Surf and Turf v3

Surf: Pan-fried Mahi Mahi with Avocado, Tomato and Pistachio

Turf: Grilled Beef Tenderloin on Sweet Potato round, Cauliflower Puree and Blackberry Port Sauce.

Black Friday Dinner Party

This has become a bit of a tradition for the past few years. I have not always done a dinner on Black Friday but have usually had an "Immigrant Dinner" for all of the ex-pats that don't have families in town. I think it has got progressively more complicated and I really bit off a lot this year with many recipes being first attempts and others being multi-day preparations. Anyhow the menu is at the left. Hopefully it can be clicked on because for some reason I can never figure out how to have the image be expanded.

From the Sea...

King Crab Summer Rolls, Warm Tomato Water with Prawns

The summer rolls were out of the October or November issue of Gourmet. They consisted of King crab leg meat, julienned daikon, carrot and cucumber, cilantro and a sauce made with avocado, mayo and tobiko. This was all wrapped in rice paper and served with a ponzu dipping sauce.

The warm tomato water is simply 5 pounds of tomatoes, pureed and then left to strain for many hours so all you are left with is the clear run juice of the tomato. This has a very mild flavor. I sauteed the shrimp with butter and a bit of garlic and parsely.

Wine pairing for this ended up being the Spanish sparkling and also a Gloria Ferrer Rose.

From the Air...

Duck Confit with Pomegranate-Ancho Chile Sauce

Pear and Beet Napolean with Ginger Vinaigerette

I actually had 4 confit duck legs in the freezer but alas that was not enough so I ended up doing 3 more. Confit legs are not actually difficult (if you have rendered duck fat on hand!) but they are a commitment with 24 hours of curing, a couple hours of cooking, they always improve with rest and then pan searing for final serving. The sauce was pomegranate juice and dried ancho chiles added to a caramel and then reduced down. I can't remember if there was anything additional or not but it was sweet with a hint of smoky spice.

The accompanying salad was roasted beets and red anjou pears cut into disks and marinated separately in a fresh ginger and rice vinegar mixture. They were then stacked and topped with a bit of the vinaigrette and shredded granny smith apple.

This was my favorite dish of the night. Duck was incredibly tender and the New Zealand Pinot Noir we had with it was a good match.

Intermezzo...

Pineapple Granita

No picture on this one. Just fresh pineapple diced and cooked in a simple syrup, then blended and strained. Added some gelatin and then froze. Scraped out with a fork. This was absolutely delicious for the amount of prep. It could have easily been dessert as the remainder got polished off after anyway.

From the Sty...

Pork Belly with Asian Chile Glaze

Sweet and Sour Red Cabbage

Ok, I must have been getting tipsy by this point because there is no picture here. It basically looks like other pork belly dishes I have cooked. I tried a new recipe out of the same Gourmet magazine mentioned above that called for curing the pork belly overnight, braising it, then pressing it for 12 hours and then grilling it while basting with a glaze. Cabbage was just red cabbage braised for an hour with some sugar and balsamic vinegar.

This was the most disappointing to me and not because of the flavor of the pork belly which was still very moist or the taste of the glaze which was a lime juice, fish sauce, chili glaze. The main thing was the call to grill the pork bellies. I followed the recipe exactly and the problem I see is that using a grill doesn't give the surface contact with the layer of fat to render the fat off. As a result you have a very small portion of the main cap of fat that is crispy and then a lot of excess uncrispy fat which doesn't have the most pleasant texture. I also don't get the pressing unless it is to just try to get the belly to be a consistent thickness for grilling. I would do the Asian style glaze and maybe the pressing but say NO! to grilling with pork belly.

Wine was a Rioja Reserva which was spectacular with this.

From the Land...

Rack of Lamb Cutlets

Elk Sausage Cassoulet, Green Beans with Tomato Sauce

I am having to re-type this whole section because my f***ing mouse is broken!! I must have been getting even more tipsy now since the photo is entirely out of focus. The plating wasn't spectacular anyway so I only took one pic. The good: Lamb was cooked perfect in a spice crust, pan seared and roasted, cassoulet was very hearty and nice, green beans were...the token veggie. The bad: I forgot to make the sauce for the lamb. At the end of the day it didn't matter but we are now on a bottle count of 6.

