Recipe of the Month

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Tomato Water
To reserve the tomato water, puree ripe tomatoes and place the mixture in triple-ply cheesecloth. Hang the bundle or let rest in a chinois, with a bowl underneath to catch the liquid. Leave the puree to drain at room temperature overnight; the next morning, the captured liquid will be deeply flavored and aromatic.

Eggplant Spread
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon coriander
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
5 cloves roasted garlic
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
Salt to taste
Cut 5 eggplants in half. Score cut side into 1 1/2 inch diamond shapes. Season with salt where you have scored it. Let set for 30 minutes over a colander.
Poke holes with a fork into black side. Rub with olive oil on both sides. Roast or Broil at 400 degrees for 10 minutes. Scoop out insides and drain over a bowl in cheese cloth over night. Squeeze out any additional liquid. Put eggplant in a food processer and add.  Serve with toasted pita or lavash bread

Eggplant Pickle
eggplant
kosher salt
sherry vinegar
3 cloves of garlic
1/2 tbs red pepper flakes
2 red bell peppers
2 tbs honey
coriander
1 cup pinenuts
Peel eggplant and dice into 1/4 inch cubes
Sprinkle with salt and drain for an hour
Put into a clean towel and ring out any additional liquid
Put into a large pot and add 2 cups water to 1 cup vinegar and bring to a boil
Turn off and let cool in the liquid
Drain and squeeze out additional liquid
Place in a bowl with sliced garlic, pine nuts, 1/8 inch dice of red bell pepper, coriander, red pepper flakes, olive oil, 1/4 cup sherry vinegar, and 2 tablespoons of honey.  In the restaurant we serve this with spicy harissa honey and housemade mozzarell

Nage Chilled Strawberry Soup
1 pint Fifer’s Strawberries
3 cup Water
1/2 cup Sugar
1 Lemon, juiced
1 cup Champagne
1/2 sprig Rosemary, chopped
1 pinch salt
Bring all liquids to a simmer.  Add Strawberries.  Cook until they burst (app 3 minutes).  Transfer to a blender.  Puree.  Let stand uncovered for 1 hour.  Cover tightly and chill for three hours or overnight.  Serve as an appetizer or dessert.  If serving as a dessert try topping with your favorite Vanilla Ice Cream!

Nage Raw Asparagus & Crab Salad
1 bunch Fifer’s Asparagus
10 Fifer’s Radishes
1 bunch Green Onions
Tabasco Sauce, to taste
1/4 cup toasted Pine Nuts
1/2 lb Jumbo Lump Crab Meat
1 Lemon, zested and juiced
EVOO
Trim rough ends of Asparagus and discard.  Remove Asparagus tips.  Blanche tips in simmering water for 2 minutes.  Place in ice water and set aside.  Using a vegetable peeler, turn remaining stems into long strips.  Soak strips in salted ice water to remove bitterness.

Marinate Crab Meat in EVOO, Lemon Zest, Tabasco, Salt and the white portion of Green Onions sliced thinly.

Shake all water from the Asparagus strips and arrange on individual plates.  Divide Crab mixture evenly and top Asparagus strips.  Slice the radishes and green portion of onions very thinly and top crab.  Sprinkle with Asparagus tips and drizzle with Lemon juice and EVOO.

Chimay-Braised Mussels with Creamy Gorgonzola
2 oz bacon, raw, diced
1 clove garlic, shaved
16-20 large mussels
6 oz chimay, blue
2 T lemon juice, fresh squeezed
pinch coriander
pinch red chili flake
1.5 oz creamy gorgonzola
salt to taste
Render bacon until lightly browned.  Add garlic and caramelize.  Add mussels and toss on medium heat.  Add chili flake and coriander.  Deglaze with beer.  Add lemon juice, and mount gorgonzola into sauce.  Season to taste (if necessary).
 
Rhubarb Soda
1 c red wine vinegar (of good quality)
1 c sugar
2 cinnamon sticks
2 star anise, whole
4 cloves, whole
4 szechuan peppercorns, whole (black is fine, too)
zest of 1/2 orange, pith removed
2-3 stalks of fresh rhubarb
2 oz lime juice, fresh squeezed
1 pt club soda
Toast spices in 400 degree oven for 6 minutes.  Combine vinegar and sugar to make gastrique in small sauce pot.  Bring to boil.  Add toasted spices and orange zest.  Simmer for 10 minutes.  Clean and flake rhubarb, discard ends, place in 1 qt container.  With fine collander, strain gastrique into rhubarb container.  Reserve star anise.  Cover with plastic and let stand until room temperature (about 30 minutes).  Strain out rhubarb.  Reserve for garnish.
 
Combine 3 oz rhubarb gastrique, 1 oz lime juice and 8 oz of club soda.  Serve over ice.  Garnish with star anise, rhubarb and fresh orange wedge.

