Around the World and in Our Kitchen

é by josé andrés

2012-08-23T00:50:00.000-04:00

We successfully nabbed a reservation at é inside of Jaleo in the Cosmopolitan while we were in Vegas this weekend. I almost made enough at the poker table to pay for the meal. I was a little too excited when they told us that we were allowed to take pictures, since I had read somewhere that they weren't allowed, that I went sorta overboard with it.

We got to the restaurant early and had a couple cocktails at the bar, which were awesome. Mine was the best- it had vodka, txakoli wine, cucumber water, and strawberry puree. The bartender was cool and not a douche. Oh, and they we roasting a 3 foot long pig about 10 feet behind me... enough said.

the menu, which is a little out of order from what they served

rebujito- sherry cocktail with some sort of citrus espuma

prepping the first bites...

raspberry made to look like a flower, served in a cast of jose's hand.

caramelized pork rinds- crispy yet sticky, crazy combo

idiazabal "macaron"- THIS WAS SO GOOD. high end cheesy poof

the porron- you pour wine into it to then drink out of the spout, apparently its sort of a game to see who can hold it the furthest from their mouths while drinking it

apple "brazo de gitano"- apple foam with something awesome on the inside, but we can't remember what it was

these next two pics are the making of the almond and caviar dish

nitro almond cup- almond and caviar. you have to eat it immediately because it melts

almejas al natural- clams spherified in their own liquor, really nice and crisp

bocata de bacalao- this sandwich seriously kicked ass. fried cod, some obscure cut of the fish, don't worry, you've probably never heard of it. and delicious, delicious caramelized onions

prepping the chicken

crispy chicken skin and chicken oyster with thyme foam- another mind blowing combo. yes. everything should be served on top of chicken skin

truffle on top, espuma in the center, and i think basil flower- this might be the 'barquillo' on the menu, but we're not positive

raw chanterelles around some cheesy, soft cold center. you had to lift it with the paper so it didnt fall apart

making the sangria

cava sangria with watermelon and a tiny piece of mint

non-alcoholic pairing- meant to resemble the beer with lemon that they drink, the foam was the citrus

artichoke "purée" with vanilla- it also had a very sour lemon foam

making the lobster dish

lobster with citrus & jasmine- and rosemary foam

chickpea stew with iberico ham-that's PORK SOUP as the base of this dish. the way they made it sounded crazy and took like a whole day

making the turbot

turbot with bone marrow- maybe my favorite element of the night on it.... the bone marrow "tator tot". liquefied

rosemary wild mushrooms in papillote

the secreto of iberico pork roast before they plated it

non-alcoholic pairing with carrot, orange, and cucumber

the secreto of pork with squid

santa gadea- this was amazing. their cheese course. the white swirl is an orange pifth puree and the brown swirl is pumpkin seed oil, with pumpkin seeds around the outside. plus cheese and the crispy cracker

burning the rum

flan. andrea's favorite sweet course. flan quickly frozen in liquid nitrogen and with ice on top

pineapple upside down non-alcoholic cocktail

pan con chocolate- freeze dried bread pieces with cocoa powder and saffron espuma that you dragged through the bowl containing olive oil... pretty interesting

burnt rum with coffee

making the cakes

"arroz con leche"

25 second bizcocho with the "air" chocolates- i really liked the white chocolate one

cocoa paper with dried strawberries

the self proclaimed best gin and tonic ever- served with gin spices like juniper berry and keffir lime leaf

the shirley temple virgin version

the golden ticket they mailed us, which you in fact did not need to bring with you to the hostess at jaleo

They have shrimp and olives on their tile floor... awesome.

full and happy :)

Vinaigrette Potato Salad recipe

2012-07-10T17:35:00.001-04:00

I want to try this recipe. I saw it in a Facebook post from Tasting Table, and I didnt know how to bookmark a single post. So, here it is... what are the chances that I get around to making this?

Jan’s Potato Salad

Yield: Serves 8

Ingredients
⅔ cup olive oil
⅓ cup apple cider vinegar
¼ cup minced shallots
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives
1 tablespoon coarse-grained Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons honey
2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
Salt and pepper, to taste
3 pounds small red-skinned potatoes, quartered, cooked and cooled
4 bacon slices, cooked and crumbled
½ cup crumbled blue cheese
1 ear of corn, cooked and kernels removed

1. In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, shallots, fresh herbs, mustard, honey and lemon peel. Season the vinaigrette with salt and pepper.

2. Add the rest of the ingredients to a large bowl, then toss gently with the vinaigrette. Garnish with additional chopped herbs or blue cheese (optional).

