theme: Ingredient Grab-Bag

Posted on » by Ashley » Theme:

Salmon Gravlaks with Cucumber Jelly

Arctic Char Gravlaks with Cucumber Jelly
Gourmet August 2005

Yield: Makes 6 first-course servings
Active time: 30 min
Total time: 1 1/2 days (includes curing fish)

Gravlaks — fish cured with salt, sugar, and dill — is usually made with salmon, but we like the milder flavor of arctic char for this particular dish.

Keep in mind before starting to cure your fish that you will need to turn it every 12 hours for a total of 36 hours.
ingredients

For gravlaks
1 (1 1/4-lb) center-cut piece arctic char fillet with skin, pin bones removed
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup kosher salt
1 tablespoon coarsely ground black pepper
3 cups coarsely chopped fresh dill (from 2 large bunches)

For cucumber jelly
3 seedless cucumbers (usually plastic-wrapped; 3 lb total)
3/4 teaspoon table salt
2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin (from 1 envelope)
1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar
1 tablespoon tiny fresh dill fronds
Accompaniment: thin Scandinavian crispbread such as Kavli

Make gravlaks:
Pat fish dry, then transfer, skin side up, to a large sheet of plastic wrap. Stir together sugar, salt, and pepper, then rub 3 tablespoons of mixture onto skin of fish. Turn fish over and thickly coat with remaining sugar mixture, then pack dill on top.
Wrap fish tightly in 2 or 3 layers of plastic wrap (to prevent leakage; salt mixture will liquefy as fish cures) and transfer to a large shallow baking pan. Put another baking pan or a cutting board on top of fish and weight down with 3 or 4 full cans (about 3 lb total). Let fish cure, chilled, turning wrapped fillet over roughly every 12 hours and then replacing weight, for 36 hours total.

Make jelly while fish is curing:
Peel cucumbers, making sure to remove all green (for a clearer jelly), then halve lengthwise and core. Coarsely chop cucumbers and purée in a food processor until smooth, then drain in a large fine-mesh sieve set over a bowl, pressing hard on solids to extract 2 cups liquid. Discard solids.
Stir together salt and 1/2 cup cucumber liquid in a small saucepan and sprinkle with gelatin. Let stand 1 minute to soften, then heat over moderate heat, stirring, just until gelatin is dissolved, about 2 minutes. Cool mixture to room temperature, then stir into remaining 1 1/2 cups cucumber liquid along with vinegar. Pour mixture into an 8-inch square glass baking dish and sprinkle with dill fronds, pressing gently to submerge. Chill, covered, until set, at least 8 hours.

To serve:
Unwrap gravlaks, discarding liquid, and gently scrape off dill. Transfer gravlaks, skin side down, to a cutting board. Holding a very sharp long thin-bladed knife at a 30-degree angle, cut gravlaks across the grain into very thin slices, being careful not to cut through skin. Discard skin.
Cut jelly into 6 pieces and divide among 6 plates with a metal spatula. Serve with several slices of gravlaks.

Cooks’ notes:
• Cured gravlaks can be drained, scraped, and wrapped in clean plastic wrap, then chilled up to 5 days.
• Jelly can be chilled up to 4 days

Posted on » by Ashley » Theme:

Beef Rendang

Beef Rendang
BBC Food

A rich South-East Asian curry made with coconut milk and melting tender beef. Serve with jasmine rice and steamed greens.

Less than 30 mins preparation time
Over 2 hours cooking time
Serves 6

2 lemongrass stalks, dry outer leaves removed, roughly chopped
3 medium-sized red onions, quartered
6 garlic cloves, peeled
25g/1oz fresh root ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
75g/2½oz chunk galangal, peeled and roughly chopped
3 plump red chillies, roughly chopped without deseeding
3 tbsp sunflower oil
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tbsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground turmeric
1.5kg/3lb 5oz beef chuck steak (or any good braising beef), trimmed and cut into 3cm/1¼in cubes
400ml/14fl oz can coconut milk
4 fresh kaffir lime leaves
1 cinnamon stick
1 tbsp soft light brown sugar or palm sugar
2 tsp tamarind paste or freshly squeezed juice of 1 lime
2 tbsp dark soy sauce
2 tsp flaked sea salt, plus extra to season
ground black pepper
toasted coconut flakes, to serve (optional)

In a food processor combine the lemongrass, onions, garlic, ginger, galangal and chillies. Blend to a fine paste (you may need to remove the lid and push the mixture down a couple of times with spatula until the right consistency is reached).

Heat the sunflower oil in a large flame-proof casserole and fry the paste gently for 3-4 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the cumin, coriander and turmeric and cook for two minutes.

Add the beef to the pan and stir to coat in the paste and spices. Cook for five minutes, stirring constantly until the meat is very lightly coloured all over. Pour the coconut milk and 400ml/14fl oz cold water into the casserole. Add the lime leaves, cinnamon stick, sugar, tamarind paste or lime juice, soy sauce and salt and bring to a simmer.

Reduce the heat and leave to gently simmer uncovered for about 2½-3 hours, or until the meat is meltingly tender and the sauce is very thick, glossy and rich. Stir the beef occasionally towards the beginning of the cooking time then more often as the coconut milk reduces. You don’t want the sauce to stick. Season to taste with more salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Spoon the curry into warm serving dishes, pick out the kaffir lime leaves and cinnamon stick, and sprinkle with the toasted coconut, if using.

Posted on » by Dana & Nancy » Theme:

Goat Cheese Risotto

 

Recipe from: http://rosanaskitchen.blogspot.com/2007/10/goat-cheese-risotto.html

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 cups chopped onions
2 cloves garlic, chopped (or minced)
1 cup of arborio rice
A little olive oil
4 cups of heated chicken stock
1 package of chevre  goat cheese (approx. 4-6 ounces)
Fresh grated Parmesan cheese
Salt
Pepper

Directions:
1. Melt the butter in a medium pot.  Drop in the onions and cook slow and low, as if you were making French onion soup.  This normally takes about 30 minutes, with a little stirring here and there.  You want the onions to go golden and soft slowly.  There will be bits that caramelize.
2. Raise the heat a little and throw in the garlic.  Let that cook a minute or two, then add the rice.  Pour a little olive oil on the rice and stir, until it gets shiny.  Add salt and pepper to taste.
3. Add about two cups of chicken stock and stir.  Lower the heat.  Pay attention to it!  I’m not of the “stir risotto constantly” school of thought, but you do need to stir it fairly often.
4. When the liquid comes to the “shoulders” of the rice (an expression I heard Mario Batali use on Molto Mario), add another cup of stock.  Repeat.  If the risotto is still not tender after you’ve used up your stock, you can always add water.  I find that overdoing the stock overdoes the flavor of the stock in your risotto.
5. Once the risotto is creamy and cooked to taste, cut up the goat cheese and stir the risotto until it melts.  Add a few tablespoons of fresh grated Parmesan cheese.  Don’t put in too much Parmesan, because the real star is the goat cheese.  Now taste and add a little salt and pepper accordingly.  Eat warm and gooey.