Halibut en Papillote with Pernod

Great things come in small packages, especially when you cook en papillote. Halibut en Papillote or Halibut al Cartoccio. Both a French and an Italian method of cooking fish in an enclosed parchment paper pouch along with veggies, herbs, wine and or butter. Serves 4 The first time you have this dish, it feels like…

Tequila Flambéed Shrimp Tacos with a Pineapple-Avocado, Black Bean Salsa

There are tacos and THEN THERE are tacos! Timothy and I were talking about how we wanted to describe these tacos and all that comes to mind is “blerre lekker!!” Translated means “bloody tasty.” We’re both from South Africa and our first language is English and our second is Afrikaans, so sometimes when we want to…

Seared Scallops with a Sun dried Tomato-Corn & Bacon vinaigrette

Serves 4 Most people are familiar bacon wrapped scallops but if you’ve made it you’d know that neither was cooked properly. Because scallops take only a few minutes to cook, it always seems like the bacon, which takes longer to cook it always underdone. This recipe is the solution. The scallops are seared for a…

Dried Fruit & Nut Stuffed Pork Tenderloin with Roasted Baby Potatoes and a Fried Thyme-Bacon Vinaigrette

Serves 4-6 This may look and sound fancy but it’s a breeze to make that even a novice could do it. Intensely flavored dried fruit and nuts really seems to bring out the clean, delicate qualities of the pork. Furthermore, the dried fruit and nuts provide a sweetness, tartness, and acidity that showcases the meat…

Rainbow Pepper Crusted Ribeye Steaks with Wild Mushroom Compound Butter

Serves 2 Steak dinners are usually the mark of a special occasion and can be made to feel decadent. It normally entails an outing to big, fancy restaurant and the check that follows. Why spend that money on table service when you can make these restaurant quality steaks in the comfort of you own home….

Pommes Anna al Tartufo a.k.a. Truffle Pommes Anna

Serves 4-6 This is our interpretation of the French classic Pommes Anna. We kicked it up a notch with the addition of truffle Pecorino for an elegant cheesy twist. Named after a mid-19th-century Parisian beauty, this crispy, buttery potato cake with a creamy center is special occasion fare. It’s a marvel still, every time we…

Pâte Sucrée

(Rich, Sweet Shortcrust Tart Pastry) Pâte sucrée is fussy, difficult to work with and sensitive. Having said that, I will add this: it also makes a dynamite tart crust! It is buttery, sweet and tender, like a good shortbread, and is perfect with fruit tarts. Don’t even try to roll it out – just press…

Deep Caramel-Chocolate Sauce

Makes 3 cups Caramel and chocolate is a wonderful marriage made in dessert heaven. For depth of flavor caramelizing the caramel to where you think it’s about to burnt is what you want. Also selecting premium bittersweet chocolate in the 68% – 70% is key, I use Valrhona (available at TraderJoe’s) Scharffen Berger or Lindt….

Wild Blueberry-Chipotle Glazed Pork Tenderloin

Serves 4 Here’s a surprising and flavorful way to prepare pork tenderloin, one of the leanest and most economical cuts of pork. With just 6 ingredients — pork, wild blueberry preserve, chipotle peppers in adobe sauce, red wine vinegar, paprika and Herb de Provence — you have an extremely elegant dish that is easy and…

Summer Penne Tricolore

A summer pasta should be simple and fresh, ideally made with vegetables straight from the garden or farmers market. Look for Parmigiano-Reggiano chees: top-quality ingredients make all the difference here. We get ours from Costco and it’s good value for money. Here julienne (Matchstick) cut, sautéed until tender, bolstered with garlic, Kalamata olives, and mingled…