Once back, I’ll post some recipes for my latest project, using whole wild river salmon to make several varied meals (from grilled steaks to dumplings in a salmon broth). For now, here is a simple recipe that features grill seared albacore tuna with a simple summer tomato salad and some grilled fennel bulbs. The tuna recipe is adapted from the wonderful grilling cookbook Fish and Shellfish Grilled and Smoked. The recipe couldn’t be easier, the remoulade is the most time consuming part, and it takes all of five minutes to prepare.

First, marinate the tuna inside a plastic bag with the following: olive oil, bay leaf, tarragon vinegar and a generous amount of freshly cracked coarse ground pepper and a bit of sel gris. Refrigerate the fish for a few hours. Next, prepare the remoulade.

Remoulade
2 Tbs. fresh parsley, minced
1 Tbs. minced onion
2 hard boiled egg yolks
2 tsp. anchovy paste
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 large egg
1 c. olive oil
small handful of capers, drained
juice of 1 lemon, to taste

In a food processor, puree the first six ingredients and then slowly add in the olive oil to create a thick and creamy consistency. Remove the mixture to a small bowl and add the lemon juice. Fold in capers and refrigerate until ready to serve.

The tuna should be seared over a hot fire, I prefer to use an indirect method to avoid charring the fish too much. For the large pieces pictured, I grilled the steaks (which were about 2 1/2 in. thick, uncooked!) for about 4 minutes on one side and then another 2-3 minutes on the other. The result was a juicy steak throughout, with a flaky exterior and a rare center portion. Don’t overcook these!

The side salad consisted of some diced beefsteak tomatoes dressed with a little olive oil and tarragon viegar, tossed with some fresh thyme and parsley and finished off with a bit of fresh ground salt and pepper. The quartered fennel bulbs were tossed in olive oil and grilled until slightly charred.

Tags: recipe, seafood, tuna, provencal, remoulade, JP Oliva

Originating in Bavaria, but finding a permanent and loving new world home in Philadelphia, PA (Philly foods may be the only thing that Philadelphians can love unconditionally.. looking at you Flyers!), the prefect soft preztel has a chewy, stretchy outer skin and a delicious softer, but still chewy interior. The warm pretzels fresh out of the oven have a special smell all there own (owing to the unique pretzel skin, but I get ahead of myself..), that has the power to bring you right back to the last time you had a great Philly Pretzel the way that only smells can.

There are a few secrets to the soft pretzel that Philadelphian bakers seem to guard rather over-zealously. When the irresistible urge to eat a real soft pretzel began to take hold, I scoured the internets for an authentic recipe and found a lot of b.s. and more than a few nasty Philadelphians with an attitude about giving out there secret family recipes (as a humorous example, see here, for some good ole’ fashion Philly attitude and banter). BAH! Several weeks later, I managed to cull the creme of the crop from all the rest of the non-sense out there, and, this recipe is the result. It comes mostly unmodified from this German food blog. I will update this page as I make refinements, but these are a very faithful representation of what I was looking for.

Other important sources of information to study include these treatises on European flour types and their U.S. equivalents, here and here. Additional info for this recipe can be found on this blog (a slightly simplified translation of the Chili and Ciabatta page). Much additional interesting background and discussion on soft pretzels is out there, but readers should be assured that the info presented here is what you are after, and are strongly encouraged to disregard any talk of eggs, egg wash, milk, etc., as these are part of the dis-information campaign being waged on the internets by those who would keep the pretzel secrets among the baking cognoscenti.

The recipe itself is quite easy, and simple to follow, but time consuming. You do need a kitchen scale. If you aren’t striving for pretzel trancendency and want to make something approching authentic without the mutli-day steps or acid-base chemistry, then go here. Otherwise, read on.

Soft Pretzels

Pâte fermentée

144g white bread flour
95 mL water
2.8g salt
Pinch of active dry yeast

Kneed everything together, cover and let rise for 12-16h at about 70F.

580g white bread flour
1.5 c. water
12g salt
6g active dry yeast
36g soft butter
10g barley malt syrup
Pâte fermentée

Mix everything together except the Pâte fermentée, and using a dough hook, knead for three minutes in a large stand mixer. Now add the Pâte fermentée in chunks and continue to kneed for five minutes. Let rise for an hour in a covered, slightly greased bowl, at 70F. Fold the dough and let rise for another hour (directions here).

