Dear Salmon and your Braised Turnip Friends,

I'm at that point in my life where shopping for discounts and sales is not only a necessity, but becoming a competitive sport. I'm not one of those aggressive crazies that you'll see out on Black Friday (I'd prefer Giving Tuesday instead...check it out!), but I do love seeing those yellow sale tags on my trips to the supermarket. When I found salmon on sale, 2 fillets for $5!!!, I thought I hit the jackpot! It was so beautiful. Just looking at the fillets before the seafood guy came over to help me take my pick, I had the cogs moving on how I would prepare it, if I was going to use a sauce or not, what side would I whip up, etcetera, etcetera. There are so many things you can do with salmon because of its heartiness under a sauce or glaze, its beautiful color, and its filling nature.

My greatest salmon story actually took place in Texas of all places. We were staying at the house of a family friend, and the father was a pilot. That weekend they decided to fly up to Alaska and go fishing. They came back the same day with a bounty of Alaskan King Crab and Alaskan Wild-Caught Salmon. I have never had a fresher meal in my life from those amazing fruits of the sea (save for maybe Hawaii, but that's a different category). Nothing compares to the richness of the meat from fish and seafood out of the frigid Alaskan waters. The crab was served simply with garlic butter and the salmon baked with lemon with a sprinkle of salt. You can't get any better than that. I think I was 12 when I ate this meal, and it is still a serious part of my culinary memory...this is probably one of the pinnacle moments where I caught onto what really fresh, amazing food can taste like. Now I'm here! And now we're going to head to the preparation of a meal in homage to my Alaskan epiphany:

Baked Salmon and Braised Turnips

Salmon fillets (for as many people as you're serving)

3 Cloves garlic, crushed

Olive oil

Salt

Turnips (I used a giant, organic turnip for 2 servings)

1-2T Butter

Olive oil

Parmesan

Bread crumbs

Salt

Black Pepper

Parsley

As you can already tell from the ingredient list, these recipes are simple as can be for preparation, yet the flavors have such complexity that the only result you will have is a step closer to nirvana. If you aren't familiar with turnips, they have this undeniably warm and sweet flavor with a texture between a radish and a potato. As for the salmon, the only thing you need to do is watch the cooking time. My fillets were about an inch thick, so I shot for 15-17 minutes. I flaked open some meat in the middle to check for doneness, then I pressed it back down when I was assured of its awesomeness. Really, it's no goof.

Okay, to prepare the salmon: wash the fillets and pat them dry. Set the fillets on parchment paper on a baking sheet, then drizzle lightly with olive oil and crank some sea salt over them. I chose to use crushed garlic this time, but slices of lemon would work just as well. So I crushed about three cloves of garlic and distributed them evenly over the two fillets. I rubbed all these beautiful ingredients into the fillets and made sure everything was uniform. You need to preheat the oven to 350º, and you can prepare the turnips until that oven is ready. When the oven is heated, you put the fillets in and set the timer on 15 minutes, then check and if it needs a couple more minutes put it back in...just make sure you pay attention so as to not overcook it.

The turnips on the other hand, need to be peeled and sliced thin, either with a knife, food processor, or a mandolin--I use the latter, it is so quick, but watch your fingers, the guard is always a pain to use, however a hacked off fingernail isn't too fun to nurse back to health either, is it? So take it easy, not all of us can be an iron chef (but one can dream, can't they?). Anyways, you want uniform slices of the turnips, and having them relatively thin really speeds up the cooking process, and when you have 15-17 minutes to get the hot food on the table, that's what you want! You can also add onions and garlic to the turnips, but I don't really find it necessary, seriously turnips are a powerhouse of glorious flavor. I heated some butter and olive oil in a skillet over high heat and added the turnips, then turned down the heat to medium-high. Make sure you stir those 'nips around to ensure that they are all covered and sizzling. The turnips will start to turn translucent and start browning after about 10 minutes, and at this time you can add about a 1/4 cup of breadcrumbs (or just sprinkle it around like I do until you think it's enough), your seasonings, and give it a slight stir to distribute it evenly. Finally, sprinkle that handsome collection of parmesan that you have kicking around in the fridge over the whole lot. At this point, I like to throw the turnips into the oven to give it that nice crisp on the top. I guess you could use the broiler for that too. How I gauged the time was based on the salmon. I threw the pan in there at the end of the cooking for the salmon (*gasp* but doesn't that lower the temperature of the oven?! Yeah, but I'm not too worried about it), and when the salmon was ready to take out, I let it rest for a few minutes, took my sweet time making it beautiful on the plate with finishing fleur de sel, and then the turnips were ready to be plated as hot as possible, because they do lose a magnificent amount of heat rather quickly.

