Atlantic Cod, Lobster Sauce, Oriental Yams, Chanterelle Mushrooms, Garlic Scapes and Jerusalem Artichoke Puree

Food, wine and great company is all I need to be happy.  In this case we had a lot of all three. Thanks Michal, Harout, Caitlin, Padraic, Tara, Dre and Kristin for making it all happen.  These recipes feed 8 people and cost about $100.  Total cooking and prep time is about 2 hours.

Cod with Lobster Sauce
8 filets of black cod, about 3 lbs
1 shallot, fine dice
1/4 stick butter
1/2 cup vegetable stock
4 oz creme fraiche
1 lb white shrimp, 25ct peeled deveined and halved long way

Preheat the oven to 400. Season cod with salt, pepper and olive oil then lay them flat on a greased, foil-lined baking tray.  Roast for about 15 minutes.  Remove with a spatula and place in a large serving tray.  Top with cream sauce.

In a medium sauce pan start the butter, shallots and garlic on medium heat and let cook until the onions are just turning brown.  Add flour and mix well, keep stiring for 10 minutes or until the flour begins to just get lightly brown.  Add the cream and the vegetable stock and mix well.  Let this cook for about 15 minutes or until reduced by half.  Now add the shrimp and let cook for 10 more minutes.  Serve over top of fish.

Jerusalem Articoke Puree
1/2 lb sunchokes, peeled and large diced
1/2 vidallia onion, rough chop
4 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon cream fraiche (or cream cheese)
salt and pepper

Start sunchokes and shallot in a medium pot with cool water.  Bring to a boil and let cook 15 minutes more until the sunchokes are fork tender.  Remove from the heat and strain, reserving 4 teaspoons of the water. Puree in a blender with the reserved water, olive oil and cream fraiche, add salt and pepper to taste.

Yams, Chantrelles and Garlic Scapes

The yams and the mush rooms were cut in half an oven roasted at 400 degree.  The yams took about 40 minutes while the mushrooms only about 12 minutes.  The garlic scapes, which are the green tops of the garlic bulb, were blanched for 2 minutes and then sauteed in olive oil and butter for 2 minutes as well.


Organic Kale, Nectarine, Beet and Yellow Tomato Salad  

Pick thru the kale and remove all of the stems.  Cut roasted beets and nectarines in 8ths.  Halve yellow tomatoes and squeeze juice and seeds out over a fine strainer with a small bowl to catch the delicious tomato water.

Tomato Water Vinaigrette
2 oz tomato water
2 oz white balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon chopped fresh marjoram
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
salt and pepper
4 oz extra virgin olive oil

Mix everything but the oil.  Then slowly add oil while whisking until mixture comes together.

What a great meal with some great people.  Till next time... Buon apetito!!

Handmade Spaghetti in Fresh Tomato-Basil Sauce

Spaghetti and tomato sauce are as standard issue as it gets for culinary creations, however when you make all the ingredients precisely and from scratch you get a truly magical combination that whisks you away to a bustling trattoria somewhere in Tuscany... I would go right now, but I can't so I have this recipe to hold me over until I can get that trip planned.

This takes about 2 hours from start to finish and feeds 4 people. About $15 total cost.

Handmade Spaghetti

2 cups semolina flour
2 cups all purpose flour
6 large eggs
2 oz extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon of salt

Thoroughly sift together all-purpose flour, semolina flour, and pinch of salt. On a clean surface, make a mountain out of flour mixture then make a deep well in center. Break the eggs into the well and add olive oil. Whisk eggs very gently with a fork, gradually incorporating flour from the sides of the well. When mixture becomes too thick to mix with a fork, begin kneading with your hands.
Knead dough for 8 to 12 minutes, until it is smooth and supple. Dust dough and work surface with semolina as needed to keep dough from becoming sticky. Wrap dough tightly in plastic and allow it to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Roll out dough with a pasta machine (I left it thick at level 4) and use the spaghetti cutter to shape the of noodles. Toss with a bit of flour and let dry while you prepare the other items. It only needs a few minutes to cook so leave that until last.

Fresh Tomato-Basil Sauce (Pomodoro)

12 to 15 roma tomatoes, peeled and seeded (concase)
1 clove of garlic, peeled and rough chopped
1/4 of a white onion, diced
1/2 a roasted orange bell pepper (optional)
1/2 cup of basil loosely packed, torn (not chopped)
1 teaspoon fresh oregano, torn
3 oz of extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon of kosher salt

HOW TO CONCASE TOMATOES - This is an important technique to learn because tomatoes concase are used in many types of cooking. Start a large pot of water on high, salt heavily. Core each tomato and cut an "X" on the bottom point of each tomato. Toss the tomatoes into the boiling water and let them cook 5 minutes or until the skin starts peeling. While they cook get a large mixing bowl and fill it 1/4 with cold water and 1/4 with ice. Remove the tomatoes from the boiling water with a slotted spoon and plunge in the ice bath. Once cooled, peel the skins from the tomatoes and squeeze them over a clean bowl to get the excess water and seeds (this is why you cut the X in the bottom). Chop the remaining tomato bodies and put aside. Strain the seeds and water into a separate bowl to get tomato water, which I use for salad dressings and gazpachos.

Start a medium sauce pan on low (1 of 10) and add garlic, onion and olive oil. Let that cook at about 25 minutes or until garlic and onion are soft. Now add the chopped tomatoes concase. Let this cook for about 20 minutes, add the oregano, roasted pepper and salt. Let cook 5 more minutes and then puree the mixture with a stick blender or in a food processor. Add fresh basil.


Cooking the Pasta

Again technique is the difference between chef boyardee and chef Rick, so pay attention. Add the fresh pasta to boiling and heavily salted water (I used the water I boiled the tomatoes in). Let cook for 3 minutes, it should be slightly undercooked. Using a pasta spoon or tongs, add the fresh pasta directly into the fresh tomato sauce and mix thoroughly, let some of the water get into the sauce, its ok. Let that continue to cook on low for 5 minutes. Plate it up and top it all with Freshly Shaved Parmesano Reggiano cheese. Wow, simple perfection. I owe the inspiration and technique for making this dish to my Chef, Scott Conant. Buon Apetito!!

Tomato and Cucumber Gazpacho

A twist on an old favorite. I had a lot of tomato water left over from the fresh tomato sauce I had made the previous evening. Tomato water is made by squeezing, then straining tomatoes concase (fresly boiled and peeled tomatoes).

To make the cucumber water I halved, peeled, and pureed half of a cucumber. I then placed the puree into a strainer over bowl to collect the liquid. I pressed the puree into the strainer to get the most liquid.

For the garnish I finely diced white and red onions and placed them in a bowl of cold water. I do this to take away some of the bite and soften the flavor of the strong onions for this mellow dish. I finely diced tomotes, cucumber, jalepeno peppers and hungarian peppers. I seansoned these garnishes with EVOO, salt, pepper and a dash of cayenne pepper.

For the cilantro oil I pureed cilantro and EVOO, let it sit for a few hours and then let it strain over a bowl.

To put it all together I used 2 parts tomato water to 1 part cucumber water. I then added the garnish and topped it with some thin pepper rounds. I used lemon olive oil and the cilantro oil to finsh off the dish.

It was a great refershing summer soup for hot Miami Beach.

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