SIMPLY ELEGANT: SALMON CURRY

Posted in Celebrate Wednesday, Seafood by sallybr

Here’s a very popular dish from the restaurant “Terra” in Napa Valley, another recipe from the “Secrets of Success” by Michael Bauer.

If you are looking for a dish to impress your friends, your in-laws, or that special someone having dinner at your place for the first time… this is it! The kind of food that gives a pause of satisfaction after the first bite, a meal that you’d expect from a first-rate restaurant, but instead… you made it yourself! … And it wasn’t even hard! An impressive concoction that you can definitely bring to the table on a weeknight after a hard day at work… A “Celebrate Wednesday” kind of deal. 😉

Everything in this dish is balanced, a contrast of flavors and textures: the subtle heat of the curry, the freshness of the salad, the silkiness of the sauce on the crunchiness of the cabbage and peanuts, and luscious salmon as the centerpiece! It’s a symphony for your tastebuds. Try it, and I’m sure you’ll make it again.

SALMON WITH THAI RED CURRY SAUCE and CABBAGE SALAD
(from Terra restaurant, recipe published in M. Bauer’s Secrets of Success)

(receita em portugues na segunda pagina)

for the curry sauce:
2 tsp peanut oil
1 tsp garlic, minced
1 tsp ginger, minced
1 tsp coriander seeds, cracked
1 1/2 tsp curry powder (I used mild curry, from Penzey’s spices)
1 1/2 tsp Thai red curry paste
1 1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 1/4 cups unsweetened coconut milk
3 Tbs tomato puree
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1.5 Tbs firmly packed brown sugar

for the cabbage salad:
2 cups very thinly sliced cabbage (red or green)
1/3 cup julienned cucumber
2 T fresh cilantro
2 T fresh mint
1/2 teaspoon soy sauce
2 teaspoons rice vinegar

4 pieces of Atlantic king salmon filet (6 oz each)
1 Tbs olive oil
salt and pepper

roasted peanuts, coarsely chopped

cooked white rice

Make the sauce… (you can make it the day before if you prefer)
Heat the oil and saute the garlic and ginger until it is just beginning to get golden. Remove the pan from the heat and add the coriander seeds, curry paste and powder, paprika, and ground cumin. On low heat, saute for a couple of minutes. Stir in the coconut milk, tomato puree, soy sauce, and brown sugar. Increase the heat and bring it almost to boiling, and then remove it from the heat. Keep warm or gently reheat if it was refrigerated. Sauces containing coconut milk should not be boiled, as they tend to separate.

Make the salad…
Mix the cabbage with all other ingredients in a large bowl. Add the soy sauce and vinegar, toss well. Reserve until serving. (I like to do it 30 minutes in advance, if possible).

Cook the salmon…
Brush the salmon fillets with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill to your liking, but salmon is best cooked medium, for a thick filet about 4-5 minutes per side on a hot grill. You can also cook it on the stove, making sure it is still translucent in the center.

Assemble the dish….
Place rice in the center of the plate. Ladle 1/2 cup of sauce around it, place the salmon on top or next to it. Top each fillet with a tall mound of the cabbage. Sprinkle the sauce with roasted peanuts.

Enjoy the compliments!

(to print the recipe, click here.)

Comments: Please don’t be put off by the number of ingredients. This is a very simple dish to prepare, and if you want to make it even easier, get the sauce ready the day before. It’s a good idea to make more than called for, because it is wonderful. Try it on seared sea scallops, on grilled shrimp, or even pork tenderloin, they all go quite well with it.

I have made this dish with red, green, and also with napa cabbage. In general, I am very fond of napa cabbage, but this dish calls for a little more crunch, and Napa doesn’t deliver the same snap. Try them all yourself, and pick your own favorite.

If I ever make it to Terra, I’m definitely ordering this dish!

proxima pagina: receita em portugues

2Oct2009

LiveStrong with a Taste of Yellow

Posted in General by sallybr

Today is the day!

I quote Barbara’s words here:

A Taste of Yellow 2009 drew entries from bloggers in 18 countries. From Australia to Switzerland….. from yellow fruits to yellow grains……..with eggs and yellow vegetables……you baked, stirred, blended, chopped, grilled, froze, jellied…..and gave us over 80 yellow dishes to excite our tastebuds.

Please visit her site to see all the entries and support this important event…

29Sep2009

Levain Bread with Caramelized Onions

Posted in Breads by sallybr

I am beyond excited about this bread for three reasons: first, it is….. it is…. (drum roll)….. my own recipe!!!! Second, I am entering it in a “Bread Contest” launched by Jackie, from Pham Fatale. I hope you will have a moment to visit her site on October 1st to see all breads and vote for your favorite. Third, I am submitting it for this week’s Yeastspotting, my third contribution to Susan’s event.

Of course, for the most part a “new recipe”, is an oxymoron, because almost all are variations on previous themes, and this bread is no exception. I played around with a basic sourdough formula that I’ve used countless times (from Hamelman’s Bread). It uses wild yeast as the sole leavening agent. I put my very own 1.5 year old starter to work (I call him Mr. Dan), together with white and spelt flour, plus caramelized onions and a small amount of goat cheese in the dough, to balance the sweetness of the onions. I can’t thank Jackie enough for this contest, that gave me a big push to create a bread recipe; I look forward to seeing all the entries.

LEVAIN BREAD WITH CARAMELIZED ONIONS
For the caramelized onions:
2 medium yellow onions, sliced very thin
large pinch of salt
1 T olive oil

For the bread:
330g bread flour
45g spelt flour
185g mature liquid starter
185g filtered water, at room temperature
1 + 1/4 tsp sea salt
85g caramelized onions, cut in small pieces
20g goat cheese, cut in small chunks

Caramelize the onions by sauteeing the slices in olive oil with the salt until they are dark golden. Sautee them slowly over low heat, stirring from time to time to prevent burning. It took me about 40 minutes. Don’t rush this process. Drain the onions of excess oil on a sieve, then cool them and cut into pieces.

