For the Tartare:

Sushi Grade Tuna – I used 1/4 LB. which is enough to fill on medium sized endive which should provide approximately 12 pieces. For purposes of this recipe please consider 1 serving being 12 pieces.
Fresh Endive – 1 medium sized/12 servings
One small red onion – I found one about the size of a golf ball so judge accordingly.
Fresh Orange Juice – approximately 1 TBSP/serving
Extra Virgin Olive Oil – approximately 1 TBSP/serving
Sea Salt/Pepper – to taste.

For the Gardiniera:

Peppadew Pepper – 6 to 8 each
Shallot: – one medium clove
Celery:- one stalk
Vinegar: – approximately one or two TBSP depending on your taste for sour
Sugar: – approximately one or two tsp depending on your taste for sweet
Habanero Pepper: – one or two depending on your level of heat tolerance – I used yellow ones here to provide a color contrast
Jalapeno Pepper: – one or two depending on your level of hear tolerance – the green adds an additional color contrast element
Sea Salt/Pepper: – to taste

In a non reactive bowl start the gardiniera. Finely dice all of the ingredients to about 1/8″ dice. Combine all the elements mixing well.

Prepare the tartare. Cut the tuna into 1/4″ dice. Cut the remaining elements into 1/8″ dice. Add the juice and mix well, chill for 30 minutes. Remove the stem end of the endive and carefully remove all of the leaves creating the spoons.

Combine the tuna tartare with as much of the gardiniera you desire. Put approximately one TBSP of the mixture onto each endive leaf. Serve immediately.

I had purchased a pork tenderloin to use in one of my other recipes, it was on sale so I bought one that was larger than was needed for one meal. I had some pistachios left when I made a batch of Pistachio/Anise Truffles and although I ate a bunch decided to try them with a protein dish. I also love mustard, any type of mustard and that little light lit in my head to try them together. So try it you most likely will like it.

You will need:

Pork Tenderloin – approximately 6 ounces/serving
Pistachios – approximately ten nuts/serving crushed using a small food processor or mortar and pestle
Flour – enough to dust the cutlets
Sea Salt/Pepper – to taste
Dijon Style Mustard – approximately one TBSP/serving
White Wine – approximately 1/8 cup/serving
Olive Oil – approximately one TBSP/serving

Cut the tenderloin into 1 1/2 to 2 inch thick pieces, place them, cut side up, between two pieces of plastic film. Pound the pork so that they are reduced to 1/2 inch thick. You can use a meat pounder although I find that the bottom of a small sauté pan works fine. Once all the tenderloin is turned into cutlets, heat the olive oil in a sauté pan large enough to hold them without crowding. While the oil heats up to temperature season cutlets with salt and pepper and then dredge in the flour patting off any excess. Carefully place cutlets into the pan and sear on both sides to a light golden color is formed. Remove from pan and set aside, covered. Remove any excess oil from pan and deglaze with the white wine. Add the mustard and swirl or whisk to combine completely. Place the cutlets back into the sauce pan and turn once. Cover and simmer about 5 minutes then add the pistachios. Stir to combine and serve. Enjoy!

You will need:

Red Potatoes – approximately 1/2 pound/ serving.
Asparagus Spears – approximately 1/8 pound/serving.
Bacon – approximately 1/4 pound/serving. I had a little pancetta left so I added that to thick cut bacon. You can use just the thick cut bacon the flavor shouldn’t change all that much.
White Vinegar – approximately 1/8 cup/serving.
Sugar – approximately 1 TBSP/serving
Crushed Pepper – to taste.
Sea Salt – just enough to adjust the taste since the bacon you use might have enough.
Flour – approximately 1 tsp/serving.

