Campari Glaze for Ham.

Ingredients:

• .25 C  Lucini Pinot Grigio Vinegar
• .5 C    Campari
• .5 C    Apricot Preserves (Peach Preserves and Orange Marmalade will also work)
• 1 TB   Brown Sugar

Preparation:

Combine all ingredients in a small sauce pan.  Cook on low heat for approximately 10 minutes, stirring frequently.  Taste for preserves, sugar and salt.  Spread glaze on ham during the last 30 minutes of baking. Tent ham with foil to avoid scorching the glaze. Apply glaze again, if desired, during the last 15 minutes of baking.  Serve extra glaze as an additional topping for the ham.

Gentleman’s Relish

Ingredients:

• 1 Tin  Anchovy Fillets

• .5 C   Lucini Extra Virgin Olive Oil

• .25 tsp  Chili Powder

• .25 tsp  Ginger (ground or 1 tsp minced fresh)

• .25 tsp  Dried Oregano

• .13 tsp   Nutmeg (fresh, ground)

• Black Pepper (fresh, ground, to taste)

Preparation:

Add the anchovies a mortar and pestle and pound to a paste.  Stir-in the spices and pepper then spoon the resultant paste into a large ramekin.  Add the olive oil and mix well.  Cover and chill then serve.

Guacamole

No Super Bowl bash is complete without Guacamole!!

Ingredients:

• 3       Avocados (ripe, peeled and chopped coarsely)
• Juice of 1 Lime
• 1/4 C  Red Onion (chopped fine)
• 1 TB  Lucini Chili-Infused Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 tsp Lucini Lemon-Infused Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 tsp Lucini Garlic-Infused Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Salt
• Black Pepper (fresh, ground)

Preparation:

Combine all ingredients in a bowl or food processor and mix well, leaving small chunks of avocado.  Season, to taste, with salt, pepper, and lime juice.

Spicy Chicken with Cucumber Sauce

On the grill

This simple recipe balances the tangy heat of the Lucini chili-infused olive oil with the creamy, delicate flavor of Lucini’s award-winning cucumber vinaigrette.  The fresh mint looks great and adds a wonderful aromatic dimension to the dish.  This preparation works equally well with grilled turkey breast – just double the amounts of the other ingredients and taste for salt and paprika after the turkey breast has cooled.

Ingredients:

• 4              Chicken Breasts (boneless, skinless)
• 1 TB        Lucini Chili-Infused Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1/2 tsp  Salt (sea salt is best)
• 1/4 tsp  Black Pepper (fresh, ground)
• 1/4 tsp  Smoked Paprika
• 1/8 tsp  Turmeric (optional)
• 3/4 C      Lucini Cucumber Vinaigrette
• 6               Mint leaves (fresh, large, minced)
• 1/2           Lime (cut into 4 wedges, optional)

Preparation:

Combine the chili-infused oil, salt, pepper, paprika and turmeric.  Coat the chicken with this sauce, cover and refrigerate for 1-2 hours.  In separate small bowl, combine the cucumber vinaigrette and mint, mix well and refrigerate until serving.  When ready to eat, grill or broil the chicken 6″ from heat for 4-5 minutes on each side until lightly browned and cooked through.  Serve with the cucumber/mint sauce and lime wedges (if using).

Trinidadian Hot Sauce (Scotch Bonnet Peppers and Mango)

Yesterday, some wonderful scotch bonnet peppers appeared at my farmers market.  When I got home, I realized there was no way i could eat 8 of them before they went bad, so I came up with this sauce to preserve their wonderful flavor.  It is based on Trinidadian sauces I have loved in the past.