You can add a second side of sautéed spinach or green salad, but I just went with the salmon and turnips. I just wouldn't go with the gratuitous rice pilaf because then you get a little overboard with the starches, and a salmon meal isn't supposed to make you feel heavy and stuffed. A side of fruit would be nice, like a citrus salad with a good olive oil and fleur de sel (but that goes without saying :D).

It makes a great lunch or dinner, and I daresay it is something you can accomplish as a weekday meal! So enjoy, dear friends. Let me know what you think! How do you prepare your salmon?

Bon appétit!

Listening to WFPK Radio Louisville with Kyle Meredith (they just played Grandaddy!!)

More Fish! Baked Flounder with a Buttery White Wine Reduction

Fish is something highly lacking in my diet since my return from the Mediterranean. I feel like I ate fish or seafood there everyday, and you honestly do feel healthier, not to mention you get to play around with sauces and flavors as complex or simple as you desire. I am a sucker for making sauces. This was not often seen in my travels in Spain, where golden sweet olive oil with a bite pretty much takes care of all the complexity you need in a dish (topped with sea salt of course), but I love love LOVE sauces. Fish really does open up that door for you. Between light and delicate sauces, a lot like the one I am going to show you today, and fish marinades or that all-powerful swipe of magical sushi sauce that Jiro Ono makes pure art out of. If you have never heard of Master Jiro Ono, please introduce yourself--he is an accomplished "itamae" or sushi artist I would say, and he is probably the most accessible of the fine sushi masters to the Western world (hence his 3-Michelin Star über-fame)--at 86 years old, that respect should already be a given without gratuitous tags from judgement boards, but I digress.

Today we are preparing a humble flounder fillet. I did some research around the interwebs on different approaches to preparing flounder. Because the fillets are generally quite thin, the suggestion was to roll up and toothpick together, then bake it seam down on parchment paper. It doesn't make for an astounding presentation because the fillet looks like an afterthought instead of the main show--so you'll note that with my sub-par photography skills...I'm sorry, I couldn't really style this one up as well, but the taste is great, so you'll have to take my word for it!

I made a sauce that was a white wine reduction with cubed butter. Oh, you say that's a beurre blanc? Well, yes I guess, except with less guilt because it is missing the heavy cream. I used a similar technique to the traditional beurre blanc, in which I whisked cubes of cold butter into the wine reduction a little at a time and heated gently until I reached that frothy consistency we want! Yes, it was phenomenal. See what you can do when you run out of ingredients ;) it's not the end of the world.

I also paired this with a sweet potato puree, but you can look at my previous post on Coq au Vin with Pureed Root Vegetables for a similar puree that included parsnips, daikon, and carrots, but you can sub sweet potatoes for any of those to get the same deal. Additionally, I blanched some zucchini on the side and drizzled the wine-butter sauce on that as well...incredible. Let me know what you think!

Baked Flounder with Buttery White Wine Reduction Sauce

Flounder fillets (1 per person)

Olive oil

Salt

Black pepper

3T Butter, cold and cut into cubes

1/4C White wine (more or less)

2 Cloves of garlic, crushed or minced

{OR}

1 Shallot, minced

Pimentón (smoked paprika)

Parsley

Salt

Black or White Pepper

The flounder is the easiest thing in the world to prepare, so perhaps you should start on your sauce first.  I would actually turn the oven on, prepare the fish really quick, then start the sauce. When the oven is preheated to 350º, then you throw the flounder in for 8-10 minutes and you should be well onto finishing your sauce. So, here goes!

