Holy Mole Experiment

Perhaps you may think I'm a bit crazy trying to make mole from scratch, and perhaps you are right. If you decide you want to try to make homemade mole you will need: patience, a well ventilated kitchen, your mise en place ready, and a huge stock pot.

Also, mole is one of those sauces that can be adjusted to your taste. If you don't want to add cilantro, you don't have to; you can use toasted cashews if you want; want to add Mexican oregano? Go ahead. It's just one of those recipes that can be customized to your liking, and the one below is basically what I thought up. Make sure you finely grind your spices before you start so that they are ready to go (I used my coffee grinder for this). And soak your dried chiles 10 to 15 minutes before you start so that they soften a little. The measurements below are approximate because mole is definitely an "eye ball it" type of recipe.

Lastly, if you've never had mole before, I suggest you go to a good Mexican restaurant and try it out first. It's definitely one of those dishes you either hate or you love. There are no in-betweens. The sauce is sweet, spicy, smokey, nutty, chocolatey and somewhat herbally. Serve mole over tortillas filled with refried beans, called enmoladas, or over cooked chicken or turkey or seafood. The recipe below made about 8 cups of mole. I poured most of it into 8oz containers and froze it since I'll be distributing some to my family. Have fun!

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup peanuts, toasted and chopped
• 1/2 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 tortillas, torn apart
• 5 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
• 3 tomatoes, quartered
• 1 large white onion, roughly chopped
• 1 large jalapeno pepper, seeded and deveined and roughly chopped
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 3 bay leaves
• 1/4 cup chicken base or bouillon
• Mole Spices consisting of:
  1. 1 tablesspoon cinnamon
  2. 1 tablespoon corriander
  3. 1 tablespoon Thyme
  4. 1 tablespoon Majoram
  5. 4 cloves
  6. 1/2 Tsp. Allspice
  7. 2 Star anise
  8. 10 peppercorns
  9. 1/2 tablespoon cumin
  10. 1/2 tablespoon Mexican Oregano
• 10 dried Pasillas, stemmed and seeded and softened in 6 cups hot water
• 4 dried Guajillo chiles, stemmed and seeded and softened in 2 cup hot water
• 1 cup raisins
• 1 Bunch Cilantro
• 1 Bunch Epazote (optional)
• 1 Bunch parsley
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 discs of Mexican Chocolate, chopped (La Abuelita brand, if possible)
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup white vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon Hickory smoke liquid
• Salt to taste

DIRECTIONS

In a large stock pot, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil on medium-high. Add the torn tortillas and lightly fry up to soften. Add the garlic, onion, tomatoes and jalapenos, mole spices and 1 teaspoon salt. Saute for 8 to 10 minutes, or until everything is softened. In the meantime, chop up the softened pasilla and guajillo chiles.

Add the cinnamon stick, bay leaves, and chicken base. Next add the chopped up passillas and guajillo chiles, and also add all the water the chiles were soaking in. Next add the chopped peanuts and walnuts, raisins, cilantro, epazote, parsley, brown sugar, both types of chocolate, hickory smoke and vinegar. Bring to a boil then simmer for 1 hour. Remove cinnamon stick and bay leaves.

With a heavy-duty hand blender, blend all ingredients in the pot, just until everything is broken down into smaller pieces. Taste for seasoning and add more salt, if needed. Simmer another 20 minutes. Turn off heat and let cool for half an hour.

Now, blend the mole in batches in your regular blender. Start on low and slowly move it to high this way you won't get too many spills. Be careful because mole is still warm. Blend until you can get a smooth, thick consistancy. Let cool to room temperature then store in containers and freeze.

To make Enmoladas:

• 2 tortillas
• Refried beans
• Olive oil
• 1/2 cup mole
• Queso fresco

DIRECTIONS

Heat up homemade or your favorite refried beans. Set aside.

In a skillet, heat up 2 teaspoons olive oil on medium-high. Add 1 tortilla at a time and fry for 40 seconds on each side, or until they turn slightly golden and are pliable.

Place tortillas on serving plate and fill each one with refried beans and fold tortilla, like a taco.

In the same skillet (you should still have some oil left) add the mole and fry it up until it begins to bubble. Pour the mole over the refried bean tacos and then sprinkle queso fresco over it and enjoy.

