how to make raspberry vinaigrette recipe

Raspberry Vinaigrette Recipe
By: Chef Cristian Feher
www.tampabaychef.com

You can save a lot of calories by making your own salad dressings - not to mention saving money too. This is a very easy and simple recipe that you can whip together in less than 5 minutes to go with your fresh salad.

After you make this recipe, you can try it again with all kinds of different berries for a variety of different variations.

Generally speaking (and depending on what vinegar you’re using) a vinaigrette is made with 2 to 3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar. With this recipe I like to use 3 parts oil to 1 part red wine vinegar.

If you want to cut some calories from the fat (oil), you can do 1 part water, 2 parts oil and 1 part red wine vinegar. A little cold water will actually help the mixture emulsify (makes the mixture thick) and stay that way longer!

Ingredients:

- 2/3 cup olive oil

- 1/3 cup cold water

- 1/3 cup of red wine vinegar

- Honey to taste

- Salt to taste

- 6oz fresh raspberries

5. Put the oil, balsamic vinegar, honey and berries in a food processor and pulse until smooth. Or place them in a bowl and blend them with a hand blender until smooth.

How to make a fig salad

Roman Fig Salad Recipe

By: Chef Cristian Feher

www.tampabaychef.com

Fig Salad © Cristian Feher 2012

If you want to roll like an affluent Roman, starting your feast with fresh figs is what I recommend!

Fresh figs are seasonal, and you may not be able to find them all year round. But when they’re available I scoop them up quickly!

You might be familiar with figs in their processed form - as the paste filling inside Fig Newtons. But fresh from the tree they are soft in texture and subtle in taste. And this allows them to take on other flavors very well. I always like to pair them with some sort of soft cheese.

Fresh figs should be brownish in color and really soft to the touch. The skin will be brittle, so handle them gently.

When using olive oil it’s very important that you always taste your olive oil beforehand. Olive oil is light sensitive - which means that it degrades as it sits in a clear bottle and often it’s gone bad on the store shelf before you bring it home. Once you open it and air gets in, it starts oxidizing. Always make sure to get your olive oil in small metal tins and that you use it up quickly.

When you taste your olive oil it must not be bitter at it must not be spicy on the back of your throat. These two flavors tell you that it’s gone bad. And you can ruin a nice salad by using rancid olive oil. So, always taste it before you use it.

This is the easiest recipe for fresh figs. All you will need is red onion, a soft cheese like Boursin or goat cheese, and good quality olive oil.

Yields: 4 servings

Ingredients:
- 8 to 12 fresh figs
- 1/2 red onion diced
- Boursin or goat cheese
- Freshly cracked black pepper
- Sea salt
- Olive oil
- Red Wine Vinegar (optional)

Instructions:

1. Gently wash your figs under cold water and pat dry with a paper towel. Cut them in half and place them face up on a plate

2. Dice half a red onion and sprinkle over the figs.

3. If your cheese is crumbly, sprinkle some cheese crumbles over the figs. If your cheese is thick, scoop a ball of cheese and put it in the middle of the figs so that your guests can serve themselves a piece of it.

4. Drizzle with a few swirls of olive oil and if you like, you can sprinkle a little red wine vinegar over top.

5. Add some salt and fresh pepper to taste. Enjoy!

How to make a healthy salad

Is your salad actually healthy?

By: Chef Cristian Feher

www.tampabaychef.com

Baby kale salad © Cristian Feher 2012

Whether you've decided to get back in shape and lose weight, or you just want to improve your dietary habits, most of us turn to salad. For most of us, "salad" translates to "healthy food". But is your salad really all that healthy?

The answer to that is: Depends on how you make your salad, and what the word "healthy" means to you. If "healthy" means low in calories and fat, and high in vitamins and nutrients, then we're on the same page.

