Red Snapper with Scallion, Ginger and Lemongrass

Fish. I can't seem to get much beyond salmon and the occasional tuna steak. Something about the cooking of it seems chancy, as though I'm likely to end up ordering pizza at the end of the night if I screw it up. And yet when I spotted a pile of whole red snapper on chipped ice at the grocery store for $7.99 a pound, I thought it was time to try out the Asian technique I've seen on countless cooking TV shows, back to the days when PBS was pretty much the only offering for food voyeurism, with the likes of Yan Can Cook.  

Turns out I was right to be wary of cooking whole fish as the finished result had me picking bones AND scales out of my meal. (Note: Whole Foods Tribeca fish mongers need some proper training). When I was able to get a boneless bite in, however, I loved the flavors enough to try it again. This time I chose the much simpler-for-the-home-cook -- pre-boned and fully scaled fillets. The result was subtle and aromatic of all my favorite flavors, and I felt sort of healthy and bouncy afterward rather than wanting to take a nap, as I often find myself after a weekend dinner. I've included photos of both efforts, as I'd definitely encourage the attempt at the whole fish.  

Red Snapper with Scallion, Ginger, and Lemongrass

Adapted from Epicurious

1 16- to 18-ounce whole red snapper, cleaned, scaled OR 2 fillets of snapper

3 inch piece, fresh ginger, peeled

4 large cloves garlic, peeled

small bunch fresh cilantro, washed

2 tablespoon shallots, minced

1 tablespoon lemongrass, finely minced

2 tablespoons green onions, chopped

1/3 cup low-sodium chicken broth

3 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons dark sesame oil

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Directions:

If using whole fish, slice one section of ginger into 3 thin wafers and then cut these in half. Slice one large clove of garlic into 6 thin slices. Grate the remaining ginger and garlic and set aside. Also set aside 6 nice sized leaves of cilantro. Chop the remaining cilantro fine – it should equal about 2-3 tablespoons.

If using fillets of fish, grate all of the ginger and garlic and chop all of the cilantro.

Prepare fish: if using whole fish, make 3 to 4 diagonal slits on each side of fish and insert a slice of ginger, garlic, and cilantro leaf in each slit. Cover in a glass dish and refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours (or up to 6 hours). If using fillet you can skip this step and move on to preparing the fish for cooking, making individual parcels of aluminum foil for each fillet, with the edges turned up so that they can hold both the fish and a small amount of poaching liquid.

Pour enough water into wok or large pan (I used a large frying pan) to reach depth of 1 1/2 inches. Place the bottom tier of a bamboo steamer large enough to hold the fish, over the wok. If you don't have a bamboo steamer or a wok, you can use a vegetable steamer rack set in a large pan, or even, in a pinch, a plate smaller than the size of the pan so that the steam can circulate around it. If using the whole fish, place fish in pie plate small enough to fit in your steamer, or a plate, or you can try the aluminum foil method as with the fillets. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon each of chopped cilantro, shallots, garlic, lemongrass, and ginger into dish (or for the fillet's in the aluminum foil pouches) around and on top of fish. Pour broth and 1 tablespoon soy sauce, and 1 tablespoon lime juice into dish. Bring water to boil. Cover bamboo steamer (or pot). Steam fish until just opaque in center at bone, about 18 minutes.

While the fish is cooking, prepare some steamed brown or white rice and the flavored oil, combining sesame oil and vegetable oil in heavy medium skillet. Add 1 teaspoon minced ginger and garlic, 2 tablespoons shallots and green onions. Stir over medium heat until oil is hot and seasonings are fragrant making sure garlic does not burn, about 2 minutes. Pour seasoned oil into small bowl; add remaining 2 tablespoons soy sauce.

Using large spatula, carefully transfer fish to a platter. Spoon some of seasoned oil over fish. Serve fish with rice and steamed vegetable of your choice. (I tried this with spinach and would make the spinach and seasoned oil by themselves over and over again!)

Caramel-Apple Cake

When you have a houseguest, there are any number of preparations to be made, as anyone watching the recent import from the BBC, Downton Abbey, can tell you. My own elements to being a good hostess are much less elaborate, and have evolved over the years from my days days living in tiny Manhattan apartments, when my guests would be offered a corner of the floor to sleep on. Things are a bit more civilized now... and while I'm not up squeezing fresh orange juice or arranging bouquets of flowers for the guest room, I do try to fill the apartment with some element of home baking to greet a guest.  

Such was the frenzy on a Thursday evening when Doug and Meredith and their offspring were arriving late one evening. It was well past dinner, and I doubt they were expecting anything more than a soft bed (or corner of floor) but I would not be deterred. Since they are family, I'm less interested in making a good impression then the chance to try out a new dessert recipe without having to eat the whole thing myself for the next week.  

This was the state of things when I began baking this mammoth cake. It was delectable. Though really with the caramel glaze, the cake itself could have been just about anything and it would have tasted amazing. 

