Thai Lemongrass & Shrimp soup

It's winter, its rainy & snowy, its soup season. The initial insiration for this soup was to diversify. Try a new idea, make something different, yet with familiar tastes. The starting flavor base was lemongrass. To start, I added some chili paste, ginger, lemongrass, jalepenos, and green onions to a pot to brown and release their flavors.


Then stock was added. I had some fish stock made from shrimp in the freezer. About 5 cups were added to the pot.  This was then simmered for about an hour or so. A little bit of soy sauce and mirin was added to help the salt level of the soup. During the cooking, I added a little bit of brown sugar and a bit more ginger.  

Once at a point where I felt good about the flavors, I started prepping the ingredients to help finish off this soup. Shrimp, more ginger, and fresh cilantro.  The shrimp were light seared in chili paste and ginger. The shrimp was then added to a bowl, and the soup strained over the top.


The soup was deliciously spicy, and with great flavor base. My dear friend Nikki joined me on this test meal and added the input that it needed just a few more items in the bowl, like mushrooms or broccoli.  However, this also came out "I don't like soup. I never really eat it." But, then I found Nikki finishing her bowl before me, and licking it clean, then heading back for more... 

 

This is Nikki's bowl. 

Rack of Lamb - Rosemary-Lavender Salt Crust

I had an idea to cook rack of lamb for a while.  The idea came from first making a crust.  I took some coarse sea salt, fresh rosemary, and lavender and blended it together in a food processor.  Crusted the lamb with some pepper as well, and seared it in a cast iron.  Finished in a 375* oven for 20 min. 

 

Paired with some pearl cous cous and fresh spinach lightly sauteed in olive oil and garlic.   

 

A cooking thermometer would have been helpful, as I slightly overcooked the lamb.  Also, a tad too much salt on the crust, but otherwise a solid addition to the pantry.

3rd Annual Holiday Cocktail Party

A non-food related post.

Enjoy! 

French Onion Soup

This dish has been on my radar for a while.  Finally I had the tools, and recipe to construct; the bowls were key.  I read about a dozen different variations on this classic dish, and I came across one that involved a lot more technique than the others. This is the one I used to start my dish.  

Onions. Lots of onions. I used about 5 very large vidallia and yellow.  Added to the dutch oven with a generous amount of olive oil and salt, this load was simmered and covered for 15 min. Yes, 15. Then uncovered and stirred occasionally for an hour. Yes, an hour.  The recipe calls for letting the onions naturally caramelize, which takes considerable time. Low & slow. Low heat, slow cook time.  After a painful hour, the onions looked a delicious brown.  The pot was deglazed with sherry, and white wine. Also added was a mess load of thyme and 2 bay leaves.  Once the alcohol burned off, I added beef stock, nothing fancy, just store bought organic beef stock.  This was then simmered for about an hour, until the soup looked very hearty and together.  Salted to taste.

Finally, the crown.  Some La Brea french bread, cut into 3/4 inch slices, oiled, salted and buttered and toasted in a grill pan until crispy.  This was added on top the soup, with a load of Gruyere cheese.  Broiled until melted.  Winner. 

From the roommate Sean (who orders this dish anywhere he sees it on the menu) "This is the best I've had. Don't change a thing." 

Thanksgiving, 2010. Appetizers.

My family is pretty traditional in our Thanksgiving day offerings.  Pretty simple, some old family recipes, and some new traditions emerging.  For the 2nd year in a row my cousin Zach and his fiance Nina hosted the big meal at their place in Sonoma.  For the 2nd year in a row we deep fried a turkey, and I was to make appetizers.  For the 1st time, we got a little creative with the deep fryer (after dinner is where the fun really started).

As I was searching for fun and different appetizers, I kept my wits about me due to my constraints; no oven, no stove.  But, I had a deep fryer! As I lazily watched some food network shows, I saw an appetizer for crab salad stuffed potato skins.  Well, its crab season! So, tweaking the recipe just, I used dungenuss crab for my salad.  2 crabs mixed with a healthy spoonful of mayo, a small spoonful of dijon mustard, chopped chives & green onions, and a squeeze of a meyer lemon.  Upon tasting, some salt and a touch of brown sugar was added to the salad.  

The potatoes were simple.  Yukon gold, baked @ 350 for 45 min.  Cooled, cut, cored... and then Deep Fried.  Stuffed with the crab mixture, this was outstanding, and the plate was gone before I could fry some more.

My other appetizer (sans picture) was a play off of an offering I had picked up off of Iron Chef America.  I made roast beef crostinis. Using a very hearty Molasses Wheat Bread from Uncommon Kitchen as my base, I constructed a gorgonzola-horseradish spread to place on top.  Topped with rare roast beef, sliced green grapes, and jullianned mint.  This too was a hit, and will certainly be making its way to a wine & food pairing soon!


Lastly, the fun stuff.  Deep Fried Twinkies. Because pie wasn't enough... Pics to come.


And, a huge congratulations to Scottie & Kimmy on their engagement! Love you guys!

