October 10, 2013 Poached Salmon in Frothy Cauliflower Sauce with Lovage - New Recipe

October 10, 2013   Poached Salmon in Frothy Cauliflower Sauce with Lovage - New Recipe

This is a recipe that has a bit of history behind it.  Several years ago PBS featured a wonderful cooking show about New Scandinavian Cooking called Kitchen of Light.  The companion book for the show authored by Andreas Viestad was beautiful and full of great recipes and pictures of Norway.  Suzette was kind enough to buy me the book and we have enjoyed cooking several of the recipes over the last few years. 

 

 

 

Last week Suzette was looking at the Kitchen of Light to get ideas for a Winter Solstice/Christmas menu for the Greenhouse Bistro.  Also last week I bought a cauliflower at Sprouts and yesterday I went to Albertson’s and bought a 4.4 lb. piece of fresh keka salmon ($3.99/lb.) in anticipation of gravading it (salt and sugar curing it).  I also bought two 3-4 oz. lobster tails from Canada for $3.99 each and four bone-in rib steaks graded choice for $5.99/lb.  Tonight when we opened the salmon and cut the salmon to fit a glass baking dish, we had a small piece left.  So we decided to poach the salon and when I mentioned the cauliflower, Suzette said, “There is a recipe I saw in the Kitchen of Light Cookbook, I would like to make called Frothy Cauliflower Soup, but we can reduce the amounts of liquid to make a sauce.”  So we launched into dinner and gravad lax.  On Sunday we had gone to Costco and bought a 2.25 lb. bag of asparagus ($5.99), so Suzette decided to garnish the dish with steamed asparagus. 

We had no dill in the garden but we decided to use tarragon instead for the gravad lax.  Suzette went to the old garden to get tarragon, which was partially dead from an early frost last night, but there was still more than enough fresh green sprigs to make the gravad lax. 

The gravad lax recipe is very simple.

She mixed 1 cup of salt and ¾ cup of sugar in a metal bowl and added about 1 tsp. of ground black pepper.  We then laid a layer of fresh tarragon sprigs on the bottom of a 2 inch deep baking glass baking dish and pour some of the salt and sugar mixture on the skin side of the salmon and the laid the skin side down on the tarragon sprigs.  Then Suzette covered the inside of that filet with more mixture and we lay tarragon sprigs on it and then poured the mixture on the inside of the other filet and lay it on top of the first filet and then poured the rest of the mixture on top of the top filet and then put more tarragon sprigs on top of it and covered it with saran wrap.  I then weighted down the whole affair with two bricks.  

The Frothy Cauliflower recipe called for chervil, which we did not have but I then went to the new raised bed gardens and cut several stems of lovage, trying to find the greenest leaves possible.  When I returned to the kitchen, Suzette had measured out three cups of water and added about 1 tsp. of Knorr dehydrated chicken Stock to make a chicken stock.  We did not have cream and our Half and Half was curdled, so we were left with 2% milk.  I opened a bottle of 2006 Nobilo Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough, New Zealand that I had bought at Albertson’s on an earlier trip when it was offered for a $2.00 discount from $12.00.  It was a little too yellow and had a slightly tawny flavor, which worked well in and with the soup.  The secret to the making the cauliflower soup frothy is the cooking of the cauliflower in the chicken stock, milk and wine.  I deflowered the cauliflower and Suzette cooked the cauliflower in ½ cup of milk, ¼ cup of wine and 3 cups of chicken stock and a dash of white pepper and salt.  After fifteen minutes of cooking Suzette added the additional cup of milk and the 2-3 Tbsp. of butter to the soup stock.  I had removed the leaves from the lovage and she blended the cauliflower mixture in a blender with 2 Tbsp. of lovage leaves and pureed the mixture into a thick but sauce-like consistency, which meant that she had excess broth remaining, which she added to the pan with the fish and poaching medium. 

While the cauliflower was cooking for fifteen to twenty minutes or until it softened, Suzette poached the approximately 2/3 lb. salmon chunk in white wine, about ¾ cup of water, butter and tarragon.

I snapped fourteen stalks of asparagus and Suzette steamed them in the steamer.

The cauliflower sauce required several batches of blending, so Suzette put the batches of blended sauce into the four cup measuring cup she had used for the chicken stock.   When the sauce was blended and while we were waiting for the asparagus to steam, Suzette thinly sliced 1 lb. of fresh strawberries I had bought yesterday at Pro’s Ranch Market ($.99) and dossed the strawberries with some raspberry infused brandy I had made.

