Extemporary Eats

While I am not a huge fan of all things “California”, it is the birth place of a simple, fresh and light summertime meal: The Fish Taco.  Just like people, no two fish taco’s are the same and in my opinion have become too complicated, over dressed, and full of unnecessary ingredients. Now, I am not keeping with the spirit of the site if I call any preparation “wrong”.  If you want yours with Fried Cod and tartar sauce or malt vinegar, go for it.  If you want cabbage / slaw and black beans, go for it.  Raw fish, ginger and soy, why not?  All I ask is that at least once you try a fresh simple, light preparation.  Your taste buds will thank me.

My version of the Fish Taco consists of simply grilled Tilapia, Cheese, Lettuce, Fresh made Pico de Gallo and a light lime sour cream sauce.

For the Fish, I use Tilapia.  There are no wrong choices, but why pay for an expensive cut of fish when the flavors of the dish come mainly from other ingredients.  It’s cheap, sustainable, readily available and is perfectly suited for this preparation.  Just salt and pepper then throw it on the grill (direct method, medium heat around the 325 range.)

For the Pico De Gallo do yourself a favor and make it fresh.  It’s easy, flavorful and is a great go-to if you have guests come over or just want a light snack.  I use fresh tomatos, diced medium-small.  Red onions also diced.  1-2 Jalapeno peppers (depending on how much bite you want) diced real fine, A bunch of cilantro (you can use parsley if you do not like cilantro) and the juice and zest of 1-2 limes.  Mix together and chill.  I told you it was simple.  I do not recommend using any cutting method on the tomato other than a good sharp serrated knife (I have a knife I use only for tomato, but that’s another story).  If your tomato’s are a bit on the acidic side, add a small amount of sugar or honey to balance that out.

For the Lime Dressing, I use the juice of 2 limes, a small bit of honey and sour cream.  you want the sauce to be a little on the thin side (it should run off a spoon, but keep the spoon coated).

Now build your Taco.  Wheat soft taco shell, Cheese (use what you like), a few chunks of grilled fish, fresh pico de gallo and a little lime sauce.  Enjoy!

I had noticed a trend in a lot of the dishes I have prepared over the years.  The first observation was that I do not typically make a lot of side dishes to go with the main course I am preparing.  This was specifically called out to be my Crystal on many occasions.  The typical conversation would be something like:

Me: I’m going to grill some steaks topped with a horseradish crumble for dinner.
Crystal:  What are you going to make with it?
Me:  Maybe some garlic bread
Crystal: No, I mean side dishes
Me: What do you mean?

The second is that often the foods on the plate turn out a bit monochromatic and bland looking.  This became more apparent once I started taking pictures of what I make for this blog.  I figured both of these observations would be pretty easy to act on, and I could kill both birds with one stone.

I was looking thought a book she got me titled “1001 Foods you must taste before you die” looking for some inspiration.  This book contains both already prepared food items, and also ingredients.  In the root vegetable section I stumbled upon the Peruvian Purple Potato (page 217 if you are following along at home) and made a mental note to give them a try if I ran across them at the store.

Not too long after I made a trip to Wegmans in order to get two live lobsters to try my hand at making a butter poached lobster I saw on an episode of Master Chef, and to get some turkey thighs or legs to smoke.  While I the vegetable section I was excited to see they carried the purple potatoes. Since both lobster and turkey tend to be bland in color I decided to get enough to use as sides in both dishes.

For the Lobster, I made Potato Rafts to set the poached lobster on, and for the Turkey I used them to make mashed root vegetables (turnips and potatoes, topped with honey sauteed carrots).  The texture was similar to baby red or Yukon gold potatoes, and the flavor was a little bit sweeter. There was none of the mineral taste I expected from such a dark blue/purple color.  The color for the potato rafts was very deep purple, and the mashed potatoes came out more lavender in color from boiling the potatoes first (a lot of the color transferred to the water used to boil them).  I could not have been more pleased with the results and will be making them a staple ingredient that adds both needed color to the plate and complementary flavor as a side to many many dishes.  Use them anywhere you would use white potatoes.  French fries, hash browns, Boil ’em, Mash ’em, Stick ’em in a Stew.

