Author Archive for marc

Pizza and a dream (grilled lettuce pizza)

Published
by
marc
on May 16, 2008
in Dinner, Vegetable and vegetarian
. 7 Comments

Do you ever hear people talking about their technicolor dreams that defy the laws that govern our conscious minds and wonder… “hmm… is this person making this up?” I’m one of those people that purges his memories of any dream on my way to consciousness and as a result I never remember much of my dreams. I’m always slightly envious of those that can remember their dreams and am downright jealous of people that have those so-called “lucid dreams” where you realize you’re in a dream and can alter the course of it.

So why am I going on about dreams on a cooking blog? For me, day dreams are often a source of inspiration for new and interesting ideas. I’ll see someone eating a banana and wonder what I could do with the peel.

The other day, I was strolling through SoHo when I noticed a huge crowd outside a new restaurant. It was literally a hole-in-the-wall with a glass case showcasing their signature pizzas with ovens in the background wafting the irresistible aroma of fresh baked bread and savory cheese onto the street. Up above was a chalk-board menu with about a dozen pizza’s unlike anything I’ve ever heard of. Being the maximizer that I am, I read through every item on the menu with pizzas such as:

  • * grilled lettuce, anchovy and pecorino
  • * scrambled eggs with gruyere, caviar, and truffle oil
  • * bacon, sea urchin, beet greens and béchamel

I waited patiently contemplating my choices and watching people around me light up as they got their orders. Do I go simple with the grilled lettuce and cheese pizza or go for something more extravagant…

Before I was able to put in my order… I woke up! Still dark out, I was in my bed disoriented clinging to the memories of my tasty dream. So I did what any sensible person does at 4:30 am and got up to go make some pizzas… Well not really, but I did get up to write down the entire menu before I forgot it. The following recipe for grilled lettuce pizza comes straight from my dream, the crust comes courtesy of Jim Lahey’s No-Knead Dough by way of Smitten Kitchen.

The thin, football (or rugby ball) shaped pizza is crusty, savory and chewy with a crisp layer of romaine lettuce made smokey and sweet by the high heat. The Pecorino Grand Cru adds a potent dose of briny umami bringing a depth you just wouldn’t expect from a lettuce pizza. I skipped the anchovy this time opting for fleur de sel since I didn’t have any in the pantry, but I have no doubt this would have made for a nice addition.
Continue for full recipe

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Nettle Pasta with Fava Beans

Published
by
marc
on May 14, 2008
in Pasta, Vegetable and vegetarian
. 17 Comments

My refrigerator is retarded. Items left on the top shelf spoil because it’s not cool enough up there. Things on either of the bottom two shelves, especially towards the back tend to freeze. I’ve always thought of this as a curse (have you ever seen frozen tofu?), but today it actually ended up working out.

I was digging through the back of the fridge looking for some inspiration and I found a ziplock back with a small fistful of boiled stinging nettles. Those of you that remember my foraging expedition might remember the stinging nettles I picked (and never cooked with). Though it’s been almost a month, the little baggie of boiled nettles made it to the back of the fridge where it froze solid allowing me to resurrect it in this pasta today:-)

Honestly the nettles didn’t really add much flavor to the pasta, but it does make it a nice green color. This was my first time using my newest Kitchen Aid attachment (pasta roller) so the pasta didn’t exactly turn out gorgeous, but I’d have to say this was far better (and easier) than the hand crank contraptions I’ve used in the past. The burly motor in the Kitchen Aid makes short work of the rolling process, and because you don’t have to turn a crank, you have both hands free to feed and catch the pasta on the other end.

Nettle pasta going through the Kitchen Aid powered pasta machine


Finished nettle pasta ready to hit the pot.

I really like to keep pastas very simple highlighting just one or two of the ingredients. In this case I wanted the pasta and fava beans to be the stars since they both take a fare amount of work to prepare. The Pecorino Grand Cru, an aged sheepsmilk cheese gives the fresh pasta some depth and umami while the lemon and pepper brighten it up. Fava beans, when lightly boiled and shelled have a texture a bit like edamame, but they are much sweeter and have a flavor similar to peas.

Continue for full recipe

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Unagi Kamameshi (iron pot rice with eel)

Published
by
marc
on May 12, 2008
in Asian, Japanese and Seafood
. 14 Comments

While it’s not exactly a culinary mecca, Texas is loaded with gut bustin’ soul satisfyin’ comfort food. My weekend was filled with elephant sized portions of smokey bbqed sausage, cajun spiced bbq burgers, tender carne asada, and chicken fried steak drowned in creamy gravy, all washed down with margarita’s and Coors light.

Gut busted and soul satisfied, I returned to NYC craving something a little different… something a little more asian and little less cajun… something filling, but not heart-attack inducing… something like kamameshi!

Kamameshi is rice cooked in a cast iron pot along with a flavored broth and some other goodies. It’s similar to takikomi gohan except the pot it’s cooked in encourages the bottom layer of rice to lightly burn (known as “okoge” in Japanese) giving it a nice flavor reminiscent of rice crackers.

