Dateline: April 5, 2021 Bottarga, Baby, Bottarga

I was reading on Serious Eats about pasta with bottarga.  I had a jar of bottarga in the pantry that I was aching to try.  The article said it would give the taste of the sea to the pasta.  I looked at the recipe, and decided to take a slightly different tactic but incorporate some of the techniques for dealing with the bottarga in my dish.

For those that don't know what bottarga is, it is the salted and dried roe sacs from mullet fish.  You can buy it in whole lobes, or pre-ground up.  I had a jar of pre-ground, so that is what I used.

For my version, I used short pasta, lots of parsley, a sliced red finger pepper, and A LOT of garlic, sliced into not so thin slices.  

Ingredients

2 oz grated bottarga, divided

5 large cloves garlic, peeled and sliced, not too thinly

1 small bunch curly parsley, chopped

1 small bunch flat leaf parsley, chopped

10 flowering chives, chopped

1 red finger pepper, sliced

1/2 c good, flavorful olive oil

1 lb short pasta

Method

1.  In a pan large enough to hold all the cooked pasta, heat the oil and add in the garlic slices.  Allow the slices to slowly brown and soften in the oil, stirring frequently.  You do not want a dark brown, but a golden brown all over the slices.

2.  Add in all but 1 T of the bottarga and turn off the heat under the pan.  Allow the bottarga to steep in the warm oil along with the garlic for about 10 minutes.  In the meantime, bring a pot of water to a boil, add 1-2 T salt, and cook the pasta 2 minutes short of doneness according to the package directions.  

3.  Add the chopped parsleys, finger pepper to the steeping bottarga and stir to combine.  If the pasta is getting close to done, add about 1/2 c of the pasta water to the bottarga pan.  Stir to emulsify and combine well.  Turn on the flame under the bottarga pan.

4.  When the pasta has reached its 2 minutes short of doneness add to the bottarga along with another 1/2 c of pasta water.  Stir to combine and cook until the pasta has absorbed the liquid in the pan.  If necessary add more pasta water to create the texture you like.  Sprinkle on the remaining 1 T of bottarga.

5.  Serve.

This was sooooooo good.  I am now searching the web for more bottarga!  It really had the flavor of the sea, it was not super salty, not fishy, it was just like the sea.  I know that is a very unsatisfying description, but that is what it added to the pasta, the essence of the sea.  Neither of us could stop eating it, even after we had salad, we were still eyeing the pasta remaining in the pan and contemplating another bowl or few bites!  I actually got up around 2 am and had a bowl cold, it was still delicious!

 

Dateline: April 4, 2021 Grilled Steak, Roasted Whole Cauliflower, and Grilled Potatoes

 I had 2 beautiful strip steaks that I wanted to grill.  So I set up the grill and lit a fire hoping to get everything done before it got dark and cold!  I threw a chunk of wood on to supply a little more smoke for the veg.

I oiled the steaks and seasoned with salt and pepper as well as oiling up the cauliflower and seasoning it with salt, pepper, and smoked paprika.  I washed up a couple of yukon gold potatoes and oiled and seasoned them up as well.

When the fire was ready, I got it to hold steady at 300°F and put the cauliflower on the grill.  I figured I had about 40 - 60 minutes before it was cooked through and delightfully smokey.  I figured the taters would take about the same amount of time.  They would not fall apart, but get crustier, which is a lovely thing in its own right!

When the veggies were done, I opened up the vents to get the grill hotter, and got it up to 400°F pretty quickly.  I put the steaks on the hottest part of the grill and set a timer for 6 minutes.  After 3 minutes I rotated the steaks 90° for cross hatching.  At the 6 minute mark, the steaks were flipped and rotated again at the 3 minute mark.  I then took its temp and the internal temp was only about 100°F.  So onto their sides the steaks went in 1-2 minute increments.  The grill was getting hotter as the lid was open so a good sear was happening on the edges.  After that I took the temp and it was 120°F, ok getting closer to medium rare.  I put the steaks back on the very hot grill on the less browned side for another minute or two and voila!  Perfect 127° that will rise to 130° as they sit.

