cause i'm a fatty

Cooking with Parchment Paper

My first day back in Boulder was spent celebrating Bastille Day at the Brassiere Ten Ten off of Pearl St. in Boulder. I picked the hailbut en papillote [in parchment paper] with shitakes and carrots for the first time, and loved how delicate and tender the fish was. The portion was pretty small [I ended up getting a shrimp cocktail, mussels and bread] so I’ve been craving some papillote style fish, and decided to give it a go!

Cod was half the price of halibut at Whole Foods, so got we four 3 oz portions. This recipe is so simple, it’s integrity really rests on using fresh ingredients. 

Other Ingredients:

1/2 lb shiitake mushrooms, sliced thinly without stems
1 pepper sliced thinly, de-seeded [jalapeno, serrano, 1/2 a bell pepper]
1 garlic, crushed and chopped  
1/4 cup of sliced red onions
1 lemon
cilantro or green onions 
2 tbs soy sauce
1 tbs rice vinegar 
1 tsp sriracha  
evoo
salt
pepper
five spice powder [optional, but super tasty, gives the fish a little cinnamon sweetness]

parchment paper
1 egg
basting brush  

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Mix all of the cut vegetables, along with the scallions with 1-2 tbs squeezed lemon juice, salt, and pepper.  

Mix the soy sauce, rice vinegar, sriracha, and chopped cilantro together. 

Fold your parchment paper in half, which should be about a foot long for a piece of 6 oz fish [we [paired two portions together]. Place the vegetables in a small bed on one side of the paper. Liberally sprinkle salt, pepper, and five spice powder on both sides of the fish. Place the fish on top of the vegetables, drizzle a little bit of evoo and the soy sauce marinade and any extra herbs.  

I had to throw out two pieces of parchment paper because I couldn’t fold them correctly, so I found this handy youtube video: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTuUf-MO_T0

You want the parchment pocket you create to puff up in the oven and steam the fish and vegetables, locking in all of the juices and flavors. The egg wash trick really made sure the paper stayed sealed and didn’t come a part in the oven. 

Cook the fish, depending on how big they are for 15 minutes, or up to 20. 

But be careful, it’s like opening up a bag of fresh microwaved popcorn. The steam could hit you in the face if you’re standing over it, and it burned my fingers as I eagerly went to open it up. Use a pair of scissors and open the middle. I like to place the parchment pocket on a plate and eat right out of there. 

I love this meal because it’s simple to prepare, all of the mess is contained [so easy clean up], and there is just a sprinkle of oil. A 3 oz piece of cod has less than 100 calories and less than 1 gram of fat, which makes it the type of healthy you can do without sacrificing being satisfied. 

Clams, Shrimp, and Prosciutto in Lemon Parsley Sauce

Scallops and Avocado Salad

I love scallops because they take minutes to cook, and all you have to remember is to not crowd them too much in a pan or they’ll steam. A cool salad with caramelized red onions onions, tomatoes, and cilantro made this a meal under 25 minutes. 

Spiced Tuna Cakes

Canned tuna is a great source of omega 3 fats, and it comes cheap too. I prefer albacore tuna in water (instead of oil), and because of my love for crab cakes, I fused a spicy crab cake recipe with tuna. The cost was definitely the biggest motivator in this recipe: 8 oz. of fresh lump crab is around $15, while the same amount of organic tuna from Wholefoods is $2. That makes this dish easy to share with others too. 

(Yields 4)

Ingredients:

8 oz. tuna
1/3 cup light mayonnaise 
1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
1 1/2 tbsp spicy mustard
1/2  tbsp olive oil
2-3 squirts of lemon/lime juice
1 tbsp herbs (parsley/dill)
2 whole spring onions chopped

Directions:

Mix all of your ingredients and form four balls. Flatten the balls with your palms and fry on a lightly greased griddle until both sides are crisp and have browned (2-3 minutes each side). Serve with some sriracha mixed with mayonnaise.

