Pan Roasted Halibut with Blue Crab, Heirloom Tomatoes, and Horseradish Creme Fraiche

For my birthday last week (happy 21st birthday to me!), Marco, gifted me the new A.O.C. cookbook by Suzanne Goin . I find it funny that all of the men in my life buy me cookbooks... I wonder what they're trying to say?! Without surprise, the new A.O.C. cookbook is amazing. It's focused on seasonal dishes that all have that amazing Suzanne Goin touch and I seriously want to make every single dish in it... so I think I will! Annnnd since Marco and I have birthdays only 5 days apart, it was pretty easy to find an occasion for such a feast....

With such fantastic culinary inspiration, what better reason to kick off dining al fresco on the veranda than my best friends birthday dinner?! Dining outside is one of my favorite things in the world. There is something truly special and romantic about watching the sunset, eating good food, drinking good wine an breathing the fresh summer air (or whatever air it is we breath here in Los Angeles). I just love it. And since Marco is also one of my favorite things (people) in the world, I got this ginger (blonde) bum in the kitchen (um... yeah, just kitchen) and got to work. And I prepared a pretty perfect summer menu, if I do say so myself. We started dinner with a butter lettuce salad with grapefruits, avocado, shallots, and pistachios (Rich hates salad with fruit and he said it was one of his favorite salads EVER). For the main course, I prepared a pan roasted halibut with blue crab, heirloom tomatoes, and horseradish creme fraiche. It was so simple, but yummy! Light, fresh, and full of flavor! And for dessert I made a cantaloupe sorbet (Sorry Rich, he hates melon). But if you love melon, you love sorbet, and you love fun, you can find the recipe HERE!)

Pan Roasted Halibut with Blue Crab, Heirloom Tomatoes, and Horseradish Creme Fraiche

Ingredients:
6 filets of halibut, 5-6 ounces each
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon thyme leaves
4 tablespoons fresh parley, finely chopped
1 tablespoon shallot, finely diced
1 1/2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup plus one tablespoon olive oil
3/4 pound blue crab meat, steamed and picked over***
3/4 cup creme fraiche (sour cream or plain greek yogurt can be substituted if you must)
1 tablespoon prepared horseradish
2 pounds heirloom tomatoes
1 bunch of arugula
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

***I could not find blue crab meat anywhere, so I just bought king crab legs and used the meat from those. I am not a big seafood person, so I am not sure what the difference is, but I will tell you, the king crab was delicious!

Also, for three people, I cut this recipe in half. 

Method:
Season the halibut with the lemon zest, thyme, and 2 tablespoons of chopped parsley. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or over night. If you are familiar with Suzanne Goin's recipes, almost everything she makes needs to be marinated for at least this long, so PLAN AHEAD!

Remove the fish from the refrigerator 15 minutes before cooking to bring it to room temperature.

Place the shallot, both vinegars, and salt and pepper into a small bowl and let it sit for 5 minutes. Whisk in 6 tablespoons of olive oil and set aside.

In another small bowl, toss the crab meat (gently) with one tablespoon of creme fraiche, the lemon juice, 1 tablespoon of olive oil, and the remaining 2 tablespoons of chopped parsley. Taste for balance and seasoning... the crab meat may or may not need to be salted.

Combine the remaining creme fraiche, (yes, in ANOTHER bowl) horseradish, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and a little pepper.

Season the fish with salt and pepper. Heat a large sauté pan over high heat for 2 minutes. Swirl in the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and carefully lay the fish in the pan. It will smoke, but do not move the fish. Cook 3-4 minutes, until browned. Turn the fish over, lower the heat to medium low, and cook for a few more minutes until just cooked through. Do not overcook the fish. It will continue cooking when you remove it from the heat and will be flakey and opaque in the center when it is done.

While the fish is cooking, arrange the sliced heirloom tomatoes and arugula on large dinner plates. Spoon the vinaigrette over the tomatoes and arugula. Place the halibut in the center, arrange spoonfuls of crab on top of the fish. Dollop each fillet with a heaping spoonful of horseradish creme fraiche (you could seriously put the horseradish creme fraich on a shoe- it is so delicious, so don't be stingy!)

