APP - albacore crudo with citrus dressing and grapefruit

this is a total rip off from Blue Ribbon Pizza in San Diego. you should still totally check this place out though--the ingredients are local and the food is amazing.

this recipe is presented as an appetizer, but it could easily be a main on a nice hot night. You can change anything here. but think of it as a fresh Mediterranean thing as opposed to an Asian thing.

first, get some albacore tuna. it's cheaper than blue or yellow fin, and works just fine for this since the tuna has dressing all over it. using a sharp knife, slice it so it looks like sashimi in a sushi joint. let it sit on the side.

for the rest:

• segment a grapefruit for garnish.
• get some greens for the bed. i used mustard greens, but arugula could work.
  
• make the dressing of 1 lemon and 2 times as much olive oil. toss the fish in your dressing.

Assemble it all as seen in the photo. bam!

BREAKFAST - Skillet with Baked Eggs and Whatever

The title may not be very detailed, but it's purposeful. You can basically use what's left over in your fridge, crack an egg over it and make an awesome little skillet for breaky. This breakfast comes together in 'bout 10 minutes.

So I had a quarter of an onion, some mustard greens, some bacon, and some mushrooms in the fridge. These are all great, but some rough tomatoes, leeks, sausage, ham, bell pepper, or anything like that would be good as well. So fry your bacon till it's done, drain off some of the fat, and push the meat to one side of the pan. On the other side, put some olive oil and fry up your veggies. This all works best in a cast iron skillet, but anything that can go in the oven will do.

When everything's looking just about done, crack a couple eggs over, letting the whites ooz down but not breaking the yokes. Pop this whole pan in an oven at 400*, and bake until the whites are hard but the yellows are runny. You can even then crumble some cheese over the top, as I did with goat cheese. See?

PIZZA - bacon, mushrooms, ricotta, basil, and baked egg

APP - Kale Chips

Take raw kale leaves, drizzle with olive oil, and put in the oven at 350 until crispy. Sprinkle with salt. The result is earthy and fresh and salty and delicious with beer.

APP - Wilted Grapes with Bleu Cheese and Crustini

We had this at this rad tapas bar called BarAcuda in Hanalei, Kauai. All the tapas there are so simple and delicious (besides the damn fine cocktails), and most are really easy to copy at home. This one, for example.

In a heavy cast iron skillet (because it works well and looks cool), saute a bunch of grapes, stem still on, in some olive oil. Put the grapes in a pre-heated oven @ 350* for maybe 30 minutes, until the grapes are really wilted. Cromble over some bleu cheese for the last 10 minutes. Serve with little toasts or crustini. The result are these sweet and juicy grapes, contrasted with the sharp bleu cheese and the crunchy bread. This is great to serve while you're waiting for your main course to finish.

Breakfast - Mod. Benedict

A twist on the usual eggs Benedict. Did it because holindaise can be very gross if it's not perfect (so why try). And also because it's spring and there are lots of herbs outside... it's just seems nicer to have a fresh, light green herby sauce than a heavy hollindaise in the sun. And instead of ham, we've added sauteed greens, sort of like Florentine. Again, it's spring and there are lots of greens to eat, so eat em. This one has kale and beet greens, but you can also use carrot tops, spinach, radish tops, chard, or anything like that.

Right? Right. So here it is:

First toast some bread. Use a toaster or grill it or drizzle with some oil and get it brown in the oven, as I did. This will be the bottom floor of your Benedict stack.
Next make some green goddess dressing. It's really just fresh soft herbs, anchovie, lemon, sour cream, maybe some plain yogurt, and olive oil with salt and pepper. It's so refreshing and delicious. I posted the recipe some time ago here. You want to make this before you do the things below because the sauce can just sit there on the counter and wait until you're ready for it... eggs can't (they get hard and gross), nor can sauteed greens (they get cold).
Saute some greens. Heat up some olive oil, and wilt the greens until they look like the photo above. This will be the second floor in your Benedict stack.
Lastly, poach some eggs. If you don't know how you should learn... the runny yokes make the breakfast. You could also fry an egg. This will be the top floor of your stack.

To finish just drizzle the green goddess on top. I added toasted bread crumbs, but that's totally optional.