Tag: Signature Dishes
Lemon Garlic Swordfish
Lemon Garlic Swordfish
I’m a huge fan of swordfish: the true chicken of the sea. Swordfish is an oily, firm-fleshed fish that takes on whatever you season it with. This lemon garlic butter sauce is so flavorful; adding richness to this fish. If you aren’t a fan of swordfish, you can substitute salmon, opah, sable, or any other firm fleshed fish.
Equipment
- oven-safe sauté pan
Ingredients
- 12 oz swordfish steak
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Lemon Garlic Sauce
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp garlic chives finely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp lemon zest
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 pinch cracked black pepper
Instructions
- Pat the swordfish dry with paper towels. Season both sides with salt and pepper.
- Heat up the olive oil in an oven-safe sauté pan over medium heat. Add the swordfish steak to the sauté pan.
- Cook for 3 minutes a side. Place the pan in a preheated 400° oven for 10 minutes.
- While the swordfish is in the oven, cook the lemon garlic sauce ingredients in a small sauté pan over medium low heat for 5 minutes.
- Pull the swordfish out of the oven and pour the lemon garlic sauce over.
Barbecue Rib Sandwich
Barbecue Rib Sandwich
I hate McDonald’s with a passion. I grew up eating it on the regular. As an adult, I refuse to touch anything from the shame of a restaurant. When I was young and didn’t understand what quality food was, I enjoyed their McRib. Part of me really missed that sandwich, so I wanted to recreate it using real baby back ribs and not the pressed preformed “rib patty” that McDonald’s.To create a bbq rib sandwich, you need to either steam or slowly bake in the oven a 3-4 bone chunk of baby back ribs until the bones pull cleanly out of the meat. This will take about 90 minutes in a steamer pot or 2 hours at 300° in the oven wrapped in foil. Once the ribs are finished, flip the meat bone side up and pull out the bones. At this point, brush on bbq sauce and bake in a 400° oven for 15 minutes or so until the meat has firmed up. You can alternatively grill the boneless rib chunk if you are looking for that grilled taste. I like to use a Mexican teleras roll for the bun, but a chunk of baguette will work too.
Equipment
- steamer pot
Ingredients
- 1 4-bone baby back ribs
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 tsp salt
- bbq sauce
- 1 sandwich baguette toasted
- heirloom tomato thinly sliced
- white onion thinly sliced
- pickles sliced
- mayonnaise
Instructions
- Season the baby back ribs. Let marinate for at least 4 hours.
- Place the back ribs in a steamer pot. Steam for 90 minutes.
- Let the ribs cool slightly. The bones should pull out clean.
- Brush the ribs with bbq sauce.
- Place the ribs in a preheated 400° oven for 15 minutes.
Sandwich Assembly
- Spread mayonnaise on both sides of the baguette.
- Place the tomatoes on the bottom of the baguette, followed by the boneless ribs. Top with the onions and pickles.
Val’s Antipasti Salad
Val’s Antipasti Salad
In Italian cuisine, antipasto is looked as an appetizer to prepare the stomach for a meal; dating back to medieval times. Cured meats, seafood, olives, cheeses, and pickled vegetables are some of the many forms of antipasti. Moving forward to modern times, Italian Americans combined these ingredients in pasta salad form with a vinegar-based Italian dressing as the sauce. This particular recipe is my sweetie Val’s personal recipe, which is quite delicious. Other additions you could add to this salad include cherry tomatoes, artichokes, marinated mushrooms, salami, mozzarella, basil; just to name a few.
Ingredients
- 16 oz tri-color rotini or fusilli pasta cooked al dente
- 8 oz Monterey Jack cheese cut into 1/2” cubes
- 8 oz cheddar cut into 1/2” cubes
- 2 cups broccoli florets
- 2 cups cauliflower florets
- 6 oz pepperoni cut into half moon slices
- 1 cup pepperoncini peppers chopped
- 1 cup black olives sliced
- 1/2 cup red onion thinly sliced
- 2 cups Italian dressing
Instructions
- Cook the pasta al dente according to package instructions. Rinse under cold water.
- Mix all of the ingredients together in a large bowl. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours before serving.
