Grilled Green Shark: Pesto Mako

Grilling fish in the summer is the best way to bring out the rich natural flavors of any fish and celebrate warm weather. In Cape May for Memorial Day weekend, we saw Mako Shark at the Lobster House Fish Market and picked some up. We bought 3 steaks to share and brought them home for a quick and easy meal. Mako is actually an overfished seafood, so buy with care, but we figured it was a vacation and a rare purchase. Mako tastes a lot like swordfish, but is a little more moist and has a milder flavor. 

Healthy Gameday: Cabbage Wedge Salad

The wedge salad is generally more of a steakhouse standard than a football snack, but I made one for a football game and it was delicious, so perhaps bars should rethink their menu strategy from a salad perspective. In addition to being a steakhouse standard, the wedge salad is also notoriously low on any nutritional value. The classic wedge is made up of a thick wedge of iceberg lettuce (which isn't unhealthy, but as far as lettuces go, it's not the most nutrient rich), blue cheese dressing, and bacon. For a healthier take, I made a roasted wedge of cabbage, with Greek yogurt and blue cheese dressing, with a bit of bacon for flavor. 

Grilled Peaches and Pork

No matter the season, a grill brings out the best flavors in ingredients. Whether meat or vegetable or even fruit, putting food on the grill creates a unique smoky and charred flavor that can't be truly replicated indoors. For this dish, I married sweet, caramelized peaches with rich smoky pork to create a sweet and savory blend of flavors the exemplified why grilling is such a good method of cooking. Along with some grilled corn and a fresh fennel, orange, and arugula salad this meal was a grilled summer classic.

Buffalo Steak Salad

Sometimes a simple salad can be a beautiful, elegant, and delicious meal that's both hearty and satisfying. In the summer months, people rarely want to sweat away in the kitchen, and this dish has minimal cooking time with great results. Mixing bright summer vegetables with lean steak and nutty parmesan makes for a tasty mix of flavors that combine for the right balance that's healthy and satisfying.

Really Easy Moroccan Dinner

This past weekend, I was in Whole Foods with my friend Heath, picking up some food for dinner. I was feeling very indecisive in what I wanted to make, so Heath suggested making some sort of lamb tagine. A tagine is a north African dish that is named after the clay pot it is usually served in. You don't need a tagine to make the dish, but whether using one or not, it is a slow cooked dish, usually made with lamb or chicken braised in a sauce with dried fruit (apricots, currants, dates), chicken broth, vegetables and spices such as turmeric, cinnamon, and coriander. It is very good served over couscous, quinoa or bulgar wheat.

Closing Out Summer in the Hamptons

I can think of no better way to end summer than with good friends and good food. The last weekend before labor day, my girlfriend and I went out to Quogue in the Hamptons with some friends to visit our friend's parent's house. We had postponed the trip a week because of hurricane Irene, and the weather was perfect. We spent some time on the beach and relaxing by the pool, and when the evening rolled around, we were treated to a delicious dinner. To date, all of my posts have been made by me, but this was such a great meal in such a wonderful setting, that I wanted to feature my friend's parent's meal as a thank you for their impeccable hospitality.

Pork Chops in the Summertime

The past few weeks have been insanely hot in NYC. One of the side effects of this heat is the lack of desire to be in my unairconditioned kitchen, standing over a hot stove. This past Sunday, the heat broke (slightly), so I jumped on the chance to bear the heat and get into the kitchen. I decided on pork chops with a peach BBQ sauce and corn and tomato salad. As I've written before, I love the flavors of summer, so featuring them in my cooking is very important when the season is right.

Martha's Vineyard, Part III: Steamers and Lobstah!

No Vineyard vacation is complete without a steamers and lobster dinner. On our final night, I made a New England feast! We started the night by watching a gorgeous sunset, and then came home to eat a crustacean delight.

Martha's Vineyard, Part II: The Tastes of Summer

On the second night of our time in MV, I wanted to feature some of the great flavors of the summer. To start, I made some fried calamari as an appetizer. I bought some tubes and bellies, sliced the tubes into rings, and coated them with flour, salt, pepper, and sugar. I heated canola oil, and fried the calamari in batches until they were cooked through and crispy. Calamari can get a little rubbery if overcooked, so I was careful to leave them in long enough to start browning, but not too long so they dried out. While they were frying, I made a honey-soy glaze for an Asian feel. I chopped ginger and scallion and sauteed them in olive oil. I then added mirin (rice vinegar), white soy sauce, and honey and let the mixture cook down to a thick glaze. Once the calamari was done, I tossed it in the glaze and served. Delicious!

Impressing My Girlfriend's Friends

I heard from my girlfriend that one of her co-workers was a fan of the blog and wanted to get a meal cooked by Tyler. One of my goals is to create an in-home cooking class company, so I figured this would be a great way to showcase my talent to people who have been impressed by my food. Unfortunately, the meal was taking place in the dead of summer when my kitchen is about 100 degrees, so I wanted to start with a simple, cold cucumber soup. I pureed seedless cucumbers (though could have used normal cukes and just removed the seeds) with water and mint leaves. I then added salt, pepper, honey, and cayenne pepper and let it cool in the fridge. When it came time to serve, I topped it with a dollop of Greek yogurt mixed with honey, some chopped mint, and a cucumber that I cut into a ribbon. The soup was light, crisp, and refreshing in the sweltering kitchen.

4th of July Grilling Extravaganza

4th of July always brings beach, fireworks, and grilling. In celebration of this fun summer holiday, I wanted to put together a grilling extravaganza. I made skewers of all sorts for a crowd of 13 people. To start the meal, my girlfriend made delicious deviled eggs. I would give the recipe, but it's a family secret and I've been forbidden from divulging it.