Wine for this was really the 2002 Claret as I thought the Robusto would be too overpowering. I was right. The Claret paired nicely and the Robusto, at 17.5% alcohol, was responsible for me feeling crappy in the morning.

Dessert...

Chilled Strawberry Soup with Fresh Mint Ice Cream

Again no picture :-(.

I had this EXACT same dessert at KAA Restaurant in Brazil. (http://www.kaarestaurante.com.br/) It was so light and refreshing that I had to try and reproduce it. The mint ice cream used a lot of mint leaves but also the bruised stems infused in syrup to flavor it. The mint leaves were blanched and refreshed to preserve color then blended with the strained infused syrup. The result is a vibrant green, sweet minty concoction. Then this is added to a custard mixture and thrown into an ice cream maker.

Strawberry soup was made by cooking the strawberries with sugar in a well-sealed double boiler (or a bowl with saran wrap set in a frying pan with water). The strawberries release all of their juice and color and then you add star anise, orange zest and mint cool this in an ice bath and strain.

We served this with a very tasty Sonoma white port.

That and a glass of grappa wrapped up this meal. Good friends and good fun!

Surf and Turf v2

This seems to be a popular variation of a meal for me lately. I like the aspect of getting two totally different things on your plate. This version of Surf and Turf has rack of lamb and halibut.

There is quite a bit going on here. Rack of lamb is just olive oil, rosemary, salt and pepper, pan seared and finished in oven. Halibut is just pan-seared. The rest of the plate has baked rounds of sweet potato, pureed yukon gold potatos, steamed asparagus, some random greens and some dollops of a cranberry sauce made with simple syrup and fresh cranberries.

November 13, 2009 - Sweet Potato/Pumpkin Bisque, Black Cod and Chicken Confit

Sweet Potato and Pumpkin Bisque - From a tip from the chef at The Kitchen restaurant in Sacramento I added some Arborio Rice to the usual suspects to give this a bit more texture. Since I called this a bisque and not a soup, the texture made straining this even more of a pain in the ass but it turned out to be very velvety. I thought it needed a lil' something-something so I added some homemade pesto that I had in the fridge to it. The arborio rice ended up giving it a consistency like a cream soup but with no added cream similar to the way it makes a risotto creamy.

Wine pairing: 2004 Rodney Strong Chardonnay

Pan-seared Black Cod with Spaghetti Squash, Spinach, Pureed Cauliflower and Gremolata Sauce:

Black Cod seems to be used in substitution for the expensive and hard to come by Chilean Sea Bass (or more accurately Patagonian Toothfish). I got this from Pacific Ocean Marketplace frozen. I find (as with their sea bass) that it retains a lot of water so I spend a lot of time trying to get the excess water out so it can sear properly. Veggies were chosen because they were in the house and I am not sure where I got the idea for the Gremolata sauce. It is made with the typical garlic, parsely and lemon zest then added to a reduced lemon juice and chicken stock blend.

Wine pairing: Domaine Le Capitan Vouvray

Chicken Confit, Brussel Sprouts with Bacon, Steamed Broccoli and Port Demi-Glace Sauce:

I had a half a chicken that I had deboned leftover and decided I would try using the rendered duck fat in my freezer to make a confit. Chicken cooked for about 1.5hr in the duck fat was then drained and pan-seared to crisp it up. Brussel sprouts sauteed with some pancetta and some steamed broccoli rounded this out. The sauce under the chicken is a port and demi-glace reduction.

