​Home-made Caesar dressing is so much better than the store-bought. The key to a great dressing is to use quality anchovies.
Chop together anchovy fillets, garlic, and pinch of salt. Use the side of a knife blade to mash into a paste, then scrape into a medium bowl. Whisk in egg yolks, 2 Tbsp. lemon juice, and mustard.
Add a dash of Tabasco and Worcestershire sauce as well to give the dressing some color and depth of flavors.
Adding drop by drop to start, gradually whisk in olive oil, then vegetable oil; whisk until dressing is thick and glossy. Whisk in Parmesan. Season with salt, pepper, and more lemon juice, if desired.

​Cut the romaine hearts in halves. Rinse and dry. Spray the inside of the hearts with canola oil and season with salt and pepper.
Set the grill to medium. Place the romaine hearts inside down on the grates and grill until you have visible grill marks. Don’t overcook it. You just want a few scorch marks from the grillgrates.

​Let the romaine hearts cool down and drizzle with Caesar dressing. Add shaved parmesan just before serving.

Boil wine, vinegar, and shallots in a heavy saucepan over moderate heat until liquid is syrupy and reduced to 2 to 3 tablespoons, about 5 minutes. Add cream, salt, and white pepper and boil 1 minute. Reduce heat to moderately low and add a few tablespoons butter, whisking constantly. Add remaining butter a few pieces at a time, whisking constantly and adding new pieces before previous ones have completely liquefied lifting pan from heat occasionally to cool mixture.  Remove from heat, then season to taste with salt and pepper and pour sauce through a medium-mesh sieve.

Cut the flounders into good portion-sized fillets. If the flounders are thick, you can sous vide them with butter and dill for 20 minutes at 120 degrees F before pan-searing them.  Melt butter in hot pan. Season the flounders with salt and pepper. Pan-sear the flounders one minute per side.

Place green beans and flounder fillets on a plate. Add salt and pepper if needed. Drizzle the lemon beurre blanc on top. If you would like some more depth in the flavors, squeeze some additional lemon juice on top of the fish, and grate some horseradish as well.

A lightly smoked halibut with just a kiss of smoke and beautiful translucent and flaky fillets marries perfectly with a light turmeric hollandaise and some mustard-tossed and caramelized carrots. The White Alba Truffle and Chablis mustard from Maille  taht we used in this recipe really elevates this dish.

Vigorously whisk the egg yolks and lemon juice together in a stainless-steel bowl and until the mixture is thickened and doubled in volume. Place the bowl over a saucepan containing barely simmering water.  Continue to whisk rapidly. Be careful not to let the eggs get too hot.  Slowly drizzle in the melted butter and continue to whisk until the sauce is thickened and doubled in volume. Remove from heat, whisk in salt and turmeric.

Whisk together the mustard, maple syrup, and olive oil. Slice the carrots in half. Place the carrot in a sauté pan over medium high heat. Fill the pan with water up to half the height of the carrots. Add butter. Let the water reduce and when completely gone let the carrots sear for a couple of minutes. Add dressing and let caramelize for an additional minute.

Ingredients:
​Rustic Bread
​2 Rip Tomatoes
​Spanish Olive Oil
Salt
Garlic
​Jamon Iberico or Jamon Serrano (Optional)

Every meal in the Spanish province of Catalonia starts with Pan Con Tomate, sometimes served with ham and sometimes without. Sometimes served with anchovies and sometimes without. It is a simple dish to make but the flavors are complex. It could be enjoyed by itself with a glass of Rioja or as a part of a charcuterie board. The key to a great Pan Con Tomate is to use fresh and high quality ingredients. You can toast the bread but I prefer to grill it to make the flavors really burst. 

There are two ways to make a great Pan Con Tomate. In the old traditional way, you toast or grill the bread first. Then each person at the table lightly rub the sides of a peeled and halved garlic clove on the bread. Don't overdo this part. Then rub the halved tomatoes on the bread to give the bread a good tomato coating. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and you are done!!

​When you have a party it can be messy to have each person to prepare their own, so then you can use the second approach. Slice 2 super ripe tomatoes in halves. The riper the better. Grate the flesh on a grater but make sure that you throw away the skin. Mix the grated tomatoes with two pressed garlics and set aside.  

Slice the bread and brush with some olive oil on both sides. Grill on medium high heat. You want to make sure that the bread get a good crust but that it doesn't get burnt. Grill both sides and transfer to a cutting board.

Spoon the tomate/garlic mix on top of the bread, make sure that you reach the very edges of the grilled bread. Drizzle with Spanish olive oil and sprinkle with salt. The quality of both the olive oil and the salt will make a huge difference in the taste of the Pan Con Tomate. I like flaky sea salt for a richer taste. Eat as is, or add some Jamon Iberico. You can also add anchovies or some marinated olives.

​Japanese flavors are amazing and if you combine it with fresh vegetables you can create some amazing tapas with almost no effort at all. Most ingredients are available at any Asian market    

​How to make the Shishito Peppers:
​Rinse the peppers and toss them with the olive oil - make sure that they are evenly covered. Set the grill on high. Use a vegetable tray so the peppers dont fall through the grill grates.

​Grill on high until the peppers are roasted  and browned, about 5-6 minutes. Take the peppers of the grill and toss them with the Ponzu sauce. Season with the flaked sea salt. Serve immediately  and sprinkle the bonito flakes on top of the peppers. If you want to make the Japanese tapas completely vegan - skip the bonito flakes.

​How to make the Asparagus:
​Rinse the Asparagus and cut the hard bottom part of the Asparagus off. Pour the olive oil in a large sautepan and heat on medium high. When the pan is hot, add the Asparagus.