Enjoy!



annnnnd HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MARCO!

Grilled Fish Tacos with Purple Slaw

I am being very indecisive today. This morning I changed shirts three times just to take the mutts to the dog park. For lunch I had three mini meals because I have not been able to decide on anything to eat.  All I knew is that I wanted to eat EVERYTHING. My husband? His name has been 17 different things, we've discussed why I can't also have a boyfriend and I am still trying to decide which one of my dogs gets to be my favorite for the day. I guess this is a big fat reminder that I am, indeed, a woman. And because I'm a woman, I'm sad that it was a fat reminder, so today, my lunch shall be skinny-ish.

For my first lunch I had my heart set on fish tacos, but with the big question being WHAT KIND?!?! I love slaw... I love grilled fish... I love crispy fried fish (think mexican fish and chips....mmm....) I mean, there are SO many possibilities it makes a ginger's head spin! (Our heads spin extra fast because there's always so much going on in them. It's very exhausting)

I decided to nix the crispy fried version first. It was an easy decision. After what I put my body through last weekend it was the very least I could do for myself.  I was now left to choose between grilled fish tacos and fish tacos with a purple cabbage slaw.... yeah right...... So I decided to do the only reasonable thing to do and make both.... together... as one whole fishy, cabbagey, amazing creation. I know, I blow my mind, too.

Ingredients:
For the fish
1 pound of wild caught, alaskan halibut (wild caught, wild caught, WILD CAUGHT!!!! ok? cool.)
1/2 cup olive oil
2 cups of fresh parsley leaves
1 cup fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon fresh oregano leaves
Juice from 2 limes
1 teaspoon cumin
4 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

For the slaw
1/2 head of red cabbage, shredded
5 scallions, thinly sliced
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1/2 jalapeño, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
Juice of 3 limes
1/2 cup greek yogurt (you could use sour cream, but they taste the same... so let's be healthy!)
Salt and pepper

Method:

For the fish
Combine all of the ingredients (except for the halibut, duh) in a food processor and pulse until combined. Place the fish is a shallow dish and cover with the marinade. Cover and put in the fridge for about an hour to let the flavors get... well, flavorful and stuff.

Preheat your grill to high heat and grill that fish! Spray your grill with cooking oil so that the fish doesn't stick.... if you don't it will get messy and when you cry for your husband to help you clean the grill, he will be annoyed. This may or may not have been a personal experience. Oops.

The fish will need to cook about 4 minutes per side or until desired doneness. Once cooked, break the fish up into chunks, place in warmed flour tortillas (I think corn tortillas have too strong of a flavor for these tacos, but to each their own...) top with some slaw or your other favorite taco toppings! Or just top them with everything in your fridge.... I understand. I can never make up my mind either.

For the slaw
In a small bowl, whisk together the greek yogurt, lime juice, garlic, jalapeño, and salt and pepper. In a separate bowl, combine the purple cabbage, scallions, and cilantro and toss it all together with the lime dressing. Season with salt and pepper. You can top your tacos with it or eat it on the side. It's super healthy (thank you protein packed greek yogurt) and very tasty!

Enjoy! (And then maybe make some mac and cheese.... or some spaghetti.... who knows!)

Luna de Miel.... Part Dos.

This is part DOS of our LUNA DE MIEL.... that means "two" and "honeymoon" for those of you who can only speak one language.

Yes, that was a shining example of how quickly I became skilled in the spanish language while in Mexico.

If you have been following along as my best readers do.... you will first be impressed that this is my second time blogging in 48 hours. Eat (read) your heart out... and you are welcome.

You will also remember that my last delicious recipe and rambling was for ceviche, which I learned how to make while in Mexico last week.

Well, get ready because that was just the appetizer.....

