Iron Chef CSA
Jul. 27th, 2013 09:30 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
phiYesterday the Senator and the Scholar were over for one last dinner together before they move away to the deep south. I have Feelings about them leaving, of course, but no one reads a post titled "Iron Chef CSA" for ridiculous emo stream of consciousness, so let's move right along to the recipes.
I get my farm share at work Friday afternoons, so my plan was to improvise something once I saw what was in the distribution for the week. M had instructions to stop by the fishmonger on his way home from work to pick up whatever looked freshest, as well as the bakery to get a likely looking dessert. The heat wave broke this week, but I still wasn't in any kind of mood to turn on the oven. Without any coordination between us at all, M managed to pick key lime pie, which was a perfect compliment to what I came up with:
Coconut curry bass steaks
Dice the bulbs of a dozen (or however many to taste) spring onions and saute in butter or oil or whatever (I used olive oil) until golden.
Season to taste: I used ground coriander seed, red chili powder, ground ginger, salt, and black pepper. I would have used fresh ginger instead of powdered if I had any. Fry the spices until aromatic, about 30 seconds.
Add a can of coconut milk, all the fresh basil you can find (I had six enormous stalks of the stuff), and a diced green bell pepper. Or, you know, whatever herbs and vegetables you have lying around that sound like they'd taste good with coconut milk.
Bring to boil, reduce to simmer, and poach the fish steaks for seven minutes, or until cooked through.
Remove the fish, continue simmering the sauce until it's reduced to whatever consistency you want. Add a splash of lime juice right before removing from heat.
This was mostly a success, although the bell pepper cooked for too long and didn't have the bright fresh pepper taste I wanted. I think I also should have put the basil in at the very end instead of at the beginning, or at least, done it half and half. I bet kaffir lime leaves, galangal, lemongrass, and fresh coriander would all have contributed to the flavor, but I wasn't willing to go further afield than the bodega on the corner for additional ingredients.
Zeera Rice
This is so dead easy I can't believe how impressed people are by it.
Saute the bulbs of green onions, or regular onions, or whatever pungent lily you prefer, over medium heat, in butter or a mild flavored oil (olive oil is not a good choice) until golden.
Bring the temperature up and add whole zeera (cumin seeds). Fry the zeera until the seeds pop, about 30-60 seconds, then remove from heat immediately.
Prepare rice in whatever manner you usually cook rice, adding the above onion/zeera mixture to the cooking water at the beginning.
Strawberry Yuzu Vinaigrette
Blend two strawberries with a third cup of yuzu vinegar and two thirds of a cup high quality oil. Add salt and pepper (black, pink, white or all three) to taste.
This one I can't in all honesty call a success, although the Scholar and the Senator were very kind about it. I was directing M from across the kitchen, and wasn't paying a whole lot of attention to the salad dressing. I also thought I had eaten more of last week's strawberries during the week than I had, so when M said "Sweetie, are you sure you really want me to put all these strawberries in?" and I said "Yes, I'm sure, ow, dammit ow ow ow" as cumin seeds the temperature of boiling oil flew at my face, he took me at my word and made the dressing with about ten strawberries. The point is, we ended up with strawberry puree, lightly seasoned with vinegar, instead of a real vinaigrette.
It was still tasty, although perhaps better suited to a salad of arugula, frisée, and dandelion than the sweet baby lettuce I had. Anyway, I proved the theory that strawberries go well with yuzu vinegar, although the olive oil was a bit too overwhelming. I should try it again with sesame oil next time, or maybe walnut oil. The 2:1 oil:vinegar ratio was right, I think. The standard 3:1 ratio wouldn't have been tart enough to stand up to the sweetness of the strawberries, even if we had only used the two or so that I envisioned.
To round out the meal I blanched some green beans and tossed them with a head of sauted minced garlic.
I get my farm share at work Friday afternoons, so my plan was to improvise something once I saw what was in the distribution for the week. M had instructions to stop by the fishmonger on his way home from work to pick up whatever looked freshest, as well as the bakery to get a likely looking dessert. The heat wave broke this week, but I still wasn't in any kind of mood to turn on the oven. Without any coordination between us at all, M managed to pick key lime pie, which was a perfect compliment to what I came up with:
Coconut curry bass steaks
Dice the bulbs of a dozen (or however many to taste) spring onions and saute in butter or oil or whatever (I used olive oil) until golden.
Season to taste: I used ground coriander seed, red chili powder, ground ginger, salt, and black pepper. I would have used fresh ginger instead of powdered if I had any. Fry the spices until aromatic, about 30 seconds.
Add a can of coconut milk, all the fresh basil you can find (I had six enormous stalks of the stuff), and a diced green bell pepper. Or, you know, whatever herbs and vegetables you have lying around that sound like they'd taste good with coconut milk.
Bring to boil, reduce to simmer, and poach the fish steaks for seven minutes, or until cooked through.
Remove the fish, continue simmering the sauce until it's reduced to whatever consistency you want. Add a splash of lime juice right before removing from heat.
This was mostly a success, although the bell pepper cooked for too long and didn't have the bright fresh pepper taste I wanted. I think I also should have put the basil in at the very end instead of at the beginning, or at least, done it half and half. I bet kaffir lime leaves, galangal, lemongrass, and fresh coriander would all have contributed to the flavor, but I wasn't willing to go further afield than the bodega on the corner for additional ingredients.
Zeera Rice
This is so dead easy I can't believe how impressed people are by it.
Saute the bulbs of green onions, or regular onions, or whatever pungent lily you prefer, over medium heat, in butter or a mild flavored oil (olive oil is not a good choice) until golden.
Bring the temperature up and add whole zeera (cumin seeds). Fry the zeera until the seeds pop, about 30-60 seconds, then remove from heat immediately.
Prepare rice in whatever manner you usually cook rice, adding the above onion/zeera mixture to the cooking water at the beginning.
Strawberry Yuzu Vinaigrette
Blend two strawberries with a third cup of yuzu vinegar and two thirds of a cup high quality oil. Add salt and pepper (black, pink, white or all three) to taste.
This one I can't in all honesty call a success, although the Scholar and the Senator were very kind about it. I was directing M from across the kitchen, and wasn't paying a whole lot of attention to the salad dressing. I also thought I had eaten more of last week's strawberries during the week than I had, so when M said "Sweetie, are you sure you really want me to put all these strawberries in?" and I said "Yes, I'm sure, ow, dammit ow ow ow" as cumin seeds the temperature of boiling oil flew at my face, he took me at my word and made the dressing with about ten strawberries. The point is, we ended up with strawberry puree, lightly seasoned with vinegar, instead of a real vinaigrette.
It was still tasty, although perhaps better suited to a salad of arugula, frisée, and dandelion than the sweet baby lettuce I had. Anyway, I proved the theory that strawberries go well with yuzu vinegar, although the olive oil was a bit too overwhelming. I should try it again with sesame oil next time, or maybe walnut oil. The 2:1 oil:vinegar ratio was right, I think. The standard 3:1 ratio wouldn't have been tart enough to stand up to the sweetness of the strawberries, even if we had only used the two or so that I envisioned.
To round out the meal I blanched some green beans and tossed them with a head of sauted minced garlic.
