Steph the Chef

Purple Kale and San Marzano Tomatoes with Enoki Mushrooms

2011-07-11T11:11:00.001-07:00

The kale is pretty much my go to recipie, this time I brasied it for a bit with a can of San Marzano tomatoes. When I was at the market I saw the beautiful Enoki's and thought I would use them for a bit of texture. I sauteed them with rosemary, white wine, garlic and shallot just till tender. I topped the dish with some aged pecorino, the flavors melded together perfectly.

Wild Sockeye Salmon with Minted Pea Puree and Red Curry Sauce

2011-05-09T09:04:00.000-07:00

Since spring arrived I have been dreaming about a pea puree. I have been waiting for the markets to have fresh peas, but I think it's wishful thinking here in Texas. I made due with some really good frozen peas. The puree was bright and more delicious than I thought it would be since I used the frozen peas.

The curry sauce was pefectly balanced, I started it with a can of coconut milk on a low simmer and added a roughly cut shallot, smashed garlic clove, serrano chili, 1 stalk of lemon grass bruised and cut in half, a table spoon of red curry paste, some fesh cilantro and basil. I simmered it for about 30 mintues or so to develop flavors, strained it and added it back to the pan and let it reduce a bit more before plating.

The salmon is simply seasoned with salt and pepper in olive oil. Only a minute or so on each side to make sure it wasn't over cooked.

the dish was a mix of ideas that came together perfectly at the end. I was very pleased and so was my belly.

Spring Cucumber Salad

2011-04-26T07:24:00.000-07:00

Spring is finally here! I had a pot luck dinner at my fellow yogi Ed's house. He was making two curries, so I tought I'd make a nice bright salad. I used an English cucumber, a couple Fresno chilies, red and yellow baby tomatoes, dill, mint, radish sprouts, lemon zest, agave, really good oilve oil and salt and pepper to taste.

Warpaint

2010-10-15T06:56:00.000-07:00

Love this...

http://www.prefixmag.com/media/warpaint/undertow-video/44855/

Pizza Night

2010-06-01T12:54:00.000-07:00

Kale and Mushroom Pizza. I have been making quite a bit of pizza's lately. My absolute fav toppings are potato, kale, and truffle oil drizzled on top. Ridiculous.

summer salad & simple pasta

2010-06-01T12:36:00.001-07:00

A nice summer salad with clover micro greens and a stone ground mustard vineagarette.

I kept the pasta simple by infusing some olive oil by smashing garlic clove and a couple basil leaves and cooking it in the oil in a saute pan. I then removed the garlic clove and basil and added a can of chopped San Marzano tomatoes. I boiled the spaghetti and transferd it from the boiling water straight to the saute pan the cooking liquid is starchy and allows the sauce to coat the noodles easily and thicken it a bit. Topped it with some fresh Parmesan. Yum Yum.

Egg white omlette with Manchego

2010-06-01T12:28:00.000-07:00

Weekend breakfast. Nice and light, egg white omlette with crushed red pepper and a little shredded Manchego for some tangy saltiness. I accompanied it with a avocado baby heirloom tomato salad.

Eggplant Lasagna

2010-01-15T05:05:00.000-08:00

Winter in Houston, TX...my mother and I visited a local market here and picked up a couple beautiful eggplants. No bruises and nice bright green tops. It being so chilly I thought something hearty and cheesy would be absolutely delicious. I sliced and salted the eggplants to extract most of the water in them. If you simply slice and proceed to cook it with out this step you get a watery mess. It can be tedious but completely necessary. I placed the sliced eggplant on racks and sprinkle kosher salt on both sides and let them sit. After 15 minutes or so you will see the water drawn out. Then you simply use paper towels and wipe the salt and water off.

