PURPLE AND WHITE EGGPLANT PARMIGIANA--BAKED--NOT FRIED

I think that the first time I ever made eggplant parmigiana was in 1979.  Back then, it was the "typical pizza parlor" dish with eggplant fried in vegetable oil and then covered with that Polly-O mozzarella cheese "stuff" that was wrapped in plastic and tasted as such, dusted with Parmigiano "cheese" that had the consistency of baby powder from a can that looked (and tasted) like something you would dust on your feet after a work-out and shower.  The sauce was....well, it was.

Oh, how times have changed, and changed, and changed again.

As I look back, I realize that was a long, long time ago.  Since then, I've explored and made cuisines from all over the world.  But getting back on track and a blast from the past and recent past and more recently, I made eggplant parmigiana.   Yes, I made eggplant parmigiana.  Not a typo.  I think the first time I made this recipe was during a major snowstorm in early 2010.  And that was the first time I made eggplant parmigiana since 1979.  And I liked it.  Probably because it's not the typical fried eggplant smothered in plastic and/or powdered cheese. The eggplant is baked instead of fried.  I use low-fat mozzarella cheese and panko in lieu of bread crumbs.  

I adapted this recipe from Mario Batali's cookbook, Molto Italiano, 327 Simple Italian Recipes to Cook at Home.

http://www.amazon.com/Molto-Italiano-Simple-Italian-Recipes/dp/0060734922/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1335705532&sr=1-1

So, about a week ago, after purchasing a beautiful white eggplant, I decided to revisit the recipe and make a "white and purple" eggplant parmigiana.  No plastic or baby powder in this one.  It was very good, tasty and light.   

PURPLE AND WHITE EGGPLANT PARMIGIANA--BAKED--NOT FRIED

4 oz. extra-virgin olive oil
1 white eggplant, about 1 pound
1 purple eggplant, about 1 pound
Salt and pepper
2 cups marinara sauce, preferably home-made (another recipe)
1/2 pound fresh low-fat mozzarella, sliced paper thin
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1/4 cup panko

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

Lightly oil a baking sheet with olive oil.

Slice each eggplant into 6 pieces about 1 inch thick.  Brush eggplant with olive oil and lightly season each disk with salt and pepper and place on the oiled sheet. Bake the eggplant at 450 degrees until the slices begin turning deep brown, about 12 minutes. Turn eggplant over and brush with more olive oil, as necessary. Remove the eggplants from the oven and let cool.  Eggplant could rest for a while at this point, until ready to handle.

Roasted Eggplant

Lower oven temperature to 350 degrees.  In an 8 by 12-inch pan, place the 4 largest eggplant slice evenly spaced apart. Over each slice, spread 1/4 cup of tomato sauce. Place one slice of mozzarella over each and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon grated Parmigiano. Place the smaller slices of eggplant over each of the disks and repeat with tomato sauce and the 2 cheeses. Repeat, layering again until all the ingredients are used. Sprinkle the panko over the top of the eggplant dish, and bake uncovered until the cheese is melts and the tops turn light brown, about 20 minutes. Serve immediately.

BALINESE DUCK ROLLS

Banana Leaf

This is a dish I made many years ago for dinner parties.  Recently, after purchasing a duck at our local market, I decided to revisit it. Originally, I adapted this recipe for Bebek Betutu which, in Balinese, is a duck smothered in a paste made with pungent roots, herbs and seasonings and wrapped in banana leaves, steamed and then roasted.  When the duck is done, the banana leaves are removed and the duck meat is shredded and served with the "stuffing" of the spice rub paste.  After I shred the duck meat, instead of serving it alone, I like to make Balinese Duck Rolls using rice paper as the wrapper.  In the past, I would heat the rolls in the microwave before serving.  But the other day I fried (me frying something?) them in grapeseed oil which added a bit of crunchiness to the robust flavor of the rolls.

