Presented by Chris Berg of Elements Tappas Bar and Lounge

Ingredients:
Dates with pits removed
Blue Cheese
Bacon – Room Temp and stretched

Method:
Stuff Dates with blue cheese, wrap with bacon. (1/2 slice per piece). Put a pan on medium-low heat. Add olive oil. When warm, add dates. Let cook slowly and rotate to brown all sides.

Scotch Quail Eggs

Presented by Neil Clooney from Smithfield’s Restaurant

Boil 8 quail eggs for 3 minutes, then plunge in ice water. When cool, remove shells. Mix Ground turkey, parmesean cheese, salt, pepper, and a pinch of nutmeg. Take about 2 oz of mixture, flatten into a thin patty, and wrap around an egg.

Roll in flour, knocking off the excess. Dip in an egg bath, and then panko bread crumbs. Drop Carefully into 350 degree fryer. Cook till deep golden brown, about 5 minutes. Drain on towel, serve.

Pan-Seared Duck

Presented by Stefano Cippalone from Cicily’s Italian Restaurant

Heat pan with olive oil on high heat. Place duck breast, skin side down and add salt and pepper. Cook till skin is crispy and fat is rendered. Add duck confit. Place in oven at 375 degrees for 10 minutes. Add pancetta to pan, a little extra virgin olive oil.

While pancetta crisps up, in separate pan, add olive oil, garlic, shallots, toasted walnuts, and black figs. Cook down, deglaze pan with marsala wine, and let reduce. In the pan with the panchetta, add 1 TBSP garlic, shallots, fresh string beans, salt and pepper and toasted pine nuts and a pinch of basil. Serve with mashed potatoes.

Home-Made Bread

Presented by Cynthia Hewitt of Home Sweet Home

Add fresh yeast to warm water. Let proof. Place into mixing bowl, add a carton of yogurt (any flavor depending on use. Plain yogurt for dinner rolls.) Mix in 4 c. flour. Add 1 c. liquid. (water, chicken broth, juice, etc. depending on flavor desired).

Knead bread on floured surface. Roll out into desired shape. Place on greased baking sheet. Put into 350 degree oven. Length of time depends on size of rolls. For small rolls, about 10 minutes. For a larger loaf, about 1/2 hour.

Chocolate Truffle Cake

Presented by Terry Dowling from Rogue Valley Country Club

Boil water. Add sugar and cook till it dissolves. Bring back to a boil. Add 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate and 1 cup unsweetened chocolate. Turn heat off and let it melt. Add 1 stick butter and stir until it melts. Let it sit.

Whip eggs and sugar about 5 minutes. Add chocolate. Fold batter until mixed. Spray Pam, line with parchment paper. Pour in batter. Place in water bath, in 350 degree oven. For sauce, over low heat mix heavy cream, sugar, and cocoa powder with butter until smooth. Serve with ice cream.

Black Mission Fig Bread Pudding

Presented by Matt Stewart from 4 Daughters Irish Pub
(makes 12 servings)

Heat oven to 425
Cube 1 loaf whole wheat bread
1 3/4 lb. .figs, rough chopped
3 cups heavy cream
2 egs
1 TBSP Vanilla
1 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. white sugar
1/2 TBSP Allspice
1 TBSP Cinnamon

Mix bread and rough-chopped figs in greased pan. Mix all other ingredients together, then mix with bread and figs and put into pan. Bake 45 minutes covered with foil, then another 15 minutes without foil.

Sauce:
1/2 lb. figs, sliced
vanilla bean, split
1 c. white sugar
1 tsp. cherry extract
1 c. port wine.

Cook figs 3 minutes, add all other ingredients. Reduce by half. (about 15 minutes). Drizzle over servings.

Some people have a tough time when it comes to creative, delicious fish recipes, but Chef Stefano Cipollone from Cicily’s Pastaria and Grill is offering one great way to fix a delicious dinner with swordfish, a type of fish that’s not too common.

Ingredients:
Fresh swordfish
Anchovies
Black olives
Kalamata olives
Chili flakes
Marinara sauce
Pasta

Begin boiling water and cooking pasta of your choice. Heat some olive oil in a pan. Coat the fresh swordfish lightly in flour and add some salt and pepper. Place the coated swordfish in pan to brown and add garlic and shallots.

Add about 1 tablespoon of anchovies and capers, as well as many olives as you’d like. You can also add a pinch of chili flakes to make it spicy. Add ½ cup of Chianti red wine, expect some flames. After that, add the marinara sauce.

