The most romantic holiday in the year is just around the corner, and that means you got to think about an amazing dinner you will cook for your sweetheart. Personally I’m still deciding what dish to make, to impress my (a little spoiled) husband. But I already have some very nice ideas that I want to share with you. As for the start I want to offer an incredibly delicious and refined salad with grilled lobster tail and roasted beets, which I adopted from Laurent Touronder cookbook “Go Fish”. I’ve cooked it recently, I it was a truly remarkable experience. First of all that was a first time I cooked lobster and it was fun and challenging at the same time. Second of all I very much enjoyed a delicate, well balanced taste of the dish. Hands down, the secret is in the incredible sauce: homemade mayo with bunch of fresh herbs, truly makes the difference. No doubt, this sophisticated dish can amaze anyone.

The most important thing I want to tell you, is don’t be afraid to cook something you think too complicated for you. Because cooking is definitely not a rocket since, and if I can cook, you can cook as well, maybe even better! You just have to give it a shot. I wish you courage and inspiration to climb new culinary heights!

Grilled Lobster Tails with Roasted Beets Salad

By voloshyna, February 10, 2014

• Total Time: 01h 20min
• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook time: 60 minutes

Ingredients:

• For the Lobster Salad: -
• green beans - 2 oz
• yellow and red beets - 2
• extra virgin olive oil - 4 tablespoons +1/2 tablespoon
• lobster tails - 1
• cayenne powder - to taste (optional)
• freshly ground black pepper to taste -
• red wine vinegar - 1/2 teaspoon
• garlic - 1/2 clove
• For the Dressing: -
• soft-boiled egg - 1
• Dijon mustard - 1 tablespoon
• red wine vinegar - 1 tablespoon
• grapeseed or vegetable oil - 3/4 cup
• kosher salt - to taste
• freshly ground black pepper - to taste
• chopped fresh dill - 1 tablespoon
• chopped fresh tarragon leaves - 1 tablespoon
• chopped chives - 1 tablespoon
• freshly squeezed lemon juice - 1 tablespoon
• kosher salt - to taste

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Rub the beats with olive oil. Wrap the beets loosely in aluminum foil, place on a baking sheet and roast until tender, about 1 hour. Meanwhile bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Fill a medium bowl halfway with ice water. Add the beats to the boiling water and blanch for 2 minutes. Drain and transfer to the ice water to cool them. Drain and place on a paper towel sheets.  Preheat the grill or the broiler. Cut lobster tails in half by splitting them down the middle. Loosen meat from tail, keeping it in the shell.  Coat the tails with an olive oil, season with salt, pepper and cayenne. Grill the lobster over indirect heat or broil them, until firm and opaque. To make the sauce put the egg, mustard and 1 tablespoon of wine vinegar in the bowl of food processor fitted with metal blade. With the motor running, slowly add the oil in a thin stream to make an emulsified sauce. Add all the herbs, lemon juice and season with salt and pepper to taste. When the beats are done, remove them from the oven and let to cool. Then remove the skins and cut them into quarters. Pot beats in a bowl, add 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil,  1/2 teaspoon of red wine vinegar and garlic. Toss gently to combine. To serve: Spoon some mayonnaise over the center of the plates. Arrange 4 beet quarters and beens over the mayo on each plate. Top with the lobster tails. Taste best with chilled Veuve  Clicquot Champagne.

This wonderful warm and crunchy appetizer is a perfect way to capture all the flavors of vivid bell peppers and golden aromatic olive oil. I can’t think of a better recipe to celebrate the last warm autumn days.

Enjoy this wonderful vegetarian appetizer!

