Back in Omaha

I'm finally back in Omaha and back to work. I was in Chicago and then went to Phoenix to cater a couple events for my sister and brother-in-law. I love doing this traveling chef thing....I wish I could do this full-time. I am gathering all my photos and trip recipes so that I can start posting about all the wonderful food I made during my travels. Look for postings to start on Sunday.

I hope you're all having a wonderful summer! To help make your summer even more fun...try my favorite summer cocktail. I love Minute Maid's Pomegranate Lemonade and though I drink it a lot without any alcohol in it....last summer I decided to try to make a martini out of it and let me tell you....it's amazing!!!! You've got to try this out!

Avesta's Summer Martini
2 oz vodka
1 oz pomegranate liquor
2-3 oz Minute Maid Pomegranate Lemonade (2oz if you like it strong, 3 or 4 oz if you want it to go down really easy)
lemon to garnish

Pour all the ingredients into a shaker with ice. Shake well and pour into a chilled martini glass. Enjoy!!! This is also good made in big batches in a pitcher. I slice lemons in it and then serve it in glasses with ice. It's so easy and your guests will love it!

This Minute Maid Lemonade is so addictive!!!!!

And doesn't it look so good?

Caramel Pecan Pie

My attempt at Caramel Pecan Pie served a la mode

I have been craving pecan pie for weeks now but didn't want just any pecan pie. I was in the mood for a piece of deep dish gooey caramel pecan pie. I was thinking about this kind of pecan pie because I grew up in southeast Ohio and there were many amazing pie bakers in the area. One of my mother's friends made this pecan pie that had caramel in it and I just loved it. I haven't had anything like that in years so I tried to come up with the recipe. I pie ended up tasting soooo good but was a bit more gooey than I remember. I think I may have needed to bake the pie for just a little while longer and on lower heat....but the only issue was really the consistency because everyone loved how it tasted.....especially with the vanilla bean ice cream we served with it. We also didn't cool the pie in the fridge which could have helped the pie set better....but I like my pie warm so that was not an option for me. Maybe some of you out there could tweak the recipe a bit and let me know what you came up with to make this a perfect caramel pecan pie!

Avesta's Caramel Pecan Pie

1 cup white sugar
1 1/2 cups light corn syrup
4 large eggs
1/4 cup butter

1/2 cup of caramel chips

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups pecans (I left some of them in halves and coarsely chopped the other half)

1 unbaked deep dish pie shell

In a medium saucepan bring the sugar and corn syrup to a boil for about 3 minutes. Lower the heat and add the caramel chips, mix until they start to melt. Turn the heat off, and add the pecans, butter and vanilla and mix well then set aside to cool. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, beat the eggs lightly and slowly pour the cooled syrup mixture into the eggs, stirring constantly. Once the mixture is completely mixed together, pour into the unbaked pie shell. I put foil around the edges of my pie for the first 45 minutes so that they would not burn.

Bake in a 350°F oven for about one hour or until set.

You can make your own crust or buy a pre-made one (just make sure it's a good deep crust) I sprinkle a little flour in the bottom of my crust.I used caramel chips that I found near the chocolate chips, but you can also use caramel candies.
I used 2 cups of pecans because I love lots of pecans in my pie!
It looked so good even before I baked it and the smell was amazing!

Smoked Salmon Egg Salad

Hot Smoked Salmon

Here's a twist on an old classic....egg salad with chopped up pieces of smoked salmon in it! I thought about making this after having smoked salmon and deviled eggs at one too many brunch buffets. Now don't get me wrong...I love classic egg salad, deviled eggs and smoked salmon with creme fraiche and dill but next time you have friends or family over for brunch...try this recipe and see what they think. And it really is an easy way to impress your guests without a lot of work. You can make these for baby or bridal showers, too. Just buy petite baguettes or mini Italian loafs and they end up being so cute and yummy! This recipe is just a great way to make a sandwich a little more sophisticated without making it too complicated.