I was going though my picture files this morning trying to for a plan for posting items I have already made.  I came to the realization that I have done a LOT more cooking than I have posting and am 23 items in arrears. In addition, I have yet to do any of my posts on the kitchen tools and gadgets that I use, and ones that are not worth the time or money.  ‘

I present to you, the coming attractions:

• Caprice Salad
• Paella
• Herb Roasted Whole fish
• Pasta Salad
• Brisket
• Chicken Curry
• Greek Lamb Turnovers
• Stuffed hamburgers
• Peach Soup
• Watermelon Blueberry Sorbet
• Duck Confit, Pancetta and Black truffle Ravioli
• Tomato Sauce
• Veal Meatballs
• Boston Cream Tarts
• Butter-poached Lobster
• Island Bananas Foster
• Smoked Turkey Leg with Brussel Sprouts and Root Vegetable Mash
• Calzones
• Fresh Cherry and Ricotta pie
• Eggplant Parmesan
• Fish Taco
• Peach and Ricotta Galette
• Steak Phylo Pie

I have no idea what order I will post these in, so if any look particularly interesting to you, leave a comment and I will get to those .

Thanks to Crystal, I am an advocate for buying local meat and produce whenever possible.  I have a wonderful local resource in the Buckland Farmers Market in Fauquier county VA. One of my favorite fish is also a local fish from the Chesapeake Bay, the Rockfish, or Striped Bass.  We almost did have this delicacy though.  On the brink of extinction in this area, Virginia and Maryland placed a moratorium on the catch of this fish from 1985-1990. Once recovered to sustainable levels, some restrictions have stayed in place to this day on the dates and sizes they can be caught.  This means there are only limited times from spring to fall that you can get locally caught Rockfish fresh from your local markets (Wegmans and Whole Foods are good sources to buy the fish).  Grilling is my favorite preparation method for the fish, make sure you oil the fish and the grill surface first so it does not stick.  For turning I use a pair of turkey lifters to get between the grates and under the fish to flip in one piece.

Cannellini, or white kidney beans pairs nicely with this fish, or any mild meat and can be prepared in many, many different applications (like one of my winter time favorites Beans and Greens).

Grilled Rockfish with Cashew Cilantro Pesto sauce

Main Ingredient

• Rockfish Fillet, Skin on.

Sauce

• 2-3 Shallots, Minced
• Juice and zest of one lime
• Bunch of Cilantro
• Shelled salted or unsalted cashews
• Olive oil
• Salt and Pepper to taste.

Putting it Together

In food processor, chop Cashews, Shallots and Lime juice and zest until smooth-ish.  Add Cilantro leaves and process a few spins (don’t over do it). Slowly add olive oil until consistency matches what you want.  Brush fish with olive oil then season with salt and pepper. Grill over medium heat, skin side down, turning once.  Add sauce before serving.  For the pesto Sauce, you can substiture any nut and any green herb to suit your needs and taste.  Shallots can be replaced with garlic or onion.  Keep the Oil and citrus juice.

Sauteed Cannellini beans.

Main Ingredient(s):

• Canned White Kidney Beans or Dried beans that have been soaked overnight.

Texture and Color

• Julienned Carrots

Flavor

• Bacon
• Minced Garlic
• Red onions or Shallots
• Salt and Black Pepper

Preparation:

Cook 2 strips of bacon and crumble.  Drain all but 1 TBS of grease from the pan and Saute Carrots, Shallots/onion and Garlic.  Once the the Shallots/Onions are translucent, add beans and crumbled bacon. Simmer a low heat until warmed through and a thick sauce starts to form.

