Three Cheese Ravioli with Eggplant and Cherry Tomato Sauce

I'm always looking for ways to work eggplant into my dishes. I was at the store and there were these beautiful large eggplants and they were just .99 cents each, which is a great deal, so I bought a couple. In this dish I diced up the eggplant and sautéed with some yellow onion, garlic and cherry tomato's. As the cherry tomato's cook and break down they create  a wonderful sauce for the ravioli's. 

 

Ingredients:

Butoni three cheese ravioli

1 eggplant, peeled and diced

1/2 diced yellow onion

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 cup cherry tomato's slice in half

2 tablespoons olive oil

Mozzarella cheese, shredded

Basil for garnish

 

Preparation:

Cook the ravioli's according to the package directions, drain in cold water and set a side while you make the sauce.

 

Start with preparing the eggplant for the sauce. Peel the eggplant and cut into 1/2" x 1/2" cubes. Heat a 10" sauté pan to medium high heat, add a tablespoon avocado oil and the diced eggplant. Add some salt and pepper to the eggplant and cook stirring frequently for 7 - 8 minutes. 

 

Next, add the garlic, onion tomato's and a tablespoon of olive oil and cook for another 7 - 8 minutes and your done. Check the flavor for salt and pepper and add if  necessary.

 

To finish the dish, add the raviolis to the sauce and heat. Place 4 - 5 ravioli's on a serving plate and top with the eggplant and cherry tomato sauce. Garnish with grated cheese and chopped Italian parsley. 

Grilled Skirt Steak with Grilled Tomato and Chopped Salad

I really like this type of low carb meal; a tasty grilled skirt steak, grilled tomato and chopped salad.

Ingredients:
1 skirt steak
1 large beef steak tomato
1 head iceberg lettuce
Green onion
Cilantro
Shredded jack and cheddar cheese
salad dressing

Preparation:

To make the salad, start by taking the head of iceberg lettuce and cut in half. Take you largest chefs knife and slice each half of the lettuce as thin as you can which will give you a pile of shredded lettuce. Dress the salad with some Italian dressing and top with diced green onions, chopped cilantro and shredded Monterey jack cheese.

 

Heat your BBQ grill to medium high. I like to take my skirt steak and cut in half. The reason is

because one end is wider and thicker than the other, so I'll toss the bigger piece first and then the smaller so they finish at the same time.

 

Take the skirt steak and brush on some olive oil and then grind on some salt and pepper. Cook the skirt steak about 3 minutes per side for a nice medium rare.

 

To make the grilled tomato, slice off the top and bottom of the tomato and then cut in half. You will end up with 2 or 3 pieces about 3/4" thick. Brush with olive oil, add some salt and pepper and grill 2 - 3 minute per side. 

 

Jerk Chicken

We have a spice shop in the Old Mill called Savory Spice Shop. This is a franchise and there are locations in many cities. One thing they're great at is making spice mixes. I think I probably have 10 or 12 different ones. The Jamaican Jerk Seasoning is awesome. You can really taste combination of the allspice, thyme, nutmeg and the heat from the scotch bonnet pepper.

 

Ingredients:

Chicken breasts

Savory Spice Jamaican Jerk Seasoning:

Toasted onion

Salt

Allspice

Garlic

Sugar

Mediterranean thyme

Chives

Black pepper

Nutmeg

Saigon cinnamon

Sage

Scotch bonnet chilies.

 

Preparation:

Liberally coat the chicken breasts with the jerk seasoning and place into a large Ziploc bag and let marinate in the refrigerator all day or over night.

 

Grill the chicken breasts over high heat for about 5 minutes per side. Once cooked remove from the grill and cover with aluminum foil for 5 to 7 minutes and you're ready to serve.

Mexican Rice

This is just one of my favorite dishes and it's really easy to make. What I like about the way I prepare the dish is that it's not loaded up with fat, in fact there isn't any. The key is to get the right kind of salsa, I prefer Embasa Salsa Mexicana. You'll find this is the Mexican section in the grocery store. Pair this with my black beans and some grilled chicken and you're having a great meal.

Ingredients:
1 cup white rice
1 1/2 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
1 6oz can of Salsa Mexicana

Preparation:

For this recipe I use my trusted rice cooker. Add all the ingredients tot he rice cooker and press go and 15 minute later you've got great Mexican rice.

Here's my Black Beans recipe:
Black Beans

Asian Chopped Salad

Here is another great product I tried and it's worth posting on the blog because it's so good. This is Asian Chopped Salad by Taylor Farms. They also make a couple other salad kits; Southwest Chopped Salad, Kale Chopped Salad and Italian Chopped salad. I'm definitely going to try each one. Give this a try some day, you won't be disappointed!

 

Ingredients:  

1 package Taylor Farms Asian Chopped salad

 

Preparation:

Add the salad mix to a large salad bowl. Mix in the dressing and you're ready to plate.

