Scallop Tacos with Avocado Salsa Verde and Cumin Scented Slaw

Scallop Tacos with Salsa Verde

Scallop Tacos with Salsa Verde

This dish combines two of my favorite things: seafood and tacos. I’m not sure when I became such a huge fan of seafood. Maybe the lack of availability in Minnesota, where I grew up, made me appreciate it more once I moved to the East Coast. I now cook with seafood any chance I get, especially if the seafood is caught locally or by someone I know. And this is exactly how I came up with these scallop tacos with avocado salsa verde and cumin scented slaw recipe.

The north fork of Long Island is full of wonderful fish and seafood from the surrounding Peconic bay and Long Island Sound. I often look forward to long days of clamming in the summertime or slurping fresh oysters in late fall. This year there was an abundance of bay scallops in wintertime. I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to cook with these at my father’s place out on the North Fork. These fresh little bites of the sea are so tender and sweet. They are perfect in salads, soups, stews, or just by themselves but paired with creamy avocado and tangy tomatillos, they really come alive.

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Eggs Jalisco

Eggs Jalisco Style

Eggs Jalisco Style

If there’s one type of cuisine my grandmother knew well, it’s Mexican. She and my grandfather took frequent trips to Mexico. While my father and uncle were off misbehaving, my grandmother explored the vibrant crafts and flavorful foods. She learned how to cook both traditional and untraditional dishes, adding her own twist when they returned to New York. Eggs Jalisco is an example of just that: traditional Mexican flavors with a twist …two twists actually because I couldn’t help but add fresh avocado and tomato as well.

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Baked Sriracha BBQ Chicken

Sriracha BBQ Chicken

Sriracha BBQ Chicken

Have you heard of a little hot sauce called Sriracha? This Asian inspired chili sauce phenomenon continues dominate condiment sales across the US and seems to be a never ending trend. I’m a big fan so it was only a matter of time before this tasty spicy sauce made into one of my recipe posts. Combining an old fashioned classic BBQ sauce with hot sriracha seemed like a natural step. The sweet and spicy flavors of this sauce and tender pieces of chicken are like long lost friends. This pairing was meant to be.

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Turkey Chili with All The Fixins

Turkey Chili with all the Fixins

Turkey Chili

Warming one pot meals are a welcome site this time of year. After shoveling multiple inches of snow in the bone-chilling cold, coming home to a hot steaming bowl of chili could not be more comforting. Plus this chili is healthy (bonus!). I used turkey instead of beef for this lowfat version but the spices and an uncommon special ingredient round out the flavors of this dish to make it just as tasty as the beef version. The special ingredient is chocolate. Yes, chocolate. Not the sweet kind but unsweetened and no, you won’t taste it. It simply adds a deep rich flavor to the chili.

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Classic Baked Lasagna

Lasagna No Ricotta

Lasagna No RicottaUntil recently, I’ve made very few lasagnas in my life. It always seems like a long process for an average, everyday pasta dish that appears on the menu at almost every red-sauce Italian restaurant. But this lasagna has changed my mind. I give credit to the absence of one of the most common ingredients in lasagna: ricotta cheese. I don’t have a particular problem with ricotta. The crumbly, almost grainy like texture doesn’t bother me like it does some people. I even thought I liked it in lasagna but that was before I tried replacing the ricotta with a basic béchamel sauce. The simple French sauce made of butter, flour, and milk (or cream) is often used as the base for many other sauces (like the cheesy sauce in baked mac & cheese). In this lasagna, the béchamel sauce adds an unexpected smooth creaminess to the dish without making it overwhelmingly rich.

This lovely classic was adapted from John Clancy’s Cookbook, “John Clancy’s Favorite Recipes.” Another talented friend of my grandmother, John Clancy was a chef and restaurateur who like my grandmother, was mentored by James Beard. He later opened his own culinary school and authored a number of cookbooks. Although he was known for his fish and seafood recipes (and baking recipes in his inner circle), this lasagna recipe is exceptionally tasty. I did, however; make some modifications. The original recipe instructions state to cook the tomato sauce for 4 hours. Who has that kind of time?! I’m sure it might make a more flavorful sauce but a tasty one can be made in under 30 minutes and then allowed to simmer while the pasta and béchamel are prepared. Instead of a combination of ground veal, pork, and beef – which I’m sure is delicious – I decided to keep it simple by just using beef (ground turkey could also be used). And lastly, I added cheese! A sprinkle of parmesan on top was just not enough so I added both grated parmesan and mozzarella between each layer. Ricotta lover or not, this classic lasagna will quickly become your favorite and replace that tomato sauce-drenched version from the local mediocre Italian restaurant.

Ingredients:

Meat Sauce

4 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 lbs ground beef
1 cup finely chopped onion
6 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 – 28 oz cans crushed tomatoes
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
1/2 cup fresh basil, shredded or chopped (or 1 1/2 teaspoons dried)
salt and pepper

Bechamel Sauce

3 cups light cream
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
6 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 lb lasagna noodles
1 cup Parmesan cheese
1/2 lb shredded mozzarella (or one 8 ounce package)

For the meat sauce:

In a large, heavy skillet, heat the oil until it is very hot. Add ground beef and brown, breaking up meat with a fork or spatula. Drain fat. Stir in onion and garlic and saute until translucent. Season with salt and pepper. Add tomato paste and cook a minute longer. Add the crushed tomatoes, oregano, dried basil (if using fresh, wait to add until right before building lasagna), and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer. Continue to simmer while preparing the bechamel and lasagna noodles.

Heat the water for the lasagna noodles and cook according to package instructions while preparing the bechamel. A tablespoon of oil can be added to the water to help prevent the noodles from sticking. Cook until just slightly resilient to the bite.

For the bechamel sauce:

Place the light cream in a small saucepan. Heat cream until hot and set aside.

Melt the butter in a heavy 1 quart saucepan, add the flour, and stir until smooth. Whisk in hot cream and place the saucepan over high heat, bringing the sauce to a boil and whisking constantly. When the sauce is very thick, lower the heat and cook for an additional 3 minutes. Add the salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Remove from heat and set aside.

To assemble lasagna:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spread a thin layer of the meat sauce on the bottom of a 9 x 12 x 3 inch casserole. Spread about 1/4 of the bechamel sauce on top. Add a 1/4 of the Parmesan and mozzarella. Add a layer of pasta on top. Repeat layering three more times, ending with meat sauce bechamel and cheese.

Bake in a preheated oven until lasagna is bubbling hot, about 30 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool 5 minutes before serving.

Adapted from “John Clancy’s Favorite Recipes,” by John Clancy.

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