4 x boneless skinless Chicken Breasts
1/2 C finely chopped Walnuts
1 C finely julienned Baby Kale
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1/4 C Chicken Stock
1/2 C freshly squeezed Orange Juice
2 Tbsp Dijon Mustard
1 Tsp freshly grated Garlic
2 Tbsp Unsalted Butter, fridge cold and cut into 6 pieces
Freshly ground Black Peppercorns for seasoning
Kosher Salt for seasoning
Butterfly the chicken breasts so that they stay attached like a book. Lay a piece of plastic wrap over a clean working surface. Place a butterflied chicken breast, splayed open, on one side of the plastic wrap. Fold the other half of the plastic over the chicken. Using the palm of your hand gently pound the chicken breast so that it flattens out slightly and increases the surface area, making sure to keep the whole breast intact and still open like a book.
Repeat for all 4 breasts and season the inside of the chicken with salt and pepper. Equally distribute the chopped walnuts and chopped kale between all 4 butterflied breasts. Fold the chicken breast closed so that the book is closed. Season both sides of the chicken.
Heat a pan to medium heat and add oil. Place chicken breast “skin side down” in the pan and cook for 4 minutes or until browned, flip and repeat for another 2 minutes. Using clean tongs, remove chicken from pan making sure to keep intact and transfer to a plate.
Add chicken stock, orange juice, dijon and garlic to the pan and let it reduce by half its original volume. Return the chicken to the pan, reduce heat to low and cover, cook for an additional 6 minutes. Remove the lid, turn off the heat, and add the butter. Swish the butter around in the pan until it is fully emulsified. Cover and keep warm for serving.
3/4 C Chicken Stock
3/4 C Coconut Milk
1 1/4 C finely diced White Onion
1 Tbsp grated Garlic
1 Tsp Kosher Salt
1/4 Tsp freshly ground Black Pepper
8 Chicken Thighs (bone in / skin on)
1/2 Tsp Cumin Seeds
more salt and pepper for seasoning Chicken
1 C loosely packed fresh Thai Basil leaves
Heat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
In a large oven safe pan add stock, milk, onion, garlic, salt and pepper. Mix well until evenly combined.
Make sure chicken is patted dry and season both sides with salt and pepper. Evenly distribute the cumin seeds on the skin side of the chicken. Place the chicken skin side up in the pan with liquid, making sure to not crowd the pan. Place pan in oven for 40 mins or until chicken is fully cooked and the skin is brown and crunchy.
Remove pan from oven and baste the chicken with the cooking liquid and softened onions from the pan. Finish by sprinkling thai basil all over the chicken and serve hot with the sides of your choice.
3 Lbs Russet Potatoes (roughly 4 Potatoes)
1 lemon cut in half
1 1/2 C All Purpose Flour
2 Tsp Kosher Salt
1 large Egg
2 Tbsp Unsalted Butter
2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 C roughly chopped Fresh Sage leaves
3/4 C freshly grated Parmesan
1/8 Tsp dried Chili Flakes
Cracked Black Peppercorns for garnishing
Large Crystal Sea Salt for garnishing (optional)
Peel and quarter the potatoes and place in a pot large enough to cover with tap water completely. Bring to the boil then reduce to a simmer. Simmer the potatoes until the potatoes are completely cooked, approximately 30 minutes. Gently remove the potatoes and place them on a tray to cool and dry out a bit, till they are cool enough to handle but still warm. You may cover the potatoes with a tea towel to keep warm.
Cut a lemon in half and prepare to grill it. Place the lemon flat side down on a grill pan or skillet on medium high heat. Don’t move or touch it, let it grill until the lemon is blackened and softened. This will take roughly 12 minutes. Once grilled, set aside and let cool. You will get to play with this later.
Take your egg and beat with a fork or whisk in a small bowl. Set aside.
Place flour and salt in a separate large bowl and mix till combined.
Once potatoes are still warm but cool enough to handle, use a ricer to squeeze them into a clean, dry medium sized bowl. If you don’t have a ricer, then use a potato masher but make sure you don’t mash them more than necessary as the gnocchi will turn out gummy; a ricer is preferred. Add beaten egg to the riced potatoes and combine with your hands till it is evenly combined. Again, work as little as possible to prevent a gummy gnocchi.
