Spice is an important part of a good relationship. That’s doubly true for our close friends John and Tracy. This is because John has a serious addiction to spicy food…I think he was Aztec Royalty in a prior life. John has no scoville limit, he’s constantly seeking heat and adds it to everything. This has turned into a bit of a quest for his wife Tracy, she’s constantly looking for the next chili, the next hot sauce…even grew a variety of hot peppers last summer. The latest: Hot Pepper Honey. This is a really interesting flavor combination, that goes well with both sweet and savory dishes. They swear it’s good on vanilla ice cream, I can tell you it is great on cheese and crackers. Interested? Click the Foodista logo below for a recipe:

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Categories:	Cheese • Seasoning & Spices	5 Comments
Tags:	chili • honey • pepper • Scoville

The mild flavor of shark is a good foil for robust seasonings. Here we have used garlic, lemon and cracked pepper in copious amounts as we love all three. Quick cooking methods such as grilling or broiling are recommended to avoid overcooking which turns shark to shoe leather in no time.

It’s never a bad idea to keep a close eye on any shark, in or out of the oven!

Shark with Lemon, Pepper, and Garlic

Ingredients:
1 lb shark steak or fillet, serves 2-3
2-3 large garlic cloves, put through a press or chopped fine
1 /2  t cracked pepper, or to your taste
I T olive oil or lemon infused olive oil
Juice of half a lemon, fresh squeezed

Preparation:
Preheat broiler to HIGH setting
Prepare both sides of fish as follows:
Brush with oil or flavored oil
Add the garlic and pepper, spreading evenly and pressing in to adhere
Sprinkle with lemon juice

Place on broiler pan and set at least 6″ from the heat source to avoid burning. The garlic will burn quite easily if the heat is too high. Brush with more oil and/or lower heat to LOW broil setting if the color is getting too dark.
Cooking time will vary based on the temperature and thickness of the fish.

Serve with fresh lemon wedges and enjoy.

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Categories:	Fish & Seafood	2 Comments
Tags:	fish • garlic • lemon • pepper • shark

Photo: adactio

Last night I made an absolutely delicious roast chicken, the recipe for which I must share. It started with the desire to have rice with a yummy gravy – led me to pick up a chicken to roast – and wound up with real prize of a dish that I will certainly share with you and my future guests. The rub I created for this dish was a completely spontaneous concoction that defies exact measurement – so, read the mixture and add/substract/adjust at will. I served this roasted chicken with steamed cauliflower and plain white rice. The gravy this chick created was the best I’ve ever made. If you have suggestions for improvement – please send along.

The picture above is not mine, I did not have a camera last night – but this chicken so pretty I just had to post it.

Ingredients:

Whole Chicken: I only use organic, folks.

Onion and Garlic: 1-2 small to medium onions (cut into quarters) and approximately 10 cloves of garlic (peeled and slightly smashed).

Shallots: 1 shallot, cut into quarters, stuffed inside the bird’s cavity.

Parsley: Smallish bunch – enough to loosely fill the cavity of the bird.

Tarragon: 3 good long sprigs to stuff inside the cavity of the bird.

Chicken Broth: I only use Swanson’s or my own…

Spice Rub: These are rough measures, I was free-wheelin’ when I made this, so feel free to experiment with the amounts.

• Kosher Salt (1 tablespoon)
• Black and White Pepper (1 Tablespoon)
• Coriander Seeds (1/2 to 1 teaspoon)
• Cumin Seeds (1 teaspoon)
• Anise Seeds (2 teaspoons)
• Fennel Seeds (2 teaspoons)
• Cayenne (1 teaspoon)

Technique:

