Tossed Salad and Scrambled Eggs

I first had tossed salad and scrambled eggs at an Israeli restaurant in Brookline, Massachusetts. The restaurant and the strikingly beautiful waitress are gone, but I still have a taste for this delicious, lite combination of protein and greens first thing in the morning.

The recipe and directions are below...

Scrambled Eggs: I use a dairy-free approach with a dash of soymilk, plenty of air and a sprinkle of kosher salt, but honestly, if you can eat dairy, use light cream to thicken your eggs (cage-free, of course,) and cook them in butter. It tastes great. The air and salt remains the same.

I usually have this breakfast without meat to maintain that fresh, light feeling. "Tossed Salad and Scrambled Eggs" is also the refrain of the theme song from my favorite TV show, "Frasier."

"Baby, I hear those blues a-callin', tossed salad and scrambled eggs...mercy!"

My new jazzy music album, "KiTCHEN MuSIC," is now available on iTunes, Amazon.com and CD Baby! KiTCHEN MuSIC takes ten familiar songs from the 40's and 50's -- the kinds of songs my Mom used to sing while cooking for my Dad, my brothers and me -- and updates them with funky arrangements and sensuous grooves. Perfect music to dance and cook to with a glass of wine in your hand...

I'm pairing this recipe with a beautifully heartbreaking song from the "KiTCHEN MuSIC" album, "Here's That Rainy Day." It's one of those classic songs that you've heard but don't quite remember the title of. I first became aware of it as a jazz standard in recordngs by Wes Montgomery, Oscar Peterson and many others.

It wasn't until a few years ago that I focused in on the lyrics. One of my favorite lyrics of all time is: "Maybe I should have saved those leftover dreams/funny, but here's that rainy day." If you've ever had your heart torn out, that line just about sums it up, doesn't it?

Besides the ironic lyrics, "Here's That Rainy Day" starts with a low, mournful melody that appeals to the lovelorn, tempest-tossed romantics in us all.

On the KiTCHEN MuSIC album, I created a sultry, slow, Brazilian style bossa nova arrangement of Here's That Rainy Day with vocal, spanish guitar, bass and drums. Hope you like it - Roberto

RECIPE: Tossed Salad & Scrambled Eggs with 5 Sweet and Bitter Lettuces

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 3-4 minutes for scrambled eggs. If you like your eggs wet 'n' nasty like me, a few seconds will do...

TOOLS

Never chop lettuce with a knife. Use your hands to shred the lettuces. Use a Chef's knife for slicing tomatoes, onion and apple; a paring knife for coring and de-seeding the apple; a wisk for the eggs, a spatula; a bowl for scrambling the eggs; and a sauté or omelette pan for scrambling the eggs.

INGREDIENTS

• Canola oil, butter, light olive oil or healthy margarine for cooking eggs, about 1-2 tablespoons

• 3 large or extra-large eggs (I prefer cage-free eggs)

• Milk, light cream, half-'n'-half or soymilk to thicken the eggs, about 1 or 2 tablespoons

• Salad of whichever lettuces look best on the day you go to the grocer, farmstand, farmer's market or supermarket: butter lettuce & romaine for sweetness; plus bitter greens like frisee, radicchio and arugula (in honor of Barack Obama;) plus really ripe tomato (don't let me catch you serving unripe, refrigerated tomatoes to your guests) for acid; crunchy walnuts for an extra shot of omega-3 oil; dried cranberries or raisins for sweet highlights; diced apple for zest; chopped Italian-style flat leaf parsely to add freshness; sliced mild red onions for color; and finally, dress this boffo concoction with a light balsamic or ginger-tofu salad dressing. WOW.

• Fruit: I try to have fruit at every meal, which means three to six times a day. Plain old fresh strawberries; blueberries for brain health; kiwi for vitamin C; or something else colorful will set off the bright yellow of the eggs and make you feel nutritionally virtuous.

Servings: 3 eggs serves 1. Make enough salad to share with a friend or have leftovers for lunch and dinner.

DIRECTIONS

Have all ingredients prepared and ready to go before turning on the stove.

• Make the salad FIRST, and toss it onto your plate. The eggs will cook in minutes, and there are few things worse than cold scrambled eggs.

• Heat your saute or omelette pan over medium heat

• Crack the eggs into a bowl, adding a pinch or two or three of kosher salt

• Add the milk, light cream, half 'n' half or soymilk to thicken the eggs, if you wish

• In the bowl, Wisk the eggs and thickener to within an inch of their life, wisking high to introduce air into the mixture.

