Zeytoon Parvardeh, comes from Northern Iran and it is sometimes called ‘Caspian Olives’ since its origin (Gilan Province) lies close to the sea. This topping is a magical marinated combo of pitted green olives, pomegranate molasses, pomegranate seeds, garlic, walnuts, mint, parsley and dill.

It really hits all the right notes: nutty, salty, meaty, fleshy, sweet, tart, sour and herb-a-licious too. Used as a garnish it’s delicious with any fish; Sturgeon being the obvious choice, considering its origin.

I used mint in my recipe but the original herb that it replaces is: chuchagh which is hard to find here in the Bay Area. Traditionally the mint and garlic are chopped and mashed up together and the walnut is grated or pulverized in a cuisinart but I’ve opted for a rough chop here instead. Feel free to make it yours and add a little cilantro too if desired.

I use this garnish to top hummus appetizers also, so keep this little salsa of sorts in your rolodex of interesting and delicious toppings. Or forget about chopping the green olives – and serve it up as an appetizer in its original whole form alongside some frosty martinis.

Roasting a whole salmon side could not be easier and it’s so pretty for a party. Obviously I’m thinking Easter and Passover here, but it’s festive enough for any feed-a-crowd occasion.

Some pointers for roasting whole salmon sides…

Have your fish monger take out the pin bones, or do it yourself by gently pulling out the thin bones with fish tweezers the direction they are pointing – do not pull against the flesh or it will tear. Run your fingers along the flesh to feel the bones.

Also, skin your side and remove all of the grey fat from the underside, this part tends to get a little fishy smelling as it rests, so it’s best to remove before baking.

After skinning and removing the pin bones, I place my salmon side on a parchment lined baking sheet. Use two pieces of parchment overlapping by more than half. This way, when ready to transfer the fish, you can grab the ends of the paper (without it breaking because of the double layer underneath) and quickly move it to the serving platter. Once on the plate, pull the parchment out on either side.

Season the salmon with sea salt, ground cumin and ground sundried lime, drizzle with a little olive oil and bake in a slow oven around 325F until medium rare.

Test for doneness by inserting a metal toothpick (I’ve even used a paperclip or the tip of a thin knife), into the thickest part of the flesh and leave it for 10 seconds. Press the metal toothpick tester just to the bottom of your bottom lip (almost underneath it, so as not to burn your lip). It if feels just barely warm – your fish is still on the rare side of medium rare but making progress. If it feels nicely warm, then the fish is medium rare! If it feels a little hotter than warm – you’ve hit medium. If it feels burning hot – your fish is overcooked, take it out immediately!!!! If it feels cold, it’s not cooked at all, stick it back in the oven….

While this salmon dish is delicious on it’s own, I think it’s EVEN BETTER served alongside my Harissa Roasted Carrot dish or at the very least with the Labneh-Tahini-Honey mixture that accompanies it (included below). Without this creamy sauce, I feel the dish is not quite complete, For the perfect bite, make sure you add this creamy counterpoint!

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Keep it light this weekend, keep it spicy, keep it tangy and tart with a sweet slice of juicy melon ripe enough to drip down your chin.

Keep it anything but heavy, no need to pretend happy, just keep it real, focus on the flavor, figure out the future any way but not today.

Keep that seat at the table open and ready for that Veteran who maybe wants a taste of home but wasn’t able to make it in time to dine…

To all who have served: Thank you for our freedom. You are heroes. We are grateful and we honor and remember those lost and living who have protected our country.

The post Lemongrass Grilled Shrimp with Melon and Mint first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

This chowder is loaded with clams, fresh and canned, along with the usual suspects: potato, fennel, shallot, leek and pancetta. Topped with chopped tarragon, fried dill and freshly cracked black pepper, this classic is simply delicious.

I made this chowder one Christmas with my Step Dad Joe when I was a tweenager. It became a family tradition that continues on to this day and I’ve even used it at two restaurants. You can leave the fresh clams out if desired and only use canned or only use fresh clams (see my old recipe below) If you do want to give it a go with these sustainable bivalves, there are many neat varieties in all different shapes and sizes and they are all fun to experiment with!

Quahog varieties are the norm for chowder. From smallest to largest: countneck, littleneck, topneck, cherrystone, and chowder size. Chowder clams are very big at about 3-inches, and they can be on the tough side, so they are usually chopped. Here on the West coast we mostly get manila clams which work perfectly. See what your fish monger has in store!

It’s easy to make this chowder seasonal, just add fresh corn in the Summer and potatoes in the Fall and Winter – or both! Late season corn here in California is intensely sweet and yummy in this soup. The base is clam stock, which is light (and not fishy) with a big splash of cream. There is a little white wine too, to balance it all out.

For comparison, check out my old version of this soup that I created for Citizen Cake! It’s similar but I used fresh clams only with large wedges of fennel: http://www.amyglaze.com/citizen-cake-clam-chowder/.

Hope this chowder makes you happy as a clam!

The post Amy’s Clam Chowder first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

Butternut bisque is like a jazz standard, seemingly simple in it’s melody yet nuanced with individual character and inflection; always promising to bring soul warming satisfaction to its audience. I have made this bisque or soup (it is naturally thick and creamy and no, I did not sauté live crabs for the base) a hundred different ways.

But I think I’ve hit upon the perfect medley after all these years, which is subtle in it’s layering of flavors and truly satisfying. You see, all butternuts are not created equal — some are sweet and some devoid of flavor.

In this recipe I add a sweet and acidic Opal apple that balances out even the blandest of butternuts and also fennel, yellow onion, shallot and homemade chicken stock. There is some serious depth of flavor in the basic melody here and it all comes across as butternut in the final composition.

Now, onto the Dungeness crab. The garnish. The highlight of every Winter here in the Bay Area. Hold your stomachs…

I don’t know what I did to deserve a family that doesn’t like turkey but I am THE ONLY person in my small tribe (minus Little Bean, the pup) who seriously enjoys a beautifully browned Butterball! I love the aroma that fills the house while roasting. I love the leftovers. I can wax poetic from here to eternity about roasted turkey.

My husband, not so much. My daughter Layla, not so much. My daughter Hettie Rose, maybe, but she’s not even two years old and she can only eat a small amount. True, Little Bean, would probably devour the whole bird bones and all if my back was turned but, still, why spend a whole day cooking if the only person who wants to get stuffed is ME?

Since this Thanksgiving holiday is just nuts with Covid restrictions and there are no in-laws to impress or relatives to refill, my husband suggests we do “something else” besides turkey. And I’m like: “Ohhh-kayyyyy….” (pouty face, passive aggressive body language, why do you hate everything I love?). And then Layla is like: “Yeah, I don’t like turkey either.” And I’m like: “YOU’VE NEVER EVEN HAD TURKEY HOW CAN YOU HATE IT?!?!?”.

Oh motherhood, Oh marriage, Oh daughter of an Executive Chef – I know, what are the chances right? Hello? God?!? Anytime you wanna fill me in on my little sin here that caused this avalanche of poultry haters, just go ahead. I’m listening! I’m ready to repent!

Then my hubby says: “You know, I got an invite to go crabbing, how about Dungeness crab for Thanksgiving?”. I stop in my tracks because I LOVE Dungeness crab, I can go to town on crab. I normally serve it the night before Christmas but, in a world turned upside down, why not? Crab mac n’ cheese for the kids and fresh cracked crab for us. Parfait!

So, with this settled, Ramin leaves at 4 A.M. Thanksgiving morning after two hours of glorious sleep (thank you Hettie Rose, you baby you) to meet up with some buddies on the docks in Berkeley for a fun fishing adventure. And these guys come prepared: they dress in layers knowing it will be cold, fill backpacks with bagels and lox, strong coffee and scotch. This is going to be a fun day on the Bay! I can’t tell you how much Ramin is personally looking forward to it.

But just like the weather can change in the blink of an eye, the adventure turns turbulent as soon as they step off solid ground. The boat they board is a wee bit smaller than expected, it is not safe or well equipped, there are no life jackets and it is oversold – passengers are cramped together most with little or no sailing experience and some are dressed for a beach in Cabo, not a day on the Bay. “Oh well” thinks Ramin to himself, “We’ll only be out for a few hours, how bad can it be?”.

The boat slowly chugs out of its slip, sun barely cresting the mountains behind, waves as smooth as a baby’s bottom and heads towards the glorious Golden Gate, the iconic San Francisco bridge and entrance to the Pacific ocean and world at large –– freedom! Ramin’s buddies pour hot toddies all around. They take pictures from the bow of the boat. They enjoy a little sea spray in the face and the crisp cold morning air. It is brisk and beautiful. It is the perfect Thanksgiving morning. Grateful. Thankful. Blessed…..

But, as the freezing cold Winter sun comes up so does the whipping wind and rollicking waves – and the bagels, lox and hot toddies. No one, not a SINGLE person, on the boat is well.

Now there is a big difference between a challenge and a situation that you have no control over – one where there is no road to success. One where freezing cold waves are pummeling you and your body is shivering uncontrollably and your knees are locking up unable to buoy the bounce of the slamming waves. One where you are trying your best to vomit privately and respect Covid restrictions, one where there is no place to sit down because everything is covered in squid slime or throw-up. And one where the captain of the boat is refusing to turn around regardless of his extremely sick passengers – some who are kids.

My husband is an expert diver, an open water life guard and a seasoned sailor. To say that this is the ‘fishing trip from hell’ is an understatement. Hunter S. Thompson couldn’t create a bad acid trip more surreal and horrific if he tried. The smell of diesel mixed with cigarette smoke, vomit and old fish replaces the sweet salty sea air. Wild wet whomping waves replace the glassy calm of early morn. The wind, an angry tempest of destruction, replaces the flirty breeze they set out with.

An adventure that began all-for-one and one-for-all rapidly turns into individual survival. And yet the captain insists on going out The Gate to the Farallons, an island known for its unpredictable currents and numerous shipwrecks off its coast, to retrieve his crab pots. No one thought they’d be going out The Gate today – it was supposed to be a simple day on the Bay.

The crew pulls up enormous crab pots amidst waves breaking off the bow one by one. A messy and difficult affair for sure, the crab pots often slipping from their hoist and falling back into the blue depths below while simultaneously soaking everyone aboard head to toe with freezing cold salt water. They fill the massive chests on deck with their clickety-clackety catch. The passengers keep hoping/wishing that each crab pot will be the last but they are seemingly unending.

My Thanksgiving day back at home is also no picnic. Two toddlers, no sleep, a ton of preparations for our so-called simple dinner. Extreme fatigue to the point of nausea. And a nagging suspicion that something is very wrong. I text my husband around 1 P.M. my spider senses tingling, he’s been gone now for six hours. A cryptic text comes back: “Worst idea ever”.

I know my husband. And I know that a text like this means exactly what it states: WORST idea EVER. I text rapid fire back asking for more details as panic fills my heart with ice but, Ramin’s fingers can barely write and he is afraid of loosing his phone overboard. His next text reads: “Sick. Can’t text. Freezing. Farallons.”.

Nine hours later Ramin returns home shivering with hyperthermia, barely able to walk straight, bag of 10 enormous crabs slung over his shoulder like a Santa from the South Pole. He dumps the crab bag on our outdoor table, heads straight for a hot shower barely able to talk and then to bed, covers pulled up to his chin and thick wool hat pulled down around his ears. He cannot get warm. He cannot sleep because his body is still rolling with the waves.

Meanwhile I prepare our dinner. Not that anyone wants it. I retrieve the bag of crabs to find they are still alive! Quelle Suprise! The crabs were supposed to be cooked on the boat! A big fat crab grabs my pointer finger and slices it open with a pinch from his massive claw. I pry his pincher open, finger bleeding, and toss him back in the bag – I’ll definitely cook him first. But, I really don’t want to be dealing with live crabs now, it’s just an added hurdle to a long distance race.

It’s not that I can’t cook crab, I can! But I don’t have enormous pots to get the job done efficiently and I’m not particularly fond of listening to garbled crab screams as I plunge them head first in boiling water. It doesn’t make me feel good. It’s easier to kill lobsters – I just take my knife and quickly kill them blade through the brain in seconds flat. But you can’t do that to crabs unless you want a very messy crab boil.

With three of my biggest pots on the stove I cook and crack his catch. I’m not happy, I’m exhausted and Ramin is beyond sick, he might as well be a ghost on a deep sea shipwreck. This is not the Thanksgiving we had hoped for by any stretch of the imagination.

Ramin comes downstairs to help out and watch the kids as I finish up preparations. He is beat up, his eyes swimming in his head, his every step searching for solid ground, his head pounding, his body shivering, his teeth chattering like one of those funny chomping windup toys.

Children have a funny way of knowing when you are at your breaking point and they like to push you over the edge. I am convinced this is a gene built into every child that probably has something to do with survival although it’s counter intuitive. After much debate, it’s clear that our kids will not eat the crab after watching me cook it and smelling the fishy crab boil aroma that is anything but mouth watering. I cook them steaks instead with rice and put the ipad on the dining table for them to feast on Disney instead. This is not a tradition I intend to keep. This is Mommy survival.

For Ramin and myself I start our dinner with scallops on the half shell cooked in a lovely white wine saffron cream sauce. Followed by this beautiful butternut soup garnished with Dungeness crab tossed in drawn butter.

Ramin is not a soup guy – soup is the last thing on the menu he will order. But I can tell with every spoonful that my butternut bisque is warming him up, bringing him back to life, straightening the rolling rug beneath his tired feet. We dig into a mountain of cracked crab and a delicious winter greens salad and finish with my Mom’s signature poached pear tart.

We relax in our chairs too tired to talk staring at our children engrossed in their movie, listening to jazz and decompressing. Our Thanksgiving is by far the worst, however the crab is by far the best – so fresh, so tender, so sweet. I’d like so say, “So worth it” but Ramin cuts me to the chase with a different perspective: “You know, the next time I buy crab and they tell me it’s seven bucks a pound, I’ll give them ten instead”.

The song ‘Somewhere Beyond the Sea’, comes over the radio – an old jazz standard about love lost and the ever changing nature of the sea. It’s a French adaption of the Le Mer and a perfect ending to a rollicking wet sea adventure. This soup, is sure to be a new tradition at our Thanksgiving table, the crabbing adventure? Not so much.

Scallops in Saffron Cream: https://www.amyglaze.com/scallops-in-saffron-cream/

Pear and Almond Tart: http://www.amyglaze.com/pear-and-almond-tart/

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I had a major change of heart last minute, when my husband announced he was going fishing at 4:30 A.M. on Thursday to bring back crabs. A Dungeness crab Thanksgiving? Woot! Woot! Why not?!?!

So, what to cook for this unconventional last minute fish feast? I’m starting with this hot scallop appetizer. It’s a super quick and easy dish broiled or barbecued on the half shell with a splash of white wine, saffron cream and crispy pancetta topped with crunchy fried croutons (seared in the pancetta fat) and chives. And yes, you can use frozen scallops –– choose U-10’s if there’s an option, they are the biggest in size.

The rest of the meal will include a butternut bisque, a brussel sprout slaw and at least ten crabs. Really! Ten! I’m promised Ten!

Since I’m not doing the pie trifecta this year (pumpkin, apple, pecan), I’ll be making my Mom’s signature poached pear tart which I have never made before. Stay tuned, should be interesting!

Have a cozy and delicious Thanksgiving my friends. I know the holidays can be stressful and I just wanted to say ‘Thank You’ for being in my corner these many, many years!

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Yup, it’s that time of year again when everyone needs to figure out what to do with squash. Strangely enough, because I’m breast feeding my little baby Hettie Rose, I crave zucchini like nobody’s business. I have no idea why. But it’s a mighty powerful craving. I literally made my husband go find the nearest farmer’s market and get me some summer squash this last week! During pregnancy I had absolutely no cravings – go figure.

This is going to sound really boring, but one of the best ways to cook zucchini and keep their fresh look and flavor, is to cut it thin, salt lightly and zap in the microwave. I know, I said it: mi-cro-wave. Do you know that even at Le Bernardin we zap stuffed zucchini flowers with mini courgettes attached in the microwave with a little butter overtop? Why? Well, because zucchini is delicate! Yes, a microwave can be great for quickly cooking/steaming veg.

I love squid ink pasta, and I enjoy making it from scratch too but cuttlefish ink is messy and it stains and I have a 3-year old and a 6-month old and I’m just not that cool I guess. Layla would love to make this, but I have to establish major trust before I let her open a jar of black ink. Does the squid ink give a lot of flavor to the pasta? I’m going to say: no. Maybe others will argue with me, but no, I find it’s more about the color. If you want to make it from scratch I really like this recipe from Love and Olive Oil.