Smoked Salmon Egg Salad:

6-10 Hard Boiled Eggs (this will make about 4 large sandwiches)

for tips on how to boil the perfect egg go to my post:

http://checkitoutavesta.blogspot.com/2008/08/for-love-of-bacon.html

6-10 oz Smoked Salmon (this is the hot smoked salmon not lox)

2 tablespoon creme fraiche (sour cream if you can't find creme fraiche)

3 tablespoons mayo (I like mine a little dry...you may want to add a little more mayo for your liking)

2 teaspoon Dijon mustard (honey mustard is also good in this recipe)

1 teaspoon chopped fresh dill

pepper to taste

paprika for color & taste

no salt since the smoked salmon is salty and will give the egg salad enough salty flavor

Chop up your eggs into small chunks and mix in a bowl with the creme fraiche, mayo, mustard, pepper, dill and paprika. Make sure your eggs and other ingredients are mixed up well then chop up your salmon into small chunks and add to the egg mixture. Serve as a dip with crusty bread and crackers or serve on toasted french baguette for the best egg salad sandwich you've ever had! For brunch I serve this on petite french baguettes with a side of fruit. And seriously try this as a dip appetizer at your next get together! Your guests will not be able to stop eating it! Enjoy!

I always try to buy good eggs, cage-free & organic and from local farms when available. You can tell the quality of an egg by the color of its yolk. See how nice and bright and almost orange like these yolks are...that's a good egg!

Paprika doesn't add much flavor but I love the red specks in my egg salad. You could also use ground hot red pepper if you want it to be spicy.

Mixing up the egg salad before you add the salmon ensures that the eggs are coated in the sauce and seasoning.

You can add as much smoked salmon as you like. Remember that it is salty so don't add salt to the egg salad.

Toasting the baguette gives the sandwich an extra crunch. If you get a french baguette that's already pretty crispy, you could skip toasting it.


How good does this egg salad sandwich look? So much flavor with the dill and smoked salmon...I promise that you're gonna love it!

Mmmmmm......MUSSELS!

Bruschetta Style Mussels with Shrimp & Scallops

I love mussels...especially in the Spring and Summer when I am sitting on a patio and having a glass of wine. There are so many great recipes...but I truly love them best when there is butter and garlic in the recipe! If you think you don't like mussels....please try out this recipe...the flavors are bold and before you know it.....you will be picking up your bowl of broth and slurping it up! :) So if you don't want to slurp out of your bowl....make sure you have plenty of crusty bread to serve with this dish so you can soak up the broth with the bread. You can use any type of mussels that you like and if you cannot find fresh mussels....it's ok....just use good quality frozen ones.

Bruschetta Style Mussels
1 lb Mussels (washed and cleaned, discard any that are open)

1 lb Raw Shrimp

1 lb Scallops

2 tomatoes (diced)

1/2 cup chopped fresh basil

2-3 tablespoons chopped garlic

1 stick butter
1-2 jalapenos (seeded and chopped) or 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 cups fish stock (you can also use clam juice or vegetable stock)

1 lime

Saute garlic and jalapenos or pepper with butter until the butter melts. Add tomatoes and saute for 1-2 minutes, then add the basil and stock. Bring to a slight boil and add the mussels. Cover pan and steam the mussels for 3 minutes, until mussels are almost done. Add shrimp and scallops and cover again and steam for another 3-4 minutes or until most of the mussels are open and the shrimp and scallops are done. Go through and throw away any mussels that have not opened. Squeeze the lime juice all over the pan then use a slotted spoon to put the mussels, shrimp and scallops in either one large bowl or individual bowls then ladle the sauce over the seafood and serve with crusty bread.

I know a whole stick of butter seems like a lot but this is a big recipe which I served to 12 people as an appetizer. (so see splitting the stick of butter by 12 people is really not that bad!) You can modify the recipe to make a smaller batch.
I call this bruschetta mussels bc I use basically the same ingredients (basil, tomato, garlic) as I do to make my bruschetta.
The aroma of the tomatoes, garlic and basil cooking in the butter is amazing!
Once you add the mussels to the sauce, make sure to stir it up so that the mussels get some of the sauce inside the shells.

Adding the shrimp and scallops after the mussels have steamed for a few minutes ensures that the shrimp and scallops don't overcook.
I buy a loaf of French or Italian bread and brush each piece with a garlic butter that I make that also has crushed red pepper in it. I add shredded mozzarella or fresh mozzarella to some of the pieces.
Broil the pieces of bread in the oven until golden brown and the cheese has melted.

I love serving all the seafood in one big bowl and then giving my guests their own bowl to grab what they want.