One real simple way to get creative in cooking is creating your own spice rubs for meats.  I don’t have an exact recipe, but I have a favorite type that I use on chicken, pork and seafood.  Most of the year I use a lot of lemons and limes in cooking since the citric acid prevents some foods from turning from oxidation and usually brightens the flavor of whatever you are making.   To me it is a total waste to discard all of those fantastic citrus peels, especially since they make a fantastic base for a citrus rub.   Zest your favorite citrus fruits (u usually end up with lemons, limes and oranges), spread evenly on a paper towel and allow to dry for 1-2 days.  Once dried, grind them up in your mortar and pestle until you have a somewhat fine citrus powder.

From here, add your favorite spices to finish the rub.  I always include kosher salt, ground pepper and smoked paprika. From here be creative, My usual rub includes the addition of Garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne pepper, a little brown sugar, and a few dried herbs like parsley, oregano or thyme. This rub can be stored in your refrigerator for 3-4 months.

For chicken, soke in a brine overnight.  Remove from brine and allow the chicken pieces to dry off at room temperature for 15-20 minutes.  Rub liberally on both sides and grill.  I ALWAYS grill chicken at a low temperature (around 235) with an indirect heat setup on my Big Green Egg, with a single piece of hickory or pecan wood for a smoky flavor and cook until an instant read thermometer reaches 165.  Pairs well with grilled summer vegetables (especially squash, leaks and Bok Choy .  When grilling the vegetables I brush lightly with olive oil, sprinkle with rub and cook over direct heat until desired doneness is reached.

I am a huge fan of all kinds of seafood.  It’s abundance of variety, texture, taste and adaptability to all cooking method lends itself to almost infinite variety.  Since I tire of eating the same foods (or at least the same application of an ingredient) quite quickly, this variety means multiple seafood meals a week.  I regularly change from freshwater fish, saltwater fish, shellfish and crustaceans.

I was in the mood for some bivalve goodness, but wanted something different from the traditional steamed preparation.  Oysters and clams are my favorites and I had some ideas for stuffing and baking them.  I could not decide between a bacon red pepper stuffing or a greens and horseradish stuffing, so in my typical self-indulgent fashion, I did both.  There are practically limitless options and combinations for stuffing seafood, everything from savory, salty, spicy or even fruity.  Seafood is wonderful this way.

Since oysters have a lot more body and texture than clams, I wend with the horseradish greens stuffing for them, and went with the red pepper bacon stuffing for the clams.  I also chose this pairing as I thought it would be difficult to stuff the tiny clams with the greens.

Horseradish Kale stuffing.

You can use any greens you like.  Spinach, mustard greens, kale, Swiss chard all make excellent choices.  I had kale on hand so I went with that.  I chopped the kale and sauteed it with finely chopped white onion and garlic in a little olive oil.  While that was cooking, I melted butter and used it to moisten panko bread crumbs, mixing in a generous portion of prepared horseradish.  When the kale was cooked to my liking, I combined the greens mixture with the breadcrumb mixture. I still thought it needed a little something, so I added a little cooked and crumbled bacon (since I had some for the clam stuffing).

 Bacon Red Pepper Stuffing

For the clams, I created a bacon red pepper stuffing, similar to a clams casino preparation.  Cook a few peices of bacon and crumble. Finely chop red onions, red bell pepper and garlic and saute in a little butter or olive oil.  once the onions become translucent and the peppers are soft mix together with bacon.

Cooking:

For the clams, steam in a shallow pan in a little white wine.  Once clams open, empty juice from clams into wine and add to stuffing mix.  Open each clam on the half shell and top with stuffing mixture.  For Oysters open on the half shell and top with stuffing mixture.  Sprinkle both with a little grated Parmesan cheese and bake at 350 until a crust forms (8-10 minutes).

