I know it’s the day after Thanksgiving and you are probably not thinking about food, but there is nothing like a big, fat, juicy, flavorful burger and this one has it all. Melted feta cheese, caramelized red onions, juicy heirloom tomatoes, crisp arugula and a tangy cucumber-mint yogurt sauce. It was a big hit at the restaurant last week when I served it as a chef special. This burger has big, bold flavors and is not for the faint of heart, but I guarantee that once you make my version, you’ll never look at burgers the same way!  I start with freshly ground chuck, but you can use a combination of chuck and lamb. If using a combination, I prefer a ratio of ¾-pound chuck to ¼-pound lamb, but half and half is fine.

In a pan with olive oil, sauté finely diced onion and garlic until soft.  Add lots of chopped fresh herbs such as basil, oregano, mint, dill and parsley, as well as fresh ground cumin and salt and pepper to taste. If you want a more North African/Moroccan flavor then add a small amount of freshly ground cinnamon.  Cook the mixture for a few more minutes on low heat until the flavors combine and then set aside to cool. Once cooled, add the mixture to the ground meat and form into uniformed eight-ounce patties. Chill until ready to use.

To make the cucumber-mint yogurt sauce, combine authentic Greek yogurt found at most gourmet grocery stores. The consistency of the yogurt is incredibly thick and smooth and the flavor is sweet and mellow. (My husband and I traveled to the Greek Island of Crete in May and we fell in love with Cretan yogurt and the cuisine, but I'll save this discussion for another blog post in the near future.) If you can’t find Greek yogurt, then line a sieve with moistened cheesecloth and place over a large bowl. Spoon the yogurt into the cheesecloth and refrigerate for several hours. Make sure that the bottom of the sieve does not come into contact with the liquid that is drained from the yogurt. The end result will be a thick creamy Greek-style yogurt.

In a food processor or blender, combine the yogurt, diced cucumber (skins and seeds removed) chopped garlic, mint, lemon juice, a few dashes of red wine vinegar, olive oil and salt and pepper. Blend until smooth and chill until ready to use.

To finish, cook the burgers to the desired doneness with melted feta cheese and pile on all the other ingredients, and lots of the cucumber-mint yogurt sauce!

For the Greek fries, finely mince garlic and oregano and sauté in olive oil over low heat to mellow the flavors. Be careful not to burn the garlic or it will become bitter. Deep fry or oven roast the fries and then toss immediately with the garlic/oregano mixture, salt and a large squeeze of fresh lemon juice to finish.

Opa!

I had wanted to make something light and refreshing for dessert this Thanksgiving so I came up with a Cranberry Vanilla Bean Ice Cream.  It started out as a cranberry crème anglaise sauce to serve with an apple tart, but I wanted something lighter, but still festive.

I asked our Pastry Chef for a standard ice cream base recipe and we discussed the proper technique to swirl in the cranberry puree.  I really wanted to preserve the cranberry texture and to see distinct colors without turning the ice cream pink.  Normally, I don’t provide quantities in detail but I thought it would be helpful.

Steep four cups of milk and four cups of cream together with one vanilla bean and one teaspoon of grated orange zest. In another bowl whisk together 15 egg yolks and 12 ounces of sugar. Temper the cream mixture into the egg yolk mixture and return to the stove and cook over low heat (stirring constantly) until the mixture coats the back of a spoon. Strain the mixture immediately through a chinois into a container and immerse immediately into an ice bath to cool.  You can then place the mixture in the refrigerator until it is really cold.

Meanwhile, make simple syrup by combining two cups of sugar and two cups of water in a saucepan. Once the sugar is dissolved, add one cinnamon stick, one teaspoon of orange zest, the juice of one orange and one 16-ounce bag of cranberries. Bring the mixture to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer and cook for about 30 minutes until thick. Strain the mixture to separate the solids from the cranberry syrup, but save the syrup in another container. Add the solids to a blender; add a 1/4 cup of light corn syrup and enough cranberry syrup to obtain a smooth, but thickened puree. Place the cranberry puree in a container and chill until thick and cold. If you don’t want any texture to your ice cream, you could strain again to remove any skins and seeds, but I like the texture of the cranberries.

