Cucumber Sauce 10/31/2010
 
Yikes, my last blog on my site was in August. A lot has happened between Jerk Tofu and Cucumber Sauce. I completed my course work at the Natural Gourmet Institute and also moved to Florida. A new venture as a private chef for a client that is recuperating from breast and lung cancer. Literally they packed up the Diva in a suitcase.

I made some chickpea burgers for dinner last week and it needed something, so I texted by Chef friend for some advice. He suggested a cucumber sauce. With the ingredients that I had on hand I concocted a cucumber sauce.

Tzatziki – Greek Yogurt and Cucumber Sauce

Yield: 3 1/2 cups

Ingredients:
3 cups Greek Yogurt (or regular plain yogurt, strained as described above)
juice of one lemon (about 3 tablespoons)
1 garlic clove, chopped
2 medium cucumbers, seeded and diced
about 1 tablespoon sea salt for salting cucumbers
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh dill
sea salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Procedure:

  1. Peel cucumbers, then cut in half lengthwise and take a small spoon and scrape out seeds. Discard seeds.

  2. Slice cucumbers, then put in a colander, sprinkle with salt, and let stand for 30 minutes to draw out water. Drain well and wipe dry with paper towel.

  3. In food processor with steel blade, add cucumbers, garlic, lemon juice, dill, and a few grinds of black pepper. Process until well blended, then stir this mixture into the yogurt. Taste before adding any extra salt, then salt if needed. Place in refrigerator for at least two hours before serving so flavors can blend. (This resting time is very important.)


    Note: Quick and Dirty way – Don't have enough time to drain water and rest the yogurt. You can cut the cucumbers into small cubes (about 1/4th inch), use some garlic powder (or minces garlic) and blend into the yogurt.


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A few weeks ago Ilka asked to do a cooking demonstration  for Project Hip Hop's  mother's  group.  No problem any thing for these guys. My first question was is there anything specific that they want to learn how to make?  Ilka responded anything thats fast, healthy and kid friendly.  I silently chuckled to myself.   I paced back and forth and had to think about this one for a while. All three elements, tired moms that need to cook after work and I only have an hour and half, Rachael Ray makes it seem all too simple. ..its possible..the Gourmet Diva will make it work.

Its summertime, so a BBQ would work. Ahhh after reading Parents Magazine, there is was Chicken Plum Burger recipe that I came across. Hamburgers made with ground chicken meat seasoned with fresh herbs with grilled plums on top.
Amare and I did a run through of the recipe to make sure it was legit.  It passed the test. I wrote up
some tips on how to eat healthy on a budget.  Viola we are ready to go.

The demo went great, everyone got there hands 'dirty' cooking and grilling. The kids kept themselves occupied playing with each other.  The general consensus, everyone preferred the taste of ground chicken over ground turkey. Give it a try and let me know what you think.

In addition to burgers we had some fish to eat as well. One of the ladies brought some fresh salmon, a mango, and an mango terikyi marinade.  Great we can work with this.
She went inside the house to prep the fish and brought it out.  I broke down what she did below. 
The fish was great and can be easily adapted to be put in the oven as well. Today you get a two for one
with recipes and tips.  Burgers and Salmon.  In a separate blog entry, Ill also show you how to pick out a ripe mango and how to cut it.


                                  Plum – Good Chicken Burgers
Serves 6
Ingredients:
1 lb. Ground chicken breast
¼ cup panko bread crumbs (Panko can be found in the Asian food section of your local grocery store)
1 Tbs. Fresh basil chopped
½ tsp. Ground ginger
salt and pepper to taste
1 plum
4 tsp olive oil, divided
6 square – shaped, 3 – inch whole grain buns split
1 Tbs. Sweet and sour sauce
12 baby spinach leaves

