Meyer Lemon Ricotta Pancakes with Blueberry Maple Syrup

Ingredients:

Zest and juice from 2 meyer lemons
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
2 tbsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup ricotta cheese
2 eggs
2/3 cup milk
Butter for griddle
1/4 cup maple syrup
3/4 cup blueberries

Directions:

In a small pot combine maple syrup, blueberries, and zest from 1 meyer lemon and heat over low heat. Simmer for 15 minutes. Set aside.

Combine juice from 2 meyer lemons, zest from 1 meyer lemon, ricotta, eggs, and milk into a large bowl. Combine flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk dry ingredients into wet ingredients until just combined. Heat griddle or large pan over medium heat and melt a pad of butter. When butter is melted add about 1/4 cup of batter per pancake. Cook pancake until small bubbles start to form, then flip. The pancake should be golden brown on both sides. Repeat until you run out of batter.

Cheese Fondue

When I was in Geneva a few years ago, the cheese fondue was one of my favorite and most memorable meals. I tried to recreate that experience and those flavors for Valentine's Day. This would also be a perfect dinner for watching the winter olympics.

Ingredients:

1.5 - 2 cups dry white wine
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp. cornstarch
2/3 lb. gruyere, grated
1/2 lb. raclette, grated (can substitute emmental)
1-2 tsp. kirsch
Salt
Pepper
Things for dipping such as: bread, radishes, broccoli, salami, mushrooms, potatoes, etc. Blanch veggies before dipping.

Directions:

Add 1.5 cup wine, garlic, and cornstarch to a medium pot. Heat over medium-high and whisk together. When ingredients are combined, add the cheese. Whisk everything until the cheese has melted and the fondue is smooth, about 5-7 minutes. Add more wine to the fondue if it is too thick. Finish with kirsch and season to taste with salt and pepper, if desired. Serve in a fondue pot.

Rosemary Crusted Rack of Lamb

Serve with my roasted rosemary potatoes on the side.


Ingredients:

1.5 lb. rack of lamb
2 tbsp. rosemary, finely chopped
1 tbsp. dijon mustard
Zest of 1 lemon
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil + 2 tbsp. for searing
Salt
Pepper

Preheat oven to 400˚. Liberally salt and pepper both sides of rack of lamb. In a small bowl, mix together rosemary, dijon mustard, lemon zest, garlic, and 1 tbsp. olive oil. Set aside. Coat oven safe pan with olive oil and heat over medium high heat. When pan is hot, add rack of lamb. Sear for 2 minutes on each side, or until browned. Turn off heat and remove from pan. Using a spoon, carefully spread rosemary mixture over both sides of rack of lamb. Return to the pan. Bake in the oven for 15-25 minutes for medium rare.

Rosemary Roasted Potatoes

These are simple and delicious and a great side dish for roast chicken, steak, or rack of lamb.

Ingredients:

1 lb. fingerling potatoes, sliced in half vertically
2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 tbsp. rosemary, finely chopped

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400˚. In a large bowl, toss potatoes with olive oil, salt, pepper and rosemary. Spread potatoes onto baking sheet and face potatoes skin side up. When oven has reached 400˚ place potatoes in oven. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Potatoes should be crispy and fork tender.

Gruyere Grilled Cheese with Bacon, Mushroom, and Caramelized Onion Hash

This is my all time favorite grilled cheese sandwich.

Makes 2 sandwiches

Ingredients:

4 slices sourdough or french boule bread
6 oz. gruyere, sliced
6 slices applewood smoked bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
8 oz. crimini mushrooms, diced
1 sweet yellow onion, diced
1 tbsp. thyme, chopped
Salt
Pepper
Butter

Directions:

Butter one side of each slice of bread. Set aside.

Put bacon in large skillet and heat over medium low. Cook the bacon until crispy, stirring occasionally, for 10-15 minutes. Remove bacon from pan using a slotted spoon, and put on a plate with a paper towel to drain. Make sure to reserve the bacon fat. Add onion to the pan. Cook until onion has caramelized, about 30 minutes. When onion has caramelized, add mushrooms and thyme to pan. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cook until mushrooms release their liquid and are tender, about 5 minutes. Add bacon back to pan and stir to combine. Turn off heat and remove hash from pan.

Take two slices of bread and place butter side down. Put half of the sliced gruyere on the
two slices of the bread. Spoon equal amounts of the mixture onto both slices of bread. Top with the other half of the gruyere and the second slice of bread. Heat the skillet over medium low. Add sandwiches to pan. Cook until bread is crusty and golden brown and cheese has melted, about 5 minutes. Remove from pan, cut in half on a diagonal and serve.

Chipotle Sweet Potato Purée

This is the perfect accompaniment to my Smoked Chicken Drumsticks with Bourbon Honey Orange Glaze. It would also be great with a steak or other poultry dishes. This serves two, but can easily be multiplied.

Ingredients:

2 large sweet potatoes
1 tbsp. unsalted butter
1/2 chipotle pepper from can of chipotle in adobo
1 tbsp. adobo
1 tbsp. milk
Salt


Directions:

Preheat oven to 450˚. Bake potatoes for 45 minutes to an hour; potatoes should be fork tender. Let cool slightly. Cut potatoes in half and scoop out potato from the skin. Put potatoes in food processor with butter, honey, chipotle, adobo, and milk. Pulse until smooth. Season to taste with salt.

Smoked Chicken Drumsticks with Bourbon Honey Orange Glaze

These drumsticks are tender, smoky, spicy, and delicious, and the skin gets super crispy. I used 6 drumsticks since I was making this for 2 people, but this recipe makes plenty of rub and glaze if you want to make more. I recommend serving these with my Chipotle Sweet Potato Purée.

Ingredients:

6 chicken drumsticks
3 tbsp. light brown sugar
2 tbsp. kosher salt
2 tbsp. smoked paprika
2 tsp. garlic powder
2 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. dried mustard
1 tsp. cayenne
1 tbsp. chili powder
1 tsp. cumin


Glaze:

1/2 cup orange juice
5 tbsp. bourbon
2 tbsp. honey
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

Directions:

In a small bowl, mix light brown sugar, kosher salt, smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, dried mustard, cayenne, chili powder, and cumin. Rub on drumsticks and refrigerate drumsticks for at least 2 hours before smoking. Take drumsticks out of refrigerator at least 30 minutes before smoking.

In a small bowl, whisk together orange juice, bourbon, honey, salt, and pepper. Set aside.

Preheat smoker to 300˚. Using indirect heat, smoke drumsticks until they reach an internal temperature of about 145˚. This should take around an hour and 15 minutes. Raise heat to 450˚. Mop or spray chicken with glaze. Using direct heat, cook chicken for about 20 more minutes, glazing about every 5 minutes. Chicken should reach an internal temperature of 165˚. Remove from smoker.