Chilled Avocado Soup

Recipe courtesy of Chef Bren Ankrum – Culinary Editor Avocados are relatively inexpensive at this point in the season here in Florida and as such we try to make use of this delicious fruit in as many ways as possible. Given the very warm weather and a propensity toward chilled dishes during the summer, as…

Gazpacho with Avocado and Lime Yogurt

Recipe courtesy of Chef Bren Ankrum – Culinary Editor Chilled soups are a favorite around our home during the summer months. Fresh garden vegetables are in abundance and making gazpacho is easy, holds well in the refrigerator for several days and makes a terrific presentation with the addition of the avocados and lime yogurt. Whereas…

Salt and Spice Cured Sockeye Salmon

Recipe courtesy of Chef Bren Ankrum – Culinary Editor A couple of times during the year here in Florida we can obtain wild caught, never frozen, fresh Sockeye Salmon which we consider a real treat. If you’re a fan of bagels, cream cheese and lox, this very simple and easy recipe for creating your own…

Black Bean, Roasted Corn and Three Chilies Salad

Recipe courtesy of Chef Bren Ankrum – Culinary Editor This is a terrific summer salad to add to your arsenal. Easy to toss together, refreshing to the taste buds, and versatile, it serves as a wonderful addition to cheeses, fish, and vegetable salad plates. (See pictures below) This recipe, when I do it, uses ingredients…

Corn, Quinoa, and Roasted Rainbow of Chile Peppers Chowder

Recipe courtesy of Chef Bren Ankrum – Culinary Editor We cooked a large mother batch of corn, beets, tomatoes, and peppers on the smoker/grill the other night which we found on sale at our local organic grocer. As it was going to be a rather blustery and cooler evening we decide soup and salad might…

Ahi Tuna, Shrimp, Roasted Red and Yellow Pepper Ceviche with Roasted Beets, Spinach and Nasturtium Garnish

Recipe courtesy of Chef Bren Ankrum – Culinary Editor This dish makes a terrific impression as an appetizer and can be made ahead, kept under refrigeration, until you are ready to impress your guests with a colorful and tasty start to your meal. Enjoy!

Having Fun with Salads – Get Creative!

Recipe courtesy of Chef Bren Ankrum – Culinary Editor We all know that fresh vegetables and greens are good nutritionally for us and that homemade dressings are generally devoid of evil chemistry that is used to preserve or other ingredients difficult to read let alone understand what precisely you are putting into your body. Fresh…

Simple Fresh Salads and Easy to Prepare Dressings for a Quick Meal or Side

Recipe courtesy of Chef Bren Ankrum – Culinary Editor Assuming you have on hand, either from the grocery or in your garden, a few greens and vegetables such as lettuces, tomatoes, garlic, basil, lemons and a few other essentials, tossing together a fun salad for lunch or dinner should be quick and relatively preparation time…

Sweet Potato Fries “Bakes?”

Recipe courtesy of Chef Bren Ankrum – Culinary Editor As we know sweet potatoes are loaded with nutritious goodness, so finding ways to create various dishes with them is not only good for us but can have a very different set of flavor characteristics depending on the direction you choose. Most folks like crisp French…

One Pan Fresh Chicken Tacos with Smokey Tomatoes and Chiles

Recipe courtesy of Chef Bren Ankrum – Culinary Editor When we are in the mood for a smoky, spicy taco, this is one of our favorites. To do so we need 1 chicken breast and some previously smoked tomatoes and chiles from a mother batch made earlier in the week. Rather than buy chicken breasts…

Buttermilk Fried Okra

Recipe Courtesy of Chef Bren Ankrum – Culinary Editor This is a little twist on Southern style fried okra. Rather than cutting the okra into little chunks and dredging in corn meal I prefer to split the pod lengthways, soak in buttermilk, dredge in a little seasoned flour prior to frying. These cook up very…

Spicy Jerk Shrimp on the Grill

Recipe courtesy of Chef Bren Ankrum – Culinary Editor Typically I like to do this fruity, spicy, and hot version of grilled shrimp as an appetizer or as a portion of the entree. The last time we served the jerk shrimp, I used the appetizer size paired with half a Dungeness crab smoked in banana…

Sweet Potato and Apple Bisque

Recipe courtesy of Chef Bren Ankrum – Culinary Editor Not only are sweet potatoes loaded with nutritious elements they are inexpensive, store well, and when cooked may be stored frozen or under refrigeration until future use. I found sweet potatoes at 39 cents a pound at one of my produce haunts and to get a…

Roasted Red Pepper, Sundried Tomato, Chipotle Bisque

Recipe courtesy of Chef Bren Ankrum – Culinary Editor I usually have on hand in the pantry dried chiles, roasted peppers and sundried tomato paste among other storable goodies. I like to have ingredients stored that I can throw together quickly for lunch or a quick appetizer round for friends and family that drop in…

Pappardelle with Red Sauce and Mushroom Meatless Balls

Recipe courtesy of Chef Bren Ankrum – Culinary Editor I recently made a mother batch of red sauce, and this night I wanted something easy to throw together using the red sauce and pasta. While at the store earlier, keeping the red sauce in mind, I found a sale on a mix of fresh oyster,…

Quicker Cioppino – Shrimp, Clams and Mussels

Recipe courtesy of Chef Bren Ankrum – Culinary Editor If you enjoy shellfish this is a classic. It is a quicker version of my favorite Italian seafood stew which may depending on what you start with may take a couple of hours to develop the stew prior to adding the shellfish if you use a…

ItalianTomato and Fresh Basil Soup

Recipe courtesy of Chef Bren Ankrum – Culinary Editor There is lots of basil available in the yard this time of year in containers and random plants throughout the yard from seeds that have blown around. You can never have too much basil and a quick lunch that is really tasty and easy to make…

