How do you totally impress X’s family at their annual Christmas Eve holiday dinner, which begins around 7:30 with the pop of the first bottle of Champagne, and ends far past midnight, long after the foie gras, the poularde, heaps of vacherin, marrons glacés and mountains of tiny macarons have been eaten?

You bring Dorie Greenspan’s salmon rillettes.

Around 1 a.m., as X and I bundled up to leave the other evening, wrapping ourselves in as many layers as we could to make the brisk walk to the car in the sub-zero temperature, X’s sister and mother were still telling me how much they loved the salmon rillettes. But I already knew this. I watched as the entire jar (photographed above) disappeared as we opened presents.

I really can’t take the credit. It’s Dorie’s recipe; not mine.

As most of y’all know by now, I’m less of a Dorie fan than a full-fledged Dorie groupie. When I’m stuck, and have baked my way into a corner — and by that, I mean, I’ve created some sort of disaster — I turn to Dorie. First, I pull out one of the many Dorie cookbooks on my shelves and try to figure out what I’ve done wrong; and if I can’t find the answer, I simply ask her. I send her an email, and she zips a cheery note right back, as if she doesn’t have fifty dozen other things on her “to do” list that day.

I interviewed Dorie a few months ago for a story in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram about her newest cookbook, “Around My French Table” (which is where I found this recipe), and we spent an afternoon together laughing and giggling as we chopped up veggies for the couscous that she was serving for dinner that night. At the end of the day, I felt like I’d made a friend — and I think that everyone that meets Dorie feels that way, too.

It’s why, I think, her books are best-sellers — this book made The New York Times best-seller list within weeks of its release, and was listed on every major “Best Cookbooks of 2010 list,” too. Not only are her recipes flawless — I don’t know of any other cookbook author that I’d trust to make a recipe for the first time to take to a Christmas dinner — they’re written in an easy, conversational tone; with language that’s instructional, yet never pedantic. Simply put, I trust her recipes.

In the notes for her salmon rillettes recipe, Dorie suggests making more than you think that you’ll need, so I did.

My only regret was making a double-batch, and not a triple.

Next time.

Salmon Rillettes

Adapted from Dorie Greenspan’s “Around My French Table”

Makes about 2 cups

INGREDIENTS

1 lemon
1 small *red chile, seeds and membrane removed (See note at bottom; I used a jalapeno with seeds, and it wasn’t too hot)
½ cup dry white wine or white vermouth (I used a Chardonnay)
½ cup water
1 bay leaf
5 white peppercorns (I used black because I didn’t have white)
5 coriander seeds
2 spring onions, finely chopped, green tops reserved, or one shallot, finely chopped, rinsed and patted dry
sea salt
½ pound (8 oz.) salmon filet, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
4-6 ounces smoked salmon, cut into 1/4-inch dice
freshly ground white pepper (I omitted this)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
about ¼ teaspoon pink peppercorns, crushed with the back of your knife
toasted bread or crackers, for serving

1. With a vegetable peeler, cut a strip of lemon zest and put it in a medium saucepan. Finely grate the rest of the zest into a small bowl and set aside with the lemon. You’ll use these later.

2. Cut a thin strip of the chile, and toss it into the saucepan with the lemon zest. Mince the rest of the chile, and put it in a small bowl, too, and set aside.

3. Pour the wine or vermouth and the water into the saucepan with the strips of zest and chile, and add the bay leaf, peppercorns, coriander, onion tops, and 1/2 teaspoon salt and bring to a boil over medium heat. When it boils, lower the heat, cover and let simmer for 5 minutes.

4. Now drop the cubes of salmon filet into the pan, cover and poach for 1 minute. Pour everything into a strainer, drain, and transfer only the salmon cubes to a medium bowl — you can discard the herbs, spices and vegetables.

5. Use the back of a fork to gently mash the poached salmon cubes. Add the smoked salmon, grated lemon zest, chile (you may want to add a small amount, then taste and add more), and chopped onions or shallot, and give it a stir. Taste and add salt and pepper.

6.Add the butter and mix until well incorporated.

7. Squeeze about half of the lemon juice into the bowl and taste. Here, taste and add more lemon, salt and pepper (again, I omitted the white pepper and simply added a bit more finely chopped jalepeno). Stir in the pink peppercorns and taste again (I added just a teensy bit more of these, too).

8. Tightly pack into a glass jar (or you may use a bowl), press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface, and chill for at least 2 hours.

Serve with tiny toasts or crackers, and lots and lots of Champagne.

*A word about chiles: A red Thai chile is at least 20 times hotter than a jalapeno, so I’d advise using this without seeds, and sparingly. When I made this, I added the finely chopped jalapeno little by little until I found the right amount of heat — you don’t want too much, either. The idea is to have just a tiny bit of heat — it’s not Tex-Mex, y’all.

Continuing this summer’s theme of keeping the oven in “OFF” position as much as possible, I came up with this little number, a super-simple, tres Frenchy way to eat salmon.

Here’s what happened: I’d made the lentils a day before, and they were hanging out in the fridge, just waiting for something to come along and jazz them up. Enter salmon — I consider myself lucky to have a fish guy that sets up at the St. Didier market every Saturday, and sells super-fresh fish, and at a reasonable price, which is always a bonus in my Birkin/Goyard totin’ quartier. (Remember, I’m the one in beat-up cowboy boots, with a hemp Whole Foods/London bag slung over my shoulder.)

All I did was cook up the salmon, let it cool, and make the dressing. About 15 minutes, tops.

Despite the heat that we’ve had around here, I’m really enjoying the challenge of cooking in a different way. Without the benefit of an A/C, I’m constantly thinking of what sorts of foods will be cool, light, and tasty, too. This scores high in all three categories — or as X likes to say when he takes a bite of something new and likes it instantly, “Winner!”

Salmon-Lentil Salad

Serves 2

INGREDIENTS
2 pieces of appx 130gram/4.5 oz salmon filets, with skin
2 tablespoons olive oil
¼ teaspoon sea salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
680 grