Paneer Jalfrezi
I first discovered this dish at my favorite Indian Restaurant The Kebab Factory. Jalfrezi is an Indian curry with meat or vegetables fried in oil and spices. Its also cooked with green chillies to add a bit of heat to the dish. You can adjust the heat by adding more or less green chillies. Jalfrezi dates back to the British Raj and was used primarily of means to use leftover meat. The spiciness of the chillies helped to disguise the taste of the not so desirable left-over meats. This particular version does not...
Read MorePicadillo – Cuban Feast
I have to admit, the first time I ever tried this dish was in a Miami airport at a Cuban restaurant. I never tried Cuban food before and I was drawn to this restaurant by the sheer mass of people in line to get into this place. I thought it had to be good if there were this many people waiting in line. I was blown away by all the flavors. The Picadillo was served with Arroz Amarillo (Yellow Rice) and Fried Bananas. A great drink to enjoy with this dish would have to be the Mojito! Cuisinart makes a great 5 1/2...
Read MoreMom’s Red Sauce and Meatballs
Nothing says home more than one of your Mom’s home cooked specialties. The first thing I do when I visit my parents is request all my favorite food dishes for the week! It’s a nice little bonus every now and then to not have to research recipes and cook the food but just focus on the food photo shoot. This dish is you basic red sauce over angel hair pasta but the secret is in the meatballs. They are cooked on the grill to give them a nice smoky grill flavoring and then added to the sauce! You can use...
Read MoreCajun Macaroni and Cheese
A few months ago I ate lunch at John Harvard’s Brew House and was very impressed by their special of the day. Macaroni and Cheese made with sweet butternut squash and Cajun spices, topped with grilled blackened chicken. It sounded a bit bizarre but too good to pass up. The cheese came out very gooey and thick and the combination of the sweet squash and spicy chicken mixed amazingly! I adapted it a bit by making my own homemade croûtons and using these to top it off instead of bread crumbs. Serve along side...
Read MoreShark and Bake
This is a specialty dish served from roadside and beach side food vendors at Maracas Bay in Trinidad. Its their version of fish and chips. If you can not find shark, you can substitute with any type of fish you can bread and fry, such as cod, haddock, tilapia or mahi mahi. The word “bake” refers to the deep fried batter of dough that is used to wrap around the fish. Its very similar to the fry bread you would find at carnivals and festivals. Once the fish is added to the bake, you can top it off with...
Read MoreThai Green Curry with Chicken & Eggplant – (Gaeng khiao wan gai)
This is another dish I discovered while in Thailand. Translation: Gaeng = spicy soup, khiao = green, wan = sweet, gai = chicken. The one ingredient that may be new to you is the Thai mini eggplant, also known as Kermit eggplant. It’s about the size of a golfball and is an essential ingredient in a lot of Thai curry dishes. Its quartered, added to the curry and absorbs the flavor of the sauce as it softens during cooking. This curry dish goes great served over a mound of Jasmine rice. INGREDIENTS: 1 lb....
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