Prepare the flounder fillets by washing and patting them dry. Drizzle both sides of the fillet with olive oil, salt, and a little black pepper (the pepper can hold off until final seasoning) and rub that into the fillets. Arrange them on parchment paper, rolled up and toothpicked, seam side down on a baking sheet. Set aside until the oven is preheated.

For the sauce you need to prepare your garlic or shallot. You can either mince or crush the garlic. If you crush it, you can remove the garlic later and have a smoother sauce, but if you want to mince the garlic, it adds nice texture and in my opinion the presence of garlic is always better than not. If you are using shallot, just mince it. In a small saucepan, add a touch of olive oil over medium heat just to get the garlic going. Make sure your fire isn't too high at this point because garlic easily burns, and that would ruin your entire saucy effort. When the garlic begins to get soft and fragrant, the saucepan should be hot enough to introduce the wine. If you are thinking of adding an herb like thyme or sage, this should be done while sautéing the garlic in order to release the flavor of the herb (**Have you thrown the flounder in the oven yet? This is about the time). Add the wine all at once and let it reduce down, stirring often. When it has reduced for about 8 minutes, you can whisk in the cold, cubed butter a few cubes at a time. Whisk the butter until completely melted and then add a few more cubes, repeat this process until all of the butter is used. Your sauce should be frothy and creamy, and it will hold this consistency even as you serve it over the fish and zucchini.

If you are preparing the accompanying sides, the pureed vegetables should be arranged first and then kept warm on the stove. The blanched zucchini literally takes 2 minutes after the water boils, so you can do that while you are making the sauce. To serve, simply place the flounder on a third of the plate (clearly the plate I used was too big), a dollop of potatoes on the other, and the zucchini on the final third. Spoon the sauce over the fish and zucchini, garnish the fish with a sprinkle of smoked paprika or pimentón, and parsley over the vegetables. ENJOY! It is delicious!

Migas Spanish-Style

This is yet another recipe to do with day-old bread. The first time I visited my boyfriend's family in Extremadura, Spain, I was introduced to the deliciousness of Migas. It is a traditional dish of that region, and also shows up in different variations all across Spain. I remember eating it for the first time at an awesome café in Badajoz called El Venero. Venero doesn't mean anything, but to everyone who has been there, it means incredible breakfasting! I promise you that you have never had real orange juice until you have had zumo de naranja in Spain....I don't care if you have seen a Florida orange squeezed to death into a glass, it just isn't the same. Sunshine in a glass. Also, instead of coffee many Spaniards indulge in a Cola Cao, or hot chocolate (best hot chocolate I've ever had come from a powder). The Handsome Spaniard makes a special rendition of Migas by dipping it in his Cola Cao--I could never get over the mixture of garlic and chocolate, but he swears by it. Yeah, we all have our own tastes I guess.

Anyways, the second time I had migas was homemade by his mother. It is a really difficult dish to master, and I'm well on my way, but I had some good instruction while I was there. I guess what makes it difficult is preparing the hard bread by sprinkling water on it and letting it sit overnight until you're ready to make it. You could probably let it sit for just a couple of hours and you would get a good result as well, however this is the technique I learned in good ol' Badajoz, so that's what I'm sticking with. I had the Handsome Spaniard give me a refresher course on preparation so that I didn't leave anything out. Sometimes when you learn recipes in another language, some important details are left out...haha, imagine that!

Migas are so fluffy and so wonderful as breakfast or an afternoon snack (Merienda). They are robust and filling even though they only have three ingredients. That is my favorite part of traditional Spanish food, they can pack so much flavor into very little complication, most of which has to do with the powerhouse that is their olive oil. So. Much. Flavor!!! I remember going to olive oil tastings and seriously just sipping the olive oil out of little cups like tasting fine wine. Honestly, they had more flavor and complexity than many wines I have tried--so gorgeous they don't even need to be bothered with the pieces of bread they have set out. I went to a similar olive oil tasting at the farmer's market today, and it just wasn't the same, so I went sulking away until I found a delicious booth with candy onions and beautiful zucchini five seconds later (it doesn't take much to cheer me up at a farmer's market!).

