This recipe works with any type of fresh white fish. Tilapia and cod are flaky and a lit­tle hard to work with but much less expen­sive than firm fishes like hal­ibut and sea bass. The bright fla­vors of this dish com­pli­ment my recipe for Coconut Risotto with Fresh Peas perfectly!

Note: You will need a mini food proces­sor and a broiler in or under your oven to make this recipe.

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For a while now, I’ve been want­ing to make my own limon­cello, to see if I could make a more-flavorful, less expen­sive home­made ver­sion than store-bought brands. Limon­cello is an Ital­ian liquor made with grain alco­hol or 100 proof vodka infused with lemon zest and sweet­ened with a sugar syrup. It is best when served well chilled and can be an aper­i­tif or dessert liquor.

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This risotto can be a creamy, fla­vor­ful side to many fish and chicken dishes. Use reg­u­lar coconut milk as opposed to low-fat ver­sions because the fat will replace the parme­san found in most risotto recipes. Don’t worry, coconut milk is healthy for you in rea­son­able amounts!

Serves 4 as a side dish.

Ingre­di­ents

• 1 Tbsp sesame oil
• ½ white or yel­low onion, diced
• 1 Tbsp fresh gin­ger, peeled and minced fine
• 3 gar­lic cloves, minced
• 1 1/4 cups arbo­rio (risotto) rice
• 1 can coconut milk
• 1 cup white wine
• 2–3 cups chicken broth
• Sea­son To Taste with salt and pepper
• 1 lime, zested
• 1–2 limes. juiced
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
• 1 pound fresh sugar snap or snow peas, rinsed

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Many of my fam­ily and friends ask my advice on how to buy knives for their kitchen. The 3 most basic knives are the Chef’s or San­toku, Par­ing, and Bread knives. There are 6 impor­tant things to look for when buy­ing knives.

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I like black bean soup to have a smooth base, but with some whole beans and other veg­gies to give it tex­ture. I also like just a bit of kick to it, the amount of spice that can be quenched with a mar­garita, and not so much that you need to drink a glass of milk with din­ner! To make this recipe you will need a hand held immer­sion blender or a counter-top blender. Try this soup with some warm Coun­try Corn­bread, spread with butter.

Serves 4

Ingre­di­ents

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 8 ounces mild chorizo (The V&V Supremo “No Picante” vari­ety is eas­ily avail­able in most gro­cery stores)
• ½ white or yel­low onion, diced
• 4 gar­lic cloves, minced
• 1 jalapeno, minced (optional)
• 1 green pep­per, diced
• 2 large car­rots, diced
• 2 stalks cel­ery, chopped
• 2–3 cups chicken broth
• 2 Table­spoons tomato paste
• 3 cans black beans, thor­oughly rinsed
• 1/2 cup frozen corn
• Sea­son To Taste with salt, pep­per, dried oregano, cumin, corian­der, chili powder
• 1–2 limes. juiced
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, roughly chopped

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My hus­band, David, recently took a busi­ness trip to Europe. I’ve always dreamed of going to Europe and I haven’t had the chance yet. As con­so­la­tion, David promised to bring me back a truf­fle from France. He vis­ited fam­ily friends in Paris who have a sec­ond home in the coun­try. At the farm, they have a tree that fre­quently har­bors black truf­fles buried in the dirt under­neath. Con­tinue Reading…

This mango salsa is a yummy accom­pa­ni­ment to tor­tilla chips and could also be a condi­ment to fish, chicken or pork. Try it with the White Fish Pat­ties!

Makes 3 cups

Ingre­di­ents

• 1 red bell pep­per, diced small
• 3 Man­goes (ripe but still firm — see note) peeled and diced small
• 3–4 scal­lions, white and green parts sliced into coins
• 1/4 cup cilantro, roughly chopped
• 1–2 limes juiced
• sea­son to taste with salt, pep­per, chili powder
• add honey if needed to sweeten tart mangoes

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I have been dream­ing about caramel for a few months now and caramel apples just have not sat­is­fied the crav­ing. So the other day I made cin­na­mon caramel squares with smoked sea salt on top. I have made the recipe before many times before and most times they are per­fect but some­times… Con­tinue Reading…

The other day I was shop­ping at Whole Foods for my client and I passed by a shelf of honey. As I stared at a jar of golden honey with the comb, my mouth started water­ing. I had to remind myself that I already have at least 5 vari­eties of honey at home! So here (in no par­tic­u­lar order) are more of my biggest temp­ta­tions at the gro­cery store.

Cheese I am a sucker for cheese. It is really tough to pass by a fancy cheese counter with­out pick­ing up a wedge of creamy brie, blue, manchego, fresh mozzarella…I could go on and on. My cur­rent favorite is Delice de Bour­gogne, avail­able at Whole Foods, Pas­toral, and many other good cheese shops.

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Fish pat­ties can be made with any flaky white fish. I like tilapia because you can buy it in fil­lets with no skin or bones to remove and it is not very expen­sive. This recipe is very good served with the Roasted Corn Salad.

Serves 4

Ingre­di­ents

Fish Pat­ties:

• 3 cups fish poach­ing liq­uid (see Step 1)
• 1 lemon rind, reserve the juice
• 1 ½ pounds flaky white fish such as tilapia or sole, skin and bones removed
• 1 red bell pep­per, diced
• 4 scal­lions, white and green parts chopped
• 2 ounces capers, drained
• 3 eggs
• ¼ cup pars­ley, chopped
• 1 cup of bread crumbs (approximately)
• Sea­son To Taste with paprika, salt and pepper
• 1–2 cups veg­etable oil

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