PREPARATION

Bring 1 1/4 cups water to a boil with the lime zest and cinnamon stick. Add the sugar and stir until dissolved. Reduce heat to a bare simmer and cook 15 minutes. Remove the cinnamon stick and lime peels and strain mixture through a coffee filter. Cool to room temperature. Beat the egg yolks until frothy. Beat in the condensed and evaporated milks, sugar syrup and rum. Refrigerate at least 8 hours before serving.
Yield: 16 servings

PREPARATION

In a saute pan, place olive oil and chopped garlic, stirring until golden. Cook ground chicken on medium heat, stirring constantly. Add dry ingredients (reserving the raisins, eggs, and cheese) and cook for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, saute the onions with olive oil until caramelized and add cooking wine. Add caramelized onions to chicken and stir mixture together; continue cooking over rnedium heat and add salt and pepper to taste. Add 2 cups boiling water to ground chicken to tenderize and cook for an additional 15-20 minutes or until water evaporates. Remove excess liquid and add the remaining ingredients (raisins, chopped eggs, and cheese). Stir well and allow mixture to cool. Stuff empanada shells with mixture, adding one medium-sized pitted olive per empanada. FoId over crust and close using fork to pinch together or crimping method. Empanadas can be baked immediately or frozen for future use. If frozen, do not defrost prior to baking; brush with egg mixture and bake as follows. To bake, beat one egg and brush over top and bottom of empanada and place on parchment paper-lined cookie sheet in center oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until crust is golden-brown. Beef empanadas can be made using ground beef for this recipe.
Yield: 24-36 empanadas, depending on size of pastry shell

TOMATO SAUCE
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 onion, peeled, diced
1 tablespoon garlic, peeled, chopped
2 cups canned red peppers, do not strain
2 cups canned tomatoes, do not strain
1/2 tablespoon kosher salt
In a large pot add the vegetable oil and bring to a medium/high heat. Sauté the onion and garlic until caramelized. Once golden, add the canned tomatoes and the canned peppers. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Cook on a low heat for 1 hour and stir every so often.
Remove from the heat, add to a blender and puree until smooth. Season with kosher salt.
Yield: 4 portions
GOAT CHEESE CREAM
1/4 cup goat cheese
2 tablespoons sour cream
Place the goat cheese and sour cream in a food processor and pulse until smooth.
Yield: 4 portions

BACON VINAIGRETTE
1 pound bacon
2 cups chili vinaigrette (recipe above)
3/4 cup sugar
1 ounce salt

Cut bacon into small, thin dices. Place into cold pot and set over very low heat. Cook until mostly rendered. Add sugar and salt. Continue to cook until the rest of the bacon is rendered out. Add chili vinaigrette. Cook until most of vinegar is cooked out and bacon vinaigrette is thick. Let cool to room temperature.

YUZU FOAM
2 cups yuzu juice
Pinch of soy lecithin

Bring ingredients to a simmer.
Stir until lecithin is dissolved and let cool. Whisk or use immersion blender to create foam-like texture.

Yield: 4-6 servings

HERBED GOAT CHEESE
Remove cheese from refrigerator and allow to soften. Place the cheese into a food processor with the lemon juice, tarragon, oregano and half the scallion greens. Blend on medium speed until it starts to come together, then on high until the cheese becomes a bright pastel green color.
Season with salt to taste.

GOLDEN RAISINS
Place the golden raisins into a small pot, cover with rose water, bring to a simmer and shut off the flame. Let the raisins cool inside the rose water for at least half an hour.

PLATING
Place a medium dollop of the herbed goat cheese onto the bottom of the plate. Spread the cheese using the back of the spoon to make a "swoosh."
Toss 1/2 cup of the diced red beets in a bowl with sherry vinegar and 1/2 tablespoon of raisins.
Season with salt to taste. Place beets on top of the herbed goat cheese, straining it of any residual liquid from the bowl as you plate. Crumble plain goat cheese on top of the beets. Add a few pinches of chopped toasted pistachios and the remaining scallion, sliced into thin rings.