Sweet Potatoe-Apple Pie

Note: yes, I know I misspelled potato, but that's because the cook who wrote this recipe (Frank Davis' mom) gave it this title...and I'm maintaining its integrity.

I went to the dentist last week and the dental assistant, Robert, is a big foodie like me. Every time I go see them—yes, unfortunately I need a lot of dentistry work—we always chat about food, new or interesting recipes we've tried, compare restaurants, talk about new cookware we've bought, you know, your typical foodie talk.

This last visit Robert mentioned he wanted to make dessert for Thanksgiving but wanted to try something different. He mentioned a sweet potato pie, but he thought it would be too passé. Well, it just so happens that my husband got a really interesting sweet potato pie recipe from Frank Davis, the cook in the USNS Arctic, and, let me tell you, it's not passé at all. Frank's mother wrote this recipe and it was passed on to him. So, we're really lucky to get a copy of it.

The apples in the pie really make a difference and it gives the pie a texture you're not expecting. This was really good, and super easy to make. If you're going to put whipped cream on it, I suggest you put the real stuff because the canned stuff just won’t do it justice.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 medium apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced (I used Gala apples, but Granny Smith will work also)
• 1 (9 inch) unbaked pastry shell
• 3 medium sweet potatoes, peeled, cooked and mashed (2 cups)
• 2 large eggs, slightly beaten
• 1 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 2/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon + more for apples
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg + more for apples
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

First, cover the edges of the pastry shell crust around with foil.

Sprinkle a pinch of cinnamon and a pinch of nutmeg over apples and gently toss. Place apples at bottom of pastry shell (try to lay them down neatly).

In a mixing bowl combine mashed sweet potatoes, eggs, heavy cream, brown sugar, 1/4 tsp. cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg and 1/4 teaspoon salt and blend until smooth with a rotary beater. Pour mixture over apples in pastry shell.

Bake at 375 for 40 minutes. Remove foil from crust and bake an additional 10 to 15 minutes or until knife inserted just off the center comes out clean. Cool at room temperature, serve and enjoy.

Seriously Good Oxtails

Oxtails are one of those foods that take me back to my days in the Bahamas. When we lived there we used to eat curried oxtail and rice all the time since it was always available and it was relatively inexpensive. However, finding oxtail here in California was very difficult. It wasn't until I went to the Middle Eastern/Mexican market (yes, we have one of those here) that I finally found it at $3.49 a pound. I only got one pound, and got the larger pieces (joints) that have more meat on them. My oxtails were done in 2 hours, so check yours after two hours, but you want them to be tender and almost falling off the bone, kind of like osso buco. This is a really rich and heavy dish, and a French Bordeaux goes surprisingly well with this meal.

INGREDIENTS (serves 2)

• 4 oxtails pieces (the larger joint pieces, that are about 2" in thickness)
• Kosher salt
• Black pepper
• Curry powder
• Soy sauce
• 1 large garlic clove, very finely minced
• 1 medium yellow onion, sliced into half-moons
• 1 bay leaf
• Water

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Trim fat from oxtails. Season each oxtail generously with kosher salt, ground black pepper and a pinch of curry powder on each one. Place them in a broiling pan and add a dash of soy sauce on each oxtail. Then top each oxtail with the minced garlic. Top with onions and bay leaf. Add water to fill pan 1/4 of the way to the top. Cover pan with foil and bake until oxtails are tender, about 2 1/2 hours. Remove foil cover from meat and brown in oven for an additional 5 to 8 minutes. Serve rice alongside ox tails.

Hallowe'en Pumpkin Soup with Smoked Bacon

I first heard of Chef Neven Maguire a few years ago when I visited Ireland with my husband. Neven had a cooking show on television there and I found it quite amusing and he made really good dishes. Then, last year when I visited my in-laws in Minnesota, I noticed Neven Maguire's cookbook at their coffee table. By now, of course, I had to have the cookbook because it is full of classic yet simple Irish and International recipes--and this recipe is one of them. So, long story short, my husband went through so many hurdles to get me Neven Cooks! But I finally have it now and I will cherish it forever. On a sad note, I lost my camera, so these pictures are not very good since I had to take them with my mobile phone.

