A fantastic evening at Rockefeller Center!

We had an amazing evening tonight to celebrate Christopher Peacock Cabinetry winning the Kitchen of the Year award. I was there to showcase the beautiful kitchen and demo some fantastic recipes.

A special Thank You to Bill Kaliff from Festivities who provided 2 delicious recipes, Eggplant Caponata and the Seared Tuna with Asian Slaw. I also demonstrated 2 of my recipes, the Latin Crab appetizer and the Provencal Tartlets.

For those of you there tonight who were asking, here are the recipes.

Enjoy and looking forward to seeing you in the fall at the Peacock showroom in Greenwich for my new classes.

Savory Provencal Tartlets


1 package Puff Pastry sheets (in frozen food section of grocery store)
olive oil
6 oz. peppered goat cheese
6 oz. Olive tapenade
1 small zucchini
kosher salt
black pepper
dried thyme
4 oz. grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 425. Bring puff pastry to room temperature. Unroll when thawed (about 10 minutes). Line a cookie sheet with a Silpat mat or aluminum foil sprayed with nonstick spray. Brush puff pastry with olive oil and cut into small rounds using a circular pastry or cookie cutter.

Place rounds on Silpat lined baking sheet and spread a ½ teaspoon of goat cheese to each round. Add a small dollop of tapenade next. Using a vegetable peeler, make thin round slices of zucchini, they should be almost paper thin. (A mandoline works well too.)

Gently toss zucchini with salt, pepper, thyme and Parmesan cheese. Lay 2-3 slices of zucchini to each round and brush with a thin layer of olive oil and a small pinch of Parmesan cheese. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until pastry has risen and is golden brown.

Serve warm.

Latin crab bites


¾ lb. fresh lump crab meat
Juice from 1 lime
½ thinly slice purple onion
½ diced fresh mango- not overripe
½ diced red pepper
1-2 Tbs. olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
¼ C. (or 1 handful) fresh cilantro leaves
cayenne pepper for garnish
1 bag tortilla chip cups

In a bowl, add crab, lime juice, thinly sliced purple onion, mango and pepper. Stir together with a fork, being sure to break up any lumps of crab. Add a pinch of salt and pepper and a tablespoon of olive oil. Wash and roughly chop cilantro leaves, then add to crab mixture. Taste to see if mixture needs more lime, salt or pepper.

Eggplant Caponata

diced eggplant, skin side only 1 quart
diced red onion 1 cup
fresh garlic, mashed 2 cloves
diced red pepper 1 cup
diced celery ½ cup
diced green Spanish olives ½ cup
fruity white wine ¼ cup
chopped tomato 2 cups pomi
chopped Italian parsley 2T
chopped fresh basil 2T
kosher salt and black pepper to taste

Procedure:

Sauté red onion and once translucent add garlic then eggplant…
Once eggplant is partially cooked add red pepper and celery then
Once that mixture is translucent add olive and deglaze with white wine…
Once wine is evaporated add chopped tomato and cook until half evaporated…finish with parsley and fresh basil

Sesame Seared Tuna with Asian Slaw
Yield: 50 servings

Ingredients:
fresh yellow fin tuna, 1 ½ “ thickness, blood line removed 8#
extra virgin olive oil 1 sq btl
toasted white sesame seeds 2 cups
black sesame seeds 2 cups
fine diced chives 2 cups
kosher salt 2 T
black pepper 2 t
ground ginger 1 t
granulated garlic powder 2 t
ground mustard seed 1 t
grape seed oil 1 sq btl
nappa cabbage, chiffonade 2 heads
purple cabbage, chiffonade 1 head
bok choy, chiffonade 6 heads
jicama, chiffonade 2 #
large carrots, thin shred 2#
sesame paste(tahini) 2 cups
mayonnaise 2 cups
orange juice ½ cup
tamari 3T
orange zest 3T
salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste
fresh chives 1 cup

cusabi 1 sq btl

Procedure:

Encrusting Tuna

Cut the tuna steaks the length of the loin by 2”
Freeze the prepped loins for at least ½ hour
Coat in olive oil and season with spice rub of
Salt, pepper, garlic, ginger, and mustard powder
Then roll in combination of white and black sesame seeds
Heat grape seed oil to smoking point and pan sear tuna loins
On all sides leaving the fish rare on the inside

Dressing for Asian Slaw

Combine tahini, mayo, orange juice and orange zest with tamari
And whisk to combine…adjust seasoning with spg
Toss with cabbage/carrot chiffonades and garnish with fresh chives

Slice Tuna and drizzle with orange sesame sauce(lightly) then a little
Cusabi and then arrange on top cabbage slaw