When the asparagus were finished steaming, Suzette ladled the Cauliflower sauce into large pasta bowls and then delicately separated the poached salmon from its skin and put chunks of salmon on the sauce and then added the asparagus.  I poured glasses of the Sauvignon Blanc and we were ready to enjoy perhaps the last meal from our garden as we approached winter.

 

After our delicious dinner, we talked to Luke who had returned from dinner with Ellie.  When Luke went to pack to leave for N.Y. we decided to eat dessert.  I scooped vanilla ice cream into bowls and we spooned brandied fresh sliced strawberries on top of the ice cream and added a drizzle of Hershey’s chocolate sauce.    I ate my dessert with a cup of green tea and Suzette had a glass of cognac.

What a great way to welcome Winter weather and say good bye to Summer weather; with a mix of Scandinavian and Mediterranean foods!

Bon Appétit

October 7, 2013 New Recipe: Chard, raisin, sage and purslane stuffed Pork Tenderloin with Baked Delicata Squash

October 7, 2013  New Recipe:  Chard, Raisin, Onion, Sage and Purslane stuffed Pork Tenderloin with Baked Delicata Squash

We thawed out a two pack of pork tenders (Costco $3.29/lb.) yesterday.  Suzette wanted to stuff them and roast them.  I picked three sprigs of sage and about two cups of chard and about two Tbsp. of purslane.  Then I had to go into a teleconference on a family matter, so Suzette carried on in the kitchen.

She combined raisins, garlic, onion, sage, salt, white pepper, coriander and cumin and pulsed it into a corn meal like texture and then sautéed the mixture in skillet with butter and olive oil and added the chard and purslane and after a few minutes of sautéing stuffed the mixture into a slit I cut about halfway through the tenders and then placed them in the oven to roast.

When our conversation was finished Suzette heated the delicata squash halved lengthwise that we had baked last night stuffed with pinon nuts, maple syrup and butter.  I had chilled a bottle of Toulouse Rosé of Pinot Noir from Anderson Valley ($24.00 from the vineyard) that we had bought last year when we attended the Pinot Noir Festival in May.

Because our telephone conversation went a little long the pork was a not as moist as I like but it was a great piece of meat and delicious, quite moist in the cavity where the stuffing rested.   The wine was not the rosé we had tasted at the vineyard.  We tasted the 2011 and the Vineyard sent a case of 2010.  Rosé loses its floral character over time and so the wine seemed overly sweet and a bit flat because of the absence of that fresh floral quality.    

After dinner I ate the last of a chocolate Naranja mousse cake Luke had bought at Flying Star ($7.00) with a cup of tea.   The mousse was a little orangey, but that is not a problem for most persons.

Bon Appétit

September 30, 2013 Grilled Steak with Pesto pasta with tomato medley and Japanese peppers

September 30, 2013 Grilled Steak with Pesto pasta with tomato medley and Japanese peppers

Thawed out a bone in rib steak and when Suzette came home we decided to make pasta to serve with it.

Suzette went to the garden and picked three kinds of cherry tomatoes; sunburst yellow, chocolate and red cherry, and some of the long fushimi sweet peppers grown from seeds we ordered from Kitzama Seed Co.

She sautéed the chopped up onion, peppers and tomatoes in a skillet and grilled the steak and I fetched a bottle of 2009 Caves Saint-Pierre La Riacre du Pape Chateauneuf Du Pap

 

e from the basement and opened t to let it breath.
When the Casarecce pasta was boiled, Suzette added a couple of cups of it to the sautéed vegetables and added two or three Tbsps. of her homemade pesto and cut the steak and chopped it into slice and laid them on the pile of pesto soaked pasta for a wonderful dinner.

The wine’s blend of 60% Grenache, 15% Mouvedre, 15% Cinsault, and 10% Syrah made a terrific complement to the tender steak and flavorful past dish.

I had bought a pint of Heidi’s fresh raspberries at the Growers’ Market on Saturday and Suzette garnished a scoop of Neapolitan ice cream with raspberry liquor soaked fresh raspberries for a lovely dessert.

