Along with steak au poivre, green peppercorn fillet is an absolute favorite of mine. It’s a wonderfully rich sauce that should become one of your staple recipes.

Serves: 3

Ingredients

For the fillet:

3 tablespoons olive oil
3 6- to 8-ounce filet mignon steaks

For the peppercorn cream sauce

1 3/4 cups beef stock or veal stock
1/4 cup chopped shallots
1 cup whipping cream
3 tablespoons Cognac or brandy
2 tablespoons drained green peppercorns in brine

Preparation

For the fillet:
1. In a small sauce pan, reduce the beef stock to 3/4 cups.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
3. Generously season the fillets with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
4. Cook the fillets to desired temperature. About 4 minutes per side for medium rare.
5. Leave the brown bits in the pan- don’t clean it.

For the peppercorn fillet cream sauce
1. Saute the shallots until they’re softened. About 2-3 minutes.
2. Add the reduced stock, whipping cream, Cognac and peppercorns.
3. Boil until sauce begins to thicken. About 6 minutes.

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A buddy of mine bought me a cookbook he found at a garage sale for $.25 cents. Beats any price of the bargain shelf books I’ve gotten and BN or Borders. Anyway…I found this recipe in the book and thought it was a fun idea to carry the phyllo crisp over into the dessert. I prepared the phyllo crisp differently than the recipe called for. Also, I think I’d tweak the creme brulee part of this too. Maybe substitute 1 cup of cream for 1 cup of coconut milk. I also added the mango. I think raspberries would be great too.

Serves: 3

Ingredients

For the creme brulee:

1 cup of unsweetened grated coconut - divided
2 cups of canned unsweetened coconut milk
2 vanilla beans, split the long way
5 egg yolks
1/2 cup of sugar
1/2 a mango cut into match sticks

For the coconut phyllo crisps

3 sheets of phyllo dough
1/4 cup of melted butter
powdered sugar as needed

Preparation

For the creme brulee:

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Place the grated coconut into a small skillet over medium heat. Toast the coconut until it’s fragrant and golden. Continue to stir it. Should be about 1-2 minutes.
3. In a sauce pan, combine the coconut milk, vanilla and half of the toasted coconut. The remaining coconut will be used with phyllo crisps. Cook over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes until small bubbles begin to rise.
4. Remove from heat and cool for about 5 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, beat the egg olks and sugar together until it turns to a light yelllow.
6. Pour a quarter of the coconut milk into this mixture. Stir and then pour this mixture back to the remaining coconut milk. Mix thoroughly.
7. Line an 8″ square baking pan with plastic wrap and pour in the mixture.
8. Bake for 30-45 minutes, or until the center is barely set. Chill for several hours or until firm. Cut into squares.

For the coconut phyllo crisps:
1. Preheat the oven 375 degrees F.
2. Melt the butter in a small pan.
3. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Lay one sheet of thawed phyllo dough and brush generously with the melted butter. Dust with powdered sugar and toasted grated coconut.
4. Repeat with the other two phyllo sheets.
5. Place the baking sheet in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes or until the butter firms up.
6. Cut the phyllo sheets into 2″ squares or the serving size of your creme brulee.
7. Back until golden brown. Approximately 10 mins.

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I put this salad together a couple of weeks ago and it has become one of my favorites. Aleppo pepper is from Turkey and its flavor is smoky and similar to ancho chilis, but has a slightly sweet finish. Aleppo intensifies and gives the naturally salty and rich Halloumi cheese another layer of flavor. Match that with the red grapes and you’ve got a got a party in your mouth.

Serves: 2 as main courses or 4 as starters

Ingredients

For the grilled halloumi:
8 oz. of Halloumi cheese
1 TBs ground aleppo pepper
freshly ground black pepper
olive oil for grilling
1/2 cup of sliced red or black grapes. Green grapes don’t work for me in this recipe. They’re a bit too tart.

For the salad:
5 oz. of mixed green salad
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

For balsamic vinaigrette:
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 cup olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Preparation

For the halloumi:
1. Preheat the grill or grill pan to medium high heat.
2. Cut the halloumi in half vertically and horizontally and coat with a thin layer of extra virgin olive oil.
3. Season with freshly ground black pepper and ground aleppo pepper.
4. Grill the halloumi until golden. Approximately 2-3 mins. per side.
5. While the halloumi is grilling, slice the red grapes.

For the salad:
1. Season the greens with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper/
2. Whisk the balsamic vinaigrette ingredients together and drizzle over the greens.

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Some of you have been wondering where I’ve been. No…I’ve not joined Cirque de Soleil nor have been killed at the Ninja Warrior tryouts. I have been busy with “life.” You see, I’ve got a test in Kung Fu coming up in a month or so and have been training heavily for that. Familiar with the “300” workout? That’s me, 4 days a week. Along with the number of hours at the dojo, there’s not really been time to post or really cook, so the next series of postings are pretty much quick and easy fixes.

Thanks to those who emailed and inquired about my whereabouts.

Serves: 2

Ingredients

For Potato Pancakes
1 large Idaho potato
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Extra virgin olive oil

For Scrambled Eggs
4 eggs
1 TBs of crème fraîche
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

For Salmon
2-4 slices of smoked salmon
creme fraiche for topping
1 TBs. of capers
1 tsp. of finely diced red onion
1 tsp. of finely chopped chives

Preparation

For the potatoes

1. Peel the potatoes and steamed them for about 15 minutes and let cool.
2. Shred the potato with the large holes of a box grater.
3. Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
4. Heat a large skillet with 2 TBs. of olive oil over medium heat. Place 2 potato cakes and cook until brown on both sides. Approximately 5-7 minutes per side.
5. Remove from skillet and drain on paper towels.

For the Scrambled Eggs
1. Whisk the eggs and crème fraîche together into a glass bowl and season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
2. Heat a medium non-stick skillet and scramble eggs using a folding technique with a spatula. Be careful not to overcook and dry the eggs out.

Plating

1. Place a potato pancake on a plate.
2. Fold a piece of the smoked salmon onto the plate. Try to get a Rose shape.
3. Spoon some of the scrambled eggs on top of the smoked salmon.
4. Sprinkle the plate with the capers, red onions and chives.

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