• When the pan is hot, add the butter or margarine or canola oil, tilting to cover the bottom of the pan

• When the oil/butter/margarine is hot (look for it to become more liquid, less viscous, and just about to smoke,) turn the heat down to medium

• Pour the egg mixture into the pan. Scramble with a fork.

• Scramble while humming, singing or whistling "Here's That Rainy Day," and think about when your heart was broken.

• Using the spatula, place the eggs on the plate with the salad

• Eat it all up, getting revenge on the person who broke your heart by enjoying the living daylights out of your breakfast. :-)

ENJOY! - Roberto

©2009 Celestial Media, Inc.

From Wikipedia : "Here's That Rainy Day has been recorded by many jazz and pop singers, including Tony Bennett, Dee Dee Bridgewater, June Christy, Rosemary Clooney, Perry Como, Vic Damone, Billy Eckstine, Ella Fitzgerald, Astrud Gilberto (with Stan Getz), Lena Horne, Jack Jones, Steve Lawrence, Peggy Lee, Kenny Rankin, Frank Sinatra, Mel Torme, Sarah Vaughan and Andy Williams. It is also a favorite of jazz instrumentalists, with versions by Gene Ammons, Chet Baker, Ray Brown, Dave Brubeck, Bill Evans, Art Farmer, Freddie Hubbard, Wes Montgomery, Art Pepper, Oscar Peterson, and McCoy Tyner, among many others."

###

Tuna Salad on Sourdough Francese

Tuna Salad on Sourdough Bread with Romaine Lettuce & Vine-Ripened Tomatoes (in honor of my Mom)

I've updated this classic sandwich meal with Dijon mustard, a hearty country sourdough, romaine lettuce and vegan split pea soup. The video gives step-by-step instructions for making this Tuna Sandwich meal in approximately 8 minutes.




This is what Mom used to give me for school lunch when I was a kid, and I still love it, except I update it a bit. She'd put a tuna sandwich in my lunchbox, along with a hard-boiled egg and a little box of raisins.

I'd think about lunch all morning at school and then pop my little lunchbox open and devour the contents. Love at 12noon. When my daughter was little, I used to make sandwiches for her and put them in her little purple lunchbox. I'd slip in a hard-boiled egg and a little box of raisins. Thanks, Mom.

I'm pairing this recipe with a song that makes me think of schooldays: "Autumn Leaves." As the long days of summer came to an end in August, we schoolkids ruminated with dread on going back to those hard-backed chairs placed factory style in rows facing the Teacher.

Although the lyrics of this song focus on longing for lost love, the image of falling leaves also makes me think of going to elementary on an air force base in Anchorage, Alaska and in a public school in Jamaica, New York.

During the Summer, we boys played war, Cowboys-and-Indians and pickup games of baseball, handball and tackle football without helmets from sunup 'til sundown, when we knew we'd better git home or Mom would tell Dad that we needed...discipline.

Sitting in the classroom on those September mornings, the falling of the leaves symbolized the death of all that summer fun. Although I was one of those annoying children who loved school, even I preferred playing all day during the Summer to being bound to a desk as the still warming sun mocked us children from beyond the windows.

Since Autumn Leaves is one of my Mom and Dad's favorite songs, I gave it a really big arrangement on "KiTCHEN MuSIC." The piece starts with a brief multitracked doo-wop acapella preamble I wrote called "Look At All Those Colors," after which I sing solo with guitar, then chorus, then full band, finally ending up with an 8-piece gospel style chorus with full band as I scat sing over the top. Yeah, I got carried away. Recording all this took months, as I built up each instrumental and vocal track one-by-one, doing countless retakes until I felt it was right. Here's a sample from my album.

TOOLS
Large bowl for mixing the Tuna Salad
Serrated-edge knife for cutting the crusty bread
Small saucepan for boiling the eggs
Microwave-safe bowl for heating the split pea soup

INGREDIENTS - Tuna Salad
- One 6 oz. can dolphin-safe solid white albacore tuna packed in water
- 2-3 tablespoons All-natural Mayonnaise
- 1 teaspoon Dijon Mustard
- Squeeze of fresh Lemon
- 2 tablespoons Minced Onion (if you have time)
- 5 dashes Onion Powder (if you're pressed for time)
- 1 tablespoon Minced Garlic (if you have time)
- 3 dashes Garlic Powder (if you're pressed for time)
- Kosher Salt to taste
- Whole black Peppercorns, ground fresh, to taste