The steaks were excellent, I know I usually do sous vide for steak, but I wanted to grill to wake up my grilling chops, if you will.

They were tender, flavorful, nicely seasoned, and quite delicious.  Nothing like meat and taters for an Easter/Passover Dinner.

Dateline: April 1, 2021 What to do with leftover chicken?

We had quite a bit of chicken left over from the buttermilk brine experiment, so I needed to get creative with it.  I decided on Chicken Pot No Pie.

I created a mirepoix of veggies: carrots, green pepper, onion, and sautedd in butter and olive oil.  After the veggies had softened, I added flour and cooked until the raw taste was gone, and then added the left over veggies form the previous night.  I added chicken stock and cooked until the stock thickened and then added in the cut up chicken meat.  Brought it to a boil, and put it covered into a 350°F oven for 45  minutes until hot and bubbling.  I removed the lid, and let some of the liquid cook off to thicken things up a bit, and dinner was served!

I used some herbage in it as well, savory and marjoram, along with salt and pepper.  It was quite passable and satisfying for a chilly evening.

Dateline: March 31, 2021 Buttermilk Brined Roasted Chicken with veggies

I had 2 smallish chickens in the fridge, they needed to be cooked.  I was going to do a taste test between Cook's Venture and a Kosher bird, at least that was the plan.  However, the fridge was packed and I needed to make room.  The smaller bird went into the freezer, and the larger one into the buttermilk brine.  I used Samin Rosrat's recipe.  The larger bird was the kosher one, so I didn't use all the salt in the brine.  I put the bird into a gallon size zip bag and put it in a bowl in the fridge over night.

cut up and ready to eat.

I decided to rotisserie the bird rather than roast in a pan in a hot oven.  That may not have been the best decision...When the chicken was cooked, the skin was still kind of flabby and pale.  To solve the problem, I removed the pan of veggies below the rotisserie, and replaced it with another empty pan and cranked up the heat.  The skin browned up, but certainly nothing like the photo with the recipe.  Next time.....

This is a fabulous chicken recipe.  The bird is flavorful, juicy, and succulent.  I was very happy with the results.  

The veggies were asparagus, little potatoes, onion, 2 types of broccolini, tomatoes, and cauliflower.  Seasoned with salt, pepper and a wee bit of olive oil.

fresh from the oven

roasted vegetation

Dateline: March 30, 2021 Dumplings with guest

 Bill and I met our friend Jeri down in Chinatown for lunch and a shop at Hong Kong Market.  I purchased some dumpling wrappers and rice noodles, along with some leafy greens, chinese leeks, and flowering chives.  What does one make with all of this?  Dumplings!

I made 2 fillings, one vegetarian and one with some left over spicy chicken.  The vegetarian filling was a mix of shredded cabbage, flowering chives, scallions, leeks and any other vegetation I could chop up and get out of the fridge.  I stir fried it for a bit and seasoned it with soy, shaoxing, and chili crisp.  To fill the wrappers, I put a teaspoon or so of the filling in the center of the dough circle, and wet a finger and traced around the edge of the wrapper and folded the wrapper into a half moon shape.  Pushing hard on the edges to seal them tight.

For the chicken filling, I chopped up the spicy chicken finely and added some scallions, leeks, and other bits I had in the fridge that were already cooked.  I didn't need to add seasoning as the spicy chicken was already quite flavorful.  I placed 1 teaspoon in the center of the wrapper, wet the finger, and sealed into a half moon shape, I then pleated the top edge to distinguish the different types.  Bill came into the kitchen and I recruited him to make the rest of the dumplings.

The problem is that the video doesn't play when one clicks on it.  SO, no video until I can figure out how to make it work correctly.  Sadly, his intensity is awesome.

