Grilled Davenport Salad

The Ingredients

For the Salad
2 Red Peppers

2 Portobello Mushrooms

2 handfuls Arugula*

1/4 cup Kalamata Olives, sliced

1/4 cup Feta Cheese, crumbled
Sliced Almonds for garnish
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper
For the Vinaigrette
1 bulb baby Vidalia Onion**
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
2 Tbsp Sherry Vinegar
Salt and Pepper

The Plan
Grill Veggies.
Make Vinaigrette.
Assemble.

The Method
Do what you usually do and preheat your grill.
Toss Red Peppers, Mushrooms and Vidalia Onion with a bit of Olive Oil and Salt and Pepper.
Grill veggies. (When roasting Red Peppers, you really want the skin to get nice and black. You will have to turn them occasionally to get the skin burnt on all sides. Remove the Red Peppers from the grill and place either in a paper bag or in a covered bowl for a few minutes. Once the Peppers have cooled enough to be handles, gently remove the skin. You can do this carefully with your chef knife, but if that doesn't sound good to you, run them under cold water and remove the skin with the water running).

Slice the Vidalia Onion like you would a green onion, and cut the bulb into a small dice. Place into a bowl with Olive Oil. Slowly drizzle in Sherry Vinegar while whisking and stir until well combined. Season with Salt and Pepper.

Slice Red Peppers and Portobello Mushrooms. Combine with remaining salad ingredients. Add Vinaigrette, top with almonds and serve.

Yield: 2 Salads
Points: 5 per Salad

* If the word "handful" freaked you out, don't let it. Use your best judgment.
** Baby Vidalia Onions are just like how they sound. Early harvested, they kinda look like green onions attached to a bulb.
***Lastly, this recipe was really a team effort. Thanks PMR.

Orange Soy Sirloin Stirfry

The Ingredients

Juice of 1 Orange
1/2 cup Soy Sauce, low sodium
1 clove Garlic, minced
1 tsp Fish Sauce
1 Tbsp Oyster Sauce
1 1/2 lb sirloin, trimmed (of as much fat as possible) and sliced
1 yellow Onion, sliced
2 cloves Garlic, minced
1 Red Pepper, sliced
1 head Broccoli, cut into florets

2 Tbsp Sesame Oil

4 Green Onions, sliced
Sesame Seeds for garnish

The Plan

Marinate Sirloin.

Chop Veggies.

Stir Fry.

The Method

Combine Orange Juice, Soy Sauce, Garlic, Fish Sauce and Oyster Sauce in a medium bowl. Stir to combine. Add Sirloin and marinate, at room temperature, for thirty minutes.

Heat wok (or large saute pan) over high/medium heat. Add 1 Tbsp Sesame Oil. Add Onion and cook until translucent. Add Garlic and cook until fragrant. Add Red Pepper, Broccoli Green Onion and stirfry until Broccoli becomes bright green. Remove from pan.

Add remaining Sesame Oil and let pan reheat. Add drained Sirloin, and cook until just heated through, about 2 minutes. Remove from pan and mix with veggies.

Add marinating liquid and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer for about 5 minutes or until liquid slightly thickens.

Combine all elements. Top with Sesame seeds as garnish. Serve with whatever you want. I choose a brown/red rice combo.

Yield: 5 portions

Points: 4 per portion

Napa at The Peabody Orlando

I like food. A lot.

I like food that is fresh, exciting and innovative. I like food that surprises me with it's complexity of flavors in the same bite. Food that goes well with wine. And beer. Food that is bright and colorful. And fun. Food that is slow, and moseys to my plate without having to ride cross country with an Amtrak ticket in it's back pocket.

So when I'm able to experience all of this, I jump at both the opportunity and the chance to tell others. Napa is a new restaurant located in The Peabody Orlando and describes itself as "drawing on inspiration from Wine Country" while having a menu that is"comprised of organic, sustainable farm-to-fork selections". Intrigued, my friends and I enjoyed a fantastic lunch over at Napa a few weeks ago.

The newly renovated Peabody Orlando was hopping with people and quite impressive with it's increase in rooms and new dining options. Napa is located just off the main entrance on the lower level of the hotel. The space itself is gorgeous: modern and clean while retaining a certain degree of edginess. Plus the wine decor was pretty cool.

To start we shared the Crispy Cape Canaveral Calamari served with an Asian Curry Slaw and a Pepper Aioli. The calamari was a fantastic combination of melt in your mouth tenderness with a crispy shell. The slaw was a nice surprise. The crunchiness provided a good textural contrast while the curry added a whole new element to the plate.

I chose the House Ricotta and Crab Cavatelli for my entree. The homemade pasta, fresh and delicate, was tossed with Rapini, Cippolini Onions, Pancetta, Waterkist Farms (located in Sanford, Fl) Tomato Confit. Sounds like a lot...and it was. Full of flavor, this dish pleased me on many different levels. I loved the sweetness of the onions with the savoriness of the pancetta together with the pasta. The portion size was also large enough for me to take home half of the entire dish.

We finished our meal with the Meyer Lemon Tart topped with a Basil Sorbet. The dessert was a hit, and the bright flavors of the tart with the clean sorbet were a perfect light ending to the meal.

And, true to it's name, Napa did have a great wine selection. We enjoyed the MacMurray Ranch Pinot Gris (ironically from Sonoma) throughout the meal. New World Pinot Gris has really become a favorite of mine. It can be very versatile with subtle hints of acidity and rich floral undertones.

I'd eat at Napa again in a heartbeat. The service was excellent, and valet parking is validated for those who are not staying at the hotel. Florida does have many local food options, and it's great to see a restaurant that takes advantage of this while producing some really tasty food that goes well with wine. And is exciting. And is slow. See, turns out I don't ask for too much after all!

A bit more than half way there.

The Chef's Series.

Happy New Year and all that good stuff. If improving your culinary repertoire is on your list of resolutions, you have come to the right blog! Some great culinary classes will be featured at the school during 2011, and they are open to the public. And taught by some amazingly talented chefs. Check out the site for more information:

www.LCBChefsSeries.com