I started the sauce way before hand. I diced a whole Texas onion, a couple carrots and a few heads of garlic. Sauteed till soft and brown and added 3 large cans of San Marzano tomatoes. brought it to a boil and let it simmer for an hour or so. Right before I started to layer the lasagna I added a small handful of fresh Basil. I layered sauce, eggplant, sauce, fresh grated mozzarella, uncooked lasagna noodles and sauce again. I did this until it reached the top and topped it with cheese and fresh Parmesan. I baked it in a 350 degree oven until it was browned, bubbly and delicious. It sliced perfectly, super scrumptious!

lemon & rose water sponge cake

2009-10-04T13:23:00.000-07:00

Sunday morning sponge cake...I took a rest day from everything today. It was the first time in a long time that I spent the day at home. Needless to say I was still productive and made this sponge cake. I debated making a glaze to go on top of it but my mom talked me out of it. I think this cake would make a great tres leches.

Sunday Dinner

2009-09-30T11:30:00.001-07:00

This past Sunday I made dinner for my sis Kerrie, her boyfriend Robert & my old friend Minh.

Since I moved back to Houston they have been asking me to make them dinner. They finally got me to do it:)

On the menu...pan seared snapper with a brown butter sauce, oven roasted tomatoes with feta and dill, and sauteed kale with shitakes, fresno peppers, shallots and pine nuts.

I oven roasted the tomatoes with olive oil, salt, pepper at 425 for about 20 min, finished them under the broiler for a couple of minutes to get a little chard skin. I topped them with some french feta and minced fresh dill.

The snapper I pan seared in a bit of butter and olive oil. Started it skin side down to get the skin nice and crispy. I turned it over and finished it in a 350 degree oven. It was perfectly moist....perfect.

And of course my favorite thing in the world kale.....mmmmmmm. It was a nice combo with the shitakes and the pine nuts.

Okra and Peppers from my mom's organic garden

2009-08-27T13:10:00.000-07:00

My mom is truly blessed with a green thumb, she can grow anything. She had a nice bunch of okra and peppers and she asked me to make her some fried okra. My mom and dad love fried okra from Luby's Cafeteria, I promised them they would like my home made fried okra much better. After all I'm sure theirs is frozen from a bag. Since I moved back from LA I've been cooking for them daily...a true pleasure

She had quite a bit of okra so I used half for fried okra and the other half for a summer veggie goulash. I also made some red quinoa with shitakes and asparagus to go with it.

I made the fried okra by soaking the cut okra in buttermilk and some dry rub for seasoning from one of my customers http://www.bigronswebsite.com/ . Then I dredged it in a flour cornmeal mixture and fried it in peanut oil to a beautiful golden brown.

I had bulb of fennel in the fridge so I cut up some of it and fried it too....sooooo good. I guess anything fried is soooooo good. I liked the fennel the best!

Soup Sunday

2009-08-16T19:05:00.000-07:00

Sunday dinner for my mamma, John & I. On the menu...potato leek soup topped with grated provolone cheese and sauteed kale. For the soup I used two leeks, thyme, garlic, and white miso. it was very light no cream or butter. It was a hot summer day. The salad consisted of heirloom tomatoes, mint, basil, feta and olive oil. Fantastic quality ingredients simply dressed. Very yummy in my tummy.

Had my pokemons over for Sunday lunch

2009-06-07T21:48:00.000-07:00

Today was a moonday so no practice, this morning Karen and I hiked up Runyon with Turtle. i have been trying to spend as much time as possible with KC and Turtle before I have to move back to Houston. I'm really going to miss my partners in crime.

Afterwards we stopped by the farmers market on Larchmont to pick up some goodies for lunch. I usually don't go to that market but it was nice changing it up. I got some beautiful purple mizuna and golden pea shoots that I made a lovely salad with. It was very lightly dressed simply with a drizzle of olive oil, lemon juice and celtic sea salt.

To go along side the mizuna salad I macerated some baby cherry tomatoes. I didn't get these at the market, they are from Trader Joe's. I bought them a couple days ago and needed to use them . The tomato salad had chopped mint, cilantro, lemon zest, red onion, olive oil, salt and pepper.

