Caprese salad recipe

Caprese Salad
Recipe by: Chef Cristian Feher
http://www.tampabaychef.com




Yield: 4 Portions

Ingredients:
- Fresh Basil Leaves
- 4 Tomatoes
- 4 Large balls of Buffalo Mozzarella Cheese, or several smaller balls of Bocconcini Cheese
- 2 Cups of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 2/3 Cup of your favourite Vinegar
- 1 Tbsp of Grain or Dijon Mustard
- Salt and Pepper


Instructions:

1. Prepare the following and set aside:
- Slice Tomatoes
- Slice the Mozzarella or Bocconcini Cheese

2. To prepare a basic vinaigrette, you will put the olive oil and vinegar into a mixing bowl. You will then add the mustard and season to taste with salt and pepper. Mix the vinaigrette vigorously with a metal whisk until mixture has thickened. NOTE: You can add a few drops of cold water while whisking to make it thicker and keep the thickness longer. Set aside.

3. On each plate, arrange the cheese slices, tomato slices and basil leaves as you wish. Use your imagination and make a nice, uniform pattern!

4. Drizzle with the vinaigrette and serve!

Italian Chicken Caprese Recipe

Chicken Caprese
Recipe by: Chef Cristian Feher
http://www.tampabaychef.com



This is a very easy and satisfying Italian entree. You can try different variations by substituting the chicken with veal, or pork cutlets. My favourite way to serve Caprese Chicken is over a bed of Angel Hair Pasta with Basil Pesto and Plenty of Parmigiano Regiano cheese! But you can cut the carb content by serving it with a hearty green salad, Caesar Salad or Oven Roasted Vegetables.

Yield: 4 Portions

Ingredients:
- 4 Skinless, boneless chicken breasts
- 3 Eggs
- 4 Cups of Italian Bread Crumbs
- 2 Large Balls of Buffalo Mozzarella
- 2 Large Tomatoes
- Fresh Basil Leaves
- Salt and Pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. Prepare and set aside the following:
- Butterfly the chicken breasts
- Crack and beat eggs in a bowl
- Pour Italian bread Crumbs into a bowl or large plate
- Slice Tomato and Mozzarella Cheese
- Pre-Heat oven to 380 (convection oven) or 400 (regular oven)

2. Sprinkle salt and pepper onto each chicken breast. Dredge the each chicken breast through the egg mixture making sure to coat both sides. Then place the chicken breasts into the bread crumb mixture and pat it down on each side so that the crumbs stick to the breasts on both sides. Place breast onto the baking sheet.

3. Place the chicken breasts in the oven and bake for approximately 20-25 minutes. Every oven is slightly different, so keep an eye on your chicken so that it doesn't burn!

4. Take chicken breasts out of the oven and top each breast with a couple of slices of tomato, a couple of fresh basil leaves and a couple of slices of mozzarella cheese. Bake for another 7-10 minutes until cheese is melted.

5. Serve each chicken breast over your favourite pasta or side dish. Enjoy!

Cheese Fondue Recipe

Cheese Fondue Recipe
Recipe by: Chef Cristian Feher
http://www.tampabaychef.com/





Fondue is a great method of cooking. Especially if you're goal is to entertain your guests! There are several ways to make fondue, and there are many different ingredients that one could use. I will be giving you a basic recipe utilizing Colby jack cheese and dark beer. However, you can experiment with MANY different cheeses, and many different bases (wine, beer, stock, etc). It's important to note that different cheeses will give you different tastes and textures. Some may even split, ball-up, or become really stringy.

To fix a fondue that is too stringy, you can add a few squirts of lemon or lime. Although this may not fix the stringiness altogether, it may cut it down somewhat. If your cheese splits or balls up (there is liquid and cheese separately) you can sprinkle some corn starch a little at a time while mixing, until your mixture comes together again. I actually make a habit of coating the cheese in a bit of corn starch before starting the cooking process.

You can use the traditional "fondue pot" that most people get as a wedding gift, or passed down from a relative. But I make it on the stove when I feel like a quick fondue. As long as you keep the heat low, you'll be fine.

There are some Swiss traditions in "fondueing" that I would like to pass onto you: 1) Traditionally, you would use day-old, slightly stale bread (trust me, it works out great!). 2) If you drop your bread into the cheese everyone must take a drink. And 3) If you double-dip and get caught, you must buy everyone a round of drinks.