So, by this point you’ve realized that this is an easy recipe. YES! It is! Isn’t that wonderful? But, at the same time, it’s about quality of ingredients right? The sea scallops I used were fresh – a rarity to find in markets in Northern California. And, the shrimp were wild and enormous. The squash was just picked and the pasta was artisanal.

Let’s discuss how to cook scallops. Are you still cutting hatch marks across the top and searing them thinking that design is oh-so-cool? You are? Okay, you need to stop doing that. It’s out. When I see that I cringe. The same way when I see duck breast fat cut all criss-cross I want to send it back to the kitchen or throw it at the chef. You just aren’t going to get a better sear by doing it so STOP IT!

The best way to cook big ol’ fat fresh sea scallops is to sear them on high heat on a non-stick surface with a little olive oil along their edges. That’s right, not on their faces but on their edges. What I do is I stack all the scallops I’m using together and make a cylinder and then slowly roll them on their edges on the non-stick lightly oiled surface, allowing them to brown and sear on all sides. This will give you a perfect medium rare.

Shrimp you just throw in the pan with a little olive oil and sear. Don’t over cook those little guys though.

So what else is in the recipe? The pan you just seared the seafood in you’re not going to clean. Instead add some more olive oil and sauté a little minced garlic, then deglaze with white wine, add some cream and toss your barely al-dente spaghetti into the mix and give it a few up and down sauté shakes to coat through.

Next: throw in some Parmesan and again flip the pasta around in the pan to coat. The Parm will tighten up the sauce quickly. Season with salt. Twirl that gorgeous squid ink pasta into a cone with your tongs and place that heaping black pile of deliciousness on the just-microwaved zucchini carpaccio. Put a scallop on the plate and a large shrimp. Dust your pasta with some fried bread crumbs, a little chopped parsley and a few chili flakes. Give your whole plate a squeeze of fresh lemon, a scattering of finely chopped chives and send it on out to your family!

Done. Easy meal. 20 minutes max. Seriously!

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After 16 years of writing about food, you’d think I could at least get some recipes out before the actual event, but no, I just get too busy! I did do things different this Christmas and I want to share my revelation even though it’s after the fact.

I finally created a feast I could make the day before the event so I could spend more time with family and friends instead of running around like a headless chicken cooking everything à la minute. This year I just pulled platters out of my fridge, plopped them on the buffet table and reheated the foods that needed to be hot. It was wonderful! Glorious in fact! Long live the buffet table! 

Normally for the holidays, I do these crazy elaborate meals with hot and cold appetizers, a multiple coursed dinner and elaborate desserts for a crowd – anywhere from 15 to 30 people. I tent my backyard and decorate to the max and honestly, it’s just exhausting to prepare. The end result is always beautiful but it takes a physical and emotional toll on the whole family. By the time the actual celebration arrives, we can’t enjoy it because we’re tired. Maybe when we’re out of the toddler era and sleeping normally we’ll enjoy setting up that kind of party again.

Since I’m very pregnant and very uncomfortable and I also have a toddler running around, I decided to simplify things this year. And you know what? I think this was one of my best holiday menus yet! I did zero actual cooking on Christmas day which left a lot more time to enjoy our yearly White Elephant party and lounge around. And I thought the food looked and tasted beautiful.

The Holiday menu:

Deluxe Bloody Mary Bar

Roasted Whole Salmon with Niçoise Salad garnish

Pistachio Cardamom Poundcake with Winter Citrus Orange Blossom Salad

4-inch Quiche Lorraine

Clam Chowder Cups with Dill & Thyme

Rosemary and Garlic Roast Beef French Dip Sandwiches with Au Jus

Bedazzled Pistachio frangipane & Chocolate Tart with Soft Whipped Cream.

I hope to follow up with the recipes over the next few weeks. Wishing everyone a wonderful 2019 full of LOVE!

The post Do Ahead Holiday Brunch For a Crowd first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

And yeah, I get it, I mean there are just some things that taste better in certain environments. I feel that way about octopus. And definitely there is something to being in Spain, Portugal or Italy and eating right on the beach where the fish was caught hours before that makes the experience feel rustically beautiful.

But these Sardines are also local, from the Pacific, right out the “Gate”! Even my local fishmonger was surprised to get them in because for years they were overfished in these parts, but now it looks like they are making a return (I hope, I hope – many sea animals depend on sardines and anchovies for survival in Northern California).

I wasn’t sure what to call my green sauce: Chimichurri? Pesto? Salsa verde? Green harissa? Caponata minus the eggplant and tomatoes? So for now it’s just ‘spicy jeweled herb sauce’. It was an experiment of sorts that I would happily put on a restaurant menu. I took everything in my garden and in the fridge that seemed appropriate and put them all together: parsley, dill, red chili flake, Meyer lemon zest, Castelvetrano green olives, toasted pine nuts, wine soaked golden raisins, white balsamic vinegar and olive oil. It’s an awesome salty, nutty, puckery, sweet, spicy combo that compliments umami flavors. 

I think the real reason that sardines scare people away is that most don’t know how to eat them. And nobody wants to look like an idiot trying to debone elegantly at the table. It’s actually quite simple: using a sharp steak knife make an incision down the back bone starting at the base of the head and working down to the beginning of the tail. Then, with your fork and knife, lift the filet away from the central bone starting close to the head. Using your fork or your fingers, gently lift the central bone away from the bottom fillet and put it on your bread plate. Violà!

Grilling sardines is easy and fast. It takes about a 1-2 minutes per side. And yes, I do have some tricks that help keep the delicate skin from sticking to the grill… First, turn the grill on high, brush it clean and season it using olive oil. If the grill isn’t clean then any remaining particles will stick to the fish skin and glue it to the grates. Secondly, once the grates are hot, season them again about a minute before you put your fish down. It’s important to wait a minute so the oil on the grates has time to heat up but not long enough to cook off. You can also brush the fish lightly with olive oil, although I don’t usually do this since my grates are well seasoned.

Or skip all of that and use a grill fish pan. I hear they work well.

And lastly, don’t use those long barbecue tongs to flip fish on the grill. I know, it’s hot! I know the smell of burnt arm hair is malodorous, but if you use tongs you’re just going to tear the fish apart. You need a peltex or fish spatula. Tongs were outlawed when I cooked at Le Bernardin. We NEVER used them in the kitchen. Get one, they’re only fifteen dollars from JB Prince! I use a peltex for everything because I get a much neater flip and I don’t squeeze out juices or crush whatever protein I’m working with.

So there ya have it, how to grill whole fish like a pro! Let me know how it goes! Get out there and get your Omega 3’s and try my green sauce! I served these sardines with a simple sliced tomato plate and some creamy egg-y potato salad…

The post Grilled Sardines with Spicy Jeweled Herb Sauce first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

Grilled Branzini stuffed with mint, parsley and lemon

Branzini is the plural form of  branzino, did you know that?  After all these years of cooking and I just found that out! I thought they were just different spellings of the same fish. Yup, that’s my ah-ha moment for the day.

Grilled Branzino with Spicy Mint Sauce

Grilling whole fish: if you’ve had limited success grilling fillets that break or stick on the grates, then grilling whole Branzino will be cake. Start with fresh fish, make sure the eyes are clear and the fish smells like the ocean – not ammoniated – if the scent of windex wafts up your nostrils move on to the meat counter. Have the fish monger gut and descale it – or do it yourself. I often just let the fish monger do it, simply because I don’t need fish scales flying around my home kitchen, those things get stuck everywhere.

Pat the fish dry inside and out. Cut a few diagonal slices into each filet if desired. Season the fish inside and out with Kosher salt, a little sumac and smoked paprika and a pinch of cayenne. Stuff the cavity with herbs and sliced citrus. I don’t tie the fish up unless it’s over 1 pound – it’s just not necessary and it cooks better when heat can circulate inside. I find untying the fish can destroy the crispy skin. I also don’t truss chickens either for the same reason. It will still be juicy because all those little cartilage bones are going to give it some extra flavor.

stuffed grilled branzino

How To: fire up the grill on high heat. After five minutes get out the brush and clean the grates. Lightly oil a kitchen towel and quickly clean and season the grates with the oiled the rag. Let the grates heat up once again for at least a minute. Lightly oil the outside of the branzino – super light. Too much oil will smoke over the heat and that gives an unpleasant taste, so go easy on the grease. If your grill is well seasoned don’t even bother with extra oil.

Lay the fish down gently diagonally across the grates, turn down the heat to medium and let it ride for 4 minutes. Do NOT move it. If it hasn’t seared properly on that side, or the grates weren’t hot enough to begin with, it’s going to stick. Using a spatula and your other hand to steady it, gently flip the fish to the other side and cook for another 4 minutes.

I figure one fish per person. Serve with the green harissa sauce, rice and grilled tomatoes!

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Bay Shrimp Salad with Fennel & Radish

Scallop shells are great for entertaining and I’ve collected hundreds.  You can use them on the BBQ or under the broiler for hot appetizers or they make clever little plates for cold seafood salads like the one pictured above. You can find them on amazon, but sometimes my local fish monger stocks them too – or if you live in an area where you can actually buy scallops in the shell, then by all means save ’em after you’ve shucked ’em!

In Northern California I can only get scallops alive in the shell if I pay dearly for them and order them through one of our restaurants.  They get flown out from the East Coast. Strange considering we do have diver’s scallops here on the West Coast, but they either sell them canned or vacuum sealed sans shell. Too bad, I remember loving the Paris poissonniers and buying small crates of live scallops and oysters to take home.

Bay shrimp to me, is delicate, elegant and brunch-y. It’s great with so many types of wines too, from Champagne to chardonnay to rosé and more, which makes it a lovely versatile first course.

Bay Shrimp Salad Appetizer

Radishes are gorgeous in Spring and you can julienne them to add color to a dish – they don’t always have to be sliced the traditional way. The color pop for this dish is just a little julienned watermelon radish along with the more familiar red radish.

Shrimp Salad on Scallop Shells

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Chermoula Roasted Salmon with Dill-Lebni Sauce

Lebni or Labneh is like Greek yogurt in flavor but thickened with a different culture and strained. It’s almost considered a soft cheese in some parts of the world. We buy it in bulk from a Persian purveyor, but it can be bought in Whole Foods too or you can just use Greek Yogurt.

The post Chermoula Roasted Salmon with Saffron Pearl Cous Cous and Dill-Lebni Sauce first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

Pomegranate Swordfish with Romanesco & Couscous

This dish is not a traditional Persian recipe, but the use of saffron, sumac, and pomegranate gives it Iranian flare. Sumac is a deep red berry from the Sumac bush, that is dried and ground up to use as a spice. It has a powerful lemony-sour flavor. Like saffron, a little goes a long way.  I add it to fish and chicken mostly, but sometimes I use it as a finishing seasoning for steak and lamb for extra acidity.

Saffron, is derived from the stigma of the crocus flower and tastes like sweet hay with bitter earthy notes. The best way to get the most flavor out of saffron is to grind a big pinch up, dilute it with a little water, and then add it to your dish. Adding the individual strands will not perfume the recipe evenly and it will be difficult to gage how much to use because the flavor gets stronger as it cooks. It’s easy to add too much and ruin a recipe with excess bitterness.

Pomegranate Grilled Swordish with Sumac & Saffron Marinade

Labneh or Lebni is my new favorite ingredient. Although it’s considered a cheese in many middle eastern cuisines, It’s most similar to Greek yogurt with a rich creamy sour-sweet flavor. Some say it is simply strained Greek yogurt, but most of my Persian and Turkish family and friends say it’s not Greek Yogurt at all and uses a different culture (keffir?) to thicken the milk. I’d love some clarification on this if anybody knows because the Wikipedia description is not quite accurate (what a surprise!).

Regardless, I love it paired with fruits & honey for dessert (or even apple pie) or mixed with savory ingredients as in ‘Mast o Khiar’, a Persian dip of cucumber & dry mint.  Sometimes in the restaurants, I grab a bowl of it for breakfast with some house-made sour cherry jam. For this recipe I’ve mixed the labneh with fresh dill and added a little salt – it’s a very tasty easy yogurt-like sauce.

Romanesco

Romanesco is that crazy spiral green looking fractal flower/vegetable that’s milder (and nuttier) than a cauliflower but in the same family along with broccoli, brussel sprouts, and cabbage. It can be sliced raw and added to salads or soups, steamed, sautéed or roasted. I steamed it here and lightly sautéed it in order to keeps it’s bright green color.

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Truffled Crab & Celeriac Soup

In fact, for a 2-pound celeriac root, I add 2 pats of butter and 1/3 cup of cream to the liquid base. Could I go without the dairy? Yes. The real reason I add it, is to prevent discoloration to the white flesh after slicing. Another nifty thing about ‘celery root’ (no relation to celery at all) is that it doesn’t have the high starch content of a potato and it won’t turn glue-y when blended.

Dungeness Crab Celeriac Soup

Dungeness crab is sort of a religion this time of year in the Bay Area. People stand in lines from vetted purveyors to get the freshest and best crabs. I get mine straight off the boats in Half Moon Bay. Yes, they are still alive and no, I don’t really like that they are still alive but at least I know they won’t get over cooked and I can crack them myself without taking the risk on an unknowledgeable fishmonger pounding the shells carelessly into the flesh.

Dungeness Crab Claws in a Truffled Celery Root Purée

Raw romanesco slivers dot the warmed crab soup with a drizzle of white truffle oil mixed with olive oil. Use the knuckle meat of the crab to mix in to the rest of the soup. Garnish with chervil or chives and enjoy!

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Fluke over Lentil & Lardon Salad with Wild Mushrooms & Sunchoke Smear

Remember this fish from High School Biology? It’s the one that begins swimming upright and ends flat swimming on the ocean floor, the bottom facing eye migrating be next to the top facing one. I use Fluke mostly for fancy ceviche-esque dishes, but it’s tasty pan fried too. Dust the fillet with a light coating of Wondra (super fine flour) before pan searing for a light crispy texture – a little trick I picked up at Le Bernardin many years ago.

Pan searing fish tips…

1. Use a well seasoned flat (not wonky) cast iron sauté pan or a heavy bottomed non-stick pan. The bonus of using a cast iron skillet is that you can pop it in the oven without the handle melting. Most professional non-stick pans can take limited time in a hot oven –  but it’s not recommended. Probably obvi but, if your skillet is not flat you will not get an even sear.

2. Add enough high-heat canola oil to coat the pan generously and make sure the oil is shimmering and almost smoking before adding the fish. Place the fillet in the pan delicately, don’t just throw it in because you’re afraid of getting burned  – you’ll make a mess with hot oil and do the very thing you were trying not to do!

3. Use a fish spatula to press down firmly for ten seconds. This technique will ensure that your fish cooks evenly and flat without curling up at the edges.

4. After the ‘spatula press’ of the fish; release. Give the pan a gentle shake by swirling the pan in a circular movement, loosening the fish to swirl about too,  all the while keeping the skillet on the grates and over the heat. Stop the swirl motion and press the fish again with the spatula for ten seconds. Then swirl again gently. Why give it a swirly? Because sometimes there are little spots that burn on the fish and this allows oil to move freely underneath providing even coloration.

5. After two minutes, stick the pan in the oven without flipping the fillet. Let the fish cook at 450˚F for about 4 minutes (depending on thickness) until you can see that the edges are white and the face of the fish has lost some of it’s translucency – but not all of it – medium rare is always the desired temperature for fish. If the fish is thin, then skip this step and go to the next.

5. Take the skillet out of the oven and place it back on the stove top (no heat required, the pan will be hot enough at this point). Using your fish spatula and two fingers to hold it in place, carefully flip the fish over (no splashing) and kiss the face side for thirty seconds. Voilà! – your fish is perfectly cooked!

Pan sear like a pro! And happy holidays!

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Rosé Poached Salmon, Lemony Parmesan Cream, Pommes Anna

Chef Eric Ripert, a master at enhancing the natural flavor and texture of fish, prefers the mi-cuit or ‘half cooked’ effect for his main course Spring salmon dish and poaches open lid so the top of the fish is warm and moist but rare while the rest  is cooked perfectly to a hot medium-rare temperature. By poaching in liquid just under a simmer, the fish cooks slowly and the fats don’t coagulate into that white oozing yucky stuff (hey, not to be confused with my super yummy lemony Parm cream, okay?).