Food and Wine Paring: 2

I had the pleasure of being invited back to Corkscrew (now Uncorked)in Tahoe City to do another feature on pairing farmers market food with some select wine. My inspiration this week came from these incredible blackberries. The sweetest berries I have ever tasted.  The idea was to pair with these berries. So, I took the berries and macerated them with a bit of lemon juice and just a touch of agave nectar. This mixture was then folded into some goat cheese.  To complete the spectrum of textures and tastes, it was piped onto an endive leaf (bitter & crunchy) and then wrapped with prosciutto (salty & soft).  The bite sized treat was a hit.

The 2nd dish to be paired with a white was inspired by summer squash. Finely diced summer squash and zucchini was lightly sauteed in meyer lemon olive oil and seasoned with sea salt and fresh pepper. This mixture was folded into some fresh ricotta, also purchased from the farmers market. Served with crostini bread, this added a very nice, light compliment to the plate. I believe Uncorked sold a record number of pairings this night!  Can't wait to be invited back!!

http://uncorkedtahoecity.com/

Easy appetizer - Brie won ton cups

When two of your good friends get engaged, you have to have a dinner party. That's the rule, or at least my rule. So, with about 14+ headed over for dinner and limited time and resources, some old receipes were called upon and snazzed up a bit.  A long time ago, I had these stuffed won tons at a dinner party, I remembered there being brie, and other ingredients so, I tried to recreate. With the lovely help of miss Ali and her artful hands, the Brie cups were assembled.  Simply, a wonton, piece of brie, green onion, and some orange-fig spread.  Baked at 350* until golden... Also pictured, some delicoius sweet-hot peppers from the farmers market... stuffed as a trial to see if it could take the brie... it could. 

Chili Ginger pork & Faux Dashi

Every now and again I get a huge craving for some Japanese home style cooking. I had bought an extremely large pork tenderloin and had to clean it up a bit before it went to its rightful owner (see Orange Ginger pork loin). So, with the fat and a little aid, I started out on an adventure in making a delicious pork broth for a cold summer nights dinner.  Starting with fresh ginger, garlic, and chili paste, the fat was browned a bit before any liquid was added.  Also, cilantro stems and more ginger added throughout the process.  Instead of adding just water, or some stock, I decided to get a little crafty and brew some green tea.  2 bags of green tea steeped away in about 10 cups of water. This was added to my mixture of pork, ginger, chili paste and garlic, and simmered for a while while also adding a bit of soy sauce and mirin along the way.

In a separate pot, I boiled some rice noodles, strained and set a side (note: a good way to be resourceful, cook rice noodles ahead, mix with a bit of sesame oil, and store in tupperware... noodles ready at any moment for another meal). Also, I sliced some of the pork tenderloin very thin and set aside for the topping to my growing noodle dish.  

Broth almost ready, it was time to cook the pork.  Hot pan, peanut oil, chili paste, garlic, ginger, the pork went in for its quick fry.  The smell alone would get your stomach grumbling.  

Pork then added atop the noodles with fresh cilantro and green onions.  Faux dashi added, along with a poached egg.  This was certainly good eats!  

Wine & Food Pairing - 1

In collaboration with Corkscrew wine bar in Tahoe City, I was given the opportunity to have a lot of fun with a few dishes.  The idea was to buy ingredients from the Thursday Farmers Market in Tahoe City, and then create 2 dishes to be paired with 2 glasses of wine.  Wonderful summer produce and refreshing wine made this an irresistible opportunity.


The first dish I pulled from a previous Iron Chef.  A shrimp ceviche, this time, fresh pacific Ono was used with shrimp to add some more texture.  White peaches from the market were julianned, and serranos diced very small.  Fresh squeezed lime juice, and a dash of agave nectar finished this refreshing dish.  It was paired with an Albarino. 

The second dish was a play on a couple different dishes. You can call it a deconstructed crostini, a play on chips and salsa, or something that was just plain different.  Heirloom tomatoes were diced and mixed with agave nectar and julianned basil, and hit with Meyer Lemon Olive oil from We Olive in San Francisco.  Then goat cheese was mixed with lemon zest and fresh parsley.  Finishing the plate was a generous portion of kettle potato chips.  Customers were having fun playing with the three items on the plate.  Among initial reviews, I think the potato chip crostini/salsa plate is here to stay.

Cant wait for next Thursday!

LA Rendezvous

I was very fortunate to have a booking in Los Angeles.  Andi was kind enough to fly me down to prepare a huge meal for her and her friends to celebrate her new job.  The menu was ambitious, but very fun.
Mustard dill flank steak was the headliner, however, the huge mexican scallop stole the show.  A true showcase of incredible ingredients.  I simply prepared the scallop. Nothing major, just a little bit of coconut butter and salt. Served on top of bacon risotto.  But, the scallops also yeilded another dish.  I decided to make a crudo. By thinly slicing the scallop, and then pounding it paper thin.  Dressed with fresh lime juice, jullianed radishes, and some scallions.  To top, I heated up olive oil to frying temperature, and then drizzled it on top.  The plate was clear before I had a chance to try! 

Also on the menu were my shrimp spring rolls, and a heriloom & cherry crostini derived from Iron Chef 1.  The spring rolls and crostini are quickly becoming my most requested dishes. 

The dinner was long and fabulous, accompanied by lovely wine, and some berries and angel food cake for dessert.  An absolute joy to cook, and a treat to get to see some of my friends! Thanks Andi!