White Pizza with Spinach & Garlic

Makes One 12 inch pizza

This is not your usual pizza. There's no red saucey stuff, there's three kinds of cheese and all kinds of flavor. And isn't flavor what it's all about?

Ingredients

• 1 ready made pizza crust
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic roughly chopped
• 2 - 3 ounces Feta cheese, crumbled
• 1 - 8 ounce bag of fresh spinach leaves
• 1 package sliced Provolone cheese
• 1 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese

Directions

1. Lightly rub or brush the crust with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil
2. Heat a pan on the stove and cook garlic in the olive oil about 30 seconds
3. Add the spinach to the garlic and stir until wilted - this won't take more than about a minute
4. Sprinkle Feta over the crust, it's ok if there's gaps
5. Spread the garlic and spinach over the Feta and top with slices of Provolone (it's still ok if there's gaps between the slices)
6. Top with the Mozzarella
7. Bake at 425 for about 15 minutes, or until the crust starts to brown and the cheese gets all melty

Cap'n Crunch Seared Tuna

Serves 4-6 as an appetizer

Beautifully seared tuna that's been coated in the crushed Captain. Sounds stupid doesn't it? Well there's just something about the sweet crunchy outside and the tangy little mix you make for it. Honestly, the only stupid thing would be NOT making it.

Ingredients

• 2 cups regular Cap'n Crunch (don't even think of using the peanut butter or crunch berry version)
• 1/4 cup Kewpie, Japanese mayonnaise, or
• 1/4 cup regular mayo & 1/2 tablespoon yellow mustard, combined
• 1 pound sushi grade tuna, in 2 rectangular blocks
• Neutral oil, like avocado oil is excellent
• Kosher salt & fresh ground pepper
• Sriracha
• Green onions, chopped fine

Directions

1. Crush the Cap'n in a Ziploc bag until fine (or in a processor) and put in a large bowl
2. If not using Japanese mayo, combine regular mayo and mustard - set aside
3. Lightly coat tune with oil, season with salt & pepper then press down into the Cap'n making sure it's covered well on all sides
4. Heat a non-stick pan really well then add ¼ cup of oil
5. When it just starts to smoke, add both blocks of the tuna and sear quickly on all sides until just golden (depending on hot your pan is, maybe 5-10 seconds a side) and remove to paper towels and slice onto 1/2 inch
6. I serve it by spreading the mayo mix on a plate, drizzle of Sriracha, topping that with the sliced tuna and sprinkling with green onions - just be sure to get some of everything in each bite

WATCH ME COOK THIS

Panko Crusted Scallops

Serves 4-6 as an appetizer

I often hear people whining about ruining scallops. Well I've never been able to ruin this one - it's basically 'fail safe.'

Ingredients

• 12 large sea scallops - the U10 guys are great here
• 1 1/2 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
• 1/2 tsp each kosher salt and fresh ground pepper
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/3 cup chili sauce (the American ketchupy kind - not the Asian hot chili kind)
• Juice of 1/2 lime

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450
2. Grease a baking sheet really well
3. Season the panko with the salt and pepper
4. Press scallops into the panko mixture one at a time so that all sides are covered with the crumbs and place on baking sheet
5. Make sure your oven is REALLY preheated - not on the way to 450...at 450
6. Bake for 10 minutes then carefully flip scallops with a thin spatula - be careful because they'll stick a little
7. Bake for another 10 minutes on second side
8. In a bowl mix the mayo with the chili sauce and lime juice
9. Serve the scallops with a little sauce drizzle over them or on the side for dipping

Ahi Tartare with Mango

Serves 6

Buy a good, sushi grade ahi for this - not some frozen chunk from a neighbor's fishing trip (that kind you'd use to grill). Just ask the dude behind the seafood counter.

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound sushi grade ahi, cut into small cubes
• 1/4 cup finely chopped green onions - white and light green
• 1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger - 'minced' means really finely chopped
• 1/2 ripe avocado, diced
• 1/2 teaspoon wasabi paste
• 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
• 2 - 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• Juice of 1/2 lime
• 1 small to medium sized ripe mango, diced

Directions

1. Mix soy well with sesame oil, lime juice & wasabi, set aside
2. combine remaining ingredients in a bowl and add soy mixture - mix well but don't mush
3. NOTE - the mango can either be mixed in with everything or served on top of the ahi
4. Serve with something crispy (like baked won tons)

Mashed Potato Tacos

Makes 4

You know those left-over mashed potatoes you don't know what to do with? Well here's the answer...

