Lemon Pepper Linguine with Asparagus Pesto

Lemon Pepper Linguine with Asparagus Pesto

By Chef Lippe

Here is a light lunch that is healthy and tastes good. Here are some interesting facts about asparagus:

• The Indian name for asparagus is Shatavari (she who possesses a hundred husbands)
• Is high in fiber (easier to eat than a fiber supplement)
• Helps to detoxify the liver
• Is high in glutathione (powerful antioxidant)
• Excellent source of B vitamins, which help manage blood sugar
• Excellent source of vitamin K, important for bone health

Do you like yours thick or thin?

I like mine thicker and my mother likes hers thin. I personally think the thicker ones are sweeter and find the thin ones stringier. Usually the thicker stalks come from the male plant and the thin ones from a female plant (multi-tasking by producing seeds gives the plant less time to grow thicker stalks).  The same as with humans, big strong males and smaller females.

Ingredients:

 

2 pounds of Chef Lippe’s Lemon pepper linguine

2 bunches of asparagus, cut into pieces

4 cloves of garlic

½ cup almonds toasted

1 cup parmesan cheese

1 pinch of garlic roasted sea salt

½ cup extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

• Bring large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook asparagus water until crisp-tender about 3 minutes. Remove asparagus from water and dry (save to cook pasta in)
• Once asparagus is cooled transfer to food processor, add garlic, almonds, cheese, salt and pepper and oil. Blend until pesto consistency.
• Let cool
• Cook pasta al dente, drain and toss with pesto.
• Serve room temperature or hot.

Habanero Linguine and shrimp in a broccoli garlic sauce

Habanero Linguine and shrimp in a broccoli garlic sauce

By Chef Lippe

This dish is a quick and easy dish to make. Habanero pasta is a kick in the palate, it brings a bold crisp sensation with each mouthful. Best enjoyed with a glass of ice cold beer.

Ingredients:

8 ounces uncooked Habanero Linguine (order it at shop.cheflippe.com)

4 cup fresh broccoli florets chopped

2 pounds of raw cleaned shrimp

2 fresh chopped tomatoes

½ cup butter

½ cup finely chopped red bell pepper

1 small onion or 1 large shallot finely chopped

6 cloves garlic finely chopped

2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour

14 ounces of chicken broth

Grated parmesan cheese

Instructions

Cook pasta al dente, adding the broccoli in the last 3 minutes. Drain and set aside.  In a skillet, melt butter add onion, bell pepper and shrimp stirring frequently until shrimp start to turn pink, add garlic and continue to stir until shrimp are cooked. Add flour and stir constantly for one minute. Add chicken broth and bring to a boil. Season with salt and pepper (we use roasted garlic sea salt) to taste add warm pasta and broccoli, stir in chopped tomatoes and sprinkle with cheese.

REMEMBER TO LIKE US ON FACEBOOK OR FOLLOW US ON TWITTER TO RECEIVE ENTRIES IN OUR MUSTARD GIVE-AWAY

 

Like us on facebook and win!

By Chef Lippe

LIKE US ON FACEBOOK AND RECEIVE A FREE ENTRY FOR ONE OF CHEF LIPPES GOURMET MUSTARD SETS.

This set includes 3 of Chef Lippes custom blended mustards.

Black Garlic mustard

Extremely hot mustard mix

Mustard mix with mushrooms

Rules:

1. Receive one entry for a “like” on facebook

2. Receive one entry for every follow on twitter

3. Receive two entries for every purchase made by June 30^th

4. Receive two entries for every re-tweet made by you in June

5. Drawing will be done at 4pm July 1^st, the old fashioned way (you name in a hat for each like, follow, re-tweet, or purchase). Not available to family members.

6. We will send you an email to get your address for shipping.

7. Any questions just send us an e-mail at mail@cheflippe.com

101 forgotten uses for salt

By Chef Lippe

Bolivian Rose Salt Having lived in Bolivia for several years as a child I did not appreciate it as much as I did when visiting family as an adult.  Soon we will be carrying salt cellars and other items made with salt from the Andes. The internet claims that there are over 14,000 ways to use salt. Today I will give you a few of my favorite ways and share with you some information about the salt that we get from Bolivia. I hope you enjoy and if you are ever in this part of the world a visit to the salt hotel is well worth it.  Bolivian Rose salt is found in Tarija, in southern Bolivia. 

Bolivian salt is rich in taste and has many uses with its high mineral content.  In 100 grams of salt you get 3.3mg of Iron, 477mg of calcium, 38.6mg of Sodium and 432mg of Potassium.  Rose salt has less sodium per serving than other salts which makes it popular with those of us who are over 50. Also in southern Bolivia is the Uyuni Lake. Bolivia currently produces 8500 tons of salt per year from this lake.

