Taco Tuesday: Gochujang tofu, peanut slaw and grilled miso eggplant

This week for Taco Tuseday I am going to take a culinary journey to the far east in the gochujang laden land of Korea. This taco is vegan and also gluten free. Gochujang is a sweet and spicy fermented red chili paste. You can make it yourself, but you wont have bad results if you use store bought. I like to use Annie Chung's gochujang, and it says on the bottle it really "good on everything". This is a vegan taco, but if you had not known before hand you probably would think the tofu was egg and the eggplant was steak( yes its that good). The only thing you want to do ahead of time is deal with the eggplant. Soaking salted eggplant is essential for having tasty eggplant. If you do this over a bowl you will notice that a brown liquid comes out, this is a bitter liquid (if you don't believe me try some of the juice and you will be salting and soaking your eggplant in the future). They can be soaked for at least on hour, then hit them with your marinade overnight for some serious umami joy. 

Ingredients:

1 block extra firm tofu

1 package Tortillas

1 cup chopped scallion

1 medium eggplant

1 cucumber

2 carrot

2 limes

4 tbsp gochujang (korean hot pepper paste)

4 tbsp peanut butter

2 tbsp sesame oil

1 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp rice vinegar

2 tbsp dark miso paste

sesame seed fo garnish

Instructions:

First thing your going to do is ready your eggplant. Do the soak and marinade involved --  with this it would be best to start the night before or in a bind 4-5 before hand. Slice your eggplant into 1/2 circles. Put on a wire rack over the sink or big pot, and salt both sides, coating thoroughly. Let salt draw the bitter juices out of eggplant, rinse salt off put in bowl one hour later. Then mix dark miso with 1/2 cup water, mix well. Coat eggplant in miso mixture, cover and let marinate overnight. If you dont have time due, note that the longer the marinade the better the flavor.

Cut your cucumber and carrot in a matchstick fashion, and put in mixing bowl. Add in 1/2 chopped scallion to bowl. Add 2 tbsp sesame oil, 4tbsp peanut butter, 1tbsp soy sauce, 2tbsp rice vinegar into bowl. Mix vegetables and dressing well. Cover and let sit in fridge to develop flavor.

Heat up large dutch oven or skillet with 1-2 tbsp of sesame oil. When pan starts smoking, start crumbling in your tofu. Crumble by squeezing pieces of the tofu between your hands -- squeeze vigorously.  Let your tofu start brown, stirring occasionally. When tofu has gotten a nice brown, add in a mixture of 3tbsp gochujang to 1/2 cup water. Also add in 1/2 cup chopped scallions.Let cook down for 2-3 minutes, equally coating all tofu in gochujang sauce.

Heat up your Tortillas in pan -- medium hot pan, couple minutes on each side. Set aside

While tofu is cooking heat up a grill pan (if you dont have a grill pan you can use a skillet). Put marinated eggplant on grill pan, cookin 2-3 minutes per side. Make sure your eggplant has good char marks on them if using a grill pan. Take off heat, cut into strips and put aside.

You are now ready to assemble your taco. Start first layer of taco with tofu gochujang mixture. Then lay out strips of eggplant. Top with peanut slaw, sesame seeds and dollop of gouchujang sauce for extra spicy and flavor. Serve with slice of lime. 

Nosh Hard. Nosh Burlington.

Weekly Nosh: Slider Trio

Feeds 3 for hearty dinner.

Nosh Burlington has been on a bit of a hiatus -- but rest assured NB is coming back better then ever. 

To start things off with a bang I'm putting up my slider trio recipe. This recipe comes from my love of tapas and smaller bites. I've found that when eating a burger, as tasty as it may be, I find myself getting bored of it before I'm done. The idea of 3 smaller sliders making up a dinner plate excites my palate in a way that a single burger just can't do. 

At first this recipe might seem intimidating, but with a little practice it can be whipped up in under an hour. The hardest part is getting your falafel to the right consistency. The easy fix for this possible roadblock is to do a test batch. I test batch all my burgers before doing the final product. With the turkey and beef simply grill up a small patty -- and if it tastes good, you're set. If it is lacking, spice it up and try again. The same goes for the chickpea, make a small patty and fry it up. Keep in mind the burger patty element is meant to stand out for its own flavor and the topping is there to help compliment it. Don't over spice your patties (every time you over-spice a patty a baby seal gets clubbed).

