Over the weekend of Cinco de Mayo, we were served this Dessert Pizza for an appetizer that was amazing.

This is as close as I could get to the recipe for CranRaisin and Brie with Sugared Pecan Pizza.

Ingredients:

8 ounces butter (plus 1 teaspoon)
6 ounces chopped pecans
2 pounds of Brie Double Creme Cheese
2 premade pizza crust (16 inches)
8 ounces of CranRasins
1 10 ounces jar of Cherry Preserve
2 tablespoons Cinnamon Sugar
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon corn meal 

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Melt butter and brush over the top and bottom, of the uncooked pizza crusts. Sprinking cinnamon sugar over the custs.

In a skillet melt the 1 teaspoon of butter and add the pecans. After the pecans toast for a minute or so, mix them with 1 teaspoon of sugar. Continue cooking for a few minutes and set aside to cool.

Line a baking pan with foil and sprinkle with corn meal. Place the pizza crust in the oven and cook for 6-8 minutes. Remove and allow to cool. Turn down the oven to 350 degrees.

Spread the cherry preserve evenly over the surface of your pizza crust. Spinkle the cranrasins and pecans over the top.

Shave the outside of the brie with a micro plane and pull pieces of the brie cheese to dollop evenly over the pizza.

Bake the pizza at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Cut into bite size pieces and serve. 

I found enough stuff to make a rustic white pizza dinner with brats, onions, garlic, green peppers and brie cheese. Sprinkled a litte parmesean on top.

Ingredients:

4 ounces pizza dough
1 charred Bratworst, sliced
1/8 onion, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/8 green pepper, minced 
6 thin slices brie cheese, cut into chunks
1 tablespoon parmesean cheese, gratede
1 teaspoon butter, melted
1 teaspoon corn meal
1/2 teaspoon Nature's Seasoning 

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spread and pound out pizza dough forming a thin rough retangle.

Melt butter and brush over the top and bottom, of the uncooked pizza crusts.

Line a baking pan with foil and sprinkle with corn meal. Place the pizza crust in the oven and cook for 6-8 minutes. Remove and allow to cool. Turn down the oven to 350 degrees.

Arrange toppings, season with Nature's Seasoning, on the top and place back in the oven. Cook for 6-8 minutes and serve.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 4 shallots, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons fresh tarragon leaves
• 4 white peppercorns, crushed
• 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
• 1/3 cup dry white wine
• 4 large egg yolks
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Pinch of cayenne

Preparation:

Heat the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat just to melt. Boil shallots, tarragon, and peppercorns in vinegar and wine in a nonreactive medium-size saucepan over medium heat until reduced to about 1/4 cup. Strain into the top of a double boiler. Whisk in the egg yolks. Place the top over the bottom of the double boiler containing simmering water. Make sure that the top of the water is below the bottom of the upper part of the double boiler. Whisk constantly. The second that the yolk mixture begins to thicken slightly, remove the top of the double boiler from above the hot water and continue whisking. Turn off the heat. Add four ice cubes to the bottom of the double boiler to cool the hot water a little. Put the pan of yolks back above the hot water. Whisk in the melted butter, drizzling it in very slowly. If at any time the sauce looks as if it is about to break, remove the top and continue whisking to cool it down or whisk in 1 teaspoon cold water. With constant whisking, whisk in the salt and cayenne. When all the butter is incorporated, taste and add more salt or cayenne as needed. One of the best sauce recipes.

Ingredients:

• 1 baguette, sliced about 1/4- to 1/2-inch thick
• 2 beef tenderloin steaks, cut 1-inch thick (total
• weight about 1 pound)
• 16 ounces button mushrooms, sliced then roughly
• chopped
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 shallots, finely minced
• 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 1 cup port wine
• kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper
• Bearnaise Sauce
• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 cup butter
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon dried tarragon

Preparation: 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Drizzle a large baking sheet with olive oil. Lay the baguette slices flat on the baking sheet in a single layer. Drizzle the tops of the slices with olive oil and use a small brush to evenly distribute the oil on top of the baguette slices. Bake in the preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes until they are toasted to your liking. The longer they bake, the crunchier they become. Keep in mind that you will bake them again when making the appetizers.

Prepare the Bernaise sauce. Follow link for the receipe.

Heat olive oil in a frying pan over medium high heat. Add the mushrooms and saute for about 5 minutes. Add the shallots and garlic to the mushrooms and saute for an additional 5 minutes. Do not allow the garlic to brown. Season with kosher salt and pepper, then add the port wine to the mushrooms, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium and cook until the port wine has reduced and there is not liquid left in the pan. Remove from heat and set aside.

