Roasted Rapini ::: Bacon, Cherry Tomatoes, Garlic

This cruciferous green is slightly bitter and nicely balanced by the acidity of cherry tomatoes and the smokiness of bacon.

I made mine by blanching the rapini. In a separate cast iron skillet I began roasting 3 slices of bacon and a couple handfuls of halved cherry tomatoes. I added a couple cloves of crushed garlic to this mixture as it cooked through in the oven.

Once the tomatoes started to caramelize, I added the blanched rapini to soak in the fragrant bacon, tomato and garlic sauce/oil. Once heated through I removed the cast iron skillet from the oven and let it sit until ready to plate the rapini. I added just a pinch of salt and pepper just before serving, but the bacon largely takes care of the salt you need for the dish.

Check out your local red meat counter to see if you can buy bacon by the slice. My mom shared this tip with me and it's a great way to cook with fresh bacon, without having to freeze or waste extra slices.

A very yummy vegetable side!

Truffle Fries

There is a reason these fries are so popular right now. At gourmet restaurants, as upscale bar food - this snack is simply addictive. I've tried making them a few different ways, first baking the truffle oil into the oven fries and then on a second occasion by spraying crispy oven fries with the truffle oil after they were baked. The second method seems to offer a more potent truffle flavor but more than anything it's about the quality of oil you use to bring out the strongest truffle flavor.

Pedro bought a ~$10 bottle of white truffle infused olive oil from Costco that does the trick, although honestly could be a little stronger in my opinion. Here's how I recommend preparing:

Start by cutting 1/2 inch oven fries with a knife or better yet a fries press. Place the fries on a greased  cookie sheet (I use a silpat baking sheet liner but you could also use parchment paper). Lightly coat the fries with olive oil and bake at 400 degrees until light brown and crispy.

In a large bowl, toss the fries with salt and pepper, just a little powdered garlic, shredded Parmesan cheese, minced parsley and a heavy spray of truffle oil.

Enjoy as a snack or delicious side with red meat. Careful, you might get addicted!

Plantains 2 Ways ::: Sweet

Just when you thought this blog would only cover one way to prepare plantains, there's more!

Once plantains are ripened (they will get soft and dark brown in color - the ripening process can take days or weeks once you buy the green plantain), remove the peel as you would a banana.

Slice the plantain diagonally in about .5 inch sections. Drop these pieces into fry-temperature vegetable oil in a cast iron pan until the brown and caramelized on each size. The caramelized plantains have a really nice sweet flavor that goes great with a drizzle of sweetened condensed milk or butter pecan ice cream (pictures below). 

Pedro and I served this dessert to celebrate Mother's Day with my mama in Morgantown 2014.

Plantains 2 Ways ::: Savory

I love plantains. While they resemble a large banana, watch out as it's an entirely different food to prepare. In fact, plantains must always be cooked before consuming. 

Before fully ripening, plantains can be cooked like a starchy tuber. This particular appetizer is a variation of Puerto Rico's savory plantain dish called a "toston." 

To begin, buy 3 unripened plantains (they will be greenish in color). Three plantains will make enough tostones for 4 to 5 people.

Next, cut open the tough outer shell of the plantain by making a couple cuts through the shell lengthwise and prying off the peel.

Once peeled, use a cheese grater to shred the plantains. Then take approx 3 tbsp of shredded plantain and press together in your palms in the shape of a .5 inch patty until the shredded plantains begin to release a sticky, starchy substance that will hold the toston together as you pan fry it.

Drop the patty into a cast iron pan with fry-temperature vegetable oil. Pan fry the toston until light brown (nice potato chip crunch!) on each side and remove. Season with salt (optional and in fact I prefer not to).

For the dipping sauce consider the Puerto Rican's famous mayo-ketchup. A delicious blend of (duh!) mayonnaise, ketchup and fresh crushed garlic. Add the juice from a couple key limes for the perfect pucker.

