Grilled Portabella Mushrooms with Feta

4 whole large Portobello mushroom caps
8 oz Feta cheese, flavored varieties are a plus!
2 cloves garlic, pressed through a press
about 1/2 cup olive oil

Heat a (charcoal or gas) grill. Distribute the garlic about the fins of the mushrooms and douce the mushroom caps evenly with a good bit of olive oil to moisten well. Grill fin-side down for 5 minutes. Flip and continue grilling for 5 more minutes. Top with crumbled Feta cheese and grill another 2-3 minutes, covered.

Swai Fillet with Roasted Veggies and Feta

Swai is becoming more and more common in the States and I think it is just a fantastic white fish. It is much more delicate that a Catfish, but moister than Tilapia (both favorite fish of mine!). My wife, who really dislikes American Catfish, really liked Swai.
1 large ripe tomato, cored, diced and drained
1 large red pepper, diced
1 large zucchini, diced
1 jalapeno or serano chili pepper, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 shallot minced
1/2 tsp ground coriander
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 large Swai fillets, or 3 Tilapia fillets, about 1.5 lb
1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese

Heat oven to 450F. Toss everything but the cheese and the fish with the olive oil in a bowl. Salt and pepper to taste and mix well. Turn out onto a rimmed jelly roll baking pan. Roast in oven for 25-30 minutes. Tip half the veggies into a baking dish large enough to hold the fish in a single layer. Spread evenly on the bottom. Turn oven down to 400F. Place fish fillets on top of veggies and scatter remaining veggies on top of fish. Next, scatter the cheese on top of everything. Bake for 20 minutes, or until the fish is just cooked through.

You can do many different fish fillets and veggies: here is Sole on Roasted tomatoes, leeks and artichoke hearts. Treat in same manner as above.

Chicken Saag

3 large ripe tomatoes, cored and cut into wedges
2 Tbsp love oil
2 10-oz bags fresh spinach
1 large onion, diced
8 boneless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch pieces
3 cloves garlic, minced
1-inch piece fresh ginger, minced
1 jalapeño or Serrano pepper, minced
1 tsp turmeric
1 Tbsp favorite garam masala
1 tsp fenugreek powder
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1 stick cinnamon, or 1/2 tsp powder
1 can coconut milk

Heat oven to 450F. Toss the tomatoes together with the olive oil and a bit of salt and pepper, and spread out in a large rimmed jelly roll baking pan. Roast in oven for 25-30 minutes.

Meanwhile, toss spinach with a few tablespoons of water in a large pot, and steam until well wilted, about 10 minutes. While the veggies are cooking, heat a bit of canola oil in a Dutch Oven or Pot and sauté the onions for about 10 minutes, until softened and just beginning to brown. Remove onion from pot and set aside in a bowl.

Turn the heat up to medium-high and add the chicken to the pot with a dash more oil if necessary. Brown the chicken for about 10 minutes, stirring from time to time. Add the garlic, ginger and spices, and cook another 3-5 minutes, until very fragrant. Add the coconut milk and stir well. Squeeze most of the water from the spinach (I wring it in a clean kitchen towel), and chop coarsely. Stir spinach into the chicken mixture, cover and heat through for another 15-20 minutes to meld all the flavors.

Top with fresh cilantro if desired. Serves 6.

Cooks's note: if you don't have all these Indian spice powders, you could substitute 1-2 tablespoons of your favorite high quality curry powder for the turmeric, garam masala, fenugreek and coriander, and arrive at a very nice result as well.

Pan Seared Duck Breast with Mango Chutney and Fresh Apricot

4 boneless duck breasts
4 fresh apricots, peeled, pitted and sliced
8-oz jar mango chutney
2 Tbsp butter

Remove duck breasts from refrigerator and bring to room temperature. Preheat broiler. Melt the butter in a small pan and fold together the mango chutney and the apricots in the pan. Simmer on low while you tend to the duck. Meanwhile, score the skin on the duck breast on a bias, about 3/4-inch apart so that breast does not curl up when cooking. Salt and pepper both sides. Heat a skillet to high heat and place breasts skin-side down in a bit of olive oil. Immediately turn the heat down to medium. Sauté the duck breasts for 7-8 minutes. Flip and cook second side for another 8-10 minutes. Remove breasts from pan and allow to sit 3-5 minutes covered with foil. Slice on a bias into 4-5 slices and plate, topped with chutney-apricot mixture.

Serves 4.

Mahi Mahi Baked with Pecans and Mushrooms

16 oz fresh mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 lb Mahi Mahi cut into bite-sized pieces
4 Tbsp butter, melted
1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 red onion, finely diced, about 1/4 cup
palmful fresh parsley

1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs
1 Tbsp olive oil

Heat oven to 375F. Saute the mushrooms in a large skillet with just a touch of olive oil, until they release their juices. Brown them ever so slightly, and set aside in a large bowl. Mix the remaining ingredients together with the mushrooms and turn into an oiled medium casserole dish. Toss the remaining Panko crumbs with the olive oil, and top the fish mixture with the crumbs. Bake for 20-30 minutes, until bubbly, the fish is just cooked through, and the crumbs are just browned.

Cook's Note: Different fish can be used for this - I like Trader Joe's frozen Mahi Mahi pieces, which work very well indeed.