Wine pairing: 2000 Prado Enea Gran Reserva Rioja

November 8, 2009 - Oysters of a Chicken

Oysters of a chicken...hmmm. I saw Morimoto on Iron Chef carve these out of a pheasant and was intrigued. Apparently this is suppose to be the most tender piece of meat on the chicken. I had a whole chicken that I was quartering and deboning to use for stock and meals this week and I decided it would be worth while looking into this. The oyster sits in the scallop of the "hip" of the chicken where the thigh bone connects in. Go to this link for an explanation of it: http://yeschefnochef.blogspot.com/2008/03/oysters-on-chicken.html

I think this is something that is much easier comprehended with demonstration but I did fine based on the description above. I quick marinated the two "oysters" with sesame oil, soy sauce, black vinegar and cognac and pan seared them quickly. In hindsight it would have made more sense to do a morsel from a number of different parts of the chicken to compare since, although it tasted great, I can not necessarily confirm whether or not this is the best part of the chicken.

Moral of the story though is that this piece of meat has been getting left on almost piece of fowl that I take apart so it is definitely a new discovery.

November 1, 2009 - Winter Melon Soup, Seared Scallop, Korean Tacos, Braised Pork Bellies, Pear Sorbet and Sake Granita

Winter Melon Soup - I had never cooked with this before but saw it at the Asian grocery store and decided to pick it up. Winter Melon is more like a squash than a melon and the Chinese use it more as a vegetable. Apparently it is an extremely healthy food. Traditional soups made with this have some form of pork. I still had cured pork cheeks so I used this diced as a bit of fat and then added the melon and chicken stock that I infused with lemongrass, ginger, kaffir lime leaves and star anise. Garnished with cilantro. Very tasty and apparently very healthy!

Seared Scallop on Tomato Ceviche - Pretty straightforward here. I did marinate the scallop with some curry powder and olive oil and seared it. Topped on diced tomato with lime juice and the fancy little peeled cucumber bowl. A white Cotes de Rhone as accompaniment.

Korean "Tacos" - I bought some extremely thinly sliced eye of round beef from the asian grocery store. This reminded me of the Korean BBQ style of meat. It is hard to see on the white plates but I thinly slided daikon radish with a mandolin, seared the beef quickly and then added watercress leaves season with sesame oil and salt and pepper.

Braised Pork Bellies with Parsnip Puree and Enoki Mushroom Bundles - God I love pork bellies!! My typical prep but used the asian style infused chicken stock as the braising liquid with leeks, celery and carrots and added a bit of soy, chinese black vinegar, honey and ponzu. Braised for 4 hours then cooled and then pan-seared to crisp it up. The enoki mushrooms were held together with a strip of prosciutto and green onion tie and the sauce is reduced braising liquid.

Pear Sorbet, Sake Granita and Asian Pear Grapefruit salad - Took this recipe out of a Bon Apetit magazine. Bartlett pears poached in simple syrup then pureed and put in the sorbet maker. Sake was mixed with some gelatin and then thrown in the freezer. After setting it was scraped in a granita with a fork. This was topped with grapefruit and thinly sliced asian pear that was marinated in simple syrup.

October 30,2009 - Asparagus Bisque; Mussels in Belgian Ale, Fennel, Lemon; Braised Lamb Shanks and Pan Fried Monkfish, Pear Sorbet with Sake Granita

Asparagus Bisque with Lemon Foam - my first foray into a bit of molecular product. Used Soy Lecithin to produce a stable foam to top the dish. The soup was just asparagus, potato and onion with chicken stock then pureed and strained to make a light bisque. The lemon foam was actually a very good tang and contrast with this so will definitely do it again. The lecithin granules did not dissolve as I expected so I will need to experiment a bit with getting this to dissolve or buy some liquid lecithin.




Mussels with Belgian Ale, Fennel and Lemon Zest - No picture but this is one of the best mussel preparations I have done. Sauteed onion and Fennel, added some lemon zest and a Hoegaarden white Ale and a bit of cream and steamed the mussels in this. All mopped up with a bit of baguette.


Braised Lamb Shanks with Pan-seared Monkfish: The lamb shanks were braised for 6-8 hours. I didn't really keep track but it was partly overnight and then some. Au jus sauce is the reduced braising liquid with some red wine and port added. I have never cooked with monkfish before this. Very rich in taste and cut a fillet into medallions, dredged with flour and then pan fried in butter. I topped this with some sauteed mushrooms that I had to use up as well.