Burgers:

Beef

1 pound ground beef

1/2 tbsp garlic salt
s+p to taste

Turkey

1 pound ground turkey

1/4 cup fresh chopped sage

s+p to taste

   











Chickpea

1 can chickpeas, smushed

1/2 cup chopped parsley

1/4 cup garlic

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 large egg

1/2 cup panko

2 tbsp cumin

1tbsp coriander

s+p to taste

                                                                     

Sauces:

Cranberry Crema

1 cup fresh cranberries

1/4 cup orange juice

1/4 cup greek yogurt

1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup sugar

Harrissa Feta Spread

1/2 cup feta

1/2 cup greek yogurt 

1tbsp harissa

1 tbsp lemon juice

Stuffing
1 onion
2 carrots
3 stalks celary
1/2 cup beer
2 tbsp butter
1/2 tbsp dry sage
s+p to taste

Toppings:

1 cucumber

1 pickle

1/2 cup roasted red peppers

1 onion

1/4 cup bourbon
1/2 package duck bacon

Instructions: Preheat oven to 350
First thing your going to do is mix up your burger's. Mix your beef, turkey and chickpea burgers according to the ingredient list. After all of your burger mixes are done, do a test batch of each. Spice accordingly, and once you have a good mix of all three cover and put aside ( in the fridge if your going to be awhile).

Rough chop your onion, carrots and celery for your stuffing. For this small batch of stuffing I used a bread pan, but any similar sized vessel will do. Load your vegetables, beer, butter and seasonings in your pan and bake for 20 minutes or until crispy on the outside but tender on the inside.

When you put your stuffing in take your onion and slice it into long strips and put in a pan on low with a little oil (use a neutral oil such as canola or vegetable). Caramelizing onions is a timely process and will take at least a half an hour, so be sure to keep it on low heat and stir frequently. When your onions are getting a nice brown hit them with the bourbon (be sure to taste your bourbon a few times too make sure it has not gone bad) and stir for 2-3 minutes then take off heat.

While your onion is caramelizing down put your cranberries in a pan, just covering with water and bring to a boil. Once your berries are boiling turn down to a simmer. Cook berries down for 5-10 minutes until they start to break down. Once broken down take off heat and add sugar, yogurt, orange juice and lemon juice. Blend up your cranberry sauce with whatever blender you have. Cover and let chill in refrigerator.

Mix your harissa, feta, lemon juice and yogurt cover and let chill.

Put duck bacon on to cook (I cook my duck bacon and then cook the beef in the rendered duck fat).

At this point you should be ready to make your burgers. Form patties and cook your turkey and beef patties. Beef should be cooked to a medium rare (or however you like your beef) and turkey to a well done. Form and fry your chickpea burgers. While the patties are cookin lay out your pickles, cucumber slices, roasted red peppers, bourbon onions and sauces. Lay out your platter.

Nosh Hard, Nosh Burlington.

Taco Tuesday's - Fish Tacos with Purple Slaw and Chipotle Crema

Feeds 2 (Slaw and Crema will feed about 5, or 2 for many days)

This week for Taco Tuesday I decided to tackle, quite possibly, my favorite of all tacos: The Fish Taco. The classic fish taco consists of fried fish, a mango salsa and some sort of creme sauce. My fish taco doesn't stray too far from the classic, but to be fair, this is my interpretation of the fish taco.  This taco is not hard to make, and if the frying of the fish intimidates you, you can also grill or broil the fish (if you decide to nix the fry you may want to add a crunchy texture, e.g. crumbled tortilla chips). A crema is a creamy sauce much like creme freche or sour cream. You can substitute pretty much any neutral creme based product such as mayonnaise, yogurt etc. I enjoy the sour bite that the mix of sour cream and greek yogurt to cut the spice of the chipotle.

