Chef Traveler

I flew out of Connecticut a day early because the yacht had to leave because of tropical storm Barry. I tried to drive from Ft. Lauderdale to Charlotte in one day but got burnt out in Savannah and spent the night. Pouring down rain the rest of the drive on Saturday. So good to be home chillin’ with Celeste and the cats. Ate at a cool Mexican restaurant for dinner last night and had a great lunch at k&w cafeteria. It is such a great place to eat on a Sunday after everyone has gotten out of church and wearing their Sunday finest. The line was out the door and it took us half an hour just to get to the buffet line. They don’t have any thing like this in Seattle so I alway get such a kick out of it. I am trying to eat healthy but wound up eating Salmon, Mac&Cheese, Turnip Greens, Fresh Fruit, Sweet Tea, and Coconut Custard Pie. Celeste had to roll me out of the joint. We are eating something light for dinner, I am not cooking much while I am here, and it is our goal to eat somewhere new each meal, should be fun. Here is a recipe for Crab Cakes that always gets rave reviews.

Crab Cakes

Serves a bunch depending on how big you form them

1 can pasteurized crab meat

1/2 loaf soft white sandwich bread (like wonder bread)

4 Tbsp. chopped parsley

1 egg

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

5 dashes Tabasco sauce

2 Tbsp. Dijon Mustard

Tear bread and turn in to fine crumbs using a food processor, mix in 3 Tbsp. of the parsley. Mix crab with remaining ingredients, 1 Tbsp. parsley, and 2/3 cup of the bread crumbs. Form in to patties (large for entrée, small for appetizer) and coat with bread crumbs. Sauté crab cakes over medium heat in vegetable oil (should come 1/2 way up the sides of the crab cakes) until golden brown on both sides, drain on paper towels and serve with tartar sauce or cocktail sauce.

I just booked my flight home for Saturday morning. I am so looking forward to hanging out at home and working on my new website- mydietchef.com, just don’t ask when it is going to be ready. Perfection takes time. I am very excited about it, I will be sending out dinner recipes on a weekly basis with shopping lists customized to special diet needs. I will start with one or two diets and add more as I have more time. I have been working with a dietitian, which I have not done since my hospital days. These things always take more time than you imagine. Originally it was supposed to be up and running by now, but things happen for a reason I suppose. My restaurant is scheduled to sell on Friday, mixed reactions since I put so much in to it, but it wasn’t making money. Anyway, here is a recipe for a salad you could have as a starter, with your meal, or make a meal of it.

Warm Spinach Salad

Serves 4

1 bag of Baby Spinach

4 slices bacon

1 tsp. chopped garlic

1 thinly sliced fennel bulb (optional)

1/4 cup sherry or red wine vinegar

1 tsp. sugar

1/4 cup olive oil

Sauté bacon until crisp over medium heat, add fennel and garlic and cook until soft. Add vinegar and sugar and cook for a minute or two to reduce a bit. Whisk the oil in and mix with the greens in a bowl, serve immediately.

I have a goal of posting daily with a recipe during charter season. Who was I kidding? We just finished a trip and believe me, the last thing I wanted to do after busting my butt all day was to write a post and recipe. I will do what I can. We have been taking pictures of all the food we are cooking, so I will just post with recipes as I have the time and energy. We are in Old Lyme Connecticut for the week and then I will be back in Charlotte for a couple of weeks while the yacht crosses. We spent the weekend in Nantucket and it was buzzing with activity, I heard it’s the second busiest weekend of the year there. The local seafood shop just opened and we got some real nice, fresh stuff. Good food was cooked and everyone seemed real happy. Here’s a recipe for Chicken or Veal Picatta. A good basic recipe you can go a million ways with.

Chicken or Veal Picatta

serves 4

4 Chicken or Veal cutlets pounded thin

4 Tbsp. Olive Oil

1 Lemon

1/4 cup White Wine

1/4 cup butter, cold and cut in small pieces

2 Tbsp. Capers

1 Tbsp. Chopped Parsley

Season Meat with salt and pepper and dredge in flour. Heat olive oil in sauté pan (not nonstick) over medium heat and brown meat on both sides. Remove meat and add the wine and juice from the lemon. Cook down for a minute or two, scraping up the browned bits and reduce and get rid of alcohol. Take off heat and whisk in butter, then capers and parsley. Add meat back to pan with any juices and coat with sauce.