Bon Appétit

 

 

October 5, 2013 Dinner –Oktoberfest at Greenhouse Bistro, A Great Food Day

October 5, 2013 Dinner –Oktoberfest at Greenhouse Bistro, A Great Food Day

Breakfast – Applewood Bacon BLT’s with Radicchio and garden fresh tomatoes on mayonnaise smeared Fano Baguette

Who needs to go to the Growers; Market when you have these wonderful ingredients at home.  Sat in the garden eating sandwiches watching the balloons go overhead.

Lunch – Quick sauté of garden fresh onion, basil, three kinds of tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and casarecce pasta with olive oil, butter and white wine (Sauvignon Blanc).  We ate in the garden again and drank a glass of Dog Pond” New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc.  The liquid liberated from the tomatoes mixed with the wine and basil to make an elegant broth, lightly flavored with dairy from the mozzarella made a very special light broth.  We both thought about the best of Italian cooking simple combinations of garden fresh ingredients.  

We then drove to the spa and had massages and then met in the Greenhouse Bistro and Bakery for

Dinner – We walked across the parking lot from the spa to the Greenhouse Bistro around 4:45 p.m. for its Oktoberfest celebration where we were greeted by waitresses dressed in traditional German costumes and served tastes of German Beers (Spaten Oktoberfest, Beck’s Oktoberfest and one other).  We decided to split the      Appetizer and the short rib entrée from the new Fall menu instead of the Oktoberfest beer, bratwurst and strudel special.

  We were first served an appetizer plate with a small ramekin of German beer and cheddar soup and a German style pretzel with German mustard, both of which were delicious.  Then a small salad was served with lettuce and cucumbers from the Center’s own organic garden lightly dressed with vinaigrette.  Then the baked chili flavored gourges were served with homemade apple butter.  They were soft and airy in the inside with air filled cavities like Yorkshire pudding but without the grease and delicious smeared with the cinnamon flavored apple butter.  We could not eat the large basket of them and our waitress finally asked, “Are you ready for your short ribs?” 

We answered yes and shortly a plate with a pile of sautéed vegetables piled on a slow cooked beef short rib lying on a mound of chunks of deep yellow colored potatoes was served.  We asked executive chef Angeloe Dixon how he prepared the potatoes and he said he brined them in salt water and then dried them and baked them and then when ordered deep fried them to crisp them up to order.  Their texture was delicious but they were a little salty if you do not like the flavor of salt.   We mentioned that and he seemed interested in adjusting their saltiness.  Actually the lightly sautéed vegetables (sliced red onion, portabella, garlic and zucchini) in white wine were slightly sweet and when a fork was loaded with the BBQ sauce flavored short ribs, a piece of the potato and some of the vegetables made for a delicious combination of flavors without any one overpowering the other, and that is how Chef Angeloe said he intended them to be eaten.  I is hard to criticize one man’s taste over another’s when it comes to his perception of how the elements of a dish fit together.

We took a piece of strudel home for dessert later because we were completely satisfied with dinner.

Bon Appétit

P.S. Big news.  The greenhouse Bistro is participating in Edible Santa Fe’s Moveable Feast this year along with over 40 other area restaurants.  From October 8 to October 18 it is serving three course prix fixe dinners for $18.00 featuring some of the foods eaten along the historic Camino Real. 

During the week of October 8-12^th the Appetizer will be Pan Seared Polenta with Tenderloin of Beef Jerky garnished with organic greens, the Entrée will be Slow Cooked lamb served with saffron fideo and the Dessert will be Apple Flan topped with a honey glaze.

During the week of October 15-18 the Appetizer will be Zucchini Corn Fritters, the Entrée will be Rosemary Skewers of elk tenderloin, served with a rice fruit pudding and Dessert will be chocolate pinon bark.  This exciting food is just a thirty minute drive down the Camino Real from Albuquerque.

For more information check the Bistro’s website at www.greenhousebistro.com.   

October 6, 2013 New Recipe - Chicken Mole

October 6, 2013 New Recipe - Chicken Mole

We made a terrible burrito for breakfast with freezer burned little Smoky sausages that were heavily chemical laden and tasted terrible.  Yuck.

Yesterday we made a mole sauce.  I rehydrated four or five dried black guajilla or pasilla peppers in simmering water for an hour or two.  Then I de-seeded them and we picked about ten tomatillos from our garden.  Suzette chopped up the tomatillos and added garlic and onion and sautéed those for about ½ hour until soft.  Then she blended them and in blender and added the re-hydrated chilies and some of the cooking liquid.  We then added some Dutch chocolate powder and the result tasted pretty good.  