Once your fish is fully cooked, let the whole mixture simmer on low for about five minutes. Add some fresh basil and parsley. Finally, add cooked pasta to the mixture, stir everything together, and then serve.

MEDFORD, Ore. — Many gardens are starting to fade; and so is some of the enthusiasm for finding things to do with the abundance of what the garden produces.

One of basil’s most common uses is pesto and it’s very easy to make. To do it on your own at home, it’s fairly simple: Take a handful of basil from your garden, 5 or 6 cloves of garlic, lots of olive oil, and throw it all in a blender. Stefano Cipollone from Cicily’s Restaurant also added Parmesan cheese, pine nuts and lemon zest to his blend.  For more details, see video above.

The culinary class at Grants Pass High School has been recognized for their skills, and now they are sharing a top-notch dessert with NewsWatch12. Justice Prosise and Liz Lowell show us how to make a banana split with caramelized pineapple.

Ingredients:

½ peeled, cored, diced pineapple
2 oz. Baker sugar
1 oz. butter
1 banana
4 sugar wafers
2 strawberries
¼ oz. pistachios
Two 1 oz. scoop of vanilla bean ice cream
1 tablespoon lemon zest sauce
1 tablespoon raspberry sauce
1 tablespoon chocolate sauce

1. Heat saute pan on medium-high heat, add butter and lightly brown
2. 2. ass half of diced pineapple plus 1 tablespoon sugar, continue caramelizing until color is even
3. Remove from heat, cool completely
4. Cut bananas at an angle, four ½ inch thick slices
5. Coat banana slices with remaining sugar
6. Caramelize sugar with torch
7. Cut strawberries into fan

To assemble:

1. Drizzle plate with three sauces
2. Place a 2-inch circle form in the middle of the plate, distribute pineapple evenly, gently press down, remove form
3. Place one wafer over pineapple, add 2 pieces of caramelized banana side by side
4. Add last water
5. Evenly distribute the pistachios, add fanned strawberry

Several Southern Oregon high schools have top-notch cooking classes, including Grants Pass high school. In fact, those students recently won awards for their cooking skills. One of those award-winning recipes is “what’s cooking” in this segment, presented by Student Chef Gabe Hennings.

1 oz olive oil
2×6 oz pork tenderloin
Salt & pepper to taste
2 oz Shallots (chopped)
1 cup Swanson Beef Broth
¼ cup Balsamic Vinegar
¼ pure maple syrup
1 tablespoon
2 oz Rogue Blue Cheese
1/3 Granny Smith Apple
1 lemon juice from one lemon

Directions:

1. Remove the silver skin from the pork and salt & pepper
2. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a medium pan
3. Place pork in pan and brown evenly
4. Partially cover and cook 10-15 minutes until medium
5. Chop shallots and parsley
6. Remove pork from pan and add remaining oil
7. Add shallots, cook until translucent
8. Add broth, balsamic vinegar, and syrup. Reduce to desired thickness. Season to taste.
9. Poach batonnet apple lemon juice
10. Slice blue cheese

Ingredients:

Vine-ripened Tomatoes with stem
Artisan Lettuce
Kalamata Olives
Mozzarella Fresca Balls
Parmesan Crisp
Basil Sprig
Salt and pepper
Extra virgin olive oil
Balsamic vinegar

Directions:

1. Score and blanch tomatoes with stems attached, peel cut top off and set aside, hollow out tomatoes using a melon baler, careful not to break walls. Set aside and season with salt and pepper.

2. Pink 2-3 different kinds of Artisan lettuce leaves and a sprig of basil. Wash in cold water and pat dry.

3. Arrange lettuce in hollowed out tomatoes and place on a serving plate. Garnish with olives, mozzarella, Parmesan crisp and basil. Season lettuce leaves lightly with salt and pepper and drizzle balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

Memorial Day Weekend is often a time when families get together and kicks off the unofficial start to summer when there are parties and get-togethers galore! To make those events extra special, we get some tips for decorating cupcakes.

Hamburger Cupcake

To make the Hamburger Cupcake, you use yellow cupcake as the buns, chocolate cupcake as the patty, and different colored frostings to make the lettuce, mustard, and ketchup.

Baseball Cupcake

Take a yellow cupcake, cover top with white frosting. Dip white frosting in white ball sprinkles, smooth over top. Use red frosting to create the red stitching of a baseball.

Flower Cupcake

Take a yellow cupcake, cover top with white frosting. Then, cut up green Fruit Roll-Ups into the shapes of the stem and leaves. Use red jelly beans for the petals.

