Avocado Ricotta Crostini � Start Spreading the News

Michele and I were in Oakland recently, at a restaurant called Southie, when I saw something I�d never seen before; avocado and ricotta cheese paired together on a crostini. I didn�t order it, but was fascinated by the idea, and eventually it turned into what you see here.

By the way, everything we did have was great, so if you�re in the area, check them out. I don�t do a lot of shout-outs here, but that'll make me feel a little better about stealing their appetizer. They actually did theirs with the cheese spread on first, and then sliced avocado placed over the top, but I decided to go for something a little easier to serve, and went with a spread instead.

I found this to be a very delicious combination that was sort of unusual, and yet familiar at the same time. I did roughly equal parts cheese and avocado, but of course you can play around with this ratio, depending on your mood. The same goes for the garnishes, where any number of fresh, or pickled seasonal vegetables would work wonderfully, as would a scattering of crispy bacon.

As you know, we�re heading straight into the heart of entertaining season, and no matter what you decorate yours with, these beauties would make for a great appetizer or snack, which is just one reason I really do hope you give these avocado ricotta crostini a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for about 6 appetizer-sized portions:

1 large ripe Hass avocado

3/4 cup ricotta cheese (or more or less depending on the ratio you want)

1/2 lemon, juiced (you could also add some of the zest)

1 tablespoon finely sliced fresh basil

salt and cayenne to taste

sliced cherry tomatoes and radishes to garnish

drizzle of olive oil

pinch of sea salt and freshly snipped chives for the top

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Turkish Stuffed Eggplant (Karniyarik) � Splitting Bellies

�Karniyarik� means �split belly,� which refers to the technique used to stuff them, although depending on the size of your eggplant, it could also refer to you after enjoying this delicious dish. By the way, this was my first time making these, and when I mentioned in the video only doing 15 minutes of research before filming, I wasn�t joking. So, you�ve been warned.

Having said that, I thought these came out really well, and I would only tweak a couple minor things next time. I�d sprinkle the insides with salt before stuffing, since there wasn�t enough in my filling to season them to my taste. I�d also toss in some chopped parsley, which would have added a little freshness to the dish, although the dried rosemary did work nicely.

Lastly, I�d take the advice I got on Twitter, and serve them with a yogurt sauce, like our famous tzatziki. That would be an amazing condiment for these, since the cold, acidic sauce would be a perfect foil for the rich, aromatic, slightly sweet flavor profile. 

Since I�m fully admitting not knowing what I�m doing, I welcome any and all tips and tricks, but most of all, I really do hope you give these a try. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 4 Turkish Stuffed Eggplant (Karniyarik:

4 medium sized eggplant

olive oil as needed

1 yellow onion, diced

1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste

4 cloves garlic, crushed

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary

1/4 cup freshly chopped Italian parsley (I didn�t add, but you should)

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 pound ground lamb or beef
1 1/2 cups diced sweet and/or hot peppers

1 ounce (about 1 cup unpacked) finely, freshly grated Pecorino cheese, or whatever you�re into

1 cup chicken broth

- Roast eggplant at 400 F. until just barely soft, stuff, and continue baking until very tender.

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My Big Fat Greek Salad and Its Big Fat Unoriginal Name

I had a feeling I wasn�t the first person to think of this cinematic play on words, but like I said in the video, so many other people called this a big fat Greek salad, I figured I wouldn�t get in too much trouble. If I had to guess, it was probably the caterer on the set of the movie who first coined the name, or at least I hope so.

This is such a simple salad that there�s no need for me to share a bunch of tips and tricks, although I will reiterate the most important instruction of all.  Be sure to toss the salad with the vinegar first, before adding the olive oil. If you don�t, it will not taste as good. Which reminds me, giving the amounts here is very difficult, since this really should be made to your tastes, so please use the ingredient list below as a very rough outline.

If you need to make this the day before, I suggest making the dressing separate, and then mixing everything before the event.  I think this should only be dressed about 30 to 60 minutes before service for maximum enjoyment, but that�s just my approach, and some folks prefer an overnight marination. Regardless of how long you let your ingredients �marry,� you�re going to be enjoying one amazing salad, which is why I really do hope you give this a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 1 Big Fat Greek Salad:

2 large English cucumbers

2 cups halved cherry tomatoes

1/4 red onion, thinly sliced

1/2 red bell pepper, diced

1 cup sliced olives

2 tablespoons minced fresh oregano, or 1/2 teaspoon of dried

salt, freshly ground black pepper, cayenne to taste

1/4 cup red wine vinegar, or to taste

1/3 cup olive oil, or to taste

4 to 6 ounces feta cheese

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Cabbage Patch Halibut � Come On, Use Your Head

Don�t worry; this cabbage-wrapped fish recipe has nothing to do with those creepy dolls. I just thought �cabbage patch halibut� sounded a little more enticing that the other names I was considering. 

Although, anything with the word cabbage in it isn�t going to have people�s mouths watering, which is how we got �coleslaw.� Despite all that, this really is one of easiest, and most delicious ways you can cook fish. 

The leaf not only keeps the halibut moist, but also holds all your assorted garnishes and seasonings tight against the meat, which creates an even more intensely flavored final result. Just be sure to save the rest of the head, since once chilled, and sliced thin, it makes for a very interesting salad. Or simply slice it thickly, and fry it up with a few sausages.  

This technique should work no matter what fish and ingredients are used, but you may have to adjust the cooking time. The type, size and shape of your fish filet are all variables that affect how long this is going to take. Best to check with a thermometer, and I generally go to for something between 130-135 F. for halibut, but other fish have different target temps, so do some research.