Using a dough cutter, divide the dough mixture into 16 portions, and roll each portion out into ropes of about 20-24 inches in length. This is a somewhat sticky dough, so use a floured work surface and dust the pieces with flour as needed to keep the dough from sticking. The shape of these lengths are not uniform, but should have a thick middle section (this will form the ‘belly’ of the pretzel), thinner outer sections and slightly fatter ends. I found it easiest to first work the glutenous dough into eight inch sections in my hands, then grasp the ends and thump the middle section onto my floured work surface while simultaneously stretching the dough. Finally, form the pretzels on a floured baking sheet (check You Tube for videos on mastering this step, it isn’t really as hard as it looks), cover with a linen cloth and let rise for 45 minutes to one hour (you looking for a doubling in size, so leave some room around each!). After the pretzels have risen, cool in the fridge for 30 minutes to allow for the next step without creating a messy disaster. Preheat your oven and a large, heavy ceramic baking stone placed on the bottom rack, to 450F.

Lye Bath*:
5 1/2 c. cold water
50g Food Grade NaOH*

Warning: Use ONLY glass, ceramic or stainless steel bakeware and utensils from this point on, the basic NaOH solution will eat through aluminum, your skin, etc.,. Use caution, protective eye wear, gloves and common sense*.

Slowly stir the NaOH into the cold water until fully dissolved. Using a large spatula (stainless barbecue utensils work great), immerse each Pretzel into the solution for 5 seconds. The Pretzel skin will puff slightly. Transfer each pretzel onto the hot baking stone (if it is not HOT, they will stick), and using a sharp knife, make an incision along the belly of the Pretzel. Sprinkle each Pretzel with the pretzel salt and bake for 8-10 minutes until golden brown and approximately doubled in size. If you don’t use a baking stone, you may need to increase the baking time to 15 minutes.

*Provided for informational purposes only. I am in no way encouraging you to use NaOH, and take no responsibility for the outcome should anyone choose to attempt this recipe. If you have never handled caustic chemicals before, you should take an introductory chemistry class at your local community college to learn safe handling procedures!

Dumplings

1 pkg. Square Wonton wrappers (about 20)
1 lb. shrimp, shelled and minced (shells reserved)
1 egg. white
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbs. fresh mint leaves, finely chopped
1/2 tsp. salt
1 Tbs. chive oil
2 sm. shallots, minced

For the dumplings, just mix the ingredients together in a bowl to make a chunky paste filling. Spoon about 1 Tbs. of the filling into the center of each Wonton wrapper and pinch the four corners together. Pinch the resulting other four folds of the wrapper shut, and fold them in on two sides of the dumpling like you are wrapping a present. Dust the bottom of each dumpling with a bit of starch and refrigerate until ready to cook.

Broth

1/4 c. grapeseed oil
6 cloves garlic, minced
4 shallots, minced
2 Thai red chilies, seeded and minced
6 c. water
2 stalks lemon grass, peeled, chopped diagonally and bruised
6 Tbs. fish sauce
4 tsp. raw sugar
3 Kaffir lime leaves, slivered
2 green onions, whites and greens seperated

few handfuls of broccoli florets
3 carrots, slivered diagonally

In a small skillet, heat the oil through on a low flame and slowly simmer the garlic, shallots and chilies to infuse the oil with their flavors. Next add the reserved shrimp shells and gently fry these until they turn pink. Transfer the shells to a large stock pot with the cooking liquid and simmer. For this particular batch, I had the backbone of a Copper River Salmon in the fridge that I had filleted the day before, so I began by boiling that down along with the shrimp shells for about 30 minutes to make the initial stock.

Once you’ve got the stock made, strain out the shells and fish bones and add in the lemongrass. Return to a boil and then cook, covered on low heat, for about 20 minutes. Strain out the lemon grass and add the oil/garlic/shallot/chilies infusion, along with the fish sauce, sugar and kaffir lime leaves and cook covered and bring to a boil.

Separately, blanch or steam the broccoli florets and slivered carrots and quickly shock and set aside.