INGREDIENTS - Sandwich
- Hearty crusty country sourdough francese, baguette or pullman
- 2 or 3 leaves, rinsed and patted dry, of Romaine or Butter Crunch lettuce (sweet flavored lettuces)
- 2 or 3 leaves, rinsed and patted dry, of Arugula, Escarole or Radicchio (bitter flavored lettuces)
- 1 medium sized vine-ripened red tomato
- 3 thin slices of very ripe avocado (death by cream)
- three fingers' full of alfalfa sprouts
- Italian-Style Parsley for garnish

INGREDIENTS - Side Dishes
- Two large eggs for boiling
- 1 can split pea soup (Vegan or with ham)
- Lunchbox sized box of raisins

DIRECTIONS
1. Cook and peel the eggs first, a process that takes about 20 minutes from start to finish (See Sidebar: Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs)
2. After the eggs are cooked, lay out ALL the ingredients for the Tuna Salad and Sandwich
3. Open the can of soup, pour it into a small saucepan, and set the heat on low. The soup will be hot and ready to eat by the time you're done making the salad and sandwich
4. Combine all the tuna salad ingredients together in a large bowl, mixing, mashing and stirring until everything is well incorporated and the tuna salad has no large chunk
5. Prepare the bread by slicing into sandwich-sized pieces
6. Spread the tuna salad on one piece of the bread and all the other ingredients (lettuce, sliced tomato, sliced avocado, alfalfa sprouts, parsley) on the other piece
7. In one smooth, deft, catlike motion, flip the tuna bread over onto the veggie bread. Be quick about it. Or else get the broom, mop and bleach spray, and start all over again.
8. Sit down and eat all this with a friend while reminiscing about schooldays, childhood and lost love.

SIDEBAR: Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs (From The Incredible Edible Egg)
1. Put the eggs on the bottom of the pan.
2. Put the pan in the sink. Run water into the pan until the water is 1 inch over the eggs.
3. Put the pan on a burner. Turn it to medium-high heat.
4. Let the water come to a boil. Put the lid on the pan when the water is boiling. Move the pan onto a cold burner. Set the timer for 15 minutes for Large-sized eggs (or for 12 minutes for Medium-sized eggs or for 18 minutes for Extra Large-sized eggs).
5. Put the pan in the sink when the time is over. Run cold water into the pan until the eggs are cool. Put the eggs into the refrigerator if you're going to use them later or peel them if you're going to use them right away. Be sure to use all the cooked eggs up before a week is over.
6. Gently tap a cooled egg on the countertop or table until it has cracks in it. Roll the egg between your hands until the cracks turn into small crackles all over the egg.
7. Use your fingers to start peeling off the shell at the large end of the egg. If you need to, you can hold the egg under running cold water or dip it in a bowl of water to make peeling easier. Throw out the pieces of eggshell when the egg is all peeled. You can eat the egg or use it in a recipe when it's peeled.

Enjoy! - Roberto

Broiled Salmon, Latin style

My family used to live in Alaska, so we know from salmon. I still eat a lot of salmon, for its massive amounts of Omega-3's, tenderness, and not too-fishy flavor.

This dish is latinized with a mango/red onion relish and frenchified with haricots verts -- slender stringbeans.

Black beans are a cuban staple and the italian parsley just tastes good, lighten-ing the overall heavy flavors of this meal.




My original recipe and directions are below.

My new jazzy music album, "KiTCHEN MuSIC," is now available on iTunes, Amazon.com and CD Baby! KiTCHEN MuSIC takes ten familiar songs from the 40's and 50's -- the kinds of songs my Mom used to sing while cooking -- and updates them with funky arrangements and sensuous grooves. Perfect music to dance and cook to with a glass of wine in your hand.

I'm pairing this recipe with a brooding romantic song from the 1940's -- "My Ship," by Ira Gershwin (Lyrics) and Kurt Weill (Music.) Kurt Weill, born in Germany in 1900, came to America and was a popular composer from the 1920's until his untimely death in 1950.

Weill wrote some of my favorite songs from the Great American Songbook, including "Mack The Knife," "Speak Low," and "My Ship."

My Ship has been recorded by Miles Davis, Sara Vaughn, Rhassan Roland Kirk, Johnny Hartman, Flora Purim ...and now by Roberto Mighty :-)

My Ship is a difficult song to interpret, because the melody is sometimes sweet, sometimes dark, and it has an unusual harmonic structure. To my mind, Ira Gershwin's naive lyrics do not do justice to the emotional complexities of Kurt Weill's great composition, but the piece was written for a stage play ("Lady In The Dark,") and although I haven't seen the play, my understanding is that the lyrics fit the play's Book perfectly.