I hope you have as much fun as I've had when experimenting with all the different types of cheeses. Treat fondue as an adventure, and you will never be disappointed.

Yields: Fondue for 4-8 people

Ingredients:
- 1 - 2 Cups of White Wine or Beer of Choice
- 5 - 8 Cups of Cheese of Choice
- 1 Tbsp of Dijon Mustard
- 1 Clove of Garlic
- Cubed Bread of Choice
- (optional) Fruit or Berries
- (optional) Corn Starch
- (optional) Lime or Lemon

Instructions:

1. Prepare and set aside the following ingredients:
- Peeled and halved garlic clove
- Wine or Beer
- Cubed or Shredded Cheese
- Cube and skewer the bread, and/or fruit

2. Bring the pot to low heat on the stove top (or follow the instructions on your fondue pot). Once pot is hot, rub the inside of the pot with the halved garlic clove (this is called "seasoning" the pot). The purpose of this is to make a base of garlic particles on the bottom of the pot. This will flavour your pot and will help to keep the cheese from sticking to the bottom. Discard the clove after you're done rubbing the pot.

3. Add the liquid and bring to a low simmer. This should happen momentarily.

4. Start adding the cheese one cup at a time and stir with a wooden spoon as it melts. If the cheese splits or balls up, read the notes at the beginning of this recipe to fix it. Do not bring the cheese to a boil. Keep the temperature so that the cheese is melting, but not boiling.

5. Once all the cheese is melted you can stir in the mustard.

6. If your mixture is too thick, just add more of the liquid, and if it's too thin, you can add more cheese. Make sure to have extra of both just in case. Note that as the fondue renders down over time, the flavours will become bolder and richer!

7. Bring your guests into your kitchen and have fun dipping the bread into the cheese with the long skewers!

Basa Fish: A welcome impostor!

Basa Fish: A Welcome Impostor!
By: Chef Cristian Feher
http://www.tampabaychef.com/

I walked into the seafood store the other day to pick up some Salmon and Tuna for Sushi. I always enjoy looking through the glass and seeing all the different varieties of fish. I have been fascinated by fish ever since I was a kid. I can spend hours just looking at fish, whether it be at the pet store, at the aquarium, fishing magazines or when I'm fishing or snorkeling in the ocean. This interest has come in very handy in my career as a Chef in getting to know the who's-who list of fish. The fish monger, however, is not as enthusiastic as I am, and usually becomes quite impatient with my loitering back and forth across his displays.

I spotted some familiar looking white fish fillets next to the Salmon being sold as "Swai Fillets". I smiled to myself and wondered, "How many more names can this fish possibly have?" I recognized the Basa fillets right away, and asked the fish monger (for my own amusement) to tell me about this fish. Instantly he went on a sales pitch about this new, rare and delicate fish from Australia called Swai and suggested that (at $5.95 per pound - dirt cheap by Floridian seafood prices - but expensive for what it is) I must try it. I then remarked how "I can get these Basa fillets in Toronto for $1.99 per pound!" He sunk down for a few moments and then confessed, like every contraband dealer eventually does!

The real name for this under cover fish is Basa (actually, its Scientific name is Pangasius Bocourti) It is a white, almost odorless, firm fleshed fish. It is a beautiful fish to cook with, as its firm flesh holds together well and is yet delicate enough to incorporate into fine recipes. You can fry it, broil it, batter it, poach it, and incorporate it into rice dishes (such as Paella), Sauces and Soups. (Now I sound like Bubba Gump!) Most of it comes from fish farms and rivers in Vietnam and recently it's coming from Australia too. But this is the type of fish that I would rather expect to find at a knock-off market in Hong Kong next to the fake Gucci wallets and Armani Suits. It is a fish that, due to its wide versatility in texture and taste, can and has been passed off as many other fish and goes by several different names. I have personally bought this fish as Basa, Smooth Dory, Swai, Catfish, Vietnamese Catfish, and Pangasius. And I have been the knowing victim of Chefs trying to pass it off as Snapper, Bass, and Black Cod. I'm sure it goes out in restaurants all over the world, dressed in many different costumes by many different names. It's the quality of this knock-off that is its saving grace.