Check the next post for the dessert dish since I forgot to take a picture again!

October 27, 2009 - Osso Bucco (beef)

Quick write up here: Beef Shank steaks (or Osso Bucco for a cover-all term for and cross cut of shanks). These are braised for a few hours. This is served with spaghetti squash to mimic pasta and a fennel-potato gratin topped with crispy guanciale (see previous posts!) Osso Bucco is topped with a gremolata sans garlic.

Wine match is a Spanish Red from a place that starts with A (not Andalucia!)

October 25, 2009 - Tenderloin Tips

Got some tenderloin tips on sale and just let them sit with a salt and pepper rub then sliced them into mini-steaks, grilled and then put them on L'Atelier potatoes with some sauteed mushrooms and broiled cauliflower and broccoli. Bit of a demi-glace sauce on these to round things out!

October 18, 2009 - Boneless Cornish Game Hens

Cornish Game Hens are something that we always had as kids and I remember when we were in New Zealand, no one had a clue what they were. My dad got me hooked on de-boning poultry and after you have done this with quail and small-birds, it is hard to go back. I can probablyl de-bone a game hen in about 10 min now. I actually used to time this between periods during the NHL games. The other nice thing is that you have all of the bones to do a quick stock and sauce with.

Normally I truss up the birds and BBQ them. This is kind of painful and doesn't work very well so I decided to sandwich two of them together and then I used another cast iron pan to help flatten them out. Bricks wrapped in tin foil would work as well.. I took the stock and reduced it and added some mustard and spice. Brussel sprouts are sauteed with our famous pork jowels from the previous posts.

October 17, 2009: Guanciale Carbonara & Tres Leches

Per the previous post I bought "guanciale" which is cured pork jowels at Marczyck's as well. This is one of these items which I just buy because I have never heard of it and thanks to the internet I can figure out what to make. Adventurous? Kind of.

Since the previous post was halibut cheeks and this is pig cheeks I now dub this "Cheek Weekend"! Just in time for Shan's birthday today. The guanciale is very salty so must be used sparingly. I also added diced chorizo into the sauce as well. This is a simple Carbonara with those meats and I used some parsely and pecorino chees for this. Had a PHENOMENOL 1999 Gran Riserva Rioja with this meal.





Coconut Tres Leches Cake:
This is the GO-TO dessert recipe for a lot of delicious goodness. This is a straight-forward, simple but decadent and addictive dessert. Starts with a simple white cake and then marinated (for lack of a better term) with coconut milk, sweetened condensed milk, rum and evaporated milk. Topping it off is whipped cream and toasted coconut.

October 16, 2009 - Halibut Cheeks with Champagne Cream Sauce, L'Atelier Potatoes and Spinach

Went down to Marczyk's gourmet market today. They had a nice selection of stuff although a tad pricey. http://marczykfinefoods.com/ They also have a wine shop attached to it which couldn't be left untouched! I went down at my friend Omar's advice since they sell bulk rendered duck fat and it is such a pain to make yourself. It definitely extends the process of buying whole ducks another couple of hours. I walked out with a pretty random bunch of ingredients but one of those was Halibut cheeks. I have never cooked these before but have had cod cheeks from the East Coast before.

My inspiration for this dish was a meal I had at the Hotel Uniq (http://www.hotelunique.com.br/)in Sao Paulo, Brazil at the rooftop restaurant called Skye. The dish was a white fish (halibut I think) over pureed potatoes with a champagne caviar sauce.

This was supposed to be the first of a two-course dinner but after seeing how many halibut cheeks I had and how rich I knew this would be it was the main event. The halibut cheeks were just rubbed with salt and pepper, dredged in flour and then pan-fried. The "L'Atelier" potatoes are dubbed so because of the Joel Robuchon restaurant's potatoes that are served in min Le Creuset dutch ovens. I have been to this restaurant at the MGM in Vegas several times and I am sure there is more butter than potatoes in their version. To make mine I boiled some Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled while hot and then forced these through a strainer to mash them. You are supposed to use a tamis (which I don't have) so after the extensive hand cramping from using a spoon and a strainer I had 75% of the potato through. I then warmed through on medium adding butter and heavy cream. This was definitely not a low-cal dish but man are they tasty.

The champagne sauce was supposed to have caviar but...I live in Colorado. Hence no caviar today. Sauteed shallots, add champagne, reduce, add chicken stock, reduce, add cream reduce, mount with cold butter and then add chives. C'est magnifique! I was going to add lemon juice and in hindsight it would have added some nice acidity because of the richness of everything. The spinach was just steamed and rolled in a sushi mat to squeeze out excess water.

This may be one of the richest dishes I have had in ages but was still very delicious and decadent. The Spanish Cava went nice but didn't break through the richness of the dish. I also tried two white Cotes-du-Rhones and an Albarino and one of the Rhone whites was the clear winner for complimenting the dish. The halibut cheeks are bizarre in that they almost have the stringy texture of king crab and the richness of lobster. Not a bad deal IMO for the same price as normal halibut!

October 10, 2009- Moroccan Lamb Sirloin, Couscous, Carrots and Fingerling Potatoes

I found some nice lamb sirloin steaks and I tend to get reasonably complacent when it comes to lamb: olive oil, salt, pepper, rosemary, garlic. Tough to beat. Instead I thought I would do a Moroccan flair to it since I have never made my own Moroccan hot sauce (Harissa).

Lamb is marinated in a spice mix that consisted of cumin seeds, coriander seeds, cloves, cardamom seeds and salt and pepper all roasted and ground.

The Harissa was a subset of that spice mix but with garlic and chili peppers mixed in. I am sure there is something else but I am a week late posting this.

The couscous is pretty straightforward and just has some chopped almonds, parsely and zante currants mixed in. I plated the harissa on top of the couscous since it looked a little too much like an oil storage container in the cylinder without any garnish.

I slightly steamed the carrots and then sautéed with Moroccan spice and a touch of honey. The fingerling potatoes are just roasted. They kind of look like the leftover sausages from a Holiday Inn Express breakfast buffet in the pictures but oh well.

I need to remember to include the wine bottle in the pics so I can remember what we had! I think we ended up having a Ribera del Duero Crianza but do not remember the bodega. This entire meal was a very welcome change to the traditional lamb I usually do and the carrots were probably the surprise winner as far as a keeper.

September 28, 2009 - Arrachera con Tres Salsas y Chiles en Nogada

Arrachera con Tres Salsas:

Arrachera is marinated skirt steak. I marinated it with lime juice, cumin, salt and olive oil and grilled it on the BBQ. The salsa verde is tomatillos, green chiles and cilantro. Salsa rojo is reduced pureed tomatoes and onion with some cumin, paprika and coriander. Crema is creme fraiche with a little lime juice.

Chiles en Nogada:

This is the recipe from Mexico: The Beautiful Cookbook. I have had this dish in Mexico City at Los Girasoles and found it too sweet because it had raisins in the meat mixture so I left them out. The recipe takes roasted poblano peppers that is then stuff with a meat mixture containing pork loin, apple, peach, pear and spices. The stuffed peppers are then dipped in whipped egg whites and pan fried.

Wine pairing: Austrian Gruner-Veltliner

The sauce is a walnut sauce where the walnuts are soaked in milk and then pureed with some creme fraiche. Topping it all off are pomegranate seeds and parsley. This dish has some of the most interesting flavor combinations I have ever had in Mexican cooking. The dish was created to also have the colors of the Mexican flag. There is a story behind the creation of this but I don't feel like looking it up right now.

September 27, 2009 - Lobster Bisque, "Traffic Light" Tomato Salad, Braised Pork Bellies

Lobster Bisque with Roasted Corn, Truffle Oil and Smoked Paprika:

I had tons of the lobster stock left so the bisque was pretty quick and easy to do. Roasted corn seems to be paired with lobster quite often as I would assume the sweetness in complementary to the rich flavor of lobster. I was actually hoping that I could get the corn to float on top but it just sank to the bottom so I served a little on the side entirely for the purposes of the picture.

