Food Blog

I’ve come down with something that makes me not want to do stuff. So my cooking lately has become very simplified. I bought one of those huge slabs of non-descript salmon at a local supermarket (Dominic’s) for $9 and will eat portions of it, sauteed in a non-stick pan, with a couple of mushrooms, a cherry tomato or two and some butter and cream (tablespoon of each) and some juliened spinach thrown in at the end. I will eat this meal over and over until the salmon flank is gone or too old, or until I think I have the energy to come up with something else. Perhaps at some point I’ll photograph it, if I recover.

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This is a typical Italian pasta dish with a few un-Italian vegetables thrown in. The mix of Thai eggplant, poblano and Asian sweet twist peppers melds with the tomato sauce and calamari the same way regular eggplant and common bell peppers would. Some fresh mozzarella is essential in the mix.

1/2 pound or more, cleaned calamari, sliced
8-10 small plum tomatoes
3 thai eggplants (these are the round ones)
1 poblano pepper
1-2 asian sweet twist peppers
1-2 cloves of garlic
1 shallot
fresh oregano
tomato paste
fresh mozzarella
Marsala
1 lb. fusilli pasta

This recipe will make enough sauce to lightly coat the pound of pasta.

Slice the tomatoes in half and cook them down with a little olive oil in a large pan or skillet. Give the tomatoes a couple of minutes to cook down a bit, then throw in the peppers, sliced or diced. In the meantime boil some water and cook some fusili (spiral) pasta.

When the tomatoes and peppers are just getting some good color, add the shallot, garlic, oregano (a couple of pinches) give it a stir to sweat the shallot and garlic, then add half a can of tomato paste mixed with about a 1/4 cup of Marsala. If you like lots of sauce all over your pasta, use the rest of the can. Since the vegetables and the calamari are the focal point here, I don’t won’t to drown them in sauce. I also like to go easy on the Marsala in this dish, otherwise the sweetness overpowers everything else.

While the sauce reduces down, slice the thai eggplant, and brown them in a separate pan, with some butter and olive oil. You may want to keep them aside for presentation, because if you toss them in the sauce, they’ll break up.

In the separate pan, heat some butter and oil and toss in the sliced up calamari and toss around, cooking only until it turns color, toss into the sauce. Now you’ve perfectly timed the pasta to be done by now, so let the sauce simmer while you drain it, and then toss it into the sauce. Put some fresh sliced mozzarella on top and put under a broiler until the cheese is gooey.

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Artic Char is one of my favorite fishes. A bit milder than salmon, this fish has a just-firm-enough texture and a beautiful skin. In this particular treatment the fish is not seasoned at all, but is topped with a rich pureed mushroom, rice wine and butter sauce and some pan carmelized shallots and leeks. This high quality fish deserves a bed of high quality udon noodle.

The fresh shitakes, which I found at Devon Market, were bursting with flavor, and I was tempted just to use them pureed with nothing else. But I wanted to try something a little more complex. The rice wine I also bought at the Devon Market has a label the says ‘For Gournet Cooking’ It’s a bit salty, but it reduced and mellowed nicely.

fillet of Artic Char
5-6 medium size shitakes
one medium sized leek
4 shallots, peeled and chopped
1 sprig green garlic
1 slice of Kolozsvari Hungarian bacon or similar smoked, salt pork.
1 bundle of udon noodles
half a cup of rice wine
butter
grapeseed oil

Put the leeks in some boiling water. Depending on the size, they’ll take 7-8 minutes which is enough time to get the mushroom sauce done.

Pan saute the sliced mushrooms in some oil, butter and – the secret ingredient – a super smoky Kolozsvari Hungarian bacon. Also found at the Devon Market. Slice it thin and use it sparingly, just to add some smoky salty pork fat goodness. I used about three postage stamp size pieces for 5 medium sized shitakes. When the mushrooms are just browning, add a thinly sliced shallot and a minced sprig of green garlic. Brown everything. Remove the bacon, since its too much for the puree (you might as well just eat it). Puree the rest adding about 3-4 tablespoons of rice wine, and about 4-5 ozs of water. I threw in a few drops of Madeira for a touch of sweetness. Return the puree to the pan with a tablespoon of butter and reduce gently.

Put some udon into some boiling water, you’ll have 8-9 minutes to do the fish before the noodles are done.

Score the skin of the char, and pan grill the fish skin down in some butter and oil. Try not to rip off the very pretty skin when you flip it. In the same pan, after you’ve flipped the fish once add the rest of the chopped shallots and the chopped leeks removed from the boiling water. Save a leek or two for garnish. The fish will be ready when just colored on both sides. Remove it, and continue to pan saute the shallots and leeks until they reach a nice color.

Plate the fish on top of the drained udon, sprinkle with the shallots and leeks, and drizzle with the reduced shitake sauce.

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