Christmas Eve Dinner 2011

2011-12-25T17:49:00.004-05:00

The Menu:

Crudo
Salmon-cucumber-mint-jalapeño-kumquat

Salad

Proscuitto-fennel-pomegranate

Soup

Chestnut bisque-white truffle oil

Seafood

Lobster-Champagne butter sauce-pappardelle

Meat

Individual Beef Wellingtons-Brussels Sprouts-Latkes

Desert

Gingerbread cake-homemade whipped cream

Cocktails

Kumquat Champagne cocktail

Hot Cider (Non alcoholic)

Made a day ahead:

-Gingerbread Cake

-Chestnut Bisque- combination of several recipes: one here and one here

-Beef Wellington prep- for the recipes, it was based of two combined, one here and one here

To make day-of:

The crudo

The Proscuitto, fennel, and pomegranate salad

The Pasta

Baking the beef

Brussels Sprouts

Potato Latkes

And the pics....

Ahh, the crudo. Delicious.

Champagne cocktail- champagne, kumquat, bitters, sugar cube. Classic! Drop a sugar cube in the bottom of a glass and lightly sprinkle with bitters. We substituted Kumquat slices for lemon twist because we had it on hand.

Roasted chestnut bisque with truffle oil. This is really tasty- creamy and earthy and rich. When serving, I added too much truffle oil though :(

I looooooovvvveeee smitten kitchen, and this salad is her recipe. The spicy arugula went really well with the fennel and pomegranate seeds.

Dave's lobster with pappardelle in champagne butter sauce. But mostly the butter sauce. We only used half the butter called for in the recipe. You can cook the lobster ahead of time to keep things moving quickly.

Individual Beef Wellingtons with latkes and braised brussels sprouts

The Beef Wellington requires prep but shouldn't intimidate you if you want to try it. A couple of keys. First, making this a day ahead was a great idea. Second, make sure to do a good job searing the meat. This will protect against juices making the pastry soggy. Third, be mindful of the thickness of the steak. We had small filets and found it perfect to pull it the second the pastry was golden brown (between 20-25 minutes).

Potato Latkes were also something I'd been intimated by for no good reason. The recipe worked great although we only used green onion and skipped the other call for onion. A couple of keys. First, get the water out!. I strained and strained and even used my hands to drain the Latkes before hitting the frying pan. Second, don't make them too big and be sure to flatten them with a spatula once they hit the pan.

The brussels sprouts are our own recipe... bacon, brussels sprouts, chicken or beef stock, apple cider vinegar, rosemary. I forgot to get enough beef stock to braise the brussels sprouts, so I fried them in duck fat before I steamed them with a little water and apple cider vinegar. Because, yeah, I have spare duck fat in my fridge. Unsurprisingly, they turned out awesome. I've been trying to recreate this dish I had at the Publican once, and this got pretty damn close.

Mmmmm cake. This is another smitten kitchen recipe, but she was trying to recreate the gingerbread cake from Gramercy Tavern in NYC. This tastes freaking awesome... she is very serious about the cake sticking to the pan though. I lost half of the pretty top of mine (but that was secretly OK because then I got to eat the crumbs out of the pan while they were still warm). Served with fresh only-lightly-sweetened whipped cream.

Dinner at Mr. Buntins

2011-08-07T11:27:00.009-04:00

To make dinner in the middle of 7 weeks of debate camp is a lot to ask of anyone. To knock it out of the park the way he did is just impossible.

First - tuna sashimi, avocado mousse, passion fruit reduction, radishes

Second - ricotta gnudi, heirloom tomato sauce, pancetta, basil oil

Third - lamb loin chop, mint pesto, cauliflower puree, fingerlings

Dessert - mango cheesecake, same passion fruit reduction

Andrea liked it

Girl and the Goat

2011-07-28T15:17:00.005-04:00

After a while off, we plan to make our comeback in grand style. If last night was any indication, this is about to be the most impressive week of eating of my life.

Girl and the goat was perfect. It was the restaurant I would want to open but better. It is quite humbling that their execution surpassed my imagination, but I guess I'll just have to live with that.

The restaurant is pretty dimly lit, so unfortunately the pictures did not turn out A+, sorry.

First was the bread- house-made butter of course and a beer cheese spread. Good bread, but ya know... its bread.

salmon tartare . summer squash . summer truffles . marcona almonds
When it arrived at the table, I thought they had accidentally brought us something like bruschetta. The truffle was delicious.

chickpeas fritters . romesco . hazelnut hummus . sesame . goat feta

hiramasa crudo. crisp pork belly. aji chili. caperberries

grilled fanny bay oysters. soy cucumber mignonette

raw shibumi . radish mignonette . tarragon

confit goat belly . lobster n crab . fennel

wood oven roasted pig face . sunny side egg . tamarind . cilantro . potato stix

green beans . fish sauce . cashews

roasted cauliflower . pickled peppers . pine nuts . mint

Next up dinner at Mr. Buntins, followed by Publican, graham elliot, and L20.

New Zealand 5.0 Wanaka

2011-04-11T20:20:00.000-04:00

From Kaikoura, we drove from the east coast of the south island to a lake on the west side of the island, Lake Wanaka.

On the way, we drove past these lakes that were Caribbean blue... absolutely stunning. We had no idea we were going to happen upon these.

Funny birds..