INGREDIENTS (serves 6)

• 2 Tablespoons butter
• 1 onion, diced
• 4 oz. raw, smoked bacon (about 4 strips, I used Hickory Smoked Bacon)
• 2 lbs. pumpkin flesh, peeled, de-seeded and cubed
• 1 Tablespoon tomato paste
• 2 pints low sodium chicken stock
• 3 ounces heavy cream
• Pinch of nutmeg
• Pinch of ginger
• Pinch of allspice
• Pinch of ground coriander
• Pinch of red pepper flakes
• Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper
• A couple of tablespoons of whipped cream, for garnish
• Toasted pumpkin seeds, for garnish

DIRECTIONS

In a large, heavy saucepan melt the butter on medium heat. Add the onion and 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper and sweat for 5 minutes. Add the bacon and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Turn heat to medium-high and add the cubed pumpkin. Sweat for 6 to 8 minutes to release flavors. Add tomato paste and stir for 2 minutes. Then pour in the stock and an additional 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus one pinch of nutmeg, ginger, allspice and coriander and a pinch of red pepper flakes. Bring to a bubble then simmer, covered, for 20 to 25 minutes or until pumpkin is fork tender. Lastly, add the heavy cream and simmer a few more minutes. Blend the soup in batches with your blender (or use a hand blender, if you have one) and keep simmering. Taste soup and season more, if needed.

To serve soup, pour into bowls and place a dollop of whipped cream and sprinkle a few toasted pumpkin seeds on top. Serve with warm bread.

Fried Chili-Garlic Tempeh

When I went to La Cocina Que Canta in Tecate, Mexico, they fed us something I have heard of, but didn't particularly crave it: tempeh. Yeah, I was like "what the deuce does tempeh taste like?" then they explained it was a version of a veggie burger, but vegan, meaning no eggs, not dairy, no meat. So, of course, the first thing I thought was that I would hate it, but Oh My Gawd, it was delish. They make their homemade tempeh there, so it was fresh and delicious.

I went online looking for a tempeh recipe but after reading many recipes I realized that the entire process was a bit too intricate for me (mainly because I had to find soy beans to ferment). Instead, I found the best quality ready-made tempeh at my co-op and used that instead. Yes, it did not taste anything like the fresh, homemade tempeh I had in Mexico, but it was still good, and healthy and nutritious. I made my infamous pear, pecan and Gorgonzola salad to accompany it (yes, I know it's not completely vegan, but there's only so much a carnivore can do!).

INGREDIENTS (serves 1)

• 3 oz. tempeh, cut in half, lengthwise, then in thirds in width
• 1/2 tablespoon olive oil or butter
• 1 clove garlic, sliced
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon chili garlic sauce

DIRECTIONS

In a skillet, heat oil or butter on medium heat. Add sliced garlic and cook for one minute. Add sliced tempeh and soy sauce. Cover skillet and cook for 4-5 minutes, until bottom it's browned--keep shaking the pan. Turn tempeh over and cook for an additional 3-4 minutes.

Place heated tempeh over your favorite salad and enjoy!

Veggie Sliders

I am trying to cut down my meat intake and start eating a bit more vegetarian foods in between and the only thing I could come up with was a veggie burger. I'm sure there are ton of other healthy, veggie options out there, but this was the first thing that came to mind. So, I searched for an easy veggie burger that didn't require me to cook all sorts of grains and beans, and I came up with this recipe. The garbanzo bean base for the veggie pattie comes from 101 Cookbooks, but the addition of rye berries and nuts was totally my tweak. Also, the sprouts are optional, and I think I'll omit them the next time I make these. The patties were flavorful and, oh boy so filling!

