Recipe Recap

I’ve been receiving a lot of requests lately to post the recipes from my STK evening with Grace Boyle and Co., likely because the photos that Grace and Jodi Dey took made the food look so tasty. So without further procrastination on my part, below you will find the recipes (or approximates) of how to recreate the following dishes.

*** I say approximates as this dinner was concocted over a month ago, and well…….I don’t usually write recipes down. These attempts at written recipes  will give you a tasty rendition that may or may not be close to the actual original recipe but will nonetheless be yummy. (that’s the beauty of improvisational cooking)

Seared Cod in Strawberry Beurre Blanc                

Ginger and Siracha Beef Skewers atop Toasted Sesame Greens

 “Moroccanesque” Quinoa “Cous Cous” with Caramelized Peaches, Raisins, Apples, and Roasted Spring Veggies 

Blue Cornmeal Encrusted Tofu with Spicy Southwestern Red Pepper Coulis

Seared Cod in Strawberry Beurre Blanc:

I was inspired to create this recipe from the abundance of fresh strawberries in Grace’s refrigerator. I had initially had been told there would be 8 people including me and my assistant. Magically that number had risen to 12 by the time we arrived. I chose to create 4 very separate dishes as there wasn’t an abundance of any 1 protein to choose from for a centerpiece.

From the two frozen hunks of cod left in the freezer, this French inspired dish was born. If you want to create this at home, fresh fish would obviously be preferred. I can also say Halibut would be divine with this preparation, or any other firm white fish.

2 frozen hunks of cod (substitute proper delicious filets of firm white fish here) 

Salt

Pepper

Soft Unsalted Creamery Butter (sounds fancier with the word Creamery, doesn’t it?)

 10 Washed, Sliced Fresh Strawberries

 1/4 C  Sweet White Wine (found 1 opened bottle of dessert wine) you can use Riesling

 4 T Chopped Shallots

 

In a blender, puree the sliced strawberries with a bit of wine. Use enough wine to get the blender moving so you can macerate the berries. If the berries are sweet, do nothing. If they could use some help add a hint of sweetness from sugar, honey, agave. If the wine is sweet enough do nothing.  Add a shake or two of salt.

In a pan, saute the finely chopped shallots in a dallop of butter until translucent. Add a bit of wine and reduce the liquid until it is almost dry, but don’t burn the shallots. To the pan add the strawberry puree. When simmering, whisk in dollops of room temperature butter a small bit at a time so that the sauce becomes emulsified. Be careful not to add butter too quickly as sauce will break and separate.

In a separate saute pan, pour a bit of neutral flavored oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Salt and pepper each side of your fish and sear it in the hot pan. Don’t overcook your fish. Cook only until the translucent flesh becomes opaque.

Spoon the Strawberry Beurre Blanc over your fish and serve. Garnish with fresh strawberries.  (technically this sauce can be called a Beurre Rouge or Beurre Rose, since it’s red or pink and not white, but I used white wine, so I went with that instead)

Ginger and Siracha Beef Skewers atop Toasted Sesame Greens

Soaked Wooden Skewers

 20 Strips of Beef ( Ideally, I would use top or bottom round, or sirloin)

3T Toasted Sesame Oil for marinade, 2T for salad

 1T Siracha

 2T Ginger

 2T Garlic

3T Scallion

Peanut Oil enough to coat the bottom of the pan to sear the meat

2T Rice Wine Vinegar

Salt

Pepper

Sesame Seeds (toast quickly in a hot pan for color and flavor)

Mixed Greens

Tomatoes

I adore toasted sesame oil! I’d wrestle someone in a vat of it if  I didn’t think it would be a huge waste of toasted sesame oil.

In this dish I let the flavor of the beef enhanced by the aroma and flavor of the oil be the focus.

Soak the wood skewers in water to prevent them from burning. Once drenched, thread your pieces of been securely onto the skewers. In a bowl mix chopped scallions, fresh chopped ginger, chopped garlic, salt, pepper, siracha, and sesame oil. Pour mixture over skewers and allow to marinate at least 30 minutes, up to 4 hours.  You can grill these on a hot grill outside, but since Grace had no grill, and it was a mere 94 degrees out with no air-conditioning or good ventilation in her apartment, I thought it a splendid idea to sear these suckers right on her stovetop in a cast iron pan. I cleared the kitchen out in less than 2 minutes, but the vegetarians were eating the beef, so it must have been worth the short bout of smoke inhalation. Don’t over cook the beef. Serve these tasty tidbits medium rare if you dare.