Add potato and egg mixture to the flour salt bowl, and once again combine by hand till you have a fairly smooth dough that is tinted evenly yellow from the egg being well combined. Cover this bowl with a plate to make sure it doesn’t air out while it rests. You can also use plastic wrap Rest for 10 minutes.
Prepare a large tray with a light dusting of flour and set aside.
Once dough has rested for 10 minutes cut into roughly 6 equal sized pieces.
Flour a clean work surface generously and roll out the 1/6th portioned pieces of dough, one at a time, to a long even dowel roughly the thickness of your thumb. Using a paring knife, cut the dowel into pieces that are roughly one knuckle in size. Press the tip of your finger into each piece leaving a dimple in each piece. Once done, transfer to the dusted tray in a single layer and keep separate so that they don’t pile up. Repeat until all of your dough is complete.
Bring a large pot of water to the boil and season with salt. Gently grab gnocchi (they are delicate) and transfer the gnocchi to the boiling water and cook till they float, roughly 1 minute max. Remove the cooked gnocchi from the pot with a slotted spoon and place the drained gnocchi onto a clean dry tray.
Now this step you will want to do in small batches to avoid crowding the pan, if you do so they will clump together and that’s not good. Bring a large nonstick pan to medium high heat. Add butter and olive oil to the pan. Once butter is sizzling add fresh chopped sage. The sage will sizzle immediately, add enough of the gnocchi to the pan ensuring that the pan is not crowded and it sits in a single layer, no clumping. Allow the gnocchi to brown, toss the pan gently to brown the other side. This should take all of 5 mins total.
Transfer the contents of the pan to a platter and grate fresh parmesan over the the whole platter. Sprinkle the red chili flakes over the whole platter and also freshly cracked black peppercorns. Finish with a drizzle of the charred grilled lemon and large crystal sea salt.
Try not to eat the whole recipe and share, if you can resist.
340 g of 31 – 40 sized Shrimp (deveined, skin on, tails on)
2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 1/2 Tbsp chopped Garlic
3/4 Tsp Smoked Paprika
1/8 Tsp freshly cracked Black Peppercorns
2 Tsp Lemon juice
1 C loosely packed fresh Basil leaves
large crystal Sea Salt for finishing
If shrimp is frozen make sure they are fully thawed and drained before staring the recipe.
Place a cast iron or oven safe pan in a cold oven and heat to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. You can also use a tray if you intend to transfer the finished dish to a serving platter after cooking. I use an oven safe pan so the dish stays hot for a longer time once served and so there is one less dish to wash later on.
Mix shrimp, oil, garlic, paprika, and black pepper in a bowl and mix well.
Once oven and pan are hot, place the shrimp on the hot pan in a single layer so each shrimp is touching the hot surface of the pan. Do not crowd the pan or stack any shrimp. Close the oven door and let the shrimp cook for 5 minutes.
Using a clean dry rag, remove the hot pan from the oven and transfer to a trivet on the table. Drizzle the lemon juice over the whole pan of cooked shrimp. Spread the basil all over the shrimp and season liberally with sea salt.
Serve hot with the sides of your choice.
- 1 ó Tbsp Quinoa
- 3 Tbsp Hot Water
- 2 C Green Beans, Trimmed
- ó C Dijon Mustard
- 1 Tbsp Dried Thyme
- 1/3 C Olive Oil
- . C Blueberries
- 1 Tbsp Sliced Almonds
In a stainless steel or non‐reactive bowl, pour hot water over quinoa. Cover with plastic wrap and set
aside until quinoa plumps up and all the water is absorbed, approximately 5 minutes. Remove plastic
wrap and fluff quinoa with a fork to remove any clumps.
Meanwhile, bring a pot of water to a boil and season with salt. Prepare a bowl with ice water large
enough to fully submerge all the green beans.
Place green beans in boiling water until beans turn bright green, approximately 2‐3 minutes. Strain
blanched green beans in a colander and discard hot water. Transfer blanched and drained green beans
to ice water and cool fully, approximately 3 minutes. Strain beans and transfer to a tray to allow
excess water to drain off of beans. Set aside.