1)In a bowl, combine chicken, bread crumbs, basil, ginger, salt and pepper.  Pat mixture into a 6 inch square on a piece of foil. Cover and freeze for 30 minutes so it gets firm. Meanwhile halve the plum and remove the pit. Cut three ¼ inch thick slices to make flower shapes with a cookie cutter.  Don't discard the leftover pieces; they'll look cute on the burgers too and the plum's skin is rich in antioxidants.  Toss the plum slices with a teaspoon of oil.
2.Cut chicken mixture into 6 patties; brush with remaining oil.  Grill on medium for 10 minutes or until done turning once. Add plums to grill after you flip the patties; turn once. Toast cut sides of buns on grill rack for a minute.
3.Brush bottoms of the buns with sweet and sour sauce. Add 2 spinach leaves, chicken patty, plum cutout and the bun top.
             
Recipe courtesy of Parents Magazine August 2009

 

                                         Salmon Mango Teriyaki
 
Filet of Salmon
salt and pepper to taste
1 Onion Chopped
1 mango diced
Mango Teriyaki  marinade

 

1) Season salmon with salt and pepper.
2) Pour marinade over salmon, sit for at least 1/2 hr. 
3) Chop onion and dice mango
4) Wrap salmon with marine onion and mango in foil
5) Place ontop of grill or place in oven to broil
6) Cook for about 15 minutes or until salmon is done
7) Enjoy

 
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I hope you all enjoy this weeks session.  I didn't realize how hard it is to cook and talk at the same time.  Getting better with time. My friend Al made this dish
for me a while back.  I made it a few times since then and was able to break down the measurements to share with you all. She doesn't use measurements.  Its a good baseline
and the best thing about this recipe is that you can change it to your liking, as you can see the recipe below and the video differ slightly.  I used yellow peppers because they
are in season and have a sweet taste. 

Ingredients:
1lb fresh cod fish
1/2 - Green Pepper
1/2 -  Red Pepper
1/2 medium Onion Sliced
1 stalk Scallion
1 Tomato
1 tsp Freshly Grated Ginger
1bs Thyme
3 cloves Garlic
Salt and Black pepper
3 tbs Blue Mountain Curry Powder
2 tbs Olive Oil
2 tbs Coconut creme or milk

Directions:

1) Season your cod with salt and pepper
2) Make a rub with curry powder and olive oil and rub it over the cod fish and marinade for 1 hour
2) Sear the cod and then take out the fish and place on a plate
3) Sautee the first 7 ingredients until tender in the same pan, the vegetables will soak up seasoning from the seared fish
4) Add the garlic and ginger.
5) Then add the Cod back to the pan with the veggies. I usually like to take the veggies and cover the fish with them. Cover the pan and let simmer on very low until fish is done. You can add a little coconut cream or milk to make the sauce rich.
6) Enjoy

Serves 4

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Kitchen Coaching: Not your traditional BBQ. Peach Glazed Wings &. Peach Mango Glazed Chicken

I love visiting New Jersey, its always a good time catching up with my Together AsOne family.  Tsihai and I  were planning a play date with the guys for after work. The conversation went something like this:

Tsihai: Can we bring anything?...food, snacks, drinks?
Me:   I was thinking we can throw some stuff on the grill keep it simple
Tsihai: Perfect!  Did Mike tell you about the peach glazed wings he made on the grill thinking that's a good one for your site...spin on traditional bbq
Me: He made that..hes holding out ! Would Mike mind being video taped, after a long day of work. I'll cook he  supervise?
Tsihai: oh, so you making the food but he's guiding you?
Me: :) Bingo!  It works in reverse too, ill call it light summer entertaining with Chef Chiz
Tsihai: oh he'll love that..he can wear his apron and everything

{Please note: If you tell me what you made, some how you may end up on the “The Gourmet Diva YouTube Channel)

Long story short Mike aka “Chef Chiz” volunteered to help the Gourmet Diva out.  I love you guys!
After a long day of work, Mike came prepared to throw down in the kitchen.  I can describe the session like osmosis, Mike was enjoying himself in the kitchen and I watched and asked questions along the way absorbing everything he was doing.  The dish was simple, some garlic, soy sauce, peach preserve, and ginger. As Mike said “That it,”. The end product was tasty.  I felt inspired, once again fruit and meat.

