The Armenian Wedding, On a Single Plate

Alright well this is less of a recipe and more of a system – if that makes any sense. What I mean is, the components of this dish are considered classics, with different “recipe like” variations – so versus breaking down how much salt, pepper, herbs or blah blah blah go into this dish, I’d prefer explaining it’s unique presentation.

Did I mention that I am Armenian? No, well check it out, as far as “being Armenian” conversations go, I can go on tangents forever, remnant of lines hugging a sine curve in a calculus math problem. But in this case what you need to know is that Armenians throw huge weddings, & at these events are TONS OF FOOD, from pickled veggies to salads & BBQed kabobs to whole fried fish. I love it & hate it at the same time. Why? Cuz I’m sick of the same old stuff over & over. So here I have combined certain elements of the Armenian Wedding table & put them on one plate – strategically. 3 kinds of shish kabob over pita bread (pork, chicken, beef), a yogurt dip (commonly known as tdzadziki), a typical greek style veggie salad, roasted potatoes, fresh herbs, and of course, a shot of whiskey. Does that count as a recipe? Oh well, it does to me.

Recipe and photo graciously provided by Nick Mouradian of the Original Kabob Factory.

K12 Team Nick Mouradian

Zucchini Patties with Remoulade

Alright so we felt like trying some veggie food experiment, and all we had to work with was zucchini, potato, broccoli, cabbage and mushrooms. Quite honestly it wasn’t set out to be a veggie experiment actually, but we didn’t have any meat – so here is what we did.

First, peel and grate both the potatoes and zucchini. Then we sautéed some fennel, onions, and garlic with some grapeseed oil and finished with a squeeze of orange juice and a bunch of chopped cilantro. Let that cool and then mix with the potatoes+zucchini and add one egg plus some seasoning (salt, pepper, etc.). To cook, coat with flour and shallow fry. So that’s the patty/cutlet/fritter whatever, wait until the end to make those by the way.

Next, steam some broccoli, sauté a few mushrooms and make a cabbage salad. Steamed broccoli is teamed broccoli, and a cabbage salad is simply finely chopped cabage with some type of herb vinaigrette. The mushrooms require a garlic butter that you make by simply blending fresh garlic and butter. Cook the mushrooms on high heat and add small amounts of the butter at a time throughout the cooking process.

The sauce is quite easy, since it’s more of a dressing than a sauce. In a blender, combine oil, orange juice, sundried tomaotes and dijon mustard until fluid and season with salt and white pepper.

Put all of these components on a plate with some type of sloppy direction (organized sloppy that is) and serve with a glass of ice cold pomegranate juice.

Recipe and Photo graciously provided by-Nonee Alexandra of K12. Nonee is neither a cook nor a chef. But she likes to experiment with food, and that’s all that matters.

Open Faced Pulled Piggy

We love pulled pork, so we tend to incorporate it (somehow) into every event we cater. And while we’re on the topic of confessions, let’s just be open about it and lay it all out? Pork is cheap, which means we could buy the organic grain fed product without “cry me a rivering.” That’s one. Secondly, pulled pork really doesn’t require much skill to pull off (pun intended) – all you need to do is season it with your favorite dry rub, give it a quick sear & then blast in the oven covered with aluminum (and braising liquid) until it turns into shreddable goodness. Forgive me father, for I have sinned. I took the easy way out, once again. Sorry.

After handling the pork, we move onto choosing a base. I like to use ciabatta because it’s light, neutral and provides a good chew – necessary when serving pulled pork sandwiches. Toast the bread, then cut it, and lightly brush with garlic/lemon butter. The slaw consists of napa cabbage, purple cabbage, cilantro and a mayo-less Red-White-Blue style vinaigrette. For this one, we kept it simple – olive oil, sherry vinegar, salt, pepper, paprika.

Put that all together, and serve with a cocktail napkin so they can stay classy while munching on some good old pulled piggy.

Recipe and photo provided by Hovel Mouradyan of Kitchen12000.

Shrimp BLT on Crostini

These little guys are a hit at any cocktail party, or as an appetizer/finger food before dinner. They couldn’t be easier to make either. Start off by toasting a thin slice of baguette bread (or anything that makes you happy) and brushing with melted garlic butter. Top the little toast points with some micro greens, a slice of tomato, wedge of bacon and of course a piece of sauteed shrimp. I’d like to elaborate more on this one, but that’s really all it takes.

Photo by H.Blikian with commentary by A.Bakti of K12 – Kitchen1200: Join the Revolution.

NY Steak & Eggplant Fries

The New York was seasoned with salt & pepper, pan seared and served medium rare – only fitting right? The sauce was a BBQ sauce we picked up from Whole Foods that was stupid expensive. It needed some doctoring, so we added a whole tomato, glass of white wine, some toasted fennel, a few garlic cloves and a spoonful of agave nectar. That all got blended and strained through a fine mesh.

Now on the south-east side of this 4 sided ceramic podium you’ll find our favorite “pretend to be healthy” food – eggplant fries. To make these, find the biggest eggplants at the market, peel them, and cut 1” by 4” wedges from the middle cross sections. Batter those with a classic flour, egg & panko triple threat – then deep fry. We like to throw some herbs to provence into that panko to give it a little bit of that “bitch get off me” flavor. If you’d rather avoid such mouth water bravado, just keep it simple – salt + pepper.

The plating is up to you, so have fun. You’ll notice that we like to get all Frank Lloyd Wright about it when we can – not saying we did so here, but you get the picture.

Recipe and photo provided by Steve Scherer of Kitchen12000.