A lakeside view from the town

At the rehearsal lunch

Dave giving his speech

The wedding site on Lake Wanaka

On the way to the wedding...

Dan Shalmon saying nice things

Braised Rabbit with Olives, Capers, and Potatoes

2011-03-20T22:29:00.001-04:00

We were lucky enough to come into possession of 5 rabbits this week. Here is the first of several attempts to cook rabbit. This round went really well.

Ingredients

1 rabbit, cut into 8 pieces (10 if you have the belly)
6 Tbs of olive oil
1 lb of red skinned potatoes, cut into 1 in pieces
1 red onion, thinly sliced
2 bell peppers, cut in the thin strips (I used red and orange)
2 medium tomatoes, diced
2 celery stalks, thinly sliced
1 1/4 cup sliced Sicilian green olives
1/3 cup capers, drained
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup of water
salt and pepper

Butchering the rabbit

We've had rabbit before, but only in restaurants, and we've certainly never butchered our own little bunnies. So this was an adventure. Armed with some instructions in hand, I set off to butcher the little guy. I was intimidated for sure after seeing how many steps were involved, but it actually was not that difficult. If you can buy a whole rabbit, pre-butchered, it would save you some time, but there is something cool and primal about doing it yourself. Because the rabbits were small, I found a paring knife and kitchen shears worked best.

Removing the front legs:

Removing the belly, aka rabbit bacon!

Remove the silver skin

More belly:

Hind legs on the left, tenderloins on the right (cut into two sections):

So for the recipe....

Heat 4 Tbs of olive oil in a dutch oven over medium-high heat. Dry, then salt and pepper the meat. Brown the pieces of rabbit, about 7 minutes per side, then remove from the oil.

Front legs (top left), ribs (top right), tenderloins (middle right), rabbit belly (bottom right), hind legs (bottom left):

Add the other 2 Tbs of oil and saute onions until soft. Then add everything else- the potatoes, bell pepper, tomato, olives, celery, capers, garlic, and thyme... cook 5 minutes. Mix in vinegar and 1/4 cup water. Then, add the rabbit back and reduce heat to medium-low and cover. Simmer for 30 minutes, stirring every now and then.

Serve with bread:

Really delicious. The vinegar adds this sweet and sour element that works really well with the capers and onions.

Chili fest March 17, 2011

2011-03-20T13:25:00.002-04:00

I believe this to be the 13th annual Chili fest celebration. The first chili fest was in Berkeley and it was just me and my buddy Hajir, a pot of chili, beer, and a full day of basketball. At its peak we had 30 people, some flying in and it really became a big event. How could it not. Chili, beer, basketball, taking off work on a Thursday. This is the first time we're holding it in Lexington. Excited to build a new tradition here.

The Chili (we often double this---why wouldn't you want leftover chili)

2 pounds ground chuck (you want some fat content)
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 green pepper
1 tsp chopped garlic
1 tbsp salt
1 6oz can tomato paste
2 cups Dr. Pepper
1 can Tomato soup
1/2 cup water
2 tbsp chili powder (or more)
1 tbsp paprika
1/2 tsp oregano
1 tsp pepper
2 cups kidney beans (drained)

Preparation. Brown the ground beef. Drain. Add to a large pot with the rest of the ingredients. Bring to boil. Simmer for at least an hour.

We serve it with:

Fritos
chopped onions
sour cream
sliced jalapenos
cheese
hot sauce

Better than I thought it would be

Kevin wins the award for coming the furthest distance for chili fest

Andrea ready for a Kentucky win!

Chapati bread

2011-03-20T12:56:00.002-04:00

This is the bread we usually make with Indian. Its very quick and easy unlike Naan that takes 8 hours.

Ingredients

2 cups chapati flour, pastry-grind durum wheat flour, or all purpose white flour.
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons oil
3/4 to 1 cup water
flour for dusting
melted butter or oil for brushing on cooked bread

Preparation

1. Mix all the ingredients except water in a large bowl or baking pan. Add water gradually, working it into the flour, mixing and kneading. Do not use all the water at once; add it gradually and use only what is necessary. Knead the dough well until it s supple and elastic. The exact quantity of water will vary depending on the type of flour used. Form dough into a flattened ball and cover it with a damp towel.

2. Heat a griddle on high. Turn the heat down to medium once the griddle is hot.

3. Divide the dough into eight to ten portions and form each portion into a small round ball. Flatten balls, dust with a little flour and with a rolling pin, roll them out on a flat surface in a circle about 1/16 inch think.

4. Bake rolled out chapatis on the griddle for about 30-40 seconds on each side; then, holding chapatis with a pair of tongs, place each on gas burner over a high flame for a few seconds on each side. The chapatis will puff up and have golden brown spots. Brush chapatis with a small amount of butter or oil before serving.

Alu Aur Sem Ki Fali (Green Beans with Potatoes)

2011-03-12T15:39:00.001-05:00

We've made this several times as a side dish for our Indian dinners. Very simple to make.

