September 19, 2009
Spinach cleaned and the stems removed 6 ounces per person
Hard boiled egg per person
Red onion cut in rounds 2 per person
Cooked and crumbled bacon if desired
Dressing:
2/3 cup salad oil
1/4 cup wine vinegar
2 Tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic
1 teaspoon pepper
Add your vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, dry mustard, salt, garlic, pepper, and drizzle in the oil slowly while whisking constantly.
Drizzle over the spinach salad or let your guest drizzle their own.
Posted by Penny Moline. Posted In : spinach salad
September 19, 2009
8 whole shallots peeled
1/4 cup plus 4 T olive oil
1 head of garlic
salt and pepper to taste
Rub shallots with 1 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil. season with salt and pepper Then wrap them up in heavy duty foil
Cut the top off the head of garlic and rub with olive oil and season with salt and pepper and wrap in heavy duty foil.
Place in a 350 degree oven and roast until tender. about an hour. then set aside
3 large portobello mushroom
2 T drained capers optional
24 black olives minced
2 T red wine vinegar
2 large tomatoes cut into wedges
Remove stems from the mushrooms and discard ( some people like to remove the gills off these mushrooms too, to do this, just take a teaspoon and run it around the gills to remove).
Brush with olive oil and grill on a hot grill (indoor or out) until tender about 5 minutes each side.
Cut into a medium dice and toss with the roasted shallots that have been cut into a dice and olives. Squeeze in the roasted garlic. Add capers if desired.and toss again. season with salt and pepper
Add the olive oil and red wine vinegar.and whisk together. Mound the mushrooms in the center of the plate and surround with tomato slices. Drizzle with the olive oil and vinegar.
Posted by Penny Moline. Posted In : tomatoe what to do with them
September 19, 2009
Serves six
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons chopped chives
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1 tablespoon fresh thyme
2 teaspoons sherry vinegar
2 Tablespoons minced shallots
Mix together.
hint. You may use balsamic vinegar or red wine vinegar for this too. Just what ever you have on hand
8 medium ripe heirloom tomatoes in assorted colors cut into slices
Serve with a log of fresh goat cheese... arrange the tomatoes around the goat cheese.and drizzle with the dressing.
Have a crusty bread cut into slices to serve with this.
Posted by Penny Moline. Posted In : tomatoe what to do with them
September 19, 2009
8 to 12 fresh figs
1/2 cup lavender honey
Your favorite vanilla ice cream
Infuse a couple of sprigs of fresh lavender in a jar of honey for a week.
Cut the figs in half and arrange on a baking sheet with cut side up
Drizzle with the lavender honey and place under a preheated broiler until caramelized
To serve place a scoop of ice cream in a pretty dish,( hint) a martini glass is great to use... and top with the figs. You can garnish with a fresh sprig of lavender. This is not your typical dessert..but boy is it amazing!
Posted by Penny Moline. Posted In : Figs with lavender
September 18, 2009
Tomatoes Peeled and diced 3 pounds
onions medium dice 1 cup
green pepper medium dice 1 each
red pepper medium dice 1 each cucumber peeled, seeded and diced 1 pound (use English cucumbers they don't have as many seeds)
garlic minced 2 cloves use more if you really like garlic
red wine vinegar 1/4 cup
lemon 1 juiced
olive oil 1/2 cup
salt and pepper to taste
cayenne pepper to taste
Tomato juice 3 quarts
water or chicken stock as needed
Garnish:
tomatoes peeled seeded and diced 1 cup
Red bell pepper 1/2 cup
green bell pepper 1/2 cup
yellow bell pepper 1/2 cup
cucumber peeled seeded and diced 1/4 cup
green onions sliced fine 1/4 cup
Fresh basil as needed
combine all ingredients except the tomato juice, water or stock.
stir in the tomato juice
adjust the consistancy with water or stock
Stir in the garnishes and adjust seasonings
serve cold (Hint) Chill your bowls first!