Heat a frying pan or griddle over high heat. Do not allow the pan to get so hot that it smokes. Season the steaks with kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper and place the steaks in the hot pan or griddle. Allow to cook about 4-5 minutes, then using tongs turn the steaks and cook on the other side for about 4-5 minutes. They should be medium rare. Do not cut or pierce the steaks with a knife or fork. Using tongs, remove the steaks to a cutting board and allow to rest for at least 5 minutes and as much as 10 minutes. 

To assemble, place the baguette slices on a large serving tray. Top each slice with about a tablespoon of the mushroom duxelle. Slice the steaks so that the slices are about 1/8-inch thick and lay 2 to 3 slices of the steak on top of the mushroom duxelle on each baguette slice. Top the steak with a tablespoon or so of the warm bearnaise sauce and serve immediately.

I ordered Chinese food on Sunday and was surprised how many of those packets of sauces they gave me. There were easily 12 packets of soy sauce, 8 of sweet and sour (why they call it that I don't know) and 3 of mustard.

This turned out to be a pretty good recipe.

I keep the take away packets from Chinese restaurant delivery in a drawer, just in case I need them.

Reading what I just typed makes me realize how stupid that sounds. It's not like they won't give me another 50 packets, the next time I order take away Chinese food.

Ingredients:

•  3 center cut pork chops, cubed 1 ½ inch pieces
• ½ small onion, sliced
• 6 large mushrooms, sliced
• 2 tablespoons cooking oil
• ½ teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon Sriracha
• 2 thumb sized pieces of ginger, sliced match sticks
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 8 packets soy sauce
• 6 packets sweet & source
• 4 packets mustard
• 2 packets Mc Donald’s honey
• 1 ¼ cups of water
• 1 teaspoon Lawry’s seasoning
• 1 teaspoon White pepper
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch

Preparation:

Place the pork pieces and the soy, sweet & sour, mustard and honey into a plastic sealable bag. Marinate for at least 6 hours (best if overnight).

Remove and strain the pork pieces over your sink in a colander or strainer. Don’t rinse the pieces; allow some of the marinade to remain on the pieces.

In a skillet or pan large enough to cook the pork piece heat over medium high, 2 tablespoons of the cooking oil and the sesame oil. Quickly sear the pork pieces on all sides. Pour 1 cup of water into the pan and bring up to almost a boil. Turn it down to low immediately, cover and allow the pork to braise for 60 minutes.

While pork is cooking, prepare the vegetables. Clean the mushrooms slice the onions and ginger and chop the garlic.

When pork has finished braising for 60 minutes remove and allow the liquid to evaporate, so the pork is left to sauté in the remaining oil to brown.

Add the the onions, ginger pieces and the mushrooms to the pan. Season the veggies with Lawry’s and white pepper, cook until softened about 4-5 minutes. Toss in the garlic and cook for a few minutes more.

To finish, mix the cornstarch with one ¼ cup of water, addingt the Sriracha pour into the pan to deglaze.

Blend and cook together for 1 -2 minutes until sauce thickens. Serve hot over Jasmine rice.

This recipe has a number steps, you'll need to take your time and follow carefully. The picklling, for your topping and the cooking processes, for the octopus. Patience is a virtue...

Pickled Red Onions:

Ingredients:

• 1 medium red onion, thinly sliced (about 1 cup)
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 tsp. sugar
• Kosher salt

Preparation:

Place onion slices in a medium bowl. Pour vinegar and 1/2 cup warm water over onion. Stir in sugar and season with salt; let stand until slightly pickled, about 30 minutes and drain. Cover and refrigerate.

Grilled Octopus:

Ingredients:

• 1 bay leaf
• 1 pound of (2 to 3) octopuses, cleaned and rinsed
• 3 Cloves garlic, lightly crushed
• 1/2 cup of Olive oil
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon of Minced fresh oregano
• Micro Salad for garnish

Preparation:

In a saucepan, combine the octopus, crushed garlic, bay leaf, and water to cover. Bring to a boil over high heat. Turn the heat to down to medium, and simmer until the octopus is nearly tender. This should take about an hour or so. There are no hard and fast rules for timing. Some people say octopus should cook for about 30 minutes for two pounds, but the timing can be significantly longer or shorter depending on how tender the specimen. The safest approach is to check with the sharp point of a thin-bladed knife; with a two-pound octopus, you would begin checking after about 30 minutes. When it meets little resistance, as in a baked potato, the octopus is done. Do not cook further, or else it will begin to dry out and toughen again.

Cut the octopus into large pieces. Start a charcoal fire or gas grill; the rack should be about 4 inches from the heat source. As a basting sauce, combine the olive oil, lemon juice, and herb. Brush the octopus with this mixture and grill them on all sides until they become slightly crisp. As they come off the grill, brush them with a little more of the oil and lemon juice mixture.