When first introduced into the American market they threatened to put the cat fishing industry out of business by being sold as "Catfish" to unsuspecting buyers. If the American cat fishing industry hadn't fought back so swiftly and sternly to boycott the sale of basa as "Catfish", I'm sure they would have been finished. To tell you the truth, I would rather eat a mild tasting, fried Basa fillet any day than a stringy, mud flavoured cat fish fillet! But I guess you have to defend your local crop - don't get me started on the blunders we have committed to keep the American corn farmers in business (High Fructose Corn Syrup, and Ethanol but to name a couple).

In short, I am actually very much a fan of the Basa. Not only because of the exciting, under cover, knock-off life it lives, but also because when push comes to shove, its quality is superior to many other fish worth two or three times as much. So the next time you're in your local fish store, give Basa a try. You won't be disappointed!

Five things you didn't know about food

Five Things You Didn't Know About Food
By: Chef Cristian Feher
www.tampabaychef.com

Nothing is more entertaining at a social gathering than paying close attention while someone divulges previously unknown facts about a certain subject. We've all gathered around in a circle to listen to that certain person tell us what our suit jacket has in common with the space station, and how the shoes you're wearing can help provide energy for a small town in Africa. And although I don't plan on sharing those particular tidbits with you, here are five things about food that you can enlighten your friends with at your next gathering!

Why is beef tenderloin so soft? Any butcher will tell you that the muscles that are most used turn into the toughest cuts of beef. By that same token, the muscles least used in the animal will yield the softest cut. Both, cows and bulls, have tenderloin muscles. The purpose for that muscle in a bull is to mount the cow during mating. However, the cow is female and therefore does not mount anything, so that muscle remains virtually unused by the cow, making it the softest muscle and providing you with delicious, tender steaks!

What does 'No MSG' really mean? By now most of us are aware that a preservative and flavour enhancer called MSG (Mono sodium Glutamate) is not very good for you. And many people try to avoid it by purchasing food products labeled "NO MSG". But did you know that MSG has many different names? MSG can be made many different ways and, chemically speaking, is made from hydrolyzed vegetable protein. So the next time you buy a 'No MSG' product, read the ingredients carefully, because you are most likely to find that it does contain MSG in it. It's just named something different, such as: "Hydrolyzed corn protein, hydrolyzed vegetable protein, spice, or hydrolyzed (ANYTHING) protein. And it's how those sneaky food manufacturers have been getting away with it up until now.

How can people in hot climates eat such spicy foods? It seems that the closer to the equator you go, the spicier the food gets! Take countries like India, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica and Thailand. Not only does the weather get extremely hot, but so does the food! As a tourist, you may wonder why people would do that to themselves. You can see them sniffling and sweating while they eat, and it's 100 degrees out! But the truth is that hot peppers containing substances like capsicum cause the body to sweat, which actually cools you as you eat. And many hot spices will also thin out your blood, lowering your body's core temperature.


What did people do before refrigerators? There are many other ways of preserving food. Many cultures used strong mixtures of spices to preserve meats and grains. The spice mixture we know today as "curry" was used in the past by people to preserve meats, and even to cover up the unsavoury taste and smell of slightly rancid food. Spices such as garlic, cinnamon, mustard, cloves and oregano have such high concentrations of anti-microbial (germ killers) that they have been clinically proven to kill the salmonella bacteria.

The "all natural" claim is not so fresh! Marketing companies are constantly throwing you catchy words in order to convince you that something is good for you, when in fact, it's vaguely true at most. Did you know that the marketing term "all natural" really doesn't mean anything? It certainly doesn't mean that what you're eating is good for you. Here are some things that are "all natural": Arsenic, Opium, Snake Venom, Mercury, Death Cap Mushrooms, Atropine, Tetanus, and Strychnine.

Now that you have learned some juicy morsels of moderately important information, go out there and show your friends how smart you really are!

Spaghetti with Yellow Tomato and Bacon

Spaghetti with Yellow Tomato and Bacon

By: Chef Cristian

http://www.tampabaychef.com/

Today I found some beautiful yellow tomatoes at the local farmer's market. They were too ripe for salad, so the farmer sold them to me for $0.50 per pound! Needless to say, I bought a lot. Over-ripe tomatoes are perfect for sauce, and that's just what I did with them.

Yellow tomatoes are less acidic than the red varieties, and I thought they would be perfect with some sugar and the smoky taste of bacon. The sauce turned out rich orange color and tasted great!