INGREDIENTS (makes 12 mini patties or 6 regular patties)

• 1 (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 cup cooked whole rye berries (to cook add 1/3 cup whole rye berries to 1 cup boiling water, cover and simmer for 25 to 30 minutes until all water is absorbed)
• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 2 Tablespoons grated onion
• 1 garlic clove, grated (I grate mine over a microplane)
• Grated zest of one lemon
• 1 cup micro sprouts, chopped (try brocolli, onion, or alfalfa sprouts - optional)
• 1/4 cup very finely chopped walnuts or almonds
• 1 cup toasted bread crumbs
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil (or clarified butter)
• 12 mini hamburger buns for sliders or 6 regular hamburger buns for larger patties (I used Crumpets because they were on sale...LOL)

DIRECTIONS

Combine the garbanzo beans, cooked rye berries, eggs, and salt in a food processor or blender. Puree until the mixture is the consistency of a very thick, slightly chunky hummus. Pour into a mixing bowl and stir in the parsley, onion, grated garlic, lemon zest, chopped nuts, and sprouts. Add the breadcrumbs, stir, and let sit for a couple of minutes so the crumbs can absorb some of the moisture. At this point, you should have a moist mixture that you can easily form into twelve 1 1/2-inch-thick patties or 6 regular sized hamburger patties. Place patties on a baking sheet lined with wax paper and place in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.

Heat the oil in a heavy skillet over medium low, add 4 mini patties or 2 regular sized patties, cover, and cook for 7 to 10 minutes, until the bottoms begin to brown. Turn up the heat if there is no browning after 10 minutes. Flip the patties and cook the second side for 7 minutes, or until golden. Remove from the skillet and cook the remaining patties.

Make your sliders like you would a regular hamburger, however I would omit mayo and ketchup as the patties are quite flavorful by themselves. I'd suggest you put a little bit of mustard and one or two pickes and thinly sliced tomatoes, and perhaps a slice of American cheese.

Braised Fish with Fennel and Tomato

I first discovered the Martha Stewart Living magazine when I was a wee girl. My step-mom used to subscribe to the magazine and remember I loved visiting her house because I couldn't wait to check out what Martha was up to. But as I got older and started discovering other cooking magazines, I began to find Living a bit boring in that most of the recipes didn't have enough chutzpah.

This past week I flew to Virginia and I decided to buy a Living magazine to read on the plane and wow, has the magazine changed! This was the Thanksgiving issue so there were a lot of classic recipes with new twists, and easy recipes that sounded too good to be true. One of those recipes was this braised fish. Now, her recipe only had fresh tomatoes (I sneaked in a can of whole peeled tomatoes) and I used Orange Roughy instead of halibut or grouper. I also used preserved lemom instead of fresh lemon. I made the preserved lemon a few months ago, but you can use fresh lemon if you don't have access to preserved lemon. Lastly, I used a Viognier wine from Martin Vinyards in Knott Island, North Carolina. The fish came out tender and full of flavor and the sauce was terribly good.

INGREDIENTS

• 3 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/3 cup dry white wine (I used a Viognier)
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 large fennel bulb, halved, cored, and thinly sliced lenghwise
• 1 medium tomato, cored and corsely chopped
• 1 can (14.5 ounces) of whole, peeled tomatoes and its juice
• 3 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
• 4 thin preserved lemon slices (use fresh lemon if preserved lemons are unavailable)
• 1/2 Tsp. Herbs de Provence
• Kosher salt
• Fresh ground pepper
• 2 Tbsp. roughly chopped parsely
• 4 skinless fillets of firm-fleshed fish (each about same thickness size), such as grouper, halibut, seabass or snapper (I used Orange Roughy)

DIRECTIONS

In a large 13-inch skillet, pour the oil, wine, water, fennel, fresh and canned tomatoes and its juice (crush the canned whole tomatoes with your hand or a spatula), garlic, Herbs de Provence, and preserved lemon slices. Add 1-1/4 tsp. kosher salt and several grinds of black pepper. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat, then simmer over moderate heat until the fennel softens, about 12 to 15 minutes.

Sprinkle both sides of fish with salt and pepper and arrange fillets in the pan, partially submerging them in the sauce. Sprinkle chopped parsely all over fish and suce and cover and simmer until fish is opaque throughout, about 6 to 8 minutes. Gently turn fish over and cook one more minute.

Spoon some of the braising sauce onto plates and top with fish. Drizzle with more olive oil (optional) and serve with a side of nutty, steamed rice.

Lemon and Sage Roasted Chicken

Sometimes when I go to sleep, I start thinking up of food to cook, how to cook it and how to season it. I wanted to make a sage roasted chicken that was juicy. I usually don't have good luck roasting chicken because it tends to dry out on me, especially the breast part. So, instead, I brined my chicken overnight (this was the first time I've ever done this) and left the skin on to make my chicken even more flavorful. The recipe below is just for one chicken breast half, enough for one person.