Whole Grilled Red Snapper a la Talla Style Topped with Pico de Gallo

Ingredients:
1 2 pound (or so) whole red snapper (see note below)
1 dried guajillo chili pepper
2 cloves garlic
1/2 white onion
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 whole clove
1/2 teaspoon coriander
1/4 teaspoon oregano
1 pound tomatoes
1 lemon
1 serrano chili pepper
1 ounce soy sauce
1 tablespoon mayonnaise (yes, you read right.... mayo)
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
6 tablespoons olive oil
salt

**If I were you, I would buy my snapper from Whole Foods (or your local fresh fish market) and have them clean the fish and remove all of the bones for you. I hate doing this and the nice men working at the fish counter usually don't have a problem doing it for me. You can also replace the whole fish and use steaks of snapper (or mahi mahi)  instead.... it just won't look as cool. 

this is how I debone a fish... I watch.

Method:
Once fish is cleaned and deboned- season with salt, pepper, and lemon juice and set aside.

In a large cast iron skillet, place the chili,  both cloves of garlic, Serrano pepper, tomatoes, and onion. No oil or anythin gis necessary. Lightly blacken all sides of everything making sure not to burn. Remove from heat. Set veggies aside. Place guajillo pepper in boiling water and boil for 15-20 minutes to soften. Once the dried pepper is soft, place the pepper, one clove of garlic, blackened veggies and olive oil in a blender and blend until smooth. Pour through a strainer to make sure you have a nice smooth sauce. Season with salt and pepper and put aside.

In a mortar, put the remaining clove of garlic, cumin seeds, pepper, coriander, clove, oregano, and salt and grind together until completely smooth. Add the mayo, mustard, and soy sauce and mix well.

Pour mayonnaise based sauce over fish to marinate.
Next, spoon the roasted guajillo pepper sauce over the fish as well making sure to cover all sides.

This is when I hand it over to my grill master husband (ah- love that word!)
Place snapper on an oiled grill (or you can broil it)
It should cook in about 3 minutes per side- very quickly!

men at work.

Once the fish is cooked, top it with pico de gallo (recipe below)
Serve with grilled veggies.

Pico de Gallo

Ingredients:
3 tomatoes, seeds removed and chopped
1/2 white onion, finely chopped
2 serrano chili pepper, finely chopped
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
Salt

Method:
Combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Mix. You can add more or less Serrano peppers depending on how hot you like your salsa.

And because this photo is awesome:

This is where our red snapper came from. A man with a boat.

Mahi Mahi Ceviche & Luna de Miel

I am now writing as a married woman!

The wedding is over (holy crap, was it ever wonderful!), the honeymoon has come to an end.... and everyone keeps asking me "What the hell are you going to do with yourself, now?!"

Hm......A tough question after the last 13 months of my life have revolved around burlap and lace, crafts, and floral arrangements. I don't have to thumb through magazines for inspiration anymore, or spend hours lost in wedding blogs learning how on earth you assemble boutonnieres. I get to have my life back...  and you get to start reading my blog again as I won't be distracted with an endless wedding to-do list every time I sit down at my computer. Lucky you.

Don't get me wrong, planning my wedding was one of my favorite things I have ever done and seeing it all come together as I was walking down the aisle on September 2nd, was one of the best moments of my life. I really did have the wedding of my dreams.... with the man of my dreams (did I mention my last name is now ONE SYLLABLE!?)

swoon.

Annnnnd what better way to follow such a dreamy event than with an amazing honeymoon. Seriously, absolutely amazing. We got to The Viceroy in Zihuatanejo, Mexico and were blown away..... I mean, it was more than we ever could have expected.

I sound like a commercial for weddings and other girly, stomach wrenching crap right now.... I am not sorry.

While we were in Mexico, my new hubby and I were lucky enough to have the opportunity to take a private cooking lesson from the chef at La Villa, the restaurant at our hotel. I am pretty sure I have touched on this 237876 times before, but I LOVE mexican food, so this was heaven for me.

We got to venture into town to buy all of our ingredients from the local "mercado" and when we returned to our hotel we were surprised with a kitchen and prep area set up for us ON THE BEACH. We are spoiled.

local fish market.

shopping for ingredients.

local produce market

not a bad view

our "kitchen"

Chef Alfredo had us prepare salsa, guacamole, a whole grilled red snapper, roasted plantains, and ceviche made with mahi mahi that had been caught just that morning. Everything was so delicious and so fresh. And dining on the beach wasn't too shabby either.

dining on the beach with Chef Alfredo.

