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Month: February 2011

Cioppino

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Cioppino is a fish stew originating from Portuguese and Italian fishermen who settled in the North Beach section of San Francisco in the late 1800’s. It’s a collective pot of leftover catch of the day from the local fisherman. The story is that wharf cooks would call for the fishermen to “chip in” some of their catch to the collective soup pot. Typically a combination of dungeness crab, clams, shrimp, scallops, squid, mussels and fish were thrown into the tomato and wine broth.

Use whatever fish and seafood combination you like. Shrimp, scallops, halibut and mussels are my favorites and what I chose.

A few tips.

  • Infusing the stock with the shrimp shells imparts a lot of flavor – so do the extra work and peel & devein your own shrimp just for the shells.
  • Pernod (anise flavored liquor) is a classic flavor in Cioppino. If you don’t have any (or don’t want to spend the money on a bottle) – chop a bulb of fennel and add to the onions when cooking.
  • Fish Stock – so maybe you can’t find fish stock in your store. If not, use equal parts of bottled clam juice & water.

INGREDIENTS

  • 32 ounces (2 quarts) fish stock, Kitchen Basics is my favorite
  • Pinch saffron
  • 4 tablespoons olive oil, or as needed
  • 5 large garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 medium onions, chopped
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper
  • 1 (28-ounce) can whole plum tomatoes, crushed by hand (or pureed in food processor)
  • 2 cups white wine (Pinot Grigio)
  • 1/4 cup pernod
  • ¼ cup pesto
  • ½ cup parsley, chopped
  • 1 pounds mussels
  • 1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined (reserve shells)
  • 3/4 pound sea scallops, foot removed
  • 2 pounds halibut fillet, skinned, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
  • ½ cup basil, chopped
  • 1 loaf crusty bread

DIRECTIONS

Heat fish stock in a small saucepan. Add reserved shrimp shells to fish stock and simmer for 5 minutes. Strain stock of shrimp shells into large bowl. Add saffron to warm stock and set aside.

Heat 1/4 cup olive oil in an 8-quart pot over medium-high heat. Add garlic, allowing it to brown for about 20 seconds, then add onions and a pinch of salt. Cook until onions are softened, about 4 minutes. Add bay leaf and oregano. Stir and cook for 30 seconds. Add tomato paste. Cook, stirring, until paste darkens a bit, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add tomatoes white wine, pernod and the saffron flavored fish stock and bring to a boil. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until liquid has reduced by half. Cover pan and simmer for 30 minutes.

Stir in the pesto and parsley. Add mussels and simmer until mussels open, about 3 minutes (discard any unopened clams). Add shrimp and scallops and cook for about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, season halibut salt and pepper. Heat a skillet over medium-high heat, add 2 tablespoons oil. Cook the halibut until seared and the fish is cooked through – about 2-3 minutes per side.

Remove bay leaf from pot. Season with salt and pepper. Ladle soup into bowl and top with chopped basil. Serve with crusty bread.

Pear & Dark Chocolate Turnovers

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Café Soufflé is my pit stop in Montreal for all things delicious in the morning. It also doesn’t hurt that it’s 4 doors down from my favorite resting place, Urban Haven. Café Soufflé seems to have mastered the art of variety. With each stop you never know what treats will come out of their kitchen that day… but lucky the day I walked in and found warm out-of-the-oven pear & chocolate turnovers.

This Montreal coffee shop has become my model for when I save enough money to open up my perfect little coffee shop in Dallas. One that is known for the FOOD as much as their coffee.

Maybe I’ll add these to my coffee shop menu… they are divine.

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 box frozen puff pastry (2 sheets per box), thawed overnight in refrigerator
  • 3 pears – peeled, cored & cubed into 1/2 dice
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 tablespoons water
  • juice of 1/2 lemon
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 pinch freshly grated nutmeg
  • 2-3 ounces dark chocolate bar, broken into chunks (i prefer a 54-60% chocolate bar)

DIRECTIONS

Combine all ingredients (except chocolate) in a small saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally until sugar dissolves. Cook for about 5 minutes or until pears are just tender (you don’t want them mushy). Cool completely.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Cut each puff pastry sheet into 4 squares (8 total squares).

