Le Chef's Kitchen

Last-Minute Weekday Meal: Spicy Asian Salmon over Rice

Drew — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 16:36:34 +0000

This meal has all the hallmarks of great go-to weekday meal: quick, simple, healthy, uses 1 baking dish and one pot, and is knock-your-socks-off delicious. You can stop at the grocery store on the way home, and an hour later, be eating dinner. This recipe was inspired by my friend Zach, who many years ago in college told me about his favorite way to make salmon. It was ridiculously simple (3 ingredients: salmon, soy sauce and brown sugar) and it was phenomenal. Since then I have built on his recipe, done it on the grill, in pans, and in the oven, and have arrived at what I think is my favorite iteration of the dish. The majority of the ingredients are “pantry items”, so usually all I have to buy is fish and fresh veggies:

Spicy Asian Salmon over Rice (serves 2)

Ingredients:

3/4 lb salmon filet or steak
1 cup rice (your choice, I like jasmine)
4 T soy sauce
4 T brown sugar
1 T sesame oil
1 T olive oil
1 T sesame seeds
1 T vinegar
2 shallots, minced (or 1/2 an onion)
1-2 serrano peppers, minced (use one for medium heat, 2 for spicy! Can substitute jalapeno if you can’t find serrano)
3 cloves garlic, minced
pinch of black pepper
vegetables of your choice (I used mini carrots, but snap peas, broccoli, water chestnuts…all will work)

Procedure:

Preheat the oven to 350, and bring water to a boil for the rice (according to the cooking instructions). I usually add a little salt and a pat of butter to my rice (just to make a very healthy grain less healthy, but tastier).

Mix the soy, brown sugar, sesame and olive oils, vinegar, black pepper, and minced pepper, shallots, and garlic together to make the marinade. Score the skin-side of the fish (if using a filet) with a cris-cross pattern. In a baking dish place the fish skin side up, and pour the marinade over the top. Lift the fish so that marinade gets underneath, and be sure to fill the cris-crosses on the fish with marinade and chunks of garlic, pepper, and scallions. Next, nestle the vegetables in around the fish (or all to one side) and spoon marinade over the top of them. This can be done 1-2 hours ahead (refrigerate the fish until ready) or you can pop it in the oven immediately.

When ready to cook, add the rice to the boiling water and cook the fish for 30 minutes.

To serve, portion out the rice into bowls, divide the salmon and vegetables, and ladle sauce over the top.
Enjoy!!

-LeChef

Apricot, Prune and Gorgonzola Stuffed Pork Tenderloin, Wrapped in Prosciutto, with a Mushroom Sherry Sauce

Drew — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 01:31:42 +0000

Quite possibly the longest recipe title to date, today’s post was born from the combination of a simple stuffed pork loin married with one of my favorite appetizers, the “Devil on Horseback”. While there are variations on the theme, the dish as I know it is a fig, stuffed with gorgonzola, wrapped with bacon, and cooked until caramelized. This pork loin dish combines fruit (prunes and apricots) with cheese (gorgonzola) and cured pork (prosciutto) finished with a mushroom sherry sauce. How can you possibly go wrong?

You can buy a whole pork loin for this dish, and butterfly it yourself, but I was feeling lazy and had my butcher do it for me. If you are doing it yourself, you’ll want to use a long, thin, sharp knife (a filet knife for fish is a good one to use). Make an incision along the length of the loin and slowly cut the loin to about 1/4 inch thick as you unroll it. Alternatively you can make an incision halfway through the loin and simply stuff in as much as you can, but this won’t achieve quite the same result as spreading the meat out flat and rolling like a cigar.

Apricot, Prune, and Gorgonzola Stuffed Pork Loin (serves 4):

Ingredients:

1 pork tenderloin, butterflied
1/4 lb gorgonzola, crumbled
1/2 cup sliced dried apricots
1/2 cup sliced prunes
1/4 lb thinly sliced prosciutto
1/2 lb white mushrooms, sliced
1/2 lb shiitake mushrooms, sliced
1/2 stick butter
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup sherry
1 T fresh ch0pped rosemary
1 T flour
salt and fresh black pepper

Procedure:

Heat the olive oil in a skillet large enough to hold the loin over medium heat. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Meanwhile, spread the pork flat on a cutting board, and layer the dried fruit and cheese inside the loin.