Ingredients

• 4 corn tortillas

• 2 tablespoons sour cream

• 1 cup leftover mashed potatoes

• Hot sauce - I like Cholula, about 4 teaspoons

• 1/3 cup green onions, chopped fine

• 4 handfuls of potato chips - preferably the extra crispy kettle kind

Directions

1. Heat the tortillas in a non-stick skillet until just beginning to get a little color in spots

2. Heat potatoes in a small pot of in the microwave

3. Spread some sour cream onto each tortilla

4. Add about 1/4 cup mashed potato to each tortilla

5. Drizzle with the hot sauce and then sprinkle with the green onions

6. Take a handful of the potato chips and crunch them over the top of each taco

7. Fold in half and eat

WATCH ME MAKE THIS, AND A BUNCH MORE

Dates with Blue Cheese and Bacon

As many as you want to make

The date is the sweet, the blue cheese is savory and the bacon is the salt - but the date is what brings this all together.

Ingredients

• Pitted dates
• Wedge of blue cheese, cut into chunks about 1/2 inch but rectangular so they fit into the date
• Ready Bacon
• Bamboo Skewers

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450
2. Snip open one side of the date with small kitchen shears
3. Stuff a cube of the cheese into a date and wrap the edges around it to cover the cheese
4. Wrap each date fairly snugly with a piece of ready bacon (trimming off the end if needed)
5. Skewer the bacon wrapped date, putting about 4 on each skewer
6. Place on a baking sheet and put in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes (until the bacon is brown and crispy and the cheese is melting)

Red Pepper and Blue Cheese Bruschetta

Makes 16 - 20 pieces

This is an awesome appetizer. A different take on the average bruschetta.

Ingredients

• One long thin sourdough baguette
• One - 12 ounce jar roasted red peppers, drained well
• Olive Oil
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• One - 4 ounce package blue cheese crumbles

Directions

1. Preheat oven to broil
2. Cut the heels off the bread and slice in half lengthwise, then into 4 even pieces
3. Put the 4 pieces on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and put under broiler so it begins to crisp, 3 to 4 minutes
4. Rough chop the peppers
5. Cover each piece of bread with the chopped peppers and sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper to taste
6. Cover evenly with blue cheese crumbles
7. Put back under the broiler to heat through and melt the cheese for about 5 minutes
8. Cut diagonally into 2 to 3 inch pieces and serve

Blue Cheese Stuffed Sliders

Makes 6 small sliders

These are awesome...on the grill, in a pan - just make 'em

Ingredients

• 1.5 lbs lean ground beef
• 2 teaspoons seasoning salt
• 2 ounces blue cheese crumbles
• 2 ounces cream cheese
• Olive oil
• Freshly ground pepper to taste
• Small buns, like those little Hawaiian rolls

Directions

1. Place the beef in a bowl and add the seasoning salt - mix well
2. Divide the mixture into 6 even sized balls, set aside
3. In a bowl mix cream cheese and blue cheese crumbles well
4. Make a big hole in each ball, and cram some of the cheese mix into each, seal back up
5. Preheat grill to medium high, rub each patty with a little olive oil and sprinkle with freshly ground pepper to taste
6. Grill on each side until done
7. Toast or grill buns and place one burger on each
8. Reheat any leftover blue/cream cheese mixture in the microwave and serve on the side to dip

Olive Foccacia Bread

Makes 10 - 12 pieces

Yes - it starts out as pre-made pizza dough but it is so good.

Ingredients

• 1 package pre-made pizza dough, uncooked
• Flour
• Olive oil
• 1/2 cup pitted Kalamata olives, roughly chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary or 1 Tablespoon fresh rosemary leaves, chopped
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, shredded
• Pinch of Kosher salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400
2. Flour your board and shape the dough into about a 1/2 inch rectangle (irregular is great - it doesn't have to be perfect)
3. Place the parchment paper over a baking sheet and put the dough onto the parchment
4. Drizzle the dough liberally with olive oil
5. Scatter the olives over the top and sprinkle -first with the rosemary, then with the parmesan cheese and finally the pinch of salt
6. Bake for about 20 minutes until the dough is cooked through but not too browned

Honey Soy Marinated Lamb Chops

Makes 6 appetizer servings

The honey makes this marinade into a kind of glaze once it's grilled.  They are really good!