One last tip is to make sure you cut your other ingredients nice and thin, so they�re able to cook during the relatively short roasting time. Other than that, you are only constrained by your imagination. So, whether you put your own twist on this or not, I really do hope you give it a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 2 Portions of Cabbage Patch Halibut:

2 teaspoons butter for the pan

2 boneless, skinless halibut filets (about 7 ounces each)

salt and cayenne to taste

2 large steamed cabbage leaves

1 tablespoon thinly sliced fresh ginger

1 Fresno chili pepper, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons sliced green onions

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1/4 teaspoon sesame oil

fresh cilantro leaves to garnish

2 tablespoons miso butter (2 tablespoons butter mixed with 1 or 2 teaspoons of white miso, or to taste)

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Spicy Pork & Vegetable Tofu � Probably Not Mapo Tofu

This might look like I was trying to make a version of a famous Chinese dish called mapo tofu, but that's not the case, and in fact, I'm pretty sure I was making this before I knew what mapo tofu was. And now that I�ve addressed the people that were going to complain this isn�t authentic, we can continue.

I'm assuming that whatever I did get this idea from was most likely a version of mapo, but that's as far as it goes. Which reminds me, this is a great recipe to adapt to your own tastes, not only with the sauce ingredients, but also in regards to what vegetables you include.

Zucchini is our favorite, especially if you take the extra 15 minutes to salt it, but pretty much any dice-able seasonal vegetables will shine. So, please keep this one in mind as you browse the farmers market, but no matter what you put in, I really do hope you a give this delicious tofu dish a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 4 Portions:

1 1/4 pounds ground pork

1 pound firm tofu, cubed (my package was 14 ounces)

handful of sliced green onions

minced hot chili peppers, as much as you like

3 small zucchini, cubed, toss with 1 tablespoon kosher salt (rinse after 15 minutes)

freshly chopped cilantro to finish

sliced green onions for the top

For the sauce:

3 tablespoons Korean chili paste aka Gochujang, or other chili paste product to taste (click here to read a little more about Gochujang)

1/3 cup rice vinegar

1/4 cup hoisin sauce

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon ketchup

1 tablespoon sesame oil

4 cloves minced garlic

1 tablespoon finely grated ginger

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2018 Garden Harvest (July - August)

Planting and caring for a vegetable garden is hard work, but it's definitely worth it in the end. There's nothing more satisfying than harvesting vegetables that you have started from seed!  Anxiously waiting, watching and hoping for a good harvest. Today I'm sharing another garden update on our 2018 vegetable garden and all the vegetables that we finally were able to harvest. 

We had plenty of yellow squash and for awhile we were harvesting at least 5 a day. 

More yellow squash, but only a few zucchini this year. Next year I am definitely going to try the Burpee Sure Thing Zucchini, because I haven't been lucky at getting hardly any zucchini the last couple of years. 

We tried our hand at pole beans this year, but were a bit disappointed. We didn't harvest near as much as when we grew bush beans the year before. 

Peppers, peppers and more peppers and of course loads and loads of pickling cucumbers. 

I was picking at least 10 cucumbers a day for about a month, so I have a pantry full of delicious pickles.

This was our first year at rowing pepperoncinnis and we had a great harvest. 

More bell peppers and lots of jalapenos. 

Our corn did wonderful, but the fields rats eventually got a hold of them. This is the second year this happened so we are not sure if we will be growing corn again. All that work and they cleaned out all of it overnight. 

Our peach tree was filled to the brim with beautiful peaches. 

We harvested a huge laundry basket full. I have so much peaches in the freezer as well as peach jam.  We still have plenty of potatoes and peppers growing and our tomato plants are finally coming along. All in all so far it's been a pretty good year.

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Summer Tomato Tart � Better Than a Nude Beach

One of these days Michele and I will travel to the south of France, where we�ll make it a point to eat this amazing tomato tart at least once a day. It�s going to be hot, since we�ll have to go in the middle of summer, so we can enjoy the best possible tomatoes, but that�s fine, as long as they don�t run out of chilled ros�.

While beautiful in its own way, this tart doesn�t necessarily look like it�s going to be one of the most delicious things ever, but then you bite into the crispy, buttery crust, which is the perfect delivery system for the tangy Dijon, and sweet, caramelized tomatoes, and you�re like, yeah, that guy was right.

By the way, if you want to learn some really good French swear words, call this a �French pizza� in front of a French chef. They don�t quite agree with the analogy. However, there is one common denominator. Both can be ruined with too much topping. Just like we don�t want to overload a thin-crust pizza with a ton of sauce and cheese, we need to be restrained with this as well.

One layer of tomato is plenty, since more than that will make for a too wet tart, which means your pastry will not stay crispy. Besides that, there�s not much that can go wrong, unless you use subpar tomatoes. But, since we�re right in the middle of peak season that shouldn�t be a problem, so I really do hope you give this tomato tart a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

enough puff pastry to make your shell

enough extra-strong Dijon mustard to sauce the inside

enough sliced tomatoes to fill the tart with a single layer

salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

several big pinches of Herbes de Provence (or an Italian herb blend if you can�t find)

extra-virgin olive oil, as needed

freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, as needed

fresh chopped herbs to garnish

- Pre-bake tart shell for about 10 minutes at 400 F.

- Let cool about 10-15 minutes, then fill and bake at 400 F. for about 25-30 minutes, or until pastry is well-browned and crisp.

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