Posted by Penny Moline. Posted In : tomatoe what to do with them
September 17, 2009
onions 1 1/2 lb
celery 3/4 lb
carrots 3/4 lb
butter 3/4 lb
mixed spices ( pickling spice)
flour 3/4 lb
Tomato puree 2 qts ( a good way to use the tomato sauce from a earlier post)
chicken stock or vegetable stock 3 qts
Tabasco 8 drops
half and half or heavy cream 3/4 qt
Sweat vegetables in butter, until tender. Add flour and make a roux, cooking until the flour has lost it's starch.Taste when you first add the flour....then cook it until it almost taste like a pie shell....nutty and good. Add stock. Add pickling spice in a piece of tied off cheese cloth. Cook for 45 minutes. Add Tabasco, and heated half and half or cream then add to soup. If you heat the cream first you will not add something cold to a hot soup and take time to reheat the soup to serving tempature...but if by chance your cream is bad.. it will curdle and you will not ruin the soup from bad cream.... Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Remove cheese cloth of pickling spice. Puree if desired with a blender. ALWAYS PUT A TOWEL OVER THE TOP OF YOUR BLENDER WHILE WORKING WITH A HOT LIQUID...so the lid does not pop off from the heat... Or cool before blending. You may also use a Emerson blender adjust seasoning to taste (salt and pepper)
Posted by Penny Moline. Posted In : What to do with the tomatoes in your garden
September 17, 2009
onions diced 12 oz
jalapeon diced 3 oz
garlic minced 1 tsp
celery minced 1 oz
tomato 4 lbs diced small
salt to taste
olive oil 1/4 cup
cilantro chopped 1/4 cup
water 1/2 cup
puree.... wonderful add lemon or lime juice and chili powder if desired
Posted by Penny Moline. Posted In : What to do with the tomatoes in your garden
September 17, 2009
3 pound red potatoes medium dice
1/2 pound roma or plum tomatoes medium dice
1 cup thinly sliced red onion
1 cup cilantro chopped fine
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 cup mayonnaise
Bring potatoes to a boil in a large kettle, cook until tender
drain
in a large bowl whisk together vinegar and mayonnaise with cilantro
Add potatoes, tomatoes and red onion
Toss well and chill
Posted by Penny Moline. Posted In : tomatoe what to do with them
September 16, 2009
10 to 12 pounds fresh tomatoes chopped
2 oz olive oil
12 ounces onions chopped
1 oz garlic
salt and pepper
Cook onions until tender, add garlic cook lightly then add tomatoes.
Cooking time varies, on ingredients. Usually the less cooking time for for fruits or vegetables the better. Cooking for long lenghts of time reduces the fresh flavor.
Stir the tomato sauce often.
Puree the sauce if desired. Check the balance and seasoning of the sauce and make adjustments.
You may add carrots, or a mirepoix which is 50 percent onions, 25 percent celery, 25 percent carrots. If desired at the beginning of the sauce.
Example recipe for mirepoix:
8 oz chopped onion
4 oz chopped carrot
4 oz chopped celery
Add fresh herbs just before the sauce is finished. Basil is my favorite
To have different options add some of the following.
Tomato paste or puree
smoked meats
cooked hamburger
sauteed mushrooms
Posted by Penny Moline. Posted In : tomatoe what to do with them
September 16, 2009
10 plum/roma tomatoes medium diced
1 small onion diced
1 jalapeno seeded and minced
3 Tablespoon lime juice
1/4 cup cilantro chopped
salt as needed
Combine all ingredient. adjust seasoning.
Posted by Penny Moline. Posted In : What to do with the tomatoes in your garden
A little about myself to get started..I got my first job cooking at the age of 14..at the snack bar across the street from my high school.. I am a graduate of an ACF (American Culinary Federation) Culinary Arts program...I have a degree with honors in Culinary Arts.... I have been teaching at a local college since 2002.( Oh and I was lucky enough to get to go to Paris and take a pastry and danish class too). During the 2002 winter Olympics I was the Executive. Pastry chef at the only fine dining restaurant in the media center. That was so exciting. I have worked in fine dining restaurants, and worked for a manufacturing rep company.. I was the product specialist for Kitchenaid and Weber grills...and got to do the training on my two wonderful products. Tough job...but someone got be be lucky enough to do it! Everything I have done... I have loved! Teaching has been the greatest.
What a dream job. I have students that want to learn all they can about cooking.
Our school is a production based program, which allows the students to get a lot of hands on training. We run a restaurant that serves fresh bread of the day, soup, salad, (and salad bar), an ever changing entree and dessert daily. So the students not only makes bread from scratch once or twice like some schools they make it more than a dozen times before their rotation is changed.
I know we are doing a great job as the local police eat there almost daily. Plus...my program is full and we now have a waiting list to get in. Not too shabby I would say.
Several of our students have won national and local cooking and baking awards... what can I say? I love to cook.... I really love my job...and I would like to feed the world with one recipe at a time! I
It is really rewarding to love what you do...and to have passion for it. You don't have to make pretentious food to make good food. You just need to use fresh ingredients...and use what is in season. Most importantly...you need to love to eat...and then the passion for cooking is there...Don't let cooking intimidate . you...YOU CAN COOK...and remember this KISS (keep it simple silly)..
Let me know what you think!
My email is chefpennymoline@gmail.com