BALINESE DUCK ROLLS

(4 1/2-pound) duck, washed and patted dry

Fresh Ginger

Spice rub paste:
8 cloves garlic, peeled and halved
1 cup shallots peeled and halved
3 stalks lemongrass, finely sliced
5 kaffir lime leaves, finely sliced
6 candlenuts, chopped
5 tablespoons ginger, peeled, and chopped
3 tablespoons fresh turmeric, peeled and chopped

Fresh Turmeric

3" of kencur root, or 3/4 tsp kencur powder (kenchur is a ginger-like root that has a unique camphor flavor – ½ tsp of powder is used in lieu of a one-inch piece of root)
1 teaspoon black pepper corns, crushed
5 bird's-eye chilies, sliced
1 teaspoon coriander seeds, crushed
2 teaspoons dried shrimp paste, roasted and coarsely crushed
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup olive oil
Banana leaves (can use aluminum foil for wrapping but you won’t get that underlying “herbed” taste)
4-5 sheets of rice paper, 8-10 inches in diameter

Duck Smothered in Paste

The duck:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a food processor, puree the first 12 ingredients. Blend well. Then add the soy sauce and olive oil.  Process again to form a thick, moist paste.

Rub the inside and outside of the duck with paste.  

Wrap the duck in several layers of banana leaves (or foil). 

Duck in Banana Leaves

I’ll fill a roasting pan with about 6 inches of water, insert a roasting rack, then place the duck on the rack and cover the pan with a lid.  Steam duck for about 50-60 minutes.  After the duck is steamed, remove and transfer to oven and bake for 30-40 minutes. When done, remove from oven.  Let duck rest for about 15 minutes.  Remove banana leaves.  Shred and cut duck meat into small pieces combining with the spice paste stuffing for for the rolls. 

Finished Duck

 The rolls:
Have a bowl of hot water (110-120 degrees) and a clean kitchen (tea) towel ready.  Put rice paper into the water until it softens (about 20 seconds).  Then place it on the towel.

Set a full amount of duck/stuffing mixture in the lower third part of the rice paper and form a log. Slowly start to roll away from you while tucking in the filling. Fold in the sides of the rice paper and continue to roll until the complete log is formed. Next, roll the rice paper roll in a sheet of plastic wrap, making it tight.  Fold over the last part of plastic wrap in the opposite direction, forming a tab so it will be easy to unwrap.  Twist ends and store in refrigerator for several hours to set, or up to one day. 

Duck Wrapped in Rice Paper

Duck rolls could be served either heated in a microwave for about 30-45 seconds or fried in grapeseed oil.

For the microwave, trim the end of each roll with a sharp knife, then cut into 2-inch sections right through the plastic wrap.  Unwrap each section and place, cut side up, on a plate.  If rolls were placed in the refrigerator, let them return to room temperature, then place in microwave for about 30-45 seconds to heat through. 

Alternatively, remove plastic from rolls.  Heat grapeseed oil and fry duck rolls (uncut) for about 3-4 minutes, until lightly browned.

Serve with a plum dipping sauce, store bought or, preferably, homemade.

BLACK AND WHITE GARLIC SOUP WITH FROG LEGS

Whenever I see frog legs, I always think about a dish that I had at a four-star restaurant in NYC, which was the first place that I've ever eaten them.  They were part of a tasting menu at the time and served alongside a creamy garlic soup.

Recently, when I was at the fish market and passed the freezer containing frog legs, I decided to add some to my basket.  I know.  Frog legs?  I have to say that it is a different protein.

While garlic soup was on my mind and since I had black garlic on hand, I thought about a black and white garlic soup--to be served with the frog legs, of course.

Rocambole Garlic

Black Garlic

Since I used both black and white garlic, the color was darker than a typical creamy garlic soup.  The taste was sweet but still had an underlying garlic flavor. 




For the frog legs, I dusted them with AP flour and then sautéed them in unsalted butter.  I served them as a side that could be added to the soup or not at all.  The soup is fine by itself.  The legs are an added garnish or a treat or don't even have to be used, or made.


Black and White Garlic Soup
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
40 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced thinly
6 cloves of black garlic, sliced
3 sprigs of fresh thyme
6 cups chicken stock
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
2 eggs
1 tablespoon sherry wine vinegar

Frog Legs
1/4 cup AP flour, for dusting
4 frog legs
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
½ teaspoon garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon parsley, chopped
2 teaspoons lemon juice

Put oil into saucepan and turn the heat to medium.  Add garlic and thyme sprigs.  Cook until garlic softens and has a translucent appearance.

