October 2011 – eats for one

Just about a year ago, Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant started a wine club and we joined. As part of the deal — two bottles of wine each month for $40 — with each shipment they include descriptions of the two wines and a recipe for one of the wines. The recipes are written by Christopher Lee, a former head chef of Chez Panisse and Eccolo in Berkeley.

Of those, I’ve cooked:

Salt Cod Gratin with 2010 Ajaccio Rose “Cuvee Faustine” from Domaine Abbatucci in Corsica (June)
Fish and Shell Bean Stew with Green Garlic and Saffron with 2009 Mataossu Punta Crena (Liguria) (March)
Coq au Vin with 2009 Bourgogne Rouge “en Montre Cul” Regis Bouvier (February)

The October shipment included 2009 Pigato, Feipu dei Massaretti, from Liguria and a recipe for Tuscan Pork Shoulder Braised in Milk. Hmmm… I’ve heard of pork braised in milk, but have never cooked it; I must cook that. The following Saturday I got a 2 1/4 pound pork butt (boneless pork shoulder) at GG Meat, and then on Friday, I got milk, fresh sage, extra garlic and a couple lemons — that’s all it takes, folks.

The recipe was written for a 4 to 5 pound hunk of meat, to serve 8. My pork butt was about half that, to serve we two and have some left over — there’s not many things better than leftover pork. The quantities of the other ingredients are relative to the size of the meat and the size of the pot it is cooked in.

So, here we go —

One day ahead of cooking, generously season pork on all sides with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

pmp_season_pork

I picked a pan in which my pork butt would just fit, because I’ll be using it throughout the several steps of the process. This is a Le Creuset pan I call a “chicken fryer,” which I rediscovered a few weeks ago.

pmp_brown_pork

Brown the pork on all sides. The fit was a bit tight to start, but I know the meat will shrink as it is browned. (There is also the advantage of browning the ends, which are up against the sides of the pan.) Continue reading →

…among others

We missed the Fish Club while we were traveling up north, but the next Saturday we were treated to albacore.

Anna, of SIREN SongSA wrote,

“WE HAVE ALBACORE and I am more popular than ever. I have been asking my fish plant and fishermen buddies what they like to do with crazy fresh albacore when they can get their hands on it. Nearly every person who answered started out with, “You cube it up, wrap it in bacon, then soak it in…” The … is the variable here. Wrap it in bacon is the rule. Duh.

We wrapped it, soaked it and grilled it and it was good. It would have been excellent, had I not overcooked it. On the next albacore, I’ll do it up proud and write about it, but the point of this story is about what I did with the wonderful fresh albacore that I didn’t wrap, soak and grill. That brings us to bouillabaisse.

Thanks to Brian and his Reno wedding, I have an easy and tasty go-to fish soup recipe.

Back in May 2010, Amanda Hesser wrote in the NYT Magazine about bouillabaisse. It was one of her “Recipe Redux” columns where she unearths an old recipe and asks a chef to suggest an updated version. When I got that issue, I couldn’t wait to try the updated 2010: Olive-Oil-Poached Cod With Saffron-Blood-Orange Nage, the “new fangled” version of the lead 1904 Bouillabaisse, and I did cook that.

olive oil poached cod with saffron blood orange nage

I might never have gotten around to the 1904 version but when we were at Brian’s for the Saturday wedding in Reno:

“The limo was to pick us up at three o’clock at the Vista Restaurant, a five minute drive away – Limos are not allowed to pick up at private residences – the morning was open for hair, nails, pick-up-the-cake and Brian’s list of errands.
Brian planned bouillabaisse for lunch Saturday. He said its so easy, he has it often. As it turned out, it was a “Recipe Redux” Amanda Hesser does in the New York Times Magazine from time to time. I had made the 2010 version: Olive Oil Poached Cod with Saffron Blood Orange Nage. Brian can’t do citrus, so his go-to is the 1904 Bouillabaisse. He pulled out the tattered, stained Magazine page and handed it to me. We went and got some fish for it and I walked back from Scolari’s Supermarket — It is possible to walk in Sparks — while Brian went off on his errands. I started prepping… time passed and nobody came back from their stuff. Little did I know I’d be cooking lunch alone in a strange kitchen with a deadline. Soup was great!”

What else would come to mind when I had lovely chunks of fish to use?

my unused chunk of albacore fillet, lovely

...cut into chunks for "souping"

In addition to the fish chunks, it takes scallops and shrimp — but only a few of each. Lucky for me, I can go to Whole Food and get six shrimp and four scallops, and I did.

six shrimp

four scallops

The first order of business is to make the broth. That’s a matter of assembling and cooking olive oil, tomatoes, thinly sliced onion, thinly sliced carrot, saffron, a bay leaf, sprigs of parsley and cloves of garlic.

broth for the bouillabaisse cooking to the goodness stage

Once that’s all cooked until everything melts into goodness, add fish broth and wine and bring to a boil.

wine and broth added, ready for the fish and seafood

Now, you can add the fish or turn it off and wait for dinnertime.

When you come back to your broth, reheat, add the fish and cook for about 5 minutes until its done.

fish and seafood further cut into bite-sized pieces

1904 bouillabaisse served

This is not such a far cry from the Bouillabaisse Mark Bittman expounded upon in his NY Times blog in 2009, adapting Julia Child’s Bouillabaisse to his Long Island sensibilities. That one I did make and write about.

So I guess — after all that — my point is: If you’ve got a great piece of fish, make a bouillabaisse; it’s not hard, and you’ll thank me for reminding you. Continue reading →