I became obsessed with My Ship after hearing Flora Purim's version on her fabulous 2001 album, "Perpetual Emotion." I created a dark, rythmically syncopated guitar-based arrangement of the song for my album, KiTCHEN MuSIC.

Broiled Salmon, Latin style
with Mango/garlic/red onion relish & Haricots Vert, Cuban Black Beans and Brown Rice
by Roberto Mighty

PREP TIME: 10 minutes. Cook time: 14 minutes.

TOOLS
Large Saute Pan for the Mango Relish
Medium size pot (saucepan) with a lid for the brown rice
Oven-safe pan (I use a glass pie pan) for broiling the salmon
Spatula and fork for sauteeing

INGREDIENTS

- Three Salmon Filets, about 4 ounces ("quarter-pounder") each
- EVO, Red Onions, Garlic,
- Fresh Mango, Peeled
- Fresh lime, cut in half
- Haricots Vert
- Kosher Salt to taste
- Whole Black Peppercorns, ground fresh, to taste
- Canola oil spray (for broiling pan and saute pan)
- Brown Rice
- Cuban-Style Black Beans
- Italian-Style Parsley

DIRECTIONS

STOVETOP BROWN RICE
When cooking brown rice, follow package directions, LOL. If you can't find the directions:

- 1 cup uncooked brown rice
- 2 to 2 1/2 cups liquid (water, vegetable stock or chicken broth)
- 1 teaspoon olive oil, butter or margarine (optional)
- 2-3 pinches of kosher salt

- Combine ingredients in 2- to 3-quart saucepan
- Bring to boil; stir
- Reduce heat, cover and simmer 45 to 50 minutes, or until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed
- Fluff with fork. Makes 3 to 4 cups

CUBAN STYLE BLACK BEANS
- Buy a can of "Cuban Style Black Beans."
- Open can
- Dump contents of can into a small saucepan
- Heat
- Eat
- Relish the time you've saved doing it this way

OPTION: Sprinkle in cumin, minced garlic, green or "Adobo," a prepared spice preparation, to taste.

MANGO RELISH
1. Have your onions, garlic and mango chopped and ready before turning on the sautee pan
2. Spray the pan with canola oil spray
3. Turn on the pan, medium high. When it's hot, pour in the olive oil
4. When the olive oil is running like water and about to smoke, add in the onions, garlic and mango
5. Turn the heat down to medium and stir the onions, garlic and mango constantly to keep them from burning
6. Squeeze the juice of half a lime into the pan when the onions are translucent
7. Immediately add in the Haricots Vert, stirring to cover them with all the hot juices and oil
8. Turn the heat down to low, add in 2 tablespoons of water, cover and let simmer for a two or three minutes, adding water if necessary to keep from burning.
OPTION: Add a pinch of kosher salt.
9. Turn off the heat and set the relish aside to be plated with the fish, beans and rice.

BROILED SALMON FILETS
1. Preheat oven to "Broil"
2. Remove salmon filets from package. Rinse well
3. Pat dry with paper towels
4. Season (flesh side) with kosher salt, cracked black pepper and a drizzle of olive oil
5. Place salmon filets in the broiling pan
6. Put 'em in the broiler
7. Take a look in 7 minutes
8. Depending on your doneness preference, the filets will be DONE in 7-10 minute

PLATING
Put the rice and beans in the center of the plate. Put the salmon filet (One is enough for one serving) on top of the rice and beans. Layer the mango/garlic/onion/haricots vert relish on top of the salmon. Sprinkle a few dots of Mexican hot sauce on top (mama mia,) and spoon mango relish juice on top. Take a photo. Chow down.

ENJOY! - Roberto

©2009 Celestial Media, Inc.

Grilled Pork Chops with Dijon Mashed Potatoes

Grilling season is just about here! I love pork chops, especially fresh, succulent, juicy, marbled, bone-in chops.

Using kale and hot sauce makes this a sort of southern style meal, updated with Butternut Squash crescents and Dijon Mashed Potatoes. Mmmm, Mmmm, Mmmm.

My original recipe and directions are below.



