Serves 4-6

Flavor flavor flavor. One could just eat this and be happy! Perfect side for Mediterranean dishes

I love thyme and lemon and use them often.

1 lb of arborio rice

¾ cup of dry vermouth

3-4 cups chicken stock (or vegetable stock)

1 ½ cups onion minced

1 ½ tablespoons garlic minced (reserve ¼ teaspoon)

Juice  and zest of 2 lemons

2 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves off stem

2-3 bay leafs

2 tablespoons fresh flat leaf parsley chopped

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

½ stick unsalted butter

¼ teaspoon sea salt

¼ tsp fresh ground pepper

1 ½ tablespoons grated aged Piave or aged Parmesan cheese

Takes aprox 45 minutes to hour

In 12 inch saute pan heat olive oil and butter and cook rice till translucent

Sauté onions and garlic

Add in small amounts of vermouth & chicken stock and continue simmering.

Add bay leafs , thyme. pepper, salt

Continue adding small amounts of vermouth & chicken stock each time rice needs fluid. Stir in remainder of garlic, lemon juice, and cover on low for 2-3 minutes till lemon juice is absorbed

Remove bay leafs

Top with parsley, cheese, zest and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and serve!

Parsnips are one of my favorite vegetables. Their appearance is similar to a white carrot with a lot of flavor. This creamy soup is the perfect start to any meal.

1 lb of parsnips peeled & cut
1 cup of onion chopped
3 garlic cloves minced
1  large potato peeled and cut
¼ teaspoon of white pepper
½ teaspoon of  sea-salt

1/2 stick of unsalted butter
4 cups chicken stock or 2 herb ox chicken cubes to 4 cups water or substitute vegetable broth

2 bay leafs

1 cup of heavy cream

Suggested Garnishes (optional)

drizzle of white truffle oil in each serving

garlic croutons

fresh snipped chives

fresh grated nutmeg

directions

2 quart covered soup pot

Sauté onion, garlic in butter till translucent
Add parsnips, bay leaf, pepper, potato, salt, chicken stock

Cook on medium- low heat covered until till parsnips are fork tender (25-30 minutes)
Remove bay leafs

Puree soup with a hand held immersion blender
Add cream and return to low heat for 8-10 minutes

Serve piping hot in bowls and  garnish with your choice of truffle oil, chives , croutons or nutmeg

Serves 6-8

If you love artichokes here is a side you will want to feature often and  a bit  exotic

Beautiful plated with grilled chicken breasts, shrimp, lamb or beef kabobs

2 14 oz cans of whole artichoke hearts drained and squeezed dry

place hearts  on skewers in 2 inch deep  rectangle tray

Marinade

In a bowl whisk the following:

4-5 garlic  cloves thru a press

1 tablespoon of prepared Dijon mustard

Juice of 2 lemons

1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil

1  medium finely minced shallot

1/2 tsp of sea salt

¼ tsp of fresh ground pepper

Garnish ( optional)

1 tablespoons of chopped flat leaf parsley

extra lemon wedges

drizzle of your best olive oil

cover skewers in marinade and coat evenly

Cover and refrigerate 1-2 hours or overnight. Turn skewers occasionally

Grilll 4-7 minutes. You may serve on skewers or artichokes may also be remove and plated.

Garnish with parsley and a drizzle of olive oil before serving. Serve with additional lemon wedges

Serves 6-8

A very tasty and nutritious side salad. Cooking the beans with seasonings added to the broth  improves  flavor  of this dish. See tip below for using canned beans.

Best consumed within three days

Prepare beans

1 lb of dried cannelloni beans (white kidney beans)

6 cups water

2 herb ox chicken bouillon cubes or vegetarian cubes

2 teaspoons of kosher salt

3 bay leafs

5 garlic cloves thru press

In a large pot

Bring water, boullion, bay leaf to a boil

Add beans and garlic and cover

Reduce heat to medium low and cook for 1 hour.

Turn off heat

Keep covered 30 minutes

Drain and cool beans

Remove bay leafs

Add beans to a medium size serving bowl

Dressing

whisk the following in a small bowl

3 tablespoons of flat leaf parsley chopped

juice of 3 lemons

2 teaspoons of fresh garlic thru a press

2 tablespoons of fresh thyme leafs remove off the stems

1/3 cup of extra virgin olive oil

½ teaspoon sea salt

1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar

¼ teaspoon of fresh ground white pepper

2 tablespoons of red onion minced fine

cover beans and toss in dressing

chill and rest for 1 hour

Maybe served at room temperature or chilled

Tip:

4 cans of 15.5 oz each of cooked cannelloni that have been rinsed and drained may be substituted if you don’t have cooking time. Add dressing and chill for 2 hours for best results.  Note: Canned beans will be much softer in texture than ones you cook yourself.

