Apple Crisp

I have been working on this recipe forever, and it is really fantastic and still easy enough to get done quickly!


Ingredients for the apples:
- about 7-8 Granny Smith apples
- 1/2c white sugar - this is already about half of most recipes, adjust to taste
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 1/2 shot cachaca
- about 1/2 lime for juice
- 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
- little bit of water

Ingredients for the topping:
- 1c dark brown sugar - the darker the better
- 1/2c butter - cold! Don't let it melt or soften
- 1c oats
- 1c flour
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp baking powder

Procedure:
- peel the apples and cut into pretty thick pieces, then in half
- toss apples with white sugar, then put in baking dish
- mix juice from 1/2 lime, 1/2 shot Cachaca, brown sugar, a little water and 1tblsp flour; drizzle this over the apples
- Put the rest of the ingredients in the food processor; oats, 1/2c cold butter (cut the butter into little slices or cubes to blend easier), 1c flour, 1c dark brown sugar, baking soda & powder
- layer the topping over the apples
- put the whole thing in a 350 degree oven for 40ish minutes

Vatapa

A traditional stew from Brazil. Brazil is a large country, and this recipe arrived in Brazil from Africa. It is common in the Brazilian state of Bahia, all the way in the North. The main African ingredient is Dende, or palm oil, which give this dish a very special and wonderful flavor. If you don't have Dende, which can be hard to find, use olive oil. But you will be missing the main point of the dish.

Ingredients:
- dende oil (palm oil)
- garlic
- an onion
- some green onion
- a few plum tomatoes
- cilantro, lots and lots of cilantro
- lime juice from a few limes
- a couple Chiles, I like Anaheim
- ginger
- chicken thighs, remove the skin
- shrimps, shelled
- toasted cashews
- about 3/4c coconut milk

Procedure:
- chop garlic, and make a paste w/salt
- in a food processor, add chopped onion, green onion, tomatoes, cilantro (leave a few leaves for garnish later), lime juice, chiles, ginger, pepper; process until pretty smooth
- grind half of the cashews, save for later; leave half whole
- heat dende oil in large pan like a dutch oven, dry chicken, season w/salt, and brown in dende oil.
- Pour ground veggies in dutch oven, add coconut milk and ground cashews, and cook for about 3 to 5 minutes until onion soften
- Return chicken to dutch oven, cover, and simmer about 25 minutes
- add shrimp and cook a few minutes until done
- Remove from heat, add whole cashews and cilantro, can drizzle w/dende oil if desired

Crab Cakes

This was an impromptu crab cake recipe that started when I spied a giant can of crab legs at Trader Joe's. It is very easy, and it turned out awesome.

Ingredients:
- canned crab legs
- bread crumbs
- 2 or 3 eggs
- cilantro
- green onion
- cooking oil, like canola
- olive oil
- flour
- a few limes

Cooking:
- Rinse the crab, drizzle with lime or lemon to reduce the fishyness and smell
- Mix the crab legs with egg, bread crumbs, chopped cilantro, chopped green onion, a little olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. We used a few tablespoons of coarsely chopped cilantro and green onion. The trick is to get the right consistency and seasoning. For a large can of crab meat, we used 2 eggs and about 1/4 cup bread crumbs and about a tablespoon of olive oil. The mixture should hold it's shape when formed and be a little sticky.
- Form the crab cakes into shapes and set aside until you prepare the coating. I made cigar-like shapes. Any shape will probably work, but don't make them more than 3/4" thick or the crab won't cook all the way through.
- Mix more bread crumbs with some seasoned flour and spread it out on a flat plate. Only a little tiny bit of flour, like about 1 tablespoon for 1/2 cup of bread crumbs. You will only need enough bread crumbs and flour to coat the crab cakes.
- Beat another egg, dip the crab cakes lightly in the egg and coat with the flour and bread crumbs.
- Fry in shallow, about 1/2", cooking oil turning on each side until brown and a bit crispy. The crab is already cooked, so no need to overdo it. In the time that it takes to brown, the insides get nice and firm and very hot.

Pulled Pork Sandwich

This is a recipe I modified from a Crock Pot cookbook I received for my birthday. My crock pot by the way, was a hand-me-down from my Mom when I went off to college 30 (not kidding!) years ago.