Ingredients:
- Spaghetti (I used Dreamfields low carb spaghetti)
- 1/2 Lb of Smoked Bacon Sliced into Lardons (match sticks)
- 1 Small Onion Diced
- Handful of Basil Leaves (or 1 Tbsp of Dried Basil)
- 2 to 3 Lbs of Fresh Yellow Tomato Diced
- Salt and Pepper to taste (This recipe took a lot of salt!)
- Raw Cane Sugar (I used about 3 Tbsp)
- Pinch of Oregano

Method:

1. As with all my recipes, the first step is to prepare all your ingredients so that they are ready to go! This means chopping, slicing, dicing, mixing, portioning all the ingredients.

2. Sautee the bacon and onion in a sauce pan until the bacon is rendered and the onion is translucent. About 10-13 minutes. During this time you want to get your pasta water to a rolling boil and keep it on stand-by.

3. I chopped the tomatoes in a food processor along with 3 cloves of garlic and basil, and then added them to the sauce pan. Add sugar, pepper, salt and oregano and simmer until most of the water from the tomatoes evaporates. I cooked the sauce for an hour.

4. When the sauce has thickened and most of the water has evaporated, check the seasoning and add more salt and sugar if you'd like.

5. Cook your pasta according to package instructions and enjoy with the yellow tomato sauce!

10 Ways To Make Life Easier In The Kitchen

10 Ways To Make Life Easier In The Kitchen

By: Chef Cristian
www.tampabaychef.com

This article requires little introduction, as we can all benefit from having it easier in the kitchen. Here are some tips that I have learned over the years as a chef. I hope this will make your life a little easier in the kitchen!

10. Use good quality cooking pots. Have you ever burnt your dinner? Tired of scraping your breakfast from a sticky pan? Ever melt the plastic handles? My clients always ask me what type of cooking pots I recommend, and this is what I always tell them: You want to choose a set of pots that have a thick, heavy metal plate stamped on the bottom of the pot. This helps to distribute heat evenly (so that your food cooks at the right temperature) and prevents your food from burning. A thin bottom will almost always burn your food if you're not careful. The pots should be made of steel, as aluminum is cheap and tends to warp with use. A good set of heavy, stainless steel pots and pans should last you a lifetime. The handles on the pots should be made of metal, so that you can stick the pots in the oven without having the handles melt. You should have at least one good quality non-stick Teflon pan, which you should only use with plastic or wooden spoons to prevent scratching (never use a metal tool with it). All it takes is one scratch on a Teflon pan to begin the deterioration process. The lids can be tempered glass, but I prefer a solid metal lid, with metal handle that can go in the oven when I need it.

9. Use a good quality food processor. A food processor is an appliance which uses rotary blades inside of a cylinder to chop food. This saves you time. A food processor is not only used to chop foods. Some processors can shred cheese, mix dough, slice vegetables, make dressings, soups and sauces. When choosing a food processor it's always important to get one with a big motor. Get the heaviest unit that you can find, as this denotes a bigger, more powerful motor. There is nothing more unsavoury than an under-powered appliance. I actually bought an old Cuisinart food processor from the 1980's at a thrift shop, and it's the best kitchen appliance I own! It's very heavy and powerful and its simple construction means that it never breaks down. You can save your money and health by making your own fresh dressings, sauces and save time in the kitchen by letting the food processor do all the work for you.

8. Use thick plastic or wooden cutting boards. Never use a glass or stone cutting board. I am not quite sure why they are manufactured. They are loud, they allow your blade to slip all over the place, and they dull your knives faster than any other material I have ever seen. You should only use thick plastic or wooden cutting boards in your kitchen. They offer a sturdy base on which to cut your food, your knives sink slightly into the material (this prevents your blade from slipping), and they don't dull your knives nearly as fast as glass of stone. The plastic boards are also very hygienic and easy to keep clean. I use plastic boards for meats and fish (as they do not absorb liquids), and the wooden ones for everything else. I recommend you keep 2 to 4 boards around the kitchen (2 small ones and 2 big ones).