I went to the store to find the peach preserve but I found peach mango peserve.  YES!!!! Peach mango glaze with a mango chutney, that can work.   I wanted the fruit taste to come out in the chicken so the other ingredients had to be studdle.  If you want to know what I used, and how I prepared it look below. End product was fantastic. I packed up a leftover piece to give to Mr. Honest Opinion for some feedback. 

So remember: FRUIT and MEAT = Gourmet Diva – Thx Steph M for the chicken and orange kabob last week, chicken and orange on a skewer, perfect the orange taste was in the chicken.

Peach Mango Chicken
½ teaspoon garlic minced
¾ cup mango peach preserves
1 tbs vinegar
½ tsp rosemary
¼ onion powder
¼ tsp sage
¼ tsp oregano
¾ tsp salt
¾ tsp pepper
4lbs of chicken Thighs

Instructions:
1.Season Chicken with salt and pepper and mix in minced garlic
2.Grill Chicken on grill
3.Add preserves, vinegar, rosemary, onion powder, and oregano to a saucepan
4.Bring to boil
5.Brush sauce on top of chicken while grilling
6.Enjoy!

Peach Glazed Chicken – Chef Chiz Style
Ingredients

Chopped Garlic
Chopped Ginger
Soy Sauce
Peach preserves
Chicken Wings

Instructions
Place garlic, ginger, and soy sauce into blender and blend
Put sauce in bowl and marinade chicken and grill

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Picture
Final Product - Blueberry Ricotta Pancakes
I went to a friends house the other day to work out, after biking  4 miles to her house she yells “ I got a surprise”.. I love surprises., What is it? I'm going to make blueberry pancakes and your going to help me. I can handle pancakes.
She shows me a recipe for Blueberry Ricotta pancakes . Yes, ricotta (the white cheese you usually see in lasagna). I'll give anything a try at least once.


We used the following recipe below.


I coached her threw a few techniques while she was making the pancakes:
1) How do I separate eggs?  I use the egg shell method when I don't have an egg separator handy.
:

2) What do egg whites at medium peaks look like?  When you beat them they start to froth and thicken up.   

3) Why is there ricotta in here?!  I asked the same thing, we had a guest show up at the house and we could not get him to eat the pancakes because we said 'ricotta'. Adding fresh ricotta to the batter makes these pancakes incredibly moist and light.


Blueberry Ricotta Pancakes with Real Maple Syrup
Hint: Don't tell anyone one that there is cheese in the pancakes beforehand

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup All Purpose  flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch Kosher salt
2 whole eggs, separated
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon ‘pure’ vanilla extract
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
1 cup fresh blueberries, if using frozen blueberries, thaw first
3 tablespoons unsalted butter – melted
Real maple syrup, as needed

Directions:
In a large bowl sift together the dry ingredients.  In a second bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients, minus the egg whites.  In a very clean third bowl, whip the 2 egg whites until medium peaks.  Slowly combine the dry mixture into the wet. Gently fold in the egg whites, only until just incorporated.  Lastly, add the blueberries.  Spray or butter a non-stick griddle or sauté pan. Place over medium heat until hot, and add 1/3 cup pancake mixture.  Cook for 2 minutes on first side, gently flip the pancake, and cook for approximately 2 minutes on the second.  The edges will be dry, and when lifted, the bottom should be light brown in color.  Transfer to a plate, keep warm in an oven, and serve on heated plates with real maple syrup.n-stick griddle or sauté pan. Place over medium heat until hot, and add 1/3 cup pancake mixture.  Cook for 2 minutes on first side, gently flip the pancake, and cook for approximately 2 minutes on the second.  The edges will be dry, and when lifted, the bottom should be light brown in color.  Transfer to a plate, keep warm in an oven, and serve on heated plates with real maple syrup.
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