We normally make this soup the day after Thanksgiving, but with turkey and turkey stock. It uses the leftover Wild Rice Casserole which we make extra of just so we can have this soup! The wine (Marco Negri) that is used in this soup is a sweeter white wine. My cousin gave us this wine as a gift about 7 years ago and I am completely puzzled as to how it survived as long as it did without us drinking it.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups Chicken Stock, see Recipe
• 3 cups Wild Rice Casserole, see Recipe
• 2 cups diced, cooked Chicken, see Recipe
• 2 teaspoons Kosher Salt , or to taste
• 1 cup White Wine + 1/4 cup
• 1 1/2 cups Heavy Cream
• 1 medium Onion, diced
• 3 stalks of Celery, diced
• 2 Carrots, diced
• 1 clove of Garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon Olive oil

Saute onions, celery, carrots and garlic for 10 minutes over low heat with the olive oil until onions are translucent, not browned.

Add 1 cup of the wine along with the chicken to the pan along with the veggies, and turn the heat up to medium high. Let the alcohol and liquid evaporate for about 5 minutes.

Add the chicken stock, cream, salt and Wild Rice Casserole. Simmer over medium low for 20 minutes.

At the end of the cooking process, if you would like a little more of a pronounced wine flavor add in an extra 1/4 cup of wine.

Being married to a former pizza place cook isn’t easy…my husband is a pizza snob. Needless to say, we have tried just about all of the pizza places here and none have met Andy’s approval. We started to buy frozen dough from a really good bread store in order to make our own pizza (then we could blame ourselves if it wasn’t good). However, the store is not in town, and I don’t get up that way too often, so it became an inconvenience. One day I picked up the book The Bread Bible and in it, among the 600+ pages, was a recipe for homemade pizza dough. I made the recipe (only a single serving), and it was good, and over time have just added one ingredient (olive oil) and quadrupled the recipe (we use half and freeze the rest). This really couldn’t be easier, and, if you are like us, you won’t want to buy frozen or delivery pizza ever again – this tastes better and is a lot less expensive!

Ingredients:

• 3 cups plus 4 tablespoons Unbleached Flour
• 2 teaspoons Sugar
• 1 package Active Dry Yeast
• 2 teaspoons Kosher Salt
• 1 1/3 cups lukewarm Water
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive oil

Combine the flour, sugar and yeast and stir. Add the salt right before you are ready to add the water, as salt can kill the yeast. Make a well, and pour the water and one tablespoon olive oil into the well.

Stir with a wooden spoon until the dry ingredients and wet ingredients are fully incorporated together (I start with the wooden spoon and then use my hands). Form into a ball and put the other tablespoon of olive oil into the bottom of the bowl. Rub the oil on the entire ball of dough, place back into bowl and cover with plastic wrap.

If you are using the dough within four hours, let sit out to rise. Otherwise, put it into the refrigerator. Once you are ready to use it, preheat the oven to 450 degrees, separate the dough that you need, and work the dough back into another ball and let it sit covered for 15 minutes to allow it to rise again.

Liberally flour work surface and roll out dough into desired shape/thickness. Add sauce and toppings, bake and enjoy!

Ingredients

• 4 – 6 Chicken Thighs
• Lime wedges to garnish
• Chopped, roasted peanuts to garnish
• Rice Stick Noodles

For the sauce:

• 1/2 cup natural Peanut Butter
• 4 tablespoons Tamari Soy Sauce
• 2 tablespoons Honey
• 2 tablespoons Sriracha Chili Paste
• 4 finely minced Serrano Peppers
• 4 tablespoons Rice Wine Vinegar
• 6 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive oil

Mix all of the ingredients for the sauce and blend thoroughly until smooth.

Marinate the chicken with half of the marinade and set the other half aside to be used later. Marinate for 30 – 60 minutes.

While the grill is pre-heating, cook the rice stick noodles as directed on the package. They will be just fine if the noodles are cold or room temperature when the chicken is ready. Grill the chicken over medium heat until done.

Serve the chicken over the rice noodles and spoon some of the reserved sauce over the top. Garnish with the peanuts and lime wedges.

I am still amazed at the wonderful treasures we can find at our Farmer’s Market! Today, we scored a pint of the elusive ground cherry. What are those I asked? The vendor gave us a sample and went on to explain that it was something that her grandfather had always grown on the farm. These sweet little packages look like tiny tomatillos, but when the papery husk comes off they are yellow when ripe and are not sticky to the touch like a tomatillo is. The texture is like a small cherry tomato, but the taste is sweet and complex with hints of melon, tomato and strawberry. We kept on eating them trying to put a finger on what they reminded us of, and before we knew it we had burned though half of our stash. The vendor told us that they had used them in pies and jams, but I wanted to capture this unique flavor without cooking them.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pint of Ground Cherries, each one halved
• 1/4 Red Onion, diced
• 1/4 jalapeno, diced
• Cilantro, chopped
• Red Bell Pepper, diced
• Very *small* squeeze Lime Juice
• Roughly a teaspoon or two Extra Virgin Olive oil
• Very *small* pinch Salt

Mix everything together and let sit for 30 minutes so the flavors can come together. Do not overdue it with the salt or lime; the small amount of salt is only needed to draw out liquid from the cherries so they can macerate with the olive oil and lime juice.

We have been making this potato salad for about 4 years and it is very good. I like to use a combination of purple and red potatoes for a nicer presentation. Purple potatoes are slowly becoming more popular here, as they are showing up in our grocery store every so often, and they are even at our local Farmer’s Market. Be careful when cooking purple potatoes, as they are not as forgiving as red potatoes and can turn mushy very quickly if overcooked.

