In honor of Grace Kendall’s Bat Mitzvah, I am catching up on my blogging as I head east for work and am missing Grace’s special day. Danny Licht is photographing it.

It was Lucy’s first night home and we wanted to make something delicious. She and Danny went for a hike and stopped at Santa Monica Seafood on the way home. They chose salmon. So I went to my Epicurious app and put in Grilled Salmon and this delicious lime butter recipe popped up. The reviews were so positive that I had to try it and it was so easy.

Joey and my in laws enjoyed this with grilled chicken vs salmon and they also loved it.

The entire dinner is delicious and could be perfect for company.

INGREDIENTS (for the entire dinner)

Salmon or chicken or BOTH!
Maldon Sea Salt and pepper
4 limes – zest 2-3 of them and juice all of them
4 tbls butter
1 box whole grain couscous
low sodium chicken broth
4 scallions chopped
1/4 cup pine nuts toasted
1 leek chopped
2 packages of washed and sliced mushrooms
A bunch of asparagus chopped in 1/4″ pieces
Arugula
2 corn on the cob
Fresh peas if your grocer carries them
1 ripe avocado – cut into small pieces
Cherry tomatoes sliced in half
hearts of palm
garbanzo beans
3 cloves chopped garlic
1/4 cup Balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
1 tbls Dijon mustard
1 tsp honey

DIRECTIONS:

Salt and pepper the chicken and salmon generously – both sides. Set aside. In a small saucepan, heat about 1 tsp olive oil. Add 3 chopped garlic cloves and stir constantly. Add 4 tbsl of butter and the juice of 4 limes along with the zest from 2 limes.

Heat a pot with a tsp of olive oil. Prepare the couscous according to directions but use low sodium chicken broth instead of water. When finished, add chopped scallions and toasted pine nuts. Drizzle with a bit of good olive oil.

While starting couscous, turn BBQ on and head a large frying pan with 3 tbls of olive oil. When hot, add leeks and saute until they begin to soften – then add the mushrooms and 2 tbsp of butter. As mushrooms soften add the asparagus. Season generously with salt and pepper. ADD the sauteed vegetables to the whole grain couscous.

Prepare salad. Put arugula, sliced hearts of palm, peas, fresh corn (just cut from the cob), cut avocado and whatever else you like, in a salad bowl. For the dressing, put balsamic vinegar in a measuring cup. Whisk in dijon mustard and then add garlic. WHISK in the olive oil and then a tsp of honey. Season with salt and pepper.

BBQ salmon and chickn about 5-6 minutes per side depending on thickness. Drizzle with the lime butter sauce and serve.

ENJOY!

One of my favorite things is stopping at the Santa Monica Seafood market before or after work. It is one of the perks of working in Santa Monica. I picked out some delicious sea bass the other night and went to epicurious.com to find a recipe. This is what I found. IF you like salsa – this will become a regular in your house. We all loved it!

INGREDIENTS

For Salsa:
1 cup chopped pineapple
3/4 cup chopped mango
2/3 cup chopped red pepper
1/2 cup chopped, seeded tomatoes
1/3 cup chopped English cucumbers
1/3 cup chopped red onion
3 tbls chopped cilantro
2 tbls chopped fresh mint (really adds flavor)
(chop extra mint and cilantro and along with the juice of one lime – add to rice)
1-2 chopped jalapenos
2 tbls fresh lime juice
A drizzle of good olive oil

Mix all ingredients together. Refrigerate until ready to use.

For Rice and String Beans:

Long grain rice
Low sodium chicken broth
Shallots
String beans – try haricot verts (they are the skinny French version of string beans)

RICE

Cook according to the package BUT use Low sodium chicken broth instead of water. Heat pot, add about 1 tbsl of olive oil. Once hot, press about 3 cloves of garlic into the oil for every cup of rice. Once hot, pour in rice and sir to coat. Then add the proper amount of broth. Once it is ready, add some mint and cilantro along with the juice of one lemon. Salt and pepper generously.

STRING BEANS

Heat a frying pan with 1-2 tbls of olive oil. Once hot, add 2 chopped shallots. Sit periodically while you are prepping everything else. Once they begin to brown and carmelize, add the string beans (cut off the pointy ends). Keep stirring and cook until desired doneness – about 10 minutes. Salt and pepper and serve.