Sprinkle with the rosemary, and roll up to form a log. Place the slices of prosciutto underneath the pork loin, and roll to wrap tightly.

Here is what it will look like once wrapped:

Next, place the prosciutto-wrapped loin in the hot skillet, and crisp the prosciutto on all sides (5-10 minutes). You can actually cook the loin in the pan and avoid the oven altogether, but if you are serving this to a crowd you may want to quarter some small potatoes, mince some garlic and shallots, toss them with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and throw them in a roasting pan in the oven to cook while the pork loin crisps. You can then finish the loin in the oven (for approximately 10 minutes) while the potatoes finish up.

While the loin cooks, melt the butter in the other half of the pan, and saute the mushrooms.

At this point you can transfer the meat to the oven, covered in foil, to cook for 1o minutes while you make the sauce. Add the sherry to the mushrooms, and cook for 2 minutes. Push the mushrooms to one side of the pan, and allow some butter and sherry to flow to one corner. Add the flour, and whisk to make a roux. Once smooth, stir in the mushrooms and cook the sauce until slightly thickened. Season with a few turns of fresh black pepper and a pinch of salt. Remove from heat.

Once the pork is cooked, remove and slice. Finish with the mushroom sherry sauce, and serve.

Enjoy!

LeChef

The Cosby Pizza

Drew — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 05:41:47 +0000

A new discovery of mine is that the “centric” channel on my cable network runs The Cosby Show for 10 hours a day on the weekends, along with additional reruns on weekdays, right around the time when I am cooking. If you used to watch The Cosby Show, and haven’t in a while…you should really check it out again. It’s fantastic, and even better as an “adult” instead of a “child”. Lots of good lessons and references I certainly didn’t appreciate when I was 8.

A recent episode featured Dr. Huxtable hiding in his office with a special pizza that he was attempting to keep to himself, given that his family upstairs would have eaten the entire thing if they had found it before him. All the man wants to do is read his paper and eat his pizza in peace. He’s a doctor, and the provider for the family…is that too much to ask?

Dr. Huxtable knew that this would be the fate of his pizza if he didn't take evasive action.

The pizza is as follows: black olives, sausage, anchovies. As soon as I heard that, I wanted to try the pizza. So, tonight, after trivia at Tigin Pub, we decided to have Colony Pizza of Stamford make us a Cosby Pizza.

It was as delicious as it sounds. Anchovies aren’t for everyone, but don’t knock them until you try them!

I will be having the “Cosby Pizza” again. My goal is to get Colony to learn the ingredients to the “Cosby Pizza” so that eventually I won’t have to tell them what to put on it.

The only addition, which is required on all pizzas, is crushed red pepper.

Le Chef

Green Coconuts with Rum

Drew — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 15:38:16 +0000

Yesterday I stumbled across fresh green coconuts in the organic section of Fairway. As a follow up to my post about rum with coconut water, this is the type of coconut that you should use to make the drink properly:

At the Fatty Crab they open these with a really big knife, but I happen to keep a hatchet around for these types of applications, so I used that. However you open it, drain out the coconut water, and mix dark rum (preferably Kraken) in a 50/50 ratio with the coconut water. Pour the drink back into the coconut (you will have extra coconut water…these were full to the brim) and enjoy! Serve with a spoon to scoop out the coconut as you go. Fresh coconuts like this have very soft inner flesh, with an almost custard-like consistency. Enjoy, and pretend you are on the beach!

Le Chef

Smoked Trout Bites

Drew — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 00:55:49 +0000

Ok, so I have to admit that this post is unavoidably related to my recent Valentine’s Day post on caviar. I had leftover blini, and I picked up a whole smoked trout from Fairway, and as such I couldn’t resist making a quick appetizer using the other ingredients that I had on hand for the caviar appetizer. So you, my dear readers, get to hear about a slightly different, and just as delicious, appetizer using those ingredients.

First off, I have to say that one of my favorite smoked fish products is smoked trout. It may actually trump smoked salmon in my “smoked fish hierarchy”. Smoked oysters might be in third place, but it depends upon the mood. If any of you have had a “Low Tide” martini, garnished with a smoked baby clam, perhaps you will understand my love for all things salty, briny, seafoody, and smoked.

