Tony the Chef – nutritionwonderland

Coconut Blasted Pork Loin With Grilled Scallions

nutrition — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 09:47:04 +0000

Yummy Pork Loin, thanks to flickr user Joshbousel

4 to 6 servings

2 trimmed pork tenderloins, about 2 pounds

2 cups shredded, unsweetened coconut flakes

4 scallions, washed

Olive oil, for cooking

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Coconut milk in the making. (Thanks to flickr user TravelMuse…)

Ingredients for marinade/sauce:

2, 14 oz. cans, unsweetened coconut milk

4 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled

1, 1” piece fresh ginger, peeled and rough chopped

1 lemongrass stalk, rough chopped

1 large jalapeño, seeds removed, and rough chopped

2 limes, juiced

2 tablespoons soy or ponzu sauce

2 teaspoons sugar

½ bunch cilantro, rough chopped

Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste

First, prepare the marinade by adding all of the marinade ingredients into a blender and puree. Pat the tenderloins dry with a paper towel and lay them into a vessel large enough to contain them and the marinade. Pour in the marinade. Don’t worry if the loins are not fully submerged. Cover the loins with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least four hours. If the loins were not fully submerged in the marinade, turn the loins over in the vessel at about halfway through the process and recover until the marinating process is finished.

Now, once the loins have been marinated, remove them from the mixture and once again, pat dry with a paper towel, (you may have to scrape away some of the remnants from the marinade). Lay the loins on a large platter. Reserve the marinating mixture for later. Season the loin with the salt and pepper. Brush a thin layer of olive oil all over the loins, and the scallions. You are now prepared to grill.

A nice addition to hearty tenderloins

Before grilling the loins, first preheat an oven to 375 degrees. Spread the coconut flakes evenly over a sheet pan and bake until toasted and golden brown, about ten minutes. Remove and allow to cool. Next, strain the marinating mixture into a saucepan. Bring the sauce to a boil for a minimum of fifteen seconds. Reduce to a simmer and allow to cook for an additional five minutes. Adjust seasoning and keep warm until service.

Now, grill the pork loins. Turn after five minutes or until a nice crusty brown sear is achieved on all sides. Tenderloins will be done when slightly pink in the middle. Allow to rest or cool slightly. While cooling, mark the scallion on the grill, both sides, and cook just until slightly limp.

Roll the cooked pork loin into the coconut flakes. Try to cover evenly. Slice and arrange the pork loin on a platter with the grilled scallions. Drizzle the sauce over and enjoy.

Green Tea Coco Chiller

nutrition — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 09:47:57 +0000

A good way to eat (or drink) some coconut after reading Christie’s article.

A delicious way to enjoy some coconut. Thanks flickr user Mel B.

Ingredients:

1 ½ cup ice
½ cup diced honeydew melon
2 oz. honey
2 ounces coconut cream (Coco Lopez)
2 ½ ounces brewed and chilled green tea
10-15 fresh mint leaves

First, add the ice into a blender, followed by the rest of the ingredients. Blend until smooth or preferred texture desired. Pour into glasses (maybe cut some orange wedges for garnish), find a porch swing and enjoy! Recipe makes two drinks.

Lemon Buckwheat Pancakes with Sugared Berries, Cherries, and Apricot

nutrition — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 09:54:58 +0000

Below is the first of Tony the Chef’s targeted recipes for different metabolic typologies. These recipes accompany Patti the Nutritionist’s dieting guidelines, which we will be releasing in pieces of the next couple of months. For now, enjoy the food and soon you will learn how to integrate this recipe into a larger framework for your body.

Pancakes, thanks to Flickr user: WayTru

PANCAKES:

1 32 oz. bag Arrowhead Mills Organic Buckwheat Pancake and Waffle Mix
1 teaspoon lemon zest, finely chopped (per serving made)

Make pancake batter according to the instructions on the package. For ‘Type A’ bodies, use the non-dairy version. Once batter is completed, just incorporate the zest into the batter. Make pancakes as directed. Garnish with sugared berries (recipe follows).

FRUIT:

2 cups lemon juice
½ cup sugar
½ cup dried mixed berries
½ cup dried cherries
½ cup dried apricots

In a small saucepan, simmer together lemon juice and sugar over medium-high heat until sugar has dissolved. Add all the dried fruit. Bring the mixture to a boil then reduce to a simmer for 5 minutes. Refrigerate uncovered to cool. Serve over above pancakes instead of or in addition to syrup. Enjoy.

