I seasons Salmon fillets with salt, pepper, garlic, and paparika.  I sauteed the salmon till the outside was slightly crispy, then I broke the salmon up into a lot of small peices.  I a BBQ sauce that I added a little pineapple juice to.  The pineapple juice added a little sweetness and is the only citrus I think can hold up to the spices, tomato, vinegar, and sugar of traditional BBQ sauce.

I made a Pico de Gallo using sliced heirloom cherry tomatoes, onion, garlic, cumin, corriander, salt, pepper, and lime juice.  Traditionally I would add cilantro and Jalepeno but I had none.

I layered Chips, cheese, and salmon and baked it in the oven.  Then I served it with the Pico, xtra pineapple BBQ, and sour cream

In one pot I cooked the lasagna noodles.  In another pot I made my pasta sauce.  I cooked diced onion until translucent, added chopped garlic, mushrooms, ground beef, and ground pork.  I seasoned it with a little salt and pepper.  Once everything was cooked I added crushed tomatoes.  I like crushed tomatoes the best, I find it to have more flavor than tomato sauce, and a better texture.  Tomatoe sauce can be too smooth and have no bite.  Diced tomatoes have no smoothness and are too much bite.  I added dried basil and oregano which is a little unusual for traditional marinara sauce.  After the herbs, I added a touch of crushed red pepper and a little sugar to take away some of the acidic bite.

In a seperate pan I put enough sauce to coat the bottom.  I layered a couple of peices of the lasagna.  Then I topped it with a mixture of Ricotta cheese, egg, parmesan cheese, basil, and oregano.  I repeated the layers a few times and then topped it with mozzerella cheese.  I slide the pan under the broiler to melt all the cheese.

Simple dish with only 2 pans used.  Tasted great.  Next time I will add more and do it with traditional Puma family meatballs (Stick with me long enough and you will learn the recipe).

1. Dave Cathey, Food Editor of the Oklahoman, wrote an article about 105degrees Cafe which opened recently.  The cafe is a raw foods restaurant that take cuisine to new levels with innovative techniques.  It is the only restaurant in Oklahoma specializing in raw foods other than sushi restaurants.  Read his article here. You should also read his Blog here to find more information. You won’t be dissappointed and might find yourself wanting to try vegan blood orange cheesecake.  It is made from young coconut meat (soft and pliable).  Raw foods are important because cooking items above a certain temperature destroys enzymes that enable healthy digestion.  That is not to say I will be switching over any time soon, but I will definitely incorporate it into areas of my cooking and diet.

2. Tonight at North Park Grill in Embassy Suites, Chef Luke Fry fixed up a few specials tonight. Here are my two personal favorites:
Grilled Caesar Salad-  A section of a head of Romaine lettuce brushed with olive oil and place right on a hot grill.  The lettuce will only have a slight wilt at the point of contact but the rest will stay cool and crisp making for a salad full of different textures.  The grilling adds a nice depth of flavor.  The salad was topped with a drizzle of Caesar dressing, and a Balsamic Reduction Syrup.  Finished with Parmesan Cheese, Pesto Croutons, and Grape Tomatoes.

Spicy Italian Beef Tenderloin-  An 8 oz Beef Tenderloin Filet pan seared to temperature.  The steak is topped with spicy Arribiatta Sauce.  Yes that might be mispelled.  And yes I am Italian.  The sauce is similar to a Tomato Marinara Sauce except there is read wine cooked into it.  The sauce is very spicy as well, but it was not enough to overpower the meat.  It was finished with a touch of Mozzerella and served over pasta tossed in a little butter and some sauteed grape tomatoes.  Generally I would never want my steak this way but I was quite suprise with how good it was.  The spicy sauce gave the Tenderloin the extra flavor it needed since the steak is so lean and has little natural flavor.  But the sauce did not overpower.  The steak was still the star.

3. Dinner Tonight- French Toast (Update: My fiancee thought of the idea to have French Toast tonight.  She also thought of the Bananas after she said “Aww I wish we had some bananas.  Oh Wait!  We do have some bananas!”)  I made a batter of eggs, vanilla, cinnamon, half and half, and a little sugar.  I soaked some wheat bread (a little chewier texture for French Toast but lots of flavor and much healthier) in the custard mixture and sauteed it over unsalted butter.  Topped with sliced bananas and voila…French Toast.  Look for variations to come… Pineapple and Rum French Toast,  Pumpkin and White Chocolate French Toast, Banana and Peanut Butter French Toast… The list could go on and on.

Mediterranean Marinated Chicken Kabobs Served Over Heirloom Tomato Isreali Cous Cous and Topped with Parmesean Bernaise.

I marinated the Chicken Breast in a combination of Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Pressed Garlic, Crushed Red Pepper, Salt, Fresh Cracked Pepper, Basil, Oregano, Fennel Seed, and Red Wine Vinegar.
The Chicken marinated for about 4 hours.  For the last hour I added quartered Mushrooms and Zucchini.  I skewered all the ingredients in an alternating fashion.  Originally I was going to grill everything but the area to the grill was wet and muddy so I decided to broil it all.

While the Chicken was under the broiler I made a packet sauce Bernaise.  Yes the real thing is better. Yes I know and have made the real thing.  But as a poor college student, I didn’t feel like cracking eggs, finding my taragon, using lots of butter, and dirtying up more pots than necessary.  I added Parmasean to the Bernaise to give it more flavor.

I also cooked some Isreali Cous Cous.  The Isreali version is much larger than the traditional tiny version.  The “pellets” are a little bigger than a grain of rice, similar to accini de pepe pasta.  Normally I would cook it in chicken broth but decided to cook it in the water to prevent too overpowering flavors to creep in.  This was because the ingredients I tossed in with the cooked Cous Cous were delicate flavors that meant to be towards the forefront.  In a bowl, I mixed a little Olive Oil, Basil, Oregano, Salt, Pepper, Garlic, and gold, purple, and red Heirloom Tomato chunks.  I tossed it with the Cous Cous and put that as the base of my plate.

On top of the Cous Cous, I laid 2 skewers parallel.  I put just a little Bernaise brushed along the skewer, and then put more around the outside edge of the Cous Cous.

The flavors were exactly what I was looking for.  The Red Wine Vinegar brought a slight brightness to the Chicken while the Crush Red Pepper was just enough to liven up the tastebuds.  The Tomatoes in the Cous Cous brought on such a delicate bright flavor that held up its own to the brightness of the Chicken and the richness of the Sauce.