Put the potatoes in a stock pot large enough to hold all. Add enough water to cover, bring to a boil and cook until they are easily pierced with a knife. Drain potatoes and set aside to cool completely. Once the potatoes are cool enough to handle peel skin from each and cut into bite size pieces. In a pan large enough to hold all of the asparagus add water and bring to a boil. Blanch the asparagus until just tender and put in a cold water bath to stop the cooking process. Place the potatoes and asparagus in a bowl large enough to hold the combination. Dice the bacon/pancetta and put in a sauce pan. Cook the bacon until crisp, remove from the pan and set aside. Add the sugar and flour to the bacon drippings stirring to combine, add the vinegar and cook until the sauce thickens. Toss the vegetables with the bacon/vinegar dressing and serve. This salad can be served either hot or at room temperature. I wouldn’t serve it cold as the sauce might get too much. Enjoy!

I like the taste of sweet/tart with many proteins. I have a bottle of Bonne Maman Cherry Preserves, you might remember I used them in my Duck Breast w/Cherry/Port Sauce recipe. You could use other brands however I find the taste here to be excellent, not too sweet, not to tart. So what to add to give this recipe a little punch? For some unknown reason mustard popped into my head. I have many different types of mustard and decided to use a Dijon style to see how it would fare. The outcome here was very pleasing I think you’ll like to try this one soon.

You will need:

Pork Tenderloin – Depending on how hungry you and your guest are one loin should feed two people.
Cherry Preserves – approximately 1/3 cup per/serving.
Dijon Mustard – approximately two TBSP/serving.
Flour – enough for dusting the pork.
Butter – approximately one TBSP/serving.
Olive Oil – approximately 1 TBSP/serving.
Apple Juice – approximately 1/4 cup/serving.
Roux or cornstarch slurry – just enough to thicken final sauce.
Sea Salt/Ground Pepper – to taste.

You will need to remove any silver skin from the loin, it’s not hard but a tad time consuming if you haven’t done it before. Once the loin is cleaned of skin and excess fat but it into approximately 1 1/2 to 2″ pieces. Place the loin pieces cut side up between two pieces of cling film and press them down with your hand to about 1/2″ thick. Dust liberally with flour and pat off excess, let them rest until you notice that some of the flour has been absorbed, then repeat the dusting step. This will give you a nice crust when you sear the loins. In a sauté pan large enough to hold the pork without crowding sear on both sides until you develop a rich dark color. Remove from pan and hold. Remove any excess fat fro the pan and deglaze with the apple juice, I used apple juice because I had some extra but you can use water, it shouldn’t affect the taste too much.

Once the apple juice has reduced by half add the cherry preserves whisking to incorporate. Add the mustard and continue whisking until completely incorporated. Add the butter and swirl the pan to emulsify the butter. Return the loin pieces to the sauce, cover reducing the heat to medium low and cook until internal temperature reaches 160 degrees F. Remove loin pieces from sauce and hold, covered, if the sauce does not leave a clear trail on the back of a spoon you will need to thicken it. Using the slurry or roux add small amounts and test to see that the sauce thickens to your liking. Return the loin pieces to the sauce, turning once or twice to coat.

Serve immediately. A nice side would be a Cherry/Rice Pilaf, the recipe will be added here soon.

You will need:

One fresh whole chicken – as mentioned above mine weighed in at around 4 pounds but in this case weight doesn’t matter.
Slivered Garlic – I used two cloves make sure that you slice them as thin as possible so they more or less melt when roasting.
Sun Dried Tomato – I used approximately four halves again sliced/julienned as thinly as possible.
Olive Oil – Enough to coat the tomato and garlic
Sea Salt/Ground Pepper – to taste.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Now you will need to loosen the skin on the bird this is done by carefully working your fingers in between the skin and the meat. I usually wear a pair of gloves for this but it’s not necessary as long as you completely wash your hands afterword. Don’t rush this or you will punch a hole or two in the skin, make sure you work around the breast and leg/thighs. Dry the bird thoroughly. Combine the garlic and tomato with the oil and salt/pepper.