TURN GRILL ON

Season chicken or fish with salt and pepper on both side. Grilled until cooked thru. When done, put on a platter and top with salsa or pass salsa around for everyone to take what they need.

Enjoy!

Ever since my kids discovered sushi, they started eating any and all fish – which makes me really happy. Joey and I were skiing in Montana a few weeks ago and I cooked a couple of nights with Randy Katz. Randy is an amazing chef and basically never uses a recipe. So here is my version of the non-recipe halibut.

Ingredients
Kalamata Olives – pitted
15 oz can of peeled cherry tomatoes (drain the liquid)
Capers – 2-3 tablespoons
Sea salt
Pepper

Halibut

Preheat oven to 500

Sprinkle sea salt and pepper on both sides of the halibut and genty dip in flour.

Heat olive oil – about 2-3 tbls – in an iron skillet or non-stick pan. When hot, gently place the halibut in the oil and cook until slightly browned; 4ish minutes. Flip halibut over and pour the canned (yet drained) tomatoes over the fish, 1/2 cup of kalamata olives and 2 tbls of capers. Cook for 4 minutes on the stove and then place the skillet in the hot oven for 15 minutes.

The halibut and sauce were delicious. In fact, it was so good that Danny ate it for lunch the following day.

Enjoy!

Everyone loves fajitas. The greatest thing is that Gelsons, a local LA market, has “fajita mix” at the butcher: chicken breasts cut with red peppers, onions and cilantro.

Ingredients

Fajita mix pre-prepped from the market (or sliced raw chicken with strips of peppers and red onion with chopped cilantro).
Zucchini – chopped in small chunks and added to the chicken mixture
Paul’s Spice
2 limes
Avocados
Cilantro
Spanish Rice – I used a box version which is tad too salty. My sister-in-law makes her own and I will share her recipe
Corn tortillas

Directions

Prepare the rice according to the directions on the box.

Heat 3 tbls olive oil in a large iron pan or skillet. When hot, add the chicken mixture. Sprinkle Paul’s Spice all over the chicken and vegetables. Paul’s Spice is a rub that I swear by. I have been using it for 15 years on beef, chicken and even fish. It really makes the fajitas PERFECTION. You can order your own at starchef74@hotmail.com.

Every few minutes, stir the chicken and veggies. It basically takes the same time to cook the chicken thru as it does to cook the rice.

Mash 2 avocados in a bowl. Season with salt, pepper, chopped cilantro and the juice of
one or two limes. Thoroughly mix all ingredients.

Heat corn tortillas over gas flame. Put on plates and serve buffet style. Sometimes I make Amy’s canned vegetarian beans to go with it – they are delicious.

Everyone will enjoy!

Blackberry Farm in Walland, Tennessee is mine and Andy’s favorite place. It is an elegant resort with exquisite food and fabulous accommodations. We pick weekends so I can take a cooking class when we are there. When I wake up in the middle of the night, I imagine I am on an adirondack chair looking out at the Smokey Mountains.

Bon Appetit just names Blackberry Farm the #1 hotel for food lovers and featured this pancake recipe on their cover this month. There are way too many flours for me, so I simplified. The boys wanted to try them for dessert tonight. Delish!

Heat griddle – it needs to be hot

Ingredients
1 large egg
2 cups buttermilk
1/4 cup maple syrup
(mix all together)

Add:
2/3 cup yellow cornmeal
1 1/3 cups flour plus 1/4 cup flour
1 tbls baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp kosher salt
Whisk together

Add:
1/2 cup melted butter
Whisk in until combined

Brush griddle with vegetable oil. Once hot, drop pancakes on the griddle. Cook about 4 minutes on each side on medium heat.

Make the batter the night before and have homemade pancakes before school/work.

Enjoy!

Don’t let bananas go bad. There is no reason to. Banana bread is delicious and a perfect breakfast treat. I have been making banana bread for years. Then I found this recipe for “Perfect Banana Bread”. Tracy told me to use brown sugar instead of white and she is right…delicious.

Butter and flour a loaf pan.

