boil and then simmer for 20 minutes. If the sauce looks too thick, add some stock or just plain water. Next add meatballs back into the sauce and cook on low simmer for one hour.

When ready to serve make a batch of your favourite pasta to go with it or just serve it with salad. Enjoy!

Orange Roughy filets with Corn and Sugar Snow Peas

This is a great 20 minutes preparation dish that is full of flavor and nutrients and all good for you. I buy Orange rough fillets and prepare it in a simple way with variety of vegetable sides. This is a wonderful flaky white fish. I cook it with different toppings depending on the side dish, but variety is endless of course.

Take fish fillets wash and and pat dry with bounty sheet. Place it all flat on the non stick cooking sheet. I used roasted pepper dressing to marinate it, just brush fish with ti slightly to make sure top part of it is covered. Let stand while oven is preheating for 5-10 minutes. Preheat the oven to 375 and place it there for 15 minutes. Then 5 more minutes under the broiler.

Meanwhile to make a side dish i used fresh snow sugar peas and frozen sweet corn. Start by preheating a large saute pan. Once hot add olive oil to and and the one lb of frozen corn. Cook in the saute pan for about 5 minutes till corn is no longer frozen. Add sugar snow peas and cook together for another 10 minutes. Add salt if desired and a small piece of butter.

By the time vegetables will be done-fish will be ready and diner will be served! Enjoy!!!

Duck legs with potatoes and beans

We went on a ski trip few years back to Tremblant, Canada. We stayed in the village there and visited a local bistro quite a few nights for diner. I had this duck casseule dish, that was just Divine! I loved the flavor combination of potatoes with creamy beans and thyme. My personal attempt in recreating this dish resulted in this recipe that became the top favorite in our household and will sure to please any duck lover, give it a try!

I'm using good quality moulard duck legs. Moulard duck has a very unique taste. It is lean, meaty, tender, flavorful and has less fat and less calories per pound than turkey. They are barn-raised without the use of steroids, antibiotics or growth hormones. I usually get 6 to 8 and will serve that number of people generously.

Wash it and pat dry. Sprinkle with salt and pepper generously on both sides. Preheat a large saute pan on high with a splash of olive oil and place legs in, skin side down first.

Let it sear for a few minutes on high to create a crust and flip to the other side and continue cooking for 5 more minutes. Remove from the pan. You can do this step in advance if doing for company.

Remove most of the fat from the pan just leaving enough to cover the beans. Take two cans of cannelloni creamy beans. Wash it under the cold water to make sure to rinse out all the liquid used in the can for storing. Drain and place in the pan where you sauteed duck legs. Duck fat should cover the bean, stir it around to make sure it is all coated and add thyme leaves 5-8 sprigs. After 5-10 minutes on simmer turn the heat off.

Take one 5 lb bag of Yukon or any creamy potatoes. Pill, quarter it and boil till fork tender. When ready add beans from sauteed pan to potatoes and mash it together. You should not need any additional oil or butter there since you will have duck fat liquid from beans.

Preheat you oven to 375 degrees. Take a large oven proof casserole dish. Place potatoes and bean mixture on the bottom of it and top it with duck legs.

I'm usually using two dishes, make sure you have enough potatoes for both and top it with dusk legs. Place it in the over for 1 hour and 40 minutes.

Remove from the oven and let stand for 5-10 minutes. Then serve and make sure to serve all the crusted potatoes crust from the bottom of the pan. You are guarantee to love this this!!!

Best Fish PIE

This is a recipe I saw on TV few years ago. It was made by and English chef Jamie Oliver and is still the best recipe I have tried yet for this dish. It was an absolute hit on all parties when I served it and the flavor of it is so wonderful and distinct, you will for sure enjoy it.

It has a lot of little steps in preparation, do not let it discourage you. After making it once you will sure to become a PRO at it!

It is the best made with wild Cod fillets. Wash it, pat dry and cut in a bit size pieces.

Take a large oven proof casserole dish and place fish pieces on the bottom of it.

Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees.

Put piled large 8 Yukon gold potatoes into boiling, salted water and bring back to boil for 2 minutes.Carefully add 3 organic eggs to pan and cook for further 8 minutes until hard-boiled, by which time potatoes should also be cooked. Drain potatoes, and mash it coarsely. Remove eggs, cover with cold water. Once it is cool pill, and quarter it.

Fry one chopped onion and 2 small chopped carrots in oil for 5 minutes, then add heavy cream(1/2 of small pack) and bring to boil. Turn the heat off heat and add one cup of grated Cheddar cheese, juice of one lemon, mustard (best dry English one tea spoon or just a few spoons of Dijon) and one bunch or chopped parsley.

Add one pack of prewashed baby spinach, and eggs to fish in dish and mix together, pouring over creamy vegetable sauce.

Cover with mashed potatoes, drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper (I would add some grated cheese on top as well)

Place in oven until potatoes are golden, around 25/30 minutes. Remove from the oven, let stand for 15 minutes and serve. Enjoy!

Arctic Char with Mushrooms and Arugula

The Arctic char is closely related to both salmon and trout and has many characteristics of both. The flesh colour of char varies; it can range from a bright red to a pale pink. It is a wonderful fish that is used to be available only at high end seafood restaurants, now is available at some fish markets more widely. It has a wonderful mild flavor and I highly recommend to give it a try!

As in many instances I mentioned before if you have the freshest and the best quality ingredients, simple preparation is the best way to go to show of the flavor at it's best.

I had purchased 2 fillets with skin on. Wash it and pat dry, double check to make sure all bones are removed by your fish monger. Cut it in desired portion sizes sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Start you saute pan with one part olive oil and one part of unsalted butter, once it is melted completely place you fish skin side down first and pan fry for a few minutes. Then flip to the other side using fish spatula and continue frying for a few more minutes. Remove from the pan and serve right away.

I made mushroom side with it, also using a simple prepraration method and same cooking time. I had one box of sliced baby bella mushrooms and one box of slices shitaki mushrooms. Start a big saute pan with olive oil in it. Once it is hot drop mushrooms in and let it caramilized for about 5-10 minutes. Then stir and cook for additional 10 minutes with salt and pepper.

I served both this items on the bed of fresh baby Arugula. Love Arugula!!! I buy a big box for week of triplled washed baby arugula and use it for salads, pasta or saute lightly. For this I just chopped it and dressed it up with olive oil and a few spoons or rice vinegar.