Noriko showed up a little early to help cook. She is a lovely friend and I am going to miss her so much too. Especially the crazy crazy things she says, Noriko is brutally honest. She helped me make the chard and the truffle potatoes. The chard was sauteed in coconut oil with jalapeno, garlic and onion. i got the coconut oil a while ago and hadn't used it yet. It worked really well, very fragrant and very good for you. The potatoes were cubed and roasted. I finished them with a bit of truffle oil and Parmesan cheese, yummy in my tummy. It was a great afternoon, we finished it up with a coffee at say cheese. I'm really going to miss my pokemons.

Lunch for Karen and I

2009-05-19T10:37:00.000-07:00

I got some purple chard, avocados & tomatoes at the Santa Monica farmers market and made us a very healthy vegan lunch before I left for TX last week. I also made some roasted potatoes but I didn't take a picture of them.

Raw Pasta

2009-05-19T08:12:00.000-07:00

This is somewhat of a late post but, better late than never. A couple weeks before Sharath's work shop in San Fran I ate completely raw. This is a dish that I got from Julliano's raw cook book. The marinara sauce was spot on. I'd really like to keep up with the raw diet but it takes so much time and preparation. Also, it's hard to eat out and one of my favorite past times is eating out at fabulous eateries.

BBQ

2009-05-15T06:29:00.000-07:00

Summer has finally arrived! A couple of Sundays ago I had some friends over for a BBQ. Half were veggie and the others weren't. I haven't made any kind of meat in a long time so I thought I'd make some burgers. Everyone seemed to love them, I think they were a hit. On the menu Italian pub burgers, spinach tomato feta salad stacks, grilled zucchini, quinoa, and oven baked fries...

Italian pub burgers: I think one of the main components to a burger is the bun. For these little guys I used ciabatta that I toasted on the grill after the patties were resting. For the patties I added a little tomato paste and sun dried tomatoes to the pattie mixture. To assemble them I topped them off with a bit of raw tagglegio cheese from Say Cheese (a fantastic cheese shop in Silver Lake) and a single basil leaf.

The salad consisted of spinach, tomato, feta, and micro greens. For the dressing I made a stone ground mustard vinaigrette. My veggie plate, oven roasted fries, quinoa, grilled zucchini and tomato salad yums....

black bean quinoa wrap with mini heirloom tomato feta salad

2009-02-16T08:38:00.000-08:00

Sunday lunch....I love making veggie patties of all sorts. Yesterday I did a quinoa black bean patty for a wrap. I shaped them in a falafel like shape coated them with bread crumbs and browned em' in a saute pan with a little olive oil. The browning gave it a nice crunch but left them nice and soft on the inside. Wrapped them in Lavash with the tomato salad, micro greens, cucumber and a little yogurt sauce. Delicious!

orange chocolate mousse cake with french vanilla ice cream

2009-02-16T08:24:00.000-08:00

Valentines day dessert, flourless chocolate mousse cake. I used high quality 70% cacao dark chocolate and a bit of orange zest for a flowery note. I served it with a small scoop of french vanilla ice cream. It was very yummy.

Valentine's day breakfast

2009-02-16T08:13:00.000-08:00

I had a fantastic Valentines day, it started off just right...for breakfast I made us sprouted wheat french toast with apples and spiced pecans. The batter I used for the french toast was simply 3 egg whites, cinnamon and salt. A little spicyness from the pecans and sweetness from the apples were a perfect compliment.

Seattle, WA

2009-02-16T08:03:00.000-08:00

I made a trip to Portland, OR and Seattle, WA last week. I went to Pikes Market one afternoon to check out the fresh produce and fish. It was a great afternoon, but what made it even better was a grilled cheese that I had at the end. Bleecher's Hand made cheese shop, it's at the north end of the market and it was absolutely one of the best grilled cheese I have ever had.

zucchini ratatouille

2009-01-12T17:46:00.001-08:00

Dinner time, I wanted something rich and satisfying for dinner yesterday. I had quite a bit of produce and wanted to use it all before it went bad. So, I made a ratatouille-ish dish it didn't have eggplant or peppers but the flavors were spot on. I served it with quinoa and a tad of mozzarella cheese. We had some leftovers I ate them right after yoga today, even better.

