Category Archives: cook

Feeding you until you’re full.

Salmon a la Nage a la David Tanis

I made this entire dinner that I found in Tablet… which I won’t even describe.  It’s a recipe for Salmon a la Nage and lemon verbena honey ice cream, all adapted by David Tanis.  I copied and pasted it all below but you should also go read the article about Chef Tanis because it’s pretty interesting.

Salmon à la Nage With Ginger-Cilantro Butter
(PLEASE VISIT THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE BY CLICKING HERE)
Adapted by David Tanis from Chez Panisse Cooking by Paul Bertolli with Alice Waters

4 ½ tablespoons very thinly sliced carrot rounds (1 ½ ounces)
3 tablespoons very thinly sliced celery from the heart (1 ounce)
½ cup very thinly sliced yellow onion rounds (2 ounces)
3 sprigs fresh lemon thyme
2 stems lemon grass, pounded
1 large sprig Italian parsley
½ cup Sauvignon Blanc
1 ½ teaspoons salt

For the herb butter:
4 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
1 small shallot (½ ounce), finely diced
1 inch of fresh ginger, peeled and grated
1 handful cilantro
Zest of ¼ lemon
Pinch of salt and pepper
½ tablespoon thinly sliced chives
Four 4-ounce pieces of salmon, cut 1 inch thick
handful of spinach

1. Prepare the court bouillon by putting the carrots, celery, onion, thyme, lemongrass, and parsley in a non-corrosive pot large enough to hold the salmon pieces side by side with room to spare. Add 3 cups of water, the Sauvignon Blanc, and salt to taste. Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook very slowly for 20 minutes.

2. In the meantime, prepare the herb butter: Mix the butter together with the ginger, lemon, cilantro, salt, and pepper. Set the butter aside in a small bowl and keep it at room temperature.

3. Taste the court bouillon and correct it to your taste for salt. Bring the court bouillon to a bare simmer and add the salmon. If you are using a small pot, the salmon will be submerged and will require about 3 to 4 minutes cooking time. (It should be removed when lightly undercooked in the center. With a small knife, part the filet to check.) Otherwise, gently poach the salmon slices, cut side down, in the hot liquid for about 2 ½ minutes on each side. Do not raise the heat during this time. Transfer the salmon to warm soup bowls and put a dollop of herb butter on each slice. Add the spinach to the hot court bouillon and ladle the liquid with the spinach over the butter and salmon, add some of the vegetables from the pot to each bowl, and serve, sprinkled with the chives.

Yield: 4 servings

Lemon Verbena Honey Ice Cream
Adapted from A Platter of Figs and Other Recipes by David Tanis

2 cups whole milk
1 cup loosely packed lemon verbena leaves
1 cup heavy cream or crème fraîche
¾ to 1 cup honey
6 large organic egg yolks
½ teaspoon salt

1. In a medium stainless steel pan, warm the milk until it comes to a low simmer. Turn off the heat and add the lemon verbena. Let steep, covered, for 15 minutes or so, until the milk has a faint lemon flavor.

2. Strain the milk, discard the verbena, and return the milk to the pan. Add the cream and honey and warm gently.

3 . Meanwhile, beat the egg yolks with the salt in a small bowl. Gradually whisk 1 cup of the warm milk mixture into the yolks to temper them, then add the contents of the bowl to the milk, cream, and honey mixture. Cook gently for 5 minutes or so, stirring diligently, until the mixture thickens slightly, enough to coat the back of a spoon.

4. Strain this thin custard into a large bowl and set aside to cool. Once cool, chill in the refrigerator overnight.

5. Freeze the custard in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. After churning, transfer the ice cream to the freezer for an hour, then serve (or store it in the freezer and leave it out to temper for 15 minutes before serving).

Yield: about 1 quart

Tried makin Brutti ma Buoni + Recipe

They came out pretty well. Sugar, egg whites, hazelnuts.  Recipe below.

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I usually half this recipe.

  • 1kg hazelnuts
  • 400g egg whites
  • 600g zucchero
  • 1/4 teaspoon vanilla or orange extract

Beat your egg whites and then mix in sugar until it’s completely dissolved.  Add the hazelnuts and mix by hand in a large bowl until the nuts are coated with the egg and sugar mixture.  You can add a 1/4 teaspoon of extract if you want.

Pour the mixture into a pot that’s about twice the size.  Heat it over low flame, stirring constantly.  Alternate between higher heat and lower heat until the sugar is melted.  It should become very thick and dark.  It’ll take about 20 minutes to get to the right consistency.

Let the mixture cool — you can speed this up by pouring it onto your work surface.  Spoon a heaping spoonful onto parchment and space the scoops about 1 inch apart.  Bake them in a 400 degree F oven for between 15 and 20 minutes or until they are slightly crisp.  You want to make sure the bottoms of the cookies are cooked, crispy and not sticking to the parchment paper.

That’s it.  Do it.

Giovedi GNOCCHI

In Rome, Giovedi e gnocchi.  It’s not a joke.  We decided to see what all the fuss was about…. except we’re broke and haven’t had a good gnocchi outside the AAR gates yet — so we just busted it out.  This is gnocchi a la Miles Grande.

First we roasted about 12 of Giovanni Bernabei’s floury (dry and flaky — so you can use less flour) potatoes in a static 180°C oven for about 35 minutes until they were cooked through.  Stick a knife in, if it goes in easily they’re ready.  We roasted the potatoes on little beds of rock salt so they aren’t touching the metal pan directly.  No pics for this, imagine it.

While the taters are roasting get your eggs and flour ready.  We used two whole eggs and 00 flour.  Use what you’ve got.  Finer flour has more gluten and just affects the length of the gluten.  Using other types of flour can affect the texture of the gnocchi.  Semolina is a nice choice as well, according to Miles.

When the potatoes are done, peel them immediately into a ricer and rice them onto a tray.  Rice means pass them through a thing that looks kind of like a garlic crusher but bigger and with larger holes.

When you’ve got them all riced, grab some egg and sprinkle it over the potatoes.  For 12 potatoes we used about one and half eggs.  We did not beat them first, just grabbed the yolks and whatever white came along for the ride.

Next, add flour little by little.  The goal is to add as little as possible.  As soon as it starts feeling like a dough, STOP adding.  Knead it a little until you can press your finger into the dough ball and see a little rebound.  That’s the gluten from the flour working its magic.

Cut off small chunks of dough and roll them out into half-inch rolls.  Grab the roll on the eft and cut off 3/4 to 1 inch pieces.  Throw them onto a flour-sprinkled tray.

Miles made a great sauce with some leftover pork chunks, carrot, onion, celery, parsley and chicken stock.  He kept adding stock and reducing until it was a bit thick and super concentrated.  And delicious.

Cook the little gnocci until they float in salted water.  They should be toothy but shouldn’t taste like uncooked flour.