Now the fun part. Take several garlic slivers and tomato pieces and insert between the skin and flesh. Continue with this process until all of the garlic and tomato has been used. You want to make sure it’s distributed evenly and all over the bird. Rub a little olive oil on the skin and season lightly with salt and pepper. Place bird in an oven proof pan and put it into the oven, immediately turn the temperature down to 325 degrees F. The initial high temperature will set the skin and start the browning process. Roast the bird until a thermometer inserted into the thigh meat reads 165 to 170 degrees F. Put bird on a platter or carving board, loosely tent with foil and let it rest for 10 minutes. Carve and enjoy!

You will need:

Sirloin Steak – approximately 3/4 pound/2 servings.
Fresh Chorizo – try to get bulk sausage if you can find it at your butcher buy links and remove from casing – approximately 1/4 pound/2 servings.

Cut the sirloin into 1 inch pieces, place in your food processor with the chorizo, pulse just long enough to grind up the sirloin. Carefully remove from the mixture and gently form into 2 patties. You won’t need to add any additional fat since the sausage will have a sufficient amount. In a sauté pan large enough to hold the patties add approximately 1 TBSP of olive oil, heat the oil to shimmering reduce the heat to low and slowly add the burgers. Sauté on each side approximately 5 minutes, the patties will be loose so make sure you don’t peek or try to move them until the time limit has been reached. If you want once you turn them over you can add a slice of Jack Cheese for a great cheeseburger. Enjoy!

You will need:

Brussel Sprouts – quantity depends on how much salad you desire to make. I used about a pound for this recipe.
Sun Dried Tomato – approximately 1/4 cup/pound of sprouts.
Pecan Pieces – approximately 1/4 cup/pound of sprouts.Lemon Juice – approximately 1 TBSP
Sea Salt/Pepper – to taste.
Red Wine Vinegar – approximately 2 TBSP.
Olive Oil – approximately 6 TBSP.
Sugar – approximately 1 tsp.

The best way to shred the sprouts is with a mandoline or food processor fitted with a slicing blade, however, you can use a very sharp knife and thinly slice the sprouts. Cut the bottom off the sprouts and remove any dark outside leaves, they tend to get bitter. Put the sprouts, tomato, pecans, vinegar, oil, sugar, salt and pepper in a non reactive bowl and toss well. The salad goes well with just about anything.

I had a taste for barbecue and hadn’t had a good pulled pork for quite a while. My butcher had just put out some nice looking pork shoulder and that’s what I decided to use. I think you will like this one.

You will Need:

Bone In Pork Shoulder Roast – approximately 1/2 lb/serving
BBQ Rub – approximately 1/2 cup – you can use your favorite recipe here I decided to purchase a bottle of McCormick Grill Mates Seasoning
BBQ Sauce – approximately two cups – you can use your own favorite or home made – I decided to use Bulls Eye Kansas City Style
Apple Juice – enough to submerse the entire pork shoulder.
Salt – approximately 1/3 cup – use table salt here due to the fact that it will dissolve quicker.

In a vessel large enough to hold the roast and sufficient room for the juice combine the apple juice and salt and stir until salt is completely dissolved. Since the roast is relatively thick you will need to make many deep punctures to let the brine get into the meat. I used a small sharp knife to make 15 or 20 deep openings in the roast. Place the roast in the brine and place in the refrigerator for at least one hour. If you don’t have room to fit the pot place it in a sink and surround with ice cubes.

Pre heat the oven to 300 degrees F. After the roast has been in the brine for the allotted time remove and dry it thoroughly. Rub the spice mixture on all sides of the roast making sure that you get some of the rub into the openings. Place a rack in a pan large enough to hold the roast, put roast on the rack and roast, uncovered, for approximately 5 hours, cover roast with foil and cook for an additional hour, the amount of time will depend on the size of the roast you purchased. You will know it’s done when you can pull the pork easily with two forks.