Salmon is not the only fish poached at Le Bernardin. The halibut is poached (and totally submerged) in a velouté, a combination of flour & water infused with citrus & vermouth. This is a heavier poaching liquid and halibut is a denser fish, so the natural juices are locked in more effectively. It also gives the fish a sleek glossy look when decanted. It is very difficult when cooking multiple pieces of halibut (white) in a creamy liquid (also white) for a restaurant that seats around 240 covers a night. Think about all those pieces of fish submerged and how challenging it is to pull them out at the right time and keep them organized. Ah, the memories of poaching on the line at Le Bernardin…

Single Layered Pommes Anna

Pommes Anna, a thinly sliced potato cake, is a favorite garnish of Guy Savoy’s – especially with truffle. (If you have eaten at Guy Savoy then you’ve probably had more truffles on more dishes than you ever though possible – and he does get the biggest blackest truffles in France – I know that for a fact). To make Pommes Anna, potatoes are thinly cut and layered into a thick stack and roasted. Chef Savoy prefers each potato to be punched out into a perfect circle and layered singly onto huge sheet trays. They are roasted with lots of clarified butter and each circle must be perfectly golden brown to receive Chefs approval. I mean perfectly browned. Thankfully I never worked the garnish station but I did watch mes amis suffer through the grueling perfectly sculpted veg garnishes from the security of the meat station.

I didn’t bother with all the sculpting for this recipe – I just mandolined those cute little baby Spring potatoes and left the skins on for a rustic look – yeah, total rebellion against my training, but what can I say?

The lemony Parmesan cream sauce is as simple as reducing cream to the consistency of heavy oil and adding grated Parmesan to tighten it up with some lemon zest and a few tablespoons of the poaching liquid. Be careful not to boil this sauce after adding the Parm or the oils in the cheese will separate and the sauce will look broken and greasy. There’s no flour in this recipe and I wish people would stop adding roux to cream sauces because I hate that glop-y white stuff on Pasta and fish. Reduced cream is thick enough on its own! This basic sauce is good for pasta too and it’s great with the addition of caraway seeds if you’re a rye lover.

All these 3-Michelin star techniques are easy! Treat your Mom to a classic French brunch! I’m sure she deserves the very best!

And Happy Mother’s Day to all the Mom’s out There!

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Chorizo & Feta Stuffed Calamari with Marinated bean salad

Or just give me a table somewhere in the Mediterranean on the beach with a bottle of rosé and let me pick through the seasonal menu at my leisure while basking in the sun and salty sea air… that could work too…

A few tricks of the trade when it comes to calamari: if buying frozen tubes (which is fine, I’m not judging, they’re cheap!) make sure to thaw carefully in the refrigerator or under running cold water. Tubes pulled apart while frozen will rip and be unstuffable. If they do break just grill them anyway and slice into rings – they make a great addition to the marinated bean salad.

If buying fresh calamari that are not cleaned either keep the purple outer coat on with the floppy side rudders or peel it all off. I prefer to peel it off. I think they grill and sear better without that flimsy purple coat. However, I sometimes leave it on for braised calamari.

Stuffed Calamari!

Make sure to finger inspect the inside of each tube, that goes for the frozen ones too, and pull out the inner clear plastic-looking cartilage. This innertube cartilage is inedible and it’s easy to choke on because it’s practically invisible. Always check for freshness and keep refrigerated until ready to cook. They go bad quickly. If they smell ammoniated throw them out.

How to Stuff Calamari – do NOT overfill!

When it comes to stuffing calamari be creative! Sometimes I use ricotta & herbs, or mushrooms & crab, or sausage & tomato, or feta & sausage. Just keep in mind that the stuffing can’t be too wet. That doesn’t mean breadcrumbs are necessary (I rarely use them), but the stuffing will ooze out during the cooking process if it’s too juicy and this will cause flare-ups on your grill or it will give you a messy pan sear.

Chorizo, Feta, and Mint Stuffing for Calamari

Do NOT overstuff the calamari tubes. They will either break while filling or burst while cooking. Once the calamari hits the frying pan or the grill, it puffs up and changes from a slippery floppy plastic-y thing into a taught turbo tube. Only fill to 1/2-inch of the mouth of the tube and secure it with a toothpick. (pictured above – see how they are just gently filled and they don’t look they are going to pop?)

I prefer to use a pastry bag to fill or just a regular ziploc with the corner cut off – this makes the process much easier. I lie both the stuffing bag and the tube flat and squeeze instead of holding them in my hand. If you’re doing 100 of these little guys, I guarantee my method will make it go faster.

Marinated white beans salad with: cherry tomato, oregano, lemon juice, garlic, and parsley

And one last tip: LUBE your TUBE before grilling or pan searing with cooking oil! This will help to minimize breakage.

Sear stuffed calamari on a hot grill (or hot pan) and remove to a less hot spot to cook through.  They only take a few minutes to cook , overcooked they’re tough and rubbery. The calamari will be opaque white when done. If there’s concern about the stuffing temperature, then by all means stick your finger in there and see if it’s hot! Or insert a testing rod and check it against your bottom lip.

This chorizo and feta stuffing is salty (in a good way) but needs the vinaigrette of the Tuscan salad to cut through it so liberally serve up the tomatoes and beans. Hope this hits the spot!

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Perhaps I dislike wings so much because for family meal at Guy Savoy in France, twice a month I had to prepare them for a staff of 45. Which sounds like a no-brainer until you have to cleave hundreds and hundreds of wings into drumettes before roasting and saucing.

I mean think about it – if you’re a 21 year old male and you’re cooking two shifts a day (lunch and dinner) and you’re job is super physical, how many wings do you think you’re going to eat to get full? 10 maybe? More? Yeah, that’s a lot of wings… and they don’t even use Frank’s Red Sauce over there. They like ’em deglazed with balsamic vinegar! (Yes, I know France is backwards – I’ve been saying that for years!)

Edible After School culinary students grill Jalapeño poppers for a private party

However, jalapeños are an ingredient that are rarely if ever used in France and I have yet to tire of them stuffed, sliced, pickled, BBQ’d, blanched, raw – you name it – I think they’re a great little pepper that is tasty on its own or added to other dishes.

Here’s an easy appetizer for the Super Bowl. Simply mix bay shrimp with a little Mexican crema to coat, add shredded Monterey and Cheddar cheese , season with a little salt and a squeeze of lime, plus a few dashes of hot sauce. Over stuff halved and seeded jalapeños et voilà!

Heat up the BBQ on medium-high. Season the grates with a little oil. When the grates are hot, Barbecue poppers until the cheese melts and the skins are lightly charred, about 2 minutes. Easy!

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Peruvian ceviche with mango and Habanero pepper. Popcorn garnish

I once cooked a meal for my college roommates  with Habanero and we pretty much cried our way through dinner. This was way before my cooking career; I thought the little wrinkly bright orange shape of the pepper was cute so I bought a whole bunch and chopped them up and tossed them in a stir fry. We inhaled the dinner because it tasted good (and we were starving students) but tears streamed down our faces all the while.

Ceviche with Red Snapper, mango, and Habanero pepper,

I hope I’m not scaring you? They really do have a fantastic flavor and kick. And I really like hot stuff.

Ceviche, as you probably know, is cooked in the acidity of citrus. Normally a combination of lemon and lime or just lime juice will do the trick. I like to use true snapper which is a beautiful mild yet flavorful white fish. Make sure your fish monger is actually selling real snapper because there are plenty of imitations out there. You can add just about anything including shellfish to this recipe. I like to use scallops and shrimp and even baby octopus. 

If the idea of eating fish that’s cooked in lime juice is revolting to you, you can flash sauté it first and then add it to the lime juice mixture. There are plenty of ceviches in Mexico that are made that way although I prefer this type.

Mini ceviche appetizer with guacamole at the bottom

I think ceviche makes a great starter or fun mini appetizers for parties too…

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Shrimp and Avocado Salad with Jalapeno Sauce

We’ve had a momentous 1 day heat wave here in lovely San Francisco, hence the summery inspriation. Not to worry, I’m sure it will pass. The temperature is dropping steadily as I write this post. We’ve also had a week of the most bizarre wind storm ever and that does not seem to be passing. Chicago please claim your title, we don’t want it!

Here’s another plating idea for you. I call this one: Shrimp & Veggie Confetti Bomb.

Shrimp and Shaved Veggie Confetti

Aren’t shaved veggies refreshing and pretty? I used fennel, radish, persian cucumber, and cilantro. What would I do without my Japanese mandoline? I use that thing as much as I do my knives!

The sauce is  jalapeno (flesh only) & lime juice emulsified with olive oil in a VitaPrep. So really I guess it’s just a vinaigrette. But I added a touch of xanathan gum to give it a slightly thicker creamier mouth feel, so now I’m calling it a sauce. It’s not necessary to add the xanathan gum, it will still be creamy just not quite as thick.

Yes, VitaPreps are pretty nifty when it comes to making beautiful sauces. If you’re on the fence about whether or not to shill out the big buckaroos, I suggest you throw caution to the wind. Honestly, I don’t think I could live or cook without mine. If it was a little shaplier I’d probably snuggle it at night.

shaved fennel, radish, and persian cucumber salad with red onion

The shrimp are tossed in olive oil  & smoked paprika then grilled. Easy. Great for a super hot & windy day!

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Oysters on the half shell with Southern Indian rasam flavored gelée

If you can’t find this supplement don’t worry because Cheryl, a FB buddy, suggested oysters instead! And this year I plan on keeping the Valentine’s menu light, pretty, and sexy. No short ribs and all-butter mashed potatoes and no heart stopping chocolate cake. There will be no food coma to follow dinner. Uh-huh. No way. Lights are stayin’ on…

About this fire water gelée: my recipe is based on the Southern Indian version of ‘rasam’ which is a spicy tomato broth that is infused with a sweet & sour salivary kick from fresh tamarind pulp and some herbacious heat from: fresh curry leaves, fresh cilantro, mustard & cumin seed, red pepper pods and ginger. Traditionally it also has asafoetida, but I have left this out here.

Oysters on the half shell with a tiny leaf of cilantro covered in rasam gelée

When I lived/worked in Southern India we often had this tomato tonic for breakfast served with a mound of beautiful white rice (like I have never seen before and probably will never see again!) and heaps of stewed veggies. Rasam awakens the dullest of senses, lifts the spirit, and gets your butt out of bed (or into it?)

This broth has many untraditional uses as I’ve discovered. It’s great for: fish stews, steamed mussels, cocktails (think ‘Bloody Mary’ but served up in a martini glass with vodka or tequila), savory gelées, and adding complexity to tomato soup recipes. It has a delicate tomato color (you can intensify the color if desired with tomato paste), but the flavor is bursting and seriously sex-a-licious.

Tamarind pods and curry leaves give rasam broth a lemony-sweet tang and a subtle bitter flavor

What’s not sex-a-licious are oysters that have been opened by a hack. This infuriates me when I receive oysters that have been washed, or look like mince meat, or the bottom muscle is still attached. And then it upsets whoever I’m dining with because I send the oysters back to the kitchen. This just happened last night in fact – ask my husband about it– the restaurant charged $3.50 an oyster and sent out a plate of regurgitated washed bivalves. Really? Really?!?! I’m getting upset just thinking about it…

I’m going to talk you through opening an oyster if you haven’t tried before:

French oysters (from Brittany) like it from the side. c’est vrai, hein? They are almost impossible to open from the back hinge and until you know where to find the right spot to wheedle the knife point in; you will crack shells and make a mess and cut yourself. I’m going to leave out the French cancale oysters for now because we rarely see them in California.

Gently wheedle tip of oyster knife in the hinge

American oysters like it from behind. And they are really easy to open. Place the oyster in a towel on a flat surface with the lid facing up and the cupped bottom secure in the folds. With one hand hold the oyster steady across the top (this is less risky than placing it in your hand like my photo above). With your other hand take the tip of your oyster knife – JUST THE TIP – do not try and jam the whole thing in there and gently work the point in between the back hinge.

BE NICE! That oyster is going to give it up when it’s ready and not before. Now that you’ve got the point wedged in, see if you can slide it just a centimeter more. WAIT. The oyster will release its seal. When you feel this – and you will feel the tension release – then pop the lid up.

Slide knife blade along lid through muscle on the right to unhinge from top shell

Now, that you’ve popped the lid up (but not off – if you do that in one motion you’re going to destroy half the oyster because there’s a muscle connecting the bivalve to each shell) run the knife blade against the top of the lid slicing the connecting muscle cleanly off that is slightly to the right side. It looks like a little white circle in my picture below.See it?

Discard the lid, now take your knife and unhinge the oyster from the bottom shell. Again, it’s just a small white circular muscle. Scrape close to the bottom of the shell and leave no connecting tissue. I like to see the oyster in all its glory unwashed and untwisted. I don’t understand why many restaurants trim the beard around the bivalve. I’m happy to say that Guy Savoy and Le Bernardin don’t shave their oysters. I like all those pretty ruffles!

Kusshi Oysters on the half shell

An oyster will release two liquors: one when it is first opened and another a few minutes later. If you do have to rinse it because there’s sand or mud (which there shouldn’t be) then do it quickly after its opened and let them sit for a few minutes (in the refrigerator) until the second liquor is released. I don’t condone this, I’m just sayin’ if you have to … and don’t forget to smell the oyster after it’s been opened. It should smell oceany and not like a rotting-fish-in-the-sun-with-flies-buzzing-around-it.

Oysters should be stored in a perforated pan over ice. Not in ice. Shellfish are alive and need air or aerated salt water tanks to live. Storing them in a tied plastic bag will kill ’em. Kusshi, Beau Soleil, and Kumamotos are the easiest to open. And they are all small and super cute. Beau Soleils are great for those trying oysters for the first time because they are delicate in flavor and not very meaty so they go down the hatch easy. But they are very flat with not a lot of substance. Kusshi and Kumos have a little more va va voom..

Happy Shucking!

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Ramin Hedayatpour Photography

I first came across this idea of using the egg shell as a container at Le Bernardin. Michael Laiskonis, the former Executive Pastry Chef, was at the helm during my tenure and one of his signature dishes was a milk chocolate pot de crème cooked in an egg shell with a caramel foam and hints of maple syrup and crunchy maldon salt.

I vividly remember walking by the pastry kitchen, which was always quiet and serene compared to my pot clanging savory side of the world, and seeing pastry cooks hunched over brown farm eggs, delicately attempting to remove the tops without cracking the shell, and muttering to themselves.

And now I understand those inaudible mutterings. I thought that making 12 was totally frustrating – try making 200! However, I did find after completely wasting a few dozen eggs, that there are a few tricks to the trade…

First of all, it is better to use extra large size eggs. The tool that cuts the top off works better on this size. Secondly, using super fresh eggs, like ones you’ve just gathered from your chicken, do not work well. (This goes for making deviled eggs too – the fresher the more difficult to remove the shell). Thirdly, during Winter eggshells tend to be more delicate due to the weather and natural cycle of the chickens.

Ramin Hedayatpour Photography

One brand of store-bought eggs shattered when I tried to remove the caps and another one did not. After consulting with two farmers I found out that adding ground up oyster shells (calcium) into the chicken feed will result in stronger shells and some egg farms do this and some do not.

There is a tool called a Eirköpfer made by Rösle that is designed for removing the tops of eggs. It’s really for cutting the top off of a soft boiled egg but it can be used here. Place the topper on the pointy end of the egg and then pull up on the handle and let it snap down on the egg cutting it in a perfect circle. Or, at least, that’s what it’s supposed to do. I gently tap around the egg after it’s been ‘snapped’ and then pierce it with the tip of a knife and carefully chip away at removing the shell down to the cut line. Once the cap is removed, I pour the egg out and reserve, then carefully peel out the film on the inside of the shell.

Egg container cartons are perfect for keeping eggs upright while cooking the flan-filled shells in a bain marie (water bath) and they are also useful for cooling the eggs in. I used tapioca pearls to keep the eggs upright for serving guests, but kosher salt could be used too.

The recipe below is a basic flan recipe. I gave it a quiche lorraine twist with gruyère and pancetta because both are tasty with caviar. The greens are micro broccoli that also go well with the flan. I made parmesan crisps and added them as a useful way to scoop out the filling, but spoons work too!

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I get my crabs (man, that sounds wrong) off the docks in Half Moon Bay from the fishermen that bring it in everyday. They sell live crabs for around $5 /lb. which is twice the ol’ wholesale prices of yesteryear, but still lower than what you will pay in most markets. Expect to pay around $10 to $12 per crab.

A word of advice about buying crab off the docks: haggling with the fishermen over their prices unless you are going to do some serious buying in large quantities is just not worth it. They are selling it at the lowest prices they can right now. And if they go lower for you they run the risk of getting into trouble with their fellow fisherman and there have been some serious consequences for this. Wholesale crab prices are set in November and they stay set for the most part, throughout the season.

