Rooftop Gourmet

From time to time, I get these crazy ideas for a dish and start experimenting in the kitchen. Most of the time these wacky ideas never get published for whatever reason, but once in a while they blow my mind and I can’t wait to write about them. For the past few weeks, I’ve been thinking about innovative, healthy meals and really trying to concentrate on portion control. My first instinct is usually a light seafood dish that most likely doesn’t hit the comfort zone in the dead of winter, while surrounded by multiple feet of powder. I was craving something rich, savory, and filling…and healthy. Is that even possible?

The other day, a lightbulb went on and my brain started spitting out crazy ideas. Most of the dishes I create are centered around a protein, while the vegetables are always playing second fiddle.

Screw portion control, why can’t I make the vegetable the star of the show and give the meat a break? That way I can eat enough to fill my belly and not worry about consuming a large portion of something that’s really good for me. Siobhan loves all types of squash so I picked up a few butternuts and cut them into massive “steaks” that looked like bricks of solid gold.

I was going to treat the squash as if I was pan roasting a couple of NY strips. Instead of going the traditional steakhouse route and finishing the “steaks” with a giant glob of flavored butter, I went a rather non traditional route.

I know that squash and pumpkins are rather popular in African and Middle Eastern cuisine, so I decided to make a quick lamb ragu, seasoned with spices that one would typically find in those areas. My plan was to drizzle the spiced ragu over the steak to give it some bold flavors.

I started it off by very finely mincing some garlic and ginger and dicing a carrot into a minuscule, brunoise dice. I sauteed those aromatics before adding the ground lamb that I seasoned with cumin, turmeric, cinnamon, all spice, coriander, nutmeg, chili, red curry powder, sugar, black pepper, and salt. Instantly, the pot became insanely aromatic with sweet and smoky flavors filling the kitchen.

 I added a tablespoon of tomato paste and then simmered the mixture in a bold, red wine and some beef broth for about two hours. While the ragu was reducing and intensifying on the stovetop, I seared the butternut “steaks” in a screaming hot pan because I wanted a nice, charred crust on them before I roasted them in the oven.

Due to the size of my “steaks”, they took about an hour and a half in the oven at about 400 degrees; just enough time for my ragu to come together. The color of the squash transformed from a bright yellowish-orange to a deep, brick red as the natural sugars caramelized. Since a classic Bordelaise, Cognac-cream sauce, and even A-1 was out of the question, I made a calorie friendly sauce out of fat free yogurt.

 To give it a little flavor, I infused some smashed garlic cloves into a tiny bit of olive oil and whisked the oil into the yogurt along with some fresh lemon juice. I placed the steaming hot steaks into the cool, garlicky yogurt before I drizzled the spiced lamb ragu all over the top.

The flavored juices in the ragu oozed out onto the plate as the warm sauce hit the cool yogurt. I garnished the dish with some cilantro leaves and impatiently waited for the scalding hot bricks to cool down. Not only was this dish really cool looking and colorful, it smelled amazing! The combination of sweet and smoky dried spices with the fresh ginger and garlic had me in sensory overload. We sliced into the butternut squash and realized that it was cooked to perfection.

It fell apart with ease and flopped into the creamy yogurt. The squash was so rich and sweet on its own but when a bite was taken with the lamb it was a match made in heaven. As simple as this was to create, finding a wine to pair it with was somewhat difficult. I finally decided on the 2008 Domaine Chante-Pedrix Chateauneuf du Pape, hailing from the Rhone Valley France. This is a wine that is comprised of Grenache and Syrah that was grown in the top tier vineyard sites of the Rhone Valley.

It’s medium to full bodied despite the fact that the juice is not aged in oak. The Grenache is lively and elegant, with loads of ripe cherry fruit and the Syrah gives the wine a peppery richness. On the finish, I picked up some earthy notes of tobacco and dark espresso beans as well as some interesting primal flavors of roasted red meat juices. Hey, if the dish is comprised around a vegetable, why not have some meat juices in your glass right? I thought that the ripe, fruitiness was perfect with all of the Middle Eastern spices and the overall richness of the wine complimented the savory, comfort level of the dish.

