Captiva with the Beni Family

The Beni Family Culinary Adventure with Chef Ben and Pastry Chef Jenny

Feb 14-21

Captiva Island

The Beni Family, what a great family, all 15 of them. It was a pleasure cooking for them on their vacation. They love to eat, they love bold flavors, and they eat a lot! (which is good) Jenny and I had a lot of fun working for them. Between sessions of washing dishes and cleaning up, Jenny was baking everything she could think of. From caramel short bread squares to cookie pie, cookie bars, cupcakes, brownies, lemon squares, etc!
There was no question; the Beni’s knew what they wanted to eat and how they wanted it prepared. For example: Their lamb had to be crispy on the outside and just a little pink on the inside. Their Meat had to be medium rare to medium, but not too pink but not too well done. Their decaffeinated Tetly iced tea had to made with bottled water and don’t forget the lemon slices on the side! And the bacon, it haaaad to be crispy.

Day 1

Hor’ Devoures

Mini Lamb burgers

Antipasto Platter (my hummus, peppered salami, cheddar cheese, carrots, Mary’s gone crackers)

Buffet

Arugala with roasted mushrooms, pine nuts and lemon vinaigrette

Orzo with grilled asparagus, peas, scallions, feta, olives, roasted yellow and orange peppers

Grapefruit marinated hanger steak with my chimichurri

Grilled Gulf shrimp and pineapple skewers slathered with my pesto

Faccacio bread

Dessert

Jenny’s white chocolate, macadamia, dried cran cookies and semi and milk chocolate cookies

Day 2

Hor’ Devoures

Clams casino

Oysters with my minionette

Rosemary cashews

Buffet

Loin lamb chops with truffled caramelized onions

Caesar salad

Roasted cherry tomatoes

Crab mashed potatoes

Dessert

Ice cream pie 

Jenny’s chocolate truffles

Day 3

Lunch

BLTA (Bacon, lettuce, tomato, and avocado) make your own sandwiches

Hor’ Devoures

Rainbow trout caviar dip

My home made Guac/salsa

Sauteed shrimp wih my pesto

Buffet

Mixed greens with lemon vinegrette

Truffled tater tots

Veggie towers (zuch, port, spinach, goat cheese, orange pepper, olive)

Rib eye steaks

Dessert

Key lime pie

Jenny’s mocha brownies

Day 4

Hor’ Devoures

Asparagus wrapped with procuito

Crispy sausages

Buffet

BBQ Ribs (margo’s recipe)

BBQ Chicken

Baked beans

Potato salad

Cole slaw

Corn bread with cheddar

Dessert

Jenny’s homemade apple tart with vanilla ice cream

Day 5

Hor' Devoures

Huge cheese platter

Buffet

Mixed green salad with tons of veggies

Lobster ravioli with a vodka cream sauce

Panko crusted grouper with sauteed spinach and a pineapple salsa

Dessert

White chocolate coconut cake

Day 6

Hor' devoures

White Stergeon and American Stergeon Caviar

Ben's Crab cakes

Eggplant dip

Caesar salad

Sauteed corn and asparagus with truffle salt from France

Pork tenderloin with a whole grain mustard horseradish sauce

Tortellini with my pesto and toasted pine nuts

Dessert

Jennys's cookies, brownies and caramel squares

Day 7

Hor’ Devoures

Baked salami

Baked Brie in puff pastry with apricot preserves

Antipasto platter

7 layer dip

Buffet

Fajita night

Dessert

Ice cream sundae bar

The Best Beach Sandwich

The Best Beach Sandwich
Serves 3-4

Jenny, Marc and I made this sandwich on our last day in St. Maarten. What made it so memorable was the freshness of all the ingredients. All the vegetables were locally grown and purchased from the farmers market. Most importantly, the baguette was taken right out of the oven! My advice to you is to try and get the freshest baguette available to you (if possible). Ours came from a French bakery in Marigot.

Ingredients
1 Fresh Baguette (sliced in half lengthwise)
3 oz good crumbled goat cheese
1 avocado (peeled, halved, and sliced in half moons)
1 Cucumber (sliced)
2 Tomatoes sliced thin
1 small red onion
10 thin cut slices procsuiito or a good ham
2 oz baby arugela
½ cup sprouts (optional)
¼ cup good Mayonnaise
¼ cup Dijon Mustard
Truffle salt
Tin Foil


Directions
1. Place 3 sheets of tin foil on the counter wide enough and long enough to wrap the whole baguette
2. Place both sided of sliced baguette on tin foil and spread a thin layer of mustard on one side of the bread and the mayonnaise on the other side. A good hummus can be added as well.
3. Layer goat cheese, avocado, cucumber, tomato, ham, arugela, and spouts along the whole baguette making sure each bite will include all ingredients
4. Sprinkle truffle salt along whole sandwich if you feel fancy and a tiny bit of a good balsamic vinegar wont hurt this.
5. Place top on sandwich making sure nothing falls out
6. Wrap tightly with tin foil (smooshing it down a little is actually a good thing)
7. Cut in thirds or fourths depending on the number of people you are feeding
8. Bring it with you to wherever you are hungry for something simple, fulfilling, and amazing! The beach works best!!!!!!!

First Party of 2009 (John's 60th Bday)

We had our first party of 2009, which went off without a hitch. The food was actually amazing despite me being a little rusty. Jenny was her old self, dressed in a beautiful purple dress and looking beautiful. Many times while she was passing hors D’oeuvres I could hear her laugh from the kitchen and I had to go interrupt her conversations, make her stop talking to the guests and continue passing the food. It’s annoying but cute..

Thirty-one people attended the party and we knew many of them from previous parties in Nantucket and Longmeadow. Although, it was nice to see so many familiar faces, it was hard for me to concentrate on the cooking! I wanted to catch up with everyone but knew I had some serious cooking to do. The tables were set beautifully in a nautical theme with seashell place cards.

The menu:

Passed Hors D’oeuvres
Passed Seared Tuna on a round tortilla chip with avocado and sweet chili sauce
Mushroom Tarts
Tortilla tucks
Pigs in blankets

Buffet
My Caesar salad
Orzo salad-laurel’s recipe
Potato salad-Ginnys Recipe
Marinated and grilled flank steak with truffled caramelized onions
Grilled shrimp and pineapple skewers with my homemade pesto
Faccacio bread

Dessert
Cupcakes
Ginnys famous cookies