Toss a quicky salad by adding mixed greens to a bowl with rice wine vinegar, salt, pepper and you guessed it, toasted sesame oil. Just enough to coat the greens. Slice some tomatoes for garnish and sprinkle beef with the toasted sesame seeds. Serve the skewers on top of the salad.

 “Moroccanesque” Quinoa “Cous Cous” with Caramelized Peaches, Raisins, Apples, and Roasted Spring Veggies 

Every once and a while  when tinkering in the kitchen you strike recipe gold. This is one of those recipes. Since creating it in Grace’s kitchen, I have recreated it several times. It’s a very versatile dish that can stand an addition of goat cheese, or even diced grilled chicken. It can be a side dish, main course or a salad. I highly suggest adding this one to your recipe arsenal. I made what I thought would be enough for 20 people at Grace’s and ended up having to eat the demo plate as it was all gone by the time I grabbed a fork!

Black Quinoa ( you can use amaranth, regular quinoa, rice, or other grain of choice)

1 bunch Asparagus

 1 bunch Broccoli Crowns

 2 med Zucchini

1 Can Peaches

2 Granny Smith Apples

2 Lemons

2 c Raisins

Olive Oil

1/2 c Scallions

Garlic

Salt

Pepper

Cook your quinoa in stock or water. Cool. On a sheet pan roast sliced zucchini, broccoli (just the crowns no stem), and asparagus (cut into 1 inch pieces) by coating in olive oil, salt and pepper and putting into a hot 450 degree oven until caramelized.

Add the veggies to the quinoa. Drain your canned peaches, reserve the liquid. Heat the liquid in a pot and add your raisins to plump. Dry the peaches and then sear them in a hot pan with a bit of olive oil until caramelized. Chop and add to mixture with raisins and remaining reduced peach juice. Add garlic, Salt, pepper and chopped scallions. Squeeze fresh lemon juice onto chopped granny smith apples that have been peeled and diced so that they don’t brown. Squeeze the rest of the lemon juice into mixture and liberally add evoo until quinoa has a nice sheen to it.  Chill, serve!

Blue Cornmeal Encrusted Tofu with Spicy Southwestern Red Pepper Coulis

As good as the Quinoa dish was, this tofu dish was easily my favorite of the night. I only wish I had time to marinate the tofu rather than just rely on the delicious coulis to add the majority of the flavor. If I were to recreate it or tell you how to make it, I would say you should marinate your tofu for a few hours in cumin, chili powder, salt, pepper, garlic, lime and olive oil. The night of STK, I didn’t have the luxury of time or pre-planning to do that, but DO THAT! if you wish to make this dish, you’ll thank me 😉

Almost empty bag of blue corn chips (or 1/2 bag)

 3 Eggs

2 c Corn Flour (finely ground corn meal, try Bob’s Red Mill)

Salt

Pepper

1 T Cumin for breading, 2T for sauce

1 T Chili Powder for breading, 2T for sauce

Olive Oil

Lime

1 Jar Roasted Red Peppers

1/2 Cup Mayo

1/2 Cup Heavy Cream

1 Jalapeno

2 ClovesGarlic

 Cilantro to taste

hot sauce  to taste

2 T Sun Dried Tomato Paste

Scallions

If you’ve been marinating your tofu like good young RCOM Jedi’s, remove your tofu from the marinade and press out extra liquid by weighing down tofu that has been laid out on paper towels between heavy stacks of plates. 

Once most of the liquid is expelled from the tofu, set up a breading station.

In a food processor puree the corn chips with cumin, salt, pepper, chili powder to make a breading. it should be the consistency of coarse sand.

Whip up some egg wash by scrambling 3 eggs with a bit of water. Dredge the slices of tofu first in the corn flour that has been seasoned with salt and pepper. When coated, dip the tofu in the egg and then into the blue corn breading. On an olive oiled sheet pan place the tofu. Repeat until all your tofu is breaded. Put pan in a hot 450 degree oven for 8-10 minutes. Flip tofu and cook an additional 8-10 minutes until each side is slightly browned and crispy. 

While cooking, make your Coulis. In a blender puree roasted red peppers, sun dried tomatoes, cumin, cilantro, garlic, jalapeno, mayonnaise, heavy cream, lime and hot sauce together to form a thick sauce. Taste and adjust with salt and pepper to taste.

To serve, arrange your tofu in a pretty pattern, top with

 generous amount of Red Pepper Coulis. Garnish with Green Onions and a squeeze of lime.

 

Shopping Tip:

Take a quick trip to your local Asian Market. Here you will find TOASTED SESAME OIL as well as many other interesting items you can and will use to make your food experiments sing. Often I find items like TOASTED SESAME OIL for 1/4 the price than your gourmet food store. It’s worth an extra trip!