 This dinner definitely made me look at vegetables in a different light. The butternut squash didn’t seem out of place one bit. With only a small drizzle of lamb, it was the dominant highlight of the plate and afterwards, we were both stuffed and satisfied. I felt as though I just polished off a giant, braised short rib sitting in a mound of garlic mashed potatoes. I’m glad we got one more healthy meal in because coming up next is my adventure at Boston’s Cochon555 event; Lots and lots pork fat!!!

Over the weekend we brushed the snow off the grill in preparation for a healthy taco night. Fish tacos are always a healthy alternative to ground or braised meats and they can be absolutely delicious.

I decided to make a fish taco that I’ve never made before with grilled salmon as main ingredient. I picked up some wild Coho salmon which is actually even leaner than the regular stuff.

You can tell by the color of the fish. The Coho is smaller and almost red in color as opposed to the light peach color with the white marbling.

 I made a quick cilantro pesto in the blender with pine nuts, jalapenos, garlic, and lime juice (no cheese) that had just the right about of zip to it to make the tacos sing.

I also opened up a can of black beans and grated a tiny block of queso fresco for some additional textures and flavors.

Queso fresco or queso blanco is a hard, grating cheese that is made from pressing the whey out of cottage cheese. It’s extremely mild and actually isn’t too bad for you. It’s typically seen grated over enchiladas at your local Mexican restaurant.

 Once my cutting board was filled with prepped toppings, buffet style, I trekked out to the grill and slapped the whole piece of Coho salmon on the hot grates. Since it is a leaner fish, the cooking time reduces dramatically. I basically only seared the fish to get a nice crust before I brought it inside and chopped it up into pieces.

We started assembling the tacos, using whole wheat, flax seed wraps and slathering the pesto inside of them. I sliced a fresh jalapeno for my tacos as well because I like the added kick and I also added some watercress leaves to freshen it up.

 Each bite was full of the steamy, grilled salmon followed by the pop of the black beans and the zippy pesto; it was a great alternative to regular tacos because we could eat a bunch and not feel bloated afterwards.

Living in Southie during a blizzard is hard work. Racing home to find a parking spot on your street, waking up early to shovel out your spot, and then finding something large enough to save it is exhausting. Thankfully, our twelve inches fell on my day off from work so I had all morning to bundle up and get shoveling.

After two hours, two cars, and the entire sidewalk was clean, Siobhan and I felt like we could reward ourselves. We heard about a new market that opened up down the hill from our condo called American Provisions, so we decided to walk down and check it out.

I didn’t get my hopes up because as of now, South Boston is a culinary disaster. It’s hard to find an onion without a hole in it, or a glass of wine that wasn’t poured from a box. As we sloshed down East Broadway, we saw the new market on the corner and my eyes lit up when the Open sign was visible in the window. We were greeted by the two owners and started to look around the place. My initial reaction was, “Oh my God, I must be dreaming!”. I thought my neck was sore from shoveling, but it turned out to be the whiplash from frantically picking up different products and bending down to read what farms the local cheeses came from. This was a dream come true and exactly what South Boston needed!

They had everything from specialty coffee beans to venison sausage with blueberries. The most impressive was the nucleus of the store, a large glass case, containing over fifty gourmet cheeses and charcuterie, with the focus on the ones made at local farms.

They also had fresh pasta, an antique locker filled with a myriad of dried spices, individually Cryo-vac-ed steaks and chops, wicker baskets piled high with dirty fingerling potatoes just plucked from a local farm, and an awesome selection of oils and vinegars.

After scoping out the scene and chatting with the owners, we left with some Fettucini, a carton of farm fresh eggs, a few thick slabs of locally-cured Pancetta, and some grated Pecorino-Romano.

Siobhan had trouble getting me out the door, but somehow we managed to make the trek back up the hill. Now she knows what I feel like when I get roped into going clothes shopping with her.

Carbonara is a classic Italian pasta dish that Siobhan and I both seek out as our guilty pleasure. We figured we could put the wedding diet on hold for one night after shoveling and stomping through a foot of snow for our dinner. After we peeled our slushy clothes from our bodies, I got the spice grinder out and started grinding some fresh black peppercorns; one of the four key ingredients to this simple dish.