Ingredients:
- Pork shoulder about 3lbs
- Barbeque sauce (I used Sweet Baby Ray's regular sauce)
- Lemon juice, 1 tablespoon
- Onion
- Garlic
- Spices (chili powder, red pepper, etc)
- Hamburger buns
- Avocado
- Cheese

Cooking:
- Put the pork in the crock pot on low, you can season the meat with salt and pepper, and toss some minced garlic on top.
- Cook on low for about 5-6 hours.
- Remove pork and pull apart with a fork. Separate and remove as much fat as you can.
- Put back in crock pot, add about 1/2 bottle barbeque sauce, one diced onion, lemon juice, and some spices of your choice (chili powder, red pepper, etc, just a to taste).
- Cook on high about 1 hour.
- Serve on toasted bun w/avocado and melted cheese.

Notes:
- Try to find the leanest pork shoulder! A fatty piece of meat will be a mess when you pull it apart. You will have to throw away all the fat.
- The whole wheat buns from Whole Foods are excellent for this.
- Goes great with salad, tossed with gorgonzola cheese.

Palourde Mariniere

This is a twist on Moule Mariniere, which is basically just mussels steamed in wine, butter, and herbs. I really like small clams, such as manila clams, so I've taken this recipe and pretty much swapped mussels for clams and softened the flavors a little.

Ingredients:
- Small clams. Manila clams from the local asian stores will do nicely.
- Butter
- Olive Oil
- White cooking wine
- Garlic
- Fresh or dried herbs - oregano, herb de provence, etc
- Fresh Lemon or Lime is optional

Cooking:
- Heat about 2 tablespoons each of butter and olive oil until the butter melts.
- Simmer garlic on low temperature so butter doesn't burn, until garlic is browned slightly
- Turn heat very high, add about 1 cup wine and any herbs. Bring the wine to a boil.
- When wine boils, toss in clams
- We are going to wait until all the clams open. This will take some judgement. Boil for a couple minutes with no lid and this will reduce the wine a bit. Some of the clams may not open, so cover with a lid and boil until they do. Do not boil all the wine down, we want between 1/4 and 1/2 cup wine left for the sauce.
- Clams that refuse to open are evil, and should be discarded.
- That's it! Serve in a nice bowl with bread on the side.

Notes:
- The clams should be small. Asian stores have Manila clams which tend to be very small. I like ones that are a little larger, and there are nice east coast varieties in stores like Whole Foods. The quality of the clams is critical for this dish obviously, don't buy cheap ones.

Home Made Pasta Sauce

The trick in this simple recipe is to use real San Marzano tomotoes. Other than that, it is extremely easy!

Ingredients:
- 2 cans D.O.P. San Marzano tomatoes
- Garlic
- Olive oil

Cooking:
- Dice garlic, and saute garlic in olive oil until brownish. A dutch oven is a great pot to use for this.
- Puree tomatoes in food processor, and add to sauteed garlic. Careful it will splash when it hits the hot oil
- Simmer very low for about 1 hour, stirring very often.
- You will notice the tomatoes are done when there are orange-ish pools on top of the sauce. You can see these in the picture pretty well.
- Will not hurt to cook much longer if you want a thicker sauce.

Notes:

- San Marzano tomatoes come from San Marzano Italy. There are many San Marzano "style" that are quite good, but not exactly the right tomatoes. It's like a cabernet from Napa vs Central Valley. In general the Napa cabernets are better because of the growing conditions and soil. Real San Marzano tomatoes say "D.O.P." on the can, simple as that.

Guacamole and Crab

Ingredients:
- Avocado
- Tomato
- Garlic
- Olive oil
- Lime
- Cilantro
- Tortilla
- Crab meat (dungeness fresh, or canned - try to get w/leg meat)

Cooking Instructions:
- dice avocado
- dice tomato, removing seeds
- mince garlic, mash garlic with some salt
- season all with pepper and olive oil, and coarsely mix guacamole (avocado, tomato, garlic), sprinkle with cilantro, sprinkle with lime
- crab meat should be shredded and tossed on top or side of dish, and sprinkled w/lime

Notes:
- Guacamole can be pulsed in a food processor, but will get smooth and yellow-brown - make sure you want this consistency; coarse mixing with a fork is ok
- Lime will remove the fishy-ness of the crab meat