Spicy Sweet Tater Fries

Here is our final side for the show menu, another item with bold flavors; spicy, sweet with an outside crispness and a yeilding interior.

Spicy Sweet Tater Fries (oven baked!)

• 2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into strips
• 2 tsp Salt
• ½ tsp Pepper
• ¼  tsp Ancho Chile Powder
• 1 tsp Garlic powder
• ¼  tsp Chipotle Chile Powder
• 2 Tbs Olive oil

 

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Place all components in a zip lock bag, toss. Rest ib the fridge at least 4 hours, best overnight. To cook, remove, place on rack on sheetpan and for cook 15 minutes, remove, flip and cook for another 10 minutes (or a little longer if deeper color/char is desired).

Roasted Tomatillos and Prickly Pear Chimichuri Sauce

Several of the items from our menu can be done ahead of time, to ease the final preparation. The chimichuri should be done at least 1 day ahead, and preferably several days in advance of serving it.

Roasted Tomatillos and Prickly Pear Chimichuri Sauce over Free Range Grass Fed Beef Tenderloin

• 1 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 fresh poblano pepper, coarsely chopped with the seeds left in
• 1 fresh Serrano chili, coarsely chopped with the seeds removed (or left in for extra heat)
• 1/3 cup finely chopped fresh Italian flat-leaf parsley
• 1/3 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 Tbs honey
• 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh oregano leaves
• 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh basil leaves
• 1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 2/3 cup sherry wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons minced shallots
• 1/4 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 12 oz roasted tomatillos
• 2 prickly pear cactus fruits, seeds strained and removed

 

Place in a food processor the olive oil, sherry vinegar, lemon juice, parsley, basil, oregano, cilantro, garlic, shallots, honey, tomatillos, prickly pear and poblano and Serrano chilies. Pulse until well blended but do not puree. Season the mixture with the black pepper and salt. Add the bay leaf. Transfer the sauce to a non-reactive bowl and cover with plastic wrap for at least 2 hours. Remove the bay leaf prior to serving. The sauce will keep in the refrigerator container for several days.

Betta with Feta

Here is the first of the two sides we served, Creamy Sautéed Baby Spinach with Feta. It is quite a light dish with a hint of creaminess provided by the mascarpone and a nice brininess from real sheeps’ milk feta.

Creamy Sautéed Baby Spinach with Feta

• 1 Tbs olive oil
• 1 clove garlic
• 1Tbs chopped shallot
• 8 oz baby spinach
• 1 Tbs mascarpone cheese
• 2 oz feta cheese

Heat the oil over medium heat in a medium sauce pan. Add the garlic and shallot and cook 1-2 minutes, until shallots translucent. Add the spinach. After the spinach has cooked and reduced in volume, and is bright green, add the mascarpone and feta. Cook another 1-2 minutes; salt and pepper to taste and serve.

Chef Barb’s Pittsburgh Shrimp: Spicy Citrus Poached Shrimp

Here’s the appetizer we did for the show. It is a variation on an original recipe from my good friend Chef Barb. We served this over some simple couscous and topped with a little parsley and some finely diced fresh sweet red bell pepper. The pepper adds a distinctive sweet note and a little pop to the meal with the crunch it provides as well as a pleasing visual note.

• 1 orange, seeded and sectioned
• 1 grapefruit, seeded and sectioned
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1 Tbs butter
• 1 Tbs fresh chopped thyme
• 1 Tbs fresh chopped oregano
• ½ cup white wine
• ½ cup seafood stock
• 1 Tbs Doc’s piri-piri or other hot sauce
• 1 dozen (jumbo) 12-16 count shrimp
• ¼ cup diced red pepper for garnish
• Parsley for garnish

Heat the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the citrus and cook until the sections have broken down. Run the citrus mixture through a sieve and return the liquid to the pan. Discard the pith. Add the herbs, wine and stock. Bring the liquid to poaching temperature (between 160-180 degrees). Poach the shrimp in the liquid for several minutes until done, and then remove. Bring the remaining liquid back up to a boil and reduce by about 1/3, until slightly thickened. Spoon the sauce over the seafood, garnish with red pepper and parsley and serve.

The Show, Part 2

This upcoming week we’ll be sharing some pics and recipes from the second pilot show. Here’s the dishes we prepared:

• A variation on Chef Barb’s Pittsburgh Shrimp (Spicy, Citrus Poached Shrimp) served on couscous
• A Grilled Grass Fed, Free Range Beef Tenderloin topped with a Roasted Tomatillo and Prickly Pear Chimichuri, Spicy Sweet tater Fries and Creamy Baby Spinach with Feta

Check back all week as we go through the menu!

News News News

We finished filming our second pilot and we’ll  be sharing recipes, pics, etc. all weekend and next week long. We also had our first article published in the Tampa Tribune as a contributor to the health and fitness section. Here’s the  link: 

Doc’s Tampa Tribune Article

Please note, paragraph 4 should read weight in kg divided by height in meters, not inches. There is an English pound/inch version; but no kg/inch version (I wish we could all just get along!)

Enjoy.

Correction!

For those reading Doc’s Article in The Tampa Tribune today, please note this correction. The Quetelet index is (mass/height*height). The metric version is kilograms per meter squared (not inches as published). There is an English version which is pounds per inches squared.  Sorry for the typo!

Friday, Friday Friday!

Just a reminder for anyone around the Tampa area we will be taping our second pilot episode of What’s Cooking with Doc: House Calls on Friday,  September 24th at the Jackson Building at the Hernando County Fairgrounds, Brooksville Fla. Hope to see you there!

Visit Doc’s Recipe

Please visit our recipe posted at News-line healthcare website:

News-Line: News, Information and Career Opportunities for healthcare professionals

Pain Perdu

Pain Perdu

   [tweetmeme source=”WCWD” only_single=false]

Here’s another reason I love the French: take some egg, bread, milk and a little sugar and Shazaam, something delicious. I am, of course, referring to a little Pain Perdu. Not just any pain perdu, though; a totally doc’d up version. We stuff le pain with a whipped homemade strawberry jam and cream cheese mixture, soak it in custard like liquid, coat it in a little egg and cook it with some butter. Top it with real maple syrup, some cinnamon and a sprinkle of confectionary sugar. It is the brunch of kings which is why sometimes; it’s good to be the King.

• 5 eggs
• 8 oz cream cheese
• 8 oz jam (homemade is best)
• 1 loaf of bread, preferably a challah or other sweet bread. Best is slightly stale
• 2 cup milk
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 Tbs cinnamon
• Confectionary sugar
• Maple syrup

Whip the cream cheese with a hand held or stand mixer. Add the jam and mix well. Set aside. Beat 3 eggs together and set aside. In a medium saucepan heat the milk and sugar until it dissolves. Place 2 eggs in a bowl and whip them together. As the sugar dissolves, and the milk heats up add a little bit at a time to the eggs to temper them. Add the tempered eggs back to the milk mixture add the cinnamon and heat on the stove until the mixture just starts to thicken. Remove and pour in a container. Add the vanilla to that mixture. Cut a thick slice of the bread and make a pocket, then stuff it with the cream cheese mixture. Soak the bread in the milk mixture for 5-10 minutes, turning as needed so the bread fully absorbs the liquid. Heat some butter in a medium sauté pan over medium heat. Coat the bread in the egg mixture and cook until the egg coating is done. Remove, pour maple syrup over, sprinkle with confectionary sugar, dust with some fresh ground cinnamon and enjoy. Vive La France!