1. Wash and dry your bird, inside and out. I also like to cut off any extra flaps of skin/fat. Rub with a little vegetable oil.
2. Stuff bird with quartered shallots, approximately 5 cloves of garlic (peeled and smashed), tarragon sprigs, and parsley. Sprinkle with a small amount of the above spice rub. You could tress this bird – I did not do so – I simply placed it breast down in my roasting pan, stuffed it with the shallots, garlic and tarragon and inserted the parsley at the end to keep those items inside the bird. Do not stuff too tightly or it will affect your cooking time.
3. Place stuffed bird onto a bed of roughly cut onions and garlic.
4. Rub with remaining spice mixture and a little nob of butter (can’t resist).
5. Cook at 425 until the internal temperature reaches 160.
6. Midway through the cooking process I did a few things that I think are worth repeating: (a) I allowed the bird to brown and then began to baste it with the drippings and a little chicken broth; (b) about 1/2 way through the process I began to baste with chicken broth – which added liquid to the roasting pan and began the process of deglazing the pan before I took it from the oven – I would not add more than 2 cups of liquid. This chicken broth boiled down nicely – intensifying the chicken flavor and incorporating the flavors of the rub. A roasting purist would say I did not truly roast this bird, and they would be right. This technique roasted the bird for the first 1/4 of its cooking and braised it the rest of the way. The result was a very rich broth and moist breast.
7. Gravy: Remove bird and any bits from the roasting pan and add 4 more cups of broth. I reduced this to 1/2, added a little pepper, wondra flour (my mom’s trick for thickening gravy), and fresh chives and parsley at the end. It was good. Didn’t need salt – though will want to check it.

Great gravy for potatoes and rice. Lovely on my cauliflower. A real comfort meal. Enjoy.

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Categories:	Cooking tips • Entertaining • Herbs • Holiday • Meat & Poultry • Organic • Seasoning & Spices • Uncategorized	3 Comments
Tags:	anise • cayenne • chicken • fennel • gravy • kosher salt • pepper • roast • spice rum • spices • tarragon

I love Mexican food. So much so that I think I was Mexicana in a previous life. Actually, I say that when I eat just about any food, really. I’ve been Japanese, French, Italian…you get the picture.

My newest love is mole. You’re probably saying, “Well, what took you so long?” Honestly, I had a bit of a bad experience years ago (I’ll spare you the gory details) and have been a bit averse to trying this rich dish again. But with a less whimpy belly, a fierce gusto for food and a recent trip back to Mexico, I tried it once more.

“Holy mole this is good!” I cried with gastronomical glee. I.Am.Hooked.

I know visually it may not knock your socks off, but believe me taste-wise it will.

Mole (pronounced mo-lay) is like curry. In fact, mole is a generic term for “sauce” and, like curry, comes in a variety of flavors. Such as, guacamole, or “avocado sauce.”

Probably the most well-know mole is Mole Poblano which is made from dried chili peppers, a whole gang of spices such as cinnamon and cloves, ground seeds and nuts, Mexican chocolate (stay with me now, it’s great), aromatics…oh the list goes on!

It’s no easy thing to whip up a mole. Well, a good traditional Mole Poblano, that is. It can take days to prepare a truly authentic one. But the good news is there are a variety of premade moles readily available at your local Mexican market or markets that carry ethnic foods.

We bought a Mole Verde (green mole) and prepared it with chicken like so:

We julienned some red and yellow peppers along with a large sweet yellow onion. Then we sauteed them in a large pan with a bit of olive oil until browned, removed them from the pan and set aside. In the same pan we heated up some more olive oil and browned a whole chicken (cut into parts). Once browned we added the pepper and onion mixture to the chicken. In a separate saucepan we heated the entire jar of mole and a bottle of white wine (minus a sip or two – wink, wink) until thoroughly mixed. We then added the sauce to the chicken and simmered the whole shebang for hours. You want to simmer at least a good two hours to allow the flavors to truly marry.

Muuuuuy delicioso!

If you have nothing better to do on a Sunday afternoon try one of these great mole recipes from Ramekins. I specifically like the sound of Mole Poblano #5.

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Categories:	Cooking tips • Latin • Meat & Poultry • Mexican • Nuts • Sauces • Seasoning & Spices • Travel	4 Comments
Tags:	aromatics • chicken • Chili Peppers • cooking • Food • foodista • Mexican • Mexico • mole • Nuts • pepper • recipe • recipes • sauce • seeds • spices • Spicy