Bruschetta with Roasted Bell Pepper and Cream Cheese

By voloshyna, October 8, 2013

• Total Time: 60 minutes
• Prep Time: 40-50 minutes
• Cook time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• big and ripe bell peppers - 3 (orange, yellow, red)
• capers - 1-2 tablespoons
• red wine vinegar - 2 teaspoon
• extra virgin olive oil -
• garlic - 2-3 cloves, minced
• salt - to taste
• freshly ground black pepper - to taste
• cream cheese - 1 pack
• baguette - 1
• cilantro - 1/4 cup, finely chopped

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil. Grease each pepper with an olive oil. Roast for 20 minutes. Using tongs, give the peppers a half turn, then place back in the oven for 20 minutes. The fully roasted peppers should be tender with a burned, wrinkled skin. If your peppers look like this you can remove them from the oven, if not, then bake for few more minutes. When they're done, remove baking sheet from oven. Set aside to cool. When the peppers are cool enough to handle, remove their skins and slice them open. Remove the seeds and membranes. Cut into a long stripes. Put them into a medium bowl; add 1/4-1/3 cup of olive oil and 2 teaspoons of wine vinegar. Add cappers and minced garlic, season with salt and pepper to taste. Let stand and marinade for 1-2 hours. Slice the baguette on a diagonal about 1/2 inch thick slices. You can toast the pieces of bread in the oven, until crunchy, or  brown them with an olive oil in a skillet. Spread cream cheese over the each slice of bread. Top with bell peppers and sprinkle with finely chopped cilantro.

A little bit of warm Italian-Style dish for the weekend lunch!

Warm Italian Potato Salad

By voloshyna, September 28, 2013

• Total Time: 30 minutes
• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

• new red, purple and yellow potato, small - 1 lb
• green beans and yellow been - 2 cups
• hard-cooked eggs - 3, quartered
• cherry tomatoes - 2 cups, halved
• kalamata olives - 1/2 cup
• fresh basil leaves - 1 cup, finely chopped
• extra virgin olive oil - 1/3 cup, best quality
• red wine vinegar - 2 tablespoons or to taste
• salt - to taste
• freshly ground black pepper - to taste

Instructions:

Cook potato in simmering salted water until tender, 10-15 min. Drain; cool slightly. Cut the potatoes into quarters. In a boiling water blanch the beans, for 3-4 min. Drain; run in a cold water. In a big bowl add warm potato quarters, beans, halved tomatoes, eggs and kalamata olives.  In a small bowl combine olive oil, vinegar, salt and black pepper. Toss with the salad. Sprinkle with a chopped basil. Serve immediately.

Learn how to cook restaurant quality dish at home. Nothing complicated at all!

I always prefer to cook fish in parchment paper, in my opinion this way it stays more juicier and tender.

Salmon baked in parchment paper on a green beans pillow

By voloshyna, March 4, 2013

Ingredients:

• skinless salmon fillet - 1
• For the marinade: -
• extra virgin olive oil - 1 tbsp
• white balsamic vinegar (or white wine vinegar) - 1 ts
• capers - 1 tbsp
• salt - to taste
• freshly ground black pepper - to taste
• For the garnish: -
• green beans - 1/4 lb
• butter - 1 tbsp
• minced garlic - 1 clove
• ground walnuts - 1-2 tbsp
• red wine vinegar - 1/2 tsp
• salt - to taste
• freshly ground black pepper - to taste

Instructions:

In a bowl mix together all the ingredients for the marinade, put there salmon filet and toss. Leave to marinade for at least 1 hour or better overnight. Preheat oven to 350 F. Wrap filet in a parchment paper, using a toothpick staple the edges of parchment together. Bake on a bakingsheet for 20 min. While the salmon is baking, cook the garnish. Blanch green beans in a large stock pot of well salted boiling water until bright green in color and tender crisp, roughly 2 minutes. Drain and shock in a bowl of ice water to stop from cooking and save the color. In a skillet melt the butter, add minced garlic and cooked beans, toss well. Cook for 1-2 minutes. Season with vinegar, salt and pepper to taste, sprinkle with chopped nuts and mix. Transfer on a plate, put baked salmon on top. Serve immediately.