7. Use a good set of cooking knives. This will be an article all in itself, but I will give you a basic overview of the types of knives which will make your life easier in the kitchen. At the very least, you should be using an 8-12 inch chef knife (The now-popular Japanese Santoku knife is an acceptable substitution - especially if you have small hands). Get used to using this knife for most of your slicing, cutting and chopping. I use my 10 inch chef knife for about 85% of all food processing. You should also have a small, razor-sharp parring knife, a serrated utility knife about 7 inches long (great for dismantling vegetables), serrated bread knife (also the best knife for cutting Tomato), and a boning knife with flexible tip for precise butchering of meats and filleting fish (although I often fillet fish using my chef's knife). I will write a more detailed article on how to choose a set of knives soon. I often observe people preparing their foods using the wrong knives. This causes them to waste more time, ruin the ingredients, strain their wrists, and sometimes even cut themselves. Cooking can be a real pleasure when you're using the right knives!

6. Keep your knives sharp. Would you drive a car with flat tires? Well, using dull knives are sort of the same thing. You tend to squish the food apart rather than slicing through it, and you use way more physical effort and energy than you would with sharp knives. So make your life easy and keep your knives sharp. Learn how to use a wet stone, or buy a knife sharpener from your favourite store. I would also like to point out that a sharpening steel (that long metal stick that comes with most knife sets) is not actually for sharpening your knives. I know many of you like to swish your knife back and forth on it - but the sharpening effect is only a placebo! Its proper use is for making the sharpened edge of your blade straight AFTER you sharpen your knife. The name "sharpening steel" is popular - but technically wrong. Its proper name is a honing steel. And the definition which applies to 'honing' for this tool is: to improve or make more effective (not to sharpen). So running your blade along the honing steel is doing two things - it's making the dullness straight, or it's making the sharpness straight. So make sure to use the honing steel to straighten the edge on a sharpened knife.

5. Keep a roll of aluminum foil. A roll of aluminum foil can make your life easier when you use the oven or grill. Every time I use a baking sheet, I cover it with a layer of tin foil. This prevents the food from sticking to the baking sheet, and also makes cleaning up very easy! Always remember that foil generally has two sides, a shiny side, and a dull side. The dull side is the non-stick side. After many years in the kitchen I memorized this pun, "the non-shiny side is the non-sticky side!". Aluminum foil is also used to stop the surface of foods from burning in the oven. For example, if you are baking a pie, and the top is browning too fast, you can put a piece of tin foil over it to slow the top surface from burning. This ensures that the center of the pie can cook all the way before the top burns.

4. Have the right oils. If you like to cook, you probably use oil in many different dishes and for different uses. I always have good olive oil which I use when I need to make savoury foods, marinade, sauces, and salad dressings. I use corn or vegetable oil for lubricating surfaces (like baking sheets and cooking pans, etc), and I use peanut oil for frying. Peanut oil can take a lot of heat and is less likely to burn and go bad as quickly as other oils. So it's a very good choice to put in your deep fryer, or to use for pan frying foods. NOTE: Taste your olive oil for freshness. If it's bitter and burns the back of your throat, it has gone rancid. Rancid oil is bad for the body and you should always make sure that you're using fresh oil.

3. Have your fridge set to the right temperature. Make sure that you control the temperature on your fridge often. A fridge that is too cold can freeze foods and spoil them. This is especially true with vegetables. They die and go limp as soon as they get too cold. A fridge that is too hot will cause food to spoil quickly. So to save money and food, make sure that your fridge is as close to 37 degrees as possible. Keep your vegetables in the crisper, and your meats and cheese in the coldest part of your fridge. Keeping a thermometer in your fridge will allow you keep track of the temperature. Remember that it takes about 24 hours for the temperature to change after you've adjusted the controls.

2. Keep a roll of plastic bags. Have you ever seen those rolls of plastic bags in the produce section of the supermarket? Not the micro-thin, impossible to open ones - the good quality, thick plastic ones. I keep a roll of these in my kitchen (I got them from an Asian market). They are great for marinading meats, and storing foods (both solid and liquid). You can store way more baggies of food in a small space than you can using plastic containers. They are also good for throwing out juicy things in the garbage. And they take up way less room than drawers full of plastic containers. If you have a small kitchen that is being over-run by plastic containers, these bags will save you a lot of space.

1. Hire a personal chef! The best thing you can do for yourself is to hire a personal chef. We learn about your eating habits, favourite foods and become your own private restaurant. We do the menu planning, shopping, and provide you with top notch gourmet food right in the comfort of your kitchen! We even clean up our own mess! Our service is reasonably priced and made to work with your lifestyle.