I wouldn't normally make corn on the cob to go with this but, Anthony loves loves loves corn so I made two ears of it with a side of Parmesan and chile.

orange scented yogurt cupcakes with cream cheese icing

2009-01-12T16:50:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted anything is such a long time. This holiday season was extremely busy!

It was a beautiful afternoon and I haven't baked anything in such a long time so I decided to make some cupcakes. I took a look in the fridge and I didn't have any whole milk or buttermilk, I had some soy milk but I just don't like the way cupcakes turn out when I use it. In the back of the fridge I found some greek yogurt and decided to go with it. I made a bundt cake with yogurt before and it worked quite well it has the tangyness of buttermilk and the richness of sour cream. In the batter I also added the zest of two large oranges, I wanted the orange flavor to stand out and be very distinct. When I took the cup cakes out of the oven I knew they were absolutely perfect! I topped the cupcakes with cream cheese icing that I also added a little zest to.

Thanksgiving

2008-12-04T08:05:00.000-08:00

For Thanksgiving this year I spent it at my friends Ramzi and April's house, we had a potluck Thanksgiving. Some of my friends including myself didn't go home for the holidays so we decided to have a dinner. The dinner turned out great and was a lot of fun. For my deserts I made apple pie with crumb topping, pecan pie, and the two ricotta tarts. I took one tart to Ramzi and April's along with some roasted brussel sprouts, roasted acorn squash with agave and chile, and a arugula pomegranate goat chevre salad with a stone ground mustard vinaigrette.

Soft Chewy Lemon Vanilla Bean Cookies

2008-12-04T07:51:00.000-08:00

Holiday time rolls around and what's there to do besides make cookies? I made these a couple of weeks ago (been lagging on posting) for a customer of mine in Portland. The cookies are made basically from a normal chocolate ship base recipie that you find on the back of a Nestle Tollhouse chocolate chip bag, it's a standard cookie recipie. Everything depends on the ingredients you use, I try to always use the best eggs, butter and flour possible. I tend to change the recipie a bit by increasing the brown sugar by 1/4 cup and decreasing the white sugar by a 1/4 of a cup, it gives you a much softer chewy cookie. The vanilla bean I used were from a friend Elle, she got them while she was in Mysore. I also aded the zest of 3 lemons, gave them a nice zip.

roasted brussel sprout salad

2008-10-14T12:15:00.000-07:00

Last night for dinner I made this roasted brussel sprout salad. I started off roasting the brussel sprouts low and slow with olive oil, cracked black pepper, and grey salt. A lot of roasting recipes call for roasting in a 400 degree oven, sometimes more. I find by the time the brussel sprouts are soft they can be on the verge of being burnt. Roasting them in a lower degree oven for 15 - 20 minutes more insure a perfect canalization and tenderness.

Once they were finished roasting and cooled a bit, I made a quick ground mustard vinaigrette with lemon juice and agave nectar. Quickly tossed it with some micro greens and baby heirloom tomatoes.

The sweet and tangyness from the vinaigrette was perfect with the brussel sprouts. It was a perfect Monday night dinner.

Halloween cupcakes

2008-10-14T11:54:00.000-07:00

Last week I went to Target and saw these super cute Halloween cupcake holders and boxes. I love finding these, they are great to gift. The cupcakes I made were sour cream, lemon and a hint of coconut. The sour cream gives the cupcakes a fantastic texture. Just like a nice pound cake. The frosting was a basic butter cream with lemon zest and a dab of sour cream instead of milk. They were great! The sour cream gave the frosting a nice zing. I gave a box to Ramzi and April...Anthony came over a few days later and had a couple. They loved them.