INGREDIENTS

Brine

• 1 Chicken breast half, bone-in and with skin left on (but trim any excess fat)
• 2 Tablespoons kosher salt
• 2 Tablespoons sugar
• 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire
• 1 teaspoon McCormick Montreal seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• Cold Water

DIRECTIONS

You will need a plastic container with an air-tight lid that is large enough for chicken. Place 1 cup water and all the ingredients, except chicken. With your fingers or spoon, stir for a few seconds. Add the chicken and then add more water until chicken is completely submerged in the brine. Cover with an air-tight lid and place in the refrigerator over night.

Lemon and Sage Roasted Chicken

• 2 large fresh Sage leaves
• 2 thin lemon slices
• 2 Tablespoons butter, divided
• Fresh, ground black pepper

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 375.

Remove the chicken from the brine and pat dry with a paper towel. Discard brine.

Run your fingers gently under the chicken skin and separate, but don't separate all the way. Place 2 slices of lemon and 2 leaves of sage and one tablespoon of butter under the skin. Rub the remaining butter all over the chicken and grind some fresh black pepper over it. Place the chicken in a baking sheet and bake, uncovered, for 35 to 40 minutes, or until juices run clear (I have a convection oven, so it took me half an hour).

Remove chicken and let rest for 5 minutes before serving. A nice side of collard greens with bacon would be phenomenal with this dish.

Sofrito Marinated Pork Tenderloin

I was in the supermarket yesterday and I did something I've never done before: I checked prices on everything and I even used coupons! Now, it's not that I've never had to worry about money before, but as long as good meat and good vegetables and fruits were available, I didn't particulary checked prices because I figured I was buying good, healthy products for my family. But now that we have a mortgage and our stocks are ever so sadly losing their value, we've become slightly frugal, and painfully aware of how much money we were needlessly spending. However, I now find this to be an exciting challange for me because I've found things in the supermarket that I never knew existed.

I was craving pork for some reason: Pork cutlets, pork chops, pork tenderloin...but when I got the market all pork chops and cheaper cuts of pork were sold out. All that was left were tenderloins and, my friend (as McCain would say), they were expensive. Then the butcher told me that over by the bacon area they had tenderloin strips, which I've never seen before. Basically, they are pork tenderloins, but each is no more than 5 to 6 inches long, and skinnier than a regular tenderloin. They are the left over strips from the good cuts of pork tenderloins. Whowould'vethunkit? So, instead of paying 8 bucks a pound for regular, trimmed pork tenderloin, I paid just under 4 dollars a pound for the strips, even though it was basically the same thing...just not as pretty.

The dilemma with pork tenderloin, and pork in general, is that it tends to dry out if you don't cook it properly because it's very lean meat. The sofrito recipe below is the perfect marinade for pork because it gives it tons of flavor and makes it jucier after you cook it. When you make the sofrito, it may seem to have a strong and pungent odor and flavor to you, but the beauty of it is that you only need a little bit to marinate or to cook with. You can use the sofrito as a base for soups, fry it with ground beef or add to your chili, or use it to flavor light flavored fish like cod or sole. The beauty of sofrito is that you can totally create your own special sofrito by changing or adding different ingredients. This one totally works for me, but I'm already thinking up of new sofritos I'll probably experiment with.

Diva's Sofrito (makes about 1.5 cups)

• 2 large green bell peppers, seeded and roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup roughly chopped white onions (about half of a large white onion)
• 2 large garlic cloves, crushed and roughly choppped
• A good handful of cilantro (about half a bunch)
• 2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar, or more to taste
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 tsp. kosher salt
• 3 to 4 grinds of fresh, black pepper

DIRECTIONS

In your blender or food processor, add all ingredients and blend or process until you get a paste with a runny consistency with no large chunks. Add more olive oil and/or vinegar, if necessary, and taste and season more, also if necessary. You want a good concentrated, herbaceous flavor that is well seasoned. At this point you can freeze the sofrito in ice trays or in small baggies. You will need 1/4 cup of the sofrito for the marinade below.