A salad should provide your body with a food break. It should provide you with enzymes, vitamins and minerals to help your digestive system get over all the heavy foods you've been eating. Remember that if your reason for eating salads is to lose weight, you already have fat on your body, and you don't need to add more fat to your salad. A salad should not be a high calorie meal.  

I'll have a couple of fast food burgers on my salad! If preceding sentence sounds ridiculous, think about all the extra stuff you can add to an innocent salad: croutons, cheese, eggs, cold cuts, and thick, fatty, sugary salad dressings like thousand island, ranch, Caesar or blue cheese. While not all of these are necessarily "unhealthy", it's very easy to add an extra 500-1000 calories to a simple salad by adding these items. And doesn’t that defeat the purpose? Realize that simple olive oil (any oil) is high in calories and should be used sparingly. For example; 1/4 cup of olive oil is about 450 calories! Yes, it's "healthy" but it's high in calories.

Different shades of green. Are all greens created equal? Definitely not. The darker green the better. Darker greens such as spinach, kale and dark-colored lettuces have lots of vitamins, minerals, enzymes and chlorophyll. Those are all good for you, and those are the main things you want to get out of eating a nice salad. Light colored lettuces like iceberg and romaine have virtually no vitamins or minerals - they're mostly water and cellulose and have very little nutritional value. So the main ingredient should always be a dark, leafy green.

The idea behind eating a salad for health is that you lower the fat, and calories. An ideal salad should include a simple vinaigrette made with a little bit of olive oil, an acid (like red wine vinegar or lemon juice), garlic, herbs, sea salt and pepper. The main focus should be on  fresh vegetables and dark, leafy greens such as kale, spinach and dark lettuces. You can also add berries, nuts and dried fruit (very sparingly) for extra flavor. You can even skip the oils altogether to speed up your weight loss. I often enjoy seasoning my salads with red wine vinegar, fresh garlic, herbs, sea salt and freshly ground pepper. And did you know that apple cider vinegar is a known blood thinner? This can keep your body cooler in hot weather.

I hope this crash course on salads gets you heading in the right direction as far as nutrition and health is concerned. Do you have a great salad recipe? You can share it with me at  tampabaychef@gmail.com

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Fish Baked in a Salt Crust

Fish Baked in a Salt Crust

By: Chef Cristian Feher

www.tampabaychef.com

This is possibly the easiest and most delicious way to cook a whole fish. And it’s undoubtedly the most enjoyable way to prepare it! I had so much fun working on this recipe, that I ended up salt-crusting a ribeye steak and a piece of chicken too!

The salt is combined with a small amount of egg whites (or even a bit of water will work) - this helps to form a thick crust of salt which traps the moisture of the fish inside the crust and cooks it at a high temperature. The salt does not enter the fish, and the thickness of it prevents it from burning. When you’re through, you tap the crust to crack it, revealing a perfectly cooked item inside. The salt even dries out the skin to the point where it peels clean off the flesh - you don’t even have to de-scale the fish. This is a truly unique and wonderful method of cooking fish and meats.''

When I don't catch my own fish at the beach, I buy them fresh at Wards Seafood in Clearwater, FL. 

NOTE:  If you saw my cooking segment on the Good Day Show featuring this recipe, you may have noticed how much effort it took for me to hack through the salt crust to get to the fish. This was because the fish was accidentally left in the oven 45 minutes past its cooking time at 450 degrees, turning the salt into a concrete-like block! However, the fish inside was still juicy and delicious - a testament to this method of cooking. But, I recommend baking the fish at 450 degrees for about 30-40 minutes only, so that the salt cracks apart easily.

Ingredients:

- 1 to 1.5 Lb fish (whole, gutted)

- 2 Lbs of canning or pickling salt per fish

- 1 egg white per pound of salt

- 2 tbsp of water per pound of salt

Instructions:

1. Mix the salt with the egg whites and water in a bowl. I mixed it with my hands.

2. Lay down an inch-thick layer of salt on a baking dish.

3. Put the fish on top of the salt.

4. Make a mount of salt on top of the fish’s body. You do not need to cover the head.

5. I cook my fish at 450 degrees for 30-40 minutes until it develops what I like to call, the “zombie face” where the eyes become fully dehydrated and cooked. Another way to tell when whole fish is cooked is to pull out the dorsal fins along the back, they will come out without any effort when the flesh is fully cooked.