I'm pairing this recipe with one of the greatest songs ever written about obsessive love -- "Night and Day," by Cole Porter. It's been recorded by U2, Fred Astaire, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Rod Stewart, Sergio Mendes and Brazil '66, the Temptations....and Roberto Mighty :-)

Night and Day is a tricky song to sing, because it has an unusual harmonic structure. Perhaps it's because, according to legend, Cole Porter said that it was inspired by the Islamic Call to Prayer that he heard on a trip to Morocco.

Whatever the derivation, I became obsessed with the song and worked out a fairly intricate hip-hop/spanish guitar/spoken word/vocal arrangement for my album, KiTCHEN MuSIC.

Grilled Pork Chops with Dijon Mashed Potatoes
by Roberto Mighty

My new jazzy music album, "KiTCHEN MuSIC," is now available on iTunes, Amazon.com and CD Baby. KiTCHEN MuSIC takes ten familiar songs from the 40's and 50's -- the kinds of songs my Mom used to sing while cooking -- and updates them with funky arrangements and sensuous grooves. Perfect music to dance and cook to with a glass of wine in your hand.

PREP TIME: 10 minutes. Cook time: 17 minutes.

TOOLS

Small Saute Pan for the sauce
Medium size pot (saucepan) with a lid for the mashed potatoes
Grill for the porkchops
Large Saute Pan with a lid for the kale & squash
Potato Masher
Spatula and grill fork for flipping pork chops
Separate fork and plate for handling raw pork chops (!)

INGREDIENTS

SAUCE (for mashed potatoes and grilled pork chops)
3 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 medium spanish red onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3-4 pats of butter or equivalent healthy margarine
Kosher salt

GRILLED PORK CHOPS
2 medium size bone - in Porkchops. Do not trim away the fat
Kosher Salt to taste
Whole Black Peppercorns, ground fresh, to taste
Canola oil spray (for grill)

DIJON MASHED POTATOES
2 large Potatoes
Kosher Salt to taste
1/4 cup milk or soymilk to replace water, to taste
2-4 tablespoons butter or healthy (non-hydrogenated oil) margarine
1-2 tablespoons white wine Dijon Mustard

KALE & BUTTERNUT SQUASH
Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
3-4 fistfuls of Kale leaves
4-5 finger-width crescents of Butternut Squash

ON THE SIDE
2 tablespoons unsweetened natural Apple Sauce
Hot sauce, to taste: Try Mexican style hot sauce...but a little at a time.

DIRECTIONS

SAUCE
1. Have your onions and garlic chopped and ready before turning on the small sautee pan
2. Turn on the pan, medium high. When it's hot, pour in the olive oil
3. When the olive oil is running like water and about to smoke, add in the onions and garlic
4. Turn the heat down to medium and stir the onions and garlic constantly to keep them from burning
5. When the onions are translucent, add in the butter or healthy margarine
6. Turn the heat down to low, cover and let simmer for a two or three minutes, adding water if necessary to keep from burning.

OPTION: Add a pinch of sugar. Try it.
7. Turn off the heat and set the sauce aside to be used on the mashed potatoes.

GRILLED PORK CHOPS
1. Spray the canola oil on the grill
2. Turn the heat on the grill to high
3. Season the meat: Sprinkle kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper onto both sides of the pork chops
4. Once grill is VERY hot, place the chops carefully on the grill
5. Once the meat is browned on one side, turn it over to grill the other side
6. When the pork is grilled and cooked through to at least medium, remove from grill and let stand.
7. Get ready to plate it up.

DIJON MASHED POTATOES
1. Peel and cut the potatoes into quarters
2. Put potato pieces into a medium-sized pot
3. Pour enough water in the pot to cover potatoes
4. Add a couple pinches of kosher salt
5. Put the pot on the stove and turn the heat on high
6. When the water boils, turn the heat down to low and cover
7. Cook until potatoes are very soft, easily broken apart with a fork
8. Using a collander, pour out most of the water, leaving just enough to cover the bottom of the pot
9. Add the milk or soymilk, a couple of tablespoons at a time, mashing with a potato masher (do NOT use a food processor. Anyone can do that) as you go to achieve your desired consistency
10. Add the butter or healthy margarine
11. Add kosher salt to taste
12. Add the Dijon mustard, one tablespoon at a time
13. Taste frequently to adjust the amounts of milk/soymilk, butter/margarine, salt and Dijon mustard, mashing as you go.
15. For a finer mash, use a slotted spoon or even a large fork towards the end of the mashing process, until you achieve your desired consistency.
16. Get ready to plate it up.