Ingredients:

• 1        Mango (large, chopped)
• 1-4    Scotch Bonnet Peppers  (Seeded)
• 1        Onion (small, peeled, sliced thick)
• 1        Garlic clove (1 TB)
• 2 TB  Lucini Delicate Lemon Infused Olive Oil
• 1 TB  Lemon zest
• 1 C     Lucini Pinot Grigio Vinegar
• 3/4 tsp  Allspice (fresh, ground)
• 1/2 tsp  Turmeric (ground)
• 1/8 tsp  Nutmeg (fresh, ground)
• 1/2 tsp  Salt
• 1 TB       prepared Mustard

Preparation:

Puree the mango, seeded Scotch Bonnet peppers, onion, garlic, zest, and olive oil in a food processor. Transfer to a medium saucepan and add the vinegar, turmeric, allspice, nutmeg, salt and mustard.  Simmer the mixture over very low heat for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until reduced and thick.  Store in a just sterilized jar or bottle.

1 Green Papaya, Peeled, Seeded and Roughly Chopped

10 Scotch Bonnet Peppers, Seeded

2 Onions, Quartered

3 Cloves Garlic

Rind of One Lime

1/2 c Lime Juice

1 1/2 c Malt Vinegar

1 t Salt

1/4 c Prepared Yellow Mustard

Corn Relish

The corn at my farmers market this summer has been outstanding and this is another great way to use this beautiful vegetable.

Ingredients:

• 2 C    Corn (fresh, kernels removed from cob)
• 1 C     Lucini Pinot Grigio Vinegar
• 2 TB  Sugar
• 1 TB   Lucini Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1/2 C  Onion (sweet, diced)
• 2 TB   Jalapeño Pepper (seeded, minced fine)
• 1/2 C  Red Pepper (sweet, diced)
• 2 tsp  Smoked Paprika
• 1/4 tsp  Turmeric
• 1 tsp  Salt
• 1 TB   Fresh Basil (chiffonade – thin strips)
• 1 TB   Lucini Garlic Infused Olive Oil

Preparation:

In a saucepan, bring the vinegar and sugar to a boil, stirring often to dissolve the sugar.  Simmer for 10 minutes, until mixture is reduced to 3/4 cup.  Reserve liquid in a bowl.  Heat the olive oil in the saucepan over medium heat.  Add the onion, jalapeño, paprika, turmeric and salt.  Cook, stirring, for about 2 minutes, until the jalapeño softens.   Add the corn and cook 3 minutes longer.  Add the vinegar mixture and the basil to the corn and simmer for 5 minutes.  Refrigerate for 20 minutes.  Remove from fridge, add the garlic oil and mix well.

Caponata – Eggplant recipe

This is a simple recipe that takes great advantage of fresh eggplant.  It has complex flavor and will be sure to wow any party or get together!

Ingredients:

• 1           Eggplant (medium, cut into 1/2-inch cubes – 2 C)
• 1/4 C  Lucini Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1           Onion (small,  chopped in 1/2-inch dice – 1/2 C)
• 2 TB     Pine nuts
• 1 TB     Raisins
• 1 tsp    Hot Pepper (crushed)
• 1/2 tsp  Cinnamon
• 1/4 C   Lucini Rustic Tomatao Basil Sauce
• 1 TB     Lucini Cherry Infused Balsamic Vinegar
• 2 tsp    Lucini Chili Infused Olive Oil
• Salt
• Ground pepper

Preparation:

Heat the olive oil in a large saute pan (medium heat).  Saute the onions, pine nuts, raisins and hot pepper for 4 to 5 minutes until the onions have softened, but have not turned dark gold.  Add the eggplant and cinnamon and cook for 5 minutes.  Add the tomato sauce and bring to a boil, then turn heat down to low and simmer until the tomatoes are broken down, about 6-8 minutes.  Remove from the heat and add the chili infused oil and cherry balsamic.  Taste the caponata and adjust flavor with salt, pepper, cherry vinegar and chili infused oil.  Allow to cool to room temperature.

