Walking fish + summer heat = grill

When the thermometer hit 86 degrees on Friday I grabbed a roll of aluminum foil, opened a beer and grilled my delivery of fresh seafood. If you've never tried grilling clams and whole fish, you should.

Grilled clams with salmoriglio sauce

2 garlic scapes from Four Leaf Farm
2 lemons, halved and drained
Olive oil
1/4 cup water or white wine
1 pound clams

1. Scrub the clams and set them on a sheet of foil.
2. Squeeze the juice of 2 lemons into the work bowl of a blender or food processor and make salmoriglio sauce.
3. Add the now-empty lemon halves to the clams on the foil.
4. Add a healthy dose of olive oil and the water to the clams.
5. Fold the foil over the clams and enforce with 1-2 more sheets.
6. Grill on high heat for 10-15 min. Remove them as soon as they open.
7. Dip in salmoriglio sauce or eat plain.

Grilled whole fish

- Whole fish ( I used two small bluefish)
- olive oil
- salt
- salmoriglio sauce (optional)

1. Score the fish on each side.
2. Rub each side of the fish with salt and olive oil.
3. Grill over medium/high heat. Flip once and be careful not to let the fish fall apart. I flipped my fish (they each weighed a little over a pound) after 4 minutes.
4. Pour the salmoriglio sauce over the fish and soon as it leaves the grill. The residual heat will cook the sauce and deepen its flavor.
5. Eat the large fillets of fish with silverware, then pick at the remaining bits with your fingers.
 

whole bluefish, sans head



Marinades for grilling season

April is my favorite month in North Carolina. It's warm during the day, cool at night, and insects haven't descended upon our deck.

In short, it's a great time of year to grill.

My dad made kabobs for this week's Sunday night family dinner and used three different marinades to flavor the meats. He made them in a matter of minutes and tossed them with the meats a few hours before cooking them ("the longer you marinate, the better," he says). He gives credit to Alton Brown for the beef flavors, but the chicken and shrimp recipes are his own. Try one next time you need a quick way to add big flavor.

Chicken Marinade

juice and zest of 1 lemon or lime and 1 orange

4 garlic cloves minced

1/4 cup soy sauce 

1/4 cup canola oil

salt and pepper

tablespoon or 2 of chopped fresh tarragon leaves

Shrimp

3 cloves garlic minced

1 large shallot or 2 small minced

2 TBS fresh thyme or 1 Tbs dried thyme

1/4 cup chopped flat leaf italian parsley

1 tsp chili flakes- I used chipolte chili flakes

1/4 cup olive oil

juice from half a lemon- about 2 tbs

 

Steak

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 teaspoons smoked paprika

1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/3 cup red wine vinegar

1/2 cup olive oil

Winter Vegetables and healthy diets

NPR ran an excellent story this week about yet another study that concluded a Mediterranean diet is a healthy way to eat, particularly for your heart.

The study concludes "a diet rich in olive oil, fish, nuts , fresh vegetables and wine" can dramatically reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke." But in addition to reporting the research findings, Gerry Hadden also visits a small restaurant along the coast of Spain and asks a local restaurant owner why he thinks the diet works so well.

"Everyone already knows our diet is healthy," said Pepe Bache, owner of The Room Service. "Generally speaking, our diet is fresher because of the warm weather. It lets you grow crops most of the year and offers variety."

"Every region of the world ought to have their so-called Mediterranean diet," Sandra, the restaurant manager, added. "That is, you eat what grows where you live and you eat it in season. If you want to eat well, you can't expect to eat mangoes in Iceland in the wintertime."  

Pepe and Sandra's thoughts make a lot of sense to me, as it's difficult to make poor food choices if you're building your meals around locally-grown food. It's always fresh, and the different seasons naturally incorporates variety.

For example, I  built my meal plan around what I picked up at my farmer's market this weekend:

I roasted the chicken, potatoes and Jerusalem artichokes, tossed the turnip greens with pasta, boiled the broccoli and turnips, sauteed the Brussels sprout leaves (botanically identical to collard greens according to George at Lil' Farm), made a pesto out of the stems, simmered the Swiss chard with chick peas and onion in white wine, served the pea shoots in a salad, and ate eggs for breakfast.

In a few weeks, the dark, leafy, winter veggies will give way to fresh garlic, fennel, asparagus and fava beans, and I'll get the variety my diet needs just by showing up every Saturday morning.

All I need now is great wine for six bucks...

Birthday Cake

To celebrate my twenty ninth year Shefali baked Red wine chocolate cake with strawberries in a red wine syrup. Check out the recipe in the newest La Cucina Italiana.

Feast 2012

Each Christmas my family hosts a feast of the seven fishes. A Roman Catholic tradition, the meal is typically meatless and served Christmas Eve. It's bad luck to serve an even number of fish, so even if you can't pull off seven, three or five will keep you in God's favor.