KALE & SQUASH
1. Chop the kale leaves into pieces no larger than your hand.
2. Put the olive oil into the saute pan and turn the heat on to medium high
3. When the pan is hot, put in the kale and squash
4. Add a pinch or two of kosher salt.
5. Turn the kale and squash over several times to coat all pieces with the hot oil
6. Turn the heat down to medium
7. When the kale turns bright green and the squash turns bright orange, add the apple cider vinegar
8. Stir
9. Add one or two tablespoons of water
10. Cover pan and turn heat down to simmer
11. When the squash is the desired firmness, remove pan from heat.
12. Get ready to plate it up.

OPTION: Sautee red onions and garlic along with the kale and butternut squash. Dang!

PLATING
Put the pork chop (just one is enough for one serving. Save the other one for leftovers,) on the plate, placing the mashed potatoes to one side. Layer the squash crescents on top of the mashed potatoes (see photo,) the kale to one side and the apple sauce in a pocket between the pork and the kale. Sprinkle a few dots of Mexican hot sauce on top (wow,) and spoon the red onion/garlic/EVO/butter sauce on top of the mashed potatoes and squash mixture. In the immortal words of my friend Jackie: Makes you wanna Smack your Momma.

ENJOY! - Roberto
©2009 Celestial Media, Inc.

Sauteed Tilapia Latin Style

Shallots, white wine and lemon drizzle give this dish "tang," while the pinto beans, cumin and corn chips swing it south of the border.

This dish is fragrant, tangy and delicious.




Tilapia is a pretty tasteless white-meat fish. It takes on the flavors of the other foods around it, so I latinized this dish with cumin, pinto beans and corn chips, swung it French with white wine and grooved it Italian with flat leaf parsely. Finally, a bed of Basmati rice from India gives the dish a delicate, nutty aroma. Note: Tilapia is fragile. Don't cook it too long! The recipe and directions are below.

I am pairing this recipe with the mournful standard, In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning.

This song, made famous by Frank Sinatra, is all about lost love, mistakes and a wish for forgiveness. Who hasn't been on one side of that or the other?

On the KiTCHEN MuSIC album, legendary sax player Walter Beasley plays a bluesy solo while I sing. He's awesome. I created a new arrangement of In the Wee Small Hours using my acoustic guitar, an open chordal approach, and a throbbing bass backbeat.

Sauteed Tilapia Latin Style
by Roberto Mighty

PREP TIME: 12 minutes. Cook time: 16 minutes.

INGREDIENTS

2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil (enough to cover bottom of large saute pan)
1 Shallot, finely chopped
1/2 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
Kosher salt
1/2 fresh lemon, seeds removed
2 Tilapia FIlets
Fresh black peppercorns in peppermill
Fresh Cilantro leaves, about two fingers' worth
1 medium red rip tomato, sliced into eighths
1/3 cup White Wine (for simmering)
Ground Cumin, about 1/2 to 1 teaspoon, to taste
Cooked Basmati Rice, about 1 cup
Cooked Pinto Beans, about 1 cup
Corn Chips, handful
Italian-style Flat Leaf Parsley (or leftover Cilantro) for garnish)

DIRECTIONS

1. Have all ingredients ready before turning on the stove
2. Heat your large saute pan over medium heat
3. Slowly (no splashing, alright?) pour in the extra-virgin olive oil
4. When olive oil is hot (when it runs like water, just before it smokes)...
4. Turn heat down to medium low and saute Shallot & onion mixture
5. Season with a pinch of kosher salt
6. Drizzle most of the juice of one-half lemon into pan. No SEEDS!
7. Season both sides of Tilapia filets with salt & pepper to taste
8. Drizzle remainder of lemon juice over the Tilapia
9. When shallot/onions are translucent, lay Tilapia filets on top in the pan
10. While Tilapia is cooking, shred cilantro leaves over the filets
11. Place tomato slices into the pan by the sides of the Tilapia, so the tomato touches pan directly, mixing with olive oil, shallot/onion, etc.
12. Add a pinch of kosher salt to the tomatoes
13. Remove pan from flame, add white wine, shaking pan to make sure wine covers the entire bottom surface. Reduce heat to low
14. Simmer in white wine for three minutes, basting Tilapia once per minute
15. Sprinkle ground cumin over the Tilapia
16. Test Tilapia for doneness: press with fork. If it gives way immediately and is white all the way through, IT"S DONE!
17. PLATING: Put down a bed of the Basmati rice on the plate
18. Place strands of cilantro around the perimeter of the rice
19. Put the beans on the side of or on top of the rice
20. Place the Tilapia on top of the rice and or rice & beans
21. Using a large spoon, array the tomatoes and sauce (white wine, olive oil, shallots/oions) around the outside of the rice bed. Add parsley leaves around the perimeter
22. Stick the corn chips upright into the rice/beans mixture in some pleasing pattern, like a fin-backed fish.
23. Take a photograph of your masterpiece
24. Now, eat it :-)

ENJOY! - Roberto
©2009 Celestial Media, Inc.