I have never been the biggest fan of seafood, but I must say, the fish in Mexico was so SO fresh that it completely changed my mind. Even ceviche, which the thought of usually makes my stomach turn,  was to die for.

Ceviche with Mahi Mahi

Ingredients:
8 oz fresh mahi mahi fish fillet, thinly sliced
2 oz very thinly sliced red onion
1 serrano chili, de-viened, de-seeded, and very thinly sliced
2 teaspoons coriander
2 lemons
1/2 orange
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 avacado
Salt

Method:
Combine mahi mahi, onion, chili pepper, herbs, and salt in a bowl. Add the lemon and orange juice and let marinate for 5 minutes. The acid from the citrus will cook the fish during this time.

Serve the ceviche with sliced avocado and tortilla chips.
I may as well have licked the bowl clean.

Serves 2


By the way.... it is almost fall and my head is filled with sweet potatoes, cinnamon, and braised meats. I think I woke up this morning with fall recipes on my brain. I cannot wait. Get ready for a whole lot of yummy recipes!

Taco Tuesday

It's almost Cinco de Mayo.....
I will obviously be cooking a feast covered in cheese and sour cream.
I hate tequila, but will be absolutely making up for my lack of drinking by stuffing my face.

Fish tacos with mayo-less mexican slaw

Ingredients:
Sea bass steaks (or any other mild white fish)
Canola oil
Chives
Cilantro
Lime juice
Garlic
Cumin
Salt and pepper
Corn tortillas

Small head of cabbage- thinly sliced
2 carrots- shredded
1/3 red onion- finely chopped
1/2 red bell pepper- finely chopped
Dijon mustard
1 lime (and zest)
Lemon juice
Sour cream
1 jalapeno- seeded and minced
Cumin
Oregano
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
Cilantro- chopped

Method:
In a blender (or magic bullet- my fave.) Combine chives, cilantro, oil, cumin, garlic, and lime juice. Puree until blended smooth. Drizzle over fish and bake at 350F until opaque. You could also pan fry or deep fry the fish.

In a large bowl combine cabbage, bell pepper, onion, cilantro, and carrots.
In a separate bowl combine jalapeno, dijon mustard, lime juice and zest, and a squeeze of lemon juice. Slowly whisk in olive oil. Add a spoonful of sour cream, cumin, oregano, salt, and pepper to taste. If you like it a little spicier add some hot sauce.
Toss dressing and cabbage together and pile onto a corn tortilla. Place fish steaks on cabbage. Top with fresh cilantro.
Serve with sour cream, guacamole, pico, and black beans. Well... that's what I served it with because I have lost all motivation to be skinny for Vegas.

My boyfriend boned a trout.

I just stood there and watched in disgust.

Awful joke courtesy of Richard Keith..... how you are still so charming and irresistible is a mystery.

Also courtesy of RK.... bone free trout, so I should probably watch my mouth.

rainbow trout stuffed with mushrooms and herbs.

Neither of us had ever boned a fish before, but thanks to YouTube (and Mark from Metropolitan Seafood).... it was very easy to learn. 

Also, thank you blogger for making it so easy for a computer illiterate girl like myself to look like she knows whats she's doing..... I totally just inserted a video into my blog!

Thank you, Richard. 

I wish that you could come to school with me to do all of the gross stuff. 

Best sous chef ever. 

Once the trout was bone free I seasoned it and stuffed it with a mixture of mushrooms and herbs, some lemon, and a strip of bacon. Then I baked it in a 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes. 

I served this with tourned zucchini. Yes, I actually tourned vegetables when I wasn't being graded... shocking. 

This dish was really tasty..... however, I think it s going to take me a few fish before I am comfortable with having my dinner stare back at me. Bleh- fish heads with tiny teeth.

Coastal grub.