6. Crack the salt crust with a wooden mallet, or any other tool you can think of. Carefully remove the crispy skin away from the flesh, and scrape the meat off the spine and put on a serving plate. Remove the spine and remove the bottom layer of meat, put on serving plate and enjoy with fresh lemon slices!

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How to make quick seafood ceviche

Quick Seafood Ceviche Recipe

By: Chef Cristian Feher

www.tampabaychef.com

Ceviche is a dish of patience. The idea is to chemically-cook the delicate protein of fish and shellfish with a mild acid such as that found in lemons and limes. The dish actually “cooks” while being refrigerated overnight. But who wants to wait 12 to 24 hours to enjoy some ceviche? Not me, that’s for sure.

This is a quick “cheater’s” ceviche recipe which will have you scarfing down a bowl of tangy seafood in less than an hour!

By quickly blanching the seafood in boiling, salted water, and adding a tangy marinade, you can enjoy a ceviche that will rival any “overnight” versions.

Ingredients:

- 1 lb Seafood such as shrimp, scallops and fish

- 1/2 cup diced red pepper

- 1/4 cup of chopped scallions

- 2 cloves of garlic, minced

- 1 tbsp of fresh chopped parsley or cilantro

- 1/8 tsp of salt

- 1/4 cup of olive oil

- 1/8 cup of lemon juice

- Hot sauce to taste (optional)

Instructions:

NOTE: Feel free to chance the amounts of vegetables and/or olive oil, and lemon juice to suit your individual tastes.

1. Clean and cut your seafood into small pieces. For this particular recipe, I used tile fish and shrimp.

2. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Make sure that water is well-salted. Add the seafood and bring back to a boil. Boil for one minute. Remove the seafood into a colander and run under cold water to stop the cooking process. You may also use an ice-bath to cool down the seafood if you’re feeling fancy, but I find that running it under cold water and straining it again works.

3. Put the seafood in a salad bowl.

4. Add the rest of the ingredients and enjoy!

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How to make a shrimp cocktail

Shrimp cocktail with Curry Mayo Dip

By: Chef Cristian Feher

www.tampabaychef.com

The shrimp cocktail has become the classic way to enjoy shrimp. It is still viewed by many as a sign of success - to be able to enjoy a shrimp cocktail signifies success and the ability to enjoy the fine things in life. Yes, shrimp have certainly come down in price over time, but good quality shrimp are still a treat for most.

Although it’s been done time and time again, I still like to serve shrimp cocktails to my guests. To me, it’s one of those dishes that will never go out of style. Maybe it’s because I have so much fun posing the shrimp on everything from martini glasses to ice sculptures! 

There is a big difference between cheap, grocery store freezer shrimp, and good quality, fresh shrimp. If you’re lucky enough to be in a part of the world where shrimp are farmed or fished locally, even better! Here in the Gulf of Mexico we are lucky to have good quality shrimp. I always buy my shrimp at Ward’s Seafood in Clearwater, FL.

When you buy shrimp, you want to ensure that you read the ingredients. If you find “tripolyphosphate” anywhere on that list, put them back. Tripolyphosphate is a preservative that is often added to shrimp. I find that it makes them waterlogged and mushy. Good quality, fresh shrimp should be firm and somewhat dry. If it lists “salt” as one of the ingredients, that’s fine - much better than tripolyphosphate. 

Here is a quick and easy recipe that is sure to impress.