Ingredients (serves 6)

3 tablespoons oil
6 to 8 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
1 pound green beans, ends trimmed, cut in 2-inch pieces
1 large potato, peeled, halved and cut in 1/8-inch-think slices
1 teaspoon turmeric
3 teaspoons coriander powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 to 2 teaspoons hot chile pepper powder
1 teaspoon mango powder (we substituted mango chutney)
1 teaspoon salt

1. Heat the oil in a medium or large saucepan or saute pan. Saute chopped garlic for about 15 seconds or until slightly brown.

2. Add beans and potato slices. Stir and saute for 10 to 12 minutes.

3. Add remaining ingredients. Mix and cook, uncovered, over medium-high heat for 5 to 10 minutes, until beans and potatoes are cooked. Stir every 2 to 3 minutes.

Potstickers

2011-03-12T15:14:00.002-05:00

I adapted this recipe from Fine Cooking magazine, which I really like. The original recipe had both pork and shrimp in them, if you care to try it.

Makes about 60 potstickers (see instruction below for freezing leftovers)

Potsticker ingredients:

2 cups of finely chopped napa cabbage

20 oz. ground pork

3 scallions, chopped

3 cloves of garlic, chopped

2 Tbs Chinese rice wine

1.5 Tbs grated ginger

1 Tbs soy sauce

1 tsp sesame oil

1/2 tsp sugar

salt and pepper

package of wonton wrappers (the circles, not the squares)

oil for frying

Dipping sauce:

3 Tbs soy sauce

1 Tbs rice vinegar

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp sesame oil

1 scallion, thinly sliced

First, salt the sliced cabbage to pull some of the moisture out of it. Cover with a clean towel and set aside for 30 minutes. Then ring the cabbage dry using the towel. Reserve for the pork mixture.

Add the pork, garlic, ginger, scallions, Chinese rice wine, soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, salt and pepper.

Mix together.

Add the cabbage to the pork.

Stuff the wonton wrappers with the pork mixture, using a fork and your fingers. Seal each wonton with some warm water. Do not overstuff.

Heat 2 tbs of oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Add potstickers

Fry for a few minutes on each side to brown them.

Then add 1/2 cup to 3/4 of water (enough to cover the bottom of the pan but not drown the potstickers) and cover. Steam until all the water is gone. Remove lid for 30 seconds and then pull the potstickers.

Note**** If you want to freeze the leftovers (they keep for several weeks, though I haven't tested this cause we finish them quickly), you have to freeze the potstickers individually. You can't just throw them all in a freezer bag, or they stick together as they freeze and they disintegrate when you defrost them. I lay them out so they don't touch on a cookie sheet and put the cookie sheet in the freezer. After they have frozen completely, THEN you can put them all in a bag together.

Awesomeness.

Cochinita Pibil, Pickled Red Onions

2011-03-12T14:46:00.001-05:00

Hello foodie friends, guest bloggers from the fine nuclear weapons free zone of Iowa City, IA checking in on AtWaiOK (or however else you care to abbreviate it).

We had a little dinner party with some of our classmates from grad school and thought that we would share a couple of our dishes with the faithful and devoted readership.

We will cover dessert, a spiced carrot cake with white chocolate cream cheese frosting in a future post. In the meantime, we're hoping that you might find some inspiration via our main course for the night, a slow-cooker adaptation of a traditional pork dish from Mexico's Yucatan peninsula, Cochinita Pibil.

Extremely devote foodies may recognize the dish as a favorite of Rick Bayless that is frequently featured on the menu at Frontera Grill and has been prepared in several permutations on his PBS show, Mexico: One Plate at a Time, as well as on Top Chef: Masters. In its most traditional preparation, Cochinita Pibil is prepared by cooking an entire suckling pig in a deep, brick-lined pit over an entire day's time. However, since we have neither a backyard nor a readily available suckling pig, we've created a fusion of several recipes from the web to craft a reliable and delicious slow-cooker method. The beauty of this recipe is that it is both intensely flavorful and an extraordinarily cheap way to feed an army.

Recipe:

One Pork Shoulder, roughly 3-4 lbs.
1/2 cup + one splash of sour orange juice
1/2 a brick of achiote
1 white onion
Kosher salt
Banana leaves

Achiote, sour orange juice, and banana leaves should all be available at your trusty local mexican grocer and should cost less than 10 dollars, total:

Achiote:

Sour Orange:
Banana Leaves:
Bust out your slow cooker and defrost the banana leaves. Trim the leaves and criss-cross them in the slow cooker, as pictured below. You'll be using them to wrap the pork shoulder.

Combine the orange juice, achiote, and about 2 tsp of salt in a bowl and mix to create a marinade.

Put your pork shoulder in the slow cooker and pour the marinade over the shoulder, using your hands to make sure that it is rubbed all over the pork (wear gloves - achiote stains!!). Add water to the sides of the slow cooker so that it rises roughly halfway up the sides of the pork shoulder (about 1/2 a cup in ours).