Add the dumplings into the boiling broth, along with the white parts of the onions. Cook the dumplings until they begin to float, no more than 2-4 minutes. Remove from heat. Divide the broccoli and carrots between two large bowls and ladel the broth and dumplings over top. Add the cilantro springs and green parts of the onion on top and serve.

Layer some sushi rice in the bottom of a bowl (For chirashi, I like to mix a small amount of minced Shiso [Perilla] leaf into the rice) and layer your ingredients on top. Well made sushi rice is the cornerstone here, so take time to properly prepare your japanese short-grain rice as follows:

Rinse several times, followed by a minimum of 30 minutes soaking time. Depending on your rice, use 1:1 rice to water (a scant amount more water for US grown varieties) and cook covered over med. high heat until the water boils, then reduce heat to low for 10 minutes and then allow the rice to rest, still covered for an additional 10 minutes before dressing.

For the dressing, use an aproximately 4:2:1 ratio of rice vinegar, sugar and salt, adjusting the ratio to your taste. ‘Cut’ the rice (I use a chopstick for smaller quantities) as you apply the dressing (proper technique also demands a second person to fan the rice as you do this step- just blow on it). Allow the rice to cool before use.

Once you have the rice down, layer your ingredients. For my chirashi I used (clockwise from top), julienned cucumber, spicy radish sprouts, sweet soy cooked shitake, butterflied shrimp, salmon, tamago, albacore tataki, hamachi, perilla leaf and mirin cooked lotus root slices.

Fortunately for me, I’m a short distance from Uwajimaya, but if you have trouble finding sashimi quality fillets in your area, check out the mail order service available from Catalina Offshore Products.

Tags: sushi, chirashi, sashimi, JP Oliva

Tortilla Española

five or six medium sized gold potatoes, peeled and sliced into 1/8″ rounds
1/2 c. olive oil
1/2 c. yellow onion, diced
4 large galic cloves, minced
5 large eggs, beaten until fluffy

Rinse the potato slices carefully in a colander to remove the surface starch, then salt generously, tossing to coat. Let stand for five minutes, then shake out the excess water.

In a 10″ cast iron skillet, heat the oil over med high heat, then add the potato slices one by one to individually coat each with the oil. Reduce the heat to med and cook 5-10 minutes, carefully flipping the potatoes as you go so they cook evenly. Add in the onion and garlic and cook a few more minutes to soften, then remove the mixture, drain, and toss with the beaten eggs to coat.

Pour the potato and egg mixture back into your hot skillet (add a teaspoon of oil if necessary), and cook the omelette, covered, for five to seven minutes or until mostly set. Now flip the omelette. First loosen around the edges with a knife, then using a large plate, carefully remove the omlette by inverting the skillet onto the your plate. Add a scant amount of oil back to the skillet and slide the omelette back in, uncooked side down. Cook an additional three to five minutes and remove as before. Let cool before slicing. Garnish individual slices with a bit of coarse ground sea salt.

Tags: tapas, tortilla espanola, JP Oliva

The deliciousness is prepared by removing and cracking the legs and quartering the cleaned crab bodies which are then prepared in a large skillet in the Spanish tapas style of gambas al ajillo. The basic recipe is outlined here, but the addition of the flavorful juices from the crab shells kicks this adaptation over the top on a scale of one-to-yum.

The delicious cornbread and roasted root vegetable accompaniment was contributed by our Arizona friend Dustin, adapted from a Bon Appetite recipe that provided a perfect backdrop for our succulent, buttery ocean gold. While a bit time consuming in its preparation, this stuffing is eminently worth the effort and perfectly suited for this seafood feast.

Dungeness al ajillo

4 large, boiled dungeness crabs, cleaned and juices reserved
2. c of olive oil
1 large head of garlic, finely minced
1/2 c. of parsley, finely chopped
1/2 c. fresh squeezed lemon juice

First prepare the crabs as noted above, reserving the juices from the shell as you clean. Strain the reserved juice and set aside (4 crabs yielded me about 1 c. of juice).

