I happen to have a jar of neonata. It’s a Calabrian Hot Fish condiment that often is just used on pasta. My jar was expiring so I looked up recipes on the web for neonata and Chef Matthew Taylor’s Recipe for summer squash with neonata (spelled incorrectly “neoata”), smoked yogurt and peppered feta came up so I thought I’d give it a try. I made a few changes to the original recipe. I thought of olive oil smoked paprika potatoes instead of smoked yogurt. I didn’t roast baby squash so I broiled regular squash instead. The last change was that I didn’t use Fresno peppers. I used baby bell peppers because I had baby bell peppers at home. I do note that you need to pickle the peppers the day before so they have a chance to pickle. A special THANKS to Chef Matt Taylor from Mora Italian Restaurant. This recipe is FORKING AWESOME! My idea of a serving size might differ from yours…..This makes around 4 servings.

Ingredients for around 4 servings

8 baby bell peppers sliced in thin rings (original recipe calls for 6 Fresno peppers)

1 cup champagne vinegar

1 cup water

1/2 cup sugar

1 lb potatoes – peel – cut in half

1 Tablespoon sea salt (to season the potatoes boiling)

4 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (maybe up to 2 Tablespoons more or add a little water till potatoes are the right consistency) ((I used 2 Tablespoons water because the neonata has a lot of oil in it and I wanted to keep the potatoes free of dairy)

1 Tablespoon pepper brine from peppers you pickled

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

crushed sea salt to taste

fresh cracked black pepper to taste

2 lbs squash (original recipe calls to roast baby squash in a 400 F degree oven for 5 minutes) ((I used Mexican squash and cut the squash in planks and broiled with olive oil.

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil – that got sprayed lightly on both sides of squash

3 Tablespoons neonata

4 Tablespoons peppered feta cheese

1 teaspoon fresh thyme

Directions

Make the pickled peppers. Bring the vinegar, sugar and water to a boil. Pour over pepper rings. Let cool on the counter to room temperature and then refrigerate.

The next day you can do the rest.

If you are broiling turn your oven on to broil.

You can either roast, grill or broil (if you cut into planks) the squash. I used Mexican green squash that were smaller in size in trimmed ends and cut into thirds longways and then half so the planks weren’t too long.

Put the potatoes and one Tablespoon sea salt in a pot. Cover the potatoes well with water. Bring to a medium boil and cook till fork tender. (around 15-20 minutes). Mash the potatoes by hand with a masher. Add the olive oil, pepper brine, smoked paprika, salt and either add more olive oil or just water till the potatoes are the correct consistency. Add sea salt and fresh black pepper to taste.

Lightly spray a baking sheet with olive oil. Place squash on baking sheet. Lightly spray top of squash with olive oil. Place under broiler till browned. Turn squash over and brown other side. Apply salt, pepper, fresh thyme to taste.

SERVE IMMEDIATELEY!

Spread out the potatoes on plate.

Toss the squash with neonata and place over potatoes.

Top squash with peppered feta and pickled peppers.

ENJOY

A Special THANKS to Chef Matthew Taylor and Mora Italian Restaurant for sharing his Forking Awesome recipe Summer Squash with Neonata, Smoked Yogurt and Peppered Feta with us so we all can enjoy!

I was reading a review of a restaurant somewhere and the food critic was very impressed with blue cheese mashed potatoes with pickled onions from somewhere. I happen to have blue cheese and potatoes that I have to use up so I thought that is what I should make so I did. My idea of serving size might differ from yours. I think 2 pounds of potatoes is about eight servings but those are very small servings. You might figure 4-6 servings depending on how much you dish out. This recipe will also come out better if you make the pickled onions the day before because they need a day to get best.

ingredients for around 6 servings

1 large red onion – (cut in half so strings aren’t too long) – sliced very thin on mandolin.

