OYSTER STEW

ngredients

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 2 shallots, minced
• 1/2 cup dry sherry or dry white wine
• 24 freshly shucked oysters, oyster liquor reserved
• 1 1/2 cups whole milk

• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• sea salt to taste
• 1 pinch sweet paprika
• 1 cup oyster crackers

Directions

1. Stir butter and garlic in stockpot over medium heat until butter begins to brown. Remove garlic and discard.
2. Stir shallots into browned butter. Cook and stir until translucent, 5 to 7 minutes.
3. Pour sherry over shallots in the stockpot and bring to a boil while scraping any browned bits off of the bottom of the pot. Simmer until liquid is reduced by half, 3 to 5 minutes.
4. Pour reserved oyster liquor, milk, and cream into the stockpot; bring mixture to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low and stir in oysters; cook until oyster edges begin to ruffle, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat.
5. Stir in parsley; season with sea salt to taste. Ladle into bowls and garnish with sweet paprika and oyster crackers.

OYSTER PATTIES

Oyster Patties
Serves 24

Ingredients
¾ pound bacon, chopped
2 cups finely chopped yellow onion
¼ cup minced garlic
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 quart fresh oysters, drained (reserve oyster liquor)
2 cups heavy whipping cream
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
¼ cup minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
¼ cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon kosher salt
24 (3-inch round) frozen puff pastry shells, cooked according to package directions, pastry tops reserved*
Garnish: chopped green onion
Instructions
In a 12-inch skillet, add bacon, and heat over medium heat, stirring often, until crisp; let drain on paper towels. Transfer drippings to a heatproof measuring cup.*
In the same skillet, add 1/2 cup bacon drippings, and heat over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic, and cook, stirring often, until onion is lightly browned. Add flour, and cook, whisking constantly, until roux is tan. Whisk in 2 cups oyster liquor,* cream, bay leaves, sage, and thyme. Bring to a boil over high heat, whisking constantly and scraping the bottom and sides of the skillet.
Add oysters, bacon, parsley, cheese, and peppers. Turn off heat, and stir until edges of oysters curl. Remove from heat; remove bay leaves, and season to taste with salt.
Fill shells with oyster mixture, and add pastry top; garnish with green onion, if desired. Serve warm.
Notes
*We used Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry Shells. If bacon drippings do not yield 1/2 cup, add melted butter. If oyster liquor does not yield 2 cups, add chicken broth.

LOBSTER NEWBERG

Lobster Newburg

Serves 4

8 puff pastry vol-au-vents pastry shells
4 tbsp flour

1 tbsp paprika

1/2 tsp curry powder

1/8 tsp grated nutmeg

pinch of cayenne

7 tbsp unsalted butter

1 shallot, minced

2 cups cream

2 tbsp tomato paste

1/4 cup brandy

1/4 cup sherry

2 lobster tails, shelled and chopped into bite-size pieces

1 bunch of chives; half chopped and half left whole

Combine the flour, paprika, curry powder, nutmeg, cayenne and salt to taste, in a small bowl and set aside. Melt 4 tbsp of butter in a large saucepan over low heat and add the minced shallot. Cook 3 minutes until it begins to brown. Add the flour mixture and stir well until well mixed with the butter. Then add the sherry ad brandy and whisk until smooth. Meanwhile, in small saucepan, bring the cream and tomato paste to a low simmer over medium heat, being careful not to let it come to a boil. Add the hot cream mixture to the flour gradually slowly, whisking constantly until the mixture is creamy and thick. Remove from the heat, cover and set aside.

Bake pastry shells according to manufacturer's instructions and set aside.

In a sauté pan, melt the remaining 3 tbsp of butter over medium heat and when it starts to bubble, add the lobster and 1 tbsp of chopped chives. Cook until the lobster are just cooked through, then add enough Newburg sauce to cover, and simmer 2 minutes. If sauce is too thick, add some more cream and adjust seasoning.

Serve the Lobster Newburg over the vol-au-vents pastry shells and garnish with chopped and whole chives.

CARNE ASADA

Carne Asada

This summer we will be making this recipe…A LOT.

Carne asada is a wonderfully marinated flank steak that is grilled. Slice it on the bias and serve in warm flour tortillas with just sour cream, diced raw onions and cilantro. This is a meal that everyone in my family will eat. I have a bunch of picky eaters in my family too! The meat is marinated over 8 hours and so full of flavor. Show up to a picnic with this in your arsenal and you will be the talk of the party!