It has been awhile since I have made Ice Cream, I used to get in to it and even bought a commercial model off of eBay so I could kick out one batch after another. It’s fun to experiment with different flavors, I’m not talking about some of the funky ones they do on Iron Chef, but interesting flavor combinations that are unique and taste great. The classic way of making ice cream is to make a custard and freeze it with an Ice cream maker which churns it in a frozen bowl. I made a version today which did not need to be cooked because it used Greek yogurt to thicken the base, a real easy version for beginners. The stewardess’s gave us some fresh squeezed lemon juice left over from the last trip so I came up with a Lemon Yogurt Ice Cream. It is so refreshing just on it’s own, but I am going to make a Strawberry Rhubarb something and pair it together. Our Guests arrive tomorrow, I have some cool new ideas and will of course post the recipes as I create them.

Lemon Yogurt Ice Cream

zest from 1 lemon

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

2/3 cup sugar

2 containers Greek Yogurt (14 ounces)

2 cups half and half

Heat lemon juice, sugar and zest over medium heat until sugar dissolves, cool in fridge. Mix ingredients together and freeze according to manufacturer’s specifications.

Found out that we will be doing a weekend trip in Nantucket. It will give us another chance to try some new ideas and gel together. Things have been quiet here in Newport, Sunny but a heck of a lot cooler than Fort Lauderdale. Here is a recipe we cooked for lunch last weekend.

Lobster Croque Monsieur

Serves 4

Lobster meat from 2lb. lobster

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup flour

2 cups Swiss Cheese, shredded

1 1/2 cups milk

1 loaf french bread

1 Tomato

1 bunch Arrugula

Melt butter in saucepan and add flour. Add milk and bring to a boil, simmer for a few minutes. Add 1/2 cup of the cheese and stir. Slice bread in eight slices. Divide lobster meat among sandwiches with 2 tbsp. sauce, a few slices of tomato and arrugula. Spread a couple of tbsp. Sauce on top of each sandwich and top with remaining cheese. Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes or until cheese is browned.

We are here in Newport for another week or so and now it is time to get the yacht ready for the trip over. We found a bunch of galley items we need such as ramekins etc. Our guests left today and did not have lunch, but here is what they would have had. The picture is of my roommate Celeste’s cat, Butternut. I am going to steal her when I get back on land cause she like me more!

Macadamia Crusted Lamb Chops with Coconut-Mint Sauce

Serves 4

2 racks Lamb, frenched

1 cup flour

3 eggs

2 cups Macadamia Nuts, chopped

1/2 cup canola oil
1 can coconut milk

1 Tbsp. Mint Jelly

1/4 cups mint leave, chopped

2 green onions, chopped

1/2 tsp. dried chilies

Cut lamb in to individual chops and dredge in flour, egg, macadamia nuts, set aside.

For sauce, add coconut milk, jelly, mint, dried chilies, and green onions to sauce pan and cook over medium high heat until reduced by half.

Fry lamb chops in oil to desired doneness and serve with sauce.

We are heading back to Newport tomorrow morning. We have some painting to do to the yacht before it crosses over to the Mediterranean. We cooked Greek Salad with grilled chicken and Whole Grain Pasta with Spicy Puttanesca sauce and local shellfish(lobster, mussels, clams). The guests weren’t too hungry for dinners so we just did some Asian appetizers. Included is my recipe for Chicken and Papaya Potstickers.

Chicken and Papaya Potstickers

1 Chicken Breast, cubed

1 green onion chopped

2 Tbsp. chopped cilantro

1 Garlic Clove

2 Tbsp. Water Chestnuts

1 Tbsp. Soy Sauce

2 Tbsp. Sweet Chili Sauce

2 Tbsp. Diced Papaya

12 Gyozo Wraps

Chop Chicken with other ingrdients (except papaya and potsticker skins) in food processor, mix in Papaya and put a teaspoon of filling on wrap and wet edges with water. Crimp edges together, repeat with rest of wraps. Steam potstickers for 5 minutes and then saute in a little oil in a nonstick pan until lightly browned on both sides. Serve with a dipping sauce of soy sauce with a little sweet chili sauce and wasabi added.

