the constant hunger

Champagne and French Food

Back a few weeks ago, I met up for drinks and dinner with an old friend of mine. We had lost contact when I moved out of LA many, many years ago and recently re-connected. We hadn't seen each other in about 15 years and it was like I had seen her yesterday. 

Any time friends or family come to visit, I always feel a little pressure to find the perfect spot to eat. New York has a certain culinary reputation and I want to make sure that I choose a restaurant that will wow our guests. For this particular occasion I thought some pre-dinner drinks at Flute would be perfect. Flute is a champagne bar in Gramercy that I went to with friends the day before my wedding. I have been wanting to go back ever since. My friend and I ordered a couple of glasses of champagne and then headed off to dinner. We were both starving! I need to go back to Flute on Tuesdays for their champagne happy hour. 

For dinner I thought a bustling restaurant with a lively crowd would be ideal. I love French food, and so does my friend, so we headed to SoHo for dinner at Balthazar. I have never had a bad, or even mediocre, meal at Balthazar. It took us a while to get a table, but once we started ordering and eating, we were in heaven. I ordered the duck shepard's pie and my friend opted for the trout served over a warm lentil salad. Both of our dishes were out of this world. 

My friend's dish looked easy enough to recreate at home. I did a little online searching and came across this recipe. It was pretty easy to make and you can serve it warm or cold. It also keeps well in the fridge for at least a week. Though the recipe doesn't mention this, make sure to properly rinse the lentils before adding them to the rest of the ingredients to avoid a mushy salad.

I opted for salmon in my recipe instead of trout. Simply season salmon filets with salt and pepper and drizzled with olive oil. Bake in the oven at 375 degrees for about 15-20 minutes. Serve the salmon over a bed of lentil salad. This is a light and tasty dinner. 

Happy cooking! 

Attacking Octopus

We all have a particular dish or dishes that we always order when we dine at a particular restaurant. I always order the spicy miso ramen at the noodle shop near my apartment, the cherry stone clam pizza at Motorino and the grilled octopus at Tripoli, the whole-in-the-wall Greek restaurant in Montreal. A little bit more on Tripoli...

I'm sure I've mentioned this joint before on the constant hunger. Tripoli is the type of place where you'll find old Greek men discussing politics and soccer over strong coffee at 11:00 a.m., families with screaming children hustling to get through an early dinner and loud, drunk young folk engaging in stupid behavior and ordering too much food at 3:00 a.m.

Now, what about this food? There's taramosalata, perfectly creamy and salty and something you'll want to spread on grilled bread. Grilled veal chops, lamb chops, sweetbreads all served with perfectly sliced potatoes drench in olive oil. And then there is the grilled octopus...love of my life. Served with capers and chopped red onion, it's swimming in olive oil and fresh lemon juice. I dream about the grilled octopus at Tripoli.

So I was thrilled when I came home last night and saw that my husband was not only taking over dinner duty, but he was going to make grilled octopus. What an adventurous cook! Now octopus is not the best looking thing you'll ever eat and looking at it in its raw state may scare some of you. I asked my husband how he planned on preparing it and he said that the fish monger at Eataly had suggested boiling it for 20 minutes and then grilling it. Now my husband did research several other recipes on-line but decided that the guy who sold him the octopus must know what he's talking about. The quantity he bought did look like a lot but apparently octopus shrinks a whole lot during the cooking process so the end product would be just enough for two. 

My husband boiled the octopus then grilled it as directed. He then cut it up and served it just like they do at Tripoli, with onions and lemon and olive oil. The result... Rubbery octopus. Where did we go wrong? Obviously we're going to try making octopus again. My husband is determined to get it right. But for now I'll share our recipe and maybe you can tweak it. We welcome suggestions. Do you know how to make perfectly tender grilled octopus? Please share in the comments field or send me an email.

 

Grilled Octopus à la dude who works at Eataly

Ingredients:

2 lbs octopus cleaned by the fish monger

1 whole onion

1 whole carrot

3 bay leaves

salt

1 or 2 corks from a wine bottle

 

To serve:

juice from one lemon

extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup capers

1 small red onion chopped

1/2 tablespoon dried oregano

salt and pepper to taste 

 

Method:

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the onion, carrot, bay leaves, cork(s) and octopus to the water. Apparently, cork helps to keep the octopus tender. Boil for 20 minutes. 

Remove from water and grill on a stove-top grill for a few minutes on each side. Remove from grill and place on a cutting board and cut into bite-size pieces. 

Place on a serving plate and drizzle with olive oil and lemon juice. Add the onions and capers and season with salt, pepper and oregano. 

Happy cooking!

Spaghetti al Limone and Glazed Salmon

It's been a busy week at work. I come home exhausted, make a little something to eat and literally pass out on the couch. On the weekends I just want to relax, cook and eat. I'm finding it harder and harder to sit at the computer and write about what I'm cooking. I need to flex my time management skills a little and find a balance between work, rest and play (blogging being play for me).

Despite my busy week so far, I managed to make a delicious dinner. I was flipping through my recent issue of Cook's Illustrated and came across a recipe for spaghetti la limone. Now I'm always a little reluctant when it comes to making Italian recipes taken from any source other than my husband. I find that there is always an ingredient in the recipe that just seems inauthentic, but the writer claims to have eaten this pasta dish in Capri so I will trust the recipe. 

I didn't want to eat just a pasta, so I flipped through Cook's Illustrated a little more and found a recipe for glazed salmon. Hmm...lemony pasta with salmon. It sounded like a good match to me.