Pedro and I served this appetizer recently in Morgantown to celebrate an early Mother's Day with my mama. It's a crowd pleaser.

Balsamic-tossed cucumbers with mint and olives

A light and refreshing spring/summer salad. Would pair great with ham and cheese sandwiches or burgers or fried chicken. 

I used dried mint instead of fresh (never as fragrant, but certainly will do). I especially appreciate Jamie Oliver's tip to smash pit-in kalamata olives with the palm of your hand to remove the seeds.

http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/vegetables-recipes/balsamic-dressed-cucumber-with-olives

Ceviche Tostadas

There's basically one thing to say about these little treats. And that's Oh. My. Gosh. This dish makes a great appetizer, main course, party food, or mid-day snack for anyone who loves a little kick of lime, spice and fresh seafood.

Here's how Pedro's maternal grandfather (Jose Ricardo Berain) from Muzquiz, Coahuila, taught Pedro to make this very delicious meal.

Start with fresh (or thawed frozen) seafood, preferably a simple Tilapia-type fish that will absorb lime juice and other flavors quickly and easily (you can mix in uncooked shrimp chunks, small bay-style scallops or other types of fish if you like). We made this ceviche with 2 lbs of Tilapia.

• Start by chopping partially frozen fish into small cubes. 
• Once chopped, cover with lime juice and cover bowl with plastic wrap and allow to sit in the refrigerator for 4 hours (Pedro prefers to move the lime covered fish to a large ziploc bag).
• While the seafood "cooks" in the lime, go ahead and start preparing a pico de gallo to mix with the seafood once it's ready.
• Chop equal parts white onion, cilantro, tomato and add one or two chopped serrano chile peppers (Pedro also likes to crush one clove of garlic into this mixture).
• Drizzle a little olive oil on top of the pico de gallo and add salt to taste.

Back to the fish - once the lime has cooked the fish through, drain the lime juice from the bag or bowl as it can become bitter after sitting with the fish for some period of time. Add new lime juice to nearly cover the fish, mixing in the desired amount of pico de gallo.

To serve, spread a thin layer of mayonaise on a sturdy tostada. Then top with ceviche mixture and finally drizzle with a few drops of tapatio hot sauce. A couple thin slices of avocado on top also taste great.

ENJOY!

Delicious ceviche tostada

You'll need lots of limes for this recipe. Start with large persian limes to cook the fish and then switch to smaller key limes for an extra special, more authentic flavor with the actual ceviche mixture.

Use a citrus press to cut down on the labor of squeezing fresh lime juice over the fish.

Fresh cilantro (if you don't like cilantro you can substitute parsley, but it's definitely NOT the same :-)

The Tiger (a take on the Pegu Club's "Old Cuban" in Manhattan)

We were introduced to this drink by a friend of ours, Tiger Batlas. Tiger has a bubbly and refreshing personality (not unlike this drink!) and so we decided to rename the delicious cocktail in honor or Tiger's lovely personality and presence.

Tiger discovered this drink during a girls trip with friends to Manhattan at a bar called Bemelmans inside The Carlyle Hotel. Most internet cocktail recipes cite the Pegu Club as home for this drink. Wherever the origin, here are a few shots of our version below.

Note that we followed the recipe almost exactly, however included slightly less simple syrup (I don't like sweet drinks, but half an ounce of simple syrup is the perfect amount to soften the pucker from the lime just a bit and it helps to meld the flavors). Also - feel free to top this one off with prosecco vs. champagne. Pedro just happens to keep a keg of homemade champagne on hand, so it helps to minimize the expense of champagne cocktails like the Tiger.

Also, Pedro and I made a fun trip to a nearby thrift store, just before making these drinks, to pick up some old style coupe cocktail glasses for $.49 each. This drink doesn't taste the same without the right glass! (as recommended by the NYT :-) 

Tiger cocktail served in a chilled coupe glass

A few of the ingredients we used in our Tiger cocktail