Ingredients

• 1 "Frenched" rack of lamb, rinsed and patted dry
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup honey
• 2 large (or 3 small) garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped fine

Directions

1. Cut the rack of lamb into individual lamb chops
2. Mix the soy with the honey, garlic and cayenne
3. Marinate the lamb chops (if you only have 10 minutes - cool or if you have more time...that's better)
4. Preheat grill to medium hot
5. Grill the chops for about 4 minutes on one side and flip over
6. Continue cooking the second side for about 3 more minutes
7. Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve

Bourbon Baked Brie

Makes one brie wheel

From our dear friend, neighbor (and grandmother to our dog Haley) Peg.

Ingredients

• One 13 ounce wheel of brie
• About 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons butter, cut into small-ish pieces
• 1 tablespoon bourbon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Place unwrapped wheel of brie in an oven safe baking dish - something nice enough you can serve it in
3. Top brie with pecans, then brown sugar, then butter and finally drizzle with bourbon
4. Bake about 20 minutes
5. Remove and serve with crackers

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Fish Stick Tacos

Makes 10

No laughing - I have not lost my mind and these are really good.

Ingredients

• 20 fish sticks, yes those little frozen-in-the-bag kind
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/3 cup green salsa
• 10 corn tortillas
• 1/2 cup green cabbage, shredded
• 1 lime, cut into wedges

Directions

1. Bake sticks according to package directions
2. Mix sour cream and salsa, set aside
3. Warm tortillas until they get a tiny bit brown
4. Take a tortilla, add sauce, cabbage, 2 fish sticks and finally a squeeze of lime

Mixed Mushroom and Blue Cheese Pizza

Makes one 12 inch pizza

Make it and slice it into thin pieces for an appetizer. It's so good...

Ingredients

• 1 large red onion, sliced thin
• 2 teaspoons butter
• 16 ounces mixed mushrooms, sliced - white, shitake, cremini, oyster - mix it up
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• One 12" pizza crust
• 1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
• 1/3 cup walnut pieces

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425
2. In a medium pan cook onions in a little buttter until really softened
3. At the same time cook mushrooms in a non-stick pan until softened
4. Stir brown sugar into onions, mix well
5. Put onion & mushrooms on crust, and top with blue cheese and then walnuts
6. Bake 12-15 minutes

Grilled Lamb Kebabs

Makes 6

Grilled ground lamb with a totally simple but fantastic and simple mint yogurt sauce - so so good.

Ingredients

• 1 cup plain yogurt, greek style if possible
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
• Zest of 1 lime
• 1 pound ground lamb
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 6 wooden skewers
• Kosher salt & pepper
• 1 large tomato, diced
• 1/2 red onion, diced
• olive oil
• 6 pitas

Directions

1. Combine yogurt, mint and lime zest - set aside
2. Heat grill to medium high
3. Season lamb with salt pepper, and mix in cumin - then mold into hot dog shape around the top half of the skewers (or you could do meatballs)
4. Brush lightly with oil, and grill until cooked through
5. As they cook, combine tomatoes and onion - set aside
6. When lamb is done, remove from grill but put on pitas to warm
7. To serve, spread some yogurt sauce on a pita, add a lamb kebab and some of the tomato-onion mixture

Chili Cornbread & Honey Butter

Serves 8

'Just add water' cornbread mix and plain ol' chili powder make a great and simple combo. And the honey butter...well that just speaks for itself.

Ingredients

• 1 package cornbread mix
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 tablespoon honey

Directions

1. Mix cornbread according to package instructions
2. Stir in chili powder, pour into pan and bake
3. While it cooks, stir honey into butter and set aside
4. I shouldn't have to describe what to do next, should I?

Asian Grilled Shrimp

Makes 10

That's kind of a lousy name for this recipe. What I mean are shrimp that are grilled and have an Asian flavor. Not shrimp that are grilled by an Asian...oh well.

