Watercress and Tofu Dip

• 2 scallions
• 2 bunches or 2 bags of B&W Watercress (8 ounces)
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 12-ounce package silken tofu
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Place all ingredients in a food processor or blender. Mix until smooth. Serve with crackers, fresh veggies or spread onto pita bread or warm baguette slices.

Watercress facts:  Packed with antioxidants, phytochemicals, iron, folate, calcium and vitamins B and C, watercress is a true superfood.  Recent research has shown that it may also have cancer suppressive properties.

For more watercress chef recipes and green goodness, check out our Watercress Soup Recipe, and Chef John’s mouthwatering version of Julia Child’s Chicken with Watercress.

Green Watercress Soup
Chef Noel C. Cullen

Serves: 8

Soup Ingredients:
*1 large onion, diced
*1/2 cup diced leek
*1/2 cup diced celery
*2 tablespoons butter
*2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
*1 quart chicken or vegetable stock
*1/2 cup heavy cream
*6 ounces watercress, well washed
*1/2 cup of whipped heavy cream for garnish
*8 sprigs of watercress for garnish
Drop Scones Ingredients:

*3/4 cup all-purpose flour
*1 teaspoon salt
*1 teaspoon baking powder
* 2 tablespoons milk
*2 eggs
*1/4 cup melted butter
*1 tablespoon chopped mixed fresh herbs, such as parsley, basil, and rosemary
*4 tablespoons safflower oil

Soup

1. In a 2-quart heavy-bottomed saucepan, over medium-high heat, sweat the onion, leek, and celery in butter, until soft.
2. Add potato and chicken or vegetable stock. Simmer gently, uncovered, 25 minutes.
3. Add cream and watercress and simmer, 2 minutes. In a food processor fitted with a steel blade, puree until smooth.
4. Season to taste.

Scones

1. Sift together the flour, salt, and baking powder.
2. Blend in milk, eggs, butter, and herbs.
3. Pass this batter through a fine-mesh strainer into a small bowl. Refrigerate, covered with plastic wrap, I0 minutes.
4.  Heat the safflower oil in a heavy-bottomed pan. Pour a tablespoon of batter onto the pan. Cook on both sides, about 30-40 seconds per side or golden brown.

Presentation
Pour soup into warmed plates. Garnish with a swirl of whipped cream and top with a tiny sprig of watercress.  Serve warm drop scones separately.

More authentic Irish recipes from the legendary Chef Cullen are available in his cookbook, Elegant Irish Cooking.

It was previously a secret recipe from a chef in the now sadly closed Bear Creek Bed and Breakfast Inn in Telluride, a delicious french toast casserole with a decadent fluffy maple butter sauce. Although the B&B is over, this amazing recipe needs to live on, spread the word!

Make the bread portion the night before, and whip up the fluffy maple sauce in the morning.

Telluride Night Before French Toast
Bear Creek Inn

Ingredients for the night before:
One loaf of French bread, cut into 1-inch slices
8 large eggs
3 cups milk
4 teaspoons sugar
1/3 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon vanilla

In the morning ingredients: Fluffy Maple Sauce
1-1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 egg yolk
1 egg white, stiffly beaten

Grease 9 x 13-inch baking pan with butter. Arrange bread slices in one layer in pan. Beat the eggs, milk, sugar, salt, and vanilla. Pour over bread. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

To bake: Remove cover. Dot with butter. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 45 to 50 minutes or until bread is bubbly and lightly browned. Remove from oven and let stand for 5 minutes.

Fluffy Maple Sauce: Thoroughly cream together confectioner’s sugar, butter, maple syrup, and egg yolk. Fold in the stiffly beaten egg white. Chill. Makes 2 cups of sauce.

May also be served with syrup, yogurt or sour cream, and fresh fruit.

Recently, Martha Stewart visited the White House and spent some time with White House executive chef Cristeta Comerford.   Here is the part we love: Cristeta has held the White House executive chef title since 2005, is the first female chef to be selected for the position, and is also the first chef of Filipino descent in the White House.

We were thrilled to open our email and find this!  The delicious staff from the Martha Stewart Show have shared two of chef Cristeta’s recipes with us, healthy comfort food favorites of the Obama’s.  The first is a turkey vegetable lasagna, and the second a winter green salad with crunchy goodness:  apple and spiced walnuts.   Give them a try and play president for a day!

TURKEY LASAGNA WITH SPINACH

Cristeta Comerford, white house chef
SERVES 6

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup chopped yellow onion
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound fresh ground turkey
1 (28-ounce) can plum tomatoes, crushed
1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
16 cooked lasagna noodles
15 ounces low-fat ricotta or low-fat cottage cheese
¾ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 large egg, beaten
2 pounds fresh spinach, washed, but not dried
1 pound low-fat shredded mozzarella cheese

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion
and cook until translucent. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute more. Add
ground turkey and cook for about 10 minutes. Add plum tomatoes, tomato
paste, and season with salt and pepper; let simmer until thickened, about 20
minutes. Stir in basil and parsley; set aside.