• 1/2 cup virgin olive oil
• 1 large Spanish onion, chopped in 1/2-inch dice
• 3 tablespoons pine nuts
• 3 tablespoons currants
• 1 tablespoon hot chili flakes, plus extra for garnish
• 2 medium eggplant, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (to yield 4 cups)
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves or 1/2 teaspoon
• 1/4 cup basic tomato sauce, recipe follows
• 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
• Salt and freshly ground pepper

Pesto

Why flax seeds?  I have been reading a lot about omega 3 lately and trying to work it into my diet more often (rather than relying solely on supplements).  One of the best sources of omega 3 is ground flax seeds and thinking about the groundness of the seeds led me to pesto – the root of the word is the same as pestle and both derive from the Latin “pestâ” (to pound or crush).  It seems that many people have negative connotations for flax seeds – that the texture is weird or flavor will be unpleasant.  But, i’ve tested this recipe on some discerning palates and everyone thought that the nuts used were either 100% walnuts or a mixture of walnuts and pine nuts.  Be sure to taste before and after adding the salt – I usually avoid salt in pesto recipes, but because the Lucini Stravecchio Parmigiano Reggiano is so rich and flavorful and has less of a salty profile than generic Parmigiano Reggiano, I do add salt to this preparation.  As always find it better to start with a little less – you can add more, but if you start with too much, fixing the taste is difficult.

Ingredients:

• 1 C           Basil leaves
• 1 TB        Garlic, chopped (add more if so desired)
• 2 TB        Walnuts
• 2 TB        Flax Seeds, ground
• 1/8 tsp  Salt
• 1/2 C      Lucini Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1/4 C      Lucini Stravecchio Parmigiano Reggiano (if using another cheese, be careful with the salt!)

Preparation:

Grind the flax seeds.  Combine the garlic, flax seeds, walnuts and salt in a food processor (or a mortar and pestle, for a more ‘authentic’ consistency) and blend until the mixture forms a paste.  Slowly drizzle in the olive oil, blending slowly.  Add the Parmigiano 1 tablespoon at a time, blending for short beats until the mixture forms a thick paste.  The pesto can be put in a container, topped with a thin layer of extra-virgin olive oil and then stored for several weeks in the refrigerator.  Without this preservation layer, the pesto discolors very quickly and the garlic flavor will turn bitter in a matter of days.

Simple Enchilada Sauce

This recipe makes the sauce for the Enchilada recipe above.  It is a great way to expand your Lucini sauce recipe repertoire beyond Italian cuisine.  I toast whole cumin seeds and then grind them, but pre-ground cumin works in a pinch.  Pre-ground spices tend to lose their potency quickly and often include fillers, so I highly recommend using fresh or whole spices whenever possible.

Ingredients:

• 1 TB         Lucini Premium Select Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  

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• 1               Red Onion, minced
• 1/2 tsp    Salt
• 1/2 tsp    ground Pepper
• 3 TB        Chili Powder
• 3 cloves  Garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tsp        Cumin, ground
• 1 tsp        Oregano (fresh, minced or dried, crushed)
• 2 C           Lucini Spicy Tuscan Tomato Sauce
• 1/4 C      Water

Procedure

Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat until shimmering.  Add the onion and salt and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.  Stir in the chili powder, garlic, cumin, and oregano.  Cook until fragrant, about 15 seconds.  Stir in the tomato sauce and water.  Bring to a simmer and cook until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Fig Balsamic Vinaigrette – salad dressing, marinade, sauce & more

This simple recipe creates an adaptable vinaigrette that tastes great on salads, steamed vegetables, grains and even steak or chicken breast!

Ingredients:

1/3 C      Lucini Fig Infused Balsamic

1 tsp       fresh Garlic, minced

1 tsp       Salt

1/4 tsp  Black pepper

1/2 tsp  Lemon Peel, grated fine

1/2 C     Lucini Basil – Infused Extra Virgin

Preparation:

In a bowl, whisk together fig balsamic, garlic, salt and black pepper.  Add garlic and lemon peel and stir.

Slowly drizzle in the olive oil (VERY slowly at first) while whisking constantly to emulsifiy.  If  you have time, refrigerate until serving; this seems to make the flavor more consistent throughout the vinaigrette.