Preheat oven to 350

Ingredients
2 bananas
1.5 cups brown sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
1.75 cups flour
1.5 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt

Mash bananas in mixer, add wet ingredients, add dry ingredients, bake in
350 oven for 60 minutes. Check after 45 minutes. But it should take about 60 minutes.

Enjoy

It is hard to figure breakfast out everyday. We make a lot of pancakes and waffles but it’s nice to have eggs every once in awhile. I found this recipe in Cook’s Illustrated and it was called “Fluffy Perfect Omelette” and that it was.

Ingredients

4 large eggs, separated
1 tbls unsalted butter melted, plus another 1 tbls butter for cooking
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Filling – you choose but here are some thoughts

I used bacon sliced thin and cooked (at Danny’s request)
or
Saute 1 shallot in some olive oil
4 oz mushrooms trimmed and chopped
Salt & Pepper
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
or
Saute some veggies that you love – don’t over think it

Preheat oven to 375

Whisk egg yolks, melted butter and salt together

Place egg whites in the bowl of a mixer and sprinkle cream of tartar and whisk egg whites until foamy 2-2 1/2 minutes.

Fold egg whites into yolk mixture. Gently spread egg mixture in a heated and oiled frying pan. When settled, flip over and sprinkle with topping. Put frying pan in oven for about 5 minutes or until settled. Sprinkle sea salt and serve.

Enjoy!

I was flying home from Europe severl weeks ago and found a version of this recipe. It takes about 15 minutes to make and is delicious. If you like pizza and chicken, you are sure to love the Pizza Skillet Chicken.

Ingredients
Chicken cutlets – I buy them cut and pounded
Jar of Rao’s marinara or arrabiata sauce
Fresh mozzarella cheese
A fresh baguette

Directions

Preheat oven to broil

Season the chicken with Paul’s Spice (my favorite rub which can be ordered directly from Paul at starchef74@hotmail.com). It’s a rub that I literally use on everything – chicken, steak and fish. I swaer by it. If you don’t have it, season generously with salt and pepper.

You can use a large frying pan to prepare this but I use an awesome iron skillet that the Goldberg’s got me and I treasure it. Heat oil in the pan. Cook the chicken on both sides for 4-5 minutes. Pour sauce over chicken to cover it. Slice the mozarella cheese thin and lay over the chicken. Place skillet in broiler for about 4 minutes – until the cheese begins to bubble and brown.

Serve with a green salad and a baguette. Everyone will love this. Enjoy!

Corn is the sign that spring is in the air. We love corn on the cob and this recipe is a perfect example of a tasty dish that can be enjoyed by all.

I have mentioned that I LOVE Bon Appetit and have read it cover to cover monthly for 20+ years. One day I promise to start from the front of my binders and just work my way thru but not sure when that day will come. However, the incredible Elvimar offered to come make us dinner last Thursday. LV has been part of our family since Lucy was 3 years old. She now has a magnificent baby of her own, Marianna, but we try to see her as much as possible. It was like the good ‘ole days as she said to just leave a recipe and dinner would be ready.

LV cut the boneless skinless breasts herself into thin cutlets and this ended up feeding 12 of us. It was the first night of spring break and Joey had a gaggle of boys over spontaneously. I was about to order a pizza, but they all LOVED this dinner instead. I have since made it again to the same response. Delish.

Ingredients

Relish
3 tbls extra birgin olive oil
4 corn on the cob – cut kernels off cob
2 packages of cherry tomatoes cut in half
1/4 cup chopped green onions
3+ tbls chopped fresh basil

Chicken
4 large boneless skinless chicken breasts pounded thin
flour
1.5 tbls butter
1.5 tbls olive oil (ok to use all olive oil if you prefer no butter)

Heat oven to 375.
Toss corn with 4 tsp olive oil and roast for 18-20 minutes. Toss with spatula halfway thru. Transfer corn to a bowl and add all relish ingredients plus 2 tbls olive oil. Toss to coat and add salt and pepper.

Heat large skillet on stove with butter and olive oil. Sprinkle chicken cutlets with Paul’s Spice if you have it or generously with salt and pepper. Light coat chicken cutlets with flour. Cook in oil/butter mixture about 4-5 minutes per side. MAKE SURE OIL IS HOT!!!

Place chicken on a large white platter, top with corn relish and serve. This will become a spring/summer staple. Trust me.

ENJOY!!!