I then unwrapped the American Pancetta and cut the thick, slices into long matchsticks before gently sauteeing them. I like when my Carbonara has big chunks of crispy Pancetta tangled in the creamy, web of pasta.

 I salted my deep pot of boiling water and cooked the Fettucini al dente, before tossing it into the pan of crispy Pancetta. Then I sprinkled a handful of crushed, black peppercorns into the pan which stuck to the pasta as it was being coated in the savory pork fat.

I remove the pan from the heat and rapidly stir in two egg yolks and one whole egg. The key is to make sure that your pan isn’t too hot (because you’ll be left with scrambled eggs) and you keep stirring constantly. A handful of freshly grated cheese and the dish is complete. The raw eggs barely cook, ever so gently from the residual heat of the pasta and form a silky, rich sauce.

In every bite, you taste the decadent yolks, speckled with fiery peppercorns and the sharp, pungent Pecorino cheese. Then, out of nowhere, a tiny morsel of crispy pork fat pops in your teeth and explodes with flavor. I think the reason I love this dish so much is because when I was younger, I’d always pierce my fried egg yolks with a strip of crispy bacon. The flavor is very similar. Another great quality of this dish is that it is extremely versatile when it comes to wine pairing. The only thing it really needs is alot of acidity because of how creamy and rich it is. I chose a Sicilian red called Case Ibidini Nero d’Avola which is a rather casual Italian red wine.

It’s aged for six months in stainless steel which gives it a complex freshness without any traces of oak. It’s light, ruby red in color and has a nose that smells like muddled cherries with herbs. On the palate, it’s impeccably smooth and light. It is very reminiscent of a Pinot Noir from Oregon or even a Beaujolais because of the vibrant, ripe fruit and soft tannins. The lovely acidic finish helps cut through the fat in the yolks and cheese. It might even taste better next time with a slight chill before popping the cork.

It is amazing how much better a simple dish tastes when the ingredients are fresh and you know exactly where they came from. Thankfully, American Provisions is the new guy in town who will take care of locating fresh ingredients from local farms and bringing them to our kitchen tables.

Now that there’s less than six months to our wedding, we jumped on the New Year’s Resolution bandwagon and started our “wedding diets” in order to shed some of the holiday flab. Our goal is to cook healthy, protein-rich, intensely flavorful dishes that won’t turn our weeknight meals into boring routines. There’s nothing worse than eating “health food” that doesn’t taste good. It makes you feel as though you’re eating just to stay alive as opposed to eating for pleasure.

Thankfully, the nutritional value of one of my favorite foods is off the charts.

 Broccoli contains a cancer-blocking compound called sulforaphane that works at it’s highest ability when the vegetable is steamed. It is also high in Vitamin C as well as dietary fiber. These tightly packed, bouquets of dark green florets not only block Cancer forming cells, they also taste great!

One of my all time favorite side dishes and flavor combinations in general is broccolini with crushed red pepper flakes, crispy, paper thin wafers of toasted garlic, and a squirt of lemon.

The rich, bitter greens are beautifully balanced by the spicy chilies, pungent garlic, and the acidity from the lemon. It was this flavor profile that I used to create this super healthy dish for Day One of the “walking down the aisle diet”.

I started off by butchering six massive heads of broccoli which I decided to cook three separate ways.

The majority of the florets were blanched, dunked in an ice bath and then transferred to the blender to which I added some lemon juice, salt, and a few spoonfuls of fat free, Greek yogurt. I let the machine rip and after a few moments I had a broccoli puree that was a pastel green straight out of a Vineyard Vines catalog.

I refrigerated the puree to retain the bright color while I prepped the rest of the meal. I spread some of leftover florets on a baking sheet and roasted them at 420 degrees along with an entire head of garlic. I have to admit, this is my favorite way to prepare broccoli.

The stalks get so sweet and caramelized and the florets get nice and crispy burnt. Most people discard the handlebar stalks but try peeling them and eating them raw. The bitterness is toned down and they contain a lot more moisture than the rest of the vegetable. It almost tastes as if a broccoli and a cucumber had a baby.

