POACHED WHOLE SALMON, "THAI" STYLE

The other day my local fish monger was selling small-sized (about 2.5-3#) salmons, so I had to purchase one.  I always make salmon fillets, so cooking a whole one is different.  And with all of the white salmon in my freezer that I've been making for the past several months, it was a welcome change.  I didn't want to steam it or bake it--and definitely NOT fry it, so I decided to poach it, although poaching is "sort of" like steaming.  Since my pantry has a variety of spices/ingredients, I thought about making a Thai Style poached salmon, so I perused the Net for some ideas (with more than 300 cookbooks in my library, I still peruse the net for ideas).  After coming across an interesting recipe from the Australian website taste.com, I pulled out some of my favorite Thai ingredients and adapted a dish to my liking. 

POACHED WHOLE SALMON, "THAI" STYLE

3 lemongrass stems, bruised and cut in half
6 kaffir lime leaves
1/2 cup fresh ginger, sliced
6 garlic cloves sliced
2.5# whole salmon cleaned and scaled
1 bunch cilantro (coriander), about 2 cups
1/2 cup palm sugar
1/2 cup red onion, sliced
2 1/2 tbs tamarind concentrate
1/2 cup fish sauce
Lime wedges, to serve

Place half of the lemongrass, 4 lime leaves, garlic and half of the ginger in the cavity of the fish.  Put the fish in a poacher, cover with cold water and slowly bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to low and let fish simmer for about 20-30 minutes until just cooked.

While fish is cooking, wash cilantro and pick off the leaves and refrigerate until ready to use. Chop/slice cilantro roots. Place palm sugar in a heavy-based pan over medium heat. Add 2 tablespoons of water and stir until the sugar dissolves. Add cilantro roots, onion, remaining lemongrass and ginger and lime leaves. Bring to a boil, then simmer over low heat for 5 minutes or until lightly caramelized. Add tamarind concentrate and fish sauce and simmer for another 5 minutes. Strain and set aside until ready to serve.

Carefully remove the fish from the poaching liquid and place on a large serving platter. Pat dry with a paper towel. Pour the sauce over the fish and garnish with the reserved cilantro leaves and lime wedges.

CLASSIC VICHYSSOISE -- NOT REALLY

The last time I made vichyssoise was about 14 years ago.  It was one of the (very) few dishes I made that was unacceptable to me at the time.  I haven't thought about it or revisited it since...until recently.  My local farmer's market had beautiful leeks available for $2.00 a bunch.  How could I pass them up? Although I didn't need any leeks since my freezer is full of vegetable broth and chicken stock, but I bought them anyway.  And one of my first thoughts was to make vichyssoise.  Uh oh.  Would this be another disaster like 14 years ago?  No. It wasn't.  I guess I'm older and wiser now.  Definitely older but don't know about wiser.

So, I adapted a recipe for a classic vichyssoise, and it was perfect.  This time, I used only the white bulb parts of the leeks.  Live and learn.  Also, I served it warm rather than chilled, as the traditional soup is typically served. And I did not add the "classic" heavy whipping cream to it.  Not necessary, in my opinion, since the potatoes give the soup a creamy consistency without the cream.  And, I used vegetable broth in lieu of the chicken stock.  So, it's not, technically speaking, a true vichyssoise.  However, it was a very healthy dish with a lot of flavor and no stringy texture (like the last time).  Again, live and learn or older and wiser or...just enjoy the dish, Cecelia.

2 Tablespoons unsalted butter

3 leeks, white part only, cleaned and sliced into rings
1 yellow onion, peeled and thinly sliced
5 potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
Kosher salt and pepper, to taste
3-4 sprigs of fresh thyme
1 fresh bay leaf
4 cups vegetable broth, preferably home made

In a large stock pot melt butter over low heat. Add leeks and onion, cover, and cook for 10 minutes.  Add potatoes and season with salt and pepper. Add thyme sprigs and bay leaf and stir well. Cover pot and continue to cook for about 15 minutes. 

Leeks and Potatoes

Add vegetable broth and bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 30 minutes.

Puree soup in blender or food processor and serve.  Or, cool soup and serve chilled.  I like it warm.  Chilled is actually good, too.

LEMON AND GOAT CHEESE RAVIOLI TOPPED WITH TRI-COLORED PEPPERCORNS AND FRESH HERBS

After reading about a dish made with lemon ravioli, I was anxious to make it myself so I perused the Web for some ideas.  That was much easier than perusing my 300-plus (and continuously growing) collection of cookbooks.