There are many, many ways of cooking food; baking, grilling, hot smoking, broiling, boiling, braising, searing, frying, sauteing, and so on and so on.  Whatever method you choose heat is a constant, and heat can be transferred directly or though a liquid medium.  There are two other methods of “cooking” that I can think of; cold smoking and acid cooking.  I used quotes around cooking as neither method truly cooks the food.  Cold smoking is a process of salt and sugar curing meat then smoking for a long period of time (12+ hours) resulting in preserved meat that is free from bacteria and parasites and safe for consumption.

The other method is the subject of this post, cooking with citric acid.  Technically this is not cooking, but the citric acid does break down the proteins in the meat, softening them and resulting in a texture that is very similar to cooking but in actuality is much closer to marinating it for a long time.  This method is very popular in the Peruvian dish ceviche, and is typically seafood based.  The framework for ceviche is simple and offers ample opportunity for creativity.

Cevichi FRAMEWORK

Seafood:
The choice of seafood is very important.  Freshwater fish may contain parasites that are not killed by citric acid where saltwater seafood does not contain these parasites.  According to FDA guidelines, freshwater seafood, it must be frozen at 0º F (-18º C)  for a period of 7 days.  Most frozen seafood you get at your local market meets this precaution, or you can do it yourself if you have a commercial type freezer capable of this sustained temperature. Whichever seafood you choose, make sure you cut them into even sized pieces for even “cooking”.

Vegetables:
Choices here are endless.  Common ingredients include Sweet and Hot peppers, green and cherry tomatoes, onions, shallots, celery,

Marinade:
Orange, lime and lemon juices with herbs, salt and pepper.

I now present my favorite application, Bay scallop cevichi.

Bay Scallop Cevich

1 lb bay scallops
1 cup orange Juice
1/3 – 1/2 cup lime juice
Lime Zest.
2 jalapeno peppers, finely diced
1 small red onion, finely diced
1 clove garlic, finely diced
1 small red bell pepper, finely diced
2 green tomatoes, diced
1 to 1½ cup cilantro
Salt and Pepper

Mix all ingredients in a non-reactive bowl (I use glass) and allow to marinate for at least 6 hours.  You can cut open a scallop and make sure it is no longer opaque in the center.

Last summer I was given a cruise on Royal Caribbean as a graduation gift by my Sister and Brother-In-Law after finishing my Masters of Science in InfoSec.   While on board I fell in love with cold fruit soups that were an option at dinner seating’s.   One of my favorite was a watermelon soup.  Since watermelons are in peak season, I had to try my hand at making some.

I started researching flavors and types of summer cold fruit soups and came across a recipe from Royal Caribbean that I made ( I occasionally follow recipes)

Watermelon Gazpacho

1 cup peeled and thinly sliced cucumbers
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
6 cups (840g) cubed seedless watermelon
1/2 cup (125 ml) cranberry juice cocktail
1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded and finely chopped
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
1/4 cup (35g) minced fresh Italian parsley
2 to 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
8 mint leaves for garnish

1. In a small bowl, toss the cucumbers with salt and set aside

2. In a food processor or blender, combine watermelon and cranberry juice. Pulse briefly until just blended (do not over process or the juice will become frothy and pale). Strain the mixture through a fine sieve over a noncreative bowl, pushing down on the solids to extract as much liquid as you can, leaving the pulp behind.

3. Stir in bell pepper, onion, celery, parsley, lime juice and vinegar. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour to let flavors blend.

4. To serve, rinse cucumber and pat dry with paper towel. Divide soup among chilled soup bowls and garnish with cucumbers and mint leaves.

