Pasta Shells with Broccoli and Anchovies

A quick pasta dish that is really easy to put together. You can knock this one out in about 15 minutes and if you don't tell anyone that it has anchovies, they won't even notice it.... The sauce is just olive oil and a little butter...

2 large heads of broccoli
2 cloves of garlic (chopped)
4 anchovy fillets
1 jalapeno (seeded) finely diced
2-3 ozs of butter
1 lb of dried pasta shells
handful of grated parmesan

Trim the broccoli into florets and chop the stems into match sticks. In a saute pan, add a little olive oil and the butter. When the oil is shimmering saute the garlic, japapeno and broccoli stems. Cover with a lid and cook slowly for 8-10 minutes while you cook the pasta in salted boiling water. Add the broccoli florets to the water when the pasta is about 4-5 minutes from being done. This will leave the broccoli soft enough to eat and will maintain the color and texture.

Drain the pasta reserving some of the pasta liquid. Add pasta back to the pan that it was cooked in, season with salt and fresh ground pepper to taste and add the rest of the butter and a handful of the paremsan cheese. Add the sauted stems, garlic, anchovies and chilis and then finish with some good olive oil and you're done. Quick and easy....

Rosemary and Olive Oil Cake

(w/meyer lemon jus)

It's tough not to love rosemary. We have three big rosemary bushes on our side yard that we are trying to turn into a hedge. The kids love being sent out with a pair of scissors to go cut off 3-4 tender rosemary sprigs for dinner. We love rosemary with pork, chicken, fish.... just about anything. I saw a picture of a rosemary and olive oil cake and had to try it. Chessa thought that a lemon sauce would go well with it and she was dead on. We had a couple of meyer lemons laying around and she whipped up this great little sugary jus. The sour/sweet was perfect with the cake. The kids actually thought that this was a tasty little dessert. Who would have known?

Ingredients
4 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves
1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Preheat the oven to 325 F. Spray a 10-inch loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.

Using the whip attachment, beat the eggs in a mixer for 30 seconds. Add the sugar and continue to beat until the mixture is very foamy and pale in color. With the mixer running, slowly drizzle in the olive oil. Using a spatula, gently fold the rosemary into the batter.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes.

The cake is done when it is golden brown, springs back when touched, and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool briefly in the pan, then tip out onto a cake rack to continue cooling.

Smoked Salmon with Shallots, Capers and Fresh Chives

One of the FEW good things about having church at 12:30 pm on Sundays (I would prefer a 6:30 am start on Sunday to be done by 9:30.... but I can't get anyone else to agree with me on that) is that we have time in the morning to make a good breakfast. The kids were up way too early and ended up making their own breakfast. Chessa doesn't like smoked salmon or capers so I had to eat this one by myself.

A couple ounces of smoked salmon, a tablespoon of capers, one hard boiled egg (white and yolks finely chopped separately), a couple of tablespoons of shallots, some chopped fresh chives and a little freshly ground black pepper and you're done. Went nicely with a toasted bagel. My boys were wishing they had not eaten breakfast so early.... (they all got a couple of bites, so I think that I need to make more of this next time.

Heirloom Tomatoes with Baby Field Greens, Shaved Parmesan and Balsamic Glaze

The Temecula Farmers Market always has great produce. The boys and I went last Saturday after a morning swim workout to get flowers for Chessa. I couldn't resist getting these two huge heirloom tomatoes. One was a rainbow heirloom and the other was a persimmon heirloom. Nothing beats a really fresh ripe tomato right off the vine.

We had the missionaries and Chessa's parents over for dinner last Sunday and started with this simple salad. Just slice the tomatoes into 1/3" slices, drizzle with a little good olive oil, a sprinkling of sea salt, top with a slice of mozzarella and a small handful of field greens. Shave some parmesan, drizzle with a little more olive oil and sea salt and you're done... We added a few dots of balsamic glaze that added a little more sweetness to the salad.

It's all about the fresh tomatoes.

Tomato Aspic with Buffalo Mozzarela Basil and Toasted Coriander Seeds

A different take on the caprese salad. Juice is extracted from very ripe tomatoes and is seasoned with vegetable stock, chilies, basil and a little sea salt. The juice is then mixed with powdered gelatin and allowed to sit overnight to set. When ready to serve, cut the Aspic (tomato gelatin) into 2"x2" squares, place on top of a fresh basil leaf and top with a equally sized piece of the freshest buffalo mozzarella that you can find. Toast some coriander seeds, lightly crush in a mortar and pestle and sprinkle over the top. Drizzle with some peppery olive oil, a nice sprinkling of sea salt and you're done. The kids will probably NOT like this one, but I thought that the textures were interesting. They did kind of look cool on a plate, but don't let sit too long or the aspic will start to melt on you.