​Sauté for 5-6 minutes on medium-high until the Asparagus are nicely browned and has softened. When ready, pour the Chuka dressing into the pan. The dressing will start caramelize almost instantly so be careful so you don't burn the dish. Toss the Asparagus in the dressing, add the sesame seeds and then quickly toss one more time. Remove from the burner and serve immediately. You can also do this on a grill if you prefer a more charred flavor. Toss the Asparagus in some olive oil, and set the grill on medium. Place the Asparagus on a vegetable tray and brown on all sides. When almost ready, toss them in the chukka dressing and sesame seeds and finish the Asparagus on high heat until they have a nice glaze.

​How to make the Brussels Sprouts:
​Rinse the Brussels Sprouts and remove the stalk and the harder outer leaves. Quarter the Brussels Sprouts.

​Add oil to large saute pan on medium heat. Slowly sauté the Brussels Sprouts until they are slightly browned, make sure that you don't burn the leaves. This will take about 4-6 minutes. When slightly browned, add the vegetable stock. The stock should just cover the base of the ban up to 1/16 of an inch. Give the pan a good stir and then allow to steam-fry until all the liquid has cooked off and the sprouts are tender. 

​While the Brussel Sprouts are slowly steam-frying, mix the Dijon Mustard and the Wafu dressing together. You can also grill the Brussels sprouts on a vegetable tray if you prefer them more earthy. This is my favorite way of preparing them. Set grill to medium, toss the Brussels sprouts in some olive oil and grill until brown and crispy. When the Brussels sprouts are finished cooking, whether you sautéed them or grilled them, add the Mustard-Dressing mix and stir thoroughly. Make sure that the Brussels Sprouts get covered evenly. Serve immediately.

​This is a great trio of appetizers to serve together. The Shishito Peppers adds sweetness and acidity to the dish, the Asparagus with the Chuka dressing adds some heat and finally the Brussels Sprouts adds richness and creaminess. Enjoy!!

This is a great grill recipe with strong Japanese flavors. The charred Eggplant and Skirt Steak combined with the smoothness and sweetness of the Miso makes a perfect dinner course. It is easy to make and fast to serve which makes it perfect when hosting guest. Getting a good Skirt Steak cut is key since Skirt Steak needs to be cooked to medium-rare to have great texture. If you cook it to rare, it is too raw and chewy, if you overcook it - it is tough and dry..  
Start the preparation by finely mincing the garlic. To make the skirt steak marinade, mix together the Garlic, Red miso, Mirin, Rice Wine, Tobanjan, and sugar in a bowl. Make sure it gets thoroughly mixed.

​Trim the Skirt Steaks. Remove some of thicker parts of fat and try to remove as much of the silver-skin as you can. pan. Lay the skirt steak in the marinade and flip it a couple of  times to generously coat all over. Vacuum-seal and marinate the steak for a minimum of 1 hour in the fridge. Turn a couple of times.

​Start by trimming both ends of each eggplant so you have pieces of similar size. Slice the eggplants in half.
Combine the Miso Glaze ingredients and whisk to combine and remove lumps. Taste the glaze. If you want a sweeter glaze, add more sugar.

Set up the grill for two heat-zones. One side should be set to medium (eggplant) and the other to searing hot (Skirt Steak). 
It's important only to use medium heat for the eggplant because otherwise it will char too much before it cooks through.

​While the grill is heating up, brush the cut side of each eggplant with the oil. Do it 2 to 3 times to use up all the oil.
When the grill is heated on both sides, start with placing the eggplant cut side down on the grill and cook for 4 minutes until it turns a light golden brown.
​After 4 minutes, turn the eggplants over, and cook for an additional 3 to 4 minutes. While it is cooking, use a brush to spread a generous amount of Miso Glaze on the cut side of each eggplant. When the eggplant is squishy and soft, turn over on final time and caramelize the miso-glaze side for 30 seconds.
Remove eggplants from grill, garnish with green onions and sesame seeds.

Two minutes after you put on the eggplants, add the skirt steaks on the grill (on the hot side). Grill the skirt steak for about 3 minutes per side, to medium-rare. The steak might stick to the grill because of the miso, so ease it off carefully. When the steaks are done, let them rest for a few minutes.
Slice the skirt steak thinly and against the grain. Serve with eggplant.

Start with the black garlic, peel and finely mince. Put garlic, rice wine, hoisin sauce, honey, sugar, bean sauce, and spice in a blender and puree.

Simmer the mixture in a large saucepan over medium heat for 10 minutes until it bubbles and sauce begins to thicken. Alternatively, cook in Thermomix for 10 minutes, 212 degrees, speed 1. Set aside and start preparing the Sunchokes. 

Set the smoker at 350 degrees and use fruitwood for flavor. While you wait for the smoker to heat up. scrub the sunchokes thoroughly. Make sure that you rinse of all the dirt. When clean, cut the sunchokes in half. Pour 3 Tbs of Olive oil into an over-proof pan.

Place sunchokes cut-side down in the pan and insert into smoker. Smoke the sunchokes for 20 minutes until they have softened slightly and browned. Turn and smoke for another 15 minutes.

After about 35 minutes, remove pan from smoker. Dip the sunchokes into the BBQ sauce and make sure that they are covered in sauce. Place them in the pan again and smoke for 5 minutes. Repeat this procedure one more time. Cut the thick stalk from dill and chop. Sprinkle dill over sunchokes.

Serve while hot. This is a perfect appetizer or a side dish for Asian short-ribs, pork-belly or even steak.  The smoky flavor, together with the sweet sauce and the crispness of the dill makes this an all-time favorite. And it is 100% vegan!!