I love mexican food, I love black beans and I especially love goat cheese so I had to try this recipe. I substituted our Spicy Jalapeno Goat Cheese for regular goat cheese and it gave this recipe a nice “kick” The recipe is time consuming but well worth it. Serves 6

From Gourmet Magazine 2002

INGREDIENTS:

For chiles
12 medium to large fresh poblano chiles (2 1/4 lb)

For tomato sauce
1 (14- to 16-oz) can whole tomatoes including juice
3 large garlic cloves, chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil

For goat cheese sauce
1 cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons dried epazote* (optional)
8 oz soft mild goat cheese
1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste

For spinach filling
4 (3/4-lb) bunches spinach, coarse stems discarded
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste

To assemble dish
3 tablespoons olive oil
6 (6-inch) corn tortillas, halved
1 cup cooked black beans, rinsed and drained if canned

Special equipment: a 2- to 2 1/2-quart shallow flameproof casserole dish (about 2 inches deep; not glass)
Garnish with toasted pine nuts

Prepare chiles:
Lay 4 chiles on their sides on racks of gas burners and turn flames on high. Roast chiles, turning with tongs, until skins are blackened and chiles are tender, 4 to 6 minutes. (Or broil all 12 chiles on rack of a broiler pan about 2 inches from heat, turning, until skins are blackened, 8 to 10 minutes.) Transfer immediately to a large bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Roast remaining 8 chiles in same manner, then let stand 20 minutes.

When cool enough to handle, peel chiles, then open flat and discard seeds and stems, wiping with paper towels or dunking in a bowl of water briefly, if necessary, to remove seeds. If chiles taste very spicy, cut out ribs with scissors to make them milder.

Make tomato sauce:
Purée tomatoes with juice, garlic, cilantro, sugar, and salt in a blender. Heat oil in a 10-inch nonstick skillet over moderate heat until hot but not smoking, then add sauce (be careful of splattering) and simmer, stirring, until thickened and reduced to about 1 cup, about 6 minutes.

Make goat cheese sauce:
Gently simmer cream, with epazote if using, in a small heavy saucepan, covered, 10 minutes. If using epazote, pour cream through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, pressing on and discarding epazote. Return cream to pan. Whisk in goat cheese and salt and heat over low heat, whisking until smooth.

Make spinach filling:
Blanch spinach in batches in a large pot of boiling salted water 1 minute, transferring with a slotted spoon to a large bowl of cold water to cool. Drain in a colander, pressing on spinach with back of a spoon to remove excess water, then coarsely chop.

Heat oil in cleaned nonstick skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then sauté spinach and raisins, stirring, 2 minutes. Stir in salt and transfer filling to a plate.

Fry tortillas and assemble dish:
Preheat oven to 350°F.

Heat oil in cleaned nonstick skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then fry tortillas 2 halves at a time, turning over once, until just crisp, about 1 minute total. Transfer tortillas to paper towels to drain.

Spread 1/4 cup tomato sauce over bottom of casserole dish. Arrange half of tortillas on top, then spread another 1/4 cup tomato sauce on top and sprinkle evenly with black beans. Arrange 4 poblanos flat over black beans to cover, then spread half of spinach filling evenly over chiles and drizzle with 1/4 cup goat cheese sauce. Make another layer with 4 chiles, remaining spinach filling, and another 1/4 cup of goat cheese sauce, then cover with remaining 4 chiles.

Cover chiles with remaining tomato sauce, spreading evenly, then top with remaining tortillas. Cover tortillas with remaining goat cheese sauce, spreading evenly.

Bake lasagne, covered with foil, in middle of oven until bubbling and heated through, 25 to 30 minutes.

Preheat broiler. Remove foil and broil about 3 inches from heat until top is bubbling and beginning to brown, about 2 minutes.

Cooks’ notes:
• Chiles can be roasted and peeled 1 day ahead and chilled, covered.
• Tomato sauce, goat cheese sauce, and spinach filling can be made 1 day ahead and chilled separately, covered. Reheat goat cheese sauce before proceeding.
• Lasagne can be assembled (but not baked) 1 hour ahead and kept, covered, at room temperature.

INGREDIENTS:

Serves 6 to 8
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 chicken (about 3 pounds), cut into 8 pieces
1 tablespoon ground ginger
2 teaspoons ground turmeric
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
1/8 teaspoon saffron threads
1 large onion, chopped
2 tablespoons minced garlic
3 cups low-sodium chicken stock
2 tablespoons finely diced preserved lemon
1 cup pitted black Kalamata olives
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup loosely packed cilantro leaves, finely chopped

DIRECTIONS: 

1. In a Dutch oven or a large skillet with a tight-fitting lid, heat oil and butter over high heat. Add the chicken pieces and lightly brown on both sides, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer chicken to a plate and reduce heat to a medium-low.

2. Add the ginger, turmeric, allspice, paprika, and saffron to the skillet and cook for 30 seconds stirring constantly. Add the onion and garlic and cook for 3 minutes more stirring occasionally.

3. Return to the chicken skillet. Add the stock and preserved lemon; stir well. Cover and cook over medium-low heat for about 30 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.

4. Turn off heat, add the olives, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir, replace cover and let rest fro 5 minutes.

