A trip to Wholefoods inspired me to make this fish.  
I served it over Jasmine Rice.  
Serves 2. 

Ingredients: 

12 oz of Hake 
2 tbsp of olive oil
1 small red onion, 1/4 inch dice 
2 cloves of garlic, sliced
2  long sweet peppers, seeds removed and sliced
1/2 cup of diced tomatoes
1/3 cup of nicoise olives, 1/2 of them sliced and 1/2 whole
2 tbsp of capers
1 tbsp of tomato paste
1/4 cup of vegetable stock
1 tsp of lemon juice
1 tsp Spanish paprika 
salt and pepper to taste 
3 or 4 parsley leaves, chopped

Directions:
Season fish with salt, pepper and paprika. Place cast iron pan or non stick pan on medium heat, add oil. Gently place the seasoned fish in the pan.  Cook for 1 min on each side.  Remove from pan and set aside.  Add onions, peppers and garlic to the pan, saute until onions are translucent.  Add tomatoes and the sliced olives.  Season with salt and pepper.   Cook until tomatoes are soft.  Stir in tomato paste, stock, capers and the rest of the olives.  Cook for a couple of more minutes.  Turn down burner to simmer.  Add the fish back to the pan.  Spoon juices from the pan on to the fish a few times to keep it moist.  At this point add the lemon juice.  Cook for a 5 minutes or until fish is cooked.  Split the fish in half, serve over rice and sprinkle with parsley. 

This recipe is a healthier and quick variation of the Chicken Tikka Masala.  
Serves 2 to 3 people. 

Ingredients:
6 chicken thighs, skinless and boneless
2 1/2 cups buttermilk
½ cup plus 2 tablespoon tandoori paste (store bought or homemade)
2 Tbsp oil
½ tsp whole cuimin
1 poblano pepper, chopped
½ red bell pepper, chopped
1 large tomato, roughly chopped
1 medium onion, cut in half and sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 Tbsp tomato paste
½ to 1 Tsp cayenne pepper
1 Tsp lime juice
2 Tbsp clilantro
Salt to taste
 
Directions:
Mix 2 cups buttermilk and ½ cup of tandoori paste. Add chicken.  Marinate for 1 hour or more.  Heat grill on medium.  Grill the chicken until almost done.   While the chicken is cooking, in a cast iron pan or skillet, saute onions, peppers, cumin seeds and garlic until soft.  Sprinkle some salt.  Add tomatoes, lime juice, cayenne pepper, tomato paste and tandoori paste.  Stir and cook over low heat until tomatoes start breaking down.   Thin out the remaining 1/2 cup of buttermilk with 1/3 cup of water and stir so it’s blended. Add the thinned out buttermilk to pan.   Take chicken off grill and slice it.  Add chicken to the skillet and stir. Simmer on low until the sauce thickens a little and chicken is done.  Stir in ½ the cilantro.  Serve over jasmine rice and top with rest of the cilantro.

This recipe has chicken and bacon, which can be left out for a vegetarian.  This recipe can serve up to 8 people.  The pic above is the vegetarian version which contains spinach.  

Ingredients:
1 lb pasta (such as cavatappi/cellentani, Lumaconi)
4 strips of bacon
2 cups panko bread crumbs
4 chicken thighs
½ tsp Adobo
1/3 cup water
1 tbsp BBQ sauce (I used my homemade bourbon bbq sauce)
2 tbsp oil
1 cup poblano pepper, chopped
1 cup red bell pepper, chopped
1 cup vadalia onion, chopped
2 green onions, sliced 
1 clove garlic, minced 
½ tsp cumin
2 tsp chili lime spice blend
1 tsp Cajun or creole seasoning
3 tbsp butter
1/3 cup flour
3 cups milk
1/3 cup, plus 2 tbsp chopped cilantro   
2 ½ cups finely shredded Mexican cheese blend
Salt and pepper
 