This year I’ve heard mixed reports on the Dungeness crabs but all that I’ve tasted have been sweet and delicious. A little on the small side overall, but still incredible. The crab season runs from November through June, but majority of big fat ones are caught in Winter, just so you know…

I fill a big pot with salted water, add my spices, bring to a boil and then carefully add crab one by one making sure the water comes back to a boil after each one. I cook them for 5-6 minutes. Most recipes say 10 minutes, but this is overkill. I take them out, drain them and let them cool a little before cracking and eating. Sometimes I spread the crab butter on toast – yum!

I know I’ve said this a million times, but Dungeness crab is just one of those items I think is good just the way it is. Drawn Meyer lemon butter on the side is a nice addition along with some real Sourdough and a fresh green salad. Does it get any better? Okay, some steamed artichokes too maybe…

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Lobster Ravioli with Smoked Paprika Cream Sauce & Pea Shoots

This is not the quickest dish especially if you start from scratch, but it’s extremely tasty. I picked up my live lobsters from my fish monger, butchered them, barbecued the bodies and poached the claws for presentation. Then I made the filling (while trying hard not eat all the lobster) a tasty mixture of: pancetta, lobster meat, tarragon, spinach and lemon zest with enough ricotta & parmesan to bind it together.

I rolled out the egg pasta with the ol’ hand crank pasta machine. Boy, isn’t that fun. Especially when it won’t grip the granite.

Five hours later I put filling and pasta together to form ravioli resembling the shape of agnolotti. Technically agnolotti are stuffed with meat, cream, and cheese. But I like the little fluted half circle pillow shape, so I used lobster. And yes, agnolotti come square in shape too . (I know one of my former chef’s is going to email that correction to me, so I might as well mention it upfront.)

Lobster Agnolotti

The red sauce gets its flare from the smoked paprika and the lobster roe which dots the plate in  little red pearls. The base is cream and parmesan – my fav. If you get a lobster with roe, by all means use it! When you remove the head from the thorax if a blob-like dark green jell-o substance spills out, that’s what you are looking for. When cooked the roe changes color from green to red.

Not to be confused with ‘lobster butter’ which is grey-ish green in color and located towards the front of the head. (wish I had photographed the parts here). I stir a tablespoon of roe into the sauce right before serving because it can give an amoniated taste if boiled too hard. The roe will thicken the sauce, keep this in mind when making the cream sauce and don’t reduce it too much beforehand. And, it will add a lovely lobster stock flavor. A little roe goes a long way.

Spring has finally started to sprung (does that make sense?) and I think pea shoots are a festive way to celebrate the season. They pair nicely with tarragon and lobster which is generously mixed in the ravioli stuffing.

Lobster claw on Lobster Agnolotti

Cut the 5 hours prep time to something more manageable if need be, and buy frozen lobster tails (the presentation claw could be ix-nayed) and pre-packaged sheets of pasta which are sold in such reputable stores like Whole Foods. Check the date on the pasta. Egg pasta should be very fresh otherwise it’s no good.

If you do want to butcher the lobsters here’s how I do it. And I’m pretty darned fast after killing about a million a day at Le Bernardin. Chef Eric Ripert is adamandt about fish/shellfish sustainability and also that they are processed humanely. This is his technique for the quickest death (we do not boil them alive or twist thorax from body while they are alive even though it’s faster).

Put lobster on cutting board. Taking a big heavy sharp chef’s knife place the tip right above the eyes in the center of the head. With a quick and sharp movement press straight down through the head (kills lobster instantly) and pull forward with the knife blade splitting the frontal lobe in two right between the eyes. Pick up lobster, turn it over, and make a quick jab right above tail and through body (under legs).

From here it depends on what you want to do with the lobster. It is easy to twist the thorax from the tail and the claws from the thorax. I like to split the tail in half (using my extra heavy sharp chef’s knife) and barbecue it shell side down with lots of butter – yummmm. The claws can be cooked in salted water (like the sea – I mean salted!) water on a strong simmer for about 3 minutes.

Cracking the shell off the claw and keeping it in tack is difficult and hard to explain in words. But I’ll try: pull the smaller lower pincer off by gently shaking it loose with an up and down movement. A cartilidge disk will come out with the pincer. It is very important to get the whole lower pincer out in one piece or some one can choke on that invisible little disk. To get the remaining claw shell off I take the back of a heavy knife (not the blade, don’t ruin your nice sharp knife!) and whack the claw on the top and then on both sides. The shell should pop off. Then I pull out the meat gently!

(Good luck with that, the claws can be tricky).

Some day I’ll get around to making a lobster butcher video, in the meantime, I hope you enjoy this recipe!

The post Lobster Ravioli, Pea Shoots, & Smoked Paprika Sauce first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

After an onslaught of holiday parties, I am throwing in the cocktail dress and pulling on the workboots. I sink a few bucks into Jeeps McGee’s big belly and put San Francisco in the rear view mirror. Pescadero here I come…

Me and McGee are so in our element. We are noisily cruising down 280, bouncing up and over the curvy Skyline mountains down to Highway 1. I reach Half Moon Bay and my 33-inch flame tread tires screech left onto the Coastal Highway.

Ahhhh, the ocean….

Today is beautiful. The Winter sun crisp illuminating the Pacific on my right like a bright and blinding sequined serpent. The fields on my left bleak and mostly tilled under with random rotting pumpkins left unloved. Cypress trees, like tortured twisted shadows with desperate outstretched arms edge the endless blue. Weathered farms dot the coast.

Artichoke soup, dungeness crab, and  olallieberry pie – here I come!

Farmer’s Kate and Jeff of Echo Valley Farm meet me at Pescadero beach with crowbars and baskets in tow. We find a giant wave washed rock a little too far out in the receding ocean covered with cloistered blue mussels. Prying tools in hand we go to work.

It’s low tide, we should be safe, the tide pools surrounding us are dry and thirsty. Sea cucumbers and anemones hibernate in the squinty bright sun.

Prying bivalves loose, and careful not to destroy the whole entire eco-system, we opt for the bigger ones. The small ones, although tender, are just too much work and not enough meat to show for it.

And then it happens, while our backs are turned and my farmer friends are happily chatting about Spring planting plans – the sea sneaks up on us and takes us all by surprise. We are super soaked!

We grab our gear and make a dash inland trying to find our footing in the tide pools that are now under water. How did that happen?

Back on the farm we dry off and prepare the mussels. This is not a quick process. Wild Mussels are sandy and bearded and covered with mini barnacles.

If storing mussels for a day (or two at the most), kept dry in a single layer in the refrigerator with a damp kitchen towel over top. In a restaurant I store mussels in a perforated tray over ice in the fridge, but never in ice – they will die. Throw away any that have cracked shells. If shells are open tap lightly, if the bivalve closes it is still alive. Otherwise it’s dead.

When ready to use, place mussels gently in a bucket of cold water for 30 minutes. This will help the little bivalves filter out some of the sand. If they are kept in fresh water for an extended time they will die. Under running water scrape and/or scrub off barnacles and remove beard (or byssus) by grabbing the brownish threads with fingertips and yanking back & forth and side to side down by the hinge. Place cleaned mussels into a separate bucket of cold water to continue filtration.

The byssus thread is edible, but sand likes to stick to it and it’s not exactly pleasant to chew – unless you like to eat hair. However, if a few go un-bearded, it’s not the end of the world.

Our bright orange wild mussels taste like Pescadero coast: robust, briney and beautiful. The salty mussel liquor quintuples the white wine I’ve used to steam them open. I’ve never seen so much bivalve liquor before! This I strain with cheesecloth and reserve for various recipes.

Prince Edward Island (PEI) mussels, which are found in most markets, can be steamed directly with other garnishes (Curry & cream? Fennel, saffron & white wine? Tomatoes & capers? Ginger, garlic, & lemongrass?) because they are not sandy and do not need to be strained. Most farmed mussels require just a rinse before using.

But the liquor of wild mussels will need to be strained or the sand left to sink to the bottom of the pot and carefully avoided. I prefer to strain it out but this means my sauce or broth will take extra effort to finish. Totally worth it.

We are taking the mussels to a pot luck party at Pie Ranch down the coast towards Santa Cruz. I opt for a true marinara sauce (a tomato sauce with seafood – as the name implies) for our offering. We cook up pasta, toss it with our rich tomato-caper-mussel sauce enhanced with white wine and mussel liquor, sprinkle chopped parsley over, and head out back along the coast to the barn dance and dinner.

Sun sinking. Sky, a burst of pink and mussel orange. Clouds streaked greyish purple against the flame colored backdrop. Salty sea air stinging noses and wind whipping hair everywhere, we hold on tight in Jeeps McGee.

It’s time to kick up our heels Pescadero style…

The post Wild Mussels! How to Clean & Debeard first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

This goes to show how hard the restaurant business is. I am sure that Elizabeth Falkner will reinvent herself soon either as the next American Iron Chef or in another venue. She is a creative powerhouse. For more info visit the Sf Chronicle post.

I created this clam chowder for Chef E at her request and it quickly became a lunch time favorite. We both agreed that the clams should be whole and in the shell. The soup was made to order every time. And there is no flour or thickener in the broth – just clam stock, white wine, and cream.

Besides the usual clam chowder accoutrements: bacon, potatoes, celery, shallot, and onion I also added thin wedges of fennel, leeks, tarragon, and fried dill.

A good twist of freshly ground black pepper over the top and it’s off the passe and on its way to the table…

The post Citizen Cake Clam Chowder first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

Salting cod during the 17th century was a popular way of preserving. Salt was cheap, it allowed fisherman to make longer voyages preserving their catch along the way, and it was flavorful.

It has many different names that you will no doubt recognize. In France it is known as ‘morue’, in Spain ‘bacalao’, and in Italy ‘baccalà’. And each country has their own recipes that have been passed down through the ages transforming the hard white salt covered fillets into something unexpectedly delicious and moist.

Brandade de Morue is an old French recipe (and there are countless variations) consisting of salted cod, garlic, olive oil, milk, and potatoes mashed together. Today in France it is often served during the holidays as a dip alongside bread fried in oil or crudités.

I say: why wait for the holidays?

The post Brandade de Morue Holiday Dip first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

Yes, it’s definitely no fuss, no heat gazpacho and ceviche weather. Why not combine them? This gazpacho is simply watermelon blended with a little sea salt, sherry vinegar, and olive oil. It’s salty, tangy, sweet and just as good on it’s own as it is with the ceviche.

The bay scallop ceviche, cooked in the the acids from lime juice, gets a kick from a few pinches of allspice (a Cuban interpretation) plus some ginger, red onion, and cubanelle pepper. Cucumbers slices and mint chiffonade add on another refreshing layer. So here’s my ultimate cool-down recipe for the summer. What’s yours? (Pouring a bucket of ice over your head doesn’t count).

Related recipes around the blogoshpere:

Karina’s Kitchen Watermelon Gazpacho

Eating Well Watermelon Gazpacho

Eating / SF Watermelon Gazpacho

The post Watermelon Gazpacho & Bay Scallop Ceviche first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

 I'm not sure what all she put in it and we only had it on the menu for one night, but here's my rendition spruced up with some blanched cilantro (to keep it bright green) and lime juice. It's easy to blend together and extremely versatile. It could easily go with fish, chicken, or pork dishes.

The pineapple salsa is straightforward: pineapple chunks, red onion thinly sliced, brunoised jalapenos, and chiffonaded cilantro and mint. The sweetness of the salsa pairs nicely with the avocado cream that is not overly sugary. The shrimp are skewered and sprinkled with a pinch of smoked sweet Hungarian paprika – it adds a certain smokey je ne sais quoi to the dish. Don't leave out any of the ingredients, they all work harmoniously together!

BBQ Shrimp Brochettes, Pineapple Salsa, and Avocado Coconut Cream

Serves 4 

1 lb cleaned, deveined large or jumbo shrimp

1/2 pineapple, diced (why not buy it already cubed and then cut smaller?)

3 jalapenos, brunoised

1/4 small red onion, sliced paper thin

6-7 mint leaves, chiffonaded

8-10 cilantro leaves, chiffonaded

2 ripe avocados

1 can coconut milk

3-4 limes, juiced

1/4 bunch cilantro, blanched (put in boiling salted water 30 sec. then straight into an icebath)

salt, pepper

1 T smoked sweet Hungarian paprika

Wooden skewers soaked in water to prevent burning 

Skewer shrimp – 3 per stick. You might need to cut sticks in half. Refrigerate until ready to grill or broil. Blanch cilantro bunch in boiling salted water for 30 seconds or until bright green and fragrant. Immediately transfer to an ice bath.

In a blender add coconut cream, avocados, blanched cilantro, juice of 3 limes, and a hefty pinch of salt. Blend on high until cilantro is pulverized. Add more salt and lime juice if necessary. Remember the sweetness of the pineapple salsa will balance the cream. Refrigerate. Make salsa: combine pineapple, jalapenos, red onion, and mint & cilantro in a mixing bowl. Set aside.

Sprinkle shrimp with smoked Hungarian paprika on both sides. Grill on BBQ or broil for 2-3 minutes or until shrimp is pink (but not rubbery) Plate with a spoonful of avocado cream and pineapple salsa with shrimp brochette over the top.

The post BBQ Shrimp Brochettes, Pineapple Salsa, and Avocado Coconut Cream first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

This is one of the dishes I’ve made for Family Meal at the restaurant using mixed fish scraps. We go through anywhere betweeen 500lbs to 800lbs of fish a day and it is butchered on site, so you can imagine that fish stew is a meal we have over and over and over.

Why does stew sound like ‘eeeeewwww’? It’s totally not.

You really don’t need a recipe for Cioppino – there’s no real right or wrong about it. I have guesstimated this dish more times than I care to admit and never been wronged. Canned whole tomatoes, onions, garlic, lots of white wine, herbs, mixed fish, and a few bright veggies over the top.

And it can be expanded to feed 50 hungry cooks or just a small army of 2.

If I’m making San Francisco Cioppino I don’t add the extra veggies over the top and I usually simmer everything in a big pot with dungeness crab.

But here, it’s just as easy to cover the fish with the tomato broth and bake it. Minus the dungeness crab (boo hoo!)

It is a truly wonderful thing, when sitting over a big bowl of Cioppino, to breathe in the steaming tomato white wine broth that has harmoniously blended with the all the fish juices creating the best bread-dipping sauce of all times and then dive in with fork and spoon in search of chunks of fish, shrimp, and who knows what else.

Go fish!

Click on “Coninue Reading” for recipe…

Technorati Tags: cioppino, fish, tomato

Mediterranean Cioppino
Serves 4

Recipe

1 28oz can of whole canned tomatoes
1 15oz can of tomato sauce
1 cup dry white wine (more if you want, I always add more)
1 medium yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 bay leaf
2 teaspoons dried basil and dried oregano
4 springs fresh thyme
Mixed fish: you can use beautiful fillets or scraps. Figure around 1 1/2lbs of fish for 4 persons. Preferably white. I used halibut fillets for this recipe.
1/2 lbs. shrimp, peeled deveined
1/2 lbs. mussels, scrubbed
1/2 cup mixed pitted olives (niçoise, kalamata, etc)
1 medium zucchini, sliced
1 yellow bell pepper, dided
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

Crusty bread for dipping

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to ˚400F
2. In a large pot on medium-high heat 2 T of olive oil and sweat the onions and the garlic until translucent, about 2 minutes. Don’t burn.
3. Add the canned tomatoes and tomato sauce and bring to a simmer. Add dried herbs. Break apart whole tomatoes with a wooden spoon.
4. Add white white wine and bay leaf. Simmer for 15 minutes more, until the tin flavor of the tomatoes disappears. Before adding to fish, season with salt and pepper.
5. Arrange fish in a large baking dish so that is doesn’t touch. Season fish with salt. Pour tomato-wine broth over fish and scatter olives decoratively. Place sprigs of time over dish, wrap with tin foil and bake for 10 minutes.
6. Take out cioppino and add mussels and shrimp. Rewrap with tinfoil and bake for another 5 – 7 minutes or until fish is tender. Spoon fish into large bowls with lots of broth.
7. Meanwhile sauté on high heat the zucchini and yellow pepper with 1 T of olive oil until al dente. About 1 minute. Pour veggies over cioppino decoratively.

The post Family Meal: Cioppino! first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

"Two lobster, one mahi-mahi, one by one on the monk, one striped bass, and a snaaaaaaaa-pah."

I suppose, "yeahhhhh baby" or "that's what I'm talking about" or "I wanna a piece of that" could be substituted for "snaaaaaaaaaaaa-pah".

It is a beautiful fish with flakey white flesh and shiny silver and red skin. So maybe it does deserve the extra attention. I'm not jealous. Well, maybe a little. A garnish sidenote: I am not a fan of stewed ratatouille. The flavors all sort of meld together and turn to mush for me. I'm sure some of you will argue the opposite and you are completely within your rights.