Caramel-Apple Cake

*The height of this cake was somewhat by accident as I wanted a round cake rather than the square version described in the recipe, and had only 8-inch cake rounds. It all worked out in the end, but I had to increase the cooking time significantly to assure the cake was baked through. This is reflected in the recipe below, but if I had to do over again, I would make it in a 9-inch pan, or the square 9x13 inch in the original recipe, and reduce the cooking time. I do however try to keep to advice given me several years back by a professional pastry chef of not relying on timers when baking a cake, but rather to just use a cake tester (toothpick!) once you start smelling the aroma of baked cake!  


Adapted minimally, from Edna Lewis and Scott Peacock, The Gift of Southern Cooking

published in Leites Culinaria 

Cake: 

1 cup light-brown sugar, packed

1 cup granulated sugar

1 1/2 cups vegetable oil

3 eggs

3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

5 tart apples, peeled and diced into 1/2 inch pieces

1 1/4 cups chopped pecans

2 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract

Glaze

1/2 stick unsalted butter

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup light-brown sugar

Pinch of salt

1/2 cup heavy cream

Cake:  Preheat the oven to 325°F. Beat together the sugars and vegetable oil for about 1 minute, then add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt, and gradually add to the sugar and eggs, mixing just until well blended.

Stir in the apples, pecans, and vanilla, and pour into a buttered and 8-inch round* baking pan. Bake until a skewer or toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hours (begin checking after 1 hour). Remove from the oven, and allow to cool in the pan while you prepare the caramel.

Glaze: Allow the cream to come to room temperature. Melt the butter in a saucepan, and add both the sugars and the salt. Stir until blended, and cook over medium-low heat for 2 minutes. Stir in the heavy cream, and boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. 

Remove the cake from the pan and turn back upright onto a cake stand or plate. Use a skewer or toothpick to poke holes all over the top of the cake, and pour the warm glaze over the surface. Serve warm.

Chicken Pot Pie

This isn't the sort of thing I'd normally bother with. Pot pies often strike me as too much effort for what amounts to a meal of chicken and some sides, all mushed together. Further, chicken pot pie's remind me of school lunches, something like a cross between a chicken stew and casserole, with crust. 

That said, I came around recently to the idea of a pot pie when I realized I had a handful of random leftover vegetables -- two leeks, half a dozen mushroom, and a celery root; not enough to do anything with them on their own, but perfectly suitable for something like a stew, and a package of frozen puff pastry on hand. I thought I would give a try to the pot pie, lux-ing it up somewhat by roasting chicken breasts for the occasion (though you could easily enough omit this step and use a ready-cooked rotisserie). I was pretty happy I did. Turns out I love pot pie -- a meal in a dish! The "gravy"  in this version is minimal, the filling is thick and creamy, free of peas and carrots of the school lunch versions of my childhood. 

I based the recipe largely on two pot-pies: Jamie Oliver's version which is simple and straight forward and utilizes the integration of creme fraiche and Ina Garten's, which gave me the idea of roasting chicken breasts specially for the occasion. 

This is a great one dish meal for a group, but also worked well the next day, after an oven re-heating, to keep the pie part crisp, and the sauce thickened further making the whole thing even more winter season satisfying. 

Chicken Pot Pie
Serves 6
Adapted from various


2 chicken breasts, on the bone, skin on
5 to 6 sprigs thyme
2 tablespoon olive oil, divided
1 tablespoon butter
1-2 medium sized leeks, split lengthwise, washed thoroughly and sliced widthwise into thin half-moon shapes
8-10 button mushrooms, wiped clean, stems removed and caps sliced lengthwise
1 small celeriac, peeled and chopped into 1/2 inch dice (can substitute a parsnip or rutabaga or potato if you choose, in which case blanch in boiling water for 5 minutes and proceed as directed)
1 tablespoon flour
3/4 cup chicken stock
2 tablespoons creme fraiche
1 sheet puff pastry
1 egg, room temperature


Roast the chicken: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place the chicken breasts on a baking sheet and drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper and fresh thyme. Roast for 35 to 40 minutes, until cooked through. Set aside until they have cooled enough to remove the meat from the bones, discarding the skin, and either shred meat or cut into large chunks. 

Prepare the filling: Melt butter in a large saute pan and add olive oil, over medium heat  add leeks and cook for 3 minutes stirring occasionally. Season with salt and pepper and cover pan, turn down heat to medium-low and continue cooking for 10-15 minutes more, stirring periodically. Add celeriac and mushrooms, a bit more salt and pepper, and cover again cooking on low till mushrooms reduce, 3-5 minutes. Remove lid from pan and add flour, stirring to coat vegetables. Add chicken stock and chicken meat and turn up heat to let bubble gently for 5-7 minutes till sauce thickens. Turn off heat, stir in creme fraiche. 

Prepare the pie: Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. In a lightly buttered 8 x 11 inch casserole dish, pour filling. Roll out one sheet of prepared puff pastry on a lightly floured surface to approximately 9 x 12 inches, enough to cover the dish with a bit of overhang. Tuck edges of pastry over onto itself, creating a slightly thicker border around the edges of the pie. If you like, decorate the top of the crust by scoring lightly with a cross-hatch pattern. Beat the egg with a teaspoon of water or milk and brush lightly over the top of the pastry. Cook for 35-40 minutes until the pastry is golden and puffed.   