Directions:
In a large pot, cook the pasta in salted water until 2/3 of the way cooked.  While the pasta is cooking, cook the bacon in a pan until crisp.  Remove bacon from pan and set aside until cooled.  Add the bread crumbs and toast them on low in the bacon grease.   Once bacon is  cooled, break it up in to little pieces. Remove the bread crumbs and toss them with the bacon . Wipe out the pan with a paper towel, add water, adobo , bbq sauce and chicken to pan, cook on medium heat until chicken is cooked thru, turning once, shred and set aside.   Drain the pasta and put it in a baking dish.    Using the same pot, add, oil, peppers, onions and garlic. Cook until just soft and add the remaining spices.  Stir and cook for 2 min.  Add butter and flour to make a roux, slowly whisk in 3 cups of milk and simmer gently until it’s slightly thickened.  Add salt and black pepper to taste.  At this point, stir in 1/3 cup cilantro and pour the thickened milk over the pasta.  Mix in the shredded chicken and 2 cups of the cheese.   Top with the remaining half cup of cheese, 2 tbsp cilantro and breadcrumbs.  Bake at 350 degrees for 40 min.  

Ingredients:
2 ½ tsp dry yeast
1/3 cup warm water (between 105 and 110 degrees)
3 tbsps sugar
3 cups 1% milk
½ cup melted butter or cold pressed unrefined coconut oil(melted)
1 tsp vanilla
3 Eggs separated
3 cups flour
1/3 tsp salt

Directions:
Pour the warm water in a large bowl(make sure it’s not too hot), add yeast and 1 tbsp sugar.  Let stand.  Gently heat the butter or oil until melted.  Once the yeast has bloomed, add milk, egg yolks and vanilla.  Whisk until incorporated.  Sift in flour 1/3 of the flour, whisk until combined, add the melted butter/oil,  sift in the rest of the flour and salt.  Gently whisk it all in.   Take the Egg whites and using a mixer(hand held electric or stand mixer) and whip the eggs until they are almost stiff.  Fold the whites in to the batter.   Let stand for 30 minutes.   Heat your Belgian waffle Iron and pour just enough batter in that it fills the corners without overflowing after closed.  (Each waffle iron varies, so you’ll have to play around a little bit). 

Ingredients: 
2 ½ tsp dry yeast
1/3 cup warm water (between 105 and 110 degrees)
3 tbsps sugar
2 cups 1% milk
1 cup unsweetened coconut milk
½ cup cold pressed unrefined coconut oil(melted)
1 tsp vanilla
3 Eggs separated
3 cups flour
1/3 tsp salt
1 ½ cups blueberries
​
Directions:
Pour the warm water in a large bowl(make sure it’s not too hot), add yeast and 1 tbsp sugar.  Let stand.  Gently heat the coconut oil until melted.  Once the yeast has bloomed, add milk, coconut milk, egg yolks and vanilla.  Whisk until incorporated.  Sift in flour 1/3 of the flour, whisk until combined, add the melted coconut oil and sift in the rest of the flour and salt.  Gently whisk it all in.   Take the Egg whites and using a mixer(hand held electric or stand mixer) and whip the eggs until they are almost stiff.  Fold the whites in to the batter.  Gently mix in the blueberries.  Let stand for 30 minutes.   Heat your Belgian waffle Iron and pour just enough batter in that it fills the corners without overflowing after closed. 

Note: Each waffle iron varies, so you’ll have to play around a little bit.  For these blueberry waffles,  I lightly wipe a little butter or coconut oil on the iron before adding the batter, keeps them from sticking. 

This recipe yields 6 to 8 servings. 

Ingredients :
3 lbs of tomatoes, (mix of cherry, plum, grape, vine ripened, etc*)  
4 large cloves of garlic (3 whole, 1 minced)
3 large shallots, cut in quarters
3 small celery sticks, peeled and chopped(a little more than a cup) 
2 small carrots, peeled and copped(a little more than a cup)
½ large onion chopped
6 sprigs of thyme
2 bay leaves
32 oz of good vegetable stock, unsalted(home made or my preferred brand is Kitchen Basics)
3 cups water
1/3 cup heavy cream
¼ tsp crushed Aleppo pepper* 
Salt
Pepper
Olive Oil