Heat the olive oil on med high heat, and toss in the crab parts and garlic. Cook through on a simmer for about 10 minutes, turning often (don’t allow to fry!). Add in the lemon juice and reserved crab juices, season with salt and pepper, and cook an additional five minutes, or until liquid reduces by about half and the sauce begins to thicken. Finally, toss the whole mixture with the parsley, plate atop a mound of the cornbread stuffing, and spoon some of the crab-laden sauce over the top of each plate.

Green Chile Gumbo (Makes 8 quarts!)

Soak overnight:
1 c. black beans, dry
1 c. cannellini beans, dry
1 c. red beans, dry

Roux
3/4 c. olive oil
2 Tbs. butter
3/4 c. all-purpose flour
3 Tbs. powdered green chile (optional)

2 qt. stock (vegetable, chicken, ect.)
1 lg. sweet onion, med. chop
1/2 head of garlic, diced
1 whole head roasted garlic
1 lg. zucchini, diced
2 lg. carrots, quartered lengthwise, then chopped
4 med. potatoes, peeled & diced
2 ears fresh corn (cut off the cob)
1 lb. hot New Mexico green chile (2 lbs. if not using the powdered chile in Roux)
2 Tbs. coarse brown mustard
1 Tbs. tomato paste

1 Tbs. smoked paprika, sweet
3 Tbs. cumin
1-2 tsp fresh coarse ground black pepper
brown sugar, to taste
salt, to taste
1 Tbs. filé powder

3 Tbs. chopped fresh cilantro
3 Tbs. chopped fresh oregano

Start by adding the oil to a heavy bottom 8-quart stock pot and saute the garlic and onions until soft and carmelized. Now begin incorporating the flour a bit at a time. Continue to cook the roux until you have achieved a light nut brown color and taste. Add the optional green chile powder at this point.

Begin to add the cold stock, a bit at a time, stirring constantly as the roux thickens. Next add the beans and water as necessary to thin the base. Once the beans are mostly cooked, add the potatoes, carrots & corn and continue to simmer until the veggies are all cooked but still crisp. Stir in the chopped green chile, tomato paste, mustard, cumin and paprika and continue to simmer. Top with enough liquid to fill the remainder of the stock pot. If the stew thins too much, use the cooking liquid as the base for an additional roux infusion in a seperate pot, and add the new roux back to the simmering gumbo.

Once the beans are entirely cooked season the stew with salt, pepper and filé powder, then stir in the herbs and remove from heat. Serves many.

Tags: Green Chile, New Mexico, Green Chile Stew, Gumbo

What’s that you say? I must be crazy to attempt carbonara without the pig fat!? Its a mockery to both my Italian and Cuban ancestry? Well.. maybe, but this dish uses meaty salted Maitake in a way that provides a faithful, and healthier, relacement for the missing bacon. Anyway, the pancetta used in most restaurant versions of this dish is really just a substitute for the traditional pig cheeks (Guanciale). So get over your bacon withdrawl and try it, it is really good.

The ingredients featured in this recipe all came from the locally grown produce selection found at the PSU Farmer’s Market, including the wonderfully fresh Tagliatelle pasta from Pastaworks.

The dish is topped with a pile of braised artichokes, adapted from a Jaden’s Steamy Kitchen recipe for fried baby artichokes. These are so simple to prepare, and add a wonderful contrast to the creamy, salty carbonara. Instead of using Jaden’s recipe wholesale, I simply halved the artichokes, fried them in oil and garlic for about five minutes and then braised them with a small amount of water for another ten minutes or so. As an aside, I also cooked the leaves peeled from the baby chokes during preparation, scraped the meaty white pulp from their base, and incorporated it into the cabonara when adding the onions to the sauteing mushrooms and oil.

Maitake Carbonara alla Tagliatelle (serves 4+)

1/2 c. olive oil
2 Tbs. butter
1/2 lb. Maitake, chopped
1 large sweet onion, minced
6 large egg yolks
1 1/2 c. heavy cream
1 1/2 c. finely grated parmesian-reggiano
fresh ground black pepper
2 lbs. fresh Tagliatelle pasta

Bring the butter and oil mixture to saute temperature over med-high heat and add the Maitake and a pinch of garlic. Saute the mushrooms until they soften, then stir in 1 tsp. or so of sea salt. Allow the mushrooms to lose their water and begin to brown around the edges and crisp up a bit, then add the onions and continue to saute the mixture, stirring often, until the onion turn translucent. Remove from heat and set aside.