Brussel Sprout and Potato Gratin
1 pound Brussels sprouts, cleaned and trimmed
2 slices bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
4 large potatos--peeled and boiled til slightly tender
salt and ground black pepper to taste
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons butter, cut into tiny pieces
Preheat an oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease a baking dish.
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the Brussels sprouts and cook uncovered until tender, about 8 minutes. Drain in a colander, then immediately immerse in ice
water for several minutes until cold to stop the cooking process. Once the Brussels sprouts are cold, drain well, and cut in halves or quarters, depending on size. Set aside.
Meanwhile, place the bacon in a large, deep skillet, and cook over medium-high heat, turning occasionally, until limp and lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat and stir in the
Brussels sprouts. Season with salt and pepper then toss for about 1 minutes to evenly distribute the seasonings. Arrange a layer of potato, then bacon and Brussels sprouts on the
prepared baking dish. Pour cream evenly over the Brussels sprouts, then sprinkle breadcrumbs and Parmesan cheese on top. Distribute pieces of butter over the bread crumbs.
Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown and heated through, 20 to 25 minutes.

Spanish Ham with Olives and Oranges
Serves 4
2 oranges
1/4 cup imported green olives, such as Provencal, pitted
1/2 small shallot, sliced into very thin rounds
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
1 teaspoon sherry vinegar
1/4 teaspoon salt
Pinch of freshly ground black pepper
1 round loaf of country bread (about 1 pound and 10 inches in diameter)
8 very thin slices serrano ham (about 2 ounces)
1.Remove zest from a quarter of 1 orange, cut zest into very thin strips, and set aside.
2.Cut away peel and pith of oranges and separate segments, removing white membranes. Cut segments into 1/2-inch pieces, and place in a small bowl. Coarsely chop olives, and
add to oranges. Add shallot, olive oil, orange juice, vinegar, salt, and pepper; toss to combine.
3.Cut bread into four wedges. Split one wedge crosswise with your hands (set remaining bread aside for another use), separating the top and bottom crusts. Tear each half into four
chunks, and arrange on a serving plate. Place a slice of ham, folding or rolling it if necessary, on each piece of bread, and spoon about 1 tablespoon of the orange mixture on top.
Sprinkle with zest, and serve.

Stuffed Piquillo Peppers with Goat Cheese
Serves 4
16 ounces goat cheese, room temperature
4 scallions, thinly sliced
1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh mint
1/8 teaspoon red-pepper flakes, plus more for garnish
1 jar (7 ounces) piquillo peppers (about 15 peppers), drained, liquid reserved
2 lemons
Spring onions, for garnish (optional)
1.Place goat cheese, scallions, mint, red-pepper flakes, and reserved piquillo liquid in a bowl. Zest and then juice lemons into the bowl, straining seeds. Mix until well combined.
2.Using a small spoon, fill each pepper with about 2 tablespoons of the goat cheese mixture. Alternatively, pipe the mixture into the peppers. Place on a serving plate, and sprinkle
with red-pepper flakes; garnish with spring onions if desired. Serve immediately, or cover and refrigerate until ready to serve, about 1 hour.

Grilled Scallops Wrapped in Prosciutto
Serves 12
1 pound paper-thin slices prosciutto
2 pounds medium scallops (about 40)
Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
2 lemons, halved, plus wedges for garnish
Freshly ground pepper
1.Preheat grill to high. (If using a charcoal grill, coals are ready when you can hold your hand 5 inches above grill for 2 seconds.)
2.Halve 1 slice prosciutto lengthwise. Fold in half lengthwise, and wrap around sides of 1 scallop, overlapping prosciutto ends. Repeat with remaining prosciutto and scallops. Thread
several scallops on each skewer.
3.Drizzle scallops lightly with oil, squeeze lemons over skewers, and season with pepper. Grill scallops, turning once, until just opaque, about 3 minutes per side. Serve with lemon.

Gingerbread Cookies
Makes 36
2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for rolling
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/3 cup packed dark-brown sugar
1/3 cup unsulfured molasses
1 large egg
Decorating sugar or sprinkles (optional)
1.In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, spices, baking soda, and salt; set aside. With an electric mixer, beat butter and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in molasses and egg. With
mixer on low, add dry ingredients; mix just until a dough forms. Place dough on floured plastic wrap; pat into an 8-inch square. Wrap well; chill until firm, 1 to 2 hours.
2.Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Divide dough in half. Working with one half at a time (rewrap and refrigerate other half), place dough on floured parchment or waxed paper; roll out 1/8
inch thick, turning, lifting, and flouring dough (and rolling pin) as needed. Freeze dough (on paper) until firm, about 20 minutes.
3.Loosen dough from paper. Cut out shapes, and transfer to baking sheets. Decorate with sugar or sprinkles, as desired.
4.Bake until firm and edges just begin to darken, 10 to 18 minutes, depending on size. Cool completely on baking sheets.

