Kale and crimini mac’ and cheese

with smoky gouda, white cheddar and parmesan bread crumbs.

Adopted from this recipe on Epicurious.com

Ingredients:

Filet Mignon with Truffled Mushrooms. Cauliflower and Manchego gratin. Padrón peppers. Simple spinach salad.

I was looking forward to Friday night staying in and cooking a decadent meal with someone special all relaxed during this unseasonal July cold spell. This was not intended to be a healthy meal, but I wanted to include the Farmers Market buys I picked up this week. Cauliflower has become somewhat of a trendy food lately, as you’ll notice by the cauliflower “rice” and the cauliflower “mashed potatoes” you see all over the food blogs and in the hot food section of Whole Foods. Cauliflower has many health benefits, such as cancer prevention, detox support, antioxidant benefits, anti-inflammatory benefits and digestive support. If we fail to give our body’s detox system adequate nutritional support, yet continue to expose ourselves to unwanted toxins through our lifestyle and our dietary choices, we can place our bodies at increased risk of toxin-related damage that can eventually increase our cells’ risk of becoming cancerous. That’s one of the reasons it’s so important to bring cauliflower and other cruciferous vegetables into our diet on a regular basis.

My dad and his friends have this dinner club, that pairs two gentlemen together, and monthly they take turns doing what they call Man Meals at rotating houses. This means there is a lot of meat, comfort food and scotch. Think premium steaks, macaroni and cheese, garlic bread and very little greens. This meal is inspired by those man meals, filet mignon and mushroom ragout, with manchego cauliflower gratin and padrón peppers. I added a simple spinach salad to complete the feast, because I am eating this meal too and greens are a must at my table.

For the filet and mushroom ragout:

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 garlic clove, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
• 12 ounces crimini or button mushrooms, quartered
• 1/3 cup canned low-salt chicken broth
• 1/3 cup dry red wine
• 3 tablespoons whipping cream
• 1 1/2 teaspoons peanut oil
• 2 1-inch-thick filet mignons (about 6 ounces each)
• 1/2 teaspoon truffle oil

• Melt butter in large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add chopped garlic and marjoram; sauté 30 seconds. Add mushrooms; toss to coat with butter. Sprinkle with salt. Cover and cook until mushrooms have released their juices, about 13 minutes. Add chicken broth, wine, and whipping cream and bring to boil. Cook uncovered until mushrooms are tender and sauce coats mushrooms, about 5 minutes. Season mushroom ragout to taste with salt and pepper. DO AHEAD Ragout can be made 3 hours ahead. Cover skillet and refrigerate.
• Heat heavy medium skillet over high heat until hot. Add peanut oil and tilt skillet to coat evenly. Sprinkle steaks with salt and pepper. Add to skillet and cook to desired doneness, about 4 minutes per side for medium-rare. Transfer steaks to plates. Rewarm mushroom ragout in skillet over medium heat, stirring frequently. Spoon ragout partially over steaks and onto plates. Drizzle mushrooms on each plate with 1/4 teaspoon truffle oil.

Cauliflower and Manchengo gratin

1. 3/4 cup half-and-half
2. 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
3. 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
4. 1 cup whole milk
5. Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
6. Salt and freshly ground pepper
7. One 2-pound head of cauliflower, cut into 1 1/2-inch florets
8. 1/2 cup whole roasted almonds with skin, plus 2 tablespoons coarsely chopped almonds (3 ounces)
9. 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons finely shredded Manchego or other mildly nutty semi-aged sheep’s- or cow’s-milk cheese (3 1/2 ounces), such as Gouda
10. 1 medium onion, finely chopped
11. 1/4 teaspoon smoked Spanish paprika

Summer is here.

My all time favorite peaches come from Dwelley Farms out of Brentwood, there is nothing else like them. Juicy, white, sweet gems. Stone fruit season is the symbol of summer and all my favorite things, especially the 4th of July. I love the tradition of fully enjoying my home town, biking about and playing tourist for the day. Summer Solstice starts the celebration of beach days, longer sunshine hours, and alfresco dinners.

flank steak cubes. roasted summer squash. grilled peach salsa. shishito peppers

lime+tequila+basil+kiwi

Ah-mazing

Grilling peaches caramelizes the natural sugar in the peaches with the added flavor from the grill. Cut the peaches in half, remove the pit, add a little olive oil to the grill and leave on for 8-10 minutes. While the peaches are grilling:

dice 1-2 cloves of garlic

half a red onion also diced

chopped cilantro

1 jalapeño, seeded and diced

1 serrano pepper, seeded and diced

Combine ingredients with fresh lime juice and the cooled peaches

For the flank steak cut into cubes and season with salt and pepper. Use a cast iron pan to cook until done.

Summer squash is my favorite, pretty and yummy. Season with salt and olive oil and throw on the grill or  use your broiler.

I wish I could quote my dear friends, because I think they said it was “the best meal ever” but I had one to many delicious kiwi/lime margaritas and I cannot recall their exact words.

Last Summer I was enthralled with Padrón peppers. Incredibly easy to prepare, the Padrón pepper is a little like playing Russian roulette, most are sweet but every once in a while you get a HOT one. Invariably my heat sensitive bestie would nab the hottest one and set her pretty little mouth on fire. There is no rhyme or reason to their heat, size and shape do not matter, but they are so ridiculously yummy and worth the suspense. Last weekend I was lucky enough to spend it camping in Yosemite with some of the best people on the planet, and I brought a few pounds of Shishito peppers to throw on the BBQ. Shishito peppers are very similar to the Padrón pepper, a little thinner and oiler, but with the same 1 out of 10 odds that you will get a spicy one. I drizzled olive oil and lemon salt into a plastic bag full of these delectable veggies, put them in a grill basket and let them blister on the fire. They are also perfect for skewers if you do not have a grill basket. Enjoy Shishito peppers year round.

A simple salad with amazing lettuce options, like this Scarlett Butter  lettuce that is unbelievably delicious and delicate, paired with oven roasted gold beets makes a perfect accompaniment to any meal. I am obsessed with all the specialty greens from Mann’s packing, out of our very own Watsonville. Currently this company is growing these greens year round, sourcing their seeds from Europe and growing out of the Yuma. The price is right, they are picture perfect and the small heads make an easy meal for a chef or home cook.

I used my mom’s simple salad dressing, oven roasted gold beets, and black sesame seeds. Simple. Quick and delicious. You can roast the beets ahead of time and have then on hand to add to salads all week.