Chocolate Tart

This is my family's favorite tart by far. It is a class out of Joy of Cooking and I take no credit for it, it is just a great, classic recipe. I serve it cold and top it with whipped cream. Sometimes I even get out a star tip and decorate it with the whipped cream. If you have two tart pans, I recommend making two because this is a favorite of any chocolate lovers. You can also use my recipe for pate sucre, but the shortbread crust is much easier and I think it adds something to this recipe.

Chocolate Tart

Servings: 1-9.5"-10" tart (serves 8-12 people)

Prep Time: 20 mins
Cook Time: 40 mins
Total Time: 1 hour

Ingredients for shortbread dough
1.25 cups AP flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp lemon zest (optional)
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 large egg yolk

Directions for shortbread
Combine the flour, sugar, lemon zest and salt in a food processor. Add the butter. Pulse until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add 1 large egg yolk. Mix until the dough just comes together into a ball. If the dough is too soft, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 mins or up to 2 days. Press the dough into one 9.5"-10" 2-piece tart pan or eight 3.5" tartlet pans. Prick the bottom and sides with a fork. Optionally, cover and refrigerate for 30 mins (I never do this, but the recipe says to). Cook at 400F until it is a deep golden brown, about 18-22 minutes. Let cool before filling

Ingredients for filling

1 cup heavy cream

8 oz bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

1 large egg, lightly beaten

Directions for the filling
Preheat oven to 375F. In a small sauce pan, bring 1 cup of heavy cream to a simmer. Remove from heat and add chocolate. Whisk until the chocolate is melted, then whisk in the egg (already lightly beaten). Pour into shortbread crust and bake until the center only slightly quivers when the pan is tapped, about 15-20 minutes. Let cool to room temperature and then I refrigerate it before serving. Top with whipped cream before serving.

Mediterranean Chicken

The key to this recipe is the brine. This was some of the most juicy and flavorful chicken I have had in a long time. I have to give some well-deserved credit to my dad who did an awesome job grilling it. I put the same rub on some lamb (which I did not brine) and it was great as well. It went really well with the grilled veggies, sauces and pita that I made for this mediterranean feast. Any type of chicken will work with this, bone-in or boneless, skin or no skin, light meat or dark meat. You can use this recipe and change the herbs/spices in the rub to make chicken to complement any type of cuisine you want.

Mediterranean Chicken

Servings: 4-6

Active Time: 30 mins
Inactive Time: 1.5-2 hrs
Total Time: 2-2.3 hrs

Ingredients
4 chicken breast or 4 chicken leg quarters or 8 chicken thighs
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup kosher salt
4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 T lemon zest
1/4-1/2 cup olive oil
1 T thyme
1 T rosemary
1 T basil
1 T oregano
1 T pepper

Instructions
In a large, gallon-sized ziplock bag, combine sugar and salt with cool water (this is called a brine). Fill the bag with about a quart of water to dissolve the salt and sugar. Add the chicken and press out as much air as possible before sealing. Refrigerate for about 1.5 hours, turning the bag halfway through.
Remove chicken from brine and pat dry with paper towels. To make the rub, mix together the remaining ingredients (garlic through pepper). This can also be done in a food processor or blender if you want all of the spices really broken down (I did not do this step). If your chicken has skin then spread it under the skin otherwise just rub it on the chicken. If you let the chicken sit for another 30 minutes or so it will have a absorbed a lot of flavor from the marinade/rub, but either way it will taste great.
When ready to cook, heat grill on medium high heat. Place the chicken on the grill and once it is seared on both sides turn the heat down to medium-low and cook until done (this will depend on the cut of chicken used).

Pita Bread

This is my first attempt at pita bread and it came out pretty well. It tasted great with the mediterranean feast I made for my family and some of the pitas even had pockets. I did them on the grill since it was so hot inside and I didn't want to turn on the oven. I got this recipe from Food Network.