Unfortunately I don’t have a kama (iron pot) and I imagine most of my readers don’t either, so I made this using a small Le Creuset (enameled cast iron pot). You could probably use any heavy bottomed pot with a lid you have as long as it’s not teflon.

The rice cooks with a sweet soy sauce flavored broth and is topped with a layer of mitsuba (which I talk about more in this post) and unagi while it steams. After it’s all done, I mix it all together before serving which helps integrate all the flavors.
Continue for full recipe

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Hamachi with yuzu and olive oil

Published
by
marc
on May 8, 2008
in Appetizer, Asian, Japanese and Seafood
. 9 Comments

This is actually one of my favourite ways to have sashimi. It’s so simple and light, somewhere between carpaccio and ceviche. The 2 types of yuzu add a phenomenal flavor with a floral tartness form the juice and a bit of green spice from the yuzu kosho. The salt crystals, provide little bursts of brine on your tongue and the olive oil brings it all together without being greasy.

What’s yuzu kosho you ask? It’s one of my favourite condiments, right up there with Thai sweet chili sauce. It’s made with yuzu rind, green chiles and salt making a rough paste (a bit like wasabi) that’s spicy, salty and intensely citrusy. It’s a little too potent to use like ketchup, but it can be mixed into mayo, dressings, olive oil, soups, sautes, bbq sauces, the list goes on… It is a bit hard to find, but I scoured the Internet and found it here for about 12 bucks. Sounds a bit pricey for such a small bottle, but trust me, it goes a long way.

Well, I’m off to Houston for the rest of the week, so I won’t be posting till I get back on Monday, but I hope everyone has an awesome weekend!

sashimi grade hamachi (yellowtail)
yuzu kosho
good quality olive oil
yuzu juice (you could substitute lemon or lime juice)
sea salt ( I used Portuguese fleur de sel)

Put a plate in the freezer for a few minutes to get it very cold.

Using a very sharp knife, and cold hands, slice the hamachi into thin slices.

Place the hamachi on the chilled plate then place a small dab of yuzu kosho on each slice. Drizzle with olive oil, a couple of splashes of yuzu juice and then sprinkle some sea salt on top.

Serve immediately.

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Nasu dengaku (grilled eggplant with sweet miso sauce)

Published
by
marc
on May 7, 2008
in Asian, BBQ, Japanese, Vegan, Vegetable and vegetarian
. 13 Comments

Here’s part 2 of last night’s light Japanese dinner. But first I have to tell you about this left over stew I made tonight.

After eating Tacos Al Pastor for 2 nights, I was getting bored with them, but I still had almost half of the roast left. I felt like something a little saucier tonight, so I fried up some garlic and onions, cut the roast into big hunks and added it to the onions with some remaining marinade, cumin, half a can of diced tomatoes and some water. Twenty minutes later I had a delightful “Mexican” stew with big chunks of moist tender meat and an unctuous sauce redolent of chiles and garlic with a mild sweetness coming from the pineapple in the marinade. I served it with some sliced sweet onion, cilantro, limes for squeezing and warm tortillas.

I didn’t take any photos because I was thinking “how good could leftover stew be”, but honestly I enjoyed the stew more than I did the tacos. I don’t think I’d ever make a roast just to make a stew, but the next time I make the taco’s I’ll be sure to make extra to make this stew. Not only did the roast meat add an incredible flavour to the stew, it was also much more moist and tender than a typical braised dish.

Okay back to the eggplant from last night. This is a fairly typical Japanese dish you’d get at an Izakaya (Japanese tapas bar). The eggplant is grilled to bring out its smokey flavour and the miso sauce enrobes the eggplant adding a well balanced sweet earthy flavour of its own. Putting it back under a broiler for a minute caramelizes the miso sauce adding even more depth. It’s great as an appetizer with some beer or as a main with some hot white rice.

This recipe makes way more sauce than you need, but it keeps well in the fridge and can be used on all kinds of veggies or even firm tofu. If you want to put it on meat, make sure you start the meat on the grill first as the sugar in the miso will burn if you put it on too soon.

for sauce
1 C dashi
2 Tbs sugar
2 Tbs mirin
1/2 C miso (I used 1/4 C red miso and 1/4 C white miso)
2 tsp corn starch
1/4 tsp yuzu kosho (yuzu pepper) optional

for grilled eggplant
4 small Japanese eggplants cut in half lengthwise (or 2 Chinese or Italian eggplants)
vegetable oil for brushing
sesame seeds

For the sauce, whisk the dashi, sugar, mirin, miso and corn starch together. Heat over medium heat stirring until the sauce thickens. Take it off the heat and add the yuzu whisking it in to the sauce.

For the eggplant, slice them in half lengthwise and score a criss-cross pattern into them to help retain the sauce. Brush with oil and grill on a BBQ or under a broiler until the tops are a dark brown and the eggplant is cooked. Give the sliced sides a good coating of sauce, sprinkle with sesame seeds then put under a broiler to get a little caramelization (be careful, this sauce will burn quickly).

Serve immediately with some rice.

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