"Traffic Light" Heirloom Tomato Salad:

I love the visual look of this. There only seems to be a couple months that I can get heirloom tomatoes and I always try to do this in late summer. The tomatoes have olive oil and balsamic reduction, fleur de sel and ground pepper. I wanted to do a basil infused oil but didn't have basil and couldn't be bothered to go to the store.

Braised Pork Belly with Braised Red Cabbage and Sunchoke Puree:

The pork belly was cured for an hour with salt and then braised in a liquid that had a touch of asian flair with ginger and star anise. I then let it cool in the liquid, strained and reduced the liquid and quick seared the fat to crisp it up. The red cabbage was marinated in red wine and then cooked with the wine and a bit of the pork liquid until it carmelized. Sunchokes aka jerusalem artichokes are the tubers of sunflowers and oddly enough...taste like artichoke.

September 26, 2009 - Nathan's version of Surf and Turf

First the surf: The grocery store had these petite Canadian lobster tails so I bought first and decided what to make later. Had heard many times how good the Keller-style butter poached lobster is so wanted to try something like that. Went off of an online version of a recipe from the French Laundry cookbook.

I had lobster stock in the freezer so thawed and reduced 3 cups of that to 1, then added cream and simmered down a bit more. Essentially making lobster bisque. Cooked the orzo until done and then added to cream with chives and mascarpone cheese.

Lobster was poached in a beurre monte which you make by whisking cold butter into just a bit of boiling water to create an emulsion. Time for cooking the raw lobster tails is 8 minutes and they were perfect. Not to blow my own horn but this was the best lobster I have ever had. It is obviously some of the recipe but I think the petite tails are just very tender as well.

Wine was a Pouilly-Fuisse. On to the turf:

Grass-fed tenderloin rubbed with salt and pepper and left to stand for an hour. This was seared in cast iron and then finished in the oven. I thawed some demi-glace I had in the freezer and as the steak rested de-glazed the pan with red wine and port then added some demi-glace and reduced for the brown sauce. This was accompanied by sauteed brussel sprouts and parsnip puree.

Wine was a Spanish Old Vine Garnacha which went extremely well. Was very complementary without being overpowering or under-represented.

September 20, 2009 - Duo of Curry

Some leftover coconut milk and the seafood roadshow at Costco inspired this dinner.

Shrimp curry is an Indian style curry with the shrimp marinated in a Madras style curry powder then cooked in coconut milk.

The Scallop dish is seared scallops served over top of a Thai Green Chili with anaheim peppers and asparagus. Topping it off is a little bit of chilled pickled radish.

A Riesling or Gewurtztraminer would have been great with this but since I currrently have 100 bottles of red wine and no white in the house the accompaniment was a Stella Artois.

September 15, 2009 - Golden Beet Asparugus Salad, Grilled Steak and Veggies

Was looking for recipes involving golden beets (again that I had to use up!) and came across a recipe that used them with an asparagus salad. The recipe had rounds of beets served so I stole the idea of shaved or thinly sliced asparagus and decided to trim the beets as cubes.

Sauces are dotted around the plate: a balsamic reduction and a mayo diluted with lemon juice.

The salad course was definitely the more aesthetic of the plates. Took all the trimmings from the beets and made a beet "ceviche", sauteed brussel sprouts and some grilled cherry tomatoes. To finish off the plate was a piece of USDA Prime New York strip with a blue cheese butter to finish it off.

Wine was a 2004 Priorat (Spain).

September 14, 2009 - Seared Tuna and Cantonese Style Snapper

Appetizer course started out with a couple of small tuna steaks marinated in soy sauce, sake and sesame oil. These are just seared in a cast iron pan and then I serve them with Mache (little hat over the "a"). I got introduced to this nutty green by my friend Martin Trudelle. I usually just toss it in a bit of rice wine vinegar, oil and sugar. It is definitely the go-to green accompaniment for tuna. Only seem to be able to get it at Whole Foods.