As for the chicken, I simply sprinkled it with crushed red pepper flakes and a little salt. I am usually “that guy” at the table that takes the crushed red pepper flake jar and violently performs my ShakeWeight impression over my plate. I love fire and I’m not afraid to burn my tongue to some extent. I went easy on Siobhan’s chicken breast but covered mine to capacity before searing them in a cast iron skillet. Simply standing in the kitchen made my nostrils burn and my taste buds salivate.

I finished the chicken in the oven and made a quick aioli in the blender with the eight mushy cloves of sweet roasted garlic. I tossed only two tablespoons of the creamy sauce with my julienned broccoli stalks and used it to garnish the plate. I placed the fiery breast on the cool broccoli puree and adorned it with the “slaw” and crispy roasted florets. The entire dish was hodge podge of flavors, textures, and temperatures.

The cool, yogurt-laced puree and the raw stalks cooled down my mouth from the crushed red pepper flakes and Siracha border. The bird was so crispy on the outside, I didn’t even miss the fatty skin. I opened up a bottle of off-dry Riesling from Down Under to compliment my creation. The 2009 Yalumba Riesling from South Australia is impeccably aromatic. It exudes waves of citrus, lime zest in particular with interesting notes of metal and perfum-ey jasmine. Sip after sip wipes the palate clean of all flavors but leaves a semi-sweet tropical fruit note with lavender undertones.

This wine is really intriguing and I think that it works really well with this spicy dish. The citrus flavors add to the flavor profile and the sweetness plays with the bitterness of the broccoli nicely.

This was a great start to 2011 and a great, flavorful meal that was easy on the waistline. Even Siobhan (the only person I know that doesn’t like chicken), cleaned her plate… probably because she knew that “no ice cream sundaes” was in the New Year’s Resolution clause.

The holidays are such a busy time for me, as you all have probably noticed due to the significant increase in time in between blog posts. One of my New Year’s Resolutions is to return to my frequent posting schedule because it keeps things interesting, and I have a million new ideas for recipes and a lot of great wines to taste.

I did make a Christmas themed meal the week before the holiday but I was too busy to post it and my laptop was acting funny as usual. Thankfully, the day that I tried to post my “Christmas Present” blog I received a brand new laptop as my Christmas present. What I’ve noticed over the years of celebrating, is that everyone opens presents differently.

 I like to open Christmas presents early because I have zero patience, and even though I love surprising people, I can’t hold in the suspense. If I can’t make them open presents early, I will most likely tell them what I got them. \

Siobhan is a neat freak and slowly peels off the tape, and folds the wrapping paper into neat little rectangles, driving everyone crazy who is watching her. My brother rips through everything like the Tasmanian Devil, crinkling, tossing, and destroying everything in sight, sometimes cards included.

I decided to make a Christmas present themed dish by blanching some giant swiss chard leaves and using them as wrapping paper for some fresh trout filets.

I seasoned the white trout pieces and wrapped them in the dark green leaves, tying them with a bow of nori seaweed. I steamed the gifts in my three-tiered bamboo steamer, gently cooking the fish inside of the leaves, which ensured a moist piece of fish. I plated the tiny packages atop a slice of roasted eggplant and finished the dish with a “festive slaw”, made of julienned radish and Granny Smith apples. The combination of the spicy radish and the sweet, and juicy apple was a refreshing garnish for my delicate fish.

The earthy egglplant was a great base for the trout, especially with the dash of salty, umami-rich soy sauce that I drizzled on top. I opened a really cool wine called Jack, which is a French Chablis style wine made from California Chardonnay.

Only 100 cases of this wine is made per year. It’s a lightly oaked, high acidity, white wine with tremendous minerality and structure. The nose is filled with roasted pears, wet limestone, and citrus and the palate is round and fat with flavors ranging from apple sorbet to creamy Zabaglione.

 Now that 2011 is approaching quickly, I will have much more time to experiment more in the kitchen and update the blog on a more regular basis. Enjoy the holiday season and I wish for a healthy, happy, and hungry New Year for everyone! Cheers!