Serves 2

Ingredients:

- 1 Lb of Tiger Shrimp (peeled and deveined)

- Organic salad greens

- 1 cup of mayonnaise

- 1 tbsp of Dijon mustard

- 1 tbsp of yellow curry powder

- 2 lemon wedges

Instructions:

1. Boil the shrimp in salted boiling water for no more than 5 minutes. Drain and run under cold water to cool off. Set aside.

2. To make the sauce, combine the mayo, Dijon mustard and curry powder.  Whisk together well.

3. Place a bunch of greens in the center of a martini glass. Pose the shrimp along the edge of the glass. Cut a slit into the middle of a lemon wedge and stick it to the edge of the glass (see picture). Pour a dollop of curry mayo on top of the greens. Serve and enjoy!

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How to grill with charcoal

How to bbq with charcoal

By: Chef Cristian Feher

www.tampabaychef.com

To view this video please visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fx3rINat5Yc

Although many of you are BBQ wizards, there are those who find charcoal a little intimidating.  If you remember the last time you had really good BBQ it's likely that it was cooked over coals. And it's also likely that you followed the trail of smoke to find the place!

Using charcoal to grill your meats can take longer than using propane or electric grills, but the results are far superior. In this article I will be providing you with some helpful tips on using charcoal in hopes of converting you from a Propane Peter to a Charcoal Charlie.  

How to choose a charcoal grill - People have been grilling with charcoal for hundreds of years, and it's only until recently that Man has begun to manufacture metal grills with lids and shiny handles - which means that even the most rudimentary charcoal should do the job. However, since you live in an age of modern technology and nice things, you might as well look for the following attributes when choosing your grill: 1) It should have a lid. 2) It should have an intake air vent, and an exhaust vent to allow you to control the flow of air. 3) You should be able to move the cooking grill, or charcoal pan, up and down to control the heat.

Once you have found a grill that has these three attributes, your only other deciding factor will be how much you want to spend. If you spent all your money on a ring for your sweetheart, you may consider buying a $30 grill at your local bargain shop. Or, you can cancel Christmas, and spend several hundred dollars on a Big Green Egg grill. Keep in mind that, although the more expensive ones will have some advantages, they will both do pretty much the same thing - cook food over hot coals.

I currently use the Char-Griller 5050, which offers me a gas grill and a charcoal grill in one convenient package. It''s not the longest lasting grill, but the replacement parts are reasonably priced, and it was really fun to put together.


Briquettes or Lump Coal? Call me a purist, but I prefer to use lump coal when it's available. Briquettes are often - but not always - combined with other materials, and some are even soaked in flammable chemicals (or fire retardants for a slower burn). The bottom line is that I don't want chemicals in my meat - just natural smoke. So I prefer lump coal.

How do I light it?  Because a charcoal BBQ can take longer to prepare than a gas or electric one, many people have adopted what I consider the bad habit of throwing down some charcoal briquettes, dousing them in lighter fluid and throwing in a match. You might as well cook your steak in your car's muffler or on top of the engine block. I can always taste lighter fluid when someone started their charcoal this way and I don't like it.

I like to use balled-up newspaper and kindling wood (sticks and twigs) to make my fire. I then put the lump charcoal into the fire and start it up - this way the addition of natural wood will give your food an amazing smoky taste that is lacking when using charcoal only. If you're in a big hurry you want to use an electric charcoal starter. You will miss out on the wood smoke, but at least you won't have to soak your steak in gasoline to light it up!

Smoke is good for you! Did you know that smoke not only tastes good, but it can make your leftover grilled foods last a lot longer than gas-grilled foods? Smoke is an antimicrobial (kills germs), and an antioxidant (a word used to market cheap fruit juice to health-fanatics).  It coats your foods in compounds which make it hard for bacteria to thrive, and it slows down the rate at which fats become rancid.  Smoke also has a tendency to dry out foods, which makes it hard for bacteria - basically, bacteria hate smoke. It's like the plague to them.

I wish you happy grilling! Do you have any grilling tips of your own? You can always email me at tampabaychef@gmail.com. 

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