Buttermilk Blueberry Pancakes with Ham Steak and Fresh Fruit Salad

I make homemade pancakes for my daughter and me and whoever happens to be visiting on Sundays. It's a real treat.





The most fun is laying out all of the ingredients before starting to cook. The other fun part is flipping the pancakes. The blueberries, full of polyphenols and antioxidants, are fantastic brain food. Plus, "blueberries and pancakes" is one of the world's great combinations, like Lennon & McCartney or Hank Aaron & the Mets. The recipe and directions are below.

I'm dedicating this recipe to Leslie and Cliff Gadsden from New York. They were the first couple to be our houseguests. They brought their kids for a holiday weekend and bravely ate everything I cooked, cooked some stuff themselves, and showed me how to flip pancakes on my own grille. Now, that's a gift that keeps on giving.

I am pairing this recipe with the mysterious standard, Skylark. This song makes me think of misty mornings. Skylark is a harmonically rich, devilishly difficult song to sing, because of Hoagy Carmichael's quirky music and Johnny Mercer's surrealistic lyrics. Skylark, written around 1942, is an enduring standard in the Great American Songbook.

On the "KiTCHEN MuSIC" album, I created a pentatonic scale/Asian-inspired opening, using tympani, a chorus of classical guitars and a bed of ethereal keyboards to suggest an orchestra. It resolves to a funky, hip-hop inspired backbeat before I start singing with the rhythm section, thus completing the arranging mashup this song inspired me to write.

Although I'm sure I heard Skylark countless times in instrumental versions, the first time I recall hearing the lyrics was on a Nnena Freelon album given to me by my buddy Larry over ten years ago. Nnena's a great interpreter, and I was blown away by her singing and by Johnny Mercer's lyrics, which to me, evoke the jealousy of unrequited love. Leastwise, that's how I hear it.

Buttermilk Blueberry Pancakes with Ham Steak and Fresh Fruit Salad

PREP TIME: 10 minutes. Cook time: 14 minutes. Tools: Griddle, spatula, wisk, large mixing bowl, liquid measuring cup, dry measuring spoons, oven-safe large platter to use as a warming/serving tray.

INGREDIENTS

- Canola oil spray to oil the griddle
- 1 1/3 Cups white flour (Or 1 cup white flour and 1/3 cup whole wheat flour, if you want to feel more virtuous)
- 1 heaping teaspoon baking power
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 Cup granulated sugar (Don't try brown sugar. Trust me.)
- 1 Cup buttermilk
- 1/4 cup cooking oil (I sometimes leave this out)
- 1 egg, raw
- 1/3 cup fresh blueberries
- Lemon for drizzling over the bananas (see "Fresh Fruit Salad," below)
- Real Maple syrup. I like New England (Vermont, Maine, Massachusetts) maple Syrup, Grade A or Grade B
- Butter or Margarine pats for extra flavor.

- Ham Steak
- Fresh fruit for the fruit salad: Oranges, bananas, kiwi, pineapple, strawberries, mango -- whatever you have on hand that's ripe and sweet. Cut up the fruits into bite-sized pieces. Yum.

DIRECTIONS

0. Cut up the fruit salad first and set aside, squeezing a tiny bit of lemon over the banana slices to keep them from turning brown
1. Lay out all ingredients before turning on the griddle
2. Preheat griddle over medium heat
3. Spray griddle lightly with the canola oil spray
4. Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl
5. If you are able to do so, mix the ingredients by hand, using a wisk. You'll enjoy the pancakes more
6. Do not mix the batter beyond the point where there are small lumps throughout
7. Using a 1/4 or 1/3 cup dry measure, spoon out batter onto the hot, greased griddle, making pancakes 3-6 inches in size
8. Optional: Use blueberries to make funny faces in the pancakes.
9. Optional: Make funny-shaped pancakes by dripping into interesting patterns or using cookie cutters.
10. When the batter-sides of the pancakes start to get holes in them, flip the pancakes over.
11. After flipping, the pancakes will be done in about a minute or less. Keep an eye on them! :-)
12. Tip: Put cooked pancakes on a platter in a warm (150 degrees) oven as you cook
13. Cut the ham into bite-sized pieces or slices, depending on how large your griddle is, and fry the ham alongside the pancakes.
15. Flip the ham when ready to lightly brown both sides.
16. PLATING: layer pancakes, ham and fruit salad onto the warming platter. Let your guests serve themselves. Have butter or healthy (no trans-fats) margarine on hand for extra flavor.