Add chicken stock and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium, and stir occasionally until the liquid is reduced by half and the garlic is tender, about 15 minutes.


Season the soup to taste with salt and pepper and reduce heat. Remove thyme sprigs. In a separate stainless steel bowl, whisk the eggs with the vinegar.  Take a ladle full of the soup and add it to the egg/vinegar mixture in the bowl. Whisk to warm up the mixture (same process as making ice cream).  After tempering the egg/vinegar mixture, slowly whisk this into the hot soup.  

I ladled the soup into bowls containing a bed of chopped greens.  Preferably, the same greens that the frog legs are served on. 





Frog Legs
Dust frog legs in flour.  Melt butter and sauté frog legs until golden brown.  Add chopped garlic, salt and pepper.  Sprinkle on lemon juice and add parsley.  Serve on a bed of greens as a side with the soup.  Serves 4 as an appetizer or 2 as an appetizer (not a typo).

RAMP AND BLACK GARLIC PESTO

After a recent visit to the Manhattan Fruit Exchange in Chelsea Market, I was excited to see that they had black garlic, ramps and fava beans.  Of course they did. They are one of the top produce vendors that service many of the restaurants in the City.  I enjoyed getting many spring-time goodies that day.  Some people get excited about shoes.  I get excited about good products to cook with.  How could I resist some impulse-buying here?

My first thought was to make a ramp and black garlic pesto. Different. Very.  But, you would have to be a true garlic lover for this one, since the ramps have a robust garlic flavor all by themselves.  Add the sweet and syrupy molasses flavor of black garlic and quite a combination is the result. I used toasted pine nuts as the traditional pesto nut for this one.  And, as with any pesto, this is perfect with pasta, so I pulled out the whole wheat pappardelle from the pantry. I also made fresh fava beans, which have a buttery texture, slight bitterness and a nutty flavor.  Then I added freshly grated parmesan cheese.   This dish is perfect for Meatless Mondays.

Ramps are also known as wild leeks 

Black garlic is a type of fermented garlic

RAMP AND BLACK GARLIC PESTO

1 bunch of ramps
4 cloves of black garlic
1/3 cup of pine nuts, toasted
1/3 cup olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Separate the ramp tops from the stems.  Wash ramp tops well. Dry in salad spinner.

Place ramps, black garlic, toasted pine nuts into a food processor or blender and process until ingredients are combined.  While machine is running, drizzle in olive oil until the mixture is well combined and smooth.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Makes about 1 cup of pesto.

RAMP AND BLACK GARLIC PESTO WITH PASTA AND FAVA BEANS

10 cups cooked pasta of any choice
3/4 cup Pesto
4-5 oz. Fava Beans
Salt for fava bean water
1/8 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
Chopped parsley, optional

Fava beans are slightly bitter and nutty

Remove beans from the pods by running a finger up the seam of the pod, splitting it open and removing the beans.  Then, put the fava beans into boiling salted water and blanch for about 30-45 seconds.  Remove beans from boiling water and submerge them in an ice water bath to stop the cooking process.  With your fingers, squeeze the beans out of the skin.  Now, the beans are ready to add to any dish or just eat by themselves. 

Combine cooked pasta and pesto.  Add fava beans.  Grate some fresh parmesan cheese on top.  Add a few pieces of chopped parsley.  That's it.

Ramp and Black Garlic Pesto With Fava Beans on Whole Wheat Pappardelle

FOUR SEASONS OF MUSSELS

PEI Mussels

Whenever I think about mussels (not the gym-type), I always love to recollect several memories.  The first is from double digit years ago when I visited my number-one friend and her family for Christmas.  She requested that I bring a marinara sauce recipe for mussels that they planned to serve as one of the main dishes for Christmas Eve.  Of course, I was elected to cook the sauce. On the afternoon of Christmas Eve, as I started to prepare the sauce, my friend's husband, who is an avid cook, entered the kitchen and asked me if I needed any help with the preparation. I told him to open the cans of tomatoes and tomato puree. Later that evening at dinner, as everyone was enjoying the mussels and commented how good they were, my friend's husband proudly stated, "And I helped." My friend laughed and said that he reminded her of the little girl in the Shake n' Bake commercial (back in the day--is that still around?) who said, "And I helped."  Great memory.