Marinated Tenderloin Strips

• 1/4 cup of sofrito
• 1.5 to 2 pounds tenderloin strips

DIRECTIONS

Place ingredients in a large zip-lock baggie and massage sofrito all over the tenderloin. Place in fridge and marinate overnight.

To cook: Remove tenderloin strips from marinade and discard marinade. Sprinkle some kosher salt and more pepper over strips and you can either grill them, pan fry them or bake them. I chose to bake mine in a 375 degree oven, covered with foil for 20 minutes (we have a convection oven, so it cooks really fast). You want the internal temperature to reach 145.

Remove from oven, cover with foil and let rest for 10 minutes before serving. Slice into medallions and serve over nutty, buttered rice and fried plantains or with cheesy grits or grilled veggies or even with roasted potatoes. Your choices are endless!

Chicken & Couscous a la Luisa

I have the most beautiful niece in the world! Luisa just turned one month old and she's just precious. As you can imagine, her mom and dad are excited yet somewhat exhausted from all the new things they have to do now like: get up every 3 to 4 hours to feed her, change her diapers, do more laundry than usual, burp and tend to her, and do all their other household chores, run their errands, and walk the dogs. Pheww, I got exhausted just writing this down.

So, you can imagine that they are exhausted and cooking may not be one of their favorite things to do right now. But below is the most easiest and delicious couscous (I created this by collaborating Ina Garten's couscous recipe and the recipe we learned at Rancho La Puerta) and chicken recipe that any new parent wouldn't mind doing. The grilled chicken is a tried and true recipe from Epicurious and it's easy and simple and fast. Combine both dishes and you have Chicken & Couscous a la Luisa! Phrewwww...

INGREDIENTS (makes 4 servings)

• 4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter
• 2/3 cup chopped shallots
• 2 cups chicken broth, low sodium
• ¼ to ½ teaspoon kosher salt, depending on how salty the chicken broth is
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• 1 10-ounce box plain couscous
• ½ cup pignoli nuts, toasted
• ¼ cup dried cranberries
• 1 Tablespoon finely chopped parsley

DIRECTIONS

Melt the butter in a large saute pan, add the shallots and cook for 3 minutes over medium heat. Add the chicken stock, salt and pepper, raise the heat to high and bring the stock to a boil. Stir in couscous and remove from heat. Cover the pan and let it sit for 10 minutes.

When ready to serve, add the pignoli nuts, parsley and dried cranberries to the couscous, stir and serve with chicken.

CHICKEN

• 2½ tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil plus additional for drizzling
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
• 4 large skinless boneless chicken breast halves, pounded to 1/3-inch thickness
• 2 Tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro or parsley
• 1 lemon, cut into 6 wedges

DIRECTIONS

Place 2½ tablespoons oil, lemon juice, ½ teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper in large resealable plastic bag. Add chicken and seal bag, releasing any excess air; turn several times to coat. Let stand at room temperature 30 minutes. Alternatively, chill 1 to 3 hours and bring to room temperature before continuing.

Prepare barbecue (high heat). Brush grill rack with oil. Transfer chicken from bag to barbecue with some marinade still clinging. Sprinkle a little more salt and pepper over chicken and grill until slightly charred and just cooked through, about 4 to 5 minutes per side. Transfer chicken to platter, cover with foil and let rest 5 minutes. When ready to serve, drizzle chicken with a little olive oil, sprinkle a little chopped cilantro over chicken, and garnish with lemon wedges. Serve with couscous. **Alternatively, you can cook the chicken in a skillet if you don't want to grill.

Filet of Beef au Poivre

Oh, Ina Garten! She's such a diva when it comes to really expensive (yet fabulous) food recipes, but you know once in a while we have to spoil ourselves. Now, these are difficult financial times and in no way did I buy 6 filet mignons, but I made this recipe for only 2 persons. I cut the au poivre sauce recipe in half and it was more than enough for the two filets. So, if your 401k is not completely depleted yet, rejoice and eat meat!

INGREDIENTS (serves 6)

• 6 filet mignon, cut 1 1/4 inches thick
• Kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons coarsely ground black pepper
• 3 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
• 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3/4 cup chopped shallots (3 to 4 shallots)
• 1 cup canned beef broth
• 1/2 cup good Cognac or brandy

DIRECTIONS

Place the filets on a board and pat them dry with paper towels. Sprinkle the filets with salt and then press the black pepper evenly on both sides. Allow to rest at room temperature for 15 minutes.