Fold the banana leaves to wrap the pork as tightly as possible. What you are looking for here is to keep the flavors sealed in as much as possible and to intensify the braising action of the slow cooker. This is, however, an inexact science and not one that you should get too worried about. This dish is (nearly) impossible to mess up.

Set your slow cooker for six hours on the low setting and go do something else for a while.

Once the pork is fall-apart tender (160 degrees is a good benchmark for done), remove it from the slow cooker and shred it. Have your trusty kitchen partner/sous chef/roommate/whomever skim some (but not all) of the fat from the liquid that remains, transfer it to a saucepan and reduce it to a consistency of your choosing (I typically reduce it by about half). Mix, and enjoy!!

Tandoori Chicken Breasts in Creamy Curry Sauce

2011-03-12T14:05:00.002-05:00

We've been doing a bit of Indian cooking out of the Ajanta cookbook, which you should buy (really, its awesome, click at the bottom of our post). Ajanta is one of our favorite Indian restaurants in the East Bay.

Ingredients (Serves 6)

Tandoori Chicken

2 lemons
3 teaspoons salt
6 chicken breasts, boned and skinned

Marinade

2 shallots, minced
1 cup yogurt
8 to 10 cloves garlic, minced
2-inch piece ginger, minced
3 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon garam masala
1.5 tablespoon oil

Makhanwala sauce

2 tablespoons oil
6 cloves garlic, chopped
2 inch piece ginger, chopped
9 medium tomatoes, pureed
1 green chile, stem removed, chopped
1 tablespoon dried fenugreek herb
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons turmeric
4 teaspoons paprika
1/2 to 2 teaspoons hot chili powder
2 teaspoons cumin powder
1/2 cup yogurt
3/4 cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons Garam Masala

Preparation

Tandoori Chicken:
1. Cut lemons in half. Place 2 teaspoons salt on a shallow plate. Dip 1/2 lemon in salt; squeeze the lemon applying juice and salt to the chicken breasts. Continue until all the chicken breasts are covered with salt and lemon juice. Set aside for about 30 minutes.

2. Prepare marinade by mixing together all of the ingredients. Generously coat the chicken breasts with marinade and refrigerate 24 hours or overnight. Bring to room temperature before cooking.

3. Preheat broiler in the oven. Place marinated chicken on roasting rack so the chicken is exposed to the heat from all sides. Place the rack in the oven about 8 inches below the broiler. Place aluminum foil under the rack to catch the drippings. Broil the chicken for 8 minutes. Turn over the breasts and broil on the other side for 5 minutes. It is okay of the breasts are slightly undercooked at this time since they will simmer in the Makhanwala sauce later. Allow to cook and then cut each breast into four pieces.

Makhanwala Sauce:

1. Heat the oil in a 6 to 8 quart saucepot. When hot, add garlic and ginger. Oil should be so hot that ginger and garlic sizzle when added. Saute for about 10 seconds.

2. Add pureed tomatoes, green chile pepper, fenugreek herb, salt and all the spices except garam masala. Simmer, partially covered, over low to medium heat until the sauce becomes quite think. Whisk in yogurt and cream.

Putting it all together:

Add chicken breasts and simmer, uncovered, over low to medium heat for 10 minutes. Add Garam Masala and cook 2 minutes or more. Check to see that the chicken is cooked through and tender. When done, the sauce should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about the consistency of buttermilk. If the sauce is too thick, add some water during cooking. If the sauce is too thin, remove all the chicken with a slotted spoon and reduce the sauce by boiling until it reaches the desired consistency. Return chicken to the pan.

***We served this dish with rice, Alu Aur Sem Ki Fali (Green Beans with Potatoes), and chapati bread.

Spaghetti Sauce and Meatballs

2011-03-12T11:57:00.000-05:00

Spaghetti sauce and meatballs

Ingredients:

For the meatballs:

2 lbs of ground beef 80/20 or 85/15

1 cup of bread crumbs

6-10 cloves of garlic, choppped

1 egg

1/2 a bunch of parsley, chopped

salt and pepper

1 cup of water

For the sauce:

4 large cans of tomato sauce (the biggest cans they have)

half a white onion, roughly chopped

olive oil

several cloves of garlic, chopped

1/4 tsp of salt and some pepper

red pepper flakes

First, start the sauce. In a very large pot, add enough oil to cover the bottom, and saute the onions until they are caramelized over medium heat. Remove the onions, set aside for something else (I just ate some of them as I worked). The add the tomato sauce, garlic, a dash of salt and pepper, and red pepper flakes to taste. Let the sauce heat at medium for several minutes, then reduce to medium-low. You need to watch the sauce closely and stir it a lot. If the bottom burns, don't scrape it off or you'll make the whole pot of sauce taste burnt.

Then, make the meatballs. Add all of the meatball ingredients together. Add the water a little at a time to soften the meatballs... you might not need it all.

Roll the meat into meatballs and add directly to the sauce.