A Daiginjo sake waits to be sipped in the background.

Also found NZ pink snapper at Whole Foods and decided to go for the Cantonese Style steamed fish. This is one of my favorite preps for a mild white fish. Steamed with some ginger and then covered in ginger-infused soy, cilantro and green onions (soaked in ice water to make it curly).

I had eggplant in the fridge to use up so lightly salted this up and stir-fryed it in spicy Szechuan red bean sauce.

Farmer's Market Bounty

Colors of all the veggies in this pic are great!

September 9, 2009 - Fresh Tomato and Chicken Pasta with Blue Cheese Bacon Salad

This was another quick, week-night creation based on what was available at the time. Had some organic cherry tomatoes and a bunch of fresh basil from the farmers market that I based this around. Was just going to do a simple basil, tomato, garlic, olive oil dressing for the pasta but decided to get some protein by shredding some roasted chicken breast in as well. This is actually very similar to a pasta on the menu at Bloom that I often order for lunch sans pine nuts.

Also had some beautiful curly leaf green lettuce from the market. It reminded me of the lettuce in these salads in Munich at these lunch places we used to go to. They would always have some type of creamy dressing with them. I have a recipe somewhere for a dressing that is chipotle and adobo sauce/lime/yogurt/sour cream and maple syrup. I substituted Red Hot for the chipotle since I didn't feel like opening up a whole can of chipotles and honey for the maple syrup because I didn't feel like going out to the garage to get the pipe wrench to get the lid off of the maple syrup can. Laziness is the mother of invention... Added some bacon and crumbled blue cheese and was off to the races.

Wine was one of the house specials right now: Grenache from Barossa Valley

September 7, 2009 - Seared Scallops and Pasta with Greens

I will start out by saying that I wasn't terribly impressed by how this meal came together. That said it ended up being very tasty. I was suspect of it right until the end. The best way to describe this is you look in the fridge and take out everything that needs used up and figure out what to do with it. I used a pre-mix citrus and lavender spice rub on the scallops and I got the idea for the pasta from a Bon Apetit article about Kale (instead I used fresh beet greens). I really wanted capellini or angel hair for the pasta but didn't have any so only had whole-grain rotini which I don't really enjoy with a light style sauce.

So after all that complaining everything was actually very tasty. Parmigiano took the pasta over the top and I did a light tomato ceviche to balance the scallops. As for the wine...I am embarassed to say that I didn't have any or don't remember :-(.

Retro! - Chinese 5 Spice Salmon over Julienned Vegetables

This has been a standard for a while. It is actually a pretty quick meal if you are good on a mandolin (and not the musical variety!). The flavor of the Chinese 5 spice is great on the salmon even though you wouldn't think it. I think making your own Five Spice would be the best scenario but in a pinch the store bought stuff will do.

I have julienned these vegetables without a mandolin many times and it is painstakingly tedious! Especially since they reduce to nothing when cooked. Veggies are carrots, leeks and zucchini that are sweated in butter and then with a bit of white wine poured over to finish them off in the oven.

Wine accompaniment on this occasion is a Georges duBouef Beaujolias Villages (slightly chilled).

Retro! - Blackened Halibut and Andouille Sausage Cornbread Stuffing

Had extra halibut to use up from a previous meal and also had some spicy cajun sausage from the farmers market so that is where this pairing came from.

I have a spice mix called Bonedust from the Sticks and Stones cookbook I used for the blackening seasoning. I just melt butter on a plate, dredge the fish in butter and then in the spice and add it to the smoking cast iron pan. I really need to do this outdoors or get a proper fan hood though!

To add a little coolness to the spice of the blackened fish I seed then dice some tomatoes (i think I actually smashed the dice tomatoes with a pestle as well) then add dill, lime juice and some chili sauce to make a tomato salsa.

The stuffing recipe is derived from a Paul Prudhomme recipe that my dad did with his Turducken at Xmas last year. I modify a little bit to use fresh baked cornbread rather than dry bread crumbs. The interesting thing I have learned from Prudhomme's recipes is that he always uses the concept of layering the vegetables. This means that you may split the veggies up into 2 or 3 and add them at different times so you have 2 or 3 different levels of cookedness and flavors.