This salt is millions of years old and is found high in the Andes Mountains, where the salt deposits where covered with volcanic lava creating its high mineral content and protecting it from pollution.  Salar de Uyuni is the world’s largest salt flat and covers over 4,000 square miles and can be seen from space.  30,000 plus years ago this area was part of a giant prehistoric lake. When the lake dried up it left behind two lakes and two salt deserts. Salar de Uyuni is one which is roughly 25 times the size of the Salt flats in the US. In 1993 they built an entire hotel of salt right in the middle of the salt flat. Everything from the walls, floors and roof are made of salt blocks.  Tables and chairs and other furniture all made from salt. Here are some of my favorite uses for salt, but many of them have been replaced by modern chemicals and cleaners:

• Salt added to water makes it boil at a higher temperature, thus reducing the cooking time.
• Eggs boiled in salt water peel easier.
• Poaching eggs over salted water helps set the egg white.
• To see how fresh your eggs are place an egg in a cup of water which has 2 teaspoons of salt added, a fresh egg will sink.
• Cleaning a greasy pan will wash easily if you sprinkle with salt and wipe it with a paper towel first.
• Rubbing your coffee or tea cups with salt will remove the stains.
• If you have burned something in your oven, while still hot sprinkle with salt and cinnamon to take away the odor. When dry use a stiff brush to clean.
• Salt tossed on a grease fire will extinguish it.
• A pinch of salt added to your coffee will enhance the flavor and remove the bitterness of overcooked coffee.
• Clean copper pans by sprinkling with salt and using a cloth soaked in vinegar.
• Remove onion odors from fingers rubbing them with vinegar and salt.
• Adding a pinch of salt to your milk will keep it fresh longer.
• You can remove rings from your tables left from wet or hot dishes or glasses by rubbing a thin paste of salad oil and salt on the spot with your fingers and let it stand for an hour or two.
• Brighten your yellowed linens or cottons by boiling them with salt and baking soda.
• Remove mildew or rust stains by rubbing with a mixture of lemon juice and salt, let dry in sun and then rinse and dry.
• And our last tip for the day is called salabrasion; this technique done by a Dr. can remove a tattoo with virtually no scarring.

In yesterday’s blog “Cooking on a Himalayan salt block” http://wp.me/p2n8ji-3V we talked about cooking on salt and the added taste that is received by doing so.  Today I have listed lots of ways to use salt in and around the house that many of us did not know about. Ask your grandmother and I am sure that she will remember some of them. Tomorrow I will talk about the health benefits of certain salts. In the meantime enjoy these pictures of Bolivia’s salt lake. 

Cooking on Himalayan Salt Plates

Cooking on Himalayan Salt Plates

By Chef Lippe

Salt from the Himalayans is millions of years old. It is made up of 84 minerals all of them existing naturally in the human body. There are many healing benefits to using Himalayan salts, including lowering blood pressure and improving circulation. It is used for many things; you can take a hot sauna buried in it; cook with it; cook on it; bath with it; make lamps with it; or just use it for decoration. Himalayan salt is considered the purest form of salt.

The most common way of using these beautiful salt blocks is for serving sushi, salads and appetizers. But they are also great for cooking on. The wetter the food the more salt taste that transfers.  You can heat a 2 inch thick piece of salt safely to 900 degrees.  If you are using your stove top you will need to raise the block so that it does not come in direct contact with the heating element.

You can use it on your BBQ grill, in your oven, or even cook on it right at the table and the wonderful flavor will have you coming back for more. Seared scallops, thinly sliced beef or chicken, eggs and vegetables are some favorite items cooked on Himalayan Salt. If you freeze it you can serve ice cream on it and if you have never had salty ice cream you don’t know what you are missing.

A Himalayan salt block will retain heat or cold for a long time which is why it is so popular as a serving and cooking utensil. To heat it start on low heat for 15 minutes and then increase it to medium for another 15 minutes. To cook on it, the temperature needs to be at least 500 degrees and the meat needs to sizzle when it touches the salt. It should retain its heat for at least 20 minutes. One word of caution is to make sure that your piece of Himalayan salt is cooking grade and not table grade.

To clean your Himalayan salt cool it overnight (or at least cool to room temperature). Rinse under warm water then scrub, and rinse again. DO NOT use soap on it, or wash in dishwasher. Store in a location that humidity is at a minimum, we recommend that you store it in a plastic bag as the salt can be corrosive over time. Do not store or lay on metal (copper, bronze, etc.) surfaces. With proper care your salt block will last for years.