Ingredients:

1 pound tilapia (any fish will do but a firm fish fries quite well)

corn tortillas (I suggest These)

vegetable oil for frying 

1 lime cut to half moons for garnish

1 bunch radish cut for garnish

1 cup fish dredge (I used Dons Chuck Wagon)

For the Purple Cabbage Slaw:

1/2 head of purple cabbage chopped fine into strips

1 medium sized red onion minced

1/2 cup cilantro leaves chopped

1 jalepeno minced

1 large mango diced

1/4 cup white vinegar

juice of 1 lime

s+p to taste

For the Chipotle Crema

1 7 oz can chipotles

1 cup sour cream

1/4 cup greek style yogurt

juice of half a lime

1 tbsp white vinegar

2 tsp agave nectar (honey will do too)

1 tbsp cayenne (omit if sensitive to heat)

1 tbsp cumin

1 tbsp coriander

s+p to taste

Instructions:

First chop your purple cabbage, red onion, jalapeno, cilnatro and mango. Place in bowl and mix in vinegar and lime juice. Set aside, stirring periodically. You will notice liquid pooling at the bottom of the bowl, this is good, stir up your slaw and the cabbage will start breaking down and flavors will begin to mingle.

While your slaw is mingling, put you chipotle, sour cream, greek yogurt, lime juice, vinegar, agave nectar and spices in your blender and blend till smooth. It is important to taste your crema after youve blended it, and if its too spicy add more creme or yogurt. Too mild add more chipotle or cayenne. You get the point. Once crema is to taste put in fridge to cool.

Keep giving your slaw the occasional stir and now you're ready to prep your fish. Cut into 1 and 1/2 inch pieces and toss with s+p. If your slaw has reduced down and is tasting might fine its time to fry your fish. 

Pour 1 to 2 inches of oil in your pan and set to medium heat ( you want to be frying at 375c but if you do not have a thermometer just keep the pan from smoking and fry in small batches. You can also just pan fry the fish with a little oil and it will still be delicious). Mix your fish dredge with 1/2 cup water and whisk till the batter drips off the spoon. Once your oil is hot dredge your fish and drop it into your oil. While frying you fish heat up your tortillas (I throw them on a hot pan for a few minutes) The fish should only take 2-3 minutes per side. Once done place on a paper towel to rest. 

When your fish is done, it's time to assemble your tacos. Start with some fish, then slaw and finally the crema. Garnish with lime and radish. Nosh (preferably with tequila).

Nosh Hard. Nosh Burlington.

Taco Tuesday's-Quick Steak Tacos with Toasted Pepitas

Feeds 2

To start off the weekly Taco Tuesday post, I am starting with a simple, but flavorful steak taco. With the addition of a few non-standard ingredients, you can bring this crowd pleasing taco to the next level. These additions are about texture, just as much as they are about taste. The pico de gallo is amped up with the addition of jicama. Jicama is a vegetable often used in Mexican cooking which has a texture right in between and potato and pear. Jicama has also been likened to an apple, so whatever texture it has for you, it is a great vegetable and a good addition to your salsa arsenal. To top your tacos, I call for toasted pepitas. Pepitas are pumpkin seeds that have been taken out of their respective shells. You can buy these in the bulk section of most grocery stores, or if you have a spare hour or two, buy some pumpkins and get working. To toast the seeds, simply put them in a dry skillet on high heat for a minute or two, flipping occasionally until nicely browned.

Ingredients:

1 pound steak small cubed ( I used chuck tenderloins, but any will do)

1 large sweet potato

1 large onion

6-7 cloves garlic

1/2 jicama

1 jalapeno

bunch cilantro

corn tortillas

2 limes (more if you have tequilal)

bunch radish

1 cup Coritijo cheese ( this is a hard mexican cheese, likened to feta)

For the Steak Marinade:

1/2 cup tomato juice

1/2 zest of a lime

1tbsp salt

1tbsp cayenne

1tbsp oregano

2 tbsp cumin

4 cloves garlic

1/4 cup cilantro
*I whipped together these tacos in an hour or so but if you can let your marinade sit overnight you will have a better flavor.

Instructions:

Chop your steak into bite sized pieces and mix steak with marinade in a container, put in fridge to marinate.

When you meat has marinated to your liking peel and cut your sweet potato into 1/4'' half moons. Toss with oil s+p and put on a sheet tray into a 350 oven for about 20 minutes or until tender.

Chop your onion, tomato, garlic,  jicama, jalapeno and jicama, place in bowl. Add to your vegetable mixture the juice of one lime. Add s+p to taste. Put aside. Cut your radish into circles and lime into wedges. Garnish each taco with lime and radish.

