Chicken Lime Tortilla Soup

One of my absolutely favorite soups and I finally got the bug to make it. So good, I have come up with another reason not to go out and eat but rather to stay inside and cook! So satisfying I can't stop eating it.

- Corn
- Black beans
- Diced tomatoes
- Chicken stock
- Fire roasted onions, garlic and jalapeños
- Cumin, salt & pepper
- Tortilla crisps
- Avocado
- Jack cheese
- Chicken
- Crema

Happy Breakfast - Straight from the skillet

- Kalamata Olive, Mushroom and Onion Focaccia bread
- Fried Eggs
- Bulgarian Feta Cheese
- Basil
- Cherry Tomatoes
- Shallots

Heating up tomatoes and shallots in a skillet provides a nice warmth to an already perfect vegetable.

Shallots do not always need to be cooked, their sweet taste is in my opinion an elegant flavor to the often harsh reality of standard onions that we normally use. Though shallots have a majority of the same characteristics and are a perfect substitute I think they deserve more credit as a better raw food option.

Cherry Tomatoes (nature's candy) can never go wrong. I recommend heating them up till they just start to burst at the seams. This will guarantee a properly heated tomato through the center.

Bulgarian Feta Cheese I believe has a stronger taste over Greek Feta. In most all cases that I am looking to use feta cheese I am interested in really showing that flavor and making sure that it does not get over come by the accompanying flavors in the meal.

Basil, must I really say anything more? Besides being a great companion to multiple dishes stalks of Basil leaves also bring great attributes to floral bouquets.

 

Vegetarian Tacos

Vegetarian Tacos!!

Layered in order from bottom to top.

- Flour Tortilla
- Garlic Hummus Spread
- Cottage Cheese
- Avocado
- Sauteed Potato, Red Bell Pepper, Onion & Garlic
- Black beans
- Tofu
- Cotija Cheese


Amazing, full filling and definitely holds its own weight with other tacos I have had.

Magic Pomegranates

"You can spend a whole life getting these little jewels out of the pomegranate and it would not be a wasted life"

Drunk Chicken

Somewhere ... Lurking  beneath the Sake, Cilantro, Lemon Grass, Ginger, Lemon Juice, Shallots and Garlic ... was a chicken!!!

That tasted sooo good!

Next level of Baked

Baked Chicken just got even better.

Similar idea as the previous post, where I layered the Kale then vegetables (same seasoning), except this time I changed three things that provided drastic results.

First the chicken I seasoned differently which was great and before then I pre-soaked it for a bit in lime juice.

Second is the addition of the tomatoes on top. Once baked, the juices from the tomatoes just add an incredible level of flavor to all components in the dish.

Three is the change of Cilantro to Fresh Basil on top with the tomatoes. Again this adds a great component, both in smell and flavor to the rest of the food that simply cannot be denied.

Baked

As the summer leaves and the fall & winter come the spirit of baking seems to fill my head with all sorts of ideas.

This idea came from a couple different things, mainly the idea of layering like lasagna for some reason, stuck with me.

On the bottom I did a layer of Kale followed by a combination of Carrots, Sweet Potato, Russet Potato, Red Onion and Garlic.
The vegetables I seasoned with Spice blend called Za'atar. It consists of Sumac, Toasted Sesame Seeds, Salt, Cumin, Thyme, Oregano and Marjoram.

The chicken was also coated in the same seasoning. On top to garnish I used some Cilantro to, in my opinion provide a light flavor on top.

Tuna Casserole, Improved!!

I know i've posted this before, but this time I have been hit by lightning!

That moment when you take something your parents have been making your whole life and you make it better!

Items I removed: 
- Cream of mushroom soup
- Milk

Items I added:
- Water
- Black Truffle Italian Sea Salt
- Herbs in Duxelles Seasoning (combination of the following powdered items Porcini, Shitake and Bolete mushrooms, shallots, lemon peel, chervil, parsley, tarragon, and chives)

The results were a lighter dish that proved to have a huge flavor punch that lingered for hours in your mouth. I watched a documentary on food and they brought up a good point. We take these amazing ingredients and season them with so many things to the point that sometimes we loose the purpose of those amazing ingredients. They stated, and I totally agree, why not season a tomato dish with Tomato powder? enhance the flavor with that of it's own? This is something that has really grabbed my attention and I am definitely going to be testing this out more.

