Spicy Pork Meatballs and Fennel Tomato Sauce

These meatballs are great - the pickled peppers give them a unique spicy flavor - and the sauce goes really well with them. The fennel gives it a little sweetness and not too strong of an anise flavor. I have lots of leftover meatballs, so I plan to make a meatball sub for dinner tomorrow. You could also just serve them with toothpicks as an hors d'oeuvre.

Ingredients:

Meatballs

2 lb ground pork shoulder

2 cups bread, cut into 1/4" cubes

2 tbsp chopped fennel fronds

2 cloves of garlic, mashed into a paste

10 pickled pepper slices, minced

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 tbsp salt

1/2 tsp ground pepper

Roasted Chicken Legs and Ramps

 

I, like the rest of New York, am totally into ramps. They're only around for a month or so in the spring, so I try to use them a lot. First ramp dish this year was roasted chicken and ramps. I usually love just tossing the ramps with some olive oil, salt, and pepper and grilling them, so this was similar. The leaves get crispy and the bulbs are sweet. Yum.

This is really simple for a weeknight dinner, and I served it with some peas at Jamie's request.

Serves 4
Ingredients:
4 chicken legs
2 bunches of ramps, roots removed
olive oil
salt and pepper
1 lemon, sliced

Directions:
Heat the oven to 500. Line a baking sheet with tin foil. Toss the chicken and ramps with salt and pepper and olive oil. Put in the oven for 10 minutes, then top the chicken with lemon slices, and put in for another 20 minutes, or until the chicken is nicely browned. Check on the ramps - you'll probably need to remove them 10 minutes before the chicken.

Mahi Mahi, grilled and ceviche, with christophine and zucchini

All the restaurants in St. Barts have some sort of mahi mahi on the list, but the prices are usually pretty high. I heard about the fish market in town and went in to get my own mahi mahi. (The fish market is right at the entrance to Gustavia and is open from 5am to noon.) The grocery stores on the island have great food and are very reasonably priced, and I love to cook, so dinners at home are just as fun, and tasty, as dinners out.

The piece of fish I got was enormous, so I decided to grill most of it but also make an appetizer of mahi mahi ceviche. I had a side of christophine (a local squash) and grilled zucchini. (All finished with some awesome coconut ice cream!) Recipes below!

Ceviche Recipe
Ingredients:
Mahi Mahi, cut into small, bite sized cubes
Juice of several limes
Cilantro, chopped up
Red onion, thinly sliced and a little chopped
1 serrano pepper

Directions:
Put the mahi mahi in a bowl and pour enough lime juice to just cover the fish. Salt lightly and refrigerate for 50 minutes.
Drain most of the lime juice and add the remaining ingredients. Salt to taste and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes and up to 2 hours. Serve plain or with thin toasts.

Grilled Mahi Mahi with Mango Salsa Recipe
Ingredients:
One filet of mahi mahi, lightly salted
half a mango, chopped into small cubes
half a red bell pepper, chopped into small cubes
1/4 red onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 serrano pepper (more or less to taste), chopped
1 lime
cilantro, chopped

Directions:
To make the salsa, mix the mango, red bell pepper, onion, garlic, serrano pepper, and cilantro. Add salt and lime to taste.
Heat a grill to high and grill fish on both sides until opaque. Cut into smaller filets and serve topped with mango salsa. (Also great to accompany with a little piment sauce.)

Christophine Recipe
Ingredients:
 3 Christophines, peeled and chopped into 1 inch pieces
1/2 cup milk + water
butter

Directions:
Put the christophine in a pot and add milk. Add water until just covered and bring to a boil. Simmer until they are fork tender. Drain and return to pot. Mash with a potato masher and heat gently to evaporate some of the water. Add butter and salt to taste.

Grilled Zucchini Recipe
Ingredients:
4 zucchinis, cut in half lengthwise 
olive oil
4 garlic cloves, crushed
salt

Directions:
Toss the zucchini with oil, salt, and garlic. Let sit at least half an hour. Grill until tender.