If you happen to have some staled bread, or bread you just need to get rid of, cube it up and dry it out first (in the oven if you're pressed on time). I actually used some of the bread from the french bread recipe that I made last week! Great choice. So pick your favorite bread, prepare it and then you can go to work on these Migas!

Traditional Migas (Extremadura-style)

Hard cubed bread 

(I'd say a loaf would make a good batch, more if you want it to last the week)

Olive oil

Salt (optional)

Garlic (3-4 cloves will do), smashed with skin-on or roughly sliced

Water

The first thing you need to do is choose a pan to cook the migas in. It should be a deep pan with enough room to stir around the bread cubes without them flying out everywhere--I know, it gets a little exciting. Transfer all of your bread into a large bowl and set up a little rice bowl next to you filled with about a cup of water. Dip your hand in the bowl and then sprinkle water all over the bread, as evenly as possible. You should flip around the bread every so often to make sure that the bottom bread cubes are also getting their share. They definitely shouldn't be soaking wet and soggy, that's why you do the sprinkling action, but they should be notably moistened. When you have reached that point, cover them with plastic wrap or a lid and let them sit for 3-4 hours or overnight. I'm just guessing on the 3-4 hours, but I imagine that the bread would soak in all the moisture by then.

Now it is time for the fun! Turn on the heat to medium-high. Pick a really good olive oil, your favorite, and pour a few tablespoons in the pan--I just poured enough olive oil to make the shape of a normal-sized pancake and waited until the oil was hot enough to shimmer. Then, you distribute the bread evenly in the pan and keep them moving with a wooden spoon so they are all fairly covered in olive oil. Add the garlic and turn the heat down to medium-low. 

You should keep moving the bread and mashing it down with the spoon to make a "polvo" which means dust in English--so you want little crumbs out of your cubes. I like a mixture of cubes and polvo, but you can turn it all to dust if you feel like it. The crumbs and smaller pieces make the migas even more fluffy, so the more polvo, the fluffier it will be. You should keep stirring and mashing for about 20-30 minutes. It takes patience, but is totally worth it.

The end result should be golden Migas that are fluffy and full of deliciousness. Because it is just bread and garlic, you need to add some fruit, protein, or vegetables to balance the meal, or you can just eat them on your own if you are into that--like most people do with Rice Krispies. You can crumble up some bacon and throw it in there, have it as a side with eggs, eat it like you would oatmeal, and you can save it for the whole week (it won't last that long), just remember to put a lid on it. If you happen to have Cola Cao it makes a nice accompaniment, but hot chocolate of any sort, orange juice, coffee, and tea also work well. Start the day of Spanish-style!

YUM!

¡Que aproveches!

A little bit of this, a little bit of that...

We passed a nice weekend on the Costa Brava up in Girona, Catalonia. A little escape from the city and the mayhem we experienced this week with the Spanish bureaucracy. All things considered, it's still the good life.

Now when I think of the beach, I still have fleeting memories of lime flavors, black beans and rice, flour tortillas til you cry, salsa that is actually picante, and fried plantains. I don't really know why I think of those delicious things, for I've never been to a Latin American beach, but it is something I am swept away to. Here in Spain, it is all about the flavors of the Mediterranean: olive oil, sea salt, tomatoes so sweet you can eat them like apples, fresh and crispy vegetables, fresh whitefish and mountains of clams, mussels, razor clams, escargot, and various other shelled fish that I cannot translate. I have a little bit of both worlds to share with you today.

My recipe for Garlic Rice and Fried Plantains was in anticipation of this beach trip, and then a Mediterranean Couscous Salad was the welcome home meal upon our return. Both are as simple as can be, and could be used as a side dish for stewed pork (the plantain rice) or some baked Mahi with lemon (the Mediterranean salad). We had them as light lunches with this famously delicious European bread I finally bought at this bakery I have been salivating over for weeks. If you ever find a bakery that actually bakes their bread with all the healthy goodness of whole grains and has pumpkin seeds on the bottom (!!!!!!yesyesyesyesyes!!!!!!!) then go for it and live the good life!