By now your potato should have about 10 minutes left, so toast your pepitas and get a pan smokin hot for your meat. 

When your pan is smoking hot add your meat in stages, about 1/3 at time. You dont want to add all your meat at once and lose the pans heat, thus preventing you from getting a good sear on the meat. Once you're on your last round of meat, start heating up the tortillas. 

My favorite way to do this is right on the open flame for a few seconds a side, but this could prove dangerous for some so you can always do them in the oven or in a pan. Take of your meat and begin constructing your tacos. For optimal crunch layer follow this order: potato, meat, pico, cheese finally topping with pepitas. Nosh. 

Weekly Nosh - Orecchiette with Grilled Asparagus, Chanterelles, Heirloom Cherrys and Chicken

Feeds 2

I was at the farm stand in Manchester the other day and saw some magnificent heirloom cherry tomatoes. Not only did they look outstanding, but they were sweet, and had a great burst of concentrated tomato goodness. My first thought was to make a caprese type salad, but then got to thinking I have not made a pasta dish in quite some time. Later in the evening I went with my brother to check out a new grocery store, and found some great looking chanterelles and thin asparagus. The evenings nosh was decided upon, and after browsing the rest of the store (My brother and I take a long time in the grocery store), I was ready to begin the dish. Chanterelles are usually expensive, and although I only got a small amount for about 5 dollars, you can substitute any kind of mushroom in place of the chanterelle.

Ingredients:

1 cup orecchiette
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup white table wine
4 oz fresh mozzarella, cubed
1/2 bulb garlic skinned and finely minced
1/2 pound chicken breast
1/2 pint cherry tomatoes
1/4 pound chanterelles
1/2 bunch asparagus (as thin as you can find)
1 lemon
1/2 cup ricotta salatta (parm or romano will do too)
1 cup table wine
1tbsp oregano
1tsp chili flake

Instructions:

Fill your pot with cold water add a pinch of salt and glug of oil set on back burner to to boil.

Heat up pan with 1 tbl olive oil, while heating mince your garlic and cut your chicken into bite size pieces. When your pan is hot add 1/2 of your minced garlic and stir for a minute our so until fragrant. Add your chicken, oregano and chili flake brown with garlic for 3-4 minutes until almost cooked. Remove chicken and garlic mixture and set aside.

Heat up a grill pan or a grill if available to high. Toss your asparagus with olive oil s+p. When grill is hot put on your asparagus. The asparagus should only take a minute or two depending on size. Your looking to put some grill marks and give a smokey flavor to the dish, but not lose the crunch so do not overcook your asparagus.

By now your water should be boiling so put in your pasta and cook according to instructions.

Heat up 1 tbl olive oil and 1 tbl butter in a pan on low heat. Roughly chop your mushrooms and put them in your pan cooking for 2-3 minutes, then add your chicken to the mushroom pan and add in your white wine and juice of 1/2 lemon. Let reduce.

Take off your asparagus and chop into bite sized pieces. Drain your pasta and return to pot. Add in remaining olive oil, chicken, mozz and all vegetables.

Serve topped with grated cheese and grated lemon zest.

Nosh with gusto.

** for grating cheeses, citrus, and even larger spices like nutmeg, a micro plane is an invaluable tool!

Weekly Nosh - Aleppo Marinated Skirt Steak With Chimichurri

Aleppo is a popular pepper in Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisine. When dried it makes for a great meat rub, and as you will find with this recipe does have some heat (I would say a little less then dried jalapeno). If your steak has too much fat on it, trim some, but leave a little for flavor. Skirt steak has lots of connective tissue so its important to slice your steak away from the grain for a most tender bite. As a note for the chimichurri, chimichurri is an herbaceous olive oil based sauce that is a wonderful topping for meats. If some of the fresh herbs I list are not available, substitutions can be made, be creative and if you put in herbs you like, chances are it will come out quite nicely.