ENJOY! - Roberto
©2009 Celestial Media, Inc.

Citrus Ginger Shrimp with Angel Hair Pasta

My Citrus Ginger Shrimp with Angel Hair Pasta dish goes along great with cut #6 on the KitCHEN MuSIC album, "My One and Only Love," one of the most popular tunes for instrumentalists in the Great American Songbook. On the album I'm accompanied by guitar, bass and drums. The recipe and directions, including "how to cook angel hair pasta," are below.



VIDEO CREDITS
Producer/Host/Editor: Roberto Mighty
Lighting/Camera: Brian Galford
Sous Chef: Naomi Kooker
Audio/Camera 2: Chuck Rosina

Citrus Ginger Shrimp with Angel Hair Pasta

PREP TIME: 10 minutes. Cook time: 7 minutes. Tools: Tongs, large sauté pan

INGREDIENTS
• Olive Oil for sauteeing, about 3 tablespoons
• 1/2 medium red bermuda onion, sliced into rings or chopped
• 2 cloves Fresh Garlic, minced
• 1/2 lb. Fresh Spinach, washed (I like stems on, most like stems removed. It's up to you)
• 6 - 8 Raw Shrimp, shelled and deveined
• OR 6-8 Cooked Shrimp (if you're in a hurry)
• 1/3 cup White wine for deglaze
• 1/4 cup fresh grated ginger root (You can grate it with a cheese grater)
• Angel Hair Pasta (see sidebar instructions for cooking pasta)
• Orange juice with fresh lime and lemon juice squeezed and mixed in, to taste

Serves 1 (To serve 2, double everything in the recipe)

DIRECTIONS
1. Have all ingredients (including the cooked pasta -- see sidebar "how to cook angel hair pasta") prepared and ready to go before turning on the stove.

2. Start by heating your large sautée pan over medium heat.

3. When the pan is hot, add the olive oil, tilting to cover the bottom of the pan.

4. When the oil is hot (look for it to become more liquid, less viscous, and just about to smoke,) turn the heat down to medium loe and add the red onion.

5. Saute Onion until it is mostly translucent

6. Add garlic to an area of the pan that is wet with juices from the onion. Move the garlic around so it doesn't burn

7. Add the spinach and 2-3 pinches of kosher salt, then turn the heat up to medium high. Using the tongs, move everything around as it cooks

8. Add half of the white wine (be sure to turn the pan away from your face when adding alcohol to the pan!). Just enough to cover the bottom of the pan, continuing to move everything around.

9. Turn heat up to high. Push the other items in the pan to one side.

10. Add the shrimp to the empty area of the pan, using the tongs to turn the shrimps over so that each side gets heat

11. Add the rest of the white wine to simmer everything as the shrimp cooks through

12. Keep everything moving. the shrimp is DONE when it's pink/red. It should take less than 2 minutes to cook all the way through.

13. Add the citrus juice and the grated ginger, continuing to simmer

14. After simmering (the sauce should be boiling) for no more than a minute, turn off the flame.

15. Add kosher salt and pepper to taste

16. PLATING: Put a bed of angel hair pasta on the plate. Put the spinach, onions and garlic on top. Arrange the shrimp on top of the spinach. Pour the sauce from the pan over the shrimp.

HOW to COOK ANGEL HAIR PASTA

Angel Hair (or Capellini, for "fine hair") is the most delicate of all pastas. It's perfectly paired with shrimp, a light sauce and vegetables, Napoli style -- like my citrus/ginger/white wine/olive oil/garlic mixture.

• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
• Add the angel hair pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring often to prevent the pasta from sticking together, about 4 minutes.

• An easy way to help prevent pasta from sticking together (besides stirring often -- the best way,) is to put one or two tablespoons of olive oil in the water.

• Note: Adding olive oil to the water is controversial, however. If your grandmother is Italian, do not let her see you adding olive oil to the water. TRUST ME on this one.

• Drain and serve IMMEDIATELY with your meal.

ENJOY! - Roberto
©2009 Celestial Media, Inc.