Here is your Ingredient List:

• 2 Pound Snake River Farms Flank Steak
• 1/4 c. Worcestershire Sauce
• 1/3 c. Vinegar
• 1/2 c. Soy Sauce
• 1/2 c. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 Teaspoon Cumin
• 1 Teaspoon Garlic Powder
• 1 Teaspoon Paprika
• 1 Teaspoon Oregano
• 1 Teaspoon Chili Powder
• 2 Tablespoons Chopped Cilantro
• 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
• 1/2 Teaspoon Pepper
• 2 Tablespoons Lime Juice (fresh if you have it)
• 4 or 5 Cloves Garlic

Pro tip: when using garlic in a recipe grate it on a microplane (or rasp) grater.

The garlic comes out in a fine paste on the back side and can easily be scraped into a recipe.

For easy marinating I like to pour all my ingredients into a zip top bag.

To keep the bag stabilized I use a 2 quart pitcher and place the gallon sized bag on the inside with the top of the zip top bag folded over the top edge.

Place the flank steak in the zip top bag with all the marinating ingredients inside.

Press as much of the air out of the bag as possible so the marinade has full contact with the meat. Store in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours. One time I rushed it and only marinated it for 4 hours and it wasn’t as yummy as it could have been. Over night marinating is preferable.

Grill to your desired doneness.  My family prefers 8 minutes on the first side and 6 minutes on the second side. This gives us a medium to medium-well done ness.

Slice against the grain in strips of 1/4″.

Serve with sour cream, diced onion and cilantro leaves. Add salsa or guacamole if you like but I don’t think this recipe needs it. This recipe is so full of flavor you won’t miss the salsa or guac.

The ONLY Carne Asada Recipe You Will Want To Make This Summer

CARIBBEAN STEW

Cook time: 20 Min  Prep time: 1 Hr 30 Min  Serves: 8-10 or more!

Ingredients

2 lb pork shoulder or thick pork steak

3 can(s) coconut milk--careful not to get cream of coconut, it doesn't work nearly as well.

1 large box fresh mushrooms

5 medium tomatoes, diced

4-6 medium zucchini-green and yellow, if don't have access to them, butternut or acorn squash, oven cooked, then diced

2 large red bell peppers

2 large orange bell peppers

1 large green bell pepper

4 medium mangos, diced

3 can(s) pineapple chunks

1--3 medium anaheim peppers

1/3 c brown sugar, firmly packed

3 tsp sage, rubbed

1 1/2 Tbsp fresh ginger, minced

2-6 clove fresh garlic, minced

dash(es) salt and pepper to taste

1 Tbsp olive oil

3 can(s) canned mandarin oranges

1 large red onion chopped

1 bunch fresh basil to taste

Directions

1. Cut the pork into 1 inch squares. In a large pot, braise pork in the olive oil, along with chopped red onion. Brown pork. Dice tomatoes, squash, and mangos, add to pork. Add pineapple chunks, mushrooms, garlic, and mandarin oranges. For a thicker stew, drain, but keep, the juice from the pineapple chunks and mandarin oranges. Add bell pepper last so they will remain crisp.

2. Using plastic sterile gloves (the kind you can get at your drugstore) slice open the anaheim pepper(s), remove seeds, and mince into very tiny pieces. I like this recipe with only 1 or 2 peppers, but you may like it hotter. IMPORTANT: while wearing the gloves, do not touch your mouth, nose, or eyes.

3. Add brown sugar, slowly to taste until right amount of sweetness desired is achieved.

4. Add coconut milk and simmer for 20 minutes.

5. Add sage, fresh chopped basil, and salt and pepper to taste. Trying after each addition to ensure no over or under spicing occurs.

6. You can add 1 teasp nutmeg for a different taste. You can make this into a stir fry, I haven't tried it yet. I will put this together and have you a recipe for the stir fry within a few days. You can also use chicken with/instead of pork, or go meatless. You can also use 1-2 pounds of precooked, deveined shrimp, but add them last so the don't shrink.