Next, add the chilled vanilla bean mixture to an ice cream maker and process according to manufacturer’s instructions. Once the ice cream is a smooth, thick consistency, spoon out into another container and swirl in some of the cranberry puree using the handle of a long spoon. You could also place the ice cream into a bowl and fold in the puree using a spatula. To keep the ice cream base from turning pink, I did this in several stages, placing the container back in the freezer for about 10 minutes and then swirling in more puree. When finished, freeze the ice cream for at least four hours before using.

This cranberry vanilla bean ice cream would also be great with chopped pistachios but that’s another holiday! Now it’s time to check on my Moroccan spiced turkey in the oven

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you who celebrate this American tradition!

I’ve been really busy at the restaurant lately with start of the holiday season and as a result I haven’t been able to create any new specials.  However, I did make a soup today that I’d like to share with you, Charred Sweet Bell Pepper and Tomato Soup.  The color of this soup is really vivid, the flavor is sweet and smoky and the texture is creamy and smooth.  What more could you ask for?

To start, I char the peppers (red and yellow) on the grill over high heat (turning often), but you can also roast in a 400 degree oven until charred and soft.  Once the peppers are evenly charred, set aside in a bowl until they are cool enough to handle.  Once the peppers are cool, remove the stem and seeds (but keep the skins on) and set aside. 

While the peppers are roasting, rough chop the mirepoix and caramelize in a large pan until golden.  Add chopped garlic and sauté for a few more minutes and deglaze with white wine and brandy (I like using brandy because it goes well with the sweetness of the pepper).  Once the wine/brandy is reduced, stir in tomato paste, chopped thyme and bayleaf.  Next, add your charred peppers and tomatoes and chicken stock to almost cover.  You can make this soup without tomatoes, but I prefer an acidic balance to the sweet peppers and I also like the color that the tomatoes provide.  Normally, I would roast fresh roma tomatoes, but today I decided to use good quality canned tomatoes and they work just as well.   Just remember, if you want the soup to taste like bell peppers then you need to add less tomatoes.

Bring the soup to a boil and then reduce to a simmer and cook for about an hour until the vegetables are soft.  Prior to the last 15 minutes of cooking, add a small amount of heavy cream and butter (both optional) and season with salt and pepper to taste.

At work, we use an industrialized hand-held blender called an immersion blender (or a Bermixer) and it works really well for blending soups to a smooth consistency.  The longer you blend the smoother it gets.  If you don’t have a heavy-duty, hand-held blender you could use a regular blender or a food processor.  However, if you use a food processor, you may want to strain the soup through a large strainer to capture any large skins/fibers from the peppers.  And if you use a blender, then the soup will be thicker and you’ll need to adjust the consistency with stock, water or cream.  To finish the soup, taste again; add some lemon juice and salt to bring it all together. 

I chose to garnish this soup with a contrasting color so that the garnish would really pop against the color of the soup. The fried flat-leaf parsley against the burnt sienna color looks beautiful.  You need to be careful when frying parsley and using it as a garnish because the flavor becomes bitter.  But against the sweetness of the bell peppers, it works perfectly and has a nice balance.

Enjoy!!

We hosted a small lunch party at the restaurant today and they requested an assortment of sandwiches and salads and so I whipped up my signature Mediterranean Penne Pasta Salad. This pasta salad is really colorful and has wonderful flavors and textures and is very easy to make.

To start, cook your penne pasta (you can use whatever short length pasta you like). I prefer using penne because it holds up well and since the noodle is hollow, the pasta is flavored both inside and out which adds to the flavor of the finished dish. To enhance the flavor you need to make sure you salt the water, this is especially true when serving cold pasta dishes because the coldness dulls the flavor of the pasta (or any dish for that matter). This is not a pasta dish that you want to serve al dente, so make sure to cook the pasta until soft to the tooth. The pasta will firm up as it chills. Drain the pasta noodles and immerse in an ice bath. Drain again really well and chill.