Pine Nuts are the kernels of the stone pine (Pinus pinea), a native of the Mediterranean area. They grow in other parts of the world also, including the American Southwest, where they are a native staple crop of the Pueblo Indians. China and Portugal are the largest exporters. Pine Nuts have a rich but delicate flavor; delicious in dishes as varied as stuffings, fruit salads, and pesto sauce. They may also be ground into a flour suitable for desserts. Eat them raw or roast them lightly in a dry skillet or oven to bring out their flavor.
2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed

PESTO RECIPE 

2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup Olive Oil
3 tablespoons pine nuts
3 garlic cloves, finely minced

Place basil leaves in small batches in food processor and whip until well chopped (do about 3/4 cup at a time). Add about 1/3 the nuts and garlic, blend again.
Add about 1/3 of the Parmesan cheese; blend while slowly adding about 1/3 of the olive oil, stopping to scrape down sides of container.
Process basil pesto it forms a thick smooth paste. Repeat until all ingredients are used, mix all batches together well. Serve over pasta. Basil pesto keeps in refrigerator one week, or freeze for a few months.

Everyone loves Cheesecake. Here at igourmet.com we have dozens of Cheescakes to choose from. Some of our varieties include; Cookies and cream, Very berry, Pumpkin, Irish cream, Lemon Biscotti, Caramel Apple Crumb, Turtle, Orange-Mango, Key lime, Grand Marnier and Peanut butter cup. Be sure to visit the store to browse our other sweet and savory flavors. Perhaps your looking to Bake your own cheesecake, click the link for some decadent recipes.

July 27th is National Crème Brûlée Day! French for “burnt creme”, Crème Brûlée is a dessert consisting of a rich custard base topped with a layer of hard caramel, created by burning sugar under a grill or with a blowtorch or other intense heat source. It is usually served cold in individual ramikins.The custard base is normally flavoured with just vanilla but it can be enhanced with chocolate, a liquor or fruit etc. Sometimes the hardened sugar on top will be given a Maillard reaction, by igniting a thin layer of liqueur sprinkled over the top

How to make Creme Brulee from scratch.

Crème Brûlée French Toast Recipe

Kuhnhenn Crème Brûlée Java Stout

Ingredients:

8 oz mild goat cheese, sliced
4 Large Portabello caps

For the Sauce -

4 TBSP garlic-infused olive oil
Pinch of Sea Salt and Fresh ground black pepper
1/3 cup rinsed baby spinach
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves
1 tsp fresh thyme
3 tsp fig balsamic vinegar
1 tsp capers
2 cloves roasted garlic

Optional - pine nuts or pine nut oil, dried chilli-pepper flakes, a little truffle oil

Directions:

Blend all sauce ingredients together while grill is heating. Brush mushrooms with sauce and grill for 4-5 minutes (underside down). Brush mushroom caps with additional sauce before turning over, grilling for 3-4 minutes. Add sliced goat cheese and any remaining sauce to mushrooms (underside up) and close grill cover for 2-3 minutes, or until cheese melts. Serve immediatly with Risotto, polenta or simple salad.

INGREDIENTS

1 Curly Endive
3 cups stemless Arugula
6 oz manchego, thinly shaved
4 oz pitted Gordal or Manzanilla Olives
1 garlic clove, peeled and chopped
1 Chopped Tomato
3 oz sliced Serrano Ham (optional)
1/2 Red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup fresh Tarragon (optional)
2 TBSP Sherry Vinegar (or Cava Vinegar)
2 TBSP Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 TBSP Walnut Oil
1/3 cup walnut pieces

Recipe from the Savannah Bee Company Website

For more beverage recipes visit igourmet.com Recipes

Instead of using beef suet or pork fat, an interesting change of pace is to use beef marrow to create a really luxurious flavor.  It’s a bit more gelatinous than pork fat, although it allows you to use a very lean cut of meat to get a great beefy flavor.  You could also use this to create crepenettes and use pork caul instead of sausage casings

Beef Sausages with Truffled Bone Marrow

by Nick Benard

2 ½ lbs top round beef, cut to roughly ½ inch cubes.  Fat cut off and finely minced

½ - 2 lbs veal femur bones, cut in 2” sections

2 tsp truffled salt

1 Tbsp truffle oil

1 Tbsp truffled balsamic cream vinegar, such as Blaze

4 large cloves garlic, smashed

¼ C diced onion

4 sprigs fresh thyme, minced

Sausage casing

Mix salt, oil, vinegar and cubed beef and allow beef to marinate overnight.

If your sausage casings are packed in salt, allow to soak in a large bowl or pot of water for at least 30 minutes, although an hour is best.

Using a small pairing knife or a grapefruit spoon, scoop out bone marrow.  As you get close to the bones’ caps, you will notice tiny, feathery bones appearing.  It is better to avoid these, as they may be tiny, but they can be quite sharp and painful to eat.  The more middle cuts you can get, the better the marrow yield will be.

Mix all ingredients together and allow to chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.  It’s better to grind cold, as the marrow will warm up and begin to melt from the friction and heat of your grinder.

Fix your meat grinder with the coarse sieve and the sausage stuffing attachment feeder.  Take about 5 feet of sausage casing and gently push it up around the mouth of the feeder.  This will allow you to easily unroll it, and create less strain on the casing.  Slowly work the meat into the grinder, while supporting the casing with your other hand.

You can divide the sausage at any interval you like, or just make one large pinwheel.  Use within 2 days, or freeze for three months.

Here are a few links to Father Friendly recipes.

Father’s Day Grilling

Father’s Day Recipes

Father’s Day Cakes

Even More father’s day recipes