Simmer for about two hours, or longer until the meatballs are fully cooked. Warning- lots of splatter.

Serve over spaghetti. Other sneaky leftovers coming soon.

Orange Fennel Mahi Mahi with Shrimp and Olives

2011-03-12T11:41:00.003-05:00

I love the cookbook that this recipe came from, but I think the dish ended up being too busy. The fish and sauce were delicious, but there was too much goin on. It didn't need the shrimp, and if I did it again, I would cut up the olives.

Makes 10 Servings

Ingredients:

2 pounds Mahi Mahi
1 pound medium shrimp
1/4 cup olive oil
1 large red onion, cut in half and sliced very thin
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 large fennel bulb
1 large red tomato, peeled, seeded, and chopped
1/2 cup orange juice
zest of 1 orange
1/3 cup ouzo
3/4 cup pitted green olives
salt and pepper

First, cut the onion...

Then, thinly slice the fennel bulb.

Add to the onion and saute.

Peel and deseed the tomato...

Add the tomato

Add the juice and mahi mahi peices
Cook the mahi mahi

Then add the olives (and shrimp if you want, I wouldn't do it again).

We served it on top of rice with asparagus on the side

Pan Seared Cilantro Crusted Cod with Horseradish Mashed Potatoes and Braised Brussels sprouts

2011-03-12T11:24:00.001-05:00

Serves 4

Ingredients
Mashed Potatoes:

* 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
* 3 large onions, finely sliced
* 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
* 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme
* Salt and freshly ground pepper
* 6 russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch dice
* 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
* 1 cup heavy cream
* 3 tablespoons prepared horseradish

Directions

Heat butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and cook slowly until deep golden color. Add vinegar and thyme and season with salt and pepper, cook for 2 minutes longer. Cook potatoes in a large pot of salted water until soft. Drain well, add butter, heavy cream and horseradish, mash until smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Place potatoes in a bowl and top with the onions.

Pan Seared Cod:

* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* 4 cod fillets, about 6 to 7 ounces each
* Salt and freshly ground pepper
* 1/2 cup finely chopped cilantro

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Heat oil in a large saute pan. Season cod on both sides with salt and pepper. Dredge skin-side in cilantro. Place cod, cilantro-side down in the oil and saute until lightly golden brown. Turn the fish over and place in the oven and continue cooking for 3 to 4 minutes until just cooked through.

Braised Brussels Sprouts:

* 1 pound brussels sprouts
* 3/4 cup beef stock
* tablespoon olive oil

Trim brussels sprouts, cut bottoms off and cut in half. Heat oil over medium high heat. Add brussels sprouts and fry until caramelized. Add broth and cover and cook until soft 7-10 minutes.

Carnitas soup

2011-02-19T22:01:00.017-05:00

This is a sneaky leftover recipe for our carnitas...

ingredients:

leftover carnitas

1 white onion

1 large tomato or 2 small ones

1 can of diced green chiles

2+ cups chicken broth

olive oil or butter

for serving:

cilantro

limes

cheese

tortilla strips

tapatio

Peel and seed the tomato. To peel the tomato, bring some water to boil in a sauce pan, and boil the tomato quickly, 1-2 minutes, until the skin of the tomato breaks. Pull from the water, the skin should come off easily. Quarter the tomato and scoop out as many seeds as possible... doesn't have to be perfect. Give the tomato a quick dice and set aside.

Dice the onion and brown it in a heavy pot with either some olive oil or butter. Push onions to the side of the pot and add the carnitas, so they fry over the hottest center part of the pan. After the pork is heated up and slightly browned, add the green chiles and stir everything together. Add the diced tomato.

After the mixture is heated through, add the chicken stock. I usually add 2 cups first, and see how much more liquid it needs... depends a lot on how much pork you added and how big your onion was. You can also add a little water if you don't want it to be straight stock. It should be, you know, soupy.

Bring to a boil and simmer for 10-15 minutes. Serve immediately with lots of garnish.

To make the fried tortilla strips, just slice a tortilla into long pieces and fry in veggie oil. You don't need a ton of oil, a frying pan will do for this.

Pork Carnitas

Pickled Cucumbers

2011-02-19T21:18:00.005-05:00

We like pickles. A lot. If you like pickles you should really just make your own. This is really easy and quick.

Ingredients

2 Cucumbers, quartered
4 garlic cloves, sliced thin
9 whole black peppercorns
1.5 cups white vinegar
1.5 cups water
1.5 tablespoon salt
.5 cup Dill, chopped

Preparation

Bring garlic, black peppercorns, vinegar, water, and salt to a boil. Pour over cucumbers and dill. Let cool. Refrigerate. Keeps 2 weeks.

New Zealand 4.0 Kaikoura

2011-02-19T21:08:00.002-05:00

The name Kaikoura translates to meal of crayfish. That plus the snow capped mountains sitting next to the beaches with that outrageously blue water make us want to go back. Right now. Please. We spent December 24th and 25th there and I can say this was my favorite Christmas of all time. I'm a Jew so that may not be worth much but it was still an amazing couple days.