To learn more about the feast check out Maria Vultaggio's article here about this holiday before the holiday.

Our 2012 menu:
Grilled shrimp
Smoked salmon and cream cheese bruschetta
Mussels in white whine and lemon sauce
Baccala cakes with sage aoli
Oi oi (spaghetti with garlic and anchovies)
Lobster ravioli with Christopher sauce
Shrimp and lobster risotto

Ziti for the Masses

There are times when gourmet intentions must be thrown out the window.

Last fall, for example, our son was born, and my time to cook disappeared. We received a steady stream of visitors, and none of them came empty handed. Before they sat down to chat with me they handed Shefali a casserole dish large enough to feed the two of us for days. We were humbled by their generosity, as we received more than 30 meals from friends and family. What they'd cooked didn't matter. The food was always satisfying.

When friends of ours recently had triplets, I paid it forward and made portable meals - 24 total - fast enough to deliver them that evening. 

When I was a child my dad traveled often and my mom had to feed the three kids. Between long days at the pool and ball games in the evenings she couldn't spend much time in the kitchen, but we always ate home-cooked food.

This week, 13 of us gathered at my table for Thanksgiving Dinner. Everyone arrived a day or two early, so as host I needed a meal before "the meal."

Arati's Fish Curry

Here's another recipe in honor of November 13's Diwali celebration:

My mother-in-law, Arati, was back this summer, which means I got free cooking lessons. This is another one of her staples. It's very similar to the family's chicken curry recipes, but the change in protein calls for several adjustments, particularly coconut and mustard seed. Use a flaky white fish, like catfish or cod. 

 

Arati's Fish Curry

vegetable oil

2 onions, diced

1 cup shaved, unsweetened coconut

3 cloves garlic

1/2-inch of ginger root

1 pound white, flaky fish filets, cut into pieces

3 dried red chillies (not the spicy type)

1 diced tomato

1-2 tbs yoghurt

1 tsp mustard seed, ground, or 1/2 tsp powder

1/4 tbs cumin

2 small cardamoms

2 cloves

1 full star anise

1 big black cardamom

2 bay leaves

1 1/2 tsp coriander powder 
3/4 tsp red chili powder (or more, to taste)

1/4 tsp turmeric

1/2 tbs ghee (clarified butter) (optional)

fresh cilantro

1. In 2 tbs oil, brown the shaved coconut, then transfer to a blender or food processor.

2. In 2 more tbs oil, brown the onions, garlic, ginger and red chillies, then transfer to the blender.

3. In the now-empty pan, add extra oil if needed, then add the dry ingredients: mustard seed, cumin, cardamom, cloves, anise, bay leaves, coriander, turmeric and chili powder. Add 2 tbs of water and let the flavors blend for 1-2 minutes.

4. While the spices are simmering, add the tomato and yoghurt to the blender and puree. You may need to add a little water to get the desired consistency.

5. Add the puree to the pan and stir.

6. Add salt (to taste) and ghee to the pan.

7. Add water to the pan until the curry reaches your desired consistency. Use 1/2 cup for a thick sauce and 1.5 cups for a thin sauce. Bring to a boil.

8. Add the fish and simmer for 5-7 minutes, or until it’s cooked through.

9. Top with fresh cilantro, check the spices (especially the salt), and serve with rotis, naan or basmati rice.

Arati's Beef Curry

In honor of Diwali coming up on November 13 I'll be featuring more of my mother-in-law's recipes.

Another one of Arati's staples, beef curry is almost identical to her chicken curry recipe, but instead of adding yoghurt and tomatoes she substitutes vinegar. You can use many cuts of meat.

Arati's Beef Curry

vegetable oil

2 onions, diced

3 cloves garlic

1/2-inch of ginger root

1 pound stew meat

3 dried red chillies

2 tbs vinegar

1 1/2 tsp coriander powder 
3/4 tsp red chili powder (or more, to taste)

1/4 tsp turmeric

1/2 tbs ghee (clarified butter) (optional)

fresh cilantro

masala combo:

1/4 tbs cumin

2 small cardamoms

2 cloves

1 full star anise

1 big black cardamom

2 bay leaves

1. In 3 tbs oil, brown onions with garlic, ginger and red chillies.

2. When the onions have browned, transfer them to a blender or food processor.

3. In the now-empty pan, add the masala combo and let cook (add a little more oil if necessary) for about 30 seconds, then add the beef and 2 tbs water.

4. While the beef is cooking (not browning), add the vinegar to the onions and puree. You may need to add a little water to get the desired consistency.

5. After the beef has cooked for up to 5 minutes, add the onion puree to the pan and stir to coat the meat.

6. Add the corriander powder, red chili powder, turmeric, salt (to taste) and ghee to the pan, then cover and let the sauce cook on low heat until the beef is cooked.