A morning at the aquarium looking at living fish usually leads to lunch at a fish shack eating ones that have been hooked, battered, and deep fried.... right?

so good that we went back the next day for more.....

Fish AND chips? 

Lucky me. 

Getting fish and chips is like getting Mexican food. The more a place looks like you're going to walk out with food poisoning..... the better the food. 

Heart and Sole.

We have now been on the coast for almost a week and until last night had not made seafood.
Almost offensive.
After spending the day exploring the woods and wine tasting, I needed to pull dinner together quickly while still obviously charming the pants off of my boyfriend.

There is really no easier way to charm a boys pants off than with food.... let me tell you.

So-- quick dinner.


Please notice that I did not say "simple dinner" because I know of no such thing. 


Before I get into food and cooking.... quick side note.

Best wine ever. Absolutely delicious. 

Thank you Oregon for making outstanding Pinot Noir. 

On the menu last night: Fillet of sole with a beurre blanc sauce and asparagus. 

Richard had never had a beurre blanc sauce before. I now have bragging rights in the kitchen (as if I didn't already....)

this did not photograph well. deal with it. 

Ingredients:

Fillets of sole (fresh from the Oregon coast, of course.)

Shallots

Lemon

Oil

Butter

White wine

Salt and pepper

Method:

Season fish with salt and pepper. I pan fried the fish in a tiny bit of oil. 

Sole is so thin that it cooks annoyingly fast. It also breaks apart very easily causing me to come rather close to having my first breakdown in front of you know who. 

I am a perfectionist. 

For the beurre blanc sauce begin by sautéing the shallots in a dry pan over low heat. Do not let them get brown as this will affect the color and taste of your sauce. When they have just started to cook add a few squirts of fresh lemon juice. 

In school I learned to prepare this sauce with white wine vinegar, but since I was serving it with fish I decided to replace the vinegar and use lemon as my acid. 

Add a cup or so of white wine and reduce to 'au sec.'

When the wine has reduced remove the pan from the heat and begin to add butter very slowly. The butter should be cold. This sauce is a huge pain in the ass as it is very easy to break. Swirl the butter into the pan very slowly until you have added enough to bring the sauce to a nice consistency. 

Season. Strain out shallots. Serve over fish. 

To die for. 

I served the sole with asparagus which I blanched first and then threw in the oven for a couple of minutes with a little olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Super easy. 

Submerge asparagus in boiling water for about 3-5 minutes or until just tender. 

This method brings out the color of the vegetable and keeps it from overcooking. 

Remove asparagus from heat and place in an ice water bath to stop cooking process.

The asparagus can be held at this stage for as long as you need until you are ready to finish cooking it. 

I just placed the asparagus on a baking sheet and baked it for 5 minutes at 400 degrees until it was warm. 

Really good food. Really good wine. Really charming evening........

Day 25

Yes. I skipped day 24.

That nose stuffing, taste bud ruining sickness that I was plagued with last week finally caught up with me post St. Patty's day and I prescribed myself a day in bed to cheat death.

he did not cheat death.

Today was our last cooking day of the term before I move on to Culinary Foundations 3. Ah! I get to make my own sausage in that class. I don't really like sausage, but it looks like a project that is messy and I can totally be on board with. Foundations 3 also brings me one class closer to baking.... and if you know me and know anything about my random efforts in occasionally turning my kitchen into a bakery, you know I feel about this.

We made poached salmon served with a beurre blanc sauce and also prepared fillets de sole bonne femme which is a fancy French way of saying "kind of gross baked sole with fish gravy." Not a fan. Today was actually the first day that I have ever prepared salmon or really even ever touched it. Mine was a little over cooked, but for my first time I was pretty pleased that it didn't spontaneously combust.

poached salmon avec beurre blanc.

Ingredients:

Salmon fillet

Court bouillon (poaching liquid)

For the court bouillon you will need:

Water

Onion

Carrot

Celery

Bay leaf

Thyme

Parsley Stems

Acid- lemon juice, wine vinegar, white wine

Method:

Begin by making the court bouillon. Chop vegetables and combine everything in a large stock pot and fill it with water. Bring to a boil and then let the ingredients steep for about 15 minutes. 