Last fall, I provided several mussels recipes to a restaurant in the Caribbean who never served mussels at their venue.  Then the other day, as I was perusing one of the websites where patrons comment about restaurants, I came across one from a New England customer who had recently dined at that restaurant, "and the food is consistently excellent, best mussels I've had outside of New England."  Need I say more?

And, more recently, I was asked to provide a local restaurant with some ideas and recipes to expand their current menu.   Since mussels are not included, I came up with several seasonal mussels recipes. And how did I come up with seasonal mussels?  It just happened.

Mussels are an excellent choice for a restaurant and, of course, for the home cook.  They are available year round, do not incur the seasonal price fluctuations like other proteins, and are actually very healthy and nutritious.  From a restaurant standpoint, their profit margins are very high.   And for the home cook, their profit margins are very high, too.

After visiting the local Restaurant Depot and purchasing a 10-pound bag of PEI mussels for $15.00 (yes $1.50 per pound), I needed to come up with several recipes and cook them within a week.  I used the standard two pounds of mussels for two (or one pound per person).   

In addition to my traditional mussels recipes that week, I also tried steaming them in sake, tequila, St. Germain (yes, St. Germain--not such a good choice), and bourbon. Not all at the same time, mind you.  Finally, I realized that the recipes could be adapted seasonally, and thought about the "four seasons of mussels" concept.

First, a brief lesson about PEI mussels, which are, by far, the only ones to use.  Again, I'm sounding like Alton Brown here.

Prince Edward Island (PEI) rope grown mussels (Mytilus edulis) are some of the cleanest, most consistently sized mussels available anywhere. Like other bivalves, farming methods for mussels are environmentally sound. Mussels do not rely on fishmeal or fish oil as part of their diet, rarely have diseases making chemicals or antibiotics unnecessary, and help to improve the surrounding water quality by cleaning tiny particles and debris. Best of all, most farmed mussels, including PEI mussels, are grown on ropes suspended in mid water, making seafloor dredging unnecessary. Great taste and sustainable? That’s a win-win situation.  Quality PEI mussels are available year-round, so, again, this makes them a win-win situation. 

After purchasing mussels, put them in a bowl and store them in the top portion of the fridge, covered with a damp cloth. Never keep the mussels submerged in water. Before preparing the mussels, rinse them in cold water.  Then cook them to whatever recipe you're following that day.   After mussels are cooked, you could remove the "meat" and place it in the cooking liquid and freeze.  I've never done this and probably never will.

So, after many years of preparing various mussels dishes, experimenting with liquors from the bar--in the mussels, that is--and just having a blast with my 10 pounds of mussels, I put together some of my favorite recipes.  Of course, the most basic one is the Moules Meuniere, which is an old standby that could be made any time of the year.  The others I consider to be seasonal, or not.  And, finally, I had to include the marinara sauce recipe at the end of the four seasons.

For every mussels dish, always ensure to have a warm crusty baguette on hand to soak up those savory broths, no matter what time of year it is.

Mussels cooked in white wine, garlic and herbs

MUSSELS IN WHITE WINE AND GARLIC (MOULES MEUNIERE)

The basic Moules Meuniere is the traditional mussels dish that is steamed in garlic, herbs and wine. The same method of steaming/cooking is used for the "seasonal" mussels dishes that follow.  Of course, the best wine to serve with this one is a crisp, white Burgundy from France.

