When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Been in a serious culinary funk for a while. Trying to get my groove back.
Salmon (yes, I only had frozen), pan-seared in ghee for about 4 minutes per side, on couscous. The sauce is equal parts vegetable broth and cream cheese, simmered with a touch of flour to thicken, plus julienned sun-dried tomatoes and roasted red peppers, plus a dash of salt.
Then asparagus was tossed in olive oil and black pepper and baked for 15 minutes at 425°, then topped with capers simmered in just-bubbling butter for a few minutes.
This was 100% improv; I had a rough flavor-profile target in mind, and it hit the mark pretty well.
I'm feeling a little rusty. Could have put a better sear on the fish by starting at a higher temp in the pan (and also using fresh), and I feel like I plated way too much couscous for a balanced presentation. But what I sacrificed in eye-appeal was made up for by nailing the tastes and textures.
Slice the fish into portions, and marinate for at least several hours.
Thinly slice up some jalapeno, and put that aside for now.
Pan-sear the fish in ghee, starting skin-side-up, for about 4 minutes per side. It should be smoking. After the first flip, toss the jalapeno slices into the pan.
After plating the fish and removing the pan from the heat, toss in a few spoonful of the marinade and swish that around to reduce, then top the fish with it.
The fish was excellent. Nice combination of heat and sweet. I need to come up with a better side dish here. I'd though that a bit of Greek yogurt with roasted potatoes would nicely counter the spice from the fish. Turns out that those flavors do not pair well.
Prepare a marinade of white miso paste (emphasis on paste- the raw stuff has the consistency of peanut butter), sake, rice vinegar, ginger, and a bit of brown sugar. Slice up the fish into portions, and let it bask in this glory for as many hours as you can spare.
I wasn't measuring, but I'd say that the volume of miso paste is equal to the combined volumes of sake and vinegar, and then the sugar is a spritz on top. Mix well with a whisk, and it will still be quite thick once you're done.
Bake 10 minutes at 425°.
While that's happening, the side is steamed broccoli which then goes into a sauté pan with a bit of orange juice, mirin*, aminos (or soy sauce) and minced garlic. Heat that up on very high, for a very short time, tossing constantly.
Finish the fish under the broiler for a minute or two, just until the edges start to blacken.
* = A note on mirin: Mirin is a sweet, fermented rice wine. If Sake is Chardonnay, then Mirin is Moscato. What you will most commonly find at English-speaking markets is Aji-Mirin, which roughly translated means "tastes like mirin." It's imitation mirin. Look it up on your search engine of choice. Long story short: if the ingredients list starts with corn syrup, then pass. If the ingredients are limited to water, rice, vinegar, and salt (or are completely illegible to you, as they are printed in Japanese), that's the good stuff. Korean grocers tend to stock Hon-Mirin (true mirin.)
Thanks to your contributions on this thread Joe! I copied one of your salmon posts (Post 2433 - Garlic Sun-dried Tomato Cream Sauce) last week...turned out just excellent. Made my wife a nice home-made dinner for our anniversary and she thoroughly enjoyed it.
My plating technique still need a significant amount of work and practice...
Cheap cuts of beef are fine here. I used top round. Try to get it sliced thin from the butcher, and then slice it again into thin strips. This is one of those tasks where a good, sharp chef's knife makes life easier.
The marinade is coconut aminos (or soy sauce), mirin, rice vinegar, honey (or brown sugar), crushed red pepper flakes, minced garlic and ginger, a dash of sesame oil, a whole grated pear (I used bosc), and some sesame seeds.
Add the beef, a thinly sliced onion, and some shredded carrot to the marinade. I worked in two batches, half each going into a gallon ziploc bag.
After a few hours (or overnight), pluck out the beef, onion and carrot, and cook on medium-high for a few minutes. Once done, set it aside, put the marinade into the pan, and reduce on medium heat.
Plate over rice, spoon a bit of the reduced marinade over top, and garnish.
Good flavor profile, but needs more kick. I went easy on the red pepper, will be adding a tad more on the second round, and possibly also a dash of sriracha.
Start by preparing the glaze ahead of time. In a small saucepan, combine equal parts coconut aminos (or soy sauce) and apple cider vinegar, a splash of lemon juice, and a healthy jag of crushed red pepper flakes. Warm this up before adding quite a bit of honey, so that the honey melts instantly and it blends together nicely. Simmer for a while, whisking frequently, to draw out the essence of the pepper flakes into the broth. Cover and let cool.
The mushrooms are done two ways. Each starts out with a foundation of crumbled goat cheese, then half get topped with finely chopped roasted red pepper (I buy the kind in a jar brined with water and sea salt- it keeps forever in the fridge), and the other half with crumbled bacon. (The kind sold pre-cooked in a plastic bag intended as a salad-topping is ideal for this sort of thing.) Bake at 375°F for 20-30 minutes, to taste.