Brussels Sprouts with Cranberry Brown Butter

As a run up to Christmas, for the past month I'd been testing out recipes for Christmas dinner in Ireland with Andy and a large crowd of his family. To begin, I tested out four Brussels sprouts recipes with everything from orange and pecan-butter to raw shredded sprouts. It took me nearly 35 years to come to appreciate the humble sprout, and when I finally did it was due to a recipe I saw that roasted them till crispy and brown. Previous to this the only way I had eaten sprouts was the traditional way -- boiled and whole,perhaps with a bit of butter or balsamic vinegar. Not that interesting and inevitably a bit like eating a soggy bit of cabbage. However roasted and shredded they take on a crispy-ness that is reminiscent of a winter (warm) version of coleslaw. 

This recipe with browned butter and cranberries won out for the Christmasy color and simplicity of ingredients which I knew would be easy enough to find anywhere. The cranberries too can replace the traditional cranberry sauce side dish. Don't be scared by the amount of butter as the prescribed amount is enough to serve 8-10 as a side dish. 

Brussels Sprouts with Cranberry Brown Butter

Adapted (slightly) from Food and Wine 

Serves 8-10 

4 pounds brussels sprouts, cut in thirds 

2 tablespoons olive oil

Salt and Pepper

1/2 pound fresh cranberries

2 tablespoons pure maple syrup, (honey or golden syrup can also be substituted)

1 tablespoon finely grated fresh ginger

2 teaspoons finely grated orange zest

2 sticks (1/2 pound) unsalted butter

1 large shallot, minced

1 teaspoon chopped thyme

Preheat the oven to 400 F. On two large rimmed baking sheets, toss the brussels sprouts with the oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast for about 30-40 minutes, stirring halfway through, until the sprouts are browned in spots.

While the sprouts are roasting, in a small saucepan, combine the cranberries, maple syrup, ginger and orange zest. Cover and cook over moderately low heat, stirring, until the cranberries break down and thicken, about 10 minutes. You might add a teaspoon of water to assist in cooking. 

In a medium skillet, melt the butter and cook over moderately high heat until deep golden, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, add the shallot and thyme and stir into the cranberry sauce. Transfer the butter to a bowl, add the brussels sprouts and toss. Season with salt and serve warm. 

Beet Cake

The first time I saw a recipe for beet cake I thought it sounded so unique and really "exotic". Some time has passed, and I've come to realize: a. Beet cake isn't all that different from Carrot Cake in theory, and b. Most beet cake's are basically a red-velvet cake, without the bottle of food coloring. The beet root's themselves become disguised amid the sugar, and, most recipes also add in generous dousing of cinnamon and nutmeg, creating a richly spiced, mildly chocolaty-spice cake. This is not a bad thing in my mind, as I've always preferred beets more for their brilliant colors than for the actual taste, which will (flashback) forever remind me of the boiled and sliced beets of childhood. Blech.   

I wanted to make a beet cake whose flavors were predominantly chocolate and a little bit beet, rather than a spice cake, so with a crisper drawer full of the offending root, just waiting to go bad till I didn't have to feel wasteful for not eating them ("Oh what a shame, they've gone moldy"), I set to work.  In the middle of the week, no less, I began futzing with a few different online recipes (coming across this great and kindred site), and furiously buttering and dusting with cocoa my bundt pan with the objective of having the cake prepared for an after dinner treat. The whole thing couldn't have been easier to throw together, particularly if you've planned ahead and roasted/pureed the beets beforehand, and, as chocolate cakes go I imagine this must be somewhat healthful? Next up, broccoli cake!

Beet Cake 
Adapted from various
Serves 12
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar

3 eggs at room temperature

3 ounces dark chocolate

4 - 5 medium beets (2 cups pureed)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons cocoa powder, divided

confectioners’ sugar for dusting or whipped cream (optional)

To prepare beet puree, trim stems and roots off beets and rub outside with a few drops of flavorless oil (vegetable or canola) wrap 1-2 beets in aluminum foil (depending on the size of your beets you should have 2 - 3 little packets.  Place on a baking tray and roast at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for approximately 45-50 minutes, depending on the size of the beets.  You should be able to pierce the beets with a sharp knife easily.  Let cool slightly and then rub the skins off or scrape off with a knife (watch your hands as they will stain here!) Place beets in blender and process until smooth without any lumps.  Set aside to cool slightly. 

In a mixing bowl, cream 3/4 cup butter and brown sugar. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Melt chocolate with remaining butter in the microwave or in a bowl placed over a pot of barely simmering hot water. Stir until smooth. Cool slightly. Blend chocolate mixture, beets and vanilla into the creamed mixture.  

Combine flour, baking soda , salt, and cocoa; add to the creamed mixture and mix well. Pour into a greased 10-in. bundt pan dusted with 1 tablespoon cocoa. 

Bake at 375 degrees F for 45 - 60 minutes  until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool in pan 15 minutes before removing to a wire rack. Cool completely before dusting with confectioners’ sugar or serving with a dollop of lightly sweetened whipped cream.