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 cup shallots, finely chopped
1/4 cup garlic, finely chopped
2 fresh bay leaves
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 cup dry white wine
2 lbs live PEI mussels, scrubbed and beards removed
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1/4" pieces
1/3 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
Kosher salt and white pepper,

In a large sauté pan or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium heat.  When the oil is hot, add the shallots and garlic and stir until soft and translucent.  Add the bay leaves, thyme and white wine.  Bring mixture to a boil then reduce the heat to a simmer. Add the mussels and place a lid on top of pan. After about two minutes, start shaking pan and continue to do so every about every 30 seconds. Since all mussels do not open at the same time, I like to remove the mussels as they open. After about three minutes, lift lid and remove any mussels that have opened.  Place the opened mussels into a separate stainless steel bowl (or another pot) on the stove and keep warm. Cover with aluminum foil.  Continue to shake pan and remove mussels as they open.  After all mussels are open (discard any that remain closed), add the butter to the pan and stir it in to melt. Add the parsley and season the broth with salt and white pepper.  Return the opened mussels to the original pan and gently stir the mussels into the warm broth (alternatively, transfer mussels to a large serving bowl and pour broth over mussels).  I like to serve mussels in the pan that they were cooked in. 

MUSSELS WITH ROASTED RED PEPPERS

This dish is made with roasted red peppers, which I like to consider the mussels for spring dish.  I've adapted this recipe from the Les Halles cookbook.  Roasting your own red peppers is always the way to go for this one, but if that can't be done (I don't know why), then jarred peppers are (sort of) acceptable.  This goes well with a sauvignon blanc.

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

3/4 cup thinly sliced onion
1 cup of roasted red peppers* cut into strips
1/4 cup garlic, minced
1 cup dry white wine
dash of salt and pepper (about 0.125 grams total)
2 pounds live PEI mussels, scrubbed and beards removed
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1/4" pieces
1/3 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped

In a large sauté pan or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium heat.  When the oil is hot, add the onion. Cook until soft and just beginning to soften.  Add the peppers and garlic and cook for 1 minute, then stir in the white wine and the salt and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil.  Add mussels and cover. Cook over medium-high heat, and follow the same cooking procedure as above.  When done, add the butter, and shake again.  Add parsley and serve.

*preferably homemade.  If homemade peppers are unavailable, then substitute jarred peppers

Mussels simmering in Jose Cuervo Black Oak Barrel...tough life

MUSSELS WITH TEQUILA AND LIME
What screams summer more than tequila and lime?  Well, how about mussels cooked in tequila and lime as an accompaniment to the drink.  During my 10 pounds of mussels week, I discovered that we had a bottle of Jose Cuervo Black Oak Barrel Single Blend tequila on the bar.  This was probably one of the best discoveries that I made that week.  So, I made steamed mussels in tequila and lime.  Add a shot of tequila as a side drink and it's a perfect summer dish.

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup shallots, finely chopped
1/4 cup garlic, finely chopped
1 cup tequila
2 oz. fresh lime juice
2 pounds live PEI mussels, scrubbed and beards removed
1/4 cup lime zest, cut into strips
1/3 cup cilantro, chopped
Kosher salt, to taste--about 1/12th of a teaspoon (yes, one-twelfth)
1 lime, cut into 1/8 wedges

In a large sauté pan or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium heat.  When the oil is hot, add the shallots and garlic.  Cook until soft and just beginning to soften.  Stir in the tequila and lime juice. Bring the mixture to a light boil.  Add mussels and cover. Cook over medium-high heat and follow the same procedure for cooking the mussels.  I know-- it's getting boring.   When mussels are done, combine them in the pot. Add lime zest, chopped cilantro, and sprinkle with kosher salt.  Garnish with fresh lime wedges.

MUSSELS WITH FENNEL

After all of that tequila in the summer, it's time to return to the bulky sweaters and put away the flip-flops.  Actually, we don't wear flip flops and probably never will.  Our fall mussels dish contains fresh fennel, which offers a liquorish taste and is perfect this time of year.  Of course, the wine to drink with this is a full-bodied oaked chardonnay.  

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 cup fresh fennel, thinly sliced
1/2 cup shallots, thinly sliced
1/3 cup garlic, finely chopped
1 cup dry white wine
2 oz. fresh lemon juice
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp anise seeds
2 pounds live PEI mussels, scrubbed and beards removed
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/4" pieces
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1/4 cup fennel fronds
1/4 cup fresh basil, chiffonade

In a large sauté pan or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium heat.  When the oil is hot, add the fresh fennel, shallots and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and translucent.  Stir in the white wine, lemon juice, coriander and anise seeds.  Bring to a boil.  Add mussels and cover.  Using the same procedure as above, cook, shake, remove and return mussels to pot when done. Add the butter, fresh parsley, fennel fronds and fresh basil.  Serve.