Regardless of my dislike of stewed vegetables, I truly adore the flavors of zucchini, eggplant, tomato together with a little basil, shallot, and splash of redwine vinegar – as long as it is kept fresh tasting. Perhaps the word 'stewed' should be pronounced similar to 'snapper' but with the opposite intention. Like: stewwwwwwwwwed. Kind of rhymes with cruuuuuude and lewwwwwwwd.

Back to snaaaaa-pah.… I find that the best way to cook it at home is to use a nonstick skillet, turn up the heat, and add olive oil or grapeseed oil. I prefer olive oil for this recipe since ratatouille is Mediterranean. Get your oil hot. Not to the point that it's on fire and smoking up your kitchen, but hot.

Place the fish skin side down and shake the pan a little to avoid stickage. With a spatula or peltex press down on the fish. Not too hard! Just enough to keep the skin flat against the pan and browning nicely. Don't even think about flipping the fish until you see the sides begin to brown or you will get soggy skin and not crispy skin.

Soggy skin no beuno Poppy.

Then flip and cook on the other side for only a minute. It should take no more than 3-4 minutes total cooking time. Which makes this dinner super fast. Because the ratatouille takes the same amount of time. I just beat Rachel's 20 minutes meals! That's what I'm talkin about: snaaaaaaaa-pah.

Crispy Red Snapper with Ratatouille serves 2

Ingredients

1 baby eggplant, sliced into 1/4" rounds

1 medium zucchini, sliced into 1/4" rounds

2 Roma tomatoes, sliced into 1/4" rounds

1 shallot, minced 6 leaves of fresh basil, chiffonade

3-4 tablespoons of red wine vinegar olive oil salt and freshly ground pepper

2 portions of red snapper with skin, approximately 6-7 oz each

Instructions 

Get some one to cook the ratatouille while you cook the fish! Unless you're confident at doing both at the same time. But why cook alone when you can cook next to some one you love?

In 2 medium non-stick skillets heat 3 Tablespoons of olive oil in each on high heat. Get the oil hot. Add the eggplant to one skillet, and turn down the heat to medium. The eggplant will soak up all the oil and then release it. After one minute add shallots and zucchini. Toss veggies to color on both sides. Add tomato rounds last to heat through. When ready to serve add 1 tablespoon or more (depending on how acidic you like) of red wine vinegar, some s & p, and the basil.

Meanwhile for the fish: Get your oil hot. Not to the point that it's on fire and smoking up your kitchen, but hot. Season fish on both sides with salt. Place the fish skin side down and shake the pan a little to avoid fish stickage.

With a spatula or peltex press down on the fish. Not too hard – just enough to keep the skin flat against the pan and browning nicely. Shake every now and then to insure no stickage. Don't even think about flipping the fish until you see the sides begin to brown or you will get soggy skin and not crispy skin.

Flip and cook on the other side for only a minute. It should take no more than 3-4 minutes total cooking time. Plate the vegetables and the fish on top. If desired you can add a little extra olive oil and vinegar to the ratatouille pan and whisk quickly over low heat for a broken warm vinaigrette.

The post Crispy Red Snaaaa-pah & De-Stewed Ratatouille first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

I hope this story doesn't come across as blood thirsty or unappreciative of life, because I often struggle with my emotions when it comes to the butchering process of animals. It's so much easier to pick up a piece of protein that is already cleaned, filleted, and wrapped in celophane.

But, if you've followed this blog from Paris then you will remember my tumultuous feelings about skinning baby boar and wild hare and my guilt over plucking and gutting pheasant, grouse, and wild pigeon day in and out at Guy Savoy. What I've learned through all these experiences is: respect. How can you cook something properly if you don't even know what it is that you're cooking?

Now, I'm working with fish and only fish but the opportunity to break it down doesn't come everyday. We have excellent prep chefs who skillfully do a lot of that work early in the morning before anyone arrives. Considering the fact that the restaurant receives up to 800 pounds of fresh fish on any given day, it would be impossible not to employ master fish mongers.

But today we received a whole 130 pound farm raised ecologically sound bluefin Tuna from Japan, Kindai, during the afternoon so everyone could participate in the experience. I'm 5'5" and I weigh around 115 lbs so this tuna was my size give or take a few pounds. That should put things in perspective. Kindai is by far the most prized tuna in the world for it's sensous silky texture and flavor and sadly the most overfished – bordering on the endangered list.

In fact, it's so overfished today that helicopters often patrol waters where bluefin are protected to stop poachers from throwing their nets out. As the demand for sushi rises higher throughout the world so does the popularity of this particular tuna. Doesn't everyone love a slice of fatty torro dunked in shoyu?

Before you go thinking that there must be hundreds of Tuna farms, let me just say it has taken 30 years for the Japanese fish farmer, Hidemi Kumai, head of the fisheries laboratory at Kinki University, to successfully raise Kindai. Who would have thought that a fish that can reach 1,800 pounds in the wild could be so delicate and sensitive?

They need plenty of water to swim, they are sensitive to noises (even car horns), and their necks break easily if they make turns too sharp. Sometimes they turn cannibalistic and eat each other or they simply refuse to spawn. They're fussy fish. Due to the difficult and time consuming process of raising farmed Kindai, only 3 are sent to the United States every week.

One comes to New York and is divided among five of the top restaurants here and the other two get shipped to California. Today, when the whole kindai arrived at the restaurant everyone stopped what they were doing and gathered around in the kitchen to watch the professional tuna butcher break down the human-sized silver shimmering fish.

Actually, we all ran to the lockers for our cameras first and then clamored around the counter elbowing each other to get better shots and a piece of the action. And it wasn't just the cooks who put down their work to watch the butcher take apart this mammoth kindai – it was the servers, the management, the owners – every one gathered around to watch this momentous occasion.

The professional butcher armed with a white plastic apron, faded tattoos, and a thick irish brogue brought out a wooden mallet and chisel and broke off the tip of the tail first with a whack that would have landed Marie Antoinette's head on the plate in one fell swoop.

Then with a foot long knife resembling more of a machete than any of our rinky dink chef's cutlery, he slashed his way through the fish reserving different parts for the various restaurants that would receive them. This picture of above was special for me – LOL!!!

Per Se takes the toro, Gramercy Tavern takes the collar and the spinal cord (I've been told they make bone marrow from the spinal cord. It's not printed on their menu, but you can order it if you know about it.), and Le Berardin takes the meaty tasting melt-in-your-mouth top fillet.

I can't exactly say after watching the butchering process that I could repeat it. I think it takes some one who doubles as Indiana Jones to fully get into the swing of things. But I will say, that I will never look at bluefin tuna in quite the same way.

And I know when I slice into the kindai at work I will spend a little more time and a lot more care not to waste a single piece and to make the dish as memorable for the client as it was for me in the preparation process. That's what it's all about. And it is indeed a very special fish.

The post Le Bernardin: How to Butcher Bluefin Tuna (Kindai) first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

I’m not sure if he was really referring to farming or shelling pounds of beans. Nonethess, I’d have to agree. Fava beans are worth it. And I look forward to them every summer.

And I always look forward to talking with Dominic who has been farming in Northern California for at least half a century. He’s got great stories to tell about his family’s migration from Southern Italy to America.

Fava beans and radish are a common pairing. I’ve eaten many herb salads with shaved radish and favas. Not so common is the use of watermelon radish which is often difficult to find, but it’s so pretty and spicy that it makes any dish pop with color and flavor.

Beurre blanc is one of the great French sauces mostly used for fish made of a white wine, vinegar, and shallot reduction finished with a ton of butter.

I mean a TON of butter – about two sticks of butter for one cup of wine reduction.

There is no cream in beurre blanc. None, zip, zilch. If you add cream to stabilize it, then you’re cheating!!!! It should taste and look creamy but it is a butter sauce, not a cream sauce. I’ve written in my tricks for keeping the sauce stabilized in the recipe sans cream.

I’ve been trekking out to Dominic’s Farm for peas, strawberries and corn since I was a little girl. He’s located at 950 La Honda Road, just east of the San Gregorio Store along the beautiful Northern California coastline, and is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. seven days a week.

Look for the hand painted signs, pull in at the shed, and don’t be surprised if two happy ferocious looking farm dogs run up to greet you!

Technorati Tags: beurre blanc, fava beans, halibut, recipe, watermelon radish

Fava Beans, Watermelon Radish, Halibut with Beurre Blanc Sauce
serves 4

Ingredients
5 pounds fava beans
3 watermelon radishes
4 sprigs tarragon
10 sprigs chervil
olive oil
1.5 pounds of halibut (more or less, depending on how hungry you are)
2 cups white wine (muscadet or chardonnay)
1/4 cup white wine vinegar (sometimes I leave this out if I want a sweeter sauce)
1 large shallot, chopped
2 1/2 sticks COLD salted butter (you might not need all of it)
fleur de sel
pepper

Instructions
Preheat oven to 400˚F
1. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. The salt will give flavor to the beans and help to retain their bright green color. Shell the pods and toss the beans in the boiling water. Cook for 1 1/2 minutes. Remove beans and cool in an ice bath immediately. Slip beans out of their protective skins by pressing on one end of the bean. Reserve.
2. Carefully peel the outer tough skin of the watermelon radish keeping it’s circular shape in tact. Slice thin on a mandoline or by hand. Wrap in a wet paper towel and reserve in the fridge.
3. Chop the herbs and set aside.
4. In a medium sauce pot on medium heat, sweat the shallots with 1T of butter. Add the white wine and vinegar and reduce to one cup or until it is slightly syrupy. Keep reduction warm until the fish is done cooking.
5. In an oven-safe skillet heat 1T of olive oil on medium high heat. When oil shimmers add fish, skin side down, and cook for 2 minutes. Pop pan in oven and cook for 5 minutes more (depending on thickness of fish). To test for done-ness press down on fish, it should feel firm and spring back easily.
6. Remove fish from oven and keep warm. Toss fava beans with a little olive oil, herbs, and fleur de sel. Spoon onto a plate and top with radish slices. (If you want you can re-heat the beans, but it’s summer and I don’t mind them room temp.)
7. Turn the heat up back to medium-high under the wine reduction. Once it is boiling remove from heat and whisk in the butter cube by cube. DON’T STOP WHISKING. Keep adding butter until the consistency is of cold olive oil. Strain into smaller sauce pot and keep warm over very LOW heat.
8. Place fish on top of radishes and drizzle beurre blanc over everything – a little goes a long way. Garnish with chervil and radish.

Cook’s Notes: Finish beurre blanc with butter right before serving. Many chefs will scoff at my other trick but I learned it in France and so far it has always brought great results: I use salted butter.

The reason I do this is that salted butter doesn’t separate as fast as unsalted butter (or so I’ve been told). I’ve also found that you can cook with it at higher temperatures before it burns. Fact or fiction I don’t know, but it works for me and I’ve never found the sauce too salty.

The post Fava Beans, Watermelon Radish, & Hailibut with Beurre Blanc Sauce first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

Due to post traumatic stress disorder, I rarely make the buttery cake-like cookie because mine seldom turn out with that little bump that signifies a well baked madeleine.

These mini fresh corn madeleine sandwiches are easy and there’s no need to worry about the little ‘top knot’ because no one can see it. Cut it off and make a sandwich or leave it on and place the accouterments on top.

Either way these savory mini cakes stuffed with crème fraîche and smoked salmon are mouth popping tasty. And they go perfectly with a glass of cold champagne.

Try Ruinart blanc de blanc if you are looking for a beautiful and unusual pairing.

Technorati Tags: appetizer, corn, French, madeleine, smoked salmon, sweet

Sweet Corn Mini Madeleines with Smoked Salmon, Crème Fraîche

Ingredients
Melted butter and all-purpose flour for the molds

2 ears fresh corn kernels, sautéd in 1 Tablespoon of olive oil for 2-3 minutes until al dente
3/4 cup whole milk
2 large eggs
1 1/4 teaspoons sugar
1/2 cup fine yellow cornmeal
4 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Crème Fraîche
Smoked salmon (I used wild sockeye)
Fresh dill for decoration

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 375˚F. Brush the mini madeleine molds with melted butter. Make sure to do this thoroughly and get all the grooves greased. After the butter has congealed slightly, dust with flour.
2. Purée the corn and milk to form a soupy paste.
3. With a hand mixer on medium speed, mix the eggs and sugar together until they quadruple in volume and turn light yellow in color. The mixture will get thick almost like cake batter. About 4 minutes.
4. Sift together baking powder, cornmeal, salt, and flour. On low speed mix the dry ingredients into the egg batter alternating with the corn/milk in three parts.
5. On low speed mix in the melted butter. Don’t over mix. The batter should have the consistency of thick pancake batter.
6. Using a pastry bag or a small spoon, pour the batter into the molds up to the top. Tap the molds once to remove any air bubbles.
7. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on racks.
8. If using the madeleines like a sandwich, cut the ‘bump off and smear a tiny bit of the créme fraîche onto one side. Add one small slice of smoked salmon, and the other madeleine to cover. Top with a little crème fraîche and a piece of dill.

The post Sweet Corn Mini Madeleines with Smoked Salmon & Crème Fraîche first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

A word on scallops… in France they come fresh, popped straight from the shell, without any additives. In the States, they are mostly frozen and then thawed. When buying previously frozen scallops make sure to ask if they have additives. Many frozen scallops have a saline solution (or some weird chemical) added that is supposed to keep them tasting juicy.

However, it often ends up steaming the scallops during the cooking process making them difficult to properly sear. The best previously frozen scallops are "dry packed". They sear nicely and taste fresh without any strange milky liquid.

And a word on sweet potatoes…

They are not yams! They are a distant relative but, were domesticated in the Americas as early as 5000 years ago. They are also not kissing cousins with potatoes either, although probably closer in relation. They come in many different colors: white, orange, and purple. And, they are extremely high in nutritional value.

I came up with the idea for saffron sweet potatoes purée by mistake. I was actually trying to figure out the ingredients to a soup I had at a Spanish restaurant in Paris. But, after tasting the purée, I decided to leave it – super yummy! The purée has no butter or cream and it is amazingly velvety in texture and rich tasting.

The dandelion greens are a nice bitter contrast for the sweet potatoes and the smokiness of the prosciutto goes along with everything. I also made little white sweet potato croutons to scatter around the plate for fun and to add some crispiness. 1 potato, 2 potato, sweet potato, more!

Prosciutto Wrapped Scallops with Saffron Sweet Potato Purée, Wilted Dandelion Greens, Caramelized Onions, & White Sweet Potato Croutons

Serves 2 people and can be doubled no prob

6 huge sea scallops

1 package prosciutto

1 bunch dandelion greens

1 large sweet potato, peeled and chopped

1 small white sweet potato, peeled and diced

1 medium shallot diced

2 medium sweet onions, sliced

Chicken stock (enough to cover your sweet potato)

10 saffron threads (more or less depending on how strong they are)

1 bay leaf olive oil dried thyme salt and freshly ground pepper toothpicks

Wrap 1/2 prosciutto slice around sides of each scallop and stick a toothpick through to hold. Refrigerate. Slice sweet onions on a madonline 1/4-inch thick. Heat a medium sized pot on medium heat with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and add all the onions. Don't stir them until they start to brown on the bottom.

Turn down the heat to low and allow them to caramelize slowly. If they start to get too brown, or they don't have enough juice add chicken stock a little at a time. (can be made 1 day in advance and reheated). Season with a pinch of dried thyme, salt, and pepper.

Peel and chop the sweet potato. Heat 1 Tablespoon of olive oil in a medium pot on medium heat. Sweat (cook slowly, don't brown) one medium shallot and add sweet potato. Cover with just enough chicken stock to immerse the potato and add saffron and bay leaf. Simmer until are soft. Remove sweet potatoes with a slotted spoon to a Cuisinart or blender and purée, adding the saffron cooking liquid little by little until the all is smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Keep warm. (Can be made 1 day before and reheated).  

Peel and dice small (about 1/2" inch) one white sweet potato. Cook briefly in a pot of simmering water or olive oil (to confit, but it's not absolutely necessary) until al dente, about 1-2 minutes. Remove and drain on paper towel. Refrigerate until ready to crisp up.  Heat a small non-stick skillet on medium high heat and add a little splash of olive oil – not a lot because the proscuitto has fat in it too! When skillet is hot, sear the scallops on all sides, top and bottom included. If the toothpicks get in the way remove them after most of the sides are browned. Scallops cook quickly, the large scallops I used for this took about 3 1/2 minutes total. Remove to a plate and keep in a warm area.