Weekend breakfast

2008-09-28T10:28:00.000-07:00

Sunday breakfast, missed out on this one too. I'm going to a yoga workshop at 1pm. I'm totally ok with it. I have been looking forward to this workshop for a couple of weeks now.

Breakfast was pretty simple. Egg white omelet with a little sharp cheddar cheese, pan roasted fingerling potatoes, sliced tomato with grey salt and pepper, veggie sausage, oh and grands biscuits (from the can). I usually have some fresh bread from La Brea Bakery or sprouted sliced bread that I toast. For some reason while I was at the store I decided to buy them. I used to love them when I was younger. My mom, who lives in Houston, TX , used to make sausage or bacon gravy and smother grands biscuits with it. I would go back for seconds maybe thirds. I know I didn't make gravy but I think, some nice butter goes just as well and not so heavy.

Pan roasted potatoes, I have a full proof way for the perfect potato. Cut your potatoes any way you like, add a little olive oil to the skillet, salt and pepper the whole lot and cover with a lid. The steam will start to cook the potatoes while they are browning. Once, the potatoes start to brown I add about a 1/4 cup of water and cover with the lid again to continue the steaming. They turn out perfect every time.

Tofu stir fry with quinoa, oven roasted corn and tomato salad

2008-09-28T07:49:00.000-07:00

Last night's dinner was so good...
The base of the stir fry is some quinoa I made with sauteed sweet onions and chickpeas. I drained some firm tofu for about an hour or so , I really think this is key. Then I quickly pan fried it to a golden brown and removed the tofu from the pan. On to the veggies, I added some sweet onions, julienned carrots, one Anaheim pepper with the seeds, clove of garlic and cooked till softened and a little brown. Once that was finished I put the broccoli florets, haricot vert, tofu, and a couple of dashes of vegan Worcestershire sauce. The Worcestershire sauce really added a fantastic flavor and coated the veggies with just enough sauce.

For the sides I made some oven roasted corn and tomato salad with a stone ground mustard vinaigrette with a bean sprout micro green salad. Needless to say we polished it off.

Creamy Buckwheat Blueberry Bliss

2008-09-27T07:58:00.000-07:00

Thursday morning breakfast. It was the first time I made the Buckwheat. It turned out great and is a great alternative to oatmeal. Buckwheat is a fruit, not a grain, and is wheat free. A great way to keep you satisfied during the day. I topped the buckwheat with some walnuts, sunflower seeds, and pine nuts that I quickly toasted then puored a little maple syrup over them in the pan for a quick glaze. On the side, blueberries and bananas what a great combo.

breakfast trio

2008-09-24T17:36:00.000-07:00

I usually do not eat breakfast during the week. I can't eat before I do yoga so that cancels out breakfast for me 6 days out of the week unless it's a moon day (full or new moon) but, I love making breakfast for my sweetie. I kinda stole the plating from the goat cheese salad i had in Cabo.

This morning I made a fruit salad of strawberries, blueberries and blackberries. Hit it with a little agave, lemon, lemon zest and mint. Topped the salad with a dollop of Greek yogurt and some candied walnuts.

The two fruit salads are banana, cinnamon, grey salt and watermelon, mint and grey salt. I had some of the watermelon after yoga today, it was super ripe. I think I'm going to make a juice out of it, yum.

Goat cheese salad in Cabo.

2008-09-24T16:58:00.000-07:00

My first post, I have been wanting to start my food blog for a good while now. I just got back from vacation in Cabo. I stayed at the most beautiful place, Las Ventannas. I highly suggest it. During my stay I ate fantastic food and got totally inspired. On the second to last day we went to Palmilla (antoher high end resort 10 minutes away) to have dinner I had this deconstructed goat cheese, roasted beet and micro green salad with a Maytag blue cheese dust. It was perfectly proportioned and went oh so well with my Villa Maria Chardonnay while looking out on the Pacific. A truly beautiful evening.