In a non‐reactive bowl, whisk together Dijon mustard, dried thyme and olive oil until emulsified. Set
aside.
Toss together the green beans, quinoa, blueberries, sliced almonds and 3 tbsp of the Dijon mustard
mixture. Serve immediately.
- 3 Italian Sausages (about 360 g total, mild or spicy as you like)
- 2 1/2 C peeled and diced Yukon Gold Potatoes (about 2 medium potatoes)
- 1 C diced Cooking Onion (about 1 medium onion)
- 10 large Eggs
- 1/4 C chopped Flatleaf Parsley
- 1 1/2 Tsp Kosher Salt
- 1/4 Tsp freshly ground Black Peppercorns
- Vegetable Oil, for cooking
- 1/2 C Flavor Bomb Cherry Tomatoes, halved
- 1 1/4 C Baby Arugula
- 1 Tsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Additional Kosher Salt and Black Peppercorn to taste
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Heat 12″ cast iron or oven-safe non-stick skillet over medium high heat. Add 1 tablespoon vegetable oil to pan. Remove casing from sausages (discard casing), and roughly crumble into hot pan. Fry sausage pieces until golden brown and cooked. Remove from pan and set aside.
Add onions to hot pan and cook until light golden and soft, about 4-5 minutes. Remove from pan and set aside with cooked sausage. Add 2 tablespoons oil to pan and cook diced potatoes until golden brown and mostly cooked through, about 5-6 minutes. Season potatoes with 3/4 teaspoon salt. (If bottom of pan has a lot of stuck on browned bits, remove potatoes and give the pan a quick good wipe before continuing on with adding back 1 tablespoon of oil and browned potatoes.) Add sausage and onion back to pan and stir to distribute evenly.
In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, chopped parsley, 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Pour egg mixture into pan, now over medium heat and allow egg to run over filling. With a spatula, lift edges slightly to allow egg to run under. Let egg mixture cook on the stovetop about 2-3 minutes, to allow bottom to set before placing the pan into preheated oven to finish cooking. Bake in oven about 20 minutes, until center of frittata is set. Remove from oven and allow frittata to cool 15 minutes in the pan before serving.
Just before serving, in a medium bowl, toss together halved tomatoes, arugula, extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. Arranged dressed salad on top of the frittata and serve straight from the pan.
- 4 large Italian Pork Sausages (about 1.5 lb total)
- 3/4 C shredded Smoked Cheddar
- 1/2 Tsp Smoked Paprika
- 1 Tsp finely chopped Jalapeño
- 1 Tsp All-Purpose Flour
- 4 Hot Dog Buns, toasted
- 2 Tbsp melted Butter
- ½ C Baby Arugula
Par-cook the sausages. In a large shallow pan, add sausages and just enough cold water to cover. (If you’re feeling fancy, you could add beer for some extra oomph here. Your call.) Bring to a gentle simmer for 10 minutes, remove sausages from liquid and set aside. Let cool on a clean foil-lined tray.
Preheat broiler to high and set rack one third from top of oven.
In a small bowl combine smoked cheddar, smoked paprika, jalapeño, and all-purpose flour. Mix well and set aside.
Score cooked sausages in a diagonal cross hatch pattern, about ½ inch deep, without cutting all the way through. The scored marks will spread open slightly as they broil and you want to leave the sausage base intact for best results. Broil on foil-lined tray until surface is golden and hatches open up slightly, about 3-4 minutes. Using kitchen towels, remove the tray from oven and carefully gently press cheese mixture into the pockets you’ve created in the sausages. (Be careful, as both the tray and the sausages will be hot to the touch.) Broil cheese-stuffed sausages for about two minutes, or until cheese is melted, bubbly and has a few crispy edges.
Served hot on toasted, buttered buns with fresh baby arugula.
Beer Glaze
- 1 C Beer (a light flavoured lager or ale is ideal)
- 1/4 C Brown Sugar
- 1/4 C chopped Cooking Onion
- 1/2 Tsp Kosher Salt
In a small pot over medium high heat, combine all ingredients. Bring to a simmer and reduce liquid by half, stirring, until light glaze forms, about 10 minutes. Set aside.