Recipe: Low Fat Curried Grilled Chicken Salad

nutrition — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 09:51:23 +0000

Chicken Salad Sandwich, thanks to Flickr User Rick

4 cups grilled boneless/skinless chicken, finely diced (pasture-raised if possible)
1 celery stalk, finely diced
¼ cup red onion, finely diced
¼ cup English cucumber (seedless), finely diced
1/8 cup California raisins (organic)
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro or flat leaf parsley
2 cups regular plain yogurt (raw if possible)
2 teaspoons freshly squeezed and strained lemon juice
1 teaspoon madras (yellow) curry powder
2 teaspoons kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Preheat a small pan to medium heat then place the curry powder inside, dry (no fat, no water). Stir the powder around in the pan to toast the spices. Your goal is to brown the powder slightly but evenly and to release the fragrances. It will be obvious when this happens. Remove from heat and set to the side.

In a mixing bowl, combine the yogurt, lemon juice, and toasted curry. Using a whisk, whip the mixture until together and yogurt is yellow from the curry . Now combine the rest of the ingredients and using a spatula fold the blend together. At this point, you should adjust seasonings to your liking as well as add more yogurt for consistency, if desired. Enjoy with pita bread, fresh green leaf lettuce, and tomato slices.

Meet Tony the Chef

nutrition — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 09:57:49 +0000

Nutrition Wonderland would like to introduce you to a new column we will be featuring from time to time on the website called, Tony the Chef. A long time friend, Tony will be sharing his thoughts to help you understand what the world of food looks like from the inside of a busy commercial kitchen. The column will feature insights into the considerations chef must make to his customers – and to his bosses, what kind of factor money has on the ingredients he uses, the interplay of corporations and food politics and, most importantly, his famous recipes. Below, the Chef says hello – maybe you should say hello back.

Tony the Chef

My love for food has always been around. As a child, I logged many hours in the kitchen with my mother. It was often that playtime was forfeited to inquire what she was whipping up for supper. Of course, after a while, I picked up a few things and later on in my teen years, I got a chance to flex my culinary muscle. As dear mom was moved to the night shift at her place of employment, I took over the responsibilities of creating an evening meal for my father and me. Most of the time, I would just try to recreate or improve upon my mother’s recipes. Occasionally, I felt brave enough to experiment with my own and this was such a delight! There were disasters, sure; however, that’s what cooking and life, really, are all about. You will not know success without a few failures here and there. So, I continued to cook throughout high school and then I graduated. Now what?

I was accepted to the University of Texas in Austin. I had no idea what I wanted to accomplish there. All I knew is that all of my best friends were going to UT and attending a University was something my parents wanted for me. I went and I tried to find something I could “deal” with for the rest of my life. The idea of being stationary at a desk for a long period of time was a little frightening for me. I found nothing and to everyone’s surprise I dropped out of U.T. – with all its glory – and enrolled in classes at the Texas Culinary Academy (a Le Cordon Bleu program) just up the road in Austin. You see, food, cooking and being a chef, was what I wanted to do all along. It was a decision that I have not regretted since.

Life in Colorado, Not Bad

I completed culinary school with flying colors and landed my first cooking job at the Sheraton Resort in Steamboat Springs, CO as part of my school’s externship program. The program only lasted three months but I decided to stay and work for three years. In that time, I worked hard and was promoted quickly from an entry-level cook all the way to Sous Chef. I had certainly found my niche. During this time, it was an eccentric, but respected, old friend that turned me on to food awareness and what happens to my food before it hits the plate. The information that I’ve learned from this gentlemen really opened my eyes so much that I have changed my lifestyle and I have joined his side to help deliver the message to unsuspecting consumers so that we can get food back to how nature intended – real.

My love for Colorado was superseded by true love for a woman so I came back to Texas to be with her. Blissfully, the current chapter of my live takes us to Dallas. I am the Chef de Cuisine for the Westin City Center Dallas in downtown. I oversee the restaurant there, 650 North. Since speaking with the gentleman above in Colorado, I have seen a few unrelated changes; people are becoming aware of what they are eating. Vendors are eliminating harmful products in their food and corporations are starting to offer their customers more of a choice. Me, I push to offer only the best ingredients and I like the direction in which food is going. Still, the actions are on a very small scale and there is much to be done.

I love being a chef. I feel a real connection between my purpose in life and food. I like how it has the power to appeal to so many people, and I enjoy preparing it so that it is appealing to them. Food most certainly sustains life. It should not take life away. Please take the time to view this site and revisit often.

Thanks,
Chef T.