Directions :
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Cut larger tomatoes in half or ¼ depending on the size.  Leave grapes and cherries whole.  Spread tomatoes, 3 garlic cloves, shallots and thyme on a baking tray.  Drizzle 3 tbsp of oil and  season with salt and black pepper. Roast for 30 min or until the tomatoes and shallots start to lightly caramelize.
While the tomatoes are roasting, in a large pot, add 2 tbsp of olive oil, minced garlic, chopped onion, celery, carrots and bay leaves.  Season with salt and black pepper and stir  Cook until softened.  Add the liquid(stock and water) to the pot.  Let gently simmer for 10 min. 
Once the tomatoes are done, remove tray from oven, remove the thyme stems, just use the leaves. Add the contents of the tray to the pot and bring to a simmer   Cook for 10 more minutes.  Turn off heat and remove the bay leaves from the pot.  Using an immersion blender, puree the soup until smooth.   Add cream and the Aleppo pepper.  Adjust the seasoning by adding more salt if needed.  You most likely will need to add more salt.
Garnish with a few drops of cream and a pinch of Aleppo pepper. 
*Note -  for this recipe, I used yellow and red grapes, plum and sweet vine ripened tomatoes. You can use Cayenne as a substitute for Aleppo pepper, but reduce the amount of cayenne as it is spicier than the Aleppo. 

This recipe yields 4 servings. 

Basil Pesto Recipe -
Ingredients:
4 cups of fresh basil leaves
½ cup of extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup of pine nuts
2 garlic cloves
½ cup parmigiano reggiano cheese
1 tsp sea salt.
½ tsp black pepper

Directions:
Place pine nuts and pine nuts in the food processor, blend until coarse meal.  Add basil and salt.  Start the processor and drizzle in the oil slowly. Once pureed add the cheese, pulse a few times until smooth.    

Pasta Recipe –
Ingredients:
3 to 4 cups Kale (keep the thin small stems)
1/3 cup of olive oil (I use extra virgin)
2 Roma tomatoes, chopped
½ Vidalia onion minced
2 cloves garlic minced
½ tsp of crushed red pepper
½ tsp of black pepper
1 tsp salt (more if needed)
Zest and juice of ½ lemon
Parmigiano Reggiano (for serving)
1 box of capellini
Coarse salt
 
Directions:
Heat a large pot of water for the pasta.  Once boiling, add the coarse salt. 
Sauce:  Heat 2 table spoons of EVOO in a skillet over medium heat, add minced onions. Cook until softened, add garlic, crushed red pepper and a pinch of salt.  Cook until garlic has softened.  Add the chopped tomatoes.   While this is cooking, puree the Kale in the food processor, drizzle in the oil slowly.  Add some water to the mixture as it’s processing to make in to a paste.  Once the tomatoes are a little soft, add the kale to the pan.   Stir in 1/3 cup of basil pesto, cover and cook for a few minutes and then salt and pepper to taste.  
Pasta:  Add the capellini to the pot of boiling water after the sauce is done.   Cook the pasta until al dente.  Reserve 1 and 1/2 cups of pasta water.  Drain the pasta, return to the pot.  Add ½ cup of reserved pasta water, sauce, lemon juice and lemon zest to the pot.  Toss gently to combine, add pasta water as needed. 
​
Top with Parmigiano on the plate before serving. 

This recipe yields 8 to 12 servings.

Ingredients:
8 large eggs
3 ½ cups whole milk
1 ½ cups sugar
1 ½ cups whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 loaf of Challah or brioche cut in to 2 inch cubes ( I used Challah in this recipe)
½ cup of Vermont maple syrup
8 oz Salted Caramel chocolate porter
2 apples, peeled and diced in small pieces 
½ cup of chopped pecans
2 pats of butter
Directions:
Butter 12 ramekins.   In a large bowl, whisk eggs, milk, sugar, cream, and vanilla until well blended.
In a heated pan, melt butter, add apples and saute until soft.  Add beer, let it bubble for a couple of minutes, add maple syrup and pecans.  Simmer for 2 to 3 minutes and turn off burner.  Fill each ramekin ½ way with bread cubes, scoop out a few apple and pecan pieces, add them on top of the bread.  Add the rest of the bread to top off the ramekins.  Ladle in the egg mixture and some of the beer syrup mixture in to each ramekin.  Fill to the top with liquid.  Top off with the rest of the apples and pecans.  Refrigerate for 1 hour. 
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees; place ramekins on a cookie sheet and bake until puffed and golden. About 1 hour (longer if the pudding hasn’t puffed up).  Cool slightly before serving.  Serve warm. 