Trout, being a freshwater fish, lacks the oily, fishy flavors that sometimes characterize a larger, saltwater fish. It takes to smoking very nicely, and has an amazingly clean, smoky flavor.

Smoked trout will keep for weeks in the fridge, so you can always have some around for those last-minute hors d’ourves. I served some dill schnapps with these.

Smoked Trout Bites (serves 4):

Ingredients:

8 oz (1/2 lb) smoked trout
12-15 blini, crackers, or baguette slices
wasabi (available in a tube at most grocery stores)
sour cream
chopped fresh chives

Procedure:

On each blini (or cracker, or baguette slice) place a small dollop of wasabi (about the size of a pea if you want it mild, double that for a bit more spice). Lay a piece of smoked trout on top, and add a dollop of sour cream. Sprinkle with fresh chives, and serve.

Enjoy!

LeChef

My Grandmother’s Apricot Bars

Drew — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 03:22:11 +0000

Everyone has foods that, after one bite, transport them back to the days of their childhood. Whether it’s your Mom’s meatloaf, your Grandmother’s meatballs, or simply a Jell-o snack pack, food has a way of reminding us through taste, touch, sight and smell of the past. For me, the things that I remember the most from childhood are the desserts. Yes, I definitely had a sweet tooth, and still do. My Mom’s banana cake and pumpkin bread, my Grandmother on my Father’s side’s custard with bananas, and a fluffy chocolate cake with marshmallow icing stick out poignantly in my memory. Along with those was one of my favorite desserts: apricot bars with meringue. My Mom used to make these quite often, and if no one was around to stop me I could polish off half a tray without skipping a beat. I recently had my Mom send me the recipe, which was originally my Grandmother’s, and I tried my hand at making them. They were delicious, just as I remember.

Here are my Mom’s recipe cards. I will elaborate on some of the more “vague” instruction points, since I had to get clarification over the phone while I was making them. Those of you who know me know that I don’t bake very often, so this was a bit of a rarity for me. I am happy to say that they came out great!

Back of the Card:

Apricot Bars (serves a crowd):

Ingredients:

For the topping:

2 egg whites
1 cup sugar
1 T flour
pinch salt
1 cup chopped walnuts

For the Base:

1 cup sugar
3 cups flour
3/4 cup butter
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1-2 jars of apricot preserves (if you want you can substitute your favorite jam, but I highly recommend apricot) You want a nice even layer of jam on the base, regardless of what kind you pick.

Procedure:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

For the topping: beat the eggs, sugar, flour, and salt into a “meringue”. Now, I had to call my Mom on this point for clarification, because I was expecting this to beat into a meringue as I know a meringue to be: i.e., stiff peaks of egg whites. This is not the case with this “meringue”. This meringue is more like a thin frosting that you pour over the bars once you’ve spread the preserves. Don’t worry if it doesn’t set up for you; it will cook in the oven. Once you’ve beaten the meringue, add the chopped nuts and mix to incorporate.

For the base: Cream the butter, sugar, and eggs. This means put all three in a bowl and beat them until creamy, either with a hand blender, a mixer, or just a wooden spoon. Add the vanilla and flour, and mix to make a dough. Spread this dough flat on a baking sheet (by “use larger pan” my Mom means an 11 x 17in pan or bigger). To do this you can roll, knead, and press the dough until it’s evenly spread on the bottom of the pan.

Spread a liberal layer of apricot preserves on the dough. Bake for 6 minutes at 350.

Remove the pan from the oven, spread the meringue over the top, and bake at 350 for an additional 15 minutes until just becoming golden.

Enjoy a tasty treat from my childhood!

-LeChef

Four Course Valentine’s Dinner Part Four: Oysters in Black Truffle Cream

Drew — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 17:30:21 +0000

The final course of the Valentine’s Day dinner is a dish I stole from Le Bernardin. During a 12-course tasting menu there, one of the first courses was a single oyster served with a black truffle cream on top. It was incredible. Since then I have recreated the dish twice, and it’s always been a big hit.

Black truffle cream is sold in small jars, and is chopped black truffles packed in oil. It is certainly not cheap, but there is a lot of flavor packed into those small jars, and a little bit goes a long way.