Lentil Couscous Salad with Toasted Pecans

1 can lentils, drained, or 2/3 cup lentils, cooked
1 cup couscous
2 Tbsp bulgur
1 1/4 cup water
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 large ripe tomato, diced and drained
1 cucumber quartered lengthwise, seeded and finely diced
1/2 red onion, finely diced
Palmful fresh parsley, minced
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Juice of 1 lemon
Juice of 1 lime
1/4 cup walnut oil
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground coriander

Set oven to 400F. Bring the water to a boil in a small pot and add the salt, olive oil, couscous and bulgur. Stir, cover and remove from heat. Let rest 10 minutes.

Meanwhile spread pecans on a rimmed baking pan. Bake for 3-5 minutes, stir, and bake another few minutes, just until nuts are fragrant. Be careful not to burn the pecans! Remove from oven and allow to cool.

Mix remaining salad ingredients in a serving bowl. Whisk together the dressing in a small bowl. Gently fluff the couscous mixture and fold into the salad in the bowl. Gently toss the salad with the dressing, and top with the pecans.

Fennel Grapefruit Salad

This is an uncommonly unique salad my cousin Frederique served us in Clerment Ferrand in central France. It is refreshing, crisp and packed with vitamins. What more could you want from a summer salad?

1 medium fennel bulb, finely sliced
1 Tbsp fennel fronds reserved from bulb
1 yellow pepper, sliced into quarter rounds
1 small red onion, sliced into quarter rounds
2 pink grapefruits, peeled, pitted and sectioned, juice reserved
1 orange, peeled and sectioned, juice reserved
1 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1 small red chili, finely sliced (optional)
Dash salt and fresh pepper

Dressing
juice of 1 lemon
1/4 cup walnut oil

Toss all ingredients together and serve.

French Market Chicken Saucisson au Poivron

My Version:
Original Market Version:
I can spend a ton of time in any open-air market in Europe. I know it sounds crazy, but that's the perfect vacation day for me. We had our open-air market in Antwerp on Sunday mornings. Thank God, because in Wilrijk, the suburb I lived in, the market was Thursday morning - not a great time for those of us who work 5 days a week outside of the home!

My cousin Frederique brought me to the market in Clermand Ferrand in central France. We listened to the mushroom lady complain (tongue-in-cheek) that nobody was bringing her anything good to drink, and we watched the vendors stir the Aligot, a mashed potato mixture with melty, stringy Tome Fraiche cheese that stretches a meter or so when stirred and pulled out of the dish! It's often served with chicken and sausages at the market.

We didn't buy any pants.

Pizza Adorned with Fresh Egg

Our son and I love the fact that the French will put an egg on anything - even pizza! We had this pizza in a small village visiting the fantastic chateaus of the Loire valley. I made my version replacing tomato sauce with my favorite eggplant spread (Sacla - from Italy), but there are other great varieties, for example from Trader Joe's (with red pepper) or from Hungarian, Bulgarian or middle eastern shops (look for example for Zahluk - Tunisian/Morrocan or Ajut - Serbian or Caponata - Italian). The list of eggplant spreads is endless. And of course the ways to make pizza are endless. That's nice because you really almost can't go wrong and end up with egg on your face. That is, as long as you end up with egg on your pizza.

My Version:
Kip's version:Original version in France:pizza dough for 2 pizzas
1/2 lb bulk sausage
1 ripe tomato, thinly sliced
1 lb fresh mozarella, sliced
favorite tomato sauce or eggplant spread
2 eggs
2 green onion, sliced, or 1/2 purple onion, sliced
dash red pepper flakes

Preheat oven to 450F. Prepare pizza dough for 2 pizzas according to directions, or use store-bought dough (some of which is really very good these days). In a skillet, saute sausage until crumbly and browned. Roll dough out for two pizzas. Spread tomato sauce or eggplant spread about dough. Top with sausage. Distribute tomato and cheese slices and onion about pizzas. Sprinkle to taste with red pepper flakes. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until nicely browned.

Lamb, Sausage and Potatoes St. Jacut-de-la-Mer

Here is the first of many dishes I replicated from our Tour de France this summer. This is based on a hearty lamb potato casserole my cousin Xavier's wife, Brigitte made for us in Brittany. She baked a small leg of lamb on potatoes and the accumulated lamb juices worked their wonders on the potatoes. This is my kind of dish. I could not find a small leg of lamb, especially not knowing the grocers in my new state yet, so I improvised with lamb chops and sausages - not unknown in Brittany!
2 large lamb chops
1 lb. hot Italian sausage links - 4-5 links
2 lb. Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
1 green onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2-3 Tbsp butter
1 tsp rosemary, minced
1/2 cup white wine or chicken broth

Set oven to 375F. In a large casserole dish, layer the potatoes, the onion , garlic and butter alternately. Pour wine or broth over potatoes, salt and pepper to taste and sprinkle with rosemary. Lay lamb and sausage evenly on top of potatoes. Cover with aluminum foil. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil, baste with accumulated juices and continue baking uncovered for about another 30 minutes, basting once or twice, until potatoes and meat are cooked through.

Here is Brigitte's original dish - she baked the leg of lamb on the potatoes as we walked the perimeter of their wonderful Brittany peninsula of St. Jacut. Then she removed the leg, sliced the meat and returned it onto the potatoes for serving.