 Feeds 4-5 as a main course

Ingredients:

Steak:

2 lb skirt steak
Marinade:
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
3 tbl aleppo pepper
2 tbl oregano
1tlb chili powder (if sensitive to heat omit this)
s+p to taste

Chimichurri:

1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1 cup basil
1 cup cilantro
1/2 cup parsley
1/4 cup mint
1/4 cup oregano
3 cloves garlic
3 scallions
1tbl crushed red pepper (optional)
juice of one lime/lemon ( which ever citrus you prefer I chose lime)
s+p to taste

You will want to marinate your steak for at least 24 hours but up too 3 days. Put your steak in a large pyrex then rub down with marinade ingredients ( don't be shy, you really wanna get your marinade into your meat so give it a nice massage). Cover in fridge for 1-3 days.

When steak is ready, start your grill and heat it up to its highest setting. While grill is heating, buzz up your chimichurri ingredients in a food processor or immersion blender until it reaches a nice almost pesto like consistency, put aside.

Put steak on your grill for about 4-5 minutes a side ( again this is for a rare steak, if that's not your preference cook longer.) When your steak is done take off the grill and let stand for 5-10 minutes, then cut against the grain ( this is important!!). Drizzle with chimichurri and nosh while hot.

Weekly Nosh - Buffalo Tacos with Avocado and Sweet Potato

Feeds 2-4 as a main course: 

I was perusing the Market Basket in Manchester while visiting my brother, when I noticed some Buffalo Steaks in the Meat Department. They were $6 for two, 8oz portions, and having only had good experiences with Buffalo in the past, I decided to buy and nosh.

These tacos are quite easy to make. The meat could stand to have an overnight marination, but I was in a rush to nosh, so I gave them a quick and simple dry rub consisting of: cumin, salt and pepper, chili, and oregano.

Ingredients:

Buffalo steaks (for tacos I would say 4 ounces a person will do)
1 large sweet potato
1 avocado
1/2 cup Queso Fresca ( and Mexican cheese will do justice, but any cheese will do in a bind)
Tortillas ( I used store bought but will post an easy and cheap tortilla recipe later)
pinch of: cumin, chili, oregano
Lime and radish for garnish

Instructions:

Take out your steaks and rub them down with the dry rub ingredients, set aside.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees and peel and slice your sweet potato into half moons. Toss your sweet potato in oil, salt, and pepper until evenly coated then put them in your 400 degree oven for 25 minutes, or until tender.

After your potatoes have been in for ten minutes heat your grill pan on high (you can use a regular pan or even better a grill if you have one). Once your pan is smoking hot throw on your steaks for 3-4 minutes per side. I like my steak rare, but if you don't cook your steak according to your preference. Take your meat off and let rest for 5-10 minutes, you want the juices to leak out then seep back in, cutting before letting meat rest will result in a loss of juice and therefore a loss in flavor.

Crisp your tortillas on your cook top until warm. Assemble your tacos with your cut radish and lime as garnish, nosh.

**This recipe would pair magnificently with the Toasted Lady with the substitution of tequila for gin.

Drink Burlington - Dark Side Tea

The Dark side tea is a variation of the standard Long Island Ice tea, but better. The drink should be served out of an ice filled star wars pint glass, but in a pinch a standard pint glass will do ( I am not responsible if the drink's taste is thrown off by the lack of star wars glass). I am listing the types of liquor I used, but I am confident that substitutions will not alter the taste drastically.

Ingredients:
1 oz New Amsterdam Gin
1 oz Espelon Tequilla repasado
1 oz Crown Russe Vodka
1 Oz Ten Cane Rum
splash grenadine and roses lime juice

Instructions:
Combine all of your liquids into your shaker, shake till frosted. Pour into ice filled Star Wars pint glass. Repeat. Enjoy.

Drink Burlington - The Toasted Lady

I was once told that a toasted lady was a lady who could be " Sweet, sour and sometimes drunk".  Make this drink and you will soon understand.
Served in a pint glass filled with ice.

Ingredients:
3 ounces gin
half ounce grapefruit and pineapple juice
1 tbl or 2  finely minced jalapeno (depending on your spice preference)

Instructions:
Add your liquids to your shaker then add your chopped jalapeno. If your not super into spicy drinks use a strainer to get only the essence of jalapeno. Shake until frosted then pour into you tall glass.  Garnish with a slice of jalapeno. Repeat. Enjoy.