Crisp up the white sweet potato in the same skillet using remaining proscuitto fat from the pan. While cooking the scallops heat a small pot on medium high heat and add 1 Tablespoon olive oil. When oil is hot add the leaves (not the stems) from the dandelion greens and cook stirring often until wilted, about 1-2 minutes. Drizzle a little balsamic vinegar over and season with salt and pepper.  

To plate: spoon sweet potato purée on a plate and place a dollop of caramelized onions in the center. Place scallops on top with another dollop of onions and the dandelion greens on either side. Sprinkle sweet potato croutons around plate.

Note: if desiring more acidity in this dish, drizzle some reduced balsamic vinegar around plate in tiny drops.

The post Prosciutto Wrapped Scallops & Saffron Sweet Potatoes first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

I hate it when I do that. I'm so A.D.D. in supermarkets. The colors really sidetrack me. This is why people make lists. Stick to the list! I guess I was a little curious to see if tomatoes were starting to taste juicy again. I realize I didn't need to buy 4 pounds to answer that question.

The tomatoes were juicy (Hallelujah!). So I roasted them up with a whole bulb of garlic and puréed them separately to taste their differences. The yellow tomatoes were a bit milder in acid but just as flavorful as the red.

Originally I thought the roasted tomatoes would make great soup (they did, I'll post that next) but, I also thought they would make a nice rich coulis, a sauce made from puréed and strained vegetables or fruits. Which led to: tarragon shrimp salad in choux puff boats with my little shoots and sprouts, and a few swirls of red & yellow tomato coulis. Whoo-wee, that all sounds complicated doesn't it?

It's not, just a tad time consuming. Like I've got anything better to do on my days off – tax extension be damned! I've never used buckwheat sprouts before and they sure have an interesting flavor: a cross between sour grass and wheat grass. Sweet and sour. Pea shoots, on the other hand, taste exactly like pea shoots.

I hope you enjoy this recipe. If serving a crowd or in need of a dish to take to a party, the choux puff boat can be baked in a Springform 9" cheesecake pan and filled with any salad right before serving. Egg salad, chicken salad – whatever.

Then people can scoop it from the boat or cut wedges. As for the 4 pounds of roasted tomatoes all I can say is they have far more uses than just soup and coulis. They also make great pasta sauce, meat sauce, salsa base, or side dish when served whole. I've left the quantities in tact so you have room to experiment too! 

Shrimp Salad in Puff Boats with Roasted Red & Yellow Tomato Coulis Serves 4 Ingredients Roasted tomatoes:

2 pounds yellow tomatoes

2 pounds red tomatoes

1 yellow onion

1 medium shallot

1 cup chicken stock

2 small bay leaves

Olive oil

Tumeric

Salt & pepper

Shrimp salad:

3/4's pound bay shrimp

1 celery stalk, brunoised (finely chopped)

1 basket pea shoots

1 basket buckwheat sprouts

1 bunch tarragon

1 basket cherry tomatoes

1 Tablespoon mayonnaise

1 Tablespoon champagne vinegar

Choux Paste:

2/3rd's cup water

5 Tablespoons butter

1/4 teaspoon salt

2/3rd's cup flour

3 eggs

4 ramekin molds or 1 9"Springform Cheesecake pan

Preheat oven to 350˚F. Slice tomatoes in half top to bottom and place in a baking pan. Take one bulb of garlic (about 10 cloves) and break up. Scatter cloves around pan leaving them in the skin. Season tomatoes generously with salt, pepper, and olive oil. Roll everything around to coat, but leave tomatoes cut side up. Roast until they begin to slightly brown, about 35 minutes. (I baste the tomatoes with the pan juices half way through.)  

Chop onion and shallot. In two separate medium sized pots heat 1 Tablespoon of olive oil in each and sweat the onions on medium heat. Add 1/2 cup chicken stock and a bay leaf to each. Add roasted tomatoes, garlic removed from skin, and pan juices (split between the 2 pots separating the red and yellow tomatoes) and bring to a lively simmer. Season with salt and pepper.  Remove bay leaf from each. Purée yellow and red tomatoes separately. Strain back into pots, removing skins & seeds, and reserve. The flavor will deepen while it rests. Note: if you wish to make the yellow coulis yellow-er add a few dashes of tumeric. It will not change the flavor in small quantities but will make a brighter color.

For choux boats: preheat oven to 400˚F. In a medium sized pot bring the water, butter, and salt to a boil. Turn the heat down to medium-high and add the flour in one fell swoop and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon. Once the mixture comes together and is smooth and no longer sticks to the side of the pot or the spoon remove from heat. Let cool for 1 minute. Then incorporate 1 egg at a time stirring vigorously after each to thoroughly incorporate. The pastry dough should be smooth and shiny and hold stiff peaks.  

Lightly butter the ramekins and spoon 2 Tablespoons of choux paste into each. With a plastic spatula smoosh the dough up the sides of the ramekins leaving a well in the center. Bake at 400˚F for 10 minutes then reduce the heat to 350˚F and bake for 30 minutes more. Once golden brown, remove from oven, turn off heat, and take pastry boats out of ramekins. With a wooden pick, poke several holes in the boats to release steam. Place them back on a baking sheet and into the oven (which is turned off) to dry out for 5 minutes.  

Mix shrimp with mayonnaise, vinegar, celery, and chopped tarragon to taste (about 2 stems, leaves only). Dress shoots and sprouts with a splash of olive oil, champagne vinegar. Season with salt and pepper. 7. Fill pastry boats with sprouts & shoots, and shrimp. Place on plate and drizzle yellow and red coulis around with extra shoots and sprouts and cherry tomatoes.

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But, every name has a history and the grapefruit is no exception. According to Wikipedia it was originally documented first in Barbados. It had developed as a hybrid from the even larger citrus bowling ball, pomelo.

Perhaps the French named it pamplemousse because it was a mouse sized pomelo? No. That can’t be right.

In the U.S. the fruit was called shaddock or shattuck until the 1800’s. Wikipedia gives no reason as to why or how the name was changed to grapefruit, but one can speculate that it’s current alias alludes to the grape-like clusters it grows in.

Regardless, it’s a terrificly refreshing fruit.

The idea of this recipe came as I was pondering over what to do with fresh scallops. The egg sack, known as the corail in French, is a beautiful shell pink color. Just about the same color of grapefruit – violà! Inspiration! – grapefruit glazed scallops!

Using grapefruit can be tricky as I found out, because it has a way of over powering everything. Like a bowling ball, it knocks down all the other pins. Some tips: use very small pieces of grapefruit in the garnish so as not to upstage the beets or scallops, and leave out the zest or just add a tiny little piece for decoration.

The glaze is infused with thyme and you can slather it on generously because the grapefruit juice is greatly reduced and has a fabulous sweet tangy flavor without the bite. Also the thyme really brings the dish together.

I seared the scallops with walnut oil and added some to the vinaigrette for the beet garnish. It adds depth and nuttiness – two of my favorite human characteristics, so don’t leave them out either.

Seared scallops with Grapefruit Thyme Glaze and Roasted Beets

serves 2 people as an entrée, or about 5-6 people as an amuse bouche

Ingredients
1 red grapefruit. As red as red can be.
2 cups grapefruit juice
2 teaspoons honey
4 sprigs time
1/2 pound fresh or dry packed scallops. Not frozen.
2 yellow beets
2 red beets
1 head frisée lettuce
Walut oil
Olive oil
1 lemon
salt & pepper

Heat oven to 350˚F or 175˚C. Wash the beets and cut the tops off. Place the beets in a roasting pan and liberally douse with olive oil. Roll them around in it. Make sure to keep the yellow beets on one side of the pan and the red on the other. Season with salt and pepper and fresh thyme. Roast until the beets can be easily pierced with a knife, about 40 minutes. Remove and let cool in the pan. Peel beets when cool enough to handle with a pairing knife. Dice and store colors separately until ready to use.

In a medium saucepan on medium high heat, add 2 cups of grapefruit juice, 3 sprigs of thyme, and one teaspoon of honey. Reduce to 1 cup. Taste the juice, if it is still extra sour then add the second teaspoon of honey. Skim off any foam on the top and let the juice cool with the thyme sprigs. Once cool remove the thyme.

Section the grapefruit into whole segments without pith. The easiest way to do this is to cut off both the top and bottom of the grapefruit. Then slice down, following the curve of the fruit, from top to bottom to remove the thick skin. Cut each segment out from the pith individually and reserve.

To make the vinaigrette for the lettuce and beets: whisk 2 tablespoons of grapefruit juice with 4 tablespoons of walnut oil and a pinch of salt and freshly ground pepper. The vinaigrette should taste a little more puckery than the glaze, so add a few drops of lemon juice to add acidity. Reserve.

Season scallops with salt and freshly ground pepper. To Sear: heat a small nonstick skillet on high heat that will fit the amount of scallops without any of them touching. Once the pan is hot add 2 tablespoons walnut oil. Walnut oil has a medium-high smoke point which means you can sauté nicely with it (but avoid deep frying). Once the oil is hot enough to sizzle a small drop of water (but before it starts to smoke) add the scallops and don’t move them for at least 30 seconds.

If you move them constantly they won’t brown or form that nice crust. Turn down heat to medium and continue to cook for another minute. Turn scallops and cook for another 1 1/2 on the other side. The cooking time will depend greatly on the size of the scallops. I like my scallops al dente in the middle and they will cook further with the following step:

Turn heat up to high and add 1/3 cup of the reduced grapefruit juice. The juice will bubble up like crazy and turn into a glaze almost instantly. Once the glaze has thickened, remove scallops to a plate and take the skillet off the heat to stop the glaze reducing further.

Dress beets separately with vinaigrette and lettuce too. Place scallops on the plate and spoon over glaze. Garnish with flecks of grapefruit and a few grinds of pepper.

The post Grapefruit Glazed Scallops with Roasted Beets and Thyme first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

First, watch the video (4 minutes). It’s the first part of two videos (the second on how to beignet oysters coming next week). I filmed it myself so you’ll have to excuse the low lighting and the unintentional body shots. I got a little carried away with the Brittney Spears opening too. No regrets, oysters are an aphrodisiac after all… or are they?

I bought a box of 50 oysters on Sunday (my day off) for this video and throughout the evening while I shucked them and dipped them in batter to beignet, I ate about half raw and deep fried.

Monday rolled around and I met some friends that were visiting from San Francisco and the whole day I just felt groggy. I kept thinking it must be fatigue from cooking double shifts each day day. I felt so sleepy that I had to cut our date short.

Tuesday morning I returned to work at 8AM and felt like a tractor had run over me. Looking for a shred of sympathy, I told another cook: “You know I feel really tired, I don’t feel so good”. He responded: “You don’t come to cook at a restaurant like this to be tired.”

Well, no shit sherlock.

Right before our afternoon service I could feel my intestines rolling around and I knew something was wrong. Then came the sensation that I was being knifed repeatedly in the lower gut. It came and went throughout the lunch service but I managed to withstand it.

I should say, I managed to withstand it while totally messing up every order on the planet. I heard more than my fair share of, “Ah Amy, c’est quoi ça?” (Ah Amy, what is that?) It’s really hard to hear all the long menus coming in when you’re doubled over in pain. And you know we do everything verbally. Everything has to be memorized – no point of sale system – so you’ve got to listen and be sharp. I made it through the dinner service, but just barely.

I came home and slept and returned Thursday morning to work. This time the knifing in my stomach returned accompanied with some terrible side effects. Everything started coming out of me. I mean everything and everywhere. I felt like some one was taking my intestines and tying them in knots.

Now you have to understand that when you cook in a restaurant you don’t get sick. It just doesn’t happen. If you are truly sick then you better have pnemonia or the plague or something incurable. So I was back and forth to the toliet praying that my body would soon finish evacuating itself before the lunch service began trying not to make to big an issue of it.

Of course no one even asked if I was okay. They just kind of looked at me like maybe I drank too much or something the night before. I know I’m older, a woman, and American but, if some one is really sick don’t you think you’re going to ask if the obvious: Are you alright?

Thankfully one of the excutive chefs took interest in my well-being and asked if I was okay and offered to get me some medecin. I explained in my best French/American sign language that everything was coming out of me. “Tu as le Gatro” he told me.

I find this name for malady Gastrointestinal really funny because in Paris gastronomical restaurants are nicknamed “Gastros” as opposed to “Bistros”. So yes, I had le Gastro while I was working at un Gastro. (no fault but my own though, they were my oysters)

The ever-kind chef, brought me back pills to stop me up and they worked. I managed to pull off another day of two services, lunch and dinner, thanks to the pills and basically slogged my way through Friday. However, I found out later that when you have “gastro” you’re not supposed to take these pills while you’re body is trying to rid itself of problem. It only prolongs the pain. Which it did. Enough said.

So now I’m okay. And what I’ve come to conclude is that I think I must be allergic to oysters. I always seem get sick when I eat more than three or four.

But honestly, I do love them. And I love to pop them open and eat them raw straight from the ocean with just a squeeze of lemon. I only wish that my stomach would be more supportive of this habit.

Technorati Tags: how to shuck oysters, oysters, video

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Preparing live snappy langoustines makes my stomach do back flips. I often substitute jumbo shrimp so I don’t have to watch them squirm while I hold down the thorax (so they can’t pinch or run away) and twist their middle tail fin, like a key, pulling out the green filled intestine in one long strip. Apparently they don’t feel pain, or so French chefs like to say, but anyone who has seem them writhe after the disembowelment would disagree. Well, they sure are darned tasty anyhow.

Seriously, use shrimp, it’s much easier.

Once you get past the pinching langoustines, this is a surprisingly simple dish. Some of the ingredients might seem exotic, but they should be findable at big grocery stores. I’ve included substitutions just in case.

Technorati Tags: curry, langoustine, langoustines au curry, thai curry

Langoustine aux Curry Thaïlandaise
serves 4 people

Ingredients
3 T peanut oil
1 1/2 cups coconut milk
1/2 cup chicken stock
2 Kaffir lime leaves (substitute a squeeze of lime juice at the end of the recipe if you can’t find these)
2 T Fish sauce (nam pla)
1 1/2 pounds langoustines, about 2-3 per person depending on size or substitute with jumbo shrimp
1 bunch Thai basil (bai horapa)
1/2 bunch chopped cilantro
salt and brown sugar to taste

Paste
6 red chilies
2 stalks lemon grass, sliced
1/2″ knob galangal, peeled (substitute ginger if it’s not available)
2 tsp chopped kaffir lime leaves (1 teaspoon lime rind finely grated)
3 sprigs coriander leaves
10 black peppercorns
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried shrimp paste
1 tsp ground turmeric

Instructions
1. Prepare and clean langoustines by holding their thorax flat against the counter and twisting the middle tail fin like a key pulling out the green intestine in one strip. The langoustines will be shelled after they are cooked because it’s easier. If using shrimp de-vein and peel them leaving the tail fin on for decoration.
2. Combine paste ingredients and grind until fine either with a mortal and pestle or a Cuisinart.
3. Heat oil in a skillet on medium high heat and sauté paste until it’s fragrant.
4. Stir in coconut milk little by little and chicken stock. Add kaffir lime leaves, fish sauce and simmer. Season with salt and sugar to your taste. The oil in the sauce will separate a little, but that’s okay, it’s part of the look.
5. Add langoustines and cook until tender, about 4 minutes. Remove langoustines and let cool for a few seconds before removing their shells. Place langoustines back into curry sauce to simmer for 2 minutes..
6. Add chopped fresh basil to curry and serve up!

Note: Removing langoustine shells can be tricky. I squeeze them on both sides to crack the thorax shell, then press down and crack the tummy shell. Once these are both cracked it is easier to pull of the thorax shell off in segments. Twist the heads off of leave them on for presentation.

The post Langoustines au Curry Thaï first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

If you’re not shucking the oysters yourself make sure to ask the shucker to reserve some of the oyster liquor for the vinaigrette (bring along a plastic container). I served the oysters on toast, but I think they would have been more glamourous in the shell. Either way, it’s a show-stopping first course.

Full New Years Menu:
Vichyssoise with Crab, garnished with Crème Frâiche and Chives

Heirloom Carrot & Watermelon Radish Salad, Warm Oyster Vinaigrette, Oysters

Herb Crusted Prime Rib, Yorkshire Pudding, Brussel Sprouts with Lardon

Gâteau Chocolat, Crème Anglaise

Technorati Tags: carrots, heirloom carrots, oysters, salad

Oyster Heirloom Carrot & Watermelon Radish Salad with Warm Oyster Vinaigrette

Serves 6

Ingredients

1 Bunch heirloom carrots with multiple colors. You might want to purchase 2 bunches if you feel the carrots are small.
1 bag mesculen lettuce mix
1 shallot
2-3 oysters / person
1/4 cup oyster liquor
6 Tablespoons champagne vinaigrette
1/4 cup + 3 Tablespoons virgin olive oil
salt and pepper
toast rounds or oyster shells for presentation

Before I start writing how to prep this, let me first say that that there are 2 sauces here. There’s the vinaigrette for the oysters without any oil and the vinaigrette for the salad that is warm. Oil and oysters don’t mix for me.

