Salt baked Red Snapper with Meyer lemon and fennel

Salt baking is a classic mediteranian style of cooking. Fish was originally preserved in salt it is easy to see why this came about. Baking a fish in salt keeps in the moisture and flavor, it is also a very cool presentation. I used Red Snapper because I love the flavor and it reminds me of catching snapper with my dad as a kid in Florida, but any whole sea fish will do. 

Here's what you'll need- 

2-1 to 1 &1/2 lb  Red Snapper

5 lbs kosher salt

10 egg whites

4 cloves of garlic

1 Meyer lemon

The stems from one fennel bulb

Black pepper

Preheat oven to 425

Clean out the cavities of the fish. Clip off the fins but leave the scales on! It's natural to want to scale the fish but the scales make it easy to remove the salt crust and it saves you time. Stuff both of the fish with thinly sliced Meyer lemon, 2 garlic cloves each ( lightly smashed to release flavor but not sliced) and the fennel stems. Pepper the inside of the fish to taste. 

For the salt crust- combine salt and egg whites and stir well. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Spread half the mixture below on the sheet. Lay the fish down and cover in the salt mixture. The key is to coat it with just the right amount. You don't want to leave any gaps to keep in moisture. Bake in the oven for 30 - 35 minutes. I use a food thermometer to make sure it's done. If you go to 35 minutes you should have no issues and overcooking on this isn't the criminal error it usually is due to how moist the fish is. Now my favorite part is cracking that salt crust. It is an awesome presentation seeing the steam rise as you pull off the crust. There is no right or wrong way to serve this. Typically I would put the whole dish in the middle of the table and let everyone just pick at it. But however you choose is fine. I hope you all enjoy this as much as me. I serve this with a spinach and Meyer lemon salad and a crisp white wine. 

Boń appetité! /בתיאבון!!!! 

Spicy Japanese Calamari

This is a super fun and tasty appetizer. I made it for a sushi night but you could make it to go along with any kind of Asian meal. 

What you'll need-

About 1 pound of raw squid- cleaned and sliced

2 Serrano peppers sliced

1/3 pound raw shiitake mushrooms- chopped

3 cloves garlic- finely chopped

6 heirloom cherry tomatoes- diced

1/3 cup of soy sauce or liquid aminos

Black pepper

Butter

1 small Lemon

Sriracha hot sauce

1/2 cup mayonnaise 

     Melt some butter in a pan on medium heat. Add in the Serrano peppers, tomatoes and shiitake mushrooms. If you don't want a lot of heat to the dish you can take the seeds out of the peppers. Sauté until the mushrooms start to become tender.  Add the garlic and the calamari. Squeeze half the lemon over the pan and season with black pepper to taste. Sauté for a few minutes and add the soy sauce. Sauté everything until the calamari looks cooked through. About 5 to 10 minutes. 

On the side take the mayonnaise add in a little squeeze of lemon and add sriricha to taste. Start with a little and add more for the spicier you want it. This will be the dipping sauce for the calamari. 

Serve and enjoy!

( I put the pictures of the hand rolled sushi I made. No recipes on those tonight. They were very labor intensive. Maybe I'll put them up one day)

Smoked salmon philly roll

Mirin and sesame marinated yellowfin tuna

Thai chili shrimp 

Koby's "Black" Ribeye

Now, some of you may say a steak is a steak. But I disagree. Now at home you may not have the tools of a professional kitchen so making the "perfect" steak  can be a challenge. This recipe will help. 

Here's what you'll need 

32 oz bone in ribeye (the higher grade the meat the better)

Extra coarse Black lava salt

Coarsely cracked black pepper

Butter

Electric probe food thermometer 

Baking sheet 

Cast iron skillet

Preheat oven to 350•

Mix the salt and pepper and coat ribeye. I make sure I put extra on the fat cap of the meat. The salty fatty bites are my favorite. Insert thermometer into center of steak. Place on baking sheet in the oven until the thermometer reads 120•. 120 degrees is very rare but we're not done with the steak yet. When you see the steak getting close heat the cast iron skillet on medium high. Butter the skillet and sear the steak on each side for about a minute and a half. Let the steak rest for a few minutes and it should be a perfect medium rare. 

  I top the steak with cipollini onions and mushrooms that are sautéed in garlic butter. But you can serve however you enjoy it. For me, it is best served with a nice glass of whiskey. 

Balsamic Fig Glazed Cornish Game Hens

Another one of my favorite recipes and surprisingly easy. 

What you'll need-

An electric food probe thermometer

2 tbs olive oil 

2 Cornish hens

Salt n pepper

1 cup fig jam

1tsp white wine

2 Tbs balsamic vinegar

Preheat oven to 425•

Lightly coat hens in oil. Top with a little salt and pepper. Place on roasting rack and bake until hens reach 165• in the thigh around 30 minutes. 

Meanwhile in a saucepan on medium heat, combine fig jam, wine and vinegar and bring to a boil. Turn down the temperature. Let simmer for about 15 minutes until it has a glaze like consistency. When the hens reach the right temperature pull them out of the oven. Brush the skin with the glaze and pop back in the oven for about 8 minutes. Pull them out and serve!