The result was not bad, but I was not a big fan of the chunks of raw pepper, onion and celery floating in the delicate watermelon “broth”.  I also did not think the cranberry juice added anything except a little tartness and a slight bitterness.  I also think the sweetness of the watermelon base would benefit from a little “bite”.  My next batch was as follows

Watermelon Soup

About 6 cups of cubed watermelon, no seeds
Juice of 1-2 Limes
1 Jalapeno pepper, seeded
About 2 tablespoons of honey
A 1″ piece of fresh Ginger, peeled
1/4 to 1/2 cup white wine (I went with a sweet white)

In blender or food processor, combine lime juice, jalapeno, honey and ginger and blend until smooth.  Add watermelon cubes and blend again until smooth.  Add white wine.  If you would like additional sweetness add more honey, or a simple syrup.  Add more lime juice if you want the flavor a little brighter.  Chill before serving

The results were sweet, smooth, bright with a little bite.  This will become one of my go-to summer soups during watermelon season.

My last post mentioned my adventures in Duck in order to recreate a duck sandwich I saw on a cooking show.  The above picture does not really do the end result justice, Tender duck, melted cheese, crisp sweet onion on a toasted roll and savor duck stock to dip it in..  The general construction is basic.  Roasted duck breast thinly sliced, fresh raw onion, provolone cheese on toasted bread.  Accompanied by duck stock and french fires and crispy duck skin.

Making Duck stock is the same as making any other stock. Main flavoring ingredient, Aromatic vegetables, herbs, salt and pepper and just enough water to cover.  I think the slight gaminess of duck pairs well with adding the earthiness of mushrooms to the standard stock  aromatic vegetables.

Duck Stock Framework:

Main Ingredient:

• Duck carcass, neck, wings and giblets

Aromatic Vegetables:

• 3 or 4 Carrots, rough chopped
•  2 to 3 stalks of celery, rough chopped
• one large onion, quartered
• 6-8 large fresh mushrooms, halved or quartered

Seasoning:

• Fresh Tarragon
• Fresh Thyme
• 2 Bay Leaves
• Salt and Pepper

Bring to boil, then simmer over low heat covered for a few hours. Strain stock and allow to cool.

The real trick for the sandwich is cooking the duck breast.  Duck breast can be cooked with skin on, or skin off.  Since I wanted to render the fat out of the duck skin for use in duck confit at a later time, I went skin off.   If grilling with skin on, be sure to cross hatch the skin/fat layer without cutting though the breast.

My favorite preparation is to start out smoking the breast and finish it by grilling it over a low temperature (250 degrees).  I add a single chunk of hickory or pecan at the beginning to add a nice smokey flavor, and slow cook until medium-rare to medium (30-45 minutes).  Don’t let the temperature get above 275 degrees or below 225 and be careful not to overcook.  Let the duck rest 10-15 minutes before slicing.

You can use any bread for the sandwich, I prefer a softer Italian style bread, but crusty French works well too (since you are dipping it in duck stock after all).

It’s days like today I realize that I have no children, and can spend what equated to  5-6 hours cooking . . . . . . a sandwich.  OK, full disclosure, I will get quite a few more meals from the efforts, but everything cooked was necessary for the sandwich.

I was watching an episode of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives and the chef at a little inn made these french dip sandwiches with duck instead of beef, with duck consomme dipping sauce and duck fat french fries that was topped with crunchy duck  skin that tasted a lot like duck bacon.  I had to recreate this.

I have cooked Duck Breast before, and used duck confit as part of a filling for ravioli, but have never prepared a whole duck before and is something I have been itching to try.  I tackled this in true extemporary fashion, initial research to form a general plan, then heading to the kitchen to execute.

The Basic plan:

• Breakdown the duck.  I saved the leg quarters and duck fat to make confit once I have two more legs.
• Make duck stock
• Render duck fat and fry duck skin (which turns out to be a single step)
• Grill duck breasts
• Make sandwiches and eat.

I have to say the end result was well worth the effort, and none of the plan was difficult to execute. Duck is a fantastic ingredient, and I recommend everyone try it.  If you have eaten and disliked it in the past due to a rubbery or overly dry preparation, don’t blame the duck, blame the preparation.  Done correctly, duck is tender, juicy with an almost beef like flavor.  Every day is duck season.