Fish Tacos and Fried Plantains

A warm summer night called for a light and refreshing meal, so I came up with blackened hake tacos with lime-avocado spread and a sweet chili sour cream. I picked hake because it's a nice flaky white fish like cod that goes well with all different types of seasoning. To go along with this, I made a cucumber salad and fried plantains.

Father Son Cooking Class

This past weekend, my father went back to Trinity College to celebrate his 50th Reunion. Prior to the weekend, the alumni coordinator had inquired if he had any interest in giving a lecture or teaching a class about something he is passionate about. He enjoys cooking as much as I do, so he proposed a cooking class. Being that both of us went to Trinity, the class was a perfect opportunity for a father/son cooking combo.

The dish he decided to cook was a Mediterranean fish stew with an avocado and onion salad. He first learned of the stew when my sister ate it in Israel with rave reviews. He figured out how to make it using cod in place of a typically Mediterranean fish like Sea Bream.

Once we setup the kitchen for the class and the audience arrived, we began cooking the meal, talking our way through the dish step by step. To begin, we boiled water and made white rice to serve the stew over. While the rice was cooking, we chopped up 2 yellow onion and 8 cloves of garlic. We began the stew by sauteing onions with a little salt and pepper in a large pot. Once the onions were translucent, we added garlic, a teaspoon of saffron, and some crushed red pepper. Once the garlic was cooked through, we added 2 cans of whole peeled tomatoes (breaking them up with a spoon in the pot), and 2 containers of Kitchen Basics fish stock, and let it cook for about 15 minutes.

While the stew was cooking, we made our avocado and onion salad. We sliced up 6 avocados and 2 sweet vidalia onions, and then made a simple dijon vinaigrette using lemon juice, red wine vinegar, dijon, salt, and olive oil. We tossed the salad with the dressing and set aside.

Once the stew had cooked for a bit to expand the flavors, we added the cod (6lbs for 15 people), which we had cut into 2x2 pieces, and some chopped cilantro. The fish was cooked through in about 12 minutes, and we served the stew over the white rice alongside the salad.

The class went really well. The audience was very engaged and asked a lot of good questions, and they were impressed with the ease and efficiency of making the dish. My dad and I had a great time teaching, and we're hoping to do it again at another Trinity alumni event.

A Classic Comfort Dinner

My girlfriend and personal food photographer, Devon, requested a simple, comforting meal for dinner. One of my favorite dishes to cook is roast chicken and potatoes with salad. This meal is extremely simple to make and always makes me feel like it's a nice, home cooked meal.

I preheated the oven to 450 degrees, and started by washing and drying the chicken. I then rubbed it with salt and pepper, put some sprigs of rosemary in the cavity, and tied the legs.

I then cut up the potatoes, added some garlic cloves, and coated them with olive oil, salt, pepper, and paprika. I then spread the potatoes around the chicken along with a few more sprigs of rosemary, and put the pan in the oven for an hour.

I then seared some green onions in a hot cast iron, and made a salad with the seared green onions, cuke, red pepper, tomato, and mixed lettuce. For the dressing, I mixed dijon, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper.

I checked the chicken after an hour of my apartment smelling of delicious garlic and rosemary, and the result was a golden brown skin and a perfectly moist chicken. The potatoes were nice and crisp, and the salad added a colorful touch and bright flavor to the meal. Devon was very satisfied and happy I could fulfill her request.

Cassoulet in the Mountains

While visiting my sister in Aspen along with Heath and my cousins Adam and Stephanie, I wanted to cook a great meal for everyone to celebrate our trip. I wanted to cook something hearty and warming in the cold Colorado air; something that would refill us after a solid weekend of skiing. I decided on making a cassoulet with crispy braised chicken legs with a kale caesar salad. I picked up 6 chicken legs, 3 cans cannellini beans, bulk chorizo, fennel, onion, parsley, diced canned tomatoes, garlic, some white wine, and bay leaves. To cook the cassoulet, I diced the onion and sauteed it in a large saucepan. I added the garlic after a few minutes, and once the onions began to get translucent, I added the chorizo to brown it and cook through. Once the chorizo was cooked through, I added the beans (drained) and the can of tomatoes and some chopped parsley. I added a little salt, pepper, bay leaf, crushed red pepper, and a little bit of sugar and let the pot simmer for 45 minutes on low to cook through and let the flavors expand.While the cassoulet cooked, I prepped the chicken by patting it with paper towel and rubbing salt and pepper over it. In a large dutch oven, I heated some olive oil on medium high, and in batches, browned the chicken skin side down for about 5 minutes, and then flipped and cooked for about 1-2 minutes. Once the chicken was browned, I set aside. I drained most of the fat from the dutch oven and added the sliced fennel and onion. Once the fennel and onion became translucent, I added garlic, white wine, and bay leaf. I added the chicken back in in one layer, skin side up, and put the pot covered in the oven at 375 for about 25 minutes. Once the chicken was cooked through, I put the cassoulet in large bowls, served the chicken on top, and the fennel and onions on top of that. I added a little parsley garnish on top as well.

For the kale caesar, the key is making a good dressing. For the kale, I steamed it for a few minutes until it’s starting to wilt. I tossed the kale with a little salt and set aside in a large salad bowl. For the dressing, I used a small food processor and mixed 2 garlic cloves, dijon mustard, an egg yolk, and 2 chopped anchovy filets until smooth and combined. I then added lemon juice, red wine vinegar, worcestershire, and a dash of tobasco and mixed until that is fully combined. I then added olive oil while stirring to emulsify. The result is a creamy, tangy caesar dressing. I cooked the leftover egg white in a small sautee pan, mixed that with the kale, tossed the salad with the dressing and added some croutons.
The trip was awesome, amazing skiing, fun stories, great meals. This meal was a really special way to finish the trip up, and we all had a great time.