In a smaller saute pan, bring enough water to almost cover the fillet of salmon to poaching temperature. Liquid temperature to poach must be between 160 degrees and 180 degrees. 

Season the salmon and place it presentation side down in the poaching liquid. The presentation side will always either be the side with the skin if there if skin on the fish, or the side that had bones if there is no skin on the fish. 

Cook the salmon to medium. It should be firm to the touch but with an orange center. 

this salmon is properly cooked to medium. my salmon did not look like this.

trade the perfectly orange center with a flakier, pinker version and you should get the idea....ugh.

Beurre blanc sauce:

Shallots

White wine

White wine vinegar

Butter

Salt

Heat the shallots in a pan. Add a little white wine vinegar and some white wine. Reduce to 'au sec.' Remove the pan from heat and 'monte de beurre' or slowly whisk in butter. This sauce is very easy to break. High heat or adding to much fat too quickly will cause the emulsion to break and you will have to start from the beginning. 

Serve salmon with beurre blanc sauce and garnish with lemon and parsley.  

tragedy.

I am not even going to include the next recipe because it really is not very good and I will never make it again... and you should never make it for a first time. However, for the record....I actually completely messed this dish up in class today. I was so focussed on my overcooked salmon (clearly fish is not my forte.... 5/5 was nowhere to be written today) that I forgot to pull my sole out of the oven and actually ended up having all of my gross fish gravy evaporate during cooking. In a pinch.... I added a little clam juice to my left over beurre blanc and turned in my makeshift dish as the original and totally pulled it off. I am pretty sure I got a "wow, this actually tastes marvelous...." That is how culinary school is done

Day 20

Fish and Chips

(I am pretty sure these are British, not French...)

fish and chips.

Ingredients:

lean white fish- traditionally COD is used

Eggs

Flour

Panko bread crumbs

Oil

Salt (lots of salt...)

Method:

If you have a deep fryer, awesome. Heat it up- get that sucker going. 

I do not have a deep fryer. If I did, I would deep fry everything and it would not be pretty. My refrigerator is usually full (when it is actually full, which is rarely) of mainly vegetables and cheese. Both of those things are amazing deep fried which is case in point why I do not own a deep frier. 

Moving on....

If you do not have a deep fryer. Heat up a neutral frying oil in a large pot. I use my dutch oven. You do not want it all the way to the top. Oil fires are very messy. Just enough oil to be able to submerge whatever you are frying will do. 

Prepare ingredients. Chop potatoes- we all know what french fries look like. I like mine a little on the crunchy side, so I cut mine pretty thin. If you cut them too thick they will burn, not cook. Place the cut fries in water until you are ready to use them or else they will begin to oxidize. 

note: if you hold your potatoes in water, make sure to dry them before placing them in the fryer. Oil and water do not mix and cause very bad burns when forced to do so. 

Cut fish into long strips. Season well with salt and pepper. 

Bread the fish by first dredging it through flour. This will help the egg and bread crumbs stick and prevent the breading from flaking off. 

Submerge in egg wash and then cover in bread crumbs.

flour. egg wash. panko crumbs. 

Oil should be heated to about 350 degrees.

Carefully drop fish in oil and cook until golden brown. 

Remove fish from oil, place in an oven safe dish (uncovered) and cook in the oven at about 350 degrees while you prepare your French Fries. The fish is done when opaque and flakey. 

To prepare the french fries, submerge them in the oil and cook until desired doneness. Remove from oil, place on paper towels to drain some of the oil and season well with salt while the fries are still hot. 

Serve with Tartar Sauce and garnish with lemon. 

Tartar sauce:

Mayonnaise

Capers

Gherkins

Lemon Juice

Salt

Pepper

Parsley

Method:

Combine prepared mayonnaise with finely chopped capers, gherkins, and parsley. Add a splash of lemon juice and season well with salt and pepper. 

I wish they were wrapped in newspaper, but I also wish I had a British accent and lived in a flat. Served on a plate will have to do.