Ingredients

• 10 wooden skewers
• 1 pound large shrimp, shell on and de-veined, like under 10's would be great
• 1 cup Asian salad dressing - something with sesame, ginger etc would be ideal
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Directions

1. Put sticks in casserole dish and cover with water - let soak about 30 minutes
2. Put dressing and pepper flakes in a bowl - mix well
3. Add shrimp, stir to coat well and let sit about 20 minutes
4. Heat grill
5. Skewer shrimp with sticks up through the tail so the shrimp stays straight
6. Grill 2-3 minutes a side until done

Blue Cheese Bacon Mushrooms

Makes about 12

These you can easily make the day before - just don't cook until you're going to eat them. And let them come to room temperature first.

Ingredients

• 8 ounces baby Portobello mushrooms
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 4 ounces soft Blue Cheese
• 1 ounce 'ready' bacon, chopped fine
• 2 tablespoons parsley, chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

Directions

1. Preheat broiler
2. Remove stems from mushrooms, put caps on a baking sheet
3. Chop stems fine and cook with olive oil in a non-stick pan until softened
4. Add bacon and continue to cook until bacon just starts to get crispy
5. Put mushrooms and bacon in a bowl and add cheese, parsley and pepper - mix well
6. Put mixture into mushroom caps and broil about 10 minutes or until beginning to get brown and bubblyBroil for about 5 minutes until melted and brown

Blue Cheese Shrimp Toasts

Makes 20 pieces

Warm...shrimpy...and blue cheesey. Damn.

Ingredients

• 3 cups cooked small shrimp
• 3 tablespoons crumbled blue cheese
• 1 bunch green onion (white & light green parts only) chopped fine
• 1/4 cup mayo
• 1 tablespoon cholula - or your favorite hot sauce
• 20 sour dough bread slices (cocktail size, about 3.5 inches square) lightly toasted
• Five slices deli muenster cheese, each slice cut into quarters

Directions

1. Turn broiler to high
2. Combine shrimp, blue cheese, green onion, mayo & cholula in a bowl - mix well to combine
3. Top each bread slice with some of the shrimp mix, and then one quarter of a cheese slice
4. Broil until lightly golden and cheese begins to melt

Grilled Mashed Potato & Bacon Pizza

Makes one pizza

An amazingly stupid sounding, but fantastic combo. I like using the raw dough you can buy - but it works well with a store-bought crust like a Boboli (see #10 in directions if you do).

Ingredients

• 1 ball pizza dough, or
• 1 large clove garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups cooked mashed potatoes
• 2 ounces Ready Bacon, diced and cooked until crispy
• 1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Directions

1. Lightly oil a baking sheet and spread out dough until it's about 1/4 to 1/3 inch thick - it doesn't need to be a perfect circle (in fact it rarely is)
2. Warm potatoes in a small pot on stove
3. Combine garlic & oil in a small bowl and set aside
4. Heat grill to medium
5. Lightly brush top of dough with oil and put oiled side down on the grill
6. Once bottom of dough has good grill marks - 5 to 7 minutes, lower heat and flip dough over
7. Brush top with garlic oil, then spread with the mashed potatoes, bacon and then sprinkle with the cheese
8. Close grill lid and let cook until cheese melts, about 3 or 4 more minutes
9. Remove, slice and eat - but that was obvious, right?
10. For a store bought ready crust, brush the top with garlic oil, then add the potatoes, bacon and cheese and bake in a 425 oven about 12 minutes

Hoisin Chicken Lettuce Cups!

Makes about 6-8 lettuce cups

Think Asian chicken tacos served in lettuce cups.

1/4 cup Hoisin Sauce

1 tablespoon Asian chili sauce, like Sambal

2 teaspoons soy sauce

1/2 teaspoon sesame oil

Neutral oil

1/4 cup finely diced white or yellow onion

1/4 cup diced red pepper

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut in very small pieces

2 large garlic cloves, chopped fine

1/2 tablespoon fresh ginger, peeled and chopped fine

1 head butter lettuce, separated into individual 'leaf cups'

Chopped peanuts & chopped green onions for garnish

• Combine hoisin, chili sauce, soy & sesame oil - mix well and set aside

• Heat wok or pan until almost smoking, add about a tablespoon of the oil , then the onion and red pepper - cook about a minute

• Add the chicken and stir fry until just about cooked through - about 3 minutes, then add ginger & garlic - cook another minute or 2 until chicken is done

• Add the hoisin combo and stir through well to coat

• Serve chicken in the leaf cups and garnish with peanut & green onion