Makes about  4 cups

2 cans 15.5 oz chick peas rinsed and drained (discard any dark discolored ones)

2 teaspoons  sea-salt
¼- 1/2 cup of water (I use distilled)

4  large cloves of garlic

3 tablespoons of tahini paste
Juice of 2 large lemons
½ cup -¾ cup of  extra virgin olive oil

In a large food processor add tahini, garlic, salt and half of lemon juice, half of olive oil  and blend till paste

Add in half of chick peas,water  and puree

Add  remaining lemon juice,chick peas,oil and puree till creamy. Add a small amount of water and puree if  you desire a thinner hummus.

Serve with toasted pita chips or warm pita bread

Last in refrigerator  in covered container  for one week

This is perfect for the family to make and nutritious. A great way to incorporate beans into ones diet. The real fun begins with toppings you choose.

1 28 oz  can tomato sauce
2 pounds of ground turkey or beef
3 cups chopped onions
5 cloves garlic thru press
2 tablespoons of sunflower or vegetable oil

1 small red pepper pureed or chopped or 1 tablespoon of sweet paprika

5 tablespoons of chili powder
3 tablespoons of  ground cumin
1 teaspoon of Greek oregano
1/4 cup white tequila optional

1 6 oz can of tomato paste

1-2 tablespoons  of sugar, honey
1 tablespoon of el yucateco chipotle sauce
1 can 15 oz each of your favorite beans rinsed and drained – )pinto, dark red kidney, black beans, roman, navy beans, bola rojas)
3-4 dashes of parrot hot sauce
1 cup chicken  stock or 1 Herb ox Chicken boullion cube to 1 cup water
1/4 cup of  white tequila optional
2 tablespoons of fine yellow corn meal

Heat a large  inch skillet to medium -high  heat

add oil

saute onions , garlic and add turkey

separate turkey while cooking

add in tequila, tomatoes, paste, red pepper,  chili powder, cumin and simmer on medium

add in  stock, hot sauce, oregano, beans , sugar simmer 30-35 minutes

check on chili and add a small amount of water if chili becomes too thick half way through cooking time

add in corn meal and mix

when chili becomes thick its ready to serve

Toppings for a bowl of chili can be many.  Shown in bowl is guacamole*,  gypsy sour cream dip* and homemade  fire roasted salsa*  surrounded by all natural tortilla chips.

Other toppings that are great are chopped scallions, plain sour cream, lemon sour cream dip*, yogurt, chipotle dip*, corn, olives, chopped red onion and shreded cheese

* recipes available on this site and The Gypsy Kitchen Cookbook

Serves 4-6

Who doesn’t love chicken soup! Credit to my Italian grandmother for  allowing me to be her sous chef  in the kitchen making numerous pots of soups. I can remember making this soup for the first time on her wood stove in a huge antique pot with a fresh killed chickens from  her chicken coop and picking the garden vegetables.  I have  tweaked the recipe to my tastes  by adding more garlic, thyme and hot sauce. I know she would be proud!

3-5 lbs of chicken with skin on
4-5  peeled carrots cut into bite size pieces
2-3 celery stalks chopped into bite size pieces
4 large Spanish onions cut about 4 cups
6-10 garlic cloves  thru a press- reserve 1 tsp
3 bay leafs
1  tablespoon of fresh thyme leaves off stems or tie 8 sprigs with twine
1/2 cup dry vermouth or dry white wine  optional
6 cups chicken stock or 4 Herb Ox chicken cubes to  6 cups of water
¼ tsp of powdered cloves or 2 whole cloves
1 tablespoon flat leaf parsley shopped
3-5 dashes of Parrot hot sauce optional

2  tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons sea salt
½ tsp of fresh ground black pepper
2  tablespoons grated  Piave, Romano or Parmesen cheese  optional

Heat a large  stock pot on medium heat

Add olive oil, brown chicken pieces, plate chicken.