Bill the master dumpling maker! He will not replace an Asian Grandma in a restaurant window, but he is a good student and with practice, he could make a batch on his own! His pleated ones were better looking than mine!

So, after the dumplings were made and laid out on trays covered with a damp towel.  I set about cooking them.  That is where the trouble started.  The big mistake I made was now oiling the bottom of the pan I was cooking the dumplings in.  What happened is that they stuck to the bottom and got crispy, but the crispy part stayed in the pan!  

I put a steaming rack over the pan frying ones and steamed the veggie dumplings....they were too doughy.  I think the ratio of filling to wrapper was incorrect.  More filling would have worked better, and I guess boiling them would have been the way to go as well and then browning the boiled ones afterwards.  I tipped the steamed ones into the pan.  You can see the bottom is browned but most of the pleated ones stuck fast to the bottom of the pan.

I also made some stir fry with rice noodles.  There was left over filling of both types, so I combined them and then tried to figure out how to make the noodles work.  I decided to steam them, then unroll, and cut into noodles.  The concept was good, the issue was in the execution.  The noodles were hot, damn hot, so handling them was difficult and being an impatient cook, I just couldn't wait for them to cook down enough to handle easily.  I managed to get them unfurled and cut and mixed in with the left over filling.  I also steamed some green beans and added them to the mix.  That dish was better than the dumplings.  Although the dipping sauce was ok, next time, I will search for a more vinegar based sauce.  The one I used had dark soy in it and the molasses really came through too strongly for me so I added more Chinese vinegar to balance out the taste.  With garlic, ginger, scallions, cilantro, hot pepper slices and sesame oil it was quite tasty.

Dateline: March 26, 2021 Grilled Rack of Lamb

I was pawing through the freezer and found a rack of lamb.  It was a beautiful day, so it was grilling time.  I marinated the lamb, after cutting a slit between the bones, with a puree of preserved lemons, garlic, and red finger peppers.  This was rubbed all over the rack, front and back, and it was put to the side while I made a salad.

The rack was put on a hot grill along with half of a red cabbage that I found in the fridge.  I closed the lid, and let it go for about 6-8 minutes, then flipped it over to the bone side, closed the lid and let it go for another 5 minutes.  Tested the temp, bingo, for me, 130°F and I pulled everything off the grill.

Cut the rack into lamb chops and served it up.  Yummers!

 Nota Bene:  The red cabbage was fabulous.  Sweetly charred and cooked through.

Dateline: March 24, 2021 Another Trip to a French Bistro - Cider Braised Chicken Thighs

I had chicken thighs that needed to be cooked, and as I unpacked them, I saw that they had their bones and skin! Ok this is going to be a twist on a sheetpan, but not in a sheetpan.  A casserole that can go in the oven at high heat is needed or a large lidded frying pan.

I used Cider Braised Chicken Thighs with Apples and Greens , by Lidey Heuck.  This is a FABULOUS recipe.  OMG I can't say enough how delicious this was.  I did make some tweaks, I didn't have apple cider, so I used hard apple cider which made the dish dryer and I used about 1 tsp of agave syrup to turn it toward the apple cider vein.  

This was not a difficult dish, but again, I napped, I have go to stop doing that, and was pushed for time.  The shallots melted down into lovely slurp-able shards.  I used black kale as the green and used a frozen baguette as suggested to sop up all the lovely juices. This is a keeper you must give it a try.

The chicken is gently fried skin down first and then after braising, is put in to broil to crisp up again.  Excellent touch, if I might say so.  The sauce was a lovely, tangy, mustardy melange that was absolutely bread worthy.

Dateline: March 23, 2021 Smoked Chuck (Beef)

I had a large piece of chuck roast and was aching to get into the smoker.  In my night time wanderings around the apartment, I decided that I would smoke the beef the next day, well, actually, later that same day.  I prepped the meat by seasoning with a mix of equal parts salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder.  Put the hunk of meat in a sealable bag and put into the fridge for the night.