 

Korean Braised Beef and Pappardelle Noodles

Every once in a while I'll see an interesting product on the grocery shelf and buy it knowing I'll get around to making something out of it some day. Safeway Select makes a couple different simmer sauces. I thought the Korean simmer sauce looked really good and it was actually amazing.

Ingredients:
1 pound beef stew meat
1 jar Safeway select Korean Simmer Sauce
Pappardelle noodles
1 diced green onion
Sesame seeds

Preparation:

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Heat a 10" square sided oven proof sauté pan medium to high. Cut the meat into large cubes. Add some olive oil to the sauté pan and then the meat. Brown the meat on all sides, add the Korean simmer sauce, cover and place in the oven for 1- 1/2 hours.

 

After an hour and a half, the meat should be fork tender, if not cook for another 15 minutes and you're ready to serve.

 

I know it's hard to plan ahead, but if you can make this dish the day before and let sit in the refrigerator overnight it's worth it because meat soaks up all the flavor from the sauce. 

 

Cook the pasta according to the directions which is usually about 10 minutes in a large stock pot of rapidly boiling salted water. Drain the noodles and toss in some olive oil, cover and set a side until you're ready to plate the dish.

 

To serve, place some of the sauce on the plate, add some Pappardelle noodles and top with the meat. Garnish with diced green onions and sesame seeds.

Tuscan Flat Iron Steak Sliders

I love flat iron steak, but wanted to try something different than the way I usually prepare the steak, which is sliced and served with horseradish and sour cream mixture.

 

I call this a Tuscan flat iron slider because of the way I prepare the French baguette. I slice in half and lightly toast the bread, let it cool and then rub the inside with raw garlic. This takes the slider to a whole new level...   

Ingredients:

1 Flat Iron steak

Rustic baguette or French baguette

2 garlic cloves, whole

Best Food Mayonnaise

Salt and pepper 

Preparation: 

Rub a little olive oil on the steak and liberally coat both sides with salt and pepper. Grill the flat iron steak over hot grill about 5 minutes each side to 120 degrees, perfect medium rare. Remove from the grill to the cutting board and loosely cover with tin foil and let rest 5 - 7 minutes and slice thin.

 

To make the sliders, take the French baguette and slice in half. Lightly toast the bread until it's just starting to turn brown. Let the bread cool and then rub the inside with a raw garlic.

Spread on some Best Foods mayonnaise on the bottom piece of bread and add the sliced flat iron steak. Grind a little salt and pepper on the steak.  Take the top of bread and add some mayonnaise and you're done. 

Chipotle Honey Marinated Grilled Chicken Breast with Tapatio Sour Cream

This is actually a pre-packaged product I bought at Costco. The chicken breasts' come already marinated in tear off bags of 2 pieces each. The flavor is perfect, not too hot because chipotle can be very hot. I serve this with white rice and a dipping sauce of sour cream with some Tapatio hot sauce mixed in.

 

Ingredients:

1 package honey chipotle marinated chicken breast

l/2 cup sour cream

1 teaspoon Tapatio hot sauce

1 tablespoon dice red bell pepper

Cilantro for garnish

 

Preparation:

I like to wash off the marinade and dry the chicken breasts. The flavor is already in the chicken and the moisture from the marinade will just make the chicken stick to the grill. When you have a dry piece of meat coated with a little olive oil, it doesn't stick to the grill and you get nice grill marks on the meat.

 

Heat the barbeque to high. Spray a little olive oil on the chicken breasts and add some salt and pepper and cook for 5 minutes on each side. When done, let the chicken breasts rest covered in foil for 7-8 minutes.

To serve, mix the sour cream with some Tapatio hot sauce and place in a small bowl on the plate. Garnish with diced red bell pepper and cilantro.


Serve with my recipe for Mexican Rice: Recipe coming soon!

Smokey Mac and Cheese

I was at a country music festival and one of the food vendors that specialized in smoked tri-tip sandwiches served smokey mac and cheese as a side dish and I was blown away. I made this kind of as an experiment and everyone loved it. The key to this dish is liquid smoke. This is a new favorite for sure.

 

Ingredients:

1 lb. elbow pasta
3 cups shredded mild cheddar cheese
2 cups 1% milk
2 teaspoons Stubbs liquid smoke
3 tablespoons corn starch
Salt and pepper

Preparation: Take a large stock pot and fill with water. Add 1 tablespoon salt and bring to boil. Cook the pasta according to directions which is usually 10 minutes.

To make the cheese sauce, take a 4 cup glass measuring cup and add 2 cups milk, 3 tablespoons corn starch and mix well with a whisk. Put in the microwave oven for up to 6 minutes, stirring every minute. When the milk heats up the corn starch will thicken the milk into a creamy sauce. Add the cheese and liquid smoke to the milk to finish the cheese sauce. 

When the pasta is done, drain and put into a large mixing bowl and stir in the cheese sauce. Transfer to an oven proof baking dish or individuals 1 cup ramekins like pictured above.

Bake at 350 degrees until golden brown and you're ready to serve.

Try my barbequed cedar plank chicken thighs to go with the smokey mac:
Cedar Plank Barbequed Chicken