7. Add water to the pan until the curry reaches your desired consistency. (use 1/2 cup for a thick sauce and 1.5 cups for a thin sauce)

8. Add 1 tbs chopped fresh cilantro, let simmer for another 5 minutes. Check the spices (especially the salt), and serve with rotis, naan or basmati rice.

Penne with Sausage, Mushrooms and Collard Greens

It's always exciting to watch the summer fruits transition to fall vegetables. Several farmers had shiitake mushrooms for sale this week. I combined them with a few leaves of collard greens and built a rich pasta sauce. It's a great recipe for this time of year because all the vegetable are in season and available locally.

Penne with Sausage, Mushrooms and Collard Greens

2 tbs olive oil
3 tbs butter
1 pound sausage, casing removed
4 cloves garlic, diced
8 oz mushrooms, sliced
5 collard leaves, julienned
1 15-oz can of diced tomatoes or 3-4 fresh
1/2 cup dry white wine (I used sauvingon blanc)
1 tbs fresh parsley or 1 tsp dried
1/2 cup Parmesan or Pecorino cheese
1 box penne

1. In a saucepan add the oil, brown the sausage and remove it from the pan.

2. Fill a pasta pot with water and bring to a boil. Don't forget to add salt to the water. 

3. In the now-empty saucepan, melt the butter, then add the garlic. When the garlic is fragrant but not brown, add the mushrooms.

4. When the mushrooms have released their water, add the collards and tomatoes. Simmer for 5 minutes, then add the wine and simmer for 5 more minutes. 

5. Add the sausage, parsley, pasta and cheese. Toss, garnish with additional oil, parsley, collards or cheese and serve.

Chef Challenge Recap

Three talented local chefs cubed, julienned, mashed, boiled, roasted, pickled and fried sweet potatoes, assembled three exceptional dishes and shared them with judges and market visitors at the fourth-annual Chef Challenge last Saturday morning.

Two-time defending champion Billy Cotter (Toast) returned to defend his locally-welded, hand-crafted trophy, but 2011 runner-up Andy Magowan (Geer Street Garden) and newcomer Christy Quirk (Bull Street Gourmet and Market) both had other ideas.

Emcee and local radio personality Frank Stasio revealed the secret ingredient at 8:30 and let them loose in the market to buy their ingredients and get to work.

Billy and his assistant got to work cubing and julienning sweet potatoes while a pot of pickling spices came to a boil. Andy, once again flying solo, threw cubes of sweet potatoes in a pan while he (jokingly) informed the judges that an envelope of cash awaited each of us under our chairs. This was a strategic shift from the one-dollar bribes he offered one year ago. Christy and her assistant lightly fried strips of sweet potatoes in oil. All three chefs shared a grill, where a slew of peppers roasted away.

The noise levels rose as the deadline approached. Excited to use a workspace larger than his restaurant's kitchen, Billy fired up his pasta roller, mixer and blender before assembling small, stuffed pasta and a brown butter sauce. Andy began shouting complaints about the noise coming from Billy's fancy machines as he rolled his pasta and mixed his ravioli fillings by hand and simmered a pork and butter sauce. Christy remained quiet and composed, keeping her workspace noticeably cleaner than her opponents and topping her completed dishes with foil.

As we neared the final minutes Billy and Andy shared a huge pot of boiling water to cook their pasta while Christy answered questions from the audience.

Christy's plate hit the judges table first. She prepared a Spanish-style tort with eggs and sweet potatoes (sort of like an omelette) with a spicy sweet potato and pepper sauce and and a salad of kale, red pepper and sweet potato tortilla strips.

Next, Andy presented ravioli filled with sweet potato, kale, ricotta and ginger with a sauce of caramelized onion, vinegar, butter and guanciale and a salad that featured both sweet potatoes and sweet potato greens.

Source: Kelly Alexander

Finally, Billy presented a smaller stuffed pasta filled with sweet potato and ricotta cheese with a brown butter sauce, chive oil and pine nuts. His plate also featured slender sweet potato fries and cubes of pickeled sweet potato.

Source: Kelly Alexander

As usual, eating the delicious food was hard work, but declaring a winner was even more challenging. Lex Alexander, Kelly Alexander and I agreed that we'd order any of the meals and hope they appear on the chef's menus this fall. Christy's spicy sauce was fantastic, Andy's generous dose of vinegar really made the sweet potatoes pop, and the complexity of Billy's flavors despite using just a handful of ingredients opened my eyes to what sweet potatoes are capable of.

After much deliberation we crowned Billy Cotter champion (again). All three plates had big flavors and utilized the secret ingredient in creative ways, but we couldn't deny that, once we had all three plates in front of us, we returned to Billy's plate to polish off whatever was left.

Thanks to Erin Kaufman, Durham Farmer's Market for allowing me to take part in the event. I encourage everyone to come out to support the market, it's farmers and great events like this one, which seem to happen nearly every week.