3. In a medium bowl, combine ricotta, ½ cup parmesan cheese, and
egg; season with salt and pepper and set aside.

4. Place damp spinach in a large skillet over medium heat; cook
until wilted. Remove from heat and set aside.

5. Ladle one-quarter of the turkey mixture into a 9-by-13-inch
baking dish; spread to cover. Add a pasta sheet, one-third of the
mozzarella, one-third of the ricotta mixture, one-third of the spinach
mixture and another quarter of the turkey mixture. Repeat process two more
times; top with remaining sheet of past. Sprinkle remaining ¼ cup Parmesan
over top; transfer to oven. Bake until bubbly, 25 to 30 minutes.

6. Let stand about 5 minutes before cutting; serve.

WINTER GREEN SALAD WITH WHITE HOUSE HONEY APPLE CIDER VINAIGRETTE

Cristeta Comerford, white house chef
SERVES 6

1 pound mixed winter greens, such as chicory, frisee, tatsoi, spinach, or
arugula
½ fresh fennel bulb, thinly sliced crosswise
1 Granny Smith apple, julienned
1 cup Spiced Walnuts (recipe follows)
½ cup White House Honey-Apple Cider Vinaigrette (recipe follows)
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

Place greens, fennel, apple, and walnuts in a large bowl; add vinaigrette
and toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper.

SPICED WALNUTS

Cristeta Comerford, white house chef
MAKES 1 CUP

1 cup walnut halves
½ cup confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon store-bought Cajun spice mix

Toast walnuts in a medium skillet over medium heat until fragrant, about 5
minutes. Add confectioners’ sugar and cook, tossing nuts, until sugar is
melted. Season with Cajun spice; remove from heat and let cool.

WHITE HOUSE HONEY AND APPLE CIDER VINAIGRETTE

Recipe origin: Cristeta Comerford, white house chef
MAKES ABOUT 1 ½ CUPS

½ cup honey
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
Juice of 1 lemon
1 shallot, minced
¾ cup extra-virgin olive oil
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

In a small bowl, whisk together honey, vinegar, lemon juice, and onion.
Slowly whisk in olive oil to form an emulsion. Season with salt and pepper.

Today, the fabulous chefs from the Tonga Room Restaurant in the SF Fairmont have shared with us a healthy delicious recipe. It’s an exotic Asian green papaya salad with chili garlic dressing topped with honey roasted peanuts. Enjoy!

Papaya Salad
The Tonga Room Restaurant, Fairmont Hotel San Francisco
Serves 6

Sweet Garlic & Chili Dressing:

• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• ¼ cup rice wine vinegar
• 3 tbsp lime juice
• 1 tbsp minced ginger
• 1 tbsp dry mustard
• ¼ cup sweet chili sauce
• 2 cups canola oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Candied Peanuts:

• 2 lbs peanuts
• 1 cup honey
• ½ cup water
• ½ cup sugar
• 2 tbsp of salt
• 1 tbsp cayenne pepper

Salad:

• 1 green papaya peeled & julienne (cut 1/8″ X 1/8″ X 1 ½”)
• 4 scallions chopped
• 1 carrot julienned
• 1 red bell pepper julienne
• ¼ lb rice noodles cooked al dente
• 1 heart of romaine lettuce chopped

Prep:
Sweet Garlic & Chili Dressing:

• Mince ginger and garlic.
• Place in blender with the sweet chili sauce, vinegar, lime juice and dry mustard.
• Blend ingredients and slowly add oil and emulsify.

Candied Peanuts:

• First roast peanuts until golden brown.
• Then put peanuts in a thick bottom stock pot over medium heat.
• Add honey, salt, sugar, water, and cayenne and cook for 3 minutes constantly stir.
• When done pour onto a sheet pan with parchment paper and let them cool.
• Once they are cooled rough chop them in a food processor.

Salad:

• Mix ingredients with ¼ cup of dressing and 3 tablespoons of candied peanuts in a bowl and serve.
• Garnish with the candied peanuts.

In this video he shows Epicurious how simple it is to make fresh butter, in less than 15 minutes.   This recipe uses only one ingredient:  heavy cream.  Daniel recommends using the best you can find, “which usually means organic cream from a small producer”.  In this recipe he uses whipping cream from California’s Straus Family Creamery, which comes from grass fed cows and is about 36% butterfat.

Here’s his simple technique:

Fresh Butter
1 half gallon of whipping cream (this makes a quite a bit, for home use you could half this and use 2 pints, aka 1 quart, for 2 cups of butter. A basic rule of thumb is that 1 pint of cream will yield 1 cup of butter.)

