Saturday, May 28, 2011

Alfie's Seasoning


This is the seasoning my Dad used in his restaurants and it is our all purpose seasoning for the grill, meats, fish, and vegetables.

He wrote it on a Radio Cab slip for me about 35 years ago. The only change I made was omitting the msg.

I miss him as he was a wonderful example of grace, joy, love of all people and supremely hospitable. Although I know the recipe by heart, I sometimes pull it out just to look at his handwriting.


  • 1 pound of kosher salt
  • 3 ounces freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 ounce of paprika
  • 1 tablespoon onion salt
  • 1 tablespoon garlic salt
  • 1 tablespoon celery salt


Weigh the first 3 ingredients, add together in a bowl and mix well. Put in a salt shaker.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Gluten Free Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies


1 cup peanut butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F.
Mix first 5 ingredients together, then add chocolate chips.
Form dough into 1 inch balls and place on ungreased baking sheet.
Bake 8-10 minutes until golden brown. Take out of oven and allow cookies to set for 10 minutes before removing to cooling rack.
Makes 2 dozen.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Not Quite Summer Caprese Salad


Roasted Roma Tomatoes
Fresh Buffalo Mozzarella sliced
Fresh Basil
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Reduced Balsamic Vinegar
Sea salt and Pepper

Preheat oven to 250F and slice the Roma tomato in half. Lightly season tomatoes with salt and pepper, fresh thyme, and lightly drizzle with olive oil. Bake for several hours, they will start to look sun dried and be very flavorful.
To put salad together, alternate roasted tomato, Mozzarella, and fresh basil leaf. Drizzle lightly with olive oil and reduced balsamic vinegar. Season with sea salt and pepper to taste.

This is great when tomatoes are not at their peak flavor.

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Tequila-Lime Grilled Shrimp Tacos with Avocado-Cucumber Salsa

24 large shrimp, deveined and peeled
corn tortillas
Marinade:
1 teaspoon grated lime zest
2 shallots, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup tequila
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon minced cilantro
2 teaspoons minced mint
salt and pepper, to taste

Avocado-Cucumber Salsa (can be made a couple of hours in advance)
1 avocado, pitted cubed
1 cucumber, seeded and cubed
2 tomatoes, chopped and diced
1 lime, juiced
salt and pepper to taste

Rinse shrimp and pat dry. In a bowl combine marinade and add shrimp. Coat and let marinate 30-60 minutes. (alternately can be combined in a resealable bag and shake to blend.)

Prepare a hot grill or stove top pan, remove shrimp from marinade and place in pan, turning once until opaque and with grill marks.
Place 3-4 shrimp in hot corn tortilla and top with salsa.

Classic Champagne Cocktail


1 sugar cube
angostura bitters
Champagne
lemon twist

In a champagne flute, add a few drops of bitters (I used blood orange) to a sugar cube. Fill the flute with 6 ounces of chilled Champagne. Garnish with lemon twist.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Mixed Greens with Dried Cranberries, Candied Pecans, and Goat Cheese


2 5ounce bags of mixed greens
1 1/2 cups dried cranberries (about 7 ounces)
1 1/2 cups glazed pecans
10 ounces of goat cheese

Honey-Apple Vinaigrette:
1/4 cup apple cider
1/4 cup apple juice
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon honey
1/8 teaspoon dry mustard
salt and pepper to taste

1: Prepare the vinaigrette by whisking all ingredients together in a bowl. Stir well before using.

2: Place greens and cranberries in a large salad bowl.

3: When ready to serve, dress the greens with just enough dressing to coat.

4: Plate the salads and sprinkle with the nuts, then crumble about one ounce of goat cheese over top of each serving. Finish with a grind of black pepper.
Makes 10 servings
alternately goat cheese can be sliced into rounds (keep cold) and dipped into crushed Macadamia nuts, put on lightly oiled parchment paper and quickly broiled.

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Tea Presentation


This is an artisan herbal tea but also has such a beautiful presentation.
Tea forte, in citrus mint and flora.

Favorite tea


One of my favorite all-time teas is from "T" in Vancouver. It's called "Organic Pear Tree Green."