Port Wine

Portugal ... When it comes to Porto wine, they mean business.

A very impressive collection of old vintages that have been stored. Another amazing Gem to add to the treasure trove we all collect on our travels.

Traveling Lasagna

A Lasagna Garfield would be proud of!

Completely put together an environment out of my own, and still turned out!

Doesn't matter where you go in the world, cooking will always bring back that comfortable ease of home.

Portugese Pasteis de Belem

Pasteis de Belem!

What an amazing pastry, made from egg! I have to send out many thanks to Margarida Garcia, for introducing me to such an incredible delicate pastry, packed with such good taste that you could understand after one bite, that you should stop at TWO!

Throughout Portugal they are known as Pasteis de Belem, however in the small area of Belem they are simply known as Pasteis and there are great restaurants dedicated to the continuous creation of these delightful pastries.

Portugese Ginja

Ginja in Lisbon, Portugal!!!!

After dinner drinks!! Digestivos!! What ever you want to call em, you simply cannot deny em!

Ginja, a Portugese after dinner drinks made from Tart Cherries and served traditionally in a small Espresso sized Chocolate cup!

One of the better after dinner drinks I have tried. Not thick at all, very easy to go down and has a great flavor.

Catalan Crostini

Catalan inspired!!

Very simple and easy yet so good.

Basic crostini/ toast, rubbed with garlic and layered with a very shortly pan fried eggplant then finished in the oven. To finish thin slices of Pecorino Cheese on top!

Spanish Stuffed Bell Peppers

Stuffed Bell Peppers are never disappointing!

- Ground Beef pan simmered in a light tomato and carrot sauce.
- Sautéed mushrooms
- Beef stock flavored rice
- Pecorino Cheese
- Avocado closure

Bell Peppers as I have stated in the past can add a great flavor when included in sauces. This particular instance I used Red & Green bell peppers. The Red Bell Pepper adds incredible flavor with sweet notes while the Green Bell Pepper leans more towards the earthy stock texture.

One Bell Pepper is always enough for a person.

Smoked Salmon Salad

- Red Leaf Lettuce
- Cold Smoked Salmon
- Cherry Tomatoes
- Red Pepper Marinated Mozzarella
- Cesar Dressing

Such an amazing, easy salad. The nice smoky flavor of the salmon really brings a great body to the salad. I prefer the cold smoked salmon over the hot smoked salmon because it is smoked longer and in my opinion has a richer flavor to it. I think smoking salmon is so popular because because the Salmon is such a fatty fish that it can maintain a nice moisture to the meat after going through the smoking process.

Salmon

So simple and easy, yet delicate and light.

This particular fillet was cooked with Dill, Lemon, Salt and Olive Oil.

I chose the olive oil because Salmon's flavor and depth can be complimented by real nice Olive Oil's. This particular one is a nice Olive Oil that is cold pressed out in Sonoma by the Olive Press.

The Dill has a light herb taste that rather then over powering, offers a light taste to the fish.

Adding lemon helps bring out the flavor in a lot of foods and in this case is always a good ingredient, "classic" to a lot of people, when it comes to fish.

Pumpkin breakfast omelette

Another nice breakfast!

A typical fried egg with some lightly sauteed mushrooms and onions. There is also some steamed spinach and broccoli all on top of a type of lavash bread with a pumpkin filling!

Dog Food

DOG FOOD!!!!!


I have finally started diving into dog food and experimenting with my Dog Charlie! I noticed that he was getting tired of the same food all the time and I cannot purchase different dog foods for him fast enough. So as a solution I decided to start mixing certain foods in with his regular dog food to keep his taste buds on their toes!

This particular dish was a regular beef kibble with Sweet potato, regular Russet potato, Carrot and some Egg!

Lemon Chicken Sandwhich

Ciabatta bread with some Spicy Dijon Mustard and tomato. The Arugula was added as my favorite green to add a good balance bitter.

The Chicken was pan fried with a Lemon Herb spice and topped off with sauteed mushrooms.

Italian Style Roast

Such a good turn out! Basic Shoulder roast, first rubbed with salt & pepper and then olive oil. Afterwards pan fried just to get the outside browned. Then rub down with Fresh Parsley, Oregano and Diced stewed tomatoes. Once finished roast in the oven till preferred level of temperature.
The final product I also added roasted sweet and russet potatoes to balance out the roast.