Archive for August, 2007

I was going to call this a “disaster,” but I’ve had too many of those, and this wasn’t a disaster. It was edible. It was simply, a mistake.

I’ve been a big fan of using natural flavors of somewhat exotic things in dishes. Ever taste a cauliflower purée? It’s delicious as a bed to a piece of crispy-coated fish. Yesterday, I sautéed some tilapia in bacon fat coated in panko crumbs. I thought sitting it on top of a thick puréed vegetable would be tasty.

I took an entire head of broccoli and par-boiled it, then added some water and cream with the broccoli in the blender. I had the start of a great soup (I would find out), but not a purée. With the water, it was too… thin. Perhaps with a small potato and less water it would have had success. But with the addition of garlic, parmesan, and fresh parsley, it was nevertheless tasty.

I instead en-robed my asparagus with this “sauce” and while it tasted good, it was very odd looking. I think in the future these ingredients (alongside the bacon) would make for a good soup.

Imagine… Crème of Broccoli Soup, so fresh, with the parsley, maybe a hint of lemon juice, then on top, we float a few pieces of asparagus tips fried-up in bacon fat? Or maybe even a little crab meat too? This would make for a fun starter.

The fish, then, sat by itself on the plate. For my exciting sauce, I took a bottle of black currant juice and reduced it over medium-high heat into a syrup, and mounted it with butter. At that point I also took out the garlic clove that had been around for the reduction ride.

The only problem, I still had “too much” sauce for 2 pieces of fish. For four or five, it would have been a nice accent on the plate (and the taste was what I had hoped for, sweet, but tart). But alone with that fish, it was overwhelmingly strong.

The final accent on the plate was a dice of Hanover tomato. Again, it was excellent with the fish, but there was too much of that currant sauce. I also crumbled the bacon on top of the fish. The combination of the bacon and tomato made one recall a bacon-lettuce-tomato sandwich (BLT).

So, to recap:

• Tilapia encrusted in Panko with Black Currant Sauce, bacon flavor
• Purée of Broccoli
• Asparagus

Hold-back on the strong sauce; it should be used as an accent. The bacon-tomato thing was interesting and I’d do it again. For the purée, either augment it with something starchy (potato), or make it a soup instead. IN this case, some cubed potatoes, fried up with garlic, perhaps in the same pan with the asparagus, with some balsamic vinegar and herbs, would have been a better idea.

Any edible mistakes you’ve made? Share in the comments.

Today we had dim sum, that venerable ceremony of tea and small foods. At Full Kee, we dip about every last one into a mixture of soy sauce and hot chili oil. My favorite was available today, the fried turnip cake, although it was a bit mushy for my taste.

It is, after all, difficult to make, involving many steps to arrive at the final wedge. But it’s been better before. Especially lackluster were the fried shrimp spring roll; it was so cold and soft that I suspect it hadn’t been cooked since a day before.

The other items, however, held promise, and reminded us of why we return…

I should like to point out what some of the items pictured, are:

Top photo:

• shrimp and crab meat dumpling
• tripe
• shrimp dumpling
• shrimp with pea shoot leaf dumpling

Bottom photo:

• turnip cake
• shrimp-stuffed tofu
• pork-stuffed spring roll (this was new to us at Full Kee)

I should like to return in a few weeks with some folks who are new, yet adventurous to dim sum. It would be fun to experience these flavors together.

Tonight’s menu was XS’s choice, however I was the chef.

Caprese Salad with Hanover Tomatoes

Chicken Marsala with Honey-Cashew Crust

Riso with Sundried Tomato and Asparagus

The salad included small balls of mozzarella cheese, diced hanover tomato, basil, EVOO, salt, pepper, and love. It was fresh tasting; I might have liked the addition of an acid since the tomatoes were so sweet.

The chicken was sautéed first in butter after an egg+flour+honey cashew coating. I thought the snacking nuts, pulsed in the food processor with the flour, might play nice with the sweet marsala wine. Once they chicken was cooked for about 5 minutes per side, I placed them on a plate to rest, while I began the sauce.

Red onion, garlic, and later, mushrooms join butter and olive oil, salt, and pepper. To this, I added some mushroom broth, and finally, sweet marsala wine. I added the chicken back, then covered, to steam/cook for 7-8 minutes.

In a separate pot, I boiled mushroom broth and boiled riso pasta, and added sun-dried tomato. With 5 minutes remaining, I added chopped asparagus and parmesan cheese.

Both the chicken and pasta could have had a fresh squeeze of lemon; I forgot this. But I did add fresh parsley to the chicken upon service.

All three items were tasty.

For a special dessert, I placed berries on a plate (blueberries and strawberries), and covered them in a warm caramel sauce I invented on the fly.

Sauce Caramel:

• sugar
• pinch salt
• 2 Tbsp. water (just enough to make the sugar wet)
• pure vanilla essence (vanilla seeds suspended in a syrup)
• dark rum
• heavy cream

Melt the sugar and water, and form a light caramel. Add the vanilla. Then add the rum; reduce this sauce until it is once again liquid. Never stir the caramel; rotate the heavy pan to keep it mixed.

Finally, add the heavy cream. Stir as it foams and bubbles away; reduce to your favorite consistency.

Pour 30-seconds later (off the flame) onto each plate of prepared, washed berries.

Enjoy.

As we ate, conversations paused… During my meal (more on that later), a comment was made: this is real restaurant quality. After the dessert, that was beyond restaurant… that was a taste of heaven.

Thanks.