Pita Bread

Servings: 16 pitas

Active Prep Time: 1 hr
Inactive Prep Time: 2.5-3.5 hrs
Total Time: 3.5-4.5 hrs

Ingredients
1 tsp dry yeast
2.5 cups of warm water (~105F)
6 cups AP or bread flour, divided
1 T salt
1-2 T olive oil

Directions
Sprinkle yeast over warm water in a large bowl. Stir to dissolve. Add 3 cups of flour one at a time, lightly stirring in between. Stir for about 1 minute in the same direction to activate the gluten. Let the sponge rest for 1-2 hours.
Sprinkle salt over the sponge and add the olive oil. Mix well. Add the remaining flour one cup at a time until the dough is too stiff to stir and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead for 8-10 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic. Place dough in a lightly oiled, large bowl and cover with plastic. Place in a warm place and let rise for about 1.5 hours. Gently punch down. At this point the dough can be stored (covered in a large bowl) in the fridge for up to 5 days. Cut off pieces as needed. Dough should be at room temperature before cooking.
When ready to bake, preheat your oven or grill to 450F. If using an oven a baking stone or baking sheet should be placed in the oven when you turn it on. Divide dough into portion sizes, one recipe should make 16 pitas. Roll out each piece into a circle of 8-9 inches in a little bit of flour. If rolling all the dough out before baking place the pitas on a floured surface and cover (do not stack).
Bake or grill the pita for 3-4 minutes or until the bread has a nice pocket or is golden brown, whichever happens first. When cooked, remove and let cool for about 5 minutes on a rack. Then wrap in a large kitchen towel to keep the bread soft.

Garlic Scape Pesto

Have you ever heard of or seen a garlic scape?? I hadn't either, but for a few weeks in the spring the farmer's market has them. From what I understand, they are the part of the garlic plant that grows above the ground and they remove them so that energy is not taken away from the growing bulb of garlic under the ground. I hear that you can cook them like green beans, but I decided to make a pesto out of them. It was a pretty spicy pesto, but great when paired with cheese and bread. I had harvarti and goat cheese which I melted on some baguette and topped with the pesto. It was amazing how the different cheese made the bruschettas so different.

Garlic Scape Pesto

Yield: 3 cups

Time: 20 mins

Ingredients
1lb of garlic scapes (about 1.5 cups pureed)
2/3 cup walnuts
2/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
8 basil leaves
salt and pepper, to taste
olive oil

Directions
Remove the little bulb on the top of the garlic scapes. Place them in a food processor and pulse until chopped. Add the walnuts, cheese and basil. Blend as much as possible then start streaming in the olive oil. Add just as much oil as necessary to achieve the consistency you want. Season with salt and pepper. Serve on pasta, as a spread on sandwiches or on a crostini.

Blackberry-Rhubarb Tart

This is an extremely easy tart (once you have the crust) that is perfect for spring. It is fairly tart but a hidden layer of chocolate in it gives it a wonderful sweetness.

Blackberry-Rhubarb Tart

Servings: 8-12

Prep Time: 5 mins
Cook Time: 10 mins
Total Time: 15 mins

Ingredients
1 blind baked tart shell
2 packages of blackberries
8 stalks of rhubarb
1/4 cup sugar
2-4 oz of dark chocolate

Directions
Cut the rhubarb into small pieces and half one package of blackberries. In a sauce pan, place the rhubarb and cut blackberries over medium heat. Do not add water or anything yet, just stir frequently and they fruit will break down and make it's own sauce. Once the fruit is broken down add the sugar. Cook until it is a jam-like consistency and there are no hard pieces of rhubarb left. Cool.
Melt the chocolate in a double-boiler. When the tart shell is cool, brush it with the melted chocolate. Place in the fridge or freezer until the chocolate is hard and pour the cooled fill in the shell. Top with the other package of blackberries and serve!