Weekly Nosh - Grilled Party Nosh with Veal, Corn and Potatoes

Serves 4-5 as a light dinner or 3 for big nosh

This meal is very easy, but yields a meal that people will think you put hours of prep into. It is important with this recipe to get good veal chops, because they have get a minimal salt, pepper, olive oil and lemon dressing before grilling you want the natural flavor of the veal to shine through.

Ingredients:

3 veal chops

4 ears of corn shucked and de-silked

7 cloves garlic

4-5 Idaho potatoes

2 tbl oilive oil

2 tbl balsamic vinegar

1 tbl dried oregano

1tbl dried parsley

1 lemon.

2-3 of your favorite beers (optional)

Instructions:

Open your first beer and begin the grill prep. (optional) Light your grill and put it on the high setting (my grill doesn’t get as hot as it should so if yours cranks put it to medium). Take your veal out to sit and rub down with olive oil and S+P  let them sit on your cutting board with ¼ slices of lemon on top of the veal while you get your other ingredients ready.

Cut your potatoes into 1/8 thick slices and put them into a bowl. Add your spices olive oil, balsamic and chopped garlic to your bowl and toss to coat. Open your second beer (optional). Rub down your corn with olive oil and put on the grill with the potatoes, when the potatoes are nicely browned and ready to flip put your veal on.

Cook your veal for 2-3 minutes on each side for a good rare. Your corn will be ready when nicely par-charred (you don’t want the whole ear to be black). Take off your food from the grill and let your veal rest for 5-10 minutes for the juices to seep out and back in. serve and nosh.

Weekly Nosh - Beer Battered Avocado with Spicy Maple Aioli

This is a good game day nosh. The Avocado stays soft whilst the breading yields a good crust and the spicy maple aioli is the perfect compliment.

Ingredients:

4-5 avocados (you want them to be slightly under ripe so the hold their form)

2 inch oil for frying ( I used vegetable but you could sub peanut  etc)

Batter:

½ bottle of your favorite beer

1 cup flour

1 tbl baking powder

Spicy Maple Aioli:

1 cup sour cream or Greek yogurt ( I tried both and found the yogurt to be the best)

1 tbs hot sauce (I used Cholula)

2 tbs soy sauce

2 tbs maple syrup (the real stuff)

2 tbs cumin (I love cumin but if your not a huge fan do 1)

s+p to taste

Instructions:

Peel your avocado and slice into strips so as to mimic a thick French fry. Arrange on a plate and mix together your batter ingredients. You want your batter to be thin but not so thin that it does not adhere to your avocado. You don’t want a a thick breading just a light crunchy coating.

Heat your oil to 350 (you want to fry between 350 and 375).  If you don’t have a thermometer heat your oil and drop a little batter in until it floats and floats towards the top. You will only have to fry for a few minutes or until nicely golden.

Remove avocado and immediately toss with salt then place on a towel or drying rack to remove excess grease. While the avocados is frying mix together your aioli ingredients. Wait a few mounts for the avocado to cool, dip and nosh.

Weekly Nosh - Summer Fruit and Vegetable Caprese with Avocado Mountain

Serves 5-6 as a light nosh or 2-3 as a main course

This dish is a great dish to make in the summer and is a cooling and super sexy salad. Getting fresh good produce is the key in this dish. Any one ingredient being sup par will throw off the balance of the dish.

Ingredients:

Salad:

¼ large watermelon

1 large English cucomber

3-4  ripe avocados

3 large heirloom tomatoes ( Green Zebra, Brandywine are my favorite but any will do).

1 cup crumbled pecorino romano

Dressing: Processed until smooth

½ cup balsamic vinegar

½ cup olive oil

¼ cup craisins

2 tbsp sugar

Instructions:

Cut your tomatoes into slices about ¼ inch thick. Your watermelon should be about have the thickness of your tomatoes and can be cut into squares or circles. Due to the shape of a cucumber I cut mine into thin rectangles, this gave a good counterpoint to the other fruits and vegetables.

Cut your avocados in half removing the pit and cut into 4 or 5 slices. To arrange the salad, alternate watermelon, cuke and tomatoes like you would in a standard caprece leaving room for your avocado mountain in the middle.

Arrange your avocado in the middle of the salad getting as much height as you can. Drizzle with raspberry balsamic and your crumbled Romano. Serve and nosh.