Mussels Manhattan with freshly grated cheese..just a garnish

MUSSELS MANHATTAN A classic Manhattan is a fine drink, and our home bar is always well-stocked with bourbon, sweet vermouth, and bitters during the winter months (all other months, too). So, as the snowfall covers the city, a Mussels Manhattan is another great dish, which, of course is my take on winter mussels.  I adapted this recipe from executive chef Larry Tressler of Holland House Bar and Refuge in Nashville.  The mussels are simmered in bourbon, sweet vermouth and bitters.  As with other dishes containing alcohol, most of it is evaporated during cooking, but the taste is still there.   And, typically, I'm always against putting any cheese on fish, but we did it for this one.  The mussels are great by themselves, but better still served alongside their namesake cocktail.

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/3 cup garlic, finely chopped
3/4 cup bourbon (or whiskey)
2 oz dry vermouth
2 dashes Angostura bitters
½ cup vegetable stock
2 pounds mussels, scrubbed and beards removed
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1 tablespoon fresh basil, finely chopped

In a large sauté pan or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium heat.  When the oil is hot, add

garlic. Remove pan from the heat and add the bourbon, vermouth and bitters.  Return pan to heat and let mixture cook for about 2 minutes.  Stir in the vegetable stock and then add mussels.  Cover, cook, shake remove mussels as they open, then return mussels to pan.  Add the butter, then top with the cheese and basil and serve immediately with the toasted baguette.

Alfalfa sprouts as a garnish on top of one season of mussels

MARINARA SAUCE FOR MUSSELS (or whatever)
This is the "classic" recipe that I started making way back in--never-mind.  It was a while ago.  I still make the marinara sauce as a typical standby to go with shrimps or lobster tails or crab legs. Since the mussels discussion piqued my memory of yesteryear, I had to include this one, too.  And, the perfect wine with this is Chianti.

1 tablespoon butter

2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup fresh garlic, chopped
3 flat anchovy fillets, chopped
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 30-oz can Italian tomatoes, whole
1 30-oz can tomato puree
1 cup water
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano (or 2 teaspoons dried)
1/8 teaspoon
1/4 teaspoon pepper.

Melt butter with olive oil over medium heat.  Stir in garlic and cook for about 1 minute.  Stir in anchovy until dissolved, about 1-2 minutes more.

Add tomato paste and stir to heat.  Squeeze whole tomatoes or put through food mill.  Add to pan with the puree, water, parsley, oregano, salt and pepper.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered for about an hour.

SMOKED ALASKAN WHITE KING SALMON

Smoked Alaskan King White Salmon on a Bed of Succotash Topped with Alfalfa Sprouts

I was introduced to white king salmon--or ivory salmon--more than a decade ago.   Since then, it has always been on my radar screen.

White king salmon has a softer flesh and is buttery and silky, less "meaty" than red salmon. It is clearly salmon, but with flavors evocative of perch and Chilean sea bass.  A white king salmon is considered to be an oddity where only one in 100 wild kings is white, and there is no way to know until a fish is gutted whether it has white or red flesh.  One theory about white king salmon is that they eat a different diet from their red counterparts. The bright-red color of wild salmon comes from a diet of shrimps, krill and crabs that contain carotenoids, natural pigments found in plants and animals. Beta-carotene, which makes carrots orange, is probably the most familiar one. Some scientists believe that white salmon eat mostly squid and fish, which have fewer carotenoids.  Okay, enough.  I'm starting to sound like Alton Brown.

A few weeks ago, I received an e-mail from Great-Alaska-Seafood.com announcing that they were offering a special for 8 pounds of the ivory fish.  Typically, I'm not one who keeps anything frozen in the ice box, or more contemporarily speaking, the fridge--other than stocks or sauces-- but I opted to place the order.  And what an order it was.