Mussels in a White Wine, Olive Oil, Garlic, and Basil Sauce

Recipe courtesy of Chef Bren Ankrum – Culinary Editor This is a super easy recipe and delicious complete meal in one bowl to throw together assuming you are sure to clean the mussels well. The easiest way to be sure the mussels are free of grit is to purchase them ahead of time, (be sure…

Eggplant-Basil Pesto Bruschetta

Recipe courtesy of Chef Bren Ankrum – Culinary Editor A super way to use older bread that is going or has become stale or just dried out. Topping can be just about anything you can dream up that would be tasty to yourself and friends. Sometimes I put out a bunch of ingredients and let…

Black Bean, Cilantro and Mango Salad

Recipe courtesy of Chef Bren Ankrum – Culinary Editor This tasty Caribbean Style cold salad is really easy to prepare and has a pleasing eye appeal and a very exotic nose.  You may choose to make ahead of time and hold, refrigerated for up to 2 hrs. prior to service. Enjoy!

Leftovers?

Recipe courtesy of Chef Bren Ankrum – Culinary Editor. Having leftovers from a meal is a good thing especially if you’ve planned for the leftovers to become some quick and easy sides, or meals for future breakfast, lunch, or dinners. Over the weekend we did a low country boil and as luck would have it…

Low Country Boil with Southern Fried Hush-puppies

Guests love this meal. It is both visually appealing and unique to in that it requires little preparation effort and, with a little bit of attention to timing, cooks everything in one pot ready to dump onto a large platter and serve. The choice of ingredients is up for grabs as long as it includes…

CILANTRO, JALAPENO AND LIME HUMMUS

Recipe courtesy of Donna Hargrove, D.O., Nutrition Editor As with all hummus recipes, many of the ingredients can be increased or decreased according to taste, such as salt and chile peppers. This recipe can also be customized to each person’s taste by adding more jalapeno for more heat and more cilantro for those who really…

Southwestern Roasted Chilies and Roasted Corn Chowder

Recipe courtesy of Chef Bren Ankrum – Culinary Editor This is a variation of a previous green chile and corn chowder published, with the difference being the addition of tomatoes, removal of the potatoes, heavy cream and milk, and substituting rice cream as the thickening agent. This version adds nutrition and reduces fat and calories…

Gunslinger Cornbread

Recipe courtesy of Donna Hargrove D.O., FACOG- Nutrition Editor This is a variation of an easy cornbread that packs some heat and has a little extra punch from the red curry powder in combination with the black pepper. Enjoy!

Vegetable Soup Another Mother Batch

Recipe courtesy of Chef Bren Ankrum – Culinary Editor This is a perfect vehicle for a mother batch that may, once initially cooked, be stored in sealed containers, frozen and then reheated for service. What is really great about a basic vegetable soup is that first you can use whatever veggies you like and when…

Tapas Tostadas

Recipe courtesy of Chef Bren Ankrum – Culinary Editor This is a really fun appetizer with lots of eye appeal and an explosion of tastes. You need some leftover spicy black bean soup from a mother batch, ahi tuna, and shrimp for the basic flavor profile and a little more time to prepare. It’s worth…

Saffron Risotto

Recipe courtesy of Donna Hargrove D.O., FACOG- Nutrition Editor A great side dish with chicken, pork, shrimp or fish. The preparation is a little time consuming and quite a lot of stirring during the process is required to finish with the desired creamy consistency, but the work is worth the time spent. If you choose…

Coho/Sockeye Salmon Tartar

Recipe courtesy of Chef Bren Ankrum – Culinary Editor Each year in August and September we begin to get fresh, never frozen, wild caught Sockeye and Coho Salmon. When you can get this product you’ll notice that the flesh in more red than the farm raised variety and has a much more elegant taste and…

Coconut-Curry Sweet Potato Soup

Recipe courtesy of Chef Bren Ankrum – Culinary Editor The following soup is my take off of an Indian style squash soup, substituting sweet potatoes for the squash, as sweet potatoes are plentiful in our area during the summer and winter and they add a decidedly flavorful dimension that squash lack. In the picture of…

Mango Avocado Salsa

Recipe courtesy of Kathi Bayne, North Carolina Equipment Needed: Chef’s knife, cutting board, covered bowl. Ingredients: 2 mangos, peeled, cut into ½ inch cubes 1 jalapeno, fresh, diced 2 cloves garlic, fresh, minced

Chicken and Roasted Corn Tacos

Recipe courtesy of Chef Bren Ankrum – Culinary Editor A while back I did a couple of mother batches, one chicken and another, a bunch of roasted vegetables on the grill. The following recipe is using a container of the chicken left after making chicken stock, and leftover roasted sweet corn. The greens, chard came…

Black-Eyed Peas

Recipe courtesy of Donna Hargrove D.O., FACOG- Nutrition Editor Black-eyed peas are a Southern staple and as such may be used in many ways, straight up with a dollop of chow chow or pear relish, they become BBQ black eyed peas by adding a little Southern style BBQ sauce, or in the case of the…

Hearty Chicken Soup

Recipe courtesy of Chef Bren Ankrum – Culinary Editor This is a relatively easy and quick recipe for a large batch of chicken soup that can be stored in smaller quantities, frozen and heated up later. One of my favorite reheats is to add whole wheat pasta, noodles or elbows to the soup when reheating…

Snake Bites

Recipe courtesy of Chef Bren Ankrum – Culinary Editor Most of us have had an appetizer commonly known as “Poppers”. Normally this is a jalapeno pepper stuffed with cream cheese, battered and deep fried. The following recipe is a little more time consuming and adds a couple of twists, in that it incorporates shrimp, tempura…