I found a recipe for Lemon and Goat Cheese Ravioli posted on several websites from Chef Yotam Ottolenghi's book, Plenty http://www.amazon.com/Plenty-Vibrant-Recipes-Londons-Ottolenghi/dp/1452101248/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1336557995&sr=1-1

Since I never had either lemon or goat cheese ravioli, it was a plan. His recipe calls for homemade pasta dough made with turmeric and lemon zest and the ravioli are stuffed with goat cheese mixed with red and black pepper. The ravioli topping is made with pink peppercorns, fresh tarragon and lemon zest.  The lemon part of his dish is in the dough itself and some lemon zest is included in the topping.  Interesting.  But I had something else in mind where the ravioli are filled with a fresh lemon mixture.  However, I did use this recipe as a guide to make my own version of a Lemon and (now a) Goat Cheese Ravioli where my ravioli are stuffed with both a lemon mixture and the goat cheese.  I also modified the peppercorn topping a little. The result was definitely not a typical Sunday sauce (or gravy) recipe that would be served atop ravioli or pasta or spaghetti--actually, spaghetti is pasta.  It was very good and is a great vegetarian (not vegan) dish. Here goes.

I have both a KitchenAid machine, including the pasta maker attachment, and the original old-fashioned Atlas pasta maker. And I really like the idea of making fresh pasta dough from scratch because the ingredients are limitless as far as one's imagination could go (e.g., turmeric in the dough).  However, I opted to purchase ready-made fresh wonton wrappers instead of making the ravioli dough from scratch.  Semi-homemade?  Not really. I was certain that making ravioli with fresh wonton wrappers was a guarantee that there wouldn't be the standard freezer burn taste that is typical of any, it not all, frozen store-bought (and at many restaurants) ravioli.  Actually, I've never seen lemon or goat cheese ravioli--or a combination of both--sold at any market, but it does sound like something a Whole Foods might carry.   

For the ravioli filling, I combined a fresh lemon segment mixture with the goat cheese.  First, I simmered the lemon segments in agar-agar powder, then added cayenne pepper, sugar and a touch of Kosher salt. The agar-agar powder (vegetarian gelatin) gives the lemon mixture a firm, custard-type consistency.  It tasted like and reminded me of the lemon pie filling in those store-bought pies sold during my childhood days.  I combined that mixture with the goat cheese.  For the topping, I used unsalted melted butter, pink, green, and white peppercorns, fresh tarragon, fresh parsley, lemon zest and lemon juice. This recipe made 24 1-1/2-inch size "ravioli."

And, since I was so impressed reading about Chef Ottolenghi's book, I had to order it. 

The Ravioli

3 lemons
1/2 teaspoon agar-agar powder (or flakes)
pinch of cayenne pepper (or chili flakes)
1/8 teaspoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon Kosher salt
9 ounces of soft goat cheese at room temperature
2 Tablespoons lemon zest
24 wonton wrappers
water for sealing the wonton wrappers
corn meal for dusting the tray for the wonton wrappers

The Topping

4 Tablespoons butter, unsalted
1 Tablespoon of a mixture of pink, white, and green peppercorns, crushed
1 Tablespoon fresh tarragon, chopped
1 Tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
1 Tablespoon grated lemon zest
1 teaspoon lemon juice

Zest all lemons and set the lemon zest aside. Remove skins and seeds and cut lemons into segments.  Place segments into a small saucepan and sprinkle with agar-agar.  Bring to a simmer. Season with cayenne pepper, or chili flakes, sugar and Kosher salt. Cool until mixture sets, then chop mixture in a food processor.  Add the lemon mixture and lemon zest to the goat cheese and incorporate well, using your hands to mix.

Line a tray with waxed paper and dust with the corn meal.  Keep the wonton wrappers under a damp cloth to avoid drying out as you're making the ravioli.

Fill each wonton wrap center with about 1 teaspoon of the lemon and goat cheese mixture. Brush ends of the wonton wrap with water, fold wrap in a triangle and press to seal. Bring pointed ends of the corners together and overlap the third corner forming into a square-ish 1 1/2-inch "ravioli". Place ravioli on the tray that has been dusted with the corn meal.  Keep a damp cloth on top of the ravioli on the finished tray as you make and add each one. When finished, cover the tray with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator until ready to cook.  The ravioli could keep for a day in the fridge. Do not freeze.