Today around 1:00 we went to Costco and bought asparagus, a rack of lamb riblets, a 24 pack of chicken thighs for our mole, applewood bacon, and popcorn.   

We shared a cup of frozen yogurt and that seemed to help the after taste of the bad burrito.

We decided we needed beer for dinner, so we stopped at Lowe’s on the way home and bought a 12 pack of Negra Modelo ($12.99), a large avocado and tonic water When we arrived home I separated the 6 packages with 4 thighs each and we froze 4 packages and kept out 2 packages for dinner and split a Manger’s Apple Cider and that helped also.   I rode 10 miles and then napped until 5:00 and took a shower.  When I arrived in the kitchen Suzette had started dinner.   She was sautéing the chicken thighs in oil in a large skillet and she had added crema con sal (Pro’s Ranch Market) to the mole sauce to give it a lighter creamier body.

I found a can of black beans and Suzette made a pot of rice and green peas and heated the black beans with onion and garlic in a pan. 

When the chicken was sautéed, Suzette then ladled some of the mole sauce over the chicken and baked the 8 thighs in the oven and I cut the two delicate squashes in halves and we put pinon nuts and honey and butter in the cavities after reserving the seeds for planting next year and baked the chicken for about 30 minutes.  She also put two bottles of Negra Modelo into the freezer to chill.

When the chicken, the black beans and rice were ready, Suzette made plates with a piece of chicken, some rice and peas and some black beans and then ladled more sauce onto the chicken and garnished the chicken with chopped cilantro.  I picked purslane and threw a few leaves on my chicken and heated it in the microwave to soften them. What a wonderful dinner. 

I have never made my own mole sauce before.  This is not real mole sauce but it is one I like very much.  

Bon Appétit   

September 29, 2013 Dinner Party at Janice and Tom La Fontain’s Eggplant Parmesan, garlic bread and Caprese Salad

September 29, 2013 Dinner Party at Janice and Tom La Fontain’s Eggplant Parmesan,  garlic bread and Caprese Salad

We worked today and took a nap, but at 5:30 p.m. we grabbed a bottle of El Encanto Chianti Reserva (Costco $10.99) and walked over to the La Fontains for dinner.  Janice is an interior designer and decorator and her house and rear patio are beautifully designed and decorated.  We started by sitting in a conversation area around a table set with a tray of cheeses and spreads and drank gin and tonics on the patio.  After Doug and Crystal Baker arrived we heard all about Crystal’s daughter’s marriage plans and her son’s relatives from Bolivia and their impending birth of a child and Doug’s one year old grandson.  

In a few minutes I asked to see Janice’s stairwell that she had opened up.  After looking at the stairwell she noticed that the eggplant parmesan was ready.  The caprese salad was already made and the garlic bread was buttered and ready to toast.  So in a couple of minutes we were serving.  Tom and Janice asked me to decide upon the order of serving the wine and we all decided that their Ruffino Reserva Chianti was the best wine and should be served first, then Doug and Crystal’s Cabernet Sauvignon and finally my L’Encanto Chianti reserve from Costco ($10.99).  That turned out to the best ordering because my L’Encanto was not as good as the Ruffino and it is best to serve the best wine first.

We all enjoyed a lovely evening of talking and eating together.

Bon Appétit   

October 1, 2013 Pizza made simple

October 1, 2013   Pizza

Suzette did a round trip drive to and from Santa Rosa today so we did not want to cook.  We decided to order a pizza.  I told Suzette that Lil Caesar’s had a $5.00 large pizza everyday special and we called them and ordered one.  It came either in plain cheese or with pepperoni, so we ordered one-half with pepperoni and one-half plain.

I went to pick it up and when I returned Suzette started cutting up portabella mushrooms and I cut up the remaining stalks of the green onion from our yard and we also sliced a fresh tomato and lay the slices on the pizza and then laid the sautéed green onion and mushrooms on the pizza and baked it in the oven for about fifteen minutes until everything was cooked into the pizza.
 

We drank the rest of an open bottle of Chateauneuf de Pape and an open bottle of Chianti and had a great meal for not much money and super easy to fix.    In a word, scrumptious.