Add in onions and garlic saute till tender

Return chicken to pot with stock, wine, bay leafs and thyme

cover -bring to a boil

Add  hot sauce,  clove, carrots,  salt, pepper.

reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 3040 minutes till carrots are fork tender

Correct seasoning

Remove cloves, bay leafs and thyme sprigs

Add in remaining garlic

Ladle into bowls, garnish with parsley.  Serve with bowl of grated cheese at table.

Gypsy Juice hot sauce  is a very flavorful and Iam recomming adding some to your chicken soup! Especially if you  want a little heat and feeling a bit under the weather!

With the release of my first cookbook, many of you have asked what my cookbook The Gypsy Kitchen Cookbook about?  And many thought it was a cookbook devoted to cooking with wine & cheese since I own a very popular gourmet wine and cheese shop.  But this is not the case. I was recently asked by the press what my style of cooking was and I had to ponder for the answer. I decided to get back to them in a few days, as I needed a time to think about my cooking style.

I was asked did I cook Italian and French because of my heritage? Was it Americana? Canadian? Southern, Southwestern? Caribbean, South American? Mexican?As I have lived and visited many of these places? Could my cooking style be more  Indian, Vietnamese, Thai or Asian, Greek or Mediterranean? Yet, no one cuisine came to mind. I am self taught and  have learned to cook many cuisines from these country’s while relishing their spices and seasonings  from these  marvelous lands. Could I be more Spanish or Portuguese influenced? It eventually came to me… that my style and love of food and cooking  should be categorized as World Fusion. It may be a music term, but I am claiming it to be my own style of cooking. So that is what my cookbook The Gypsy Kitchen is about!

I adore appetizers, small plates, tapas,BBQ, salads and soups,  fantastic olive oils and vinegar and spices from afar.  I  incorporating unusual and common everyday ingredients into my repertoire and  some times heat. I love texture, crunchy, creamy, crisp and  full flavor foods. I love my butter and cream, sea salt , sea food,  legumes and grains.   I  believe: That variety is the spice of life. I  guess I am one of those  gourmand’s who lives to eat but I am one who is respectful of calories at the same time.

My book is about my passionate love for foods whether they be in vegetable, meat, pasta, or appetizer, sauce, seafood or in condiment form! I love food and want to share my passion  with the world.   My recipes demonstrate how easy and simple cooking real food can be. In addition to my love of cooking and  desiring more from the one dimensional  main stream hot sauces offered in the market, I  developed my own unique hot sauce Gypsy Juice.  My recipe was  in such demand at store level I could no longer produce it in small batches, I needed to go into manufacturing. When producing this hot sauce I choose  intense flavors, quality ingredients, depth and complexity in the finish. You could say  I created a monster,  a hot sauce almost like a fine wine but in  sauce form. A hot sauce that was not too hot, but would compliment most foods.  I am excited,  patiently waiting to hear the ooh’s and ah’s and until the whole world tries Gypsy Juice and the recipes!

My goal is to awaken your pallets, encourage you to try new and different foods and flavors…. To introduce you to a world of excitement thru food so you will never ever ever be bored on your plate again!

Happy Cooking!

Happy Eating!

Lisa Lamme’

Makes 22-24 wonton’s

I just adore crab rangoon and many of us foodies love lobster so why not lobby rangoon! These are crispy and delicious and really take no time at all. Guaranteed to disappear once  served!

5 oz of cooked lobster meat drained dried & chopped (shrimp or crab can be substituted)

Assembling wonton

Test oil by adding a single wonton sheet, sheet will sizzle and float to top when oil is ready

Fry 4-5  wonton  in batches, do not crowd them in pan

Serves 4-6

It seems Chayote is eaten in many countries: India, Vietnam, South America and Australia and goes by many names. I believe once you try Chayote for the first time you will incorporate this interesting vegetable in your diet always. The remarkable thing about this pear shaped squash has a beautiful honey-dew melon  green color when cooked and has a firm but soft texture. I adore its delicate flavor. A great alternate squash. Chayote can be stir fried, baked, eaten raw in salads or grilled.  Reminiscent to zucchini but with a slightly firmer texture.

1 ½ -2 lbs of Chayote peeled and remove small core cur into cubes

4 cups water

1 tablespoon of salt

Bring water and salt to a boil

Cook chayote for 12-13 minutes till  fork tender

Drain

Top with butter or olive oil , salt & pepper or a  lemon tarragon vinaigrette