To Catch a Cook

Buttermilk Fried Shrimp with Homemade Coleslaw

Dag nabit, I hate it when FreshDirect doesn’t deliver the main ingredient for my recipe.  I was going to try frying soft shell crab for the fist time, but my grocery delivery ran out at the last minute.  So in a pinch (pun intended), I ran up to the local Union Market and bought shrimp instead.  The preparation was simple: I peeled and deveined the shrimp (leaving tails on), and soaked them in buttermilk.  In a gallon ziplock I mixed 3/4 cup flour, 1/4 cup cornmeal, 1 tsp baking powder, and a little salt, pepper, paprika and cayenne.  The shrimp gets tossed in the flour and fried in a shallow pan of canola oil (about 2 minutes per side).  I served it with a simple coleslaw of homemade mayo, creme fraiche, shredded cabbage and carrot.  Not a shabby stand-in for the dinner I thought I was making.

Tip: Homemade mayonnaise. This is much easier than I thought.  Mine came out a little runny, but it worked just fine in coleslaw.  All you do is drop an egg in a blender with about 1/4 cup of oil, 2 tsp of lemon juice and some seasoning (dry mustard, salt, pepper). Turn the blender on and slowly add the oil (you can add faster as more is absorbed).  In total, you don’t want to add more than 3/4 cup of oil per egg and the whole process should take about 4 minutes.

Tofu Stir-Fry

This should be a simple dish, but somehow I kept messing it up this evening.  First time around I cut the tofu too thick and had too much oil in the pan.  The result was a sputtering mess that didn’t brown properly.  Lesson learned: to ensure tofu success I need to slice it thin, press out the water, rub just a little oil into a non-stick or cast iron pan, and fry until golden.  Once the tofu was done I set it aside and went to stir-fry some veggies (broccoli, red and yellow mini peppers, a carrot and mushrooms), a chunk of ginger, and 3 cloves of garlic in vegetable oil.  Unfortunately, I realized that I’d run out of soy sauce (I use low-sodium, gluten free), so my husband had to make a quick dash to Union Market to save me.  I mixed the soy sauce with some red chili sauce and a couple of teaspoons of flour (to thicken).  The soy sauce mix went over the veggies and cooked a minute longer until the sauce thickened and veggies were tender.  The reward for perseverance was a delicious, cheap and healthy veggie dinner.

Tip: Storing Ginger. I never use more than a little nub of ginger at a time.  But it’s sold in big gnarly chunks that kept dying in my fridge before they found their way to a pan.  I discovered the solution while listening to Splendid Table late last fall.  They suggested peeling ginger, chopping it into useable chunks, and storing it in a jar of vodka in the fridge.  I’ve heard you can freeze it too, but I like the vodka method since it’s easy to chop straight from the jar.  The vodka flavor cooks off when you’re stir-frying.  As a bonus, you get ginger flavored vodka to splash into your drinks.

Simple Pan to Broiler Salmon

My husband got this nice piece of salmon from Union Market this evening.  I’m a bit of a purist when it comes to salmon.  I think a good piece of fish is best served with salt, a squeeze of lemon, and not much else.  So that’s what I did here.  I salted the salmon and let it come to room temp while I prepared other ingredients: tossing chopped asparagus in balsamic and olive oil and reheating some pre-roasted potato wedges in an oiled pan on the stove.  The asparagus went under the broiler while the salmon went skin side down into a hot cast iron pan on the stove.  I let the salmon cook on the stove for 3-4 minutes before transferring it to the broiler to cook for another 3-4 minutes.  Cooking time will depend on the thickness of the salmon.  When it was done the outer flesh was just barely crispy from the direct heat (almost as if it had been grilled).  I sprinkled on a little more salt and a good douse of lemon and served with the broiled asparagus and potatoes.

Fennel Steamed John Dory

I don’t post many original recipes here.  But I wanted to make a steamed white fish for supper (the John Dory at Union Market looked good), and I just couldn’t find a recipe I liked.  So here’s my recipe for one serving (scale to your needs):

1 filet John Dory or other flavorful white fish
1 carrot (diced)
1 clove garlic
1/8 bulb fennel (cut in quarters, then thinly sliced)
1/2 T butter
pinch of fennel seeds
1/2 c dry white wine
salt and pepper to taste
smoked paprika for garnish (optional)

Sauté the carrot, fennel, fennel seeds and garlic in butter over low heat.  Cover and stir occasionally until the vegetables begin to brown.  Deglaze with a little water.  Salt and pepper the fish and roll it up tail first.  Add the wine to the pan and place the fish on top.  Cover and cook for 10 minutes or until the fish is cooked.  Garnish with smoked paprika.  I served this with rice and a green salad.

Snow Storm Oysters

It snowed in NYC last weekend - the first snow of the year.  I could hear neighbor children playing outside, reveling in the opportunity to make a snow angel.  I was excited, too.  I sent my husband to Union Market.  He came back with a dozen Kusshi Oysters.  The snow made the creating a serving plate easy: I just filled a cake pan with clean snow.  I put the plate of snow in the fridge and popped in the oysters as I opened each (make sure you have a blunt oyster knife).  I made a simple mignonette, but we discovered that the oysters tasted best with just a little lemon and horseradish.  I followed oysters with some leftover monkfish soup, which made for a delicious snowy day dinner.