1 cup white vinegar

1 Tablespoon kosher salt

2 Tablespoons sugar

1 bay leaf

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon yellow mustard seeds

2 springs fresh thyme

2 lbs potatoes – peeled – cut in half (6-7 average size potatoes)

1 Tablespoon salt (I love course sea salt)

1 egg – washed well (you will only be using the yolk)

3 oz unsalted butter – room temperature and optional more butter for serving

4 oz blue cheese – crumbled – room temperature and optional more for serving

2 Tablespoons celery leaves – torn or chopped for finishing

Directions

Make the pickled onions. Put the sliced onions in a tub or container and set them to the side. In a sauce pot bring to boil the vinegar, kosher salt, sugar, bay leaf, ground pepper, mustard seed and thyme. Cook until the salt and sugar is dissolved and pour over onions. Let this sit out on the counter until it’s room temperature and then refrigerate. If you have extra leftover onions you can use them on a sandwich. They should keep good in the refrigerator a few weeks.

When you are ready to make the potatoes put them in a pot with enough water to cover them well. Add the salt. You need to bring the potatoes to a medium high boil. depending on the size of the potatoes they need to cook usually 15-20 minutes. In the last 7 minutes of boiling carefully add the egg and let that cook. The egg will be medium cooked but on the soft side…if that isn’t good for you then you can cook it more. You will need to remove the egg and peel it. Save the egg white for a salad or just eat it as a snack. The yolk gets mashed into the hot drained potatoes along with the butter and blue cheese. Serve with the pickled onions and celery leaves. You can serve with extra blue cheese and melted butter if you desire.

ENJOY!

I have those frozen New York Strip Steaks and find that they usually don’t come out flavorful on the grill but come out much better if I put them in the Sous Vide and then pan sear them. Sometimes I sauté peppers and onions and or mushrooms In the same pan and serve that with the steak. Lately I find that I prefer a pickled vegetable with the steak. It’s very easy to pickle vegetables. I got the perfect recipe that you came boil up a couple hours or day before a steak and just pour it over your vegetables. As soon as a few hours latter you can have delicious pickled vegetables with your steak. My picture has roasted vegetables on the left side of the plate and on the right are the pickled vegetables. I took another photo of what I pickled. Yours will look different depending on what vegetables you use. I cooked 2 steaks that are around 4 meals in my house in your house this might be only 2 servings. Your idea of servings may differ as I like smaller portions of steak. The pickled vegetables make around 8 servings but they stay good for a few weeks.

Ingredients for around 4 servings

2 N.Y. strip steaks (around 1 lb each) – trim off thick fat

fresh ground sea salt to taste

fresh ground black pepper to taste

neutral oil to sear steaks

1 cup white vinegar

1 cup rice wine vinegar

1 cup water

2 Tablespoons kosher salt

1/4 cup sugar

3 garlic cloves chopped

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

1 bay leaf

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

Assorted sliced vegetables like peppers and onions

You can use whatever vegetables you like.

This time I used a small red onion and half a white onion. I used 1/2 a bell pepper of yellow, orange and green. Part of a watermelon radish and leftover shaved leeks. I didn’t use a spicy pepper this time but sometimes I add a spicy pepper sliced paper thin and very thinly sliced carrots.

Directions

In a sauce pot on medium high heat add the vintagers, water, salt, sugar, garlic, pepper, coriander, bay leaf and oregano to a boil. After boiling pour over pickling vegetables and let sit out an hour on the counter to cool off some. Put in the refrigerator and can serve in about another hour but is best the next day.

When you are ready for the steaks.

Pull out the steaks one half hour before cooking to warm up slightly.

Add the water and set the Sous Vide to 130 degrees F.

Apply fresh ground sea salt and pepper generously to the steaks on both sides and vacuum seal the steaks.

The steaks go in the Sous Vide when the water is at 130 degrees F. They stay in for no more than 4 hours. Three hours is good.

Dry the steaks off as good as you can with paper towels.

Put a pan on high with a coating of oil. Sear a minute or slightly more on each side and serve.

I usually don’t like these steaks but when they are cooked in the Sous Vide and then seared with some pickled vegetables they are good!