Chicken Mole

Who says Mexican food has to be unhealthy? I served this chicken mole over corn and peppers and some greens (kale, chard, spinach). I got the spice for the mole from a local spice shop called Savory Spice Shop. Lucky for all the people outside of Colorado, you can order their stuff online (here). I had some left over sauce that I froze. I think this would make a great BBQ sauce too.

Chicken Mole

Servings: 4-6

Prep Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: 45 mins
Total Time: 1 hour

Ingredients
4 boneless, skinless breast or 4 leg/thigh quarters (skinless but with bone) or a combo
3 medium tomatillos
1/2 poblano pepper
1 cup chicken stock, divided
2 T golden rasins
1/2 medium onion, diced
~1/4 cup agave
4 oz Savory's Mexican Mole
oil

Directions
Heat up your broiler. Place tomatillos and poblano pepper under the broiler. Make sure to turn them while they are browning. While those brown, heat oil in a pan and add the onions. Saute until browned then set aside for now. When the tomatillos and pepper are blistered remove from broiler and place tomatillos in a food processor. Place the pepper in a plastic bag for 5 minutes then remove the skin and seeds and place half of the pepper in the food processor too. Add 1/2 cup of stock, rasins, half of the onions and the spice mix in the food processor too. Pulse until smooth. Add the agave as needed because the spice mix is pretty spicy and somewhat bitter. Keep in mind that when paired with the chicken the sauce will not be as intense as when you taste it right out of the food processor.
In the same pan where the onions were cooked, brown the chicken on both sides, but do not cook through. Set the chicken aside and add the mole sauce from the food processor into the pan. Cook for about 5 minutes. Add the chicken back to the pan with the remaining chicken stock and the other half of the onions. Cover and cook on medium-low heat for about 30 minutes, or until the chicken is done. Shred the chicken and top with as much sauce as desired.

Corn and Peppers

This is a great summer side dish when fresh, sweet corn is in season. I prefer not to cook sweet corn and bell peppers too much so I only quickly saute them. This is a great side to any BBQ or Mexican.

Corn and Peppers

Servings: 4

Prep Time: 10 mins
Cook Time: 15 mins
Total Time: 25 mins

Ingredients
1 clove garlic, minced
2 ears of sweet corn or 1.5 cups of frozen corn
1/2 red bell pepper
1/2 poblano pepper
1/4 tsp cumin
salt and pepper, to taste
oil

Directions
Place the poblano under the broiler until the skin begins to blister. Turn the pepper so that all sides are blistered. Place in a plastic bag and let sit for about 5 minutes. Remove from bag and peel off the skin. Dice the pepper.
Remove the kernels from the cob or defrost the frozen corn, whichever you are using. Dice the red bell pepper.
Heat a medium skillet and coat with oil. When it is hot add the garlic and cook until just starting to brown, no more than 5 minutes. Add the cumin, corn, poblano, red pepper and some salt and pepper. Sautee for about 3 minutes.

Red Snapper En Papillote (In Paper)

I have always wanted to try making fish in parchment paper, so while I was home my mom and I decided to try this. This is a great dish to serve to company because you can make the individual portions easily and everyone will have a present to open at dinner. The fish produced more liquid than I expected, so be ready for that when serving it on a plate with other things.

Red Snapper En Papillote

Servings: 2-4

Prep Time: 10 mins
Cook Time: 15 mins
Total Time: 25 mins

Ingredients
2 red snapper filets
1/4 cup white wine, divided
4 slices of lemon
1/2 cup leeks, divided
salt and pepper, to taste

Directions
Preheat oven to 350F. Tear off 2 large piece of parchment paper, approximately square. Salt and pepper both sides of the fish fillets. Place each fillet on one of the parchment pieces, on one half of the paper (i.e. so you can fold the paper over the fish with plenty of extra paper around it). Make sure the parchment paper is on a baking sheet. Place 2 lemon slices on each fillet and top with leeks. Seal the packets 80% of the way, so that steam or liquid could not escape. Pour the wine in the opening and finish sealing. Place in the oven for about 15 minutes. You may need to cook them longer if the fillets are thicker than 1 inch.