Instructions
1. Using a mandolin slice carrots to 1/8″ thickness and reserve on a damp paper towel. The ruby red carrots bleed in color like beets, so try not to put them next to the other carrot slices.
2. Steam carrot slices for 1-2 minutes until they are al dente.
3. Shuck oysters. I’m not going to explain this here because you really need some one to show you how to do it otherwise you end up jabbing your hand. Reserve 1/4 of the liquor and strain through cheesecloth.
4. If serving the oyster in the shell (which I think will be prettier) dunk the oyster still attached to the bottom shell into a big bowl of ice cold water. This will loosen any grit. Because the oysters are being served with a salad it is important to make sure sand and stuff won’t mix in with the vegetables. Sometimes I like to remove the oyster completely from the shell, wash the shell, and put the oyster back in before serving.
5. Sauce for oysters: let half of shallot macerate in 3 Tablespoons of champagne vinaigrette for at least one hour. Spoon a small amount over oysters before serving.
6. Warm vinaigrette: heat oyster liquor to a simmer, take off heat and whisk in olive oil and champagne vinegar. Season with salt and pepper. You can use a hand mixer to mousse this up if you want little sea foam bubbles on the plate. Mix with salad and carrots separately and arrange on plate.

The post Oyster Heirloom Carrot Salad with Warm Oyster Vinaigrette first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

Cioppino is the ultimate party food for grown ups. You get to eat it with your fingers, lick ’em clean, and pretend it’s adult to do so. It’s a fun dish with lots of energy, color, and texture: red crab legs popping out, grey clam shells bursting open, large chunks of white fish, warm chunky tomato sauce flecked with chopped green peppers, pink curly que shrimp with little fan tails. I really can’t think of another dish that sets the tone right for the holidays.

If I haven’t sold you on Cioppino already, then let me add that the broth can be made a day or two before your dinner party. When ready to serve, reheat and add all the fish and shellfish. It’s a one pot party dish that has style, class, and loads of San Francisco history.

Note to cook: I always use a mixture of what’s fresh in the market. I usually choose one firm white fish, a mixture of shellfish or just one type (clams, shrimp, cockles, scallops, etc.), and some crab. Unfortunately, my fish market was plain sold of crab for the day so I couldn’t take a photo with it. Take my basic recipe and then adapt it to your area!

The post Christmas Eve Cioppino first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

Now I know better.

Just trying to skin sole will teach you why it’s so darned pricey. But more than that, the art of cooking it to perfection is just that: ART. I know because I just attempted with three expensive whole fillets that all ended up mushy. Not crispy on the oustide and flake-a-licious on the inside. Not lightly browned and opalescent white. Not nutty brown butter-ish with lemon saliva bursting sauce. And not all together served in one piece, but instead falling apart fish fingers. Bummer.

However, my fourth fillet I got right. And I will share with you my findings with the hopes that you will not waste your time and money as I did mine.

But first a little story on sole and how it took the soul of one of France’s most revered cooks, Chef Vatel.

Before the Roi de Soleil’s extravagant palace of Versailles was constructed in 1682, the King traveled around the country with his aristocracy. Wherever he went they were required to go too. In this way he kept an eye on his scheming court and also kept them in dept paying for their travel expenses and hosting lavish parties in his honor.

In 1671, the king traveled to Chantilly to meet with his commander, Prince Condé before waging war on Holland. A great feast was planned hosted by the Prince for the King and his court with the aid of his “Master of Cooks”, François Vatel.

The first night of feasting, a light supper was provided of turtle soup, creamed chicken fried trout (whatever that is), and roast pheasant. Seventy-five extra guests attended the party. Vatel was horrified that some of the tables at his super did not receive enough pheasant roast. (I think I would have been happy not to receive one of his roast pheasants) Although his staff assured him that he wasn’t to blame for the shortage of food and unknown quantity of royal guests, he was humiliated by this blunder.

No doubt his fear of failure was doubled with the failed firework show that was ruined by cloud cover and the desire to prove himself as a master chef in the absence of the King’s Chef, the god father to Haute Cuisine, Varenne.

At four o’clock in the morning after what he considered to be a failed first diner, Vatel was still hard at work desperately trying to secure enough food for the next day’s gala event, an even more extravagant and opulent menu of anchovies sevigne, melon with Parma ham, lobster quenelles with shrimp sauce, and filet of sole.

He met with a fish monger in the early hours of morning who arrived with an inadequate amount of fish. He asked the purveyor, “Is this all”? and the man replied back to him, “Yes sir” not knowing that Vatel had also ordered more from several seaport towns in France. Vatel waited hoping that more would arrive. Nothing came.

Exhausted from twelve sleepless nights of preparing for Prince Condé’s feasts and unable to see a way out of total disgrace, he went to his room and fixed his sword to his door. He ran into it several times. The first two times only wounding himself, the third thrust he pierced his heart. Some say he ran upon it another five times.

Fifteen minutes after his suicide fish poured in to the royal household and assistants came running to find Vatel so that he could distribute it. Too late, Vatel lay dead in a pool of blood.

The dinner went on as planned minus the filet of sole course, and all agreed – the Roi de Soleil included – that his death, although tragic, only proved Vatel’s code of honor. Vatel traded his soul for sole.

(Even more tragic none of his recipes survive today with the exception of a famous dessert topping he created called Chantilly cream, a mixture of whipped cream and sugar. Perhaps you’ve had some on a hot fudge sundae?)

No need to trade your soul for sole. The recipe’s on the following page!

Sole Meunière

2 (8 ounces) sole fillets
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
8 Tablespoons clarified butter
1 cup flour
4 tablespoons finely chopped Italian parsley
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Lemon slices, for garnish

Instructions
1. Season fillets with salt and pepper.
2. Heat 2 tablespoons clarified butter in each 2 large sauté pans on medium high until butter is nut brown. Make sure your pans distribute heat evenly (very important). It is possible to cook the filets in the same pan, but I wouldn’t recommend it because they need space.
3. Dredge fillets in flour, shaking off any excess flour. Do this step right before placing fillets in pans. This ensures a crisp crust.
4. Place fillets in hot saute pans and cook over medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes per side, until golden brown and crispy. Do not turn fish until it is golden brown and do not move it around too much in the pan or it will not brown. I like to give the saute pan a jolt in order to flip the fish in one piece, but if you’re not comfortable with this use the widest spatula possible so that the fish doesn’t fall apart.
5. Remove fillets from pans and transfer onto a platter.
6. Dump out old clarified butter from one saute pan and wipe clean with a paper towel removing any pieces of fish. Don’t rinse it! Add remaining clarified butter and heat on medium high until golden brown. Take off the heat and add lemon juice and a big three finger pinch of chopped parsley.
7. Place fish on plates and spoon over nut butter lemon sauce.
8. Garnish with lemon slices

Tips
1. The fish can be made ahead of time and reheated in the oven, but the brown crust will get mushy
2. For clarified butter, melt 1-2 sticks on low heat. Then line a strainer or chinois with a paper towel and pour slowly through it. Or just let the milk solids settle to the bottom and skim the oil off the top. Clarified butter is used because it does not burn as easily due to the lack of milk solids.
3. Keeping the bone in the fish will allow for easier turning, but it’s not necessary if your fishmonger has already removed it.
4. Play with the heat. Make sure the butter is hot when you add the fish – it should sizzle – but if you feel it’s too hot and the fish is burning, then turn it down a little after the initial contact is made.

The post Trade your Soul for Sole? first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

So here’s my latest fusion offering: Japanese tempura served up alongside Baja style lime-cilantro marinated fish with Puerto Rican pickled red onions. Typically escabeche is a pickling marinade with cooked seafood added to it. But, I’ve used it for pickling the onions and the liquid as a dipping sauce for the green beans.

I’ve put together a short video (only 4 min) for the tempura. You’ve got to check it out because I found the cutest Moulinex Minuto deep fryer and I want to show it off! Seriously, I haven’t been this excited about a new toy since I bought my first power blender in college. Tempura is super fast to prepare. It took 3 minutes to whip up the batter and 40 seconds to deep fry the green beans.

There are two basic types of tempura batter. One is thin and it works well for vegetables – especially for green beans where you want to see the color show through the batter. For fish I prefer the thicker batter, similar to a beignet batter, where the eggs are separated and the whites whipped up separately and folded back into the mix. This creates a big fluffy crunchy crust when deep fried that goes nice with jumbo prawns.

The fish is marinated in lime juice and cilantro for twenty minutes almost like ceviche but then it is baked or grilled to finish the cooking. I used cod because it looked fresh in the market, but mahi mahi would work better or even halibut. Any firm white fish will do that isn’t too thin and doesn’t fall apart easily.

The pink pickling marinade is a melange of cider vinegar, sugar, salt, peppercorns, and bay leaves with a thinly sliced red onion left to soak up the juice. For real escabeche, cooked shrimp or seafood is then added and can be kept up to 2 days in the refrigerator. With the added seafood, it’s a refreshing sweet-tart starter or light meal.

After draining the onions, the pickling liquid tasted so good that I decided to skip the traditional tempura dipping sauce and use it instead. Just in case you’re not a vinegar fanatic like me, I’ve included the recipe for the Japanese dipping sauce below.

Technorati Tags: appetizers, baja, batter, escabeche, fish, green bean, recipe, tempura, video

Green Bean Tempura
4 people

Ingredients
600g of green beans or haricot vert trimmed

Tempura batter:
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 egg
1 cup ice water

Dipping Sauce:
2 T soya sauce
1 T mirin sweetened sake
2 T dry white wine, sake, or rice vinegar

Peanut oil for deep fryer

Instructions
1. Heat oil in deep fryer to 190˚C / 374˚C
2. Mix tempura batter ingredients together until smooth. It will be liquid like pancake batter.
3. Dip in green beans and they carefully put them into deep fryer without burning hands. Fry for 40 seconds.
4. Remove and let drain on a paper towel before serving
5. For the dipping sauce mix all ingredients together and serve alongside the beans in a bowl

Baja Fish
4 people

Ingredients
800g firm white fish with no skin or bones
Juice of 5 limes
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1/2 bunch cilantro finely chopped
1 shallot, minced
1 Tablespoon freshly grated ginger

Instructions
1. Mix salt, pepper, lime juice, ginger, shallot, and cilantro in a bowl. Pour over fish and let marinade at room temperature for 20 minutes. Remove fish from marinade and bake fish at 200˚C / 400˚ F for 7 minutes or until firm.

Escabeche Pickling Liquid

Ingredients
1 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoons salt
10-12 pepper corns (I like to use various colors)
1 – 2 bay leaves
1 red onion sliced thin

Instructions
1. Heat vinegar on medium heat and add sugar and salt. Simmer until sugar is disolved. Remove from heat and add peppercorns, bay leaf, and onions.
2. Let cool to room temperature and refrigerate for at least half an hour before serving.
3. Serve onions on top of fish and pickling liquid as a dipping sauce for the green bean tempura

The post Tempura Green Beans & Cod Escabeche first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

Seriously, if I have to de-feather, de-bone, gut, and cook another fowl I think I’ll slit my wrists. Nonetheless, I made this menu for some friends that are leaving the restaurant – and there are no birds in this meal.

And one more thing – HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!! Gros Bisous and well wishes for a relaxing Holiday season and fun filled New Year!!! Thank you for all the support, wonderful comments, and inspiring emails that you have provided me over this last year!!!

Menu

Red and Black Caviar Amuse Bouches
Black Truffle Slices on Warm Crostini
Veuve Cliquot Champagne

Tuna Tartar with Pearls of Japan & Avocado
Moet & Chandon Rosé Champagne

Carrot and Red Pepper Double Soup
Magnum Jordan Pinot Noir, Nicole’s Vineyard 1999

Leg of Lamb with Herb Potatoes

Spiced Persimmon Purée with Vanilla Ice Cream & Pecan Caramel

Caviar Appetizers
Ingredients:
15-16 small fingerling potatoes
Creme Fraiche
1 lemon
A small jar of black caviar or roe (I cheated and didn’t use real caviar)
Package of belini’s
Hummous
Red caviar or roe

Instructions:
1. Trim potatoes on both ends so they stand up straight. With a small melon baller scoop out half of flesh. Cook in boiling salted water for 7 minutes or until cooked. Remove and chill until ready to fill.
2. Zest one whole lemon. Save half for decoration and finely chop the rest. Add chopped zest to creme fraiche. Fill potatoes with creme and top with a teaspoon of caviar and one zest peel.
3. For the red caviar appetizer simply place a teaspoon of hummous on a belini and top with a teaspoon of red caviar.

Truffles on Toast
Ingredients:
One baguette sliced
Olive oil
One truffle
Fleur de sel

Instructions:
1. With a mandoline slice truffle into rounds about 1/8″ of an inch thick. Thicker if your budget can allow it!
2. Make crostini with the baguette by placing sliced rounds on a baking sheet. Sprinkile olive oil over pan and bread and bake at 350˚K until bread is toasty. Top with a slice of truffle, a sprinkle of fleur de sel – and that’s it!

Tuna Tartar with Pearls of Japan
Ingredients:
1 small box of pearls of japan
Fresh herbs: chives, tarragon, chervil
1 carrot brunoised
1 zuchinni brunoised (just the green skin)
Rocket or fancy small lettuce leaves
1 Kilo of sushi grade tuna
2 Avacadoes
1 limes
1 lemon
Olive oil
Tabasco

Instructions:
1. Make half the box of pearls of Japan and follow instructions on box. Blanch brunoised carrot and zucchini in boiling water for one minute and mix with pearls and 1 T of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
2. In a blender or with a hand mixer blend half a bunch of tarragon, chives, and chervil with 1/3 cup of olive oil. Strain.
3. Chop tuna into small pieces and mix with a few tablespoons of herb oil, salt, pepper, and 1 T of lemon juice (not too much or it will cook the tuna).
4. Mash avocadoes and add lime juice to taste, salt, pepper, and a few dashes of tabasco
5. Layer salad in a ring mold of choice with tuna, avocado, pearls of japan, and some lettuce (dressed in the herb oil) on the top

Carrot and Red Pepper Double Soup (Alice Waters)
Ingredients:
1 Bag Carrots
3 Red Peppers
Olive oil
6 cups chicken stock
Salt and Pepper

Instructions:
1. Peel and chop carrots. Heat a skillet on medium and add a few tablespoons of olive oil. Cook carrots until soft (don’t brown!). Add carrots to a big pot with 2 cups of chicken stock. Blend with a hand mixer. Add more chicken stock as necessary to create a thick soup consistency. Season with salt and pepper
2. De-seed and chop red peppers. Repeat instructions above but add to a separate pot and start with one cup of chicken stock. Season with salt and pepper The soups should have the same consistency
3. When ready to serve ladel carrot soup in first and then the red pepper soup in the middle. The pepper soup will form a flower shape.
4. Garnish with yogurt or creme fraiche and chives

Leg of Lamb with Herb Potatoes
Ingredients:
Leg of lamb for 6 people (ask your butcher!)
One package of yukon gold potatoes. Figure 3/person
One yellow onion
6 cloves of garlic
one boullian cube of lamb stock to make 1cup of stock (you can substitute chicken stock)
Thyme
Olive oil
salt and pepper

Instructions:
1. Have the butcher cut around the bottom of the leg of lamb bone so after cooking you can simply slide it out. Tie leg with cooking string and season generously with salt and pepper on all sides.
2. Slice yukon gold potatoes into 1/2″ rounds. Slice onions. Peel and crush garlic (don’t chop finely)
3. Preheat oven to 400˚F.
4. In a large roasting pan mix lamb boullian, potatoes, onions, salt and pepper, thyme, and garlic
5. Place lamb on a grilling rack over potatoes. The melting fat from the lamb will drip onto the potatoes!!! Turn the lamb every 25 minutes.