​For the Cake:
3 cups of All Purpose flour
2 ¾ cups of sugar
1 ½ cups of dark cocoa (Dutch processed is best)
¾ tbsp baking soda
1 ½ teaspoons fine sea salt
1 ½ cups Chocolate Stout Beer – (Young’s Double Chocolate Stout works well)
3 sticks of butter,  cut in to tiny pieces
1 cups sour cream
3 large eggs
For the spread:
Seedless raspberry preserves and fresh raspberries
1 cup of preserves,  gently fold in the halved raspberries
For the Icing:
Whipped chocolate ganache
12 ounces of good quality semi-sweet chocolate (I used Scharffen Berger )
1 cup heavy cream
 
Directions:
Cook the Stout and butter in a sauce pan.  Bring to a slow simmer.  Stir occasionally.  Add the cocoa powder and whisk until well combined and smooth.  Take pan off the burner and set aside to cool.  Stir every few minutes while cooling.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees, position rack in the center of the oven.  Coat the cake pans with cooking spray or with softened butter.  Place parchment at the bottom of the cake pan and coat with spray or butter.  Dust the pans with flour and shake off the excess (this will help the cake release from the pan).
Sift the flour, salt and baking soda in to a bowl, add sugar and whisk until combined. 
In another bowl, combine sour cream and eggs.
Once the stout mixture has cooled, add it to the egg mixture in thirds and whisk as you go. Once incorporated, add dry ingredients in thirds as well and fold it in with a rubber spatula (I use the paddle in my Kitchen Aid on slow speed and gradually add the flour).  Mix until it looks smooth (do not over mix). 
Split the batter in 2 cake pans and bake until the tooth pick comes clean, about 30 to 40 minutes.  Let cake pans cook for 15 to 20 min.  Unmold and allow them to completely cool on a wire rack.
Make the Icing while the cake is in the oven. 
Chop up the chocolate in to small pieces, and put them in a large bowl.  Heat heave cream on medium heat until it comes to a slow boil.  Remove from heat and pour on the chocolate.  Stir until all melted and the mixture is smooth and glossy.  Cool the ganache in the fridge or freezer to thicken.  Using a whisk, whip the mixture so it looks like frosting.  
To assemble –
Please the first round on the serving plate, place pieces of parchment under the edge so you can pull that out after frosting.  Top with raspberry spread, place the 2nd piece on top and frost away.  Top with fresh berries. 
I served mine with the Samuel Smith’s Organic Chocolate Stout.  I love the smooth flavor of this stout
If you prefer wine, a nice fruity cabernet would work well with it too.
 
Note:
If you prefer Frosting, a good chocolate butter cream would go well with this cake. 

This recipe yields 3 to 4 servings. 

Curry Paste -  
Ingredients:
1/3 cup large dried chilies seeds moved, soaked until soft
1 tsp salt
1 tsps galangal, thinly sliced (used ginger)
2 tbsps lemongrass, cut into thin rounds
1 tbsp cilantro root (used stems)
1 tsp coriander seeds, toasted
1 tsp cumin seeds, toasted
2 tbsp minced garlic
2 tsbsp minced shallots
3 tbps ground peanuts
1 tbsp Shrimp paste or soy sauce

Directions Paste:
Add everything except cilantro to food processor or blender.  Blend until course meal.  Add cilantro and pulse until it looks like a paste

Fish Curry - 
Ingredients: 
4 Monk Fish Fillets
1 can unsweetened coconut milk
2 carrots, peeled, halved and thinly sliced
4 cups baby spinach
½ red bell pepper,  julienned
2 shallots, sliced 
¾ tsp minced ginger
½ tsp minced garlic
1 tbsp shredded Kaffir lime leaves
Salt and pepper
Coconut oil
1/3 to ½ cup of Curry paste (depends on the spice you prefer)

 
Directions:
Pat the fish with paper towel to dry, season with salt and pepper.  Heat cast iron pan and add coconut oil.
Once oil has melted, place the fish in the pan.  Lightly brown and flip.  Add shallots, garlic and ginger to the pan.  Stir them around a bit.  Remove Fish from the pan and set aside.   Add the carrots and peppers to the pan. Once softened, turn heat to medium, add curry paste and lime leaves. Saute for 2 min.  Add coconut milk and mix well.  Add the fish back in, top with spinach (you’ll have to push the spinach in to the sauce) and cook on a low simmer until fish is done.  Top with chopped cilantro leaves and serve over Jasmine rice.