Plate immediately with some pickled red onions on top and a garnish of micro salad. Take some of the remaining basting sauce and drizzle over the top.

Lost footage of Bruce Lee playing in a Table Tennis competition.

Wow he's good!

For those interested in anti-inflammatory foods and or beverages. I came up with this beverage you can drink all day-evey day, replacing the water you would normally consume daily. The bonus being that this beverage consists of highly anti-inflammatory and cleansing properties.

My source for the anti inflammatory information is http://nutritiondata.self.com/ 

Ingredients:

• ½ pound Raw Ginger Root skinned, rough chopped
• 1 small bunch Mint (about 20 leaves)
• 4 Lemons halved, squeezed
• 4 Tea bags
• 1 Cucumber seeded, chopped
• 6 quarts water
• 1 tablespoon Cayenne Pepper

Preparation:

First things first, peel and chop up the ginger. Fill a stock pot with 6 quarts of water and add the ginger. Cut the lemons in half and squeeze the juice into the pot. Bring up to boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 2 hour or until you have reduced to about 4 quarts. 

Turn off the heat and add the tea bags and mint leaves.  Let the bags steep for 20 minutes. Remove the tea bags and allow the liquid to cool.

Peel and scrape the seeds out from the cucumber. Chop the cucumber into pieces and place in a one quart blender.  Pull the ginger pieces out of the stock pot, with a slotted spoon (leaving the lemon halves) and add to that blender with ½ quart of the liquid, from the stock pot and the cayenne pepper.

Liquefy the contents for at least 5 minutes.  After you’ve blended well, add the liquid back to the stock pot and bring back to a boil. Allow to cool and separate, equally, into two 2 quart pitchers.

This liquid is concentrated. So when you want to use it, dilute with water and fortify with maple syrup (for a cleanse) or sweeten with Stevia.

• 1 pound dry pasta (recommended: elbow macaroni, shells, penne, etc.)
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard, or to taste
• ¼ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
• 2 cups grated sharp Cheddar cheese
• 1 cup grated Gruyere cheese
• 1 cup, plus ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 cup milk
• ¼ cup heavy cream
• 1 ½ cups Panko (Japanese) bread crumbs
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 6 slices bacon, cooked, reserve ¼ cup rendered bacon fat

 Béchamel Sauce:

• ¼ cup unsalted butter
• ¼ cup flour
• 3 cups hot whole milk
• ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
• Salt, to taste.
•  Pepper, freshly ground

Preparation:

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta until nearing al dente, but not fully cooked (2 minutes short); drain. Preheat the oven to 400° F. 

In the meantime start with the Béchamel Sauce Melt the butter in a 12 inch heavy-bottomed saucepan or oven safe skillet (like cast iron). Whisk in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, until the paste cooks and bubbles a bit, avoid browning, about 2 minutes. Add the hot milk, continuing to stir as the sauce thickens. Bring the sauce to a boil. Add the nutmeg, salt, and pepper, to taste. Reduce the heat, and cook, stirring for 2 to 3 minutes more. Remove from the heat.

Finish Building:

Over low heat, stir the dry mustard and cayenne pepper into the béchamel sauce. Gradually add the Cheddar, Gruyere, and 1 cup Parmesan cheese, stirring constantly until all of the cheese has melted into the béchamel sauce. Add an additional cup of milk and cream. Taste and adjust the seasonings, if needed.

In another skillet cook the bacon until crispy and golden brown. Remove the cooked bacon from the skillet, reserve 3 tablespoons rendered bacon fat.

Add the cooked pasta to the béchamel and stir to coat evenly with the sauce. In a small bowl, combine the bread crumbs, chopped parsley, and reserved bacon fat. Coat the bread crumbs and chopped parsley with bacon fat and sprinkle the mixture over the top of the macaroni. Sprinkle the top with ½ cup Parmesan cheese.

Bake until the top is browned and the sauce is bubbling, 20 to 25 minutes. Top with crumbled cooked bacon.

Let sit 5 minutes before serving.

Ingredients:

• 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cocoa powder
• 1 ½ cups vegetable oil
• 1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 2 tablespoons red food coloring
• 1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ! package Philadelphia Cream Cheese Indulgence Chocolate Flavor

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 (12-cup) muffin pans with cupcake papers.

In a medium mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder. In a large bowl gently beat together the oil, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla with a handheld or stand  mixer. Add the sifted dry ingredients to the wet and mix until smooth and thoroughly combined.

Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake tins about 2/3 filled. Bake in oven for about 20 to 22 minutes, turning the pans once, half way through. Test the cupcakes with a toothpick for doneness. Remove from oven and cool completely before frosting.

Spread the top of the cupcake with Philadelphia Cream Cheese Dark, White or Milk Chocolate Indulgence.