BABY BUNDT FLANS

Individual Impossible Spicy Mexican Hot Chocolate Flan-Cakes or Chocoflan

Adapted from Season 6 of Mexico–One Plate at a Time (cake) and Marcella Valladolid (flan part)

Serves 10, in individual Bundt pans

INGREDIENTS

For the pans

A little softened butter (or cooking spray) and some flour

1 cup store-bought or homemade cajeta (goat milk caramel) – though I used a traditional caramel syrup

For the cake:

3 ½ ounces (7 tablespoons) butter, slightly softened

¾ cup sugar

1 egg, at room temperature

1 tablespoon espresso powder dissolved in 1 tablespoon hot water

Or 2 tablespoons espresso

½ cup all-purpose flour

¾ cup cake flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

¼ cup cocoa powder (I like the more commonly available—not Dutch process—cocoa best here)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon cayenne pepper (or ¼, if you cannot take the heat)

¾ cup buttermilk, at room temperature

For the flan

1 12-ounce can evaporated milk

1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk

4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

3 eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, preferably Mexican vanilla

DIRECTIONS

Prepare the mold. Turn on the oven to 375 degrees and position the rack in the middle. Generously butter (NB:  I used cooking spray oil) the bottom and sides of  10 one cup individual bundt cake pans, sprinkle with flour, tip the pans, tapping on the side of the counter several times, to evenly distribute the flour over the bottom and sides,then shake out the excess.

Microwave the cajeta for 30 seconds to soften it, then pour over the bottom of the pan, tilting the pan to coat the bottom evenly. Set a kettle of water over medium-low heat. Set out a deep pan that’s larger than your cake pan (a roasting pan works well) that can serve as a water bath during baking.

Make the cake batter. With an electric mixer (use the flat beater, if yours has a choice), beat the butter and sugar at medium-high speed until light in color and texture. Scrape the bowl. Beat in the egg and espresso.

Sift together the all-purpose and cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cayenne, and cocoa. With the mixer on medium-low, beat in about ½ of the flour mixture, followed by ½ of the buttermilk. Repeat. Scrape the bowl, then raise the speed to medium-high and beat for 1 minute.

Make the flan mixture. In a blender (I used a food processor), combine the two milks, the eggs, cream cheese, and the vanilla. Blend until smooth, for about a minute or two.

Layer and bake. Evenly scrape the cake batter into the prepared cake pans and spread level. Slowly, pour the flan mixture over the cake batter. (I used an ice-cream scoop, to make it even).

Pull out the oven rack, set the cake pans into the large pan, then set both pans on the rack.

Pour hot water around the cake to a depth of 1 inch. Carefully slide the pans into the oven, and bake about 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out dry. Remove from the water bath and cool to room temperature, about 1 hour.

Serving.

Carefully run a thin-bladed knife around the edge of the cake/flan to free the edges. Invert a wire cooling rack (larger than the individual bundt cake moulds) over the cake pan, grasp them tightly together, then flip the two over. Gently jiggle the pan back and forth several times to insure that the cake/flan has dropped, then remove the pan.

Scrape any remaining cajeta from the mold onto the cake.

SCALLOPED ZUCCHINI

Scalloped Zucchini 

• 1/2 sweet onion sliced

• 4 zucchini or summer squash

• 2 cloves garlic minced

• 3 tablespoons butter divided

• 1 tablespoon flour

• 1 cup half & half cream

• 1 cup monterey jack cheese shredded

• 1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese grated, divided

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• Fresh cracked pepper

Instructions

1 Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

2 Melt 2 tablespoons butter in an oven proof skillet. Add onions and cook for 2 minutes until translucent. Add zucchini and garlic and cook for about 6 minutes, stirring occasionally, until almost tender. Season with salt and pepper and remove from pan onto a plate (or a 9x9 casserole dish if your pan isn't oven safe).

3 Melt remaining 1 tablespoon butter in pan over medium heat and mix in the flour. Cook for 30 seconds and then add in the cream a little at a time while stirring. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 2 minutes while stirring or until it begins to thicken. Add Monterey cheese and 1/4 cup Parmesan a little at a time, continually stirring until melted and smooth. Turn off heat and mix in salt.

4 Add the veggies back, mixing until evenly coated (or pour sauce over veggies in the 9x9 pan). Sprinkle top with remaining Parmesan cheese and sprinkle with black pepper. Bake for 15 minutes or until it starts to brown on top. Let cool 10 minutes and then serve