Fennel root & onion (Serves 2)

Above is what a fennel root looks like, available at almost all grocery stores in the U.S. Picture of the dish shows serving size for one person.

The other day while I was on the phone, I was watching chef Lidia Matticchio Bastianich on television with the sound on mute. She is one of my favorite chefs.

She had almost finished preparing a crab dish, after which she made a quick side dish with fennel root and white onion in the same pan in which the crab was cooking. It was pretty simple and basic with olive oil or butter, I don't clearly remember. Then she added the cut fennel root and white onion and sauteed them until they were golden brown. It looked very delicious.

So I went ahead and tried the same dish, but with some modifications. I used a clean pan to start with as I had no crabs cooking, used olive oil, and instead of white onions used red onions as I didn't have white onions at home. Then I thought that if I added some toasted pine nuts and fresh parsley, it would add to the taste. It actually came out great. Here is the recipe.

1 fennel root diced into 1/2 inch pieces
1 onion diced into 1/2 inch pieces
11/2 tbsp roasted pine nuts
2 tbsp fresh parsley chopped fine
Salt to taste
2 tbsp olive oil

Add 2 tbsp olive oil to a hot pan, add the fennel root and onions, salt to taste, and cook them on medium to high heat making sure they don't get burnt and until they are caramelized and golden brown.

Take pan off the fire at this point, add freshly toasted pine nuts and chopped parsley. Serve immediately.

Outstanding and simple dish, very aromatic, and anyone can prepare, no kidding!

Health Rating: High

Ingredient Substitute/s: You can add butter instead of olive oil if you aren't vegan. Where fennel isn't available you can always prepare this with just onions and a couple of tablespoons of fresh fennel seeds from the fennel plant.

If you can't find fresh fennel seeds, red bell pepper would be a great companion to the onions based on their sweetness, according to me.

Grilled Cowboy cut New York strip steaks (Serves 4)

- recipe courtesy Andy Silfen

Hi Friends, sorry for the sudden lack of posting on the blog for over a month now. Had a lot of things going on, and was in the midst of taking care of them. I do have managed during this time, to try some new dishes. Its just that it took a while for me to put it all together.

I am working on new creations as well, still in the experimentation stage that I hope to share as soon as I can, if they turn out well ;-).

In the meanwhile here is a recipe sent to me by my friend Andy. He has been all over me for the last month or so to post this on the blog, else he would be mad!! He was my broker when we purchased our house. I have known him for the last 4 years now. Andy is an avid fan of eating and cooking food. His dish is Grilled Cowboy cut New York strip steaks.

I haven't tried out his recipe as I don't consume beef anymore. I am sure that although health wise its heart attack material (just kidding :-)), taste wise it has the ingredients in it to be a possible winner. Here is the recipe.

2 New York Strips - approximately 3 fingers thick (about 1.5 lbs each)

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp Teriyaki sauce

Mix the salt, pepper, and garlic powder together and sprinkle them on each of the strips, on both sides. Let the steaks sit for a while and marinate. Line up the steaks and pour on each steak 1/2 tbsp each of olive oil, soy sauce, and Teriyaki sauce and let them soak in the ingredients a bit.

Grill the steaks for about 8 minutes per side over a hot grill. When you take the steaks off the grill, allow a few moments to rest before slicing.

Andy's note: "The texture and flavor of this meal is one to inspire the soul and should not be eaten too often lest it becomes taken for granted. Serve the above with an excellent salad and garlic bread. Spaghetti also makes a heavenly match with either a nice marinara or clam sauce".

Health Rating: Low (sorry, Andy :-))

Bio on Andrew Silfen:

Andy was born in Westchester NY and lived there all his life. Bottom line, he loves to eat and cook! Often when he eats out, he finds a dish that he likes so much, he comes back home and tries to create his own version of it. Andy is a real estate broker by profession, and here is his website http://www.andrewsilfen.com