Refresh your starter two to three times over the previous couple of days to make sure it’s very active. Do the last refreshment 8 hours before making the dough.

Add all the ingredients (except onions and cheese) to the bowl of an electric mixer and mix on first speed for 3 minutes. Check the hydration: if too sticky add a little more bread flour. Mix for 3 minutes more on second speed. Add the onions and cheese, and mix until incorporated. At this point, depending on the amount of moisture in your onions, you might have to correct the hydration. My dough needed almost 2 full tablespoons of flour.

Place the dough in a bowl coated with a spray of olive oil, allow it to ferment for 2.5 hours, folding the dough at 45 minutes, 1.5 hours, and 2 hours and 15 minutes. After the last folding, wait for 15-20 minutes and form a “boule”. Place it in a banetton or other recipient of your choice, and retard it in the fridge for at least 8 hours. (You can see pictures of how to fold the dough in one of my previous posts)

Remove the dough from the fridge and allow it to sit at room temperature for about 2 hours. Bake it at 430F for 45-50 minutes. A clay pot is perfect for this kind of bread. Place it in the cold oven, when the oven is ready, remove the lid (with oven mittens) and quickly dump the dough inside, make a couple of quick slashes, and close the lid. After 30 minutes, remove the cover to brown the crust. Internal temperature should be at least 200F.

Place it on a rack to cool for 2 hours before slicing. (I know this isn’t easy, but it’s essential to avoid a gummy crumb).

ENJOY!

jump for more photos and final comments

28Sep2009

BRAZILIAN BLACK BEANS

Posted in Brazilian cooking, Side dishes by sallybr

Always together, rice and beans are the staple of Brazilian home-cooking. As a child growing up, I had them many times every week, alongside beef, chicken, pork, or even seafood. In Rio de Janeiro black beans are more common, whereas in Sao Paulo you’ll see a more reddish variety. I’m from Sao Paulo, but my Mom was born and raised in Rio, so in our home you never knew what kind of beans to expect. Indeed, cooking beans is a weekly endeavor in Brazil: you make enough to last the whole week, then you make it again. And again. And again. It sits in the fridge, waiting, getting better each day.

I’m not talking about “feijoada“, Brazil’s national dish “par excellence“, made exclusively with black beans. I’ll post a feijoada recipe in the future, but for now here’s a much simpler preparation that you can adapt in many ways to suit your tastes. The only thing that I won’t endorse (or forgive) are canned beans. If you go that route, you’re on your own. 😉

BRAZILIAN-STYLE BLACK BEANS

2 cups dried black beans, picked
2 bay leaves
water

1/2 T vegetable oil
2 very thick slices of bacon, diced
1 yellow onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 t ground cumin
salt
red pepper flakes
ground black pepper
fresh cilantro (optional)

Place the beans in a bowl and cover them with two inches of water. Allow them to soak overnight (I normally do that early in the morning and cook the beans in the evening). Drain, discarding the water. Place the soaked beans in a pressure cooker, add cold water to cover by 1 inch, add the bay leaves, and bring it to a boil. Cook under pressure for 15 minutes, then release the pressure. If you don’t have a pressure cooker, help the economy and buy one right away! 😉 Actually, you can cook them in a normal pan, but it will take 1 to 2 hours. Cook until the beans become tender (they can be prepared up to this point and then kept in the fridge overnight).

Heat the oil in a small frying pan. Sautee the bacon pieces until they are golden, add the onion and sautee more, until dark golden. You do want some color here. When the onion is getting dark, add the garlic and cumin and sautee for a couple of minutes. Season lightly with salt and pepper, add red pepper flakes.

If you made the beans the day before, heat them until boiling, then add the bacon/onion mixture plus all the oil accumulated in the pan. Mix it all well and allow the beans to simmer for a while (10 to 30 minutes), uncovered. Remove some of the beans into a small bowl and smash the grains with a fork, forming a paste. Return the paste to the simmering pan and cook everything for 5 or 10 more minutes. Add salt to your taste; add more pepper and cilantro if you desire. Remove the bay leaves.

Serve over white rice with the meat of your choice. We had it with pulled pork and arugula salad, served on the same plate, the way my family likes to do it…

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here.

Continue reading →

26Sep2009

BBA#19: MARBLED RYE

Posted in BBA Challenge, Breads by sallybr

After a bunch of nice breads in the BBA challenge, it was bound to happen. Let’s just say that I have “issues” with this recipe. In practice, it was not too different from the previous assignment (light whole wheat bread), except that such rye-containing doughs should not be kneaded very long, or they become gummy.

For Marbled Rye you prepare two batches of dough, one that gets a darker color from the addition of caramel coloring or coffee. I chose coffee. The first thing that I noticed was that my darker dough was not dark enough, but at that point it was too late and I couldn’t do anything, as the texture seemed perfect. I took a deep breath and moved on.

I formed the loaf, placed it in the pan, and it rose beautifully….

I recommend accepting Reinhart’s advice and shaping it free-form. My pan was not big enough, and the bread ended up with a boxy shape. But, the most important thing for a marbled rye, is the marbling! Which in my case didn’t exist. It just wasn’t there, it wasn’t anywhere!

I’m accepting names for my fiasco, which tasted pretty good, if that’s any consolation… “Blobbed Rye”, “Faint Marbled Rye on Drugs”, “Drunk Baker’s Marbled Rye”…