Puppy Cupcake

This recipe has a lot of chocolate. Use a chocolate cupcake, cover with chocolate frosting, then dip frosted cupcake in sprinkles. Use a the cookie portion of an Oreo, cut it in half and place the two halves on top for the ears. Use squeezed frosting to create eyes and mouth.

Dirt & Worms Cupcake

This cupcake design is similar to our Puppy Dog decoration. Both use chocolate cupcakes, chocolate frosting, and Oreos.

The difference? Colorful gummy worms. And this recipe replace the chocolate sprinkles with crushed Oreos to represent dirt. Press the gummy worms on the top of the cupcake to make it seem the worms are coming out of the dirt.

Latin food is much more than just rice and beans and a Talent restaurant is proving just how flavorful and diverse that type of food can be. Chef Brian Bayless of Inti Restaurant shares his recipe for Oaxacan Soufflé.

Ingredients:
9 x 12 pan
6-7 organic eggs
1 stick of butter
1 cup of milk
1 cup of flour
1 lbs of Jack cheese
1 pint of cottage cheese
8 chilies

6 to 7 lightly beaten eggs (Chef Brian Bayless says using organic can make a difference).

Add 1 cup of milk to the beaten egg mixture, and then add 1 cup of flour. Make sure to add the flour into the mixture gradually.

Then, add 1 pound of Jack cheese and 1 pint of cottage cheese. Add about 8 chilies, peeled and roasted. If you used canned chilies, make sure to wash the chilies first.

After that, take ½ stick of melted butter to the mix; use the other half to grease the pan. Pour the mixture into the pan.

Add seasoning salt and ¼ tsp of cumin on top the mixture in the pan. Put it in the oven at 375 degrees for 40-45 minutes. Soufflé should be golden brown.

Add mango salsa for a finishing touch.

1 red bell pepper
1 green bell pepper
1 cucumber
1 cup of cilantro
1 chopped Bermuda onion
2-3 mangos
Freshly squeezed limejuice

Dice all the bell peppers, cucumber, onion and mangos. Add all ingredients into mixing bowl and stir.

July 14, 2011

MEDFORD, Ore. — Cioppino is a fish stew originating in San Francisco, developed by Italian-American fisherman. Fishermen in the 1800′s invented a type of fish stew by “chipping in” whatever they caught each day, which is one theory about where the dish gets it’s name – “Cioppino”. One of Medford’s newest restaurants is showcasing their take on this traditional San Francisco dish.

Makes 6 large portions Prep Time: 20 minutes Cook Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes Total Time: 1 hour, 35 minutes Ingredients:

· 1/4 cup olive oil
· 1/4 cup butter
· 1 rib celery, chopped
· 1 onion, diced
· 1 can crushed tomatoes (28-oz)
· 2 cups clam juice or fish stock
· 2 cups white wine
· 4 cloves crushed garlic
· 1 lemon, juiced
· 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
· 1 bay leaf
· 1 teaspoons dried basil
· 1 teaspoon dried oregano
· 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes, or to taste
· 1/2 teaspoon salt
· 1 Dungeness crab (about 2-lbs), cleaned, or 1-lb frozen crabmeat thawed
· 2 pounds halibut fillet, cut into 1-in slices
· 24 large prawns, peeled and de-veined
· 12 mussels
· 1/2 bunch Italian parsley, chopped

Preparation:

1. In a large pot, on medium-low heat, melt the butter with the olive oil and saute the celery and onions until soft, about 10 minutes. Add all the rest of the ingredients except the seafood and fresh parsley. Simmer on low, uncovered, for one hour. Add a splash of water if the sauce gets to thick. Taste for salt and adjust if needed.

2. Add the crab, shrimp, and halibut, and simmer covered another five minutes. Add the mussels, cover the pot and simmer for 3 minutes more, or until the mussels open. Turn off the heat, and stir in the Italian parsley.

Ladle the Ciopinno into large bowls and serve with lots of sourdough bread and red wine. Recipe by Stefano Cipollone

October 20, 2011

Autumn is here bringing an abundance of apples and pears. Chef Elise Passante of Inti Restaurant is showing us how to bring those fall flavors together in a pear custard pie.

Use 5 to 6 boss pears. Slice pears in semi-circle and lay out slices in the piecrust, in the pan. Then, take 1 stick of unsalted butter, 3 eggs, 1 tablespoon of vanilla, 4 tablespoon of flour, 1 cup of sugar, and beat all the ingredients into a batter. Pour the batter over the pears. Bake in oven for 45-55 minutes at 375 degrees.