Mussels in Sunset Wheat Ale & OJ 

This looked like one of the easiest recipes to make in my new Top Chef cookbook that focuses on the Quick Fire Challenges (thanks again, Shibani!) I love mussels because of how experimental you can get with them. This broth was easy and the white ale & orange juice was divine contrasted against the chili pepper and cilantro. 

I simply sauteed a diced fennel bulb, some white onion, a chili pepper and a peeled tomato until they were tender, then added the orange juice (about half a cup for 2 lbs of mussels), and covered for 5 minutes until the mussels opened up. At the very end I added half a cup of Leinenkugel’s Sunset Wheat (instead of Hoegaarden, so the beer was more aromatic and sweeter) and a handful of chopped cilantro. All you need is a warm, toasted baguette to soak up all of this delicious broth. 

Decided to be adventurous and keep the shells on the shrimp -definitely a completely different eating experience!

Sauteed ginger and garlic, added shrimp, then some soy sauce, rice wine, stock, chili paste and sesame oil. & I couldn’t resist throwing in a little too much cilantro.

This dish is better off without any vegetables, because all you really want to do is suck on the shells (which have absorbed all the flavor) before gaining access to the tender meat inside.

Mike does 3 things in the culinary department very well: 

grilling (everything)
making ahi tuna steaks-
and cooking mussels.

This was a joint project in which I did a variation on his traditional recipe by incorporating asian ingredients: slices of ginger, green bell peppers, tomatoes, chinese rice wine, chili paste, red onions, and freshly chopped scallions and cilantro at the very end. I didn’t have fish stock so I made my own by cooking some jumbo shrimp shells with cayenne pepper and garlic.

Directions:

You simply saute all the vegetables for a few minutes in a large pot until they are tender, then add in a few tablespoons of the wine, a little less than a cup of stock, and a bag of mussels (usually they are 2-2.5 lbs) and cover for approximately 5 minutes (if you use a pan or a wok you only need 3 minutes, since there is more surface area). The mussels should have all opened up by now. Add in the cilantro and scallions, and enjoy! Next time I’m going to also use basil, because I love the way it interacts with cilantro, making the dish sweet and spicy. 

Portuguese Chouriço 
@ Alfama 
551 Hudson St.
New York, NY 

Alfama, which can easily be described as a cute little Portuguese restaurant tucked away in the corner of the West Village- holds a very special place in my heart, being at the center of my first date with my boyfriend. The blue and white prints on the Portuguese tiles really brighten up the place and give an air of authenticity to the meal -and all the cheeses and wines from the menu are specifically from Portugal. The modern twists on Portuguese cuisine was beautifully executed, and the special attention to seafood was my favorite part. While the menu often changes, the Mariscada Alfama ($32) -a stew of shrimp, clams, mussels, scallops AND lobster in a tomato and bell pepper broth is a must, and so savory. 

While our first experience at this restaurant in November of 2007 was wonderful, we revisited this place just a few months ago and the food came out terribly bland (honestly I have no idea if they switched chefs or not). The worst of it all was the Bacalhau Fresco ($24) which was made up of cod placed upon a Portuguese corn bread with onions, spinach and a cilantro coulis on top. This dish was dry, and in desperate need of salt or even a hot sauce. 

But the wide selection of cheeses and wines can win any epicurean over. São Jorge ($4) was a deliciously creamy semi soft cheese, while the Queijo da Serra ($8), and the Palhais ($4), goat cheese were equally good, especially with the crackers and fig jam that accompanied this dish (we ended up having the cheeses for dessert). But availability of all the cheeses varies each time, as the does the availability of the wines. The restaurant has had a knack for being out of the more inexpensive items on the menu. 

And before I forget, the Portuguese Chouriço is amazing. Doused with a vodka of some sort and cooked right in front you on a mini grill, we relished this appetizer to the last bite.

You can never be too disappointed with this place, as I am pretty sure Michael and I will be back here again at some point.