Leftover Linguine - Cold Sesame Noodles

If you have leftover pasta, this is a good way to reuse them and make a really tasty dish!

Leftover Linguine – Cold Sesame Noodles

By Ted Slee

Servings: 6-8

Prep: 15 mins

Noodles:

½ pound cooked linguine cold

3 tbsp sesame oil

Sauce:

2 tbsp sesame oil

3 tbsp vegetable oil

3 green onion (scallions) halved and sliced

1 inch of ginger minced

1 tbsp minced garlic
2 tbsp rice wine vinegar

2 tsp hot sauce

3 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp brown sugar

½ cup smooth peanut butter

Garnish:

2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds

4 tbsp cilantro chopped

Prep:

Toss the cold noodles with sesame oil and set aside

Add oils to medium sauce pan on medium heat.  Add green onion, ginger, vinegar, garlic, hot sauce, soy sauce and brown sugar.  Stir until sugar melts and mixture is fragrant.

Add peanut butter and water until blended smooth.  Cook for a minute then remove from heat.  Mix with noodles and toss till well mixed Add cilantro and sesame seeds as garnish.

Leftover Pizza

This recipe came from the need to use up the leftovers I had from my previous Summer Grilled Chicken Parmesan recipe post.  This pizza is really as good as it looks!

Summer Grilled Chicken Parm - Leftover Pizza

By Ted Slee

Serves 4-8 people

Prep Time: 5 mins

Cook Time: 10-15 mins

Ingredients

One Leftover chicken breast diced

2 cups of Leftover tomato & mozzarella mixture

4 tbsp garlic/basil oil

Store pizza dough ball

Prep

Let pizza dough rest out of refridge while preparing the rest of the ingredients.  Set oven to 485 degrees with pizza stone inside.  Prep pizza dough, brush garlic/basil oil on entire dough and cook for 5 minutes without toppings.  Then equally distribute chicken and tomato-mozzarella mixture and finish cooking.  Let sit for 5 minutes then cut and serve.

Summer Grilled Chicken Parm

Summer Grilled Chicken Parmesan

By Ted Slee

Serves: 2-4ppl

Prep Time: 20 mins

Cook Time: 30 – 45 mins

Ingredients

4 Boneless chicken breasts (Pounded to an even thickness)

2 pints of Grape Tomatoes (Mixed Varieties Add Color to Dish)

9 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 tsp Sesame Oil

1 tbsp Tomato Paste (to slightly thicken sauce)

3 tsp Course Sea Salt

1.5 tsp minced Garlic

2 tbsp Creole Mustard

1 oz Fresh Basil (rough chopped)

1 tsp Smoked Paprika

16 oz Fresh Mozzarella (rough cubed)

1 tbsp Fresh Ground Pepper

1 tsp Crushed Pepper Flakes (or more to taste)

4 Servings of Fresh Linguine or other pasta Cooked Al Dente.

Preparation

First step is to create the marinade for the chicken.  I always use gallon freezer plastic bags for storing chicken and marinade for easy clean up.  Add 4 table spoons of the Olive Oil, Mustard, Sesame Oil, Garlic, Black Pepper and Sea Salt and whisk together.  Put the chicken in plastic bags and pound to an even thickness then add equal amounts of marinade to the bags and massage into meat.  Let rest at room temp until prep of other ingredients are complete. 

Next halve the Grape tomatoes and add to a bowl with 4 table spoons of Olive Oil, a pinch of Salt and Pepper.  Mix well and put aside until grill is hot.  Rough cube the Fresh Mozzarella and let rest. 

When the grill is hot, slowly and carefully add the tomato mixture to the cook surface.  Depending on your grill use tin foil or a vegetable tray.  Cooking is complete when tomatoes have softened.  Remove from the heat and put back into mixing bowl.  Add tomato paste, crushed red pepper and let sit until almost cool before adding basil and mozzarella.

Grill the chicken till just cooked.  Serve the Chicken on a bed of Linguine, cover with tomato mixture and garnish with basil.

Sweet Summer Salsa

This recipe sort of hit me while walking through the local super market.  After playing around with the different ingredients I think I have found a good balance.  I think this would be great on anything that could use a fresh light summer flavor added to.  I first served this on a grilled chicken, but feel like it would work well as a topping for tacos or fish.

Sweet Salsa

By Ted Slee

Servings: 4-5 Cups

Prep Time: 10-15 mins

Ingredients

1 Ripe Mango (Diced)

1 Firm Peach (Diced)

¼ Red Onion (Minced)

¾ Cup Blueberries (Halved)

4 Thyme Stems worth of leaves (Chopped)

Pinch of Kosher Salt

3 Pinches of Red Pepper Flakes (Chopped)

Combine ingredients in a bowl and mix carefully with a table spoon. 