Heat 1 1/2 tablespoons of the butter and the oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat until the butter almost smokes. Place the steaks in the pan and lower the heat to medium. Saute the steaks for 4 minutes on 1 side and then for 3 minutes on the other side, for medium rare (I sauted mine for 5 minutes on each side since steaks were 2" thick). Remove the steaks to a serving platter and cover tightly with aluminum foil.

Meanwhile, pour all but 1 tablespoon of fat from the saute pan. Add the shallots and cook over medium heat for 2 minutes. Add the beef broth and cook over high heat for 4 to 6 minutes, until reduced by half, scraping the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the Cognac and cook for 2 more minutes. Off the heat, swirl in the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Strain sauce and serve the steaks hot with the sauce poured on top and around the steak.

Rancho La Puerta's Huevos Rancheros

On Friday our company took me and a few of my co-workers to Rancho La Puerta in Tecate, Mexico. It is a fabulous spa and cooking school where my friend and chef Michel Stroot, used to work but he has now retired--although he does "guest appearance" classes at the school. If you're interested in the cooking school, it's called La Cocina Que Canta and they have excellent chefs. Our chef that taught us this class was chef Deborah Schneider.

This was the very first time I've been to this spa and it was fabulous. Generally, guests stay there for 7 days but we were able to get a special one-day package. Needless to say, the cooking school was excellent and the recipe below is what I made for our team builder.

These are not your typical huevos rancheros. This dish is healthy and what I found amazing about this recipe is that all the ingredients (except the cheese), came from the ranch. They grow everything there and they have a large chicken coop, too, and I am proud to say this is the first farm-to-table meal I've cooked! The huevos were so yummy and it was even better with the homemade tortillas another one of my co-workers made. This was probably one of the best team-builders I've ever been to!

INGREDIENTS (seves 8 to 10)

• 8 large tomatoes
• 1 large white onion, chopped into small pieces
• 1 garlic clove, finely minced
• 1 large red bell pepper, chopped into small dice
• 1 large green or yellow bell pepper, chopped into small dice
• 2 jalapeño peppers, seeded and finely diced
• 1 to 2 cups chicken or vegetable stock (low sodium)
• 10 eggs
• 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
• 1/3 cup crumbled cotija cheese
• 2 avocados, seeded and chopped (you do this last, when the eggs are ready)
• Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 375. Have a large pot of boiling water ready. Also, you will need a large bowl with ice (ice-bath) ready.

Cut a small "x" at bottom of each tomato and drop them into a large pot of boiling water. Simmer for about 10 minutes. Immediately remove and place them in the ice-bath to cool and stop the cooking. Once you can handle the tomatoes, peel the skins. Cut tomatoes in half around the circumference and gently squeeze out seeds (or use your fingers or spoon to take out). Chop tomatoes into medium size pieces.

Heat a large, heavy pan on medium-high and add two tablespoons olive oil. Add the onions, garlic, red and green or yellow pepper, and jalapeños. Add a good pinch of salt and sauté until onions become lightly transparent. About 6 to 8 minutes. Add the chopped tomatoes and cook for another 10 to 15 minutes. Taste and add more salt, if needed. At this point, sauce will be slightly chunky. Add 1 cup stock and simmer a few more minutes. You don't want the sauce to be too watery. This is where you're going to have to eyeball it and add more stock, if needed (I only used 1 cup because tomatoes were a bit juicy already). Lastly, add 1/2 tsp. ground black pepper. Remove from stove and set aside.

In a large clay pot or 9x13 glass baking dish or casserole, add the tomato sauce. With the back of a small ladle, make an indentation in the sauce. Immediately crack one egg and slide it into the well you just made. You can also use a large spoon if you don't have a ladle. Continue doing this all over the sauce until you have all 10 eggs (we used 1 large clay pot and one smaller one to fit all 1o eggs). If you want, you can lightly sprinkle a little salt and pepper over each egg. Place in the oven and cook for 15 minutes, or until your eggs reach your desired doneness.

Remove baking dish from oven and sprinkle cotija cheese over each egg, then sprinkle with chopped cilantro and chopped avocado and serve, family style!