Ingredients:

• 12 – 14 Potatoes, combination of red and purple
• 1/2 Red Onion, thinly sliced
• Cilantro leaves, roughly torn
• Toasted, salted Pine Nuts, for garnish

For the Dressing:

• 1/2 cup Mexican Table Cream (Crema Mexicana)
• 2 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive oil
• Juice of one Lime
• 3/4 teaspoon Kosher Salt
• 1/2 teaspoon Black Pepper
• 1 tablespoon Honey
• 1/2 cup finely chopped Cilantro

Boil the potatoes for 15 – 20 minutes in salted water or until fork tender, and let them cool. Be sure to check the purple potatoes sooner as they cook quicker. I like to boil them whole with the skins on as I find they get less waterlogged. Also, I bring the water up to a boil with the potatoes in the pot to make sure they cook evenly.

Mix the dressing ingredients together.

You can leave the potato skins on or off; personally, I like to take them off. It is fairly easy to just peel them off now that they have been cooked. When the potatoes have cooled down, cut them in approximately 1 inch cubes (or whatever size you like) and carefully mix them with the dressing, onions, and the roughly chopped cilantro. You may not need all of the dressing so start with half and go from there. Be sure to taste, as chances are good that it will need a little more salt. Garnish with the toasted pine nuts and a little fresh cracked black pepper.

Ingredients:

• 4 large fresh Tomatoes, quartered
• 1 quarter of an Onion, use larger pieces
• 2-3 table spoons Roasted Garlic Oil*
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano
• 1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt
• Olive oil, for coating the tomatoes and onions
• 1/4 teaspoon of Crushed Red Pepper. (+ or – to your own liking)

*When I make roasted garlic I put a few table spoons of olive oil in a foil packet with a head of garlic and a little kosher salt. Instead of adding the roasted garlic in this sauce and olive oil, just use this garlic infused oil instead. Spread the roasted cloves over some grilled baguettes.

The tomatoes should be grilled until they are almost falling through the grates. As you take them off of the grill, try to discard the skins. Leave them on while grilling though, this helps them stay together.

In a food processor, blend everything together.

This makes an excellent sauce for pizza, pasta or a dipping sauce for bread.

Ingredients

• One whole Chicken

Rub

• 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
• 1/4 teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon Ground Mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon Black Pepper
• Hint of Cinnamon

Marinade

• Approx 1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 big bunch Basil
• 5-6 cloves Garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon Rub (recipe above)
• Juice of 1 Lemon
• 2 tablespoons Honey

Basting mixture

• 1 stick Butter
• 1-2 cloves Garlic
• 1/4 teaspoon Rub (recipe above)
• Zest of 2 Lemons

As you can see this is a lot of basil.

Mix all of the seasonings together to make the rub.  This will go into the marinade and the basting mixture as well.  Blend all of the ingredients for the marinade in a food processor. Put all of the ingredients for the basting mixture in a small sauce pan and set it aside.

One of the easiest ways to grill a whole chicken is to butterfly it.  To butterfly the chicken, you just need to cut the back bone out with a knife or a pair of poultry shears and press it down flat.  By doing this, we maximize the grilling surface of the chicken and cut down on cooking time since it is flat.  Season the bird with the remainder of the Rub.

Coat both sides of the chicken with the marinade and get it under the skin.  Refrigerate for 4 – 6 hours or overnight.

Grill the butterflied chicken indirectly at about 400 – 450 degrees for about 30 – 45 minutes or until the chicken is fully cooked.

For the last 10-15 minutes grill over direct heat and baste with the butter mixture.

Ingredients:

• Bread (a nice crusty Loaf)
• Tomatoes cut into 1/2 inch slices
• Balsamic Vinegar
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Fresh Basil
• Kosher Salt

Start with ½ cup of balsamic vinegar and reduce it down to 1/8 cup. It should be thick like syrup. Set aside to cool.

Brush the tomatoes and bread with the olive oil and season with kosher salt. The tomatoes should rest with the oil and salt for about 30 minutes before grilling.

Start to grill the tomatoes first. They should take about 10 -15 minutes, depending on how hot your grill is.

You want to get the tomatoes nice and charred.

The bread should take about 5 minutes, depending on how hot your grill is.

To finish this off, cut the grilled tomatoes in half and lay them on the grilled bread. Top with some fresh basil and a drizzle of the balsamic syrup.

Ingredients:

• 1 unripe (green) Plantain
• Olive oil
• Kosher Salt

First, take the peel off of the plantain. You will most likely not be able to peel it like a banana. Cut off each end, and use a sharp knife to cut off the peel part of the entire length of the plantain.

Cut the pealed plantain into 1 inch pieces, oil them, and place on a hot grill.

Give each side about 3 – 4 minutes with a quarter turn in the middle. We want to form a crispy crust on each side.

When they are nice and brown on each side, take them off the grill and flatten them with a glass or mallet (something with a smooth, flat surface).

Re-coat with olive oil and place them back on the grill until they are golden and crisp.

Hit them with salt and garnish with chopped cilantro.

Ingredients

• Chicken (I’m using boneless, skinless chicken thighs today)
• Juice of two whole Lemons
• 4 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 tablespoon Kosher Salt
• 3 cloves Garlic, roughly chopped
• Handful of fresh Parsley, roughly chopped

Mix all of the ingredients, excluding the chicken, in a bowl. Place the chicken in a plastic bag and pour contents of the marinade into the bag. Let the chicken marinate in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

Place chicken on the grill.

Ready to come off of the grill!

Dig in!