Once your plate breaks and sooner or later it will save the pieces to be ground up and use it in cooking.

Here are some ways that you can use your Himalayan salt plates:

• Arrange thinly sliced Capaccio or sashimi on a cool salt platter and watch as the food literally salt-cures while at the table.
• Heat your platter and then set on a trivet at the table, and sauté fish, thin cut slices of beef and veggies while your family watches.
• Use it on the BBQ grill to cook stuffed monkfish, flank steaks or even Portobello mushrooms.
• Freeze your salt block for 2 hours and then slowly pour over it, lifting with a spatula a lightly whipped sweet heavy cream, egg, honey and aged bitters for ice custard that no one will soon forget.
• One of our favorite uses for the smaller block is to use it as a butter dish.
• Use it in the oven to cook bread, pizza or pastries on.
• Once you block breaks, smash it up with a hammer and use in your bath or as a pumice stone or grind it up into a fine powder and use as table salt.

While impressing your guests with your culinary skills you can share your knowledge of history. This salt started out millions of years ago at the bottom of the sea. Over many lost ages the land encasing the seabed rose up and became the Himalayas. Fish began to swim in the sea and dinosaurs grew to towering heights while this salt laid hidden deep in the mountains.  Sometime around 326 BC, Alexander the Great found his horses licking the rocks in what is now known as Pakistan, and you had the discovery of salt. Some eighteen centuries later Jalaluddin Muhammad Akbar became the greatest Mughal emperor and one of his two lasting contributions were art and the introduction of standardized salt mining.   Yes the salt that you are cooking on was made 500 million years ago.

A few things that you need to keep in mind when cooking on salt are:

1. the amount of moisture in the food will dictate how much salt you will taste when eating your meal;
2. Time matters, the longer you cook on it the more salt will be absorbed by your food. Have all your items cut into thin slices that will cook fast.
3. Get the salt block nice and hot so that food is seared and not steamed.
4. Use a light coating of olive oil (butter will add to the level of salt) on your salt block before you start.

Visit our online shop for your next piece of Himalayan salt and enjoy all the great ways to use it this summer.

SHRIMP AND SCALLOP KABOBS

Ingredients:

2 pound of shrimp peeled and deveined

2 pound of sea scallops (try to get the same size as shrimp)

wooden skewers.

1 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 cup molasses

1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon mustard

3 tablespoons honey

1 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon cayenne chili powder

Directions:

Combine brown sugar, lemon juice, molasses, basil, oil, mustard, honey, clove,  cayenne powder in a large bowl.  Toss in shrimp and scallops and toss to cover, refrigerate for two hours. Meanwhile, put wooden skewers to soak.  About one hour before you are ready to cook start to heat up your Himalayan salt stones on the gas grill (heat stones on low heat for 15 minutes, and then medium heat for 15 minutes, then high heat for 15 minutes).  Stones should be 500 degrees before you start to cook.

Thread one shrimp, one scallop (two times) on skewers.

Place on heated stones and cook for 2 to 3 minutes per side, or until shrimp turns pink.

Serve with grilled corn and asparagus and a nice potato salad.

Thai ginger peanut sauce

Thai ginger peanut sauce

By Chef Lippe

This is an extra hot recipe, perfect for a dip for vegetables.  If you prefer a little less spicy then reduce the amount of chili flakes used.  Serve your Thai peanut sauce over rice noodles as meal that kids will love.   I use fresh ground cayenne pepper, and Thai ginger sea salt, you can purchase these at my online store and if you use the code word “blog” the shipping is free.

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup peanut butter, softened
• 3 tablespoons coconut milk
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon fresh minced ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 cayenne chili powder or to taste
• Pinch of Thai ginger sea salt, or to taste

Preparation:

Whisk together all ingredients in a small bowl. If needed, you can microwave the peanut butter for a few seconds first to soften it up.

Gluten Free NY style Cheesecake with peaches

Gluten Free NY style Cheesecake with peaches

By Chef Lippe

When I was a little boy I was always in the kitchen bugging the cook, there were a few things that I learned:  1) that this was Cook’s secret family recipe for cheesecake, and 2) that she always cut the end off the ham because that is the way Cook’s Grandma made the ham taste so good.

Well now that I am a Chef I have found out a few things about Cook’s idea of cooking: 1) Yes it may have been Cook’s recipe, and yes it came from her head but that did not mean it was a family invented recipe, and 2) she cut the end off the ham bone all those years because her mom did, only to find out that she did it to make it fit in a smaller pan.  The point of the story is to say that: 1) In cooking few things are new…usually just a twist on something already tried, and 2) just because it’s always been done that way does not mean that we can’t change it. So feel free to add or change the ingredients in a recipe and make it your own.

