Tag: Refined Chef

Frisee Salad with Pickled Watermelon Radish

Full of fall flavors, be sure to make this salad at your next dinner party.

Old New York and Homemade Sourdough Bread

Disregard the fact there are 3 grocery stores within half a mile of my apartment.

Throw out the knowledge there are 2 bakeries, countless bodegas and Seamless ready to handle all my restaurant delivery needs.

Let’s take it back to ’79 (1879) when people were making their own food at home.

Challenge accepted.

Pork and Spinach Salad with Fresh Blueberries and Grilled Pineapple

The pineapple is one of those perfect ingredients (alongside avocados and mangos.)  So why mess with perfection?  I would say it is more about taking a different approach to something you are familiar with than a detraction.  The heat concentrates and enhances the natural sweetness of the fruit and the caramelization on the outside is just delicious.

I originally put this together for my paleo friends.  Aside from that, I wanted to play around with temperature and texture.  The raw and cooked ingredients play well off each other.  This is also a really simple salad and you can put it together in about 20 minutes.

Ponzu and Hot Italian Pepper Marinated New York Strip

It’s Summer so there are only two things you need to concern yourself with; some type of fire powered grilling device and ingredients to sear over aforementioned fire.  If you live in New York, there are actually designated areas you can bbq in the city.  You can also make due with a broiler in your oven or grill pan.

The Ponzu in this marinade has a salty-citrus flavor that pairs well with the heat from the Italian peppers.

Ostrich Meets Bacon Burger

Not to be outdone by Bareburger (which I really like by the way and highly recommend) and all their burger choices: beef, elk, wild boar, duck, quinoa and more, I put together my own at home Ostrich burger.

There is a local vendor at the green markets around New York who only sells Ostrich so finding the ingredients wasn’t too difficult.  Next up was thick cut bacon, which also isn’t a problem (if possible get the one from the meat counter where they cut it for you and not from the package.)

Reap the Rewards: Harlem Grown Garden Salad Two Ways

Every week the plants in my garden seem to grow 30% bigger.  This city guy is learning a lot about plant care (and that my garden neighbors are probably going out of their way to help me out – I really shouldn’t have this much success….)

The first of the crop that I can actually use are my herbs (cilantro and parsley) Butter Lettuce and some Red Russian Kale.  Again, my neighbors reminded me to start harvesting the lettuce leaves from the outside so new growth can come in.

Wilted Kale Salad with Poached Duck Egg

I think cauliflower might have replaced kale as the new ‘it’ vegetable (Nashville for example has all the cauliflower dishes you could ever hope for.)   But don’t worry, kale had it’s time in the sun and in case you aren’t ready to make the switch I put together a kale salad for you below.

The kale in this dish is lightly cooked so it retains a little bite and is complimented with the slightly sweet shallots.  You can pick up some duck eggs at the Union Square farmers market.  They have a rich yolk which is the perfect compliment to the salad and brings the whole dish together.

Warm Weather Meals: Mahi Mahi Lettuce Wrap

No surprises here but New Yorker’s talk about food a lot…..like a lot a lot.  Where to get the best sandwich, why we are refusing to eat carbs, where there is a new gelato spot that imports their milk from real Italian Tuscan cows.  The Tuscan cow thing peaked your interest, right?

I was eating a banh mi sandwich and wanted to do a version that used all the flavors of the fresh veggies and cilantro.   I decided to use Mahi-Mahi and in place of the baguette picked out some butter lettuce leaves.  The result is a dish that would be perfect for a NYC rooftop bbq (if that is permitted) or get your cast iron skillet.

Venison Medallions with Cocoa Powder and Smoked Paprika Rub

Not only is New York a food town, but given its location within the tri state area, you can source a lot of fresh ingredients from the Hudson Valley, Connecticut and New Jersey.  My friend provided some Central Jersey venison and I got to have some fun with a few ingredients that had been sitting in my spice cabinet.

I had purchased Tcho cocoa powder and it was just asking to finally be opened.  I also had smoked paprika from Sullivan Street tea and spice company in the Greenwich Village. Rounding out the ingredient list was a Laguna Salt Company Black Truffle Salt.  I got out a little bowl and added about a tablespoon of cocoa powder, dash of smoked paprika and pinch of truffle salt (exact measurements, obviously.)

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