Meanwhile, beat together the creme and egg yolks until the creme thickens a bit, about five minutes, then incorporate the grated cheese and allow the mixture to sit at room temperature while you cook your pasta (this will prevent the sauce from robbing the pasta of its heat in the next step).

Bring your salted pasta water to a boil and cook the pasta al dente. Quickly drain the pasta and return it to the cooking pot on med. high heat. Stir in the onion and mushroom saute, seasoning liberally with the black pepper. Remove from heat and fold in the egg yolk, cream and cheese mixture until well incorporated. Garnish and serve immediately.

Tags: Maitake, Carbonara, Tagliatelle, JP Oliva

Chanterelle Ragoût

4 Tbs. unsalted butter
1 Tbs. olive oil
5 garlic cloves, finely diced
1 large sweet walla walla onion, large dice
1 large red bell pepper, med dice
40-50 button sized Chanterelle mushrooms, whole
6 roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 1/2 c. vegetable or chicken stock
2 tsp better than boullion vegetable base
1/2 c. dry white wine
1 Tbs + 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
3 Tbs. tomato paste
1 Tbs. smoked paprika
1/2 c. basil, chiffonade

1.5-2 lb. halibut fillet

Heat the butter and olive oil in a deep, heavy pan over med. high heat and saute the garlic and onions. Once the onions are translucent and fragrant, add the chanterelles and the red pepper and season a bit with salt and pepper. Keep tossing the mushroom mixture until the mushrooms glisten and the peppers soften a bit. Don’t be afraid to get a bit of the ‘breath’ of the pan on the veggies, but don’t let them burn.

Next add the tomatoes, season with salt and pepper again, and allow the tomatoes to soften and break down some. Add in the stock, white wine and vegetable base along with the balsamic and turn the heat down to med to reduce, partially covered for 20-40 minutes.

At this point you want to reduce the sauce relatively slowly, giving the dense chanterelles plenty of time to soften to a light ‘pickled’ consistency before the sauce thickens too much. Once the mushrooms are cooked to your liking, stir in the tomato paste and paprika and cook an additional five minutes. Remove from heat and add in the basil. Stir to incorporate, cover and set aside.

For the blackening procedure, the pan needs to be very hot. Heat a scant amount of high temperature vegetable oil in a heavy cast iron skillet over med. high heat. Meanwhile cut your halibut fillet down to pieces that will cook quickly at searing temperature (no more than 1 1/2 in. wide). Pat the fish dry with a towel and lightly brush each side with butter, liberally applying the blackening seasoning as you go.

When the oil in your pan *just* begins to smoke (ever so slightly - watch it carefully!), quickly add all of the halibut fillets. Watch carefully, the halibut should take about 3-4 minutes to become opaque white on the bottom 1/3 of each of the pieces. Carefully flip each fillet using tongs. The underside should be golden brown with a little bit of black around the edges and still plenty of red from un-blackened spice mixture. Depending on your stove, you may need to turn the heat up to high at this point. The fillets should only be left on for another 1-3 minutes, you want a moist fillet so don’t allow the fish to become too flaky and well done.

To plate, serve the ragoût over a bed of white rice, top with a halibut fillet and garnish with a pinch of fresh parsley.

Tags: Halibut,Blackened, Halibut,Chanterelle,JP Oliva

It seems that a company in Spain called Pateria de Sousa is raising the ire of French fois gras producers by claiming to produce ethical fois gras without the need for La Gavage (force feeding) while simultaneously winning the prestigious Paris International Food Salon’s Coup de Coeur award for fois gras producers. The Spanish company’s geese are grass-fed and free-range birds that tend to naturally overeat in preparation for winter migration, so the production is seasonally limited and the price is therefore high.

French culinary critics, and especially industry insiders, are crying foul, claiming that la gavage techniques are not only not cruel, but essential to imparting that special je ne sais pas that you just can’t get with an ordinary fat goose.

Also covered on chow.com.

Tags: fois, gras, food, ethics, JP Oliva