The fish gets lightly seasoned with salt and cayenne pepper, then seared in a pan with ghee. Start on high heat with the skin side up and the window open, for 3-4 minutes. After flipping, turn the heat down to medium-low and spoon some of the glaze over top after the pan has cooled somewhat. Cook 4-5 minutes total with the skin down, adding in some minced garlic near the end, such that it just has time to brown slightly.
The vibe here is "𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘶 𝘢𝘵 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘍𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯'𝘵."
The base is white rice (I used jasmine) cooked however you like it. Toss in a good handful of edamame towards the end of the steaming, and then a spritz of lime juice and some coconut aminos or soy sauce. Steam some bok choy and the white parts of green onions (both minced) in a pan for a minute or two. Place that atop the rice in the bowl.
Toss shrimp in cornstarch, and then pan-fry in a bit of canola oil. 3 minutes first side, 2 minutes second side. Then sit on a paper-towel-lined plate, and sprinkle with chili powder and cumin.
Assemble.
During the course of research, I came across several references in various recipes to "boom boom sauce." It's one of those things where it seems like everyone who has an opinion has a STRONG opinion, but the short version is some variation on mayonnaise, sweet chili sauce, garlic, sriracha, salt and pepper. You can apparently also buy it pre-made.
Drizzle this atop the bowl. Top with the green parts of the aforementioned green onion.
Beef mixed with an equal portion of finely diced onion. Cumin, chili powder, paprika, ginger, and whatever other things the recipe which you find most appealing suggests.
I baked the formed loaves at 425°F for 15 minutes, and then finished under the broiler.
Slice up a few red bell peppers, and cook them in a pan at "𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦" until charred.
Plate atop romaine leaves. Top with tzatziki sauce, not shown here.
So, that's half the recipe right there. 425° for 25 minutes.
Meanwhile, couscous (with whatever amount of water the label calls for), roasted red peppers (the kind in a jar), and cherry tomatoes. Turns out you can mix this all up in a pan and put it into the oven next to the meatballs. An experiment gone well.
After everything is done, blend some butter, salt, and pesto into the couscous.
Top with whatever shaved / shredded hard cheese you have on hand.
(Hint: Asiago.)
And, yeah. This was good. And there's plenty left over.
Apologies for the photo. I'm having difficulty adjusting to the lighting in this new kitchen. Everything comes out too bright and blown out. My last place had a pendant lamp above the island with a huge diffuser on the bottom. Here, it's all point-sources.
I really like the soft texture of the larger Israeli couscous when I'm using it as a base ingredient, especially when it's in a slightly creamy sauce. Can't really explain why, just a personal preference.
The color-balance in this kitchen is really throwing my photography game. Everything has a very slight greenish tint, as though old, cheap circline florescent bulbs were in use.
They are not.
I did a little post-processing on this one, and I still think it looks... fake.
Anyway....
Fairly simple flavor profiles tonight. The green beans are tossed in olive oil, salt and garlic power. 15 minutes at 425°F. The potatoes in olive oil, garlic and parmesan. 25 minutes at 425, then finish under the broiler.
The salmon is lightly salted, and seared 3 minutes per side. Topping is a blend of herbed goat cheese, unsalted butter, garlic, a splash of lemon juice, and a dash of mayo. I thickened the mixture a tad with a bit of flour.
Imagine if Louisiana had been colonized by, and thus derived much of its culinary heritage from, Italy rather than France.
Begin with the polenta. 1 cup dry grain to 2 cups water and 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth. Start this about an hour before plating time, and whisk frequently. Low and slow. As Mr. Tipton said, no self-respecting southerner uses instant grits. I folded in a few tbs of unsalted butter towards the end to soften the texture, but don't worry if it seems a tad bland all by itself. It's going to absorb a lot of flavor from the sauce.
1 lb of shrimp. Cook in a large skillet with olive oil over medium-high heat 1 minute per side. Then reserve into a bowl. They're not quite done at this point.
Put one coarsely chopped red onion into the skillet, and toss it around every five minutes. We're going for "just about caramelized" here. Transfer into a soup pot.
Finally, 1 lb of hot Italian sausage into the same skillet, and chop it with a spatula. Buy the "loose" kind from the butcher counter so that you don't have to de-case it.
Grind some dried rosemary in the mortar-n-pestle. Enjoy the tactile sensation and the aroma which it releases. Crush 4 cloves of garlic. Add these to the sausage and mix well.
Once the sausage is done, transfer it to the pot with the onions. Move that onto medium heat, and add about 1/2 small can of tomato paste and one of the small (187ml) bottles of dry white wine. Mix well. Add crushed red pepper to taste. You can add a bit of water to thin the mix if desired. Add the shrimp back in at this point.
Toss in about 1/4 cup of creme fraiche, mix, let simmer for a few minute, and then plate.
That little pile of garnish at the peak? Minced nonpareil capers. Yup, that's how deep the rabbit-hole goes.
Last edited by Joe Perez; 11-17-2021 at 12:06 AM.
Reason: broth, not stock.
05-11-2021, 10:20 PM
0