Once the pasta is chilled, add small diced sweet red and yellow peppers, sliced kalamata olives, capers, chopped basil, oregano and mint (the mint really adds a fresh flavor) diced feta cheese, shredded fresh parmesan cheese, and sliced heirloom toy-box tomatoes or cherry tomatoes. You can also use any combination of ingredients you like such as braised artichokes, sun-dried tomatoes, green onions, or mozzarella cheese, etc. Toss the pasta with extra virgin olive oil (preferably Greek) add red wine vinegar, and salt and pepper to taste. Then let the pasta salad chill for at least an hour to let the flavors combine and then toss and taste again. Add fresh arugula (if you add the arugula sooner it will wilt from the moisture), salt, pepper, and the olive oil.  To finish add fresh squeezed lemon juice and toss!

This Mediterranean pasta salad is great with so many dishes (burgers, sandwiches, or grilled meat and fish kabobs) and it’s fun to experiment with many different flavor combinations. I hope enjoy!

I mentioned yesterday that my special for today would be a Caramelized Sweet Onion and Pancetta Tart.  Well, the dough is made, and the tarts are in the freezer ready to be baked off, but I need to make the filling.  So it looks as if Monday afternoon, I’ll be able to finish the tarts and serve them as a “special appetizer” for dinner service.

Instead today I made Pan-Seared Wild Alaskan Salmon with Roasted Mushrooms, Wild Rice, Leeks and Snap Peas in a Madeira Mushroom Broth with Fried Leeks.  Wow! what a mouthful!  When I write out specials for the wait staff, I try to communicate as much as I can so that they have a clear understanding of what ingredients are in the dish so that they can explain it to the customer.  Sometimes, we prepare a “line-up” of specials before service starts.  This means that we actually prepare the special and discuss it with the wait staff so that they can taste the flavors and see how the dish is presented.  But usually for lunch service (unless it’s a really difficult special), I just discuss the dish with the servers and answer any questions that they may have.   However, for dinner service there is always a line-up prepared for the front of the house employees prior to the restaurant opening for service. 

To start, it’s helpful if you have mushroom stock on hand.  If not, it’s really easy to make.  Wash and rough chop mushrooms (cremini and button) and set aside.  Rough chop celery, onions and garlic and sauté until soft.  Add the chopped mushrooms, some porcini powder, thyme, parsley, bay leaf and peppercorns and cover with water.  Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer and cook for a couple of hours until the stock has a good mushroom flavor.  Stain stock and set aside.  This mushroom stock can be used for numerous dishes such as, mushroom risotto or mushroom soup and you can freeze any leftover stock for later use.

Cook the wild rice according to instructions.  I like use chicken stock (but you can use water) add a bouquet garni of fresh thyme, parsley, and bay leaf, as well as olive oil, salt and pepper.  When grains are tender, remove herbs, drain any excess liquid, and set aside and keep warm until needed.

Next, roast your mushrooms with oil, salt and pepper until golden brown.  You can use whatever mushrooms you like—just make sure that they have great flavor.   Meanwhile, trim and remove any strings from the snap peas (you can also use snow peas, petite green beans, asparagus, etc.) and blanch in salted boiling water and immerse in ice water to stop the cooking. 

For the fried leeks, trim leeks using only the white and light green parts and julienne into fine strands.  Blanch in boiling water and wrap in a towel to remove moisture.  Drop leeks into a deep fryer and stir with tongs to make sure that they separate and cook for about a minute until they start to turn a light golden color.  Remove, drain on a towel, sprinkle with salt and set aside.  Be careful when frying because they can go from a beautiful golden-green to burned trash in seconds.

To finish, you’ll need several pans going at the same time.  Heat a small amount of olive oil and butter in a sauté pan, add chopped leeks and garlic and sauté until soft.  Deglaze with Madeira and cook until reduced.  Add mushrooms, wild rice and snap peas to the pan and a small amount of mushroom broth, salt and pepper and cook on medium heat (tossing) until all the flavors are combined.  Reduce heat to low and keep warm.  Meanwhile, start another pan and add a small amount of mushroom stock, Madeira, butter, salt and pepper and reduce to a rich flavorful mushroom sauce.  Finally, pan-sear the salmon, finish in the oven and you’re ready to plate.  Don’t forget to top with your fried leeks and a drizzle of mushroom broth.

This dish is very flavorful and the colors are really beautiful.  I hope you enjoy!