Mombosa Sugar and Spice Candied Nuts

These nuts are so easy to make and they are the perfect gift!  I got the inspiration to use this spice that I got from a spice monger at the Reading Terminal Market in Philly.  From the research I have been able to do I have found that this is a variant of cayenne from a certain spice region of Africa.   Any hot smoked paprika or cayenne pepper will work as a substitute.  I like the Mombosa because it works well with the flavors of this recipe and has a hidden kick that hits the palate after the cinnamon and sugar combinations hit your tongue.  This recipe is easy to work with especially if you want to multiply it.

1 pound total of any nut or combination

1/3 cup dark-brown sugar
2/3 cup white granulated sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/8 teaspoon of Mombosa or Cayenne (1/4 teaspoon of hot smoked paprika)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon of sweet cocoa powder

Worcestershire sauce
1 egg white, room temperature
1 tablespoon water

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Add sugars, salt, Mombosa, cocoa and cinnamon to a food processor until mixture is well blended and begins to have a powdery texture, and set aside.  Beat egg white and water until frothy but not stiff. Add nuts, and stir to coat evenly. Sprinkle nuts with sugar mixture, and toss until evenly coated. Spread sugared nuts in a single layer on a cookie sheet fitted with parchment paper.  Gently sprinkle Worcestershire sauce over them. Bake for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent from sticking to each other. Remove from oven, sprinkle with Worcester sauce again, and separate nuts as they cool. When completely cool, pour the nuts into a bowl, breaking up any that stick together.

The Kickin' Sliders

So good, you really will want more!! 

I invite you to experiment with different 80/20 to 84/16 meats and maybe different Aioli’s.  It's best to modify the burgers to match the bun size you find at your local grocer or bakery.  The reason I used the different liquors because I found different inspirations for each and wanted to see what the combinations might taste like.  I would say this recipe was influenced by Jose Garces' creative use of ingredients that to me, on their own may not work well, but somehow do.  It was at one of his restaurants on a recent trip to Philly that I realized this.  I look forward to experimenting with some spices found on that same trip and I hope to try and recreate some of the different foods I tried!!

Kickin’ Sliders w/Bourbon Onions

By Ted Slee

Servings: Approx 12 Burgers – 6 to 8 People

Prep Time: 15-20 mins

Cook Time:  20 mins

Ingredients

The Bourbon Onions:

2 tbls extra-virgin olive oil

2 Vidalia onions, sliced paper thin

2 tbls bourbon

3 tbls unsalted butter

2 tbls granulated sugar

Sea Salt and Black Pepper

The Kickin’ Aioli:

2 cups of mayonnaise

1 tbls tequila

2 tbls fresh lime juice

3 tbls pickled jalapenos

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Sea Salt and Black Pepper

For the Sliders:

3 pounds ground Angus beef, divided in to 3-4 oz patties, 1/2” thick (palm size).

Vegetable oil, for the grill

Garlic salt and Black Pepper

12 Dinner rolls or Mini buns

Unsalted softened butter, for toasting up rolls

Preparation

The Bourbon Onions:

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet on med-high until glistening.  Gently add onions stirring to coat and reduce heat to low, cooking till golden brown.  When goldenly gorgeous, take off the heat and stir in the Bourbon.  Heat on low and add butter until melted then stir in sugar, cook until most of the liquid is gone.

The Kickin’ Aioli:

Pulse all of the ingredients in a food processor or blender until combined.  Can be refrigerated until ready to use.

The Beef:

Brush Vegetable Oil on a preheated grill set to med-high.  Season with the garlic salt and pepper to taste. Grill until browned and cooked halfway through, 3 to 4 minutes.  Flip the beef, top with some of the caramelized onions and cook 3 more minutes for medium (or to desired doneness).

The Buns:

Spread butter on the insides of the buns, toast on the grill until golden brown, about 1 minute.

The Presentation:

Liberally spoon a tablespoon of Kickin’ Aioli on the inside of the bun tops.  Assemble with the burgers & onions and pierce with a skewers.

Guacamole & Fresh Chips

Guacamole & Homemade Tortilla Chips

Prep Time: 15 – 20 mins

Servings: 6 – 8 People

Ingredients

Guac:

2 Haas Avocado

½ Vidalia Onion (minced)

3 Tbs Habanero Salsa

2 Tbs Cilantro Chopped

1 Tsp Minced Garlic

½ Lime Juiced

Salt and Pepper to Taste

Chips:

2 12” Flour Tortillas

Vegetable Oil (Enough to fill stock pot 1” deep)

Sea Salt

Preparation

Guac:

Mix all ingredients by hand or stand mixer on low with whip attachment.

Chips:

Put oil in pot on med/hi until glistening.  Test with a tortilla strip to see if oil is ready to fry strips.  Cut tortillas into random strips or triangles around 1 ½” in size.  Fry in small batches.  Cook strips only 20 – 40 secs per side or until golden brown.  Drain cooked chips on paper towels and sprinkle sparingly with sea salt.