Pumpkin Cayenne Soup with Crispy Maple Bacon
1 large yellow onion, sliced
2 cloves of garlic, sliced
1 Medium size pumpkin-cleaned and seeded-roughly diced, reserving the seeds
1 cup of Sherry wine
3.5 cups chicken stock (or vegetable stock)
1 teaspoons of cayenne
1 bunch of thyme, rinsed
2.5 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
2 cups heavy cream
1/4 c cider vinegar
2 tablespoons canola or grape seed oil
Special Equipment (important!):
Large soup pot
Fine strainer (conical strainer preferred)
Large blender (not immersion blender)
Ladel

In the hot oil, lightly brown the slices of garlic (quick, about one minute) being careful not to let them get too brown. Then add the sliced onions. Let the onion sweat for about 10 minutes. Put the diced pumkin in with the onions and garlic. Add 1 teaspoons put in the pot. Put the Sherry into the pot and cook for 5-10 minutes. Then add the chicken  stock, and the salt and pepper. Cook the pumpkin, immersed in the liquids, until the pumpkin is not so firm that it would smoosh up easily, but if a cake tester were easily inserted and removed. (If you are using an immersion blender, overcook the squash). Add the heavy cream
When the pumpkin is tender, ladel the soup into the blender (you will have to do this in at least two parts). Ladling the soup will allow you to check the consistency and to remove any excess liquids by leaving them in the pot. Blend until finely pureed. Pour the pureed soup into a conical, fine strainer – which contains the sage and the thyme at the bottom – pushing the soup through the strainer into a bowl, and muddling the herbs.  Drizzle with a little Vermont Maple Syrup and top with crispy bacon to serve

Ancho Chile Butternut Squash Soup

Butternut squash is the best and the easiest of the squashes, but this soup could substitute any squash (or pumpkin). When purchasing it, look for 1 large squash with a fatter neck. You will get more meat that way - and more bang for your buck. When preparing it, trim off the top and the bottom, then slice it in half where the bulbous part meets the long neck. Peel the squash halves with a knife, not a peeler (a peeler won’t get deep enough to the meat of the squash). Scoop out the seeds and the inner bulb like you would a pumpkin. Then dice.

1 large yellow onion, sliced
2 cloves of garlic, sliced
2 small (or 1 large) butternut squash(es), roughly diced, reserving the seeds
1 cup of Sherry wine
3.5 cups chicken stock (or vegetable stock)
2 dried ancho chiles, whole
1 bunch of thyme, rinsed
1 bunch of sage, rinsed
2.5 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
2 cups creme fraiche (or substitute heavy cream)
1/4 c cider vinegar
2 tablespoons canola or grape seed oil

Special Equipment (important!):
Large soup pot
Fine strainer (conical strainer preferred)
Large blender (not immersion blender)
Ladel

Heat grape seed oil in the bottom of a large soup pot on medium. On a gas grill, hold the ancho chiles, one at a time, over the flame for about one minute each. Then let them cool, split them open, and remove all of the seeds. If you do not have a gas grill, seed the ancho’s first, then open them to flatten and put in the hot oil for about 2 minutes, then remove them.

In the hot oil, lightly brown the slices of garlic (quick, about one minute) being careful not to let them get too brown. Then add the sliced onions. Let the onion sweat for about 10 minutes. Put the diced squash in with the onions and garlic. Finely chop the ancho chiles and put in the pot. Put the Sherry into the pot and cook for 5-10 minutes. Then add the chicken  stock, and the salt and pepper. Cook the squash, immersed in the liquids, until the squash is not so firm that it would smoosh up easily, but if a cake tester were easily inserted and removed. (If you are using an immersion blender, overcook the squash). Add the creme fraiche (or heavy cream).

When the squash is tender, ladel the soup into the blender (you will have to do this in at least two parts). Ladling the soup will allow you to check the consistency and to remove any excess liquids by leaving them in the pot. Blend until finely pureed. Pour the pureed soup into a conical, fine strainer – which contains the sage and the thyme at the bottom – pushing the soup through the strainer into a bowl, and muddling the herbs.

Return the soup to the pot, taste for any seasoning adjustments, and add 1/4 c cider vinegar (optional). Serve with caramelized squash seeds and cocoa oil.

Acorn Squash Caponata
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tbs chili flakes
2 onion, diced
2 tbs garlic minced
4 bay leaves
2 cinnamon sticks
2 cup tomato sauce
2 cup tomato, diced
8 acorn squash, peelel, cubed & fried
1 cup red wine vinegar
1 cup sugar
1 cup basil, chopped
1 cup celery
4 tbs tomato paste

In sauce pan heat oil over medium heat.  Add onion, garlic, tomatoes, capers, celery, chili flakes, cinnamon.  Cook several minutes.  Add sugar, red wine vinegar, tomato sauce and tomato paste.  Cook until it begins to thicken.  Add basil and acorn squash.  Cook until squash is tender.  Chill.