Yield: 2 servings

PREPARATION

If you have a butcher who will grind the meat for you, have him combine the beef, veal and pork in the grinder. If not, mix the meats together in a large bowl. Add the garlic, cheese and parsley.
Beat the eggs and add them to the mix. Gently mix with your hands. Break the bread into bitesize pieces and let soak in the milk until soft. Add the softened bread and milk to the mix. Add breadcrumbs. Salt and pepper aggressively. With an ice cream scooper or a large spoon dunked in water, form meatballs dipping hands into the water each time so the meat is smooth and wet as you roll it. Heat 1/2 cup of the olive oil in a large skillet, preferably a cast iron one. Fry one marble-size meatball to taste for seasoning. Add more cheese, salt or pepper as needed. Fry meatballs four or five at a time. Do not crowd the pan. Turn them gently so that all sides brown to a nice golden color. They will still be pink in the center. Do not overcook them. They will continue to cook in tomato sauce.
Let them drain on layers of paper towels until they are ready to go for a swim in sauce.

Yield: About 18-24 meatballs

SALSA
1 1/4 cups diced mango
1 1/4 cups diced strawberries
1 cup diced avocado
3/4 cup diced cucumber
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

ORANGE-YOU-GLAD YOGURT SAUCE
1/2 cup low-fat plain yogurt
3 tablespoons orange juice
1/2 teaspoon orange zest

Yield: 4 servings

STUFFING
Thinly slice shrimp and mix with crab. Take one egg yolk and whip in coconut oil, Key West seafood spice, touch of Dijon mustard and sea salt to make fresh mayo. Fold seafood into mayo gently and stuff lionfish. Bake at 370 degrees for 18-23 minutes depending on fish size.

DEMI GLACE
While waiting, pour the Demerara sugar into the pot over medium-low heat and stir continuously until it first liquifies and then burns black. Once blackened, add the shrimp shells and heads and stir until coated. Then add white wine, stir, and add enough water so the shrimp shells and heads are covered by roughly one inch of water. Then add the chopped cilantro. Raise temperature and let it come to a rolling boil, thicken with the cornstarch, and then strain - separating the heads and shells from the sauce.

SAGE BUTTER SAUCE
2 ounces unsalted butter
5 green leaves of fresh sage
Salt to taste

In a large sauté pan, add the butter and the cut sage and let simmer until the butter is just melted. Add the salt.

Yield: 6 servings

PREPARATION

Blend together bananas, eggs, sugar and oil. Add sifted dry ingredients and mix only until blended. Bake 1 hour at 325 degrees in small loaf pans.

MERINGUES

INGREDIENTS

5 large egg whites (1/3 cup) at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon lime juice

PREPARATION

Preheat the oven to between 400ºF and 450ºF (see note). Line two 13 x 18 x 1-inch baking sheets with parchment paper or a nonstick liner. Using a hand beater or stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites on low speed until foamy, about 1 minute. Increase the speed to medium-low and add the sugar one tablespoon at a time until the meringue holds soft peaks, about 5 minutes. Add the lime juice. Gradually increase the speed to high and continue to beat the meringue until it forms glossy, firm peaks, an additional 3 to 5 minutes. Using a pastry bag fitted with the star attachment, pipe the meringues onto the prepared baking sheets in the desired shape or drop small mounds onto the sheet with a spoon.
Place both baking sheets into the preheated oven, close the door, and immediately turn the oven off. Leave the oven unopened for at least 8 hours or up to 12 hours.
NOTE: The oven should be preheated to 400ºF for small meringues and 450ºF for large rmeringues. Prepare all the baking sheets before opening the oven. Once it is preheated, it should only be opened once to insert all the baking sheets at once.

Yield: 32 small meringues or 8 large meringues