Brush the edges of each square with egg wash and place about 1/8 of the pear mixture on one side of the square. Top with dark chocolate chunks. Fold the pastry diagonally and seal the edges using a fork. Place these on a baking pan lined with parchment paper and brush the top with egg wash. If desired, sprinkle with turbinado sugar.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until browned. Serve warm.

Lemon Bars

yholmes 1 Comment

LOVE lemon bars… and this recipe from The Barefoot Contessa is fail proof. The shortbread crust is flaky and buttery and comes together quickly. The lemon filling is a perfect balance of sweet and tart and oh so creamy.

There are a few tricks to this recipe that will help you make it successful. First, the eggs: must be extra large and room temperature. If you are making this last minute, throw your eggs in a bowl of lukewarm water for 5 minutes and you will have room temp eggs. Second, give the flour time to do is job: after you whisk the filling together let it sit for 10-15 minutes before adding to the cooled crust.

INGREDIENTS

For the crust:

  • 1/2 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

For the filling:

  • 6 extra-large eggs at room temperature
  • 2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
  • 2 tablespoons grated lemon zest (4 to 6 lemons)
  • 1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 1 cup flour
  • Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

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DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

For the crust, cream the butter and sugar until light in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Combine the flour and salt and, with the mixer on low, add to the butter until just mixed. Dump the dough onto a well-floured board and gather into a ball. Flatten the dough with floured hands and press it into a 9 by 13 by 2-inch baking sheet, building up a 1/2-inch edge on all sides. Chill.

Bake the crust for 15 to 20 minutes, until very lightly browned. Let cool on a wire rack. Leave the oven on.

For the filling, whisk together the eggs, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and flour. Let the filling sit for 10-15 minutes. Pour over the crust and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the filling is set. Let cool to room temperature.

Cut into triangles and dust with confectioners’ sugar.

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NOLA Crawfish-Stuffed Deviled Eggs

yholmes 21 Comments

For Christmas my sweet neighbor gifted me an amazing cookbook, Harvest To Heat. It’s full of amazing recipes from America’s best chefs, farmers and artisans. These Crawfish-Stuffed Deviled Eggs are courtesy of chef Donald Link of Herbsaint Bar and Restaurant in New Orleans. The not so traditional filling is full of authentic Louisiana flavors.

Crawfish season officially starts after the New Year… but I wasn’t able to find any fresh crawfish tail meat (Central market was even out). Luckily I found some frozen tail meat direct from Louisiana (If you can’t find crawfish substitute shrimp). These are simple to put together even though they take a little more time than traditional deviled eggs due to the onion/pepper mixture needing cooling time… but well worth the effort. If you are prone to overcooked eggs with green yolks, try my fail proof hard-boiled egg instructions below for the perfectly cooked yellow center.

These are off to the Super Bowl party to be devoured.

INGREDIENTS

  • 8 large eggs
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1/2 small onion, finely diced
  • 1/2 stalk celery, finely diced
  • 1 small jalapeno, finely diced
  • 1/2 small poblano, seeded and finely diced
  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • salt & pepper
  • 1/2 pound crawfish tails (16 whole pieces reserved, the remainder roughly chopped)
  • 2 teaspoons fresh chives, minced
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice (1/2 lemon)
  • 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
  • 1 tablespoon Creole mustard

DIRECTIONS

Place eggs in a saucepan and cover them with cold water, not too deep. Place on burner on HIGH heat. Once they start to boil turn on the timer to 3 minutes.
When the timer goes off, quickly take off the heat, put on the lid and reset the timer to 8 minutes. When 8 minutes are up, take to sink and run cold water over them for about a minute, let them soak a bit to cool off. Once the eggs are cool, peel and cut them in half lengthwise, separating the yolks from the whites. Set both aside.

In a large skillet, melt the butter over low heat and add the onions, celery, jalapenos, poblanos, and spices. Season with salt & pepper. Cook for 4 minutes to sweat the vegetables. Add the crawfish and cook for another 5 minutes. Let the mixture cool.

Put the cooked egg yolks in a mixing bowl and mash them with a fork or potato masher. Add the lemon juice, mayonnaise and mustard and mix to combine. Fold in the cooled crawfish mixture.

Spoon the crawfish mixture into the cooked whites. Transfer to a serving platter and sprinkle with chives and top each with a crawfish tail.

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