The place we stayed was really nice. Like really really nice.

The beach out front of our apartment

We had two meals here. They have seafood chowder and a bunch of seafood right out of the ocean.

Really good seafood chowder with big hunks of fish and mussles

Christmas Dinner

The potatoes come still dirty

This is Charlie...

...a now cooked crayfish (aka rock lobster)

Crayfish and green-lipped mussels

Second course, lamb, grilled and roasted veggies

Roasted cauliflower and potatoes

Grilled asparagus and onion

A big pile of lamb, two different cuts actually :)
Lamb with two sauces, a red wine reduction and a goop-y garlic spread... all served with our favorite red of the trip, Trinity Hills Gimblett Gravels Syrah

And a gingerbread kiwi for dessert

Warning, beach pics:

There was a seal colony nearby too...

New Zealand 3.0 Marlborough

2011-02-19T20:58:00.000-05:00

Our two days in the Marlborough region began with a 3 hour ferry ride from the North to the South Island.

We stayed in Bleinheim, the biggest city in the area (population 30K). Our hotel was a real cool place within walking distance of downtown.

These were two amazing days of wine tasting. We started with lunch at Wither Hill

The cheese board as you can see was amazing. The little curry dumplings hidden in the back of the photo, not so much. But it was a gorgeous place to have lunch. Not bad for our first stop.

Highfield

Not our favorite New Zealand red, but a decent Pinot...

Spy Valley

I really liked Spy Valley's Sauvignon Blanc. We were determined not to buy a bunch of them, we wanted to see what else the region had to offer. This was the one we bought. To our surprise, we actually found one store in Lexington that sells it.

Herzog

Georges Michel

Wairau River

Nautilus

Framingham

Blanden

We had two memorable dinners in Bleinheim.

Scotch Wine bar was as hipster as Blenheim gets.

Fairweathers Bar and Andrea made some kind of special connection. They served up some great fish and chips.

I suspect it had something to do with this:

When was the last time you were at a sports bar that had pate??

And this is the best beer I've had in a long time. I already checked... even though Monteith's does export to select states in the US, they don't export Radler. Boo.

The fish and chips:

Green curry mussels:

Giant grape! And yeah, thats the pate in the background:

Want... to eat here

2011-02-16T21:22:00.003-05:00

This looks awesome... John Dory Oyster Bar, menu.

Seafood Platter

2011-02-16T16:48:00.009-05:00

This started as a joke one morning and its now the second time we're doing it in two weeks. One of the those meals that just says, "I'm a grown up and I can eat whatever I want for dinner".

Serves two

Ingredients

Caesar Salad (We just got one of those bags. What do you want from us on a school night?)
1/2 pound shrimp
Old Bay seasoning
1/2 pound tuna (1 steak)
Dozen Oysters
1 Snow Crab Cluster

For the sauces

Tataki for Tuna

Cocktail sauce for shrimp. Ketchup + Horseradish (how much depends on how horsey you want it). Sprinkle paprika, a little hot sauce, squeeze of lemon juice. Pepper.

Butter for crab

Mignonette for Oysters

Preparation

Oysters. I'm gonna let Andrea take this one. I've tried shucking oysters twice and both times resulted in me screaming profanity and giving up.

You need an oyster knife, a towel or two, and possibly a scrub brush. There are two places we get oysters around here, and from one of them, the oysters come really dirty. And since I haven't figured out how to shuck them without getting a ton of sand in the liquor, I've realized its easier to clean them off before I start.

The only real trick to opening an oyster is finding the sweet spot, hehe. If it doesn't open immediately, you're not doing it right. You shouldn't have to fight it open. It should pop open, and then you may have to pry the top shell a little.

Crab. Steam it for 5 minutes or until warm. Done.

Shrimp. Add 1-2 tablespoons of old bay to pot of water and boil. Add Shrimp and boil for 3 minutes or until pink and firm.

Fondue

2011-02-15T19:00:00.010-05:00

We decided to stay in for Valentines Day and make fondue. It turned out great!

The Tech. I think electric fondue pots are the way to go. These are what we went with. We bought two although we had to clean one to make the desert course. The following was really enough to serve four if you added one more meat e.g. chicken.

First Course. Cheese

Ingredients

The Cheese. I've adjusted this recipe based on the one we used... it had us add a little too much liquid/alcohol we when tried it.

1/2 lb Emnenthaler Cheese (shredded)
1/2 lb Gruyeye (shredded)
1 clove Garlic
1.5 cups Dry White Wine
1 tbs Lemon Juice
2 tbs Flour
1.5 tbs Kirsch
1/4 tsp White Pepper
Nutmeg and/or Paprika to taste

Rub the inside of the fondue pot with the garlic clove - add clove to pot or disgard
Heat up the White Wine & Lemon Juice - should be hot but do not boil
Reduce heat to low and slowly add cheese while stirring
Slowly add remainder of ingredients while stirring
If fondue is too loose add more cheese
If fondue is too stiff add more wine

Served with Apples, Cauliflower, Carrots, Baguette.