We traveled up from Fort Lauderdale and like most boat trips, we had some smooth going and some real rough seas. We had to go the inter coastal near New York, it was so cool to see the city up close again, I love the energy! Our guests arrived in Newport yesterday and it was fun to cook some great food again. For the starter we served a Warm Goat Cheese Salad. I was going to serve a fallen Polenta and Goat Cheese Souffle but didn’t like it as the star, so I wound up tearing it up and using in the salad, almost like soft croutons. For the main we served a choice of Lobster Thermidor, I love to do the old classics, and Prime Tenderloin Steak with herb and Parmesan Pommes Frites and Green Beans in a reduced sauce. For dessert we had Sticky Toffee Pudding. The meal was a success overall. Our new sous chef, Jenna is real good with plate design. I am finding out that it is going to be tough to figure out what recipe to add, so much good food is being cooked. Today we only cooked lunch- Lobster Croque Monsieur with gazpacho salad. It was a fun New England spin on a classic French Sandwich Paired with an unconventional Spanish Salad, but it all worked and was enjoyed by the guests. Oh yeah, Key Lime tart for dessert. Here is a recipe for the classic Lobster Thermidor, for some reason I think it would taste better with Frank Sinatra on the stereo.

Lobster Thermidor

Serves 4

2 2lb. Lobster, cooked
2 Tbsp. Butter

2 Tbsp. Flour

1 Tbsp. Brandy

1 cup milk

1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese

Take meat out of Lobster and set aside. Melt butter in small sauce pan and add flour, mix for a minute. Add brandy and cook for a minute, add milk and bring to a boil, simmer for a few minutes and whisk in the parmesan. Fold reserved Lobster meat in the sauce and put back in th lobster tails. Top with 1 Tbsp. Parmesan cheese per tail and bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes.

We have the yacht pretty much provisioned. I took my sous chef, Jenna with me on Friday to get a few more things and it was a good idea because she picked out some things at the Asian Store that I had not even heard of and can add to my repertoire. We leave Ft. Lauderdale first thing Tuesday morning and will arrive in Nantucket for the wine festival later in the week. It will be fun to cook some great food for the guests. I have no idea what I am going to cook, but I think it needs to involve some Lobster. I just bought one of those pressurized whip cream dispensers like they use at Starbucks and might play with that with a hot sauce or something?? Of course I will post the recipe once I figure it out. Here is the recipe for Sfeha (as the grocery owner wrote down) or Sfiha? Anyway, it’s certainly not authentic but tastes great!

Sfeha/Sfiha

I think ground lamb is traditional so feel free to substitute or add to the mixture.

Serves 4

4 small portions pizza dough

1 lb. ground beef

1 small onion, chopped

2 medium tomatoes, chopped

1 tablespoon garlic, minced

1 teaspoon allspice

1 teaspoon tahini

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

juice from 1/2 lemon

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 cup pine nuts

Directions:

Saute ingredients together over high heat until cooked through. Drain fat. Spread out pizza dough’s on lightly floured board and place on sheet pan. Place topping equally on dough and bake in 450 degree oven for 15 minutes or until dough is browned. I think I am going to top mine with some Greek yogurt and freshly chopped mint. Just don’t tell any of your Middle Eastern friends.

I forgot how much work it is getting food on the yacht. Today I was busy shopping for 8  solid hours! It is fun (especially when it isn’t your money), but a lot of work. Since we are going to spend a bunch of time in the Eastern Mediterranean, I spent a few hours at a Middle Eastern Grocery called Sahara. Really is fascinating to figure out the different ingredients and what to do with them. They have a small kitchen and the owner was having me sample different foods and Olives. There were these great homemade meat pastries called sfeha that I am going to try and master (I will post the recipe when I have it figured out). Next to the Asian store which of course is just as mysterious to most of us. Lots of sweet chili sauce and always lots of new ingredients I always like to play with. I bought a package of sweet and sour dried prunes which I used to eat when I was a kid and brought back memories. I am ready to do some brown rice sushi to keep it extra healthy. Two different yacht provisioners were there while I was there, undoubtedly marking up the price for their clients. On to Costco, then Whole Food Market where I got a bunch of bulk nuts and whole grains. Also got new producucts (agave nectar) and old (Acini de Pepe). Setting up the yacht for some real cool cooking. Now I just have to put the groceries away.

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