So here are my changes on a typical NY style cheesecake.

Ingredients

• ½ to 1 box of gluten free gingerbread cookies, crushed (depends on how much crust your family likes)
• 4 tablespoons butter, melted
• 4 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 3/4 cup milk
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup gluten free almond flour
• 1 large can of sliced peaches
• ½ cup white sugar
• ¼ teaspoon almond extract
• 1 tablespoon butter

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9 inch springform pan.
2. In a medium bowl, mix cookie crumbs with melted butter. Press onto bottom of springform pan.
3. In a large bowl, mix cream cheese with sugar until smooth. Blend in milk, and then mix in the eggs one at a time, mixing just enough to incorporate. Mix in sour cream, vanilla and flour until smooth. Pour filling into prepared crust.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour. Turn the oven off, and let cake cool in oven with the door closed for 5 to 6 hours; this prevents cracking. Chill in refrigerator until serving.

Topping

Over medium heat melt butter in large pan, add peaches, stirring until warm. Add sugar, bringing to a boil. Remove from heat, add extract. Serve warm over cheese cake or cool in refrigerator and serve cold. It taste good both ways.

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Great wine cellar!

Saturday night cards with hot sausages!

Saturday Night Sausages!

By Chef Lippe

We all know that a summer time favorite is a grilled sausage sandwiches. It is one of my favorite foods. I love hot and spicy so this recipe clearly divides the men from the boys.  I make this recipe for our Saturday night card game.  The artisan sausage that I use is called “Saturday night special.” It is tailor-made to soak up the alcohol after a night of poker. It is a pork sausage flavored with garlic, beer and lots of Siracha Sauce.  I cover the sausage with grilled onions and reconstituted pequin peppers, fresh bell peppers and some more garlic. If you like hot, this is guaranteed to set your mouth on fire! Serve on buns with lots of icy cold beer to cool down with.

Sausage and Peppers Recipe

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 large red bell peppers, seeded, cut into half-inch strips
• 1 large green bell peppers, cut into half-inch strips
• 2 dried pequin peppers soaked in warm water and finely chopped
• 1 yellow onion, halved, and cut in quarter-inch slices
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms
• 2 cloves finely minced garlic
• 1 tsp white wine vinegar
• pinch of cayenne
• salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
• 4 grilled Saturday Night Sausage
• 4 soft rolls, split

Preparation:

Add the olive oil, pepper strips, and onion to a cold, large skillet, and turn on the heat to high. When you can hear the peppers, mushrooms, and onions sizzling, reduce the heat to medium, and sauté for 8-10 minutes, or until the peppers and onions become soft and sweet. Add the garlic, and cook for one minute, stirring. Turn off the heat and add the vinegar, cayenne, salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste.

Divide the hot pepper mixture evenly over the four rolls and grilled sausages.

Enjoy the burst of flavor and heat and if you purchase from our store use “blog” as the coupon code to receive free postage.

Chorizo Chipotle Mac ’n Cheese

By Chef Lippe

Try my adult version of Mac ‘n Cheese with a nice spicy twist. We use handmade artisan chorizos from our store that are nice and spicy, add an extra hot special blended chipotle powder (also from our store).  Then to make this dish melt in your mouth we used an artisan cheddar cheese that has a creamy sharp bite, mixed our milk with heavy cream and added a little Monterey Jack cheese just to round out the flavors.  If you like it extra hot try Chef Lippes special blend of dry mustard powder that has the extra kick of wasabi and can be found in our condiments section.  Just click on the links to find them in our store and use the code “blog” to receive free shipping.

Chorizo Chipotle Mac ’n Cheese

Ingredients:

• 1 cup elbow macaroni pasta
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 4 ounces chorizo, crumbled
• 4 Tablespoons butter
• 2 cups milk
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 Tablespoon dry mustard
• 1 Tablespoon chipotle powder
• 1 pound sharp white cheddar cheese
• ½ pound Jack Cheese
• 1 cup breadcrumbs
• Pinch of salt

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees
2. Cook pasta in salted, boiling water until al dente. Drain and set aside.
3. Heat large skillet over medium heat. Add olive oil and sauté chorizo until browned (removed from casing/crumbled). Set aside.
4. Lower heat and melt butter. Add flour, whisking for 1 minute. Slowly whisk in milk and bring to a simmer, continuing to whish constantly. While stirring, add mustard and chipotle pepper, and cheese (save ½ cup for topping).
5.   Pour drained pasta into the cheese sauce and toss to combine. Transfer to 3 quart casserole dish. Top with chorizo, reserved cheese and bread crumbs.
6.   Bake for 35 minutes or until golden brown and bubbling.

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