Thanksgiving Meal 2011 or I’m Back!!!!!

Hello All! It has been entirely too long since I have been able to post, I am sorry. In the past few months loads have been happening in my personal and professional life. Professionally, I was contracted to write a book about youth ministry. It was an absolute joy to write and should be on Amazon in January. I blame the book for my lack of posting on here. I wanted to spend all of my creative juices making sure it was both what I wanted it to be as well as finished by the deadline given by my publisher. I am very excited! Personally WE ARE PREGNANT!!! This is a complete surprise as we had planned our little lives around a 4 person family. We are so excited and cannot wait to find out if it is a Nora Grace or Henry Finn. We will find out on December 1 and the little one is due April 23!!!! So needless to say there are loads of exciting things happening around the Vulcans Table house! Now onto the food…

Summer Berry Tart

It you go to any farmers market you will know by the bright reds and the deep blues that Summer berries are ripe and in season!  This sinfully delicious and light Mascarpone tart is an homage to the beautiful berries that mark the beginning of Summer!

Summer Sweet Corn Salad

One of the many great things about Summer are the refreshingly cool Summer salads!  There is nothing like one of these crisp fresh salads to revitalize you after a long hot Summer day.  This salad combines sweet crisp corn and the cool creamy avocado.  A light acidic tone from the tomatoes and you have a perfectly balanced beautiful dish!  You can also enjoy this with spicy main dish as the avocado and corn will cool the palette.

• 4 Ears Yellow Sweet Corn, Grilled cut
• 15 Cherry Tomatoes , Grilled
• 2 Avocado, Cubed
• 1 Juice of 1 Lime, Juiced
• 1 Tablespoons Cilantro, Rough Chopped
• 2 Tablespoons Mayonnaise
• Kosher Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

1.Grill: Grill the corn with out the husk until grill marks are present and corn it cooked tender Also cook the Cherry Tomatoes on the grill just until the skins pop. Remove both the corn and the tomatoes from the grill and let cool.

2.Slice: Scoop out the ripe avocado and dice into quarter inch cubes. Cut the corn off of the cob Give the Cilantro a rough chop Combine the corn, tomatoes, cilantro, avocado, cilantro, mayo, limejuice, salt and pepper Mix well to combine

3.Chill: Chill the salad for 30 minutes to let the flavors meld. You can serve as a side or as a relish for dipping with Corn Tortillas

Lime Crusted Grilled Fish Tacos

I just got back from an amazing trip to Panama!  We were in the jungle in the western part of the country in an area called Cineguita.  We worked all week digging out a basement and pouring in concrete for a dental clinic that was being installed to serve the entire area.  We worked hard and we ate hard!  We had an amazing Panamanian cook/friend who prepared wonderful meals for us all week.  Over the next month I will be sharing some of those recipes, but for now I am sharing a dish inspired by some of the flavors of lime and fish I always encounter in Panama’s amazing ceviche.  I am taking these awesome flavors, combining them with a zesty chili lime sauce, and wrapping it all together with avocado in a warm corn tortilla!  With the arrival of Spring, this is a perfect dish to pull out the grill, have a tropical drink and enjoy the fresh light flavors of Central America!

Spaghetti alla Carbonara

I have had the wonderful pleasure of traveling to Rome several times in recent years. It is an amazing city, full of history, amazing art and great food.  Italy is known for it’s incredible food, but Rome itself is often overlooked for its relatively few native dishes.  Unlike it’s neighbors to the north, Tuscany, and to the south, Naples, Rome is not as defined for its original cuisine.  There are however a few dishes that are completely Roman that I have fallen in love with; one of those dishes is Spaghetti alla Carbonara.  My wife and I were eating in a small bistro near the Forum when we first tasted this delicious dish.

Make Burger Night a Slider Night!

Want to mix it up a little on burger night? Try toning down the size and turning up the flavor with an All American Slider!  These little burgers are not only fun but are a massive punch of flavor and textures.  Serve these with a side of crispy sweet potato fries and you have a recipe for success!

Birmingham Benedict

Bobby Flay says that brunch is his favorite meal of the day because of the many things you can do with it.  I totally agree!!!  Brunch is so versatile!  You can use sweet, savory, fruit, veggies, meat, pastry, you name it and I bet there is a brunch recipe that will include it!  So once again, it is Saturday morning and I want to mix it up a little.  I love Eggs Benedict.  It is an awesome combination of bread, meat, eggs, a creamy sauce and usually some veggies.  I have had some spectacular variations of this brunch mainstay, but never have I had it the way I made it this morning.  So without further ado I give you my very own Birmingham Benedict!!!

The Best Breakfast Cups…Ever.

One of the things I love about our family is that we decided a few years ago that breakfast and dinner were going to be priority family times.  We eat a full breakfast every morning together before we take the kids to school and go to work, usually consisting of bacon, eggs, bread, coffee and a fruit of some sort.  During the week, this is our standard, but when we get to the weekend I like to change it up a little.  Using the same ingredients with just a few tweaks I came up with the Best Breakfast Cups!  These Best Breakfast Cups are both hearty, with thick smoked bacon, and light with the fluffy omelet-like egg filling.  You are going to love these super tasty Best Breakfast Cups!

What Did You Have For Dinner? Here is What I Had!

What did you have for Dinner?  Here is what I whipped up last night in just about 20 minutes!  My wife and I have been talking about how good food and good cooking does not always have to take a lot of time and fuss.  So last night I put this ideology into practice.  Now do not get me wrong, I do believe that so much of good cooking is right timing and trusting the process but this meal was both simple and quick!  It began with 2 fresh Grouper filets in the ice box from our monger.  They each were around .5lbs.  These beautiful filets were going to be the center piece.

Great New Food Website

If you have not checked out Foodily yet, click here and see what time magazine is calling the “Facebook of Food“.  It is a recipe aggregator that should do for cooking websites what Expedia or Travelocity did for Hotel and Airline web traffic.