Wines served were a Veramonte Sauvignon Blanc from Chile and an Alfredo Roca Pinot Noir from Mendoza Argentina.

Sept 6, 2009 - Smoked Brisket and Louisiana Gumbo

I didn't take pictures of these unfortunately. Just hard to make a slab of meat and a bowl of stew look exotic.

Smoked a beef brisket for 5.5 hours using Pecan and Cherry wood. Made a dry rub beforehand that sat on the meat for about 4 hours. Sliced the meat thinly across the grain and then tossed in a sauce made from the pan drippings, ketchup and another bbq sauce I had made.

The okra at the farmers market looked too good to pass up so I decided to make gumbo. I also remembered that I had some Pork Tasso (smoked pork from Louisiana) in the freezer so this ended up being a chicken and pork tasso gumbo. I did the roux to a reddish brown to start since I prefer it this way rather than black, then added the cajun trinity (celery, onions, green peppers) and sauteed, then the chicken, okra, pork, chicken stock and a bottle of amber beer. Used a locally made Caribbean hot sauce for kick (www.pagochea.com) and added file powder to thicken things up.

In hindsight I should have taken pics anyway!

Retro! - Chopped Salad & Grilled Halibut with Mustard Sauce

There are a few pics I have from recent meals (last two weeks) that I thought I would put up here as well.

Chopped Salad: Taken from a recipe found in Edible Hawaiian Islands magazine while on vacation in Kauai. An anything-goes fresh vegetable salad from a Spanish restuaurant called Barracuda(?) in Hanalei. Basically you take anything that is fresh and chop it up fine and toss it with dressing. Very crispy things you blanch slightly. Bought the rings for forming the salad online from Sur La Table.

The halibut is plain and simple: salt, pepper and olive oil then fish meets hot cast iron skillet. The mustard sauce is inspired from a recipe in The French Laundry Cookbook and taken from carolcookseller's blog French Laundry at Home. The veggies are chosen to make the plate colorful more than anything else. Kind of stop light colors with the red, yellow and green I guess. Asparagus has a shaving of parmigiano reggiano on top.

Maiden Post - Trio of Salmon

Thought about doing this blog for a while but am just getting around to it. Guess I thought tonight's dinner was worthy enough to start documenting now! Haven't quite decided on format and content quite yet. May elaborate on where I got ideas from and influences in deciding what dishes I cooked.

Here is tonight's meal:

Trio of Salmon: Salmon and Summer Melon Ceviche with Thai Red Curry Paste and Coconut Milk, Tequila spiked, Alder Smoked Salmon on Shaved Fennel with Fennel/Chive cream cheese, Pan seared Salmon on Pesto-whipped Potatoes, Heirloom Tomato side salad

Wine: Coppola Diamond Label Chardonnay

Details:

Ceviche: I had a summer melon leftover in the fridge and had a side of Wild Coho Salmon. Had an idea for some kind of ribbons of melon salad so started looking around and saw a recipe for ceviche. I did a Fijian style ceviche back in Calgary with coconut milk so had the idea to use coconut milk and thai red chili to add to the flavor. This turned out to be one of the best ceviches I have had. Marinated (cooked) the salmon in a fairly small dice for about 2 hours then drained and added a bit of fresh lime back in.

Smoked Salmon: Based off of a recipe I have done many times but liked the idea of crispy raw fennel underneath and adding a bit of zest, with lime juice, fennel fronds and chives, to the cream cheese.

Pan-seared salmon: The Westin Westminster used to have a King Salmon dish served with pesto gnocchi (I think) and a yellow tomato salad. Using these flavors I decided to add pesto to whipped potatoes and serve the yellow salad on the side due to the size of plate I picked. When doing my whipped potatoes I always thinly slice the potato and then steam/boil in vegetable and chicken stock for extra flavor. You can use a lot less butter and cream doing this.