Pan-Seared Sea Scallops and Tri-Tip with a Lemon Butter Pan Sauce, grape tomatoes, chives, Loaded Twice-Baked Potato and Asparagus

Grilled Steak Salad with Green Beans and Blue Cheese

Yield: 2 servings

This makes a great Summer lunch or you can double the size for a dinner portion.

1/3 lb. Slender green beans, trimmed
1 c. Arugula
1/2 c. Cherry tomatoes, halved
1/4 c. Pitted kalamata olives, halved
1/4 c. Olive oil
1.5 T. Balsamic vinegar
1 8 oz. Steak, filet or Ny strip
1/4 c. Crumbled blue cheese
Salt and pepper as needed

1. Preheat grill to medium high heat.
2. In small bowl or ziploc bag, marinate steak with the olive oil, vinegar salt and pepper for at least 30 minutes but preferably overnight. Place steak on grill at 45 degree angle for a couple minutes and then turn 45 degrees for 2 more minutes to achieve nice hatch marks. Flip steak and cook to desired temperature. **I prefer mid-rare, about 135 degrees.** Remove steak and let rest while you prepare the rest of the dish.
3. Bring water to a boil in a medium saucepan and season with salt. Blanch green beans in water for about a minute and shock them in a bowl of ice water. **this will cook the green beans slightly while making them a bright green color**
4. In a bowl combine arugula with tomatoes, olives and green beans and season with salt and pepper.
5. Slice steak on the bias about 1/4" thick slices. Place a mound of arugula mixture in the center of each plate, top each salad with 4 ounces of steak and crumbled blue cheese.

Enjoy!!!

Emeril's Chicken Sauce Piquante

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 (3 pound) fryer chicken, cut into 8 pieces
• 1 teaspoon salt, plus 1/2 teaspoon
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Essence, recipe follows
• 3/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons bleached all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups chopped yellow onions
• 3/4 cup chopped green bell peppers
• 3/4 cup chopped celery
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
• 4 bay leaves
• 4 cups seeded and chopped plum tomatoes
• 3 cups chicken stock or low-sodium canned chicken broth
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon Emeril's Red Pepper Sauce or other hot pepper sauce
• Hot white rice, for serving
• 1/2 cup chopped green onions (green and white parts)
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Directions

Heat 1/4 cup of the olive oil in large heavy nonstick pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Season the chicken with 1 teaspoon of the salt. In a bowl combine the Essence with 1/2 cup of the flour and stir to combine. Dredge the chicken pieces in the seasoned flour mixture and shake to remove any excess flour. Brown the pieces, in batches if necessary, until golden on all sides, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer to a plate and set aside.

Stir in the onions, bell peppers, celery, remaining 1/2 teaspoon of salt, crushed red pepper flakes, cayenne, and bay leaves. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are soft and lightly golden, about 5 minutes. Add the remaining 3 tablespoons of the flour and cook, stirring, to cook the flour without browning, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes, chicken stock, Worcestershire, and pepper sauce.

Return the chicken to the pot, increase the heat under the sauce to medium-high and bring to a gentle boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is fall-from the bone tender, about 1 1/2 hours. Remove and discard the bay leaves.

To serve, spoon the rice onto plates, top with the chicken and sauce, and garnish with the green onions and parsley.

Emeril's ESSENCE Creole Seasoning (also referred to as Bayou Blast):

• 2 1/2 tablespoons paprika
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 2 tablespoons garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon dried thyme

Combine all ingredients thoroughly.

Yield: 2/3 cup

Recipe from "New New Orleans Cooking", by Emeril Lagasse and Jessie Tirsch, published by William Morrow, 1993.

Chicken & Green Chili Enchiladas

1-28 oz. can red enchilada sauce (I use Las Palmas)
1 small can diced green chilis (I use Ortega fire roasted)
8 oz. cooked chicken breast, roughly chopped into small pieces (they sell it already cooked and chopped or you can pull a rotisserie chicken)
1-8 oz. block of colby jack cheese, shredded
10-12 small corn tortillas (depending on how full you stuff them)
1 small can sliced black olives

You will need:
small mixing bowl
spoon
9x13 baking dish

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a small bowl mix together chicken, about half of the cheese, green chilis and about 4 oz. of the enchilada sauce. Make sure everything is well coated with sauce.
3. Wrap tortillas in a clean, very wet towel (this will soften them) microwave for 45 seconds.
4. pour enough red sauce in baking dish to coat the bottom.
5. place tortilla on work surface and place two spoonfuls of filling in center. Roll tortilla so it is closed (fold each side towards center) and place in baking dish seam side down. Repeat with the rest of the tortillas placing them very close together in baking dish.
6. pour remaining sauce over enchiladas and top with remaining cheese and olives. bake for about 20 minutes or until cheese is melted.

ENJOY!!!!!

Chili

Just got finished making my first chili of the year and it was delicious!!!!!!



Yield: 4-6 Servings

1 lb. lean ground beef
1 yellow onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can diced tomatoes, no salt added
1 can pinto beans, rinsed
1 can refried beans
1 c. beef stock or broth
2 T. tomato paste
2 T. brown sugar
Cumin To Taste
Chili Powder TT
Paprika TT
Salt TT
Pepper TT
Tapatio or other hot sauce TT

In large saute pan or dutch oven, brown the beef over med. high heat. When no longer pink add onions and bell peppers and saute until tender, about 3-4 min. add garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add tomatoes, pinto and refried beans and tomato paste and bring to boil. Reduce heat to simmer and add all spices. The reason I have them all as To Taste is because I don't really measure them I just keep adding until it tastes just right! If you aren't very confident in the kitchen, i'd say start off with a small handfull of each. Remember you can always add but you can't take away. Simmer for about 20 min and chili is nice and thick. Don't forget to check seasoning.
Garnish with shredded cheddar and green onions. Goes great with Tortilla chips or cornbread.
You could also do this in a slow cooker. After browning meat just throw everything in the crock pot.

Raspberry Sage Sorbet

24oz. raspberries (thawed if frozen)
8 fl. oz. water
1 c. sugar
6 fresh sage leaves

1. In a small saucepan over med heat cook sugar water and sage leaves until the sugar is completely dissolved into the water. Let cool. *This is called a simple syrup. Adding the sage leaves will infuse their flavor into the syrup.
2. While simple syrup is cooling, puree raspberries in food processor until smooth. Strain if you do not want the seeds in your sorbet.
3. When the simple syrup has cooled, remove sage leaves and while food processor is running pour syrup in until blended.
4. Freeze in ice cream machine according to manufacturers instructions.

*you could also substitute blackberries. They go very nicely with sage.

Julie & Julia

This film was amazing!!! It was so inspiring. I grew up watching Julia Childs, infact, my sister and I used to have our own cooking shows when we were little.Julia Childs totally inspired me to cook.
Did anyone else see this film yet? It's really inspired me to get my vidcasts started. I am working on the concept now and hopefully I will have a show for you guys soon!