Oysters with Black Truffle Cream (serves 2):

Ingredients:

1 dozen oysters, shucked on the half shell
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 t salt
1 T black truffle cream

Procedure:

In a small pot, bring the cream, salt, and truffles to a gentle boil. Reduce heat, and using a hand blender, blend the mixture until smooth. Pour the hot cream over the top of the oysters on the half shell, and serve immediately.

Four Course Valentine’s Dinner Part Three: Truffled Foie Gras, Honey Balsamic Port Reduction

Drew — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 16:59:02 +0000

Course number three in this Valentine’s Day feast was foie gras with black truffles on a toasted baguette with a honey, balsamic and port reduction. This dish is simply decadent, and would elevate any dinner party from the mundane to something extraordinary. If you serve this to your guests, you will look like a pro.

Truffled Foie Gras with a Honey, Port, Balsamic Reduction (serves 4 as a starter):

Ingredients:

1 can (100 grams) truffled goose fois gras (I used 3% truffle). You can substitute any foie gras or pate here if you wish.
1 french baguette, cut into 12 slices
4 T butter
1 thin slice of red onion, cut into 2-inch pieces
chives, cut into 2-inch pieces
2 T port
2 T honey
2 T balsamic vinegar

Procedure:

In a small pan, caramelize the honey over medium heat, being careful not to burn it. Add the port and balsamic, and whisk. Cook until the sauce is of a syrupy consistency, about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, fry the bread slices on both sides in the butter until just golden brown.

If you are using a pate, slice the pate into 12 slices. If using a whole piece of foie gras, sear in a hot pan on both sides, and then slice.

To assemble, place a piece of foie gras on each slice of fried bread. top with one small slice of onion and one chive. Drizzle with the reduction sauce, and serve.

Enjoy!

Four Course Valentine’s Dinner Part Two: Escargot with Garlic Butter

Drew — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 16:24:53 +0000

In keeping with the theme of exotic foods for Valentine’s day, the second course was escargots with garlic butter. Cooking escargot is very easy, but you will have to buy snail shells and canned snails in order to do it properly. My grocery store carries Roland brand escargot, but unfortunately didn’t carry the empty shells you need to complete the presentation. Instead they carried frozen escargots, in the shell, already stuffed with the butter sauce, so I had to “shell out” (pun intended) for pre-made escargots in order to get the shells to stuff with escargot going forward. Once you have the shells you can keep them and reuse them in the future, making escargot an easy appetizer that you don’t need to save for a special occasion. If you can’t find the shells in your local grocery store, you can buy them online here.

Escargot with Garlic Butter (serves 2):

Ingredients:

1 dozen escargot, with shells
6 T butter, softened to room temp
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 T minced shallot
1 T minced parsley
Salt and pepper
2-3 T Congac

Procedure:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Blend the butter, garlic, shallot, parsley, and salt and pepper until smooth. You can use a hand blender, or a food processor. Place a dollop of the butter sauce in each shell, the insert a snail, and then fill the remainder of the shell with butter sauce. Splash the congac over the top of the shells (opening side up). Place in the oven and cook until butter is bubbling, about 10 minutes. Serve immediately.

Four Course Valentine’s Dinner Part One: Caviar on Blinis with Creme Fraiche and Chives

Drew — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 15:54:46 +0000

Last night, for Valentine’s Day, I put together a 4-course tasting menu of delicacies to enjoy with some champagne. Course number one was simple: Two types of caviar with blinis, creme fraiche, and chives.

My grocery store carries a wide selection of caviar. I went with salmon roe and lumpfish roe. Both were very tasty, but I think I preferred the lumpfish roe. Not an attractive name, but a small, potent caviar. For the sake of simplicity, I bought pre-made blinis, but if you are feeling ambitious you can also make your own.

Caviar on Blinis with Creme Fraiche and Chives (serves 4):

Ingredients:

Caviar of choice
16 mini blinis
creme fraiche
chives, cut into 2-inch pieces

Procedure:

Place a dollop of creme on each blini, and top with a generous spoonful of caviar. Finish with a piece of chive on each blini. You can mix and match caviar if you have multiple types (as shown in the photo) or keep them separate for tasting purposes.

Enjoy!