If you think that I’ve battered and deep fried cheese, you’re wrong. This delicious and firm cheese is pan fried on a DRY pan. No oil or fat added. It is delicious.  It browns gorgeously and gets just a little soft…  It has a great bite and get’s very chewy.  I served it several different ways… with a salad, with freshly baked bread and olive oil and standing in front of the stove while cooking more… lol!  Either way is fabulous!

Pan Fried Fresh Cheese Recipe

4 oz fresh cheese (Queso Blanco or Para Frier)

1. Slice the cheese into 1/4 inch pieces.  Preheat a non-stick saute pan over medium high heat.  Place the cheese on the saute pan and cook for 2-3 minutes until brown.  Gently turn the cheese and cook other side.  Serve as desired…

I’ve been wanting to blog about the olives, but I wasn’t sure you all wanted to hear how good it is to eat these directly out of the jar. So I was eyeing the last jar of olives, and decided to bake an olive bread with them. I used a combination of Calamata and Habanero Pepper Stuffed olives, and the outcome was fabulous. The habaneros made it nice and spicy without being overpowering. Very good stuff. The only thing I wish I did was make sure the olives were dry before stuffing it into the bread. The extra moisture and olive oil made the bread separate a little in some places, but it was still tasty.

Olive Bread Recipe (adapted from Culinary School B & P Class)

8 oz water, 110 degrees
1/4 oz yeast, dry
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
15 oz bread flour
2 oz olive oil
4 oz onion, diced
6 oz olives, green or black, diced

1. In a mixer bowl, dissolve the yeast and sugar in 110 degree water and let develop for about 5 minutes. Add 4 oz of the flour, stir well, cover and let the sponge rise for about half an hour.

2. Add the remaining flour, salt and olive oil and knead with the dough hook on medium low speed for about 15 minutes. Shape the dough into a ball, place in an oiled bowl, cover and let the dough rise for 60 minutes.

3. Saute the onion in a little olive oil until translucent. Remove from heat and add the chopped olives. Once cooled, spoon the mixture into a small bowl lined with a paper towel to ensure there isn’t too much oil/moisture.

4. Punch down the dough and place on a floured surface. Press into a rectangle about 1/2 inch thick. Spread the onion/olive mixture over the dough, leaving a 1/2 inch thick border. Roll up the dough into an oblong loaf and press the ends to seal.

5. Place on a parchment covered sheetpan, cover with a clean cloth and let rise for 60 minutes. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 35-45 minutes, until golden brown. Let cool completely before cutting.

Note: All of the dry ingredients in this recipe are measured by weight.

A few days later, I received a nice box of goodies that included dryglazes, lemon and orange pepper and saffron rice. The first thing I noticed was the packaging is very modern and clean, not something you would see in a grocery store. The second thing was the ingredients… all natural herbs and spices. I have this thing about eating food that has ingredients I can’t pronounce with more than 15 letters. Monosodiumslimslam. OK, I made that word up, but you get the drift. The seasonings were also not loaded with salt, which it seems most prepared seasonings are. So no worries of having a case of hot-dog fingers from the excessive sodium! Whew!

I liked the idea of the dryglazes. All you do is coat the meat with olive oil and then sprinkle on the dry rub and place in the fridge. In half an hour, the rub becomes a luscious glaze. All I did then was simply grill the chicken. It was so moist and tasty you would have thought it marinated for hours. Perfect for those evenings you don’t have much time to cook, and are contemplating boring grilled chicken for the third time this week. Both the Puebla Mole and Vermont Grill were flavorful and will definitely be used again.

Here is Broiled Salmon with Sonoma Pepper. I marinated the salmon in orange juice for 30 minutes, sprinkled with salt and Sonoma Pepper, a drizzle of olive oil and broiled for 7-8 minutes. Great citrus flavor from the orange and lemon zest.



Simple Grilled Chicken with the Vermont Grill dryglaze:

I received an email from Kona Blue and was quite intrigued. They asked if I’d like a sample of their product, which is Kona Kampachi. After a little research, I found its more common name is Yellowtail, which happens to be my favorite fish when eating Sushi or Sashimi. So I said… bring it on! I was expecting to receive a little fish, you know, maybe a pound or so.

Imagine my surprise when I got a large box that contained a huge fish! I was excited, then terrified, then came full circle back to excited. I had absolutely no idea what to do with it. The only time I’ve cleaned a fish was in culinary school, and that was almost 10 years ago! So I sharpened my biggest knife, and decided to cut it into steaks instead of filleting, as it was big enough to do that. In the end, I was successful, but my counter looked like Tony Soprano had whacked someone on it.

I’ll admit, I was a bit wary of having fish sent to me. However… it arrived, surrounded by quite a few ice packs, and was very very cold. I decided to keep my dinner simple since the fish was so fresh, and chose to pan saute the fish steak and serve it with an orange-passionfruit glaze. Fabulous, absolutely fabulous. The quality is out of this world. Next time I’m in the mood for some fabulously fresh fish, I will definitely be ordering from Kona Blue.

I was too scared to try making Sushi or Sashimi this time, but will definitely try another day. Hmmm, maybe even ceviche. Come back to see what else I do with it… as I’ll be able to make several dinners from this one fish!

Seared Kona Kampachi Steaks with Orange-Passion fruit Glaze

1/2 c orange juice
1/2 c passionfruit juice
1 tbsp honey

2 Kona Kampachi filets or steaks
salt
pepper
2 tbsp olive oil

1. Combine the orange juice, passion fruit juice and honey in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium-low heat and reduce to a thick glaze, about 8-12 minutes. Stir often and be careful not to burn. Season with salt and pepper.

2. Rinse and dry the fish and sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a heavy bottom non-stick saute pan over medium high heat. Add the fish and sear, without moving for about 3 minutes. Carefully flip and sear on the other side for another 3 or so minutes. Remove to a plate and serve with the glaze.

Note: I find Passion fruit juice in the juice aisle of my grocery store. Its with all the exotic Latin brands, and might have Maracuya on the label. If you can’t find it, you can just use orange juice.

Here’s my pooch (Sushi) trying to figure out what this is