 

Spaghetti la Limone

Ingredients:

1 lb. spaghetti

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 shallots thinly sliced

1/4 heavy cream

zest from one lemon and its juice

1/2 grated Parmesan

small bunch of fresh basil, shredded 

plenty of salt and freshly ground pepper

 

Method: 

Cook pasta according to package directions. Before draining, reserve about 1 1/2 cups pasta water and set aside. Drain pasta and set aside.

In the same pot used to boil the pasta, heat a couple tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Add shallots and saute till soft. Whisk in the pasta water and heavy cream and bring to a simmer. Let simmer for a few minutes. 

Remove pot from the heat and add pasta, lemon zest, lemon juice, basil, Parmesan, salt and pepper. Stir until pasta is well coated. Drizzle some olive oil and stir again. Serve.

Glazed Salmon

Ingredients:

2 tbs. honey

3 tbs. dry white wine

2 tbs. balsamic vinegar

1 tbs. whole grain mustard

1 tsp. cornstarch

salt and pepper

1 1/2 lb. salmon fillet 

 

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a small saucepan, whisk together the first 5 ingredients over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil and continue whisking until thickened. 

Place the salmon fillet on an oiled baking sheet. I lined the sheet with aluminum foil to make clean up easier. Season generously with salt and pepper. Spoon over the glaze. 

Cook for about 15-20 minutes or until the thickest part of the fillet registers 125 degrees with an instant-read thermometer. 

Happy cooking!

Here is some other writing that I've done in the last week...

The Secret to Quick Meals

Cocktail Time Italian Style

French Bistro Classic: Moules Marinière

There is a restaurant in Montreal totally devoted to serving up this wonderful mollusk in a variety of sauces, each more delicious than the other. La Moulerie, located in the charming and laid-back neighborhood of Outremont, does one thing and they do it well. In fact, it's not uncommon for diners to order a second and third bowl of mussels in an attempt to taste all 10 of their preparations.

If you don't live in Montreal, then I suggest you try out this easy recipe. It's the best known way to prepare mussels, to my knowledge. White wine, butter, parsley, done! I have shared another mussel recipe with you in the past. Read that post here.  This recipe requires even less prep work, if that was even possible. 

A little word on food safety... Remember to buy mussels that are properly displayed, i.e. over or buried under ice. Make sure all the mussels are tightly closed. If there is one that is open, lightly tap it and do not buy it if it does not close. You don't ever want to cook a dead mussel. While transporting them, make sure you don't put them in a plastic bag and close it. They need to breathe. Store them on ice when you get home, never submerged in water. Nowadays, mussels are pretty clean when you buy them, but I would suggest giving them a quick scrub. Cook them right away. And once cooked, never eat any that have not opened.

 

Moules Marinière adapted from Williams-Sonoma

Ingredients:

1 cup dry white wine

2 shallots, minced

3 tbs. unsalted butter

2 Tbs. finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1 bay leaf

Freshly ground pepper, to taste

2 lb. mussels, well scrubbed and debearded

Baguette slices for serving

 

Method: 

In a large stockpot over medium-high heat, combine wine, shallots, butter, parsley, bay leaf and pepper. Bring to a simmer and cook, uncovered, until the broth is aromatic, 4 to 5 minutes.

Add the mussels, discarding any that do not close to the touch. Cover the pan tightly and steam the mussels until they open, about 5 minutes. You can shake the pan occasionally to ensure even cooking. Discard any mussels that did not open.

Serve in a big bowl and make sure you have a couple of empty bowls to discard the shells. And remember the baguette. Dipping bread in the rich, buttery sauce may be the best part of the experience, one of life's little pleasures. I also made some fries since they go so well with mussels.

Happy cooking!

 

Truite Amandine

This week I'll be focusing on classic French bistro recipes. I was inspired by my recent issue of Saveur magazine. I sometimes daydream of boarding flight to Paris and spending a weekend eating and drinking my way around quaint neighborhoods. Sitting in cafes all day, people-watching and discussing existentialism and other French things. Just a weekend away would be ideal. Hopefully my husband is reading this and... 

The first recipe to start off this week's bistro dishes is truite amandine. You could use sole, flounder or tilapia fillets instead of trout if you prefer. The wonderful thing about cooking fish is you can have a delicious meal in a matter of minutes. Keep in mind this recipe does use quite a bit of butter. If you are not going to use butter, don't bother making this recipe. It just won't be the same. 

 

Truite Amandine from Williams-Sonoma

Ingredients:

4 trout fillets, about 1-1 1/2 lb. total

Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

1/4 cup slivered almonds, toasted (You'll notice mine are a little over-toasted. Whoops.)

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

2 tbs. extra virgin olive oil

4 Tbs. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter

Juice from 1 lemon

1/4 cup minced fresh flat-leaf parsley

 

Method:

Rinse fillets under very cold water and pat completely dry with paper towels. Place fillets on a plate and season on both sides with salt and pepper. Spread the flour on a large plate and dip the fillets in the flour, coating both sides well and shaking off any excess.

Add the olive oil to a large saute pan and heat on medium. Add the trout fillets, skin side up, and cook until browned, about 4 minutes. Turn the fillets over and cook until they flake easily near the tail ends, about 2 minutes more. Transfer the fillets, skin side down, to individual plates and keep warm.

Wipe any oil from the pan with a paper towel. Return the pan to medium heat and add the butter. Once melted, add the lemon juice and parsley. Stir in the almonds and season the sauce with salt and pepper. Spoon the sauce over the fillets and serve immediately. 

Happy cooking!