Remove the roast from the oven, place on a plate or cutting board, cover and let it rest for 10 minutes. While the roast is still warm pull the pork meat from the bone using two forks. Put an amount you want to serve in a large bowl, add some of the Barbecue sauce then combine and enjoy. You can add as much or as little BBQ sauce as you like.

You will need:

Whole Duck Breast – one/serving
Port Wine – approx. 1 TBSP/serving – I used Porto Fino
Cherry Preserves – approx. 1/8 cup/serving – I used Bonne Maman from France although you can use your own favorite dark cherry preserve.
Butter – unsalted – approx. 1 TBSP/serving.

Heat a sauté pan large enough to hold breast(s) to medium – carefully place breast(s) skin side down to the pan and cook until fat is rendered and skin is crisp the amount of time needed will depend on the size of the meat. Turn the duck over to the meat side and place in a pre-heated 350 degree F oven to finish. NB: Duck should be served pink. Remove the pan from the oven and place duck on a plate, cover with foil and prepare sauce.

Pour off any excess fat carefully add the Port Wine scrapping up the fond at the bottom of the pan. Reduce the wine to about half and add the cherry preserves then cook until it melts and add the butter one TBSP at a time swirling it until it is completely emulsified. Slice duck breast(s) to your desired thickness for presentation (alternatively serve whole). Plate the breast(s) and pour cherry sauce over them and enjoy!

Once thawed I carefully removed the breast meat, separated the leg/thigh pieces and split the carcass so that it would fit into one of my soup pots. (You can see a video on butchering the duck with the Rouxbe link that follows this post.)

You need to render as much of the fat from the bird as possible. When I removed the leg/thigh portions I removed all extra fat, cut it into small pieces, added all the fat that I had removed from the breasts and carcass and put into a shallow pan along with a small amount of water, just enough to cover. I put a bacon press on top of the mixture to weigh it down and cooked over a low heat until the fat was rendered and the water evaporated. Let the fat cool then place in a container and refrigerate. Take the skin that is left and place on a sheet pan and bake until crisp for a cracklin garnish.

For the Duck Confit

Place the leg/thigh portions into an oven proof dish skin side up, add all of the duck fat you made earlier there should be enough to cover the portions, if a little skin is above the fat it’s OK. Place in a pre-heated (225 F) oven and slow roast for approximately 2 or 3 hours. The confit is done when the duck meat pulls away from the bones easily. In the meantime place the carcass and neck into stock pot and make a quick duck stock. Remove from the oven and let cool until you can remove the meat portions from the fat. Strain the fat through a coffee filter lined strainer and return to the refrigerator for further use. Shred the duck from the bones and reserve until ready to use for the cassoulet.

For the cassoulet you will need:

White beans – one pound – pre-soaked.
Bacon – fat back or thick sliced – I used Danish style – approx 4 or 5 slices
Smoked Sausage – I used Polish, German Brautwurst or whatever sausage you desire – cut into bite sized pieces Carrot – cut into 1/2 inch pieces – approx 1 or 2 cups.
Onion – cut into 1/2 inch pieces – approx 1 or 2 cups.
Celery – cut into 1/2 inch pieces – approx. 1 or two cups.
Tomato Paste – approx 2 TBSP
Garlic – 2 or 3 cloves.
Fresh thyme – 4 or 5 sprigs
Oregano – 4 or 5 sprigs

In a stock pot large enough to hold all of the ingredients add bacon and a little duck fat and heat until rendered, add the tomato paste and cook until well mixed, add the vegetables and sausage, sauté until lightly colored. Add the pre-soaked beans, stir to combine and add the dock stock (you can also add some white wine for additional flavor). Cover and cook over low heat until the beans are tender, add the fresh herbs and duck meat and warm through. Keep warm until ready to serve. If you have left overs place in a container and freeze for another meal.

Reserve the Duck Breasts for another meal. I’ll put up a Duck with Cherry Sauce soon.

Enjoy!