By 9:00 I was setting up the smoker for 220°F, high smoke, and by 9:30 the roast was in the smoker.  I was hoping that it would be done by dinner time.  You can never tell how long these things will take.  

By 3:30, I had reached the stall of 155 - 165° and I wrapped the roast in butcher paper and returned to the smoker.  I had to leave the house by 4:15, so I started the oven at 225° and went out to the smoker at around 4 to put the meat in the oven to finish up going to 200°F.

I got home around 7 and quickly pulled the meat, sliced it in half, and then turned the cut side down to cut against the grain.  Sometimes in these chuck roasts the grain is wacky and it is easier to cut it when you halve it.  It's a trick I learned from J. Kenji Lopez-Alt in his treatise on smoking chuck.

I served this with left over roasted veggies from the merguez sheetpan dinner and a new trick of mashed rice-potatoes.  I had made congee earlier in the week with left over rice from take out by putting the rice in the Instant Pot with a quart of chicken stock, a 2 in chunk of peeled ginger and a very large clove of garlic.  Both were kept whole for easier fishing out at the end.  Set the IP on the porridge setting and what came out was a very soft mass of flavorful rice.  I took this out of the fridge and used an ice cream scooper to take out several balls of this rice-potato mash and heated in the microwave.  The texture really is much like mashed potatoes, the flavor is not rice-y, a new and wonderful starch on the plate.  

The meat was so moist, gravy was unnecessary and frankly, unwarranted.  The meal was very satisfying and delicious.  Drank a lovely Riserva Chianti with it.  Cheers!

Dateline: March 22, 2021 Sheetpan Merguez Redux

Another nap ate into prep time for dinner, I think it is now a nasty habit which is playing havoc with my sleeping at night.

What was in the freezer -- ah, merguez sausage, done.  Veggies in fridge, done.  Ok sheetpan dinner coming up.

I used for the veggies, brussel sprouts, baby peppers, red cabbage, green cabbage, collards, carrots, butternut squash, broccolini, and onions.  Chop into reasonable pieces, coat in olive oil, salt, and pepper and top with frozen sausages and throw into a 350°F oven for 45 minutes.  At 30 minutes, turn the sausages over to brown on the other side and set the table.

Fresh out of the oven

plateful of goodness

These sheetpan dinners are getting more frequent, perhaps because I am taking long naps in the afternoon.  Just saying, it's a possibility, but not causal.

Dateline: March 21, 2021 Korean Squid and Scallion Pancake

The squid had to be used, and I was pressed for time....why?  Because my nap took longer than I thought it would.  So I only started to prep this at about 6 pm and we had a 7 pm zoom call.

I used Melissa Clark's Scallion Pancake with Squid recipe.  Pretty straight forward, I had all the ingredients and didn't need to finagle anything!  The squid was beautiful, once again from Fresh Direct.  Bodies were cut into rings and tentacles were cut in half.  Batter ingredients were measured and prepped and pan was heated by 6:45, so in went half the batter and it cooked up nicely.  Then came the hard part!

I used a straight-sided pan, which was very stupid of me.  A sloping sided pan would have allowed the spatula to get under the pancake much more easily.  The pancake broke up and had to be turned in pieces.  Not a problem in terms of taste, but presentation of a lovely dish was out of the question.

The taste was quite nice, in fact, very good!  In the future I would add more liquid than the called for 2 cups.  The batter was very thick and that may have caused the turning issues as it wasn't going to flow into itself and create a solid surface.  The dipping sauce was very good and accented the seafood quality perfectly.

finished messy product, but the taste was great

These were quite filling, we ate 1 and half of the second one and were both quite full.  I realized looking at the photo I did add a sliced red finger pepper for something interesting, as well as 1 chopped leek.