Cider Braised Pot Roast

This was labeled an English Arm Roast at the butcher shop, but most English arm roasts on the net are described as boneless. This one had a chunk of bone at the top as well as some short ribs attached. It was held together with a thick wooden skewer. I always the pick the roasts with alot of big bones because they taste better and make better sauces and gravies, eventhough they are more difficult to carve in any kind of orderly fashion. I browned the roast, then added some hard apple cider mixed with some beef broth and vegetables and braised it in a 300 degree oven for 3 hours. It was tender and juicy, and made a delicious gravy. I roasted some carrots, fingerling potatoes, parsnips, brussels sprouts, and pearl onions alongside.

Grilled Marlin with Roasted Sweet Pepper Sauce

First I marinated the fish steaks in a little white wine, garlic, rosemary, and olive oil, before grilling. For the sauce I roasted some sweet red peppers and then cooked them with some shallot and garlic in chicken stock. I added a tablespoon of sugar and red wine vinegar to pick up the flavors a bit. I pureed the pepper-stock mixture, which created this beautiful sauce-no further thickening required. Next I topped the steak with a touch of lobster butter to melt across the top before serving.

Turban Squash Stuffed with Curried Pork and Rice

Start by cutting off the top of a Turban Squash, scrape out the seeds and strings. Brush the inside of the squash with melted butted and brown sugar-up the side as well, and roast at 375 degrees until the squash is tender, but not collapsing.

While the squash is roasting, saute some curry spices in clarified butter, add garlic, onion, celery, and carrots. Just wilt the vegetable slightly and let the spice aroma develop and add ground pork, brown slightly and add rice. Cook the rice briefly until it becomes opaque-like preparing a pilaf. Add raisins and chicken stock and bring to the boil. Simmer until rice is almost done-al dente. Add some nuts if you like them.

Fill the squash with the pork mixture, and return it to the oven for 30 minutes for a final cooking stage and to let all the marvelous flavors marry. Cut into pie wedges and serve a slice of squash with some of the stuffing.

Seafood Pasta

I bought this ridiculously expensive pasta a farmer's market-lemon and spinach. I thought the ruffled edges looked like they might hold sauce well. I sauteed shellfish in garlic butter (U10 shrimp, little necks, cherry stones, mussels, and U10 sea scallops, I added a splash of white wine and a cup of marinara to the pan drippings and tossed in the cooked pasta-very tasty-also added fresh basil, oregano, and thyme.

Potato encrusted Mahi Mahi on Pineapple Linguini

This is a quick trick for tweaking fish fillets. First soak the fillets in a spiced buttermilk (I like garlic, paprika, cayenne), then dredge them in potato flakes and simply sautee in clarified butter. They are surprisingly tasty and pair well with creamy sauces. For this dish we used mahi mahi fillets, and made a creamy vegetabe sauce for linguini with some pineapple chunks and orange zest for a bit of a surprise. It sells pretty well, garnished with some additional sauteed shrimp and fresh basil, it also has eye appeal

PUMPKINS AND PUMPKIN SOUP WITH WILD MUSHROOMS

Some of the kids carved pumpkins for the restaurant last week. On Halloween, all the customers voted and the winner got $50 plus some ghoulish gifts. While they were carving pumpkins, I was making soup. I think I got this recipe from an old Gourmet magazine-I've been making several years, so I'm not sure where I got it. I sauteed some curry powder, shallot, garlic, and mushrooms briefly in butter. Add pumpkin puree and thin with chicken stock until it has your desired consistency and simmer a few minutes-it's a very quick soup-once you have the pumpkin puree (you can also use canned). Taste for salt and pepper, and add a couple tablespoons of honey, if you like your pumpkin a little sweet, plus the sweetness is a great counterpoint to curry. Stir in a couple tablespoons of cream to round the flavor and serve with additional sauteed wild mushrooms to garnish.