Grilled Chicken Thighs
- 4 pieces boneless, skin on Chicken Thighs (about 1.5 lbs)
- 1/4 C Olive Oil
- 1 Tbsp chopped Fresh Rosemary
- 1 Tbsp chopped Fresh Garlic
- 1/2 Tsp freshly ground Black Peppercorns
- 2 Tsp Lemon Zest
- 1 Tbsp Lemon Juice
- Additional Kosher Salt and freshly ground Black Peppercorns to taste
Serve with: Cooked rice, lemon zest, chopped chives and parsley
(Optional tip, but recommended for even cooking.) Line a cutting board with parchment paper or plastic wrap. Unfold chicken thighs and lay in a single layer on top of parchment, place a second piece of paper on top. With a heavy pot, or rolling pin, or mallet, very slightly flatten the meat so that it is an even thickness across. No need to pound it very thin, just a gentle tap down on the fatter ends will do.
In a small bowl, combine olive oil, rosemary, garlic, pepper, lemon zest and juice. Spread marinade over prepared chicken thighs in a shallow dish. Cover and marinate, refrigerated, for at least an hour or overnight.
Preheat a grill to medium high. Just before cooking, season chicken on both sides with a good pinch of salt and grill over medium high heat, skin side down first. Grill until chicken is golden and crispy and cooked all the way through, about 5 minutes per side (165 F internal temperature). When chicken is just about cooked, brush prepared glaze over both sides and continue to grill over medium heat. Remove from heat and let rest at least 5 minutes.
To serve, chop up grilled chicken into bite sized pieces and enjoy over rice. Garnish with lemon zest, chopped chives and parsley.
Brine for Pork Chops
- 1/2 C Kosher Salt
- 1/4 C Brown Sugar
- 15 whole Allspice Berries, toasted
- 10 whole Black Peppercorns, toasted
- 2 Bay Leaves
- 2 sprigs fresh Thyme
- 4 C Water
In a medium saucepan, add all dry ingredients and 2 cups of water. Bring mixture up to a low simmer, stirring to dissolve salt and sugar. Remove from heat and add remaining 2 cups of water. Set aside and let cool down to room temperature.
Allspice Brined Pork Chops
- 2 (10 oz each) bone-in, center cut Pork Chops
- 2 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
- freshly ground Black Peppercorns to taste
In a large non reactive bowl, add pork chops to room temperature brine. Make sure chops are completely covered – weigh down with a small plate if needed. Cover and refrigerate for at least 6 hours – overnight is ideal.
When ready to cook, remove chops from brine and blot very dry with paper towel. Let chops come slightly up to room temperature (at the very least, remove from fridge 5 minutes before cooking to take the chill off, for more even cooking.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F, and have a small baking sheet (with a wire cooling rack if you have one) standing by.
Heat a cast iron (or other oven ready) pan to medium high and add vegetable oil. Season pork chops with pepper and sear over high heat, pressing down very slightly, until lovely dark golden brown, about 5 minutes on one side. Flip the pork chop and place the entire pan with pork chops directly into the oven, for 10-12 minutes or until chops are cooked to desired doneness. Check with an instant read thermometer inserted sideways into the the thickest part of the chop – it should read 150 F – remembering that the chop will continue to cook as it rests.
Remove chops from oven and let rest at least 10 minutes, tended with foil to keep warm, before slicing. To serve, slice in 1/2 inch thick pieces towards bone, leaving a nice piece remaining on the bone (that’s the cook’s treat!) Serve warm with Easy Sambal Vermicelli.
Easy Sambal Vermicelli
- 200 g (about 1/2 package) dried Chinese Rice Vermicelli noodles
- 2 Tsp Vegetable Oil
- 1/4 C Low Sodium Soy Sauce
- 2 Tsp Sugar
- 3 Tsp Sambal Oelek (use more if you like it spicy)
- 1 Tsp Sesame Oil
- 1 Tbsp toasted Sesame Seeds
- 1/3 C finely sliced Green Onions
In a large bowl, place dried vermicelli and pour over enough boiling water just to cover. (Push noodles down slightly with tongs as needed.) Let stand 1-2 minutes, then drain well and rinse with plenty of cold water. Drain again and spread now cooked noodles on a clean tray. Toss lightly with vegetable oil to prevent sticking.