The fish arrived in a Styrofoam box.  The salmon was sealed in ten individually frozen cryovac packages. Each package contained a 13-14 ounce portion which is enough to serve two people.  Additionally, since the packages are in cryovac, they could also be prepared in the Sous Vide Supreme machine.  That's another story.

For the first recipe, I sautéed the fish in a mixture of olive oil and butter, skin-side down first for about 3 minutes, then the flesh side down for another 2 minutes. I do not like overcooked fish.  When done, I topped the fish, flesh side up, with a sprinkling of pink sea salt and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.  Made this way, the fish was perfect served with a side of freshly sautéed spinach and garlic.

Another method I used that was quick and very easy to do was to poach the fish in about 2 cups of (home-made) fish stock and butter. As the fish simmered, I spooned the pan juices over it while gently turning.  It was done in just a few minutes.  Prepared this way, I served the fish with a side of bamboo rice, topped with a ginger glaze.

Then, I pulled out the indoor grill.  After lightly brushing the fish with olive oil and seasoning with kosher salt and freshly-ground white pepper, I grilled the fish until done.  Served with a topping of sautéed porcini mushrooms, parsley and lemon, this was another winner.

Sautéing, poaching, and grilling fish.  Nothing new here.  And with all of this beautiful fish at my disposal, I was anxious to make some new recipes, so I decided to pull out the Camerons stove top smoker and make white smoked salmon. Before I smoked the salmon, I created a brine and let the salmon sit in it for about 8 hours.  The brine is supposed to help form a coating on the fish to prevent it from drying out and prevent the smoked flavor from becoming too overbearing within the flesh of the fish during the smoking process.  For my brining mixture, I used low-sodium soy sauce in lieu of the cups of salt typically found in brining recipes.  Also, I used a combination of peppercorns.  My smoking mixture consisted of kicked up rice and teas, brown sugar, and alder chips.

Smoked Alaskan White King Salmon on a bed of Succotash Topped with Alfalfa Sprouts

White King Salmon in Brine

To Brine:
2 cups water
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon white peppercorns
1 tablespoon green peppercorns
1 tablespoon pink peppercorns
2 fresh bay leaves
2 6-oz portions of Alaskan White King Salmon, skin on

Mix brining ingredients together until sugar is dissolved.  Place fish skin side down in glass baking dish and add brining liquid.  Cover dish with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 8 hours.

Smoking mixture of rice, teas, and brown sugar

Mixture for Smoking:

1 cup Chinese forbidden black rice
1/2 cup white tea pearls
1/4 cup green tea leaves
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon alder smoking chips
                                         
Combine all smoking ingredients and spread on the bottom of a stove-top smoker pan.  Place the dripping tray over smoking mixture.  Lightly oil the wire rack and place on top of the dripping tray.  The pan is ready to go.

Succotash ingredients:

4 ears fresh corn, husked
4 ounces fresh green beans, trimmed
4 ounces sugar snap peas
1/4 cup chopped chives
2 tablespoons butter

Garnish:

Lime or lemon wedges
Alfalfa sprouts

Make the Succotash:

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add corn, turn off heat and let sit 5 minutes. Drain and cool. Cut kernels from cobs and place into a medium saucepan.  Set aside.

Bring another large pot of salted water to a boil. Add green beans and cook until tender and slightly crisp, about 4 minutes. Remove with slotted spoon and place into a separate bowl of ice water. Bring cooking water back to a boil and add snap peas. Cook until tender but slightly crisp, about 3 minutes. Remove snap peas and place into a bowl of ice water.  Remove both vegetables from ice baths and pat dry on paper towels.  Then, halve green beans, and slice snap peas diagonally into 1/2-inch pieces. Add the green beans and snap peas and butter to corn mixture. Place pan over medium heat and stir until thoroughly warmed.  Stir in chives.

To smoke the salmon:
Remove salmon from brining mixture.  Pat dry and place into prepared smoker, skin side up.  Smoke for about 12 minutes.  Turn off heat and let salmon rest in smoker for another 2-3 minutes.  Remove fish from smoker.    

To serve:

Make a bed of succotash mixture on each plate.  Place a fillet on top, skin side down.  Top with alfalfa sprouts and garnish with lime or lemon wedges.
Yield:  2 servings.