Persimmon Purée with Vanilla Ice Cream and Pecan Caramel
Ingredients:
2 large ripe mush persimmons
1 teaspoon of lemon zest
pinches of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and vanilla powder to taste
Premium vanilla ice cream like Haagen Daas
One cup pecans chopped
1/2 cup sugar
silpat mat

Instructions:
1. Take persimmons and scoop out flesh into a bowl. Mash with a fork. Add lemon zest and spices to your liking. Cover and refrigerate
2. Spread pecans on a silpat mat
3. Place sugar in a small pot and add 3 tablespoons of water. Mix gently with your finger tip until sugar is dissolved. You can add a little more water if necessary. Be careful not to get sugar water on sides of pot because it will crystalize.
4. Place sugar water on medium high heat in a small pot and watch. Once it starts to boil and bubbles begin to pop slow and the color turns a dark amber (but not black!!!) remove from heat and pour over pecans. It will harden and then you can break apart into big decorative pieces. Do not stir caramel while it’s cooking. If necessary you and swirl the pan gently to even out the color. The color is very important too – amber to dark amber is okay for this candy.
5. Place a scoop of ice cream into a bowl and spoon spiced persimmon purée around it. Stick a caramel piece in the center of ice cream or however you find most decorative. Serve up!

Technorati Tags: 3-star restaurants, appetizers, caramel, caviar, Food, french, lamb, persimmon, red peppers, tuna

The post Holiday Menu first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

After a quick trip to to the farmers market we decided that gazpacho or cold tomato soup would be perfect for an entrée. How could we resist with a sign like this….

We started our BBQ meal off with some ice cold gazpacho. Actually we started our BBQ off with some ice cold Coronas and then had gazpacho.

The soup is simple to make (less than 6 minutes), refreshing, and a beautiful way to begin any hot summertime meal. I’m a purist when in comes to ingredients and only use ripe juicy tomatoes, sherry vinegar, sea salt, and good quality olive oil for the soup. I like it pleasantly salty and tart balanced with the sweetness of tomato.

We experimented with some fancy wine glasses first, but then decided they were too much hassle for the terrace. First, fill the bowl or glass with a small salad of cucumber, green pepper, and red onion and pour the gazpacho over right before serving. I added a little brochette of shrimp and mussels too. Other additions could include crab or garlic croutons
Recipe to follow…

Technorati Tags: gazpacho, soup, tomato

Gazpacho

Ingredients
12 medium size ripe tomatoes
1/4 cup good quality olive oil
4 Tablespoons sherry vinegar
3 teaspoons salt (I add more because I like it salty)

Optional Salad
1/2 cucumber diced
1/2 green pepper diced
1/2 red onion diced
1/4 tomato diced

Instructions
1. Quarter tomatoes and throw into a cusinart or blender. Puree the whole tomato until liquified. Strain and reserve the juice and throw away the seeds and skin that didn’t get pulverised.
2. Put tomato juice back in blender and add olive oil, salt, and vinegar. Blend and taste. Add more vinegar and salt to your liking – it should be pleasantly salty and vinegary enough to get your saliva glands going.
3. Chill until ready to serve
4. Dice vegetables for salad and serve in bowl or cup desired. Pour gazpacho over when ready to serve.

The post Summertime Gazpacho first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

I decided to do a little experiment with big globe artichokes that are flooding the Parisian farmer’s markets right now and scallops. Oh yeah, and some bacon too! Both artichokes and scallops can take the smokiness of bacon. In fact, I think it really makes the dish. If you’re vegetarian try substituting some thinly sliced black truffles (don’t drop the plate – ha ha).

The only tricky part to this recipe is turning the artichoke. Turning is a French thing – it’s the process of chiseling a vegetable into a sculpted piece of art. In this case it means to cut off all the leaves and cut around the artichoke leaving a whole heart. We wouldn’t dare throw away all those leaves in Northern Cal, home to hundreds of artichoke farms – quel dommage!

Then you cook the heart and scoop out the choke. It’s a bit of muscle work, but you’re left with a cool little cup for the scallops and it makes for great presentation. Everything else in my recipe is really easy.

Recipe to follow….

Technorati Tags: artichokes, Paris, scallops

Saint Jacque’s Heart

Ingredients
5 Big fleshy scallops / person
Big Artichokes, 1/ person
Thinly sliced bacon chopped, 1 slice / person
1/2 Cup chicken stock
Splash of white wine (optional)
2 Tablespoon butter
Chopped chives for decoration
One lemon (to citroner artichoke)
1 Tablespoon flour

Instructions
1. Turn artichokes. Break off stem of artichoke so that it has a flat bottom. Snap off three rows of outer leaves until you can see where the heart ends and the leaves begin. With a big serrated knife saw through leaves leaving only the heart at the bottom. About 2/3’s the way down artichoke. Rub artichoke with lemon to keep it from turning brown. With a smaller knife cut around heart to remove any leaves and give it a circular shape.
2. Put turned artichokes into a pot of cold water with enough water to cover. Add 1 Tablespoon of flour (this will keep them from turning brown too) and any leftover lemon juice. Cook on medium heat until a knife easily slides through the artichoke heart. About 15- 20 minutes.
3. Remove artichoke hearts when cooked and let cool until you can handle them. With a spoon scoop out fuzzy choke and throw away. Reserve heart for later.
4. In a non stick skillet fry bacon on medium heat until crispy but not burned. Remove and let drain on a paper towel. Keep one tablespoon of bacon drippings to cook scallops in.
5. Add scallops to nonstick pan and cook in bacon drippings until just done. Add splash of white wine if desired midway through cooking process. The center should feel warm, but look raw and still opaque. About 4 minutes if fresh. Remove and keep warm.
6. Add chicken stock to pan and turn up heat to medium high. Reduce by half and DO NOT add salt. The bacon and scallops are salty enough.
7. Turn heat down to medium and add 2 T of butter and shake pan to incorporate. Do not boil sauce with butter or the fats will seperate. Sauce should look glossy and have the consistency of olive oil.
8. Take off heat and stir in chives.
9. Place artichoke hearts on dishes and fill with scallops and bacon. Spoon a little sauce over scallops and around the plate. Voila!

Note: If artichoke hearts get too cold just reheat in a nonstick pan with a little butter or some olive oil on medium heat. This will give them a little shine and flavor too.

The post Saint Jacque’s Heart: Scallops & Artichokes first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

Even Jamie, my cooking partner at Le Cordon Bleu, who made the worst grimaces when the chef brought out a tin of capers during our demonstration, couldn’t get enough of the sauce. And she’s a vegetarian! I saw her gobble down the chicken jus like there was no tomorrow! I might have been sighted licking my plate, but I wouldn’t want to admit to that in public.

The toughest part of this dish is wrangling with the sea bass. They are huge with fins that poke holes in your fingers, and big scales with tough skin. I filleted one huge one (1.5 feet) for us to share and it took me at least thirty minutes. Thankfully Jamie compensated and prepared our jus from carmelized chicken bones and chicken stock as well as most of the garnishes. By the way, if you haven’t already check out my video on filleting fish it should be running smoother.

I have simplified the recipe because most of us don’t have the luxury of using thirty million pots and pans and taking the time to make homemade chicken stock. If Rachel Ray only has 20 minutes to whip up chili, then how are the rest of us supposed to manage? The sauce is an old popular French recette that can be used to accompany poultry, white fish, or eve perhaps breaded veal.

Recipe is on the next page…

P.S.
Just bought the Zuni cookbook and it’s incredible. My French chefs would have a fit it they read some of her techniques, but I love it! She won two James Beard awards for outstanding restaurant and oustanding cookbook. Worth the splurge

Technorati Tags: cookbook, fish, Le Cordon Bleu, recipes

Crispy Sea Bass with Lemon & CapersSpinach Salad
One part vegetable oil to three parts red wine vinegar for salad dressing
Big pinch of salt and pepper
One shallot finely diced
Sliced toasted almonds to sprinkle over
Baby Spinach

Sea Bass
Two fillets around 200g/person
Small croutons made from dry white bread
2 eggs
1/2 stick melted butter

Chicken Jus
Two chicken wings, hacked into 1″ pieces
One can chicken stock (without salt)
Two shallots
Brown butter made from a 1/2 stick (let butter melt over medium heat until it starts to turn a nut color then remove it and keep warm)
One lemon, segmented
Two Tablespoons of capers

Instructions:

1. Chop chicken wings and brown in a small skillet on medium heat with a little oil. Once bottom of pan starts to turn brown add shallots and stir. Don’t burn the chicken, just brown it. Deglaze with chicken stock and reduce by half.
2. Make dressing for salad by whisking all ingredients together. (except spinach! – add at end)
3. Take fish and brush egg mixture over then pat on croutons to form a crust. Drizzle melted butter over croutons. Season with salt and pepper and refrigerate until ready to fry.
4. One sauce is reduced, strain and whisk in brown butter. Add lemon segments and capers before serving.
5. Heat a nonstick skillet on medium heat and add a little butter and peanut oil. Then add fish crouton side down and let cook until brown. Flip and cook a few more minutes. Transter to a parchment lined baking sheet and bake the fish for another 7 minutes and 350˚F or until done.
Serve fish on top of sauce with spinach salad next to it.

The post Crispy Sea Bass with Capers, Lemon, and Chicken Jus first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

After the Chair Stealer threw my chi off for the morning, I was brought back to the light by the amazing recipes our chef had in store for us. A lobster salad with strawberry vinagrette served over ripe melon and garnished with lollo rossa lettuce (my fav!), next came more lobster over risotto garnished with an incredible sauce and puréed fennel with vanilla bean, lastly he prepared a dessert of fruit salad covered with pistachio sabayon and puff pastry decorated with italian meringue. Oh la la, incroyable!!!

At the end of every demo we get little plates of all the dishes so that we can taste what we are supposed to cook in our practicals. Normally we sit in our seats and the chef’s assistant passes back racks of tasting plates for us to sample. But today because it was lobster, everyone crowded the front of the demo room pushing each other to get second helpings and grabbing huge lobster fillets off the chef’s display plates and gobbling them up without sharing or anything. I don’t like it when people get pushy. Maybe it’s the school teacher in me, but I like it when people follow the rules, especially when it comes to lobster.

I left the demonstration annoyed. Then I went to get coffee with my group members and got even more annoyed because no one wanted to sit outside on one of the first sunny days we’ve had in months. Then I got more annoyed because my cell phone went kaput so I couldn’t even call my husband and express my unhappiness (probably for the better anyway). When it was finally time to go to my practical I got even more annoyed, because we had a rent-a-chef (visiting chef) as our supervisor and they never know how we’re supposed to cook the recipe or how our real chef did it in the demo, but they like to yell at us for doing everything wrong. Double ha-rumph!

This time I handled the lobster more bravely than in the past (Lobster Attack Part II). I picked a fat one and plopped it in my pot of boiling water with the lid on firm – just in case it tried to escape like last time. After two minutes I took it out and twisted the thorax from the head, pulled off the hood shell, and proceeded to move onto the meat in the pinchers. But the rent-a-chef came over and told me I was doing it wrong.
To smash the claw I used the palm of my hand and came down hard on it. It broke neatly and I pulled the claw meat out in one piece retaining the shape of the pincher. This was the way our real chef showed us. But no, Rent-A-Chef wanted me to use the back of my knife to crack the shell. As he was hovering over me, I used his method and it broke the claw meat. I looked up at him and he just shrugged and walked away. Triple ha-rumph!

Aside from my unusually fussy disposition, I managed to glide through the recipe super fast. Just as I was plating my gorgeous lobster, the chef decided that I needed a circle mold for my risotto. I tried to explain that our real chef hadn’t used one. He told me to wait so he could get one. There is nothing more annoying than having all your food hot and perfectly cooked and then having to wait. nothing more annoying. I had just reheated the lobster in olive oil to the perfect done-ness and he wanted me to wait! TO WAIT!?!?! HA! You can’t go back and re-heat lobster for a third time. That’s worse than double dipping!

So, I waited. He eventually came back with one mold (for our whole group) and I made a stupid little circle with my risotto and placed my cold lobster on top with my cold sauce, cold vanilla fennel purée, and cold risotto stuffed squash blossom
.

Lucky for him, (because I was about ready to unleash demons from hell) he gave me good grades and admired my beautiful presentation. I told him, “but everything is cold!” and he said he didn’t care that the sauce and fennel purée were delicious, but my risotto needed more seasoning. The lobster was cooked perfect. Happy with my grades and still incredibly angst, I packed up my knives quickly and left.

I took a taxi home with my lobster leftovers packed up for my husband to enjoy, wrote this post, and now I’m going to pour a glass of wine in the setting sun and hope that tomorrow my chair will be free…..

Tasty Easy Recipes:
Strawberry Vinegrette: Let a half basket of strawberries macerate in one part red wine vinegar then blend up and add three parts oil, strain out strawberry seed with a fine sieve. Season with salt and pepper. Totally delicious and easy!

Vanilla Bean Fennel Purée: Trim one fennel and take out hard middle section. Slice and throw into a pot. Cover with half milk, half water and add a vanilla bean pod and two star anise if available. When fennel is soft, purée in blender with a touch of cream. Split vanilla bean and scrape seeds, then add back to purée. Cover with film and keep warm until serving.

Lobster: stick it into a big pot of boiling water for two minutes to kill it. Then take out and de-shell (reserve shells for sauce if making). Heat up lobster meat right before serving in hot olive oil or serve cold (like me).

Technorati Tags: Cooking School, Food, hommard, Le Cordon Bleu, lobster, Paris

The post Lobster Again?!?! first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

Our superior cuisine chef knew that none of us were going to be too thrilled about an early morning Saturday class. He cleverly started off with homemade gingerbread for the dessert and baked extra to pass around for us to nibble on during the three hour demo. Just the scent of baking cinnamon, allspice, ginger, and nutmeg transformed our grumpy sleep deprived class into a happily spice intoxicated bunch. Aromatherapy works.

The fish recipe, Filets de Rouget en Écailles de Pommes de Terres Croustillantes et Flan de Brocolis or Red Mullet Fillets with Crispy Potato Scales and Broccoli Flan, is simplistically beautiful and delicious. I absolutely adore rouget or red mullet for it’s striking red flecked skin and delicate fillets. The crispy potato scales that cover it give texture and compliment the rouget’s slight fishy taste. The sauce, an orange juice reduction with butter and white wine, added an irresistible summertime seaside feel. Hard not to envision eating this dish somewhere on the Cote d’Azur at a trendy open air cafe or bistro.

I find that broccoli can be difficult to get creative with. Overcooked it looses it’s bright green magpie appeal and becomes a two year-old’s nightmare. This flan, made with eggs and cream, brought out the best qualities in the cruciferous tree. The cream & eggs helps to sweeten the vegetable while the fat of both ingredients also heightens the silky smooth consistency. A little salt, pepper, and numetg et voila! Perfection!

As simple as this recipe looks, it is not easy to cook. My potato scales slid off my fish while frying as did many other’s in my group and no one could figure out why. The pics above are done by a professional – our superior cuisine chef – who makes everything look easy. I wish I could lay claim to them, but not in this case. The sauce if done incorrectly separates (mine was delicious – halleluja for that!) and the flan if not baked right will get stuck in it’s mold or worse, have browned edges. Again, my flan was super yummy…but my little red poisson, my beautiful fish lost it’s crispy scales!!! Better luck next time…

Technorati Tags: Cooking School, Food, Le Cordon Bleu, recipes

The post Little Red Poisson: Rouget first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

Today was another tough day. Give me a dead fish anytime and I’ll turn it into beautiful little fillets, but don’t give me anything’s that’s alive that I have to kill. I don’t want to be the killer, ya know? Once it’s dead then I can rationalize that some one else killed it, so I might as well cook it and not let it go to waste. I know this is hippocritical. And I can feel the burn already from all my vegetarian friends out there. I mean, if an animal is killed quickly and painlessly then it’s better than….

We made crab bisque today. Live crabs. We had to grab them carefully to avoid their pinchers, throw them into a saute pan of hot olive oil and crush them with the end of a rolling pin. Sounds straight up except that they don’t like to be caught. They like to run around on their little claws, clickety-clackety clickety-clackety out of the pot and all over the kitchen.

You’re probably thinking that Le Cordon Bleu is incredibly cruel, but in reality, for most of us carnivores out there, we just don’t like to think about where food comes from and how it is prepared. It’s the ole, “What I don’t know can’t hurt me”. Most of the recipes that we cook at LCB are old and time tested passed down for hundreds of years. The natural order to life (and death) in effect without guilt. However, being Californian I’m used to doing my hunting at Whole Foods Market where everything is organic, colorful, tasty, and dead.

Lately, I’ve been dealing with animal mortality and how I feel about it. How I feel about the fact that I deem some animals as killable and others I don’t. Working with veal and rabbit is very difficult for me, however chickens and fish do nothing to me emotionally. I can rip the tendon out of a chicken leg faster than you can say cock-a-doodle-do. But when I get a piece of veal, it really tugs at my heartstrings. Perpas it’s the nurturer in me that wants everything and everyone to be okay and looked after – or at the very least allowed to live freely up until death…et viola….Crab Bisque!

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