Weekly Nosh - Mozzarella Bread

This is an easy recipe for some of the best tasting cheesy garlic bread you will ever have. It is important to get a good crusty baguette that will withstand the toppings without sogging. As we all know there are few things in life that are both good and soggy.

Ingredients:

1 Fresh baguette

1 ball fresh mozzarella (80z)

4 cups tomato juice (I use reserve juice from canned tomatoes as I usually make this when making pasta sauce, you can use tomato sauce if you don’t have reserve juice).

1 tbsp oregano

1 tbsp basil

1 cup fresh shredded parmesan

3 tbsp good olive oil

½ cup minced garlic

s+p to taste

Instructions:

Preheat your oven to 400. Mix all your wet ingredients with spices and garlic, cut baguette in half and using a pastry brush spread a layer of sauce onto your baguette (you will have some left over save this for your future dipping pleasure). Slice mozzarella into circles and lay them on the baguette covering all surface area. Sprinkle Parmesan on top of your mozzarella, then put baguettes in the oven on a foiled baking sheet ( if you have it a baguette baking tray works the best and conducts even heat). Bake for 20-30 minutes or until cheese is nicely melted. If your cheese isn’t melted but your bread is getting to it’s desired crunch level put under a broiler for a few minutes to melt cheese. Slice and nosh immediately.

Weekly Nosh - Greek Salad with Warm Naan Points

Serves 4-5 as a light nosh

This salad/dip is a great quick appetizer if you don’t want to do a lot of cooking. The only cooking you will need to do is to warm the naan or whatever bread you may be using. You can sub pita or any type of bread for naan.

Ingredients:

1 Large English Cucumber

4 tomatoes

1 large red onion

1-2 cups crumbled feta

2tblp oregano

1tblsp chicken rub

2tbsp high quality olive oil

s+p to taste

2 naan

Instructions:

Butter or oil your naan, wrap them in foil and put them in a 450 oven for 15-20 minutes or until nicely browned. Rough chop your vegetables and mix in spices oil and feta. Serve salad in large bowl surrounded by Naan points (naan should be cut into triangles before serving). Serve and nosh immediately.

Weekly Nosh - Vegetable Torta (adapted and improved from Cook's Illustrated)

This is a rather labor intensive recipe, but if you have the time it is totally worth it. Be sure to set aside 2 hours and with this recipe. It is also helpful to assemble a team to assist in Torta construction.

Serves 4-5 as a main course or 7-8 as a nosh

Ingredients

Vegetables:

5 medium sized Japanese eggplant (the purple kind)

6 medium tomatoes

4 ears of corn

1 Garlic

2 red bell peppers

Custard:

3 eggs

¼ cup heavy cream

7-10 sprigs fresh thyme

7-10 chives

Juice of 1 lemon

1 cup shredded asiago

Crust:

4 slices white sandwich bread

4 tbls butter

1 cup asiago

Instructions:

 Peel the eggplants and cut them into half inch circles. Sprinkle both sides liberally with salt then arrange them on a wire rack to remove some of the liquid. After 30 minutes rinse of excess salt and pat them with a towel to remove more moisture. While the eggplant is draining set your oven to 450. Cut the top and bottom of your head of garlic wrap tightly in tin foil add 2 tbls of olive oil to your foil and put in the oven to roast.

De-seed and rib your peppers and cut them into long strips then drizzle with olive oil and s&p. Arrange them on a wire rack with the eggplant when their done draining and put them in the oven for 30-35 minutes or until nicely roasted.

While vegetables are roasting cut tomatoes into slices then place them onto papers towels and liberally salt them to remove moisture periodically patting them down. De-husk your corn and rub them down with oil. To roast the corn simply put the ears under and open flame to char. You want them to get black and charred ( if you do not have a gas range you can do this in a hot pan although you will not get as good of a char). Now onto the crust.

Pulse bread in food processor and pour in slowly your butter and shredded cheese. Pulse until well processed. Now grease you spring form pan with butter and start spreading your crust on the bottom and sides of your pan. Then process your custard ingredients and place aside. Now start layering your vegetables alternating layer of vegetable then sprinkling of asiago and layer of custard. Sprinkle top layer with any left of crumb and sprinkle with cheese. Bake for 60-90 minutes or until custard has set and top as nicely browned. Let cool for ten minutes then nosh.