Meanwhile in a large bowl, combine remaining ingredients, stirring well to dissolve sugar. Add back cooled, cooked noodles and toss to evenly coat noodles with the delicious dressing. Serve with Allspice Pork Chops.
- 1 large Egg
- 3 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
- 1/3 C diced White Onion
- 1/4 C diced Carrot
- 2 Tsp minced Garlic
- 1 Tsp sliced Green Onion (white part only)
- 1/2 C diced Red Pepper
- 3/4 C cubed leftover Pork Chop
- 2 1/2 C cooked, cold day old, Long Grain White Rice
- 1/4 C Peas (frozen is fine, thawed)
- 1 Tbsp Low-Sodium Soy Sauce
- 1/4 Tsp freshly ground White Peppercorn
For garnish, 2 Tsp slice Green Onion (green part only)
Preheat a large non-stick pan over medium high heat.
In a small bowl, whisk egg and 1 tsp vegetable oil until well combined and slightly frothy. To hot pan, add 2 tsp vegetable oil and swirl to coat pan evenly. Add egg to pan in one swift movement, and let it spread evenly and thinly across the hot surface to form a thin crepe. This will only take a few seconds, so don’t walk away! As soon as the egg has begun to set, slide or flip the crepe directly onto a cutting board, using a heat resistant spatula to assist as needed. Let egg crepe cool down slightly while the fried rice is assembled.
Return the non-stick pan back to stovetop, and raise heat to high. Add 2 tbsp vegetable oil to hot pan and add onion and carrot first. Fry, stirring occasionally until onions have taken on a little colour and carrots have softened slightly, about 2 minutes. Next, add minced garlic and the green onion whites and fry another minute, followed by the diced red pepper. After another minute, add the cubed pork chop and stir through, letting the meat brown and slightly crisp up. Add rice and let sit, untouched, for a minute to crisp up the bottom, before stirring. Try to use a folding motion as you stir to avoid breaking up the rice grains too much. Add in peas and soy sauce and fold in to combine everything thoroughly. Season with white pepper, toss till evenly distributed and transfer immediately to serving platter.
To finish, roll the egg crepe into a little cigar, and thinly slice across to form ribbons. Garnish the hot fried rice with the egg ribbons, and sliced green onion tops. Serve right away.
- 12 Jumbo Shrimp (16/20 size), peeled, tail-on (about 12 oz)
- 1 Tsp finely chopped Garlic
- 1 Tsp finely chopped Shallot
- 1 Tsp fresh Lemon Zest
- 1/2 Tsp Ground Coriander
- 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
- 1/2 cored Pineapple, sliced into 6 spears
- 2 Tbsp store bought Chili Oil
- 1/4 Tsp Kosher Salt
- 1/4 C Coconut Milk
- 1 Tsp Honey
- Fresh Mint Leaves, for garnish
- Fresh Basil Leaves, for garnish
Preheat BBQ to medium high heat.
Pat shrimp dry and place in a medium bowl. Add garlic, shallot, lemon zest, ground coriander, pinch of kosher salt and olive oil, and very gently toss to combine. Let stand for at least 15 minutes, refrigerated, to marinate. Using a pair of metal skewers, thread shrimp on both tail and “head” side, leaving about half inch of space in between each shrimp. You will end up with a total of two sets of skewered shrimp (6 per pair of skewers).
Place pineapple spears on a large plate and drizzle over chili oil. Gently flip the spears around to thinly and evenly coat the pineapple all over with the oil.
Place the seasoned pineapple spears directly on the grill, cooking about 3-4 minutes per side (without moving the spears too much) to get nicely caramelized grill marks. Transfer to a large serving platter and finish seasoning with a touch of salt.
Place skewered shrimp onto grill and cook over direct heat until they appear pink and just firm at the thickest part, about 2-3 minutes per side (they will continue to cook slightly as they cool, so try not to leave them on the grill too long!). Remove from heat and carefully remove shrimp from hot skewers. Arrange shrimp over the grilled pineapple.
In a small bowl, mix the coconut milk and honey until the honey is fully dissolved into coconut milk. Drizzle the mixture over and around the shrimp and pineapple. Garnish with fresh mint and basil leaves and serve right away.