On to the recipes!

Garlic Rice and Fried Plantains

5-6 Cloves of garlic

1/2 Medium onion

1 cup Long-grain rice

2 cups Chicken broth or water

Salt

2 T Olive oil

Let's prep first--it will just take a minute. In order to remove the garlic skins easily, smash them when the side of your knife--they'll slip right out of their skins and you can get on to chopping them. Alternatively, you can also throw them in whole-crushed, it just depends on what kind of texture you want. I personally like the surprise of a decent-sized clove of garlic in my mouth, but it might not be for everyone. If you want everything to look uniform, slice the garlic into slivers and you're all set. Chop the onion into a fine chop. Measure out the cup of rice and rinse in a mesh strainer until the water runs clear. You're ready to go!

Heat the olive oil over medium-high heat until it starts to shimmer. Pop the onion in there and listen to the beautiful music as the onions skip around doing their flavor dance. When they are fragrant and have gone transluscent, add the garlic and cook until fragrant. Next, add the uncooked and rinsed rice and toast it up with the onions and garlic. Keep stirring to prevent burning. Also cook until fragrant and a few rice grains are changing color to a light beige.

Add water or chicken broth and bring to a boil. Continue to cook as you would with normal rice! Part I, finished.

Now to make the plantains. I like to cut mine into chips. The skins of the plantains are different than bananas, so you can't just peel it off like you do for breakfast. What I do is score the skin on four sides and I peel it off in sections. Then I cut the plantain in half to have more manageable pieces. Set the flat side of the plantain on your chopping board, so that it is standing vertically. Take a knife and cut off slices from top to bottom. If you find it easier to do this horizontally, be my guest--whatever makes you feel good (or safer).

Now, normally I would cook these babies up in peanut oil because it brings out a nice flavor from the sweetie plantain, however I only had olive oil and that works just fine. Heat the oil to frying level and slide those plantain chips in the oil and cook until they turn yellow and eventually golden. They are very fun to watch cook. They start off as a sort of orange dreamsicle color and then they fry to bright yellow and then they start to brown. If you aren't careful they will brown to black, which you don't want, but it isn't the end of the world, just keep at it. Fry them up and sprinkle a seasoning mix over them, or simply salt them. I mixed chimayo chili powder, pimentón smoked paprika, and salt.

I topped the Garlic Rice with the Fried Plantains and it was a great combination. It is a good quick meal and is full of flavor.

Mediterranean Couscous Salad

Ripe tomatoes

Onions

Garlic

Couscous

Lettuce (butter lettuce would be better than the romaine that I used)

Olive oil

White wine vinegar

Salt

Pepper

Oregano

This recipe requires a little bit of assembly, but it is a salad, so it will all inevitably end up in the same bowl. Start by caramelizing the onion and garlic in a bit of olive oil, when they start browning you can squirt some vinegar in and when that has reduced, throw a little water in there to deglaze the pan. The water will also help make a more uniform caramelization, so if some onions are burning then the water will take care of that problem. Set aside.

Cook down the couscous as per the instructions and turn off the heat when they're ready. Stir in some chopped tomatoes, but don't turn on the heat again, I like that they remain raw. Season with oregano, salt, and black pepper, and now your couscous is all set.

Wash and chop your lettuce and make a bed of lettuce for each salad bowl. Drizzle some olive oil, vinegar, and a little salt on the lettuce and mix with your hands (don't worry your hands are washable, and once you mix a salad and its dressing with your hands, you'll never do it any other way again) Top the lettuce with the couscous and tomato, and on top of everything the caramelized onions. You can also feel free to add toasted almonds or pine nuts or queso fresco (which we added after I took this picture). Nom Nom!

Eat up and feel good!!

I'm listening to all the goodness of Forecastle 2012, and I'm missing Louisville during the summer! Listening to WFPK Radio Louisville with Kyle Meredith.