Second Course. Meat

Bring Peanut Oil to about 325-350.

Served with 1 Ribeye (cut into bite-sized pieces) and a pound of shrimp.

Sauces

Cocktail sauce. Ketchup + Horseradish (how much depends on how horsey you want it). Sprinkle paprika, a little hot sauce, squeeze of lemon juice. Pepper.

Horseradish cream sauce

1 cup sour cream
3 tablespoon prepared horseradish
2 teaspoons lemon juice
2 scallions, finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
salt and pepper to taste

Spicy Soy Sauce. 5 Tablespoons soy sauce. 1 Tablespoon sesame oil. 1 Chopped chili pepper. Pinch sugar.

Third Course. Chocolate

12 oz chocolate. We used semi-sweet chips.
8 oz heavy whipping cream

Heat cream first. Then gradually stir in the chocolate. We heated the chocolate first too in a make-shift double boiler.

Served with strawberries, marshmallows, and banana.

New Zealand 2.0 Hawkes Bay and Wellington

2011-02-13T16:45:00.004-05:00

We got up and drove to Hastings. This was our first day of wine tasting in New Zealand, although it almost never happened. We went three hours without a gas station (A: because Dave didn't want to stop when I suggested that we really should get some damn gas) and I thought for sure the sheep were gonna get us. Luckily we made it and it was a great day. The scenery was beautiful, the wine was great, and people were friendly. We were usually the only people tasting which was nice.

We went to five wineries this day and enjoyed all of them. I didn't realize the full range of wines they make and make well in New Zealand. For instance, we had a fantastic Syrah at Trinity Hill.

Unison

Abbey

Alpha Domus

Sileni

This is the place we stayed in Hastings. It was a cute little motel run by a nice family.

The Clansman

We had dinner at this tapas place called Deliciosa in Havelock North, which was a little bit south of the wineries we visited. Andrea really loved their pork belly dish. It was like tons of little pork belly bits, glazed with this pomegranate glaze... so good!

The next day we were on the road again. Wellington would be our last day on the North Island. We really liked this city and wish we had more time there. It reminded us of a small San Francisco.

We got checked into our hotel and headed to the Museum of New Zealand.

Dave looking really happy about it being so windy in Windy Welly.

Lots of jewelry made out of this green stuff that looked like jade. Lots of Maori designs...

We ate one of these guys in Brisbane. He was delicious.

A skeleton of the kiwi bird, showing exactly how big their eggs are. Ouch.

For dinner we went to Logan Brown, which was inside an old bank.

Tejinder suggested it as a must not miss spot. It was really good and a beautiful place.

We forgot the "before" picture, but it was very tasty.

After dinner, we took a stroll in the Cuba neighborhood. It had a great feel.. I would've liked to get to spend more time checking it out.

After dinner, Dave braved another smackdown playing Gin.

In the morning, we headed to the ferry to head to the South Island.

Bye Wellington!

Shrimp and Corn Chowder with Bacon

2011-02-13T15:26:00.000-05:00

We've been on a little hiatus here for this small gathering that we host called the Clay. But now that that's done, we are back in the kitchen.

This is the soup I want when I'm sick. I do love homemade chicken noodle, but I can't seem to make it like my dad does, so its just not as good. Corn + potatoes + bacon works though :)

Ingredients, makes 6-8 servings:

6 ears of corn
1 lb. large shrimp, peeled, deveined, and cut in half (or quarters if they are really big)
2 baking potatoes
6 scallions
4 strips of bacon
2 tablespoons of flour
2 1/2 cups of milk
1/2 cup of cream
1 teaspoon of Old Bay
1/2 teaspoon of thyme
splash of white wine
Salt
Pepper
olive oil (optional)

First, you strip the corn off of each cob. After you've cut the kernels off, take a spoon and collect as much pulp still on the cob as you can. It helps thicken the soup.

Then, fry the bacon in a dutch oven (or other pot, though its the same one you are going to cook the soup in so it needs to be able to handle a lot of liquid). I cut up the bacon before I fried it, but that was a pain in the ass to make sure it was cooked evenly. Just cook the bacon in strips and crumble it at the end when you are done.

While the bacon is frying, give your potatoes a small dice.

Also, the white part of the scallions.

Take out the bacon, and set aside. Add the white scallion parts and the potatoes to the pot of bacon greasy goodness. Here is where I added the splash of white wine to deglaze the pan. I also added a bit of olive oil because there wasn't enough grease to prevent the potatoes from sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Then you add the milk and cream. Then the Old Bay, thyme, salt and pepper.

Bring to a boil, then simmer.

When the potatoes are soft, add the corn, shrimp, and the green parts of the scallions. Cook for 4-5 minutes, until the shrimp are cooked through.

Add the bacon to the top and serve! PS- you need to cook more bacon when you eat the leftovers, this is only enough bacon for your first serving.