Petite Lemon Cheese Cake

I love cheese cake... All kinds of cheese cake. The light and airy ones to the heavy dense ones. I don't complain. We love doing these petite ones for our dinner parties. They are the perfect size and are small enough that you can justify having a dessert tasting menu with 2-3 different types of mini desserts. Chessa makes some awesome bruleed mini cheese cakes. You'll have to try them.

This one is a lemon cheese cake made with the zest of three lemons. I love meyer lemons the best, but if they are not in season, any smoothed skinned lemon will do. We have two mini-cheese cake pans so we can knock out 24 of these babies at one time. If you don't have a mini cheese cake pan, a regular spring form pan will do just fine.

Ingredients:

Cheesecake
1 pound regular cream cheese
3 meyer lemons, washed and dried
1/3 cup heavy cream
2/3 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour

Crust
1 cup graham cracker crumbs (7 or 8 whole crackers)
1 tablespoon sugar
Pinch of salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Pull the cream cheese out of the refrigerator to soften. It will be about the right temperature by the time it's needed.

Remove the zest from the lemons with a zester and put the zest in a small saucepan. Add the cream to the zest and heat just until the cream starts to bubble. Watch the pan carefully, since cream goes from bubbling to overflowing in a split second. Remove the pan from the heat,cover it, and let the zest steep for about an hour. In the meantime, prepare the cheesecake's crust.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.

Stir together the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and salt. Stir in the butter until the mixture is uniformly moistened. With the bottom of a small glass, press the crumbs into the bottom of each well of the mini cheese cake pan. Bake the crust for 4 to 8 minutes, until it is barely browned at the edges. Let it cool.

When the zest/cream mixture has steeped for about an hour pre-heat your oven to 500 degrees F.

Using a kitchenaid with a paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese at low speed until smooth. Add the sugar and continue beating until smooth, scraping down the bowl regularly.

Increase the speed to medium-high and add the eggs one at a time. Then beat in the flour. Finally, strain the lemon zest cream and add the cream, beating until the mixture is smooth and uniform.

Pour the batter into each of the prepared crusts. Place the pan on a baking sheet to catch any leaks, and bake the cheesecake for 8-10 minutes. Lower the temperature to 200 degrees F and bake the cheesecake for another 10 to 15 minutes, until it is light brown on top, cracked, and just barely set in the center. (check the timing at it varies with a larger cake)

Cool the cheesecake on a rack and let "age" overnight to allow the flavor to develop.

You can serve this with fresh berries or powdered sugar, or top it with a fruit glaze. I like eating them right out of the pan (that's why we always make 24).... They are the perfect 2-3 bite dessert. You'll love them.

The Perfect Scrambled Eggs with Fresh Chives

The Perfect Scrambled Eggs with Fresh Chives

Sorry for not posting in a while. June was a crazy month for me. Started a new job, took the scouts backpacking in the Sequoias for a week, swam the Alcatraz sharkfest and ran with my wife and friends in the Pendleton MudRun... It was all very fun, but busy. July should be a bit more restful...

I love scrambled eggs, but I can't stand dry rubbery ones that have no flavor. This is my favorite way to make eggs on a Saturday morning after a nice long swim. We have some great herbs growing in our garden and the kids love being sent out to "harvest" whatever herb has been requested. Chives are perfect with scrambled eggs adding a nice peppery/oniony flavor. If you like eggs, you'll love these.

3 fresh eggs
1 small bunch of fresh chives finely chopped
2 table spoons of butter
sea salt
Toasted wheat bread

The trick to great eggs is the heat of the pan and constant stirring. Treat the eggs like a risotto and you'll end up with creamy eggs that are really flavorful. I start by whisking the eggs in a bowl with a fork until you can't see any of the egg whites. Place a plan over medium heat and add one table spoon of butter. Add the eggs and turn the pan down to medium low (more towards the low side). With a rubber spatula keep stirring until you see curds form. Once they form keep moving the eggs until they get to the consistency you like. If the eggs are cooking too fast, just take the pan off the heat for a few seconds and then return (keep stirring)... Once the eggs are to done to the consistency that you want (about 2-3 minutes), remove the pan from the heat, add one more table spoon of butter, the fresh chopped chives and the sea salt to taste. Fold those remaining ingredients into the eggs and serve immediately with wheat toast. (You can add grated cheese if you really want to go over the top). But try making them this way the next time you are in the mood for a great simple breakfast. Your kids will love them this way.