Shakshuka

      The first time I ever had shakshuka was my first week in the I.D.F.. I thought shakshuka was just about the worst meal you could ever have. What they had served was eggs baked over hard in tomatoe paste. Yes, baked. Later I would learn that just getting a meal from a kitchen is a treat but at the time it was pretty gross. After I had finished training, I heard some of the guys talking about Shakshuka. I told them I had it at my previous base and it was disgusting. They said Army shakshuka is not the real shakshuka. On our next weekend off one of the guys took me to a morracan/Israeli restaurant. We feasted on my first taste of real shakshuka and morracan BBQ'd organ meats (chicken livers, hearts ect.). That meal showed me what real shakshuka really was, delicious. I've tried my best to recreate a delicious shakshukah recipe. The key is making it all from scratch. 

Here's what you'll need-

About 9 Roma tomatoes

1 head of garlic 

1 poblano pepper 

1 red bell pepper sliced

1/2 of 1 onion diced

1 small zucchini 

Olive oil

A small bunch of fresh basil

1 tsp crushed red pepper

Salt and Pepper to taste

6 eggs

Preheat your oven to 425

Cut the top off the head of garlic. Place on baking sheet with tomatoes and poblano. Brush everything with olive oil and bake for about 1 hour. 

When you are about 10 minutes out, start to sauté the onion, bell pepper and zucchini in a tall sided pan.  When the tomatoes are ready, remove from oven and place in a separate pot over medium heat. Squeeze out about half of the roasted garlic into the tomatoes ( you can use all the garlic if you like a lot of garlic in your food). Add the basil, crushed red pepper and a little salt and pepper. Stew for about 5 minutes and then use an immersion blender to create a pasta sauce like consistency. When your onions are translucent and zucchini look cooked, slice the roasted poblano pepper and add to pan. Then add your tomatoe sauce. Note- you will probably have too much tomatoe sauce. I like to store the remaining in the refrigerator and serve later over pasta. Stirr the sauce and veggies together. Bring the sauce to a boil. Once boiling, make a small divet with a spoon in the sauce. Crack an egg right into the divet, careful not to crack the yolk. Repeat this step with all the eggs. Cover pan and cook just until the whites are cooked, looking like a poached egg. Scoop on to a plate (with plenty of sauce) and serve with some toasted pita. 

Enjoy

Or as we say in Israel-

!בתיאבון / beteavon!

Turkish Chicken

This chicken is absolutely delicious and fairly easy to prepare. The couscous that is used with it can be used with many different dishes.

Here's what you'll need-

For the couscous-

3/4 cup of couscous

1 cup of chicken broth

1 Tbs of butter

6 dried apricots, diced

1/4 cup dried currants

Chopped fresh mint

For the Chicken

2 whole chicken legs (legs and thighs attached)

2 whole pears sliced in half

2 Tbs butter

Cinnamon

Honey

1 tsp zatar seasoning

Dried garlic 

Salt 

Pepper

Walnuts or pecans finely chopped

Asparagus 

Creme fraiche

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Place chicken in cast iron skillet. Rub the skin with butter and place remainder of butter in pan. Lightly sprinkle chicken with salt, pepper, and garlic. Then coat with zatar seasoning, drizzle with honey and sprinkle with nuts. Place pears slice side up on a sheet pan and drizzle with honey and sprinkle with cinnamon. Place both the pears and chicken in the oven. I place a probe thermometer in the chicken and cook until 165 degrees. 

Meanwhile, blanch asparagus  for 3 minutes in boiling water and set aside. When the chicken is getting close to temp, bring the broth and butter to a boil. When boiling add couscous, apricots, and currants. Immediately remove from heat, stirr the ingridients, cover and let set for 5 minutes. Sauté the asparagus in butter with garlic salt and pepper. 

Plate the couscous and garnish with mint. Place chicken on top of couscous and pour the juices from the skillet over the chicken. Plate the asparagus and top with creme fraiche. Since the pears take a little longer than the chicken, you can plate everything else and then pull out the pears. When making this dish I would highly recommend not skipping out on the asparagus. Since the chicken, the couscous and the pears are sweet you really need a savory element and you can't beat asparagus and creme fraiche. I hop you enjoy this meal. I finished the meal with some baklava.  

Lamb Stuffed Eggplant

 This is one of my new go to dishes. It's easy, delicious and healthy (gluten free!). It will become a Mediterranean favorite in your household.

Here's what you need-

1 large eggplant 

3/4 pound ground lamb

Olive oil

1/2 a large onion

3 cloves garlic

1/2 tsp fresh grated turmeric

1/4 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp cinnamon 

Pinch of saffron

Salt and pepper

1/2 cup short grain brown rice

2 Tbs butter 

1 cup water
fresh grated parmesean

    First, combine rice, water and butter in a small pot. Bring to a boil and lower heat. Cook until al dente  about 40 minutes.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees, cut the eggplant in half and scoop out the indside. It's ok if you don't get all the meat out. Brush the shell lightly with olive oil and bake for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, chop the eggplant into small cubes and put in a large sauté pan over medium heat with a little olive oil. When the eggplant becomes slightly translucent add onions. When they start to become translucent add lamb, garlic,  turmeric, cumin, cinnamon, safron, salt and pepper. Mix all the ingredients and cook until lamb is cooked through. Remove from the stove and add the cooked rice. Stuff the mixture into the eggplant shells, top with parmesean. Put the stuffed eggplant halves back in the oven  until the cheese starts to brown (about 15 minutes). Remove from oven and plate, preferably with a tomato and greens salad. And enjoy.