Add the cream to a mixing bowl, and enclose the area between the top of the  bowl and the top of the mixer with plastic wrap to avoid a mess.  Using an electric mixer, beat on #6 until mixture thickens a bit, and then increase to #7 setting, for a total of 6 minutes.  Place the mixture into a colander or strainer, let the fresh buttermilk drain out.  Squeeze with your hands to expel as much liquid as possible.  Mix in salt if desired.  Add herbs or flavorings if a compound butter is desired, and roll the butter into a log with plastic wrap. Use within 2 weeks.

Regarding flavorings, the possibilities are endless!  Chop the ingredients as finely as possible, and keep at room temperature for 2 hours (before rolling) so that the flavors may blend.  Some delicious variations for compound butter:

• Chipotle pepper with cilantro and lime butter (for sweet corn) from Chef Brett Bannon
• Fresh berries, cinnamon,or honey and toasted pecans for a pancake or breakfast toast topping
• A garlic and lemon, or chardonnay and shallot butter for sauteeing or baking with fish or shellfish
• Fresh basil and sundried tomatoes to top pasta or warm baguette slices
• Roasted garlic, shallots, or fresh chive butter for potatoes, bread, or vegetables.

If you have a favorite compound butter recipe, please do share with us in the comments below.

Ingredient wise, it all boils down to the country of origin. Fish sauce is a principal cooking ingredient for curries, sauces, pastes and condiments in Thai, Vietnamese, Filipino, and several other Southeast Asian countries.  It always includes some type of fermented fish, but the type of fish varies, as well as the ingredients and spices added to it. In general, most fish sauces are made of three simple ingredients:  fish, water, and salt.   Anchovies are the most common fish used in fish sauce.

Now we’re going to get Alton Brown style geeky with you.  Fish sauce, as well as aged cheeses and meats contain glutamates, the salts of the amino acid glutamic acid.  Glutamates are flavor enhancers, and are the essential component of the hard to describe savory flavor known as Umami.  So there is a scientific reason why fish sauce tastes good!

So, what brand of fish sauce is best? Of course that all depends on your personal tastes. Chef Ming Tsai recommends the Three Crabs brand, and Chowhounders here discuss several favorites, including:  Golden Boy and Tra Chang from Thailand, and Colatura di Alici from the Amalfi Coast of Italy.

Does it go bad? Listen, everything goes bad eventually, everything!  Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Watch this video from Chow featuring Chef and Asian food expert Corinne Trang as she explains when it’s time to toss the sauce.

©Modern Luxury Magazine

Chef William Bradley is the executive chef of Addison, the signature restaurant of the The Grand Del Mar resort in San Diego.  Here’s some recent praise for the chef from Troy Johnson of Modern Luxury Magazine:

“Paging Bravo! William Bradley’s time in the lights is now. He recently became the only Southern California chef to be anointed with both the AAA Five-Diamond Award and the Mobil Five-Star Award for his contributions to the mouth. The brainy charmer’s kitchen at the San Diego-based Grand Del Mar’s Addison restaurant is a sanctuary—not a single knife or shallot out of place. This obsessive attention to detail shows in his food, as well: think clean, perfectly separated tastes of wild leek vichyssoise with bacon crémeux, brioche and fennel pollen.”

In today’s featured restaurant recipe, the chef shares a simple to prepare yet elegant appetizer featuring stuffed cremini mushrooms. And did you know? Cremini mushrooms are nutrient packed, trumping all other mushrooms and many vegetables in levels of copper, potassium, Vitamin B2 (riboflavin), and the antioxidant selenium. You can view the comparisons in a chart from the Mushroom Council here.

Marinated Cremini Mushrooms Stuffed With A Caper and Crab Salad
Chef William Bradley
4 servings

Ingredients

16 cremini mushrooms
To taste Fleur de Sel sea salt
3 cups extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves
4 whole shallots, sliced
2 cups picked Dungeness crabmeat
½ cup mayonnaise
½ cup chopped chives
½ cup chopped capers
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Directions
Method for Marinated Creminis:
Place cremini mushrooms on a roasting tray, sprinkle with sea salt. Place in a preheated 350-degree Fahrenheit oven for 15 minutes. Remove mushrooms and rest for an additional 15 minutes. In a mixing bowl, add olive oil, garlic, shallots and mushrooms. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 48 hours.

Method for Caper Crab Salad:
In a mixing bowl, add crab, mayonnaise, chives, capers and lemon juice. Make sure all ingredients are mixed thoroughly.

Assembly:
Remove mushrooms from marinade. Divide mushrooms among 4 plates and place a generous amount of crab mixture on top of the mushrooms.