Make sure to spoon a little of the sauce on the bread then top with a couple mussels and take one big bite.........then tell me you don't like mussels! :)

Moving!

I have been crazy busy moving the last few weeks so hopefully I'll get internet service soon at home and will be able to post some recipes for you all! Hope you're all doing well. You never really know how much STUFF you have until you move....it's sickening! So if you've put off Spring Cleaning for awhile....take the time this year and really go through your stuff. My husband and I gave away so much stuff to charity and it makes us feel better that someone out there will appreciate it and use it unlike us who kept this stuff in boxes and closets for years!

MIA

Sorry that I've been a bit MIA lately....life in the catering biz is hectic and it's been very hard keeping up with my blog. I worked on several great dishes this past week and will post this coming week....don't give up on me...I will be back as I'm trying to organize my photos and recipes to make it easier for me to do my posts! Much love....Avesta

By the way...my mother and I have been working on making some fun aprons....what do you all think?

Pan Fried Halibut

Pan Fried Halibut with Dill & Lemon

As most of you know who read my blog regularly...I love seafood and I know I've done a lot of shrimp and scallop recipes on here but have failed to do many fish recipes...so here's the beginning of many to come. I enjoy fish prepared many ways, but my favorite is pan fried. I love the crispiness the fish gets and I feel this process keeps the fish very juicy and flavorful. Halibut is an easy fish to serve as it is mild, slightly sweet and has nice firm and flaky meat. This makes it perfect for grilling and pan frying. When pan frying fish you can coat the fish with breadcrumbs or flour but I often just pan fry fish with just a nice coating of seasoning. This saves me calories and allows the flavor of the fish to stand out. If you have never tried Halibut please try out this recipe! I promise you will have a new favorite fish....yes...there is more to fish than salmon!

Here's some benefits of Halibut from my favorite website http://www.whfoods.com/:

Health Benefits
Halibut are truly a nutrient-dense food. A very good source of high quality protein, halibut are rich in significant amounts of a variety of important nutrients including the minerals selenium, magnesium, phosphorus and potassium; the B vitamins B12, niacin, and B6; and perhaps most important, the beneficial omega-3 essential fatty acids. Essential fatty acids are so named because they are essential for our health but cannot be made by the body; they must therefore be obtained from foods. Cold-water fish like halibut are a rich source of the omega-3 essential fats, a form of essential fatty acids in which the standard American diet is sorely deficient. (The other form of essential fatty acids, the omega-6s, are plentiful in a variety of commonly consumed oils such as corn and safflower oil. In fact, the omega-6s are so plentiful in the typical American diet that too much omega-6 is consumed in proportion to omega-3s--an imbalance that promotes inflammation, thus contributing to virtually every chronic disease in which inflammation is a key component.)

For more benefits of Halibut....please visit:

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=95

Pan Fried Halibut with Dill & Lemon

4 Halibut steaks

2 lemons (1 sliced for garnish, 1 sliced in half for the juice)

1 tablespoon fresh chopped dill

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder or fresh chopped garlic

1/2 teaspoon ground hot red pepper (optional)

sea salt & fresh ground black pepper to taste

4 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon canola or vegetable oil

Heat both oils in a saute pan until hot but not smoking. Make sure to pat dry the Halibut steaks and season both sides with salt and pepper. Slowly add Halibut to hot oil and let the steaks fry until golden brown, about 3-4 minutes then flip. After the steaks have been flipped and have fried for about 2-3 minutes, squeeze fresh lemon juice on top of fish and sprinkle with dill, garlic and red hot pepper.

Be careful when squeezing lemon juice as it may spatter if it touches the hot oil. Cover the pan with a lid and let cook for another 1-2 minutes. Remove the pan from heat and serve fish with steamed veggies or herbed rice. Garnish fish with fresh lemon slices and more fresh chopped dill. Sprinkle the top with more ground hot pepper or paprika.

When pan frying...make sure your oil is hot so that you get that browned sear on your meat!

I only sprinkle the Halibut with sea salt and fresh ground black pepper at first.

Make sure the fish is nice and golden brown before flipping. This should take 3-4 minutes per side.

Serve the Halibut with steamed veggies for a low calorie and healthy meal!
I garnish the fish with fresh lemon slices and more fresh dill on top. I top it all off with some more ground red hot pepper or sweet paprika.