Rooftop Gourmet

Wow. I finally found some time in between the hustle and bustle of the last few months to pull out the camera. I’ve been itching to post another meal for quite some time, but my schedule just hasn’t permitted it.

The other night, I was craving two of my favorite things… pork and clams. Tasty on their own, but euphoric when eaten together.

I had a few links of chorizo on hand and I picked up a dozen cockles from the new Legal Harborside Market. Chorizo is a cured, Spanish pork sausage that gets its brick red color and its intense smokiness from dried, smoked red paprika.

Cockles are tiny, saltwater clams that are sweet and briny. I tossed the chorizo into a food processor and made “chorizo-bits”, and then gently sauteed them to make them nice and crispy.

As I tried to restrain myself from nibbling on all of the “bits”, I made a silky, white bean puree. I simply simmered some white beans in vegetable stock and fresh thyme before breaking out the boat motor blender. I let it simmer on the back burner with a splash of cream to to add richness and to thicken it just a bit.

Finally, I got to my main protein… the halibut. I seared the fish in a skillet, skin-side down and let it get nice and crispy.

As soon as it was almost halfway done, I finished it in the oven and poured a glass of 2007 Vincent Girardin Rully “les Cloux”, a Premier Cru White Burgundy. The wine is 100% Chardonnay and is a beautiful golden color in the glass. It exudes intense aromas of cold butter and hazlenuts followed by flavors of green apple, custard, and a signature lemon finish.

The wine is medium bodied and chalk full of acidity which makes it perfect for this rich dish.

When I pulled the fish from the oven, I transferred it to a warm plate and started a quick pan sauce. I added some white wine, butter, parsley and the cockles and let everything reduce while the clams steamed open. Towards the end, I tossed in a few morel mushrooms and a spritz of lemon.

Morels are like the Lamborghini of the fungal world. They have a unique flavor and look like something out of a Super Mario Brothers game.

Their sponginess soaks up all of the sauce and flavors that you cook it in. I drizzled the morels around the pan roasted halibut with the steamed cockles and topped the fish off with a dusting of the chorizo crumble. Each bite of the moist, flaky halibut gently slid off into the creamy bean puree and sopped it all up.

A crunchy bite of salty chorizo adds extreme texture and flavor and is cut by the lemony sauce and fresh parsley. Just as I had anticipated, the succulent clams were drop-dead delicious when combined with the smoky pork sausage and the morels were a bonus treat.

You either love them or you hate them. A great Bloody Mary will either make you barf, or prevent you from puking up last night’s bar tab. This classic drink, said to have been created at Harry’s Bar in the 1920′s, is famous for curing the dreaded hangover. The basic combination of equal parts vodka and tomato juice has been put through years of makeovers by bartenders everywhere, claiming their own “signature” Bloody Mary.

 As a Bloody Mary aficionado (I’m not always hungover I swear) I have seen everything from smoked green tomato puree to a tall Bloody garnished with a handful of Slim Jims. My two all-time favorite places to wash one down is in the parking lot of Gillette Stadium, pre-Patriots game, and at the make-your-own Bloody Mary bar at East Coast Grill in Cambridge, MA. Both are amazing in their own way. Making your own batch the night before, so thick that you can leave the straws at home, and standing in your snow boots at 9am talking football, or hovering over 40 different condiments with a pint glass full of ice, preparing for the best brunch in town.

The best thing about a Bloody Mary is that all of the ingredients, no matter what they are, are so bold in flavor that it awakes not only your tastebuds, but all of your senses too; Spicy, salty, sweet, bitter… and boozy.

Last night, I took some of the most popular Bloody Mary staples and created a fish dish to pay homage to my favorite Sunday morning beverage. I bought a thick and meaty piece of fresh Halibut to serve as the canvas for my Bloody Mary Halibut. I started off preparing my tomato sauce by toasting some sliced garlic and crushed chile flakes to give the dish some heat.

After the sauce simmered away on the stovetop for about twenty minutes, I added a few dashes of Tabasco to give it that tangy, vinegar kick to it. The sauce wasn’t meant to be a huge part of the dish, so I had a heavy hand when kicking up the heat. My goal was to make my forehead start to perspire as it does while lurched over a tall Bloody Mary at the bar. The next thing I did was wash off a few stalks of celery, which are typically served as a garnish. I thinly shaved them on a bias and tossed them in a bowl with parsley, lemon juice and a little Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Celery adds a bitter, freshness to the classic recipe as well as a powerful crunch. A gremolata is an Italian “condiment” that is usually sprinkled over braised dishes to liven them up, such as Veal Osso Bucco.

 It normally consists of anchovies, lemon zest, and fresh parsley that is ground in a mortar and pestle. I decided to make a gremolata with lemon zest, fresh parsley and chopped green olives because all of those flavors are tied into a Bloody Mary. Most drinks are usually garnished with a lemon wedge and a few green olives that are usually fished out of the bottom of the ice with your celery stalk.

 I peeled the nasty layer off of the fresh horseradish root and revealed its ivory, white flesh. Immediately, I could smell the pungent zip that closely resembles the flavor of wasabi. Horseradish has a specific type of heat that is totally different than the heat in the tomato sauce. Unlike the Capsaicin that comes from chilie peppers and punches you in the tastebuds and numbs your tongue, the heat from horseradish root clears your sinuses by sending a rush of sneeze-inducing fumes through your nose. Sounds painful but I am a sucker for punishment and absolutely love it.

 I grated the fresh root and crusted the top of the halibut filet with the coconut-like shavings before baking it in the oven until the flesh was opaque. The crust toasted into a delicious golden brown color and I sprinkled the fresh gremolata on top. I placed the fish on a streak of the fiery tomato sauce and plated some refreshing, shaved celery salad on the side. One of the main components in your typical Bloody Mary mix was not left out.

Worcestershire Sauce is usually added to give the mix a little more depth and character. I made a sticky, Worcestershire Sauce reduction and drizzled it in the corner of the plate. When you ran your fork through every component on the plate, the flavors of a classic Bloody Mary all came together in an elegant seafood dish. The crispy horseradish crust protected the moist, flaky fish. The heat from the tomato sauce was tamed by the cool, celery salad, and the reduction and gremolata side-swiped your palate with rich and salty flavors. I paired this deconstructed cocktail dish with an intriguing wine from Salento, Italy.

The 2008 Li Veli Primonero is a unique blend (kind of like vodka and tomato juice) of Primitivo and Negromaro grapes. The Primitivo (Italian Zinfandel) is picked in early August and produces fresh, ripe fruit flavors, while the Negromaro is picked in late September, producing dark fruit and earthy flavors. The stark difference in picking times, and styles of the grapes combine to make a very well balanced, food-friendly wine. The color is deep ruby purple, with fresh berries on the nose and a velvety mouthfeel. The wine is medium bodied and rich with a finish that Italians would say is, “full of finesse”. This is a one of a kind blend that shows that new and innovative winemaking in an Old World wine country is on the rise. After a meal like this, I am anxiously looking forward to football season or at least maybe some more 10am World Cup Soccer matches, where Bloody Mary will be in attendance.