Happy Friday Fish Sauce

Thanks to my Catholic upbringing, I’ll always associate Friday with fish (and guilt, but mostly fish). It was usually a piece of fried haddock, and as far as sauces go, you only had two choices: tartar or cocktail sauce. 

Both go well with crispy, deep-fried seafood, but for more delicate preparations, may I suggest this lovely Tarragon Walnut Brown Butter Sauce we posted back in 2009. I just love this simple sauce, and it couldn'tbe easier. If you haven’t already, I hope you give it a try soon. Enjoy!



Follow this link to read the original post, and get the ingredient amounts.

Cream of Asparagus Soup - For the Love of Spring

It’s not quite spring yet, but this young man’s fancy has already turned to love. No, not that kind; I’m talking about my love for this ultra-easy, and gorgeously colored, cream of asparagus soup recipe. For me, asparagus is one of those rare vegetables that shines brightest when enjoyed in soup form.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the fresh spears, and have posted many recipes featuring them, but for pure asparagus goodness, you just can’t beat a perfectly made bowl of soup. There are no tricks or secret techniques here; just make sure your onions are fully cooked before adding the asparagus, and other than not over-cooking it, there’s not a lot that can go wrong. 

Testing the vegetable’s doneness by pressing them against the side of the pot should eliminate any guesswork, but if unsure, err on the side of slightly under vs. slightly over cooked. The other decision you’ll have to make is whether to strain or not. I recommend it, but totally understand if you don’t. The soup is great as is, but straining out the woodier fibers does give it a finer, more velvety texture.

Of course, the float of Parmesan and lemon cream on top is optional also, but pretend it isn’t. It adds a great visual element, and adds a little extra richness to the soup’s lean, green goodness. I hope you fall in love with this soup soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for about 1 1/2 quarts of soup:

2 tbsp butter 
1 diced onion

2 pounds asparagus

salt to taste

4 cups chicken broth

2 cups water

cayenne to taste

freshly ground black pepper to taste

pinch of nutmeg (I forgot to mention in video, but just add with other spices!)

1/2 cup of heavy cream

For the cream topping:

1/4 cup heavy cream

1 tbsp finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

1 tsp lemon zest

*whisk for minute until frothy and slightly thickened

View the complete recipe

Next Up: Cream of Asparagus

Baked Mushroom Risotto – Why Stir When You Can Stare at an Oven?

It’s not often that I post a video for an alternative method on a classic recipe before I’ve actually shown the real deal, but that’s what we have with this incredible baked mushroom risotto.

I was playing around with a baked paella recipe, and began wondering what would happen if I used a similar method for doing risotto. As you’ll see, the beginning and the end of the recipe are pretty standard, but we’ve taken the middle 15 minutes and moved it into the oven, in an attempt to eliminate those dreaded “variables.”

The size, shape, and thickness of your pan, how fast you add the liquid, and how high your heat is are factors that can wildly affect the outcome when done on the stovetop. By using the oven for the majority of the cooking, we don’t have as many things to worry about.

Of course, you still need to finish this thing off yourself, and taste and test for doneness and seasoning, but that goes for any recipe. The goal is to have the rice come out of the oven between 80-90% cooked, so that all it takes is a final addition of liquid, and a few minutes of stirring to recreate that signature “sauce” that makes this dish so famous.

I used a variety of risotto rice called “Carnaroli,” which is known as "the king of rices.” Thanks to a higher starch content and slightly longer grain, Carnaroli produces a beautifully creamy sauce, while still maintaining a firm, toothsome texture. You should be able to find it fairly easily at those fancy grocery stores, but if not, it’s readily available online.

If you end up using Arborio rice, the most popular variety sold for risotto, I’d suggest checking this after 10 minutes in the oven, as I suspect it will cook slightly quicker than the Carnaroli. Besides, you can always cook it an extra few minutes at the end. As many of us have learned the hard way, you can’t un-cook something.

Besides being easier and more repeatable, this method produced a risotto that was identical in looks, taste, and texture to anything I can do on the stove. Having said that, I enjoy standing at the stove making risotto the traditional way, as it’s one of the best meditations ever, so it will be interesting to see which method I use the next time I’m craving the dish.

Anyway, whether you’ve always been afraid to try risotto, or you’ve mastered it and are just curious, I hope you give this a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 4 portions:

3 tbsp butter

3 cups diced mushrooms

1/2 yellow onion, diced

salt and pepper to taste

cayenne to taste

1 cup Carnaroli or Arborio rice

2 1/2 cups chicken broth, plus more if desired

1/2 cup cream, plus a few tablespoons to finish

1/2 cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (don’t use that fake crap)

2 tbsp sliced chives

View the complete recipe

Next Up: Baked Mushroom Risotto

Taking a Break

I was playing around with some pulled sugar for an upcoming dessert video, and it reminded me just how much I dislike those ever-popular, themed cake battles on the food networks. In case you've never seen one, I thought I'd take a little break and describe what happens...in every episode: "Contestants, please make a cake that looks like a working Victorian merry-go-round... if his pulled sugar breaks, the entire design will collapse... he's almost to the judge's table... it's starting to wobble... [BEEP]... well, that's a real shame."

Baked Lemon Pepper Salmon – Sometimes Cooking’s Not Pretty

I wouldn’t exactly call this baked lemon pepper salmon a failed experiment, as the cooking method shown herein is a very useful tool in the ongoing battle against boring salmon; but my attempt to fuse lemon and pepper flavor onto the surface with a quick pickling suffered from lack of sweetness. 

Such is cooking. Live, learn, and occasionally eat too tart and peppery salmon. Anyway, every time we’d post one of our broiled salmon recipes, I’d get emails from people without broilers asking how they can get the same results, so I figured my little trial by acid would make for a good excuse to show how easy baked salmon is. 

As long as you get your oven nice and hot, and aren’t afraid to poke the fish with a fork to check, you should be enjoying tender, moist, flaky meat every time. You can always cook it more, so check after 10 minutes and go from there. If you test in the filet's natural seams, the evidence of your breaking and entering will hardly be noticeable, and easily covered by a sauce or slice of lemon.

If you use my recipe, you may want to adjust the pepper and acidity of the lemon with something on the sweet side. Pretty much any kind of glaze or marinade will work with this easy technique, and many of them (most of them) will look better than this. I hope you give this a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 2:
two 8-10 oz center-cut salmon filets, boned, skin on

2 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp black pepper

1 tsp miso paste

2 tsp mustard

1 1/2 tbsp mayo

cayenne to taste

salt to taste

*Next time I’ll add some Hoisin sauce or something sweet to balance the flavors better.
Bake at 450 degrees F. 10-15 min or until done.

View the complete recipe