The Great Chef

Although the term had been generalized to designate small pieces of browned bread, croûtons,  on its original French conception, consist of triangular pieces of bread, very lightly browned in clarified butter, that serve to garnish an entrée.  The ones I will be sharing here are not the original French croûtons . Instead, I this recipe is for making the most popular looking version of this garnish - little cubes of golden bread. The quantities are really only a suggestion. You can make pounds of croûtons  and store them on a sealed plastic container, if you want. This recipe renders about 3 cups. Preheat the oven to 350º F. Take half a loaf of white bread, preferably old, and cut it into small cubes. You can choose to take the crust of before cutting the bread. It is up to you and your taste. Personally, I prefer to keep the crust because it turns crispy and delicious. In a bowl, mix the bread with 3 to 4 tablespoons of olive oil. Transfer to a baking sheet cove...

The heat is on and, as in every Summer, I struggle to eat. If you are like me, warm meals feels as good as a cold drink on a snowy day. For that reason, I have been cooking mostly light, cold meals. It might sound unappetizing but it is, actually, very pleasant.  Today's suggestion is from Portuguese inspiration and features salted cod, roasted green peppers, fresh tomatoes, celery and olives. Start by cooking two pieces of salted cod (previously soaked for, at least, 24 hours and several water changes). To get flaky cod, bring the water to a boil and immediately low the heat to a simmer point. Simmer for 5 minutes, turn off the heat and let it sit, covered, for 10 minutes more. In the meanwhile, roast two green peppers, either in the oven, on the grill or on the stove top. When roasted, put them in a plastic container with the lid closed up tight. The steam formed will allow to easily peel the peppers.  After cooking the cod, let it cool and clean it from skin and bones. Set ...

Happy 4th of July, for those of you who celebrate it! For those of you who do not celebrate this day, happy day anyway. After all, being alive is a pretty good reason to celebrate, isn't it? Today's recipe is perfect for barbecue reunions and I can assure you that you are going to rock when you serve this to your friends and family. Shrimp skewers are the easiest to make and to cause an impression. Besides, they cook in no time (can you beat 4 minutes?). The secret is to make a really flavorful marinade and let the shrimp suck all the flavors. The rest is pure enjoyment. So, here follows my recipe for shrimp skewers (the quantities shown are for half a pound of shrimp. Adapt accordingly). If not using prepared shrimp, start by peel and devein your shrimp. If using prepared shrimp, just make sure they are completely peeled. Then, take your blender and put in 1/4 a cup of soy sauce, 1/4 cup of olive oil, 3 cloves of garlic, 1 tablespoon of fresh grated ginger, 1/2 a teaspoon of h...

New Haven, CT is known not only for having one of the best Universities in the World but also by its great food options. Most people outside the United States have the notion that Americans eat only hotdogs and hamburgers. They could not be more wrong. Even though one cannot describe in detail what "american cuisine" is (in the sense that the most iconic "american" dishes were brought in during colonial times), the United States offers a bite of every corner of the World, from a more "authentic" approach to all kinds of fusions.  In New Haven county, for example, one can find Japanese, Thai, Indian, Ethiopian, Spanish, Greek, Portuguese, French, Chinese, or Cuban restaurants. There is also a variety of burger , pizza, or chicken wings places, most of them really good. New Haven is, therefore, a good place for a person that enjoys good food. Today I will share with you my experience in one of my favorite places in town: Soul de Cuba Cafe. The name says it a...

As a rule of thumb, I never refrigerate my fruits unless it gets really warm outside or they perish if left outside, like watermelon or berries, for instance. As a matter of fact, refrigerate most fruits causes them to lose flavor and gain a different texture. If you like your fruit fresh, put it in the fridge 20 minutes prior to eating it and you will get the full goodness of your fruit and the cooling effect you are looking for.  One of the fruits that looses most when refrigerated is bananas. They, almost instantly, turn their skins dark brown and start getting mushy. For that reason, I buy them more on the green side so they easily keep up outside all week long. However, if the weather gets warmer really quick, there is nothing I can do to prevent them to ripe too much. That was exactly what happened this week. Within less than 24 hours the temperature rose more then 10 degrees and my bananas were turning into an almost inedible point. I did not want to throw them away because ...

I recently bought a beautiful napa cabbage but I did want to use it in a way other than sautéed with garlic or braised in wine. I look it for a moment and those wonderful, enormous leaves gave me the idea of making wraps! The outer leaves are large enough to handle the same way as a tortilla with the advantage of having no preservatives and being gluten free. Much healthier, then. The question, you may say, is that if they can be as tasty as a tortilla. As a matter of fact, they can and I will prove it to you with this recipe. I had to decide on the stuffing. I did not want meat or fish because the cabbage is very delicate. I open my pantry and my eyes fell on a bag of brown rice next to the nuts container. That was it. Here it is my recipe for 8 wraps: Start with the rice. In a pot, melt 1 tablespoon of butter over medium heat. When the butter has melted, add 1 cup of brown rice (I used long grain but you can choose the one you like the most) and stir well. Add two cups of warm water,...

Today's recipe is ideal for a light meal and can be prepared in an amazing 15 minutes, from start to finish! If that wasn't enough, it is super healthy as well. The technique used is, basically, an alternative way to steam whatever ingredients are suitable to be steamed (mostly vegetables and fish) and it consists of wrapping the ingredients and few drops of water, stock or wine in parchment paper and put it in a pre-heated oven. In less than nothing you get a super tender, flavorful and healthy meal. For this recipe I used sole, a white, flaky fish. Flaky fishes are not suitable to grill because they are so fragile that they will break into thousand pieces when you try to turn them on the grill. Your options, therefore, are to fry it or to steam it. For grilling you can choose salmon, tuna, salted cod, or sardines. For 4 servings: Start by heating the oven to 450ºF. Cut four 15-inches-square pieces of parchment paper (or large enough to wrap the fillets like you would do with ...