To make the topping, melt butter and add remaining ingredients and stir. Keep mixture warm.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and add ravioli.  Boil for about 2-3 minutes until ravioli float to the top.  Drain.  Portion ravioli into serving dishes and add topping.  Serves 4.

LUCKYRICE GRAND FEAST AT THE MANDARIN ORIENTAL NYC

My first experience at the LUCKYRICE festival was the celebrity-chef studded Grand Feast which was held at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel at Columbus Circle in New York City.  And what a feast it was.  Star chefs from Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, and Japan served their best authentic dishes.  And, to complement the diverse Asian cuisine, sake and shochu from Japan were served in addition to premium wines, Thai beer, French cognac, champagne and specialty cocktails. 

As always, whenever I attend one of these culinary events, I get some photos or no photos.  With such crowded venues, it could be difficult to sip, click and taste all the time, but I attempted to get a few (very few) photos.  Some are good, yet most are bad--the photos, that is.  But, I have to say that chatting with certain chefs was, by far, the best experience of the evening.

Since we were early (I am "always" early for every event, meeting, interview--you name it), we tried to get a seat at the bar/lounge at Per Se prior to heading to the Mandarin Oriental.  At 6:15 p.m. on a Friday night.  Not happening.  I've had dinner there, but wanted to experience just the lounge. Maybe another time. 

So we proceeded to one of the other establishments in Columbus Circle, and ended up at the Post House, Michael Lomonaco's steak house, which we've been to several times before.

Actually, it is the former convoluted V Steakhouse that Jean-Georges opened back in/around early 2003 and subsequently closed down.  Because it was the eve of the Kentucky Derby, there was only one drink to order.  A mint julep. The very nice attentive bartender did an excellent job creating one for us.  Having bartended myself, I know what it's like to get requests for drinks that are out of the ordinary.   Making a mint julep is not just opening a bottle of beer.  There's muddling of fresh mint involved, simple syrup, bourbon, and ice.  Did I say muddling? And we know how much bartenders love to muddle drinks.  Most can't stand making drinks in a blender, let alone using a stick to chop up fresh herbs in the bottom of a glass.  It takes at least five times longer to make a muddled drink versus just pouring bourbon, or scotch, into a glass on the rocks. 

After The Post House it was time to head to the Festival.  As I expected, it was very crowded and most of the chefs left early to head over to the James Beard Awards (for Journalism), which was being held at Lincoln Center.

The first dish we tried was one of my favorites. It was edamame dumplings with a shallot-sauternes broth from Buddakan.  A restaurant in my town used to make this particular dish since their chef was a former employee of Buddakan.  Unfortunately, they closed down about a year ago.  I enjoyed having this dish again, and although I've made it myself, the best part was no dishes to wash.

Buddakan Display

Edamame Dumplings

Chef Ming Tsai of Blue Ginger in Boston made an awesome red roast duck with crispy rice on gingered spaghetti squash with a sambai-lime puree.  I can't say anything else about this, other than it is Chef Ming Tsai and the description says it all.

Chef Ming Tsai

Red Roast Duck

Chef Ming Tsai


 Chef Michael Anthony of Gramercy Tavern prepared snapper with dashi and trout roe.  Chef Anthony has always been one of my favorite chefs in NYC, and it was great to see him again.  And, of course, his dish was another winner.

Snapper With Dashi and Trout

Chef Michael Anthony

I also had the pleasure of meeting Chef Susar Lee.  I've always enjoyed reading about his work or watching him create and cook on Iron Chef America and Top Chef Masters.  He is extremely nice and has such a pleasant personality and his Hong Kong shrimp taro toast was incredible. 

Chef Susar Lee

Chef Angelo Sosa

Jeffrey Steingarten of Vogue Magazine

 And, the epitome of Asian chefs, in my opinion, is Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto.  His signature spicy king crab legs dish is another favorite.  I've had it many times at his restaurant in NYC and also make it at home whenever I purchase Alaskan king crab legs. 

Spicy King Crab Legs

We chatted with the Chef himself and attempted to get a new photo. I'm disappointed that the photo didn't come out very well. Are there any apps out there that can turn a blurry photo into a clear one?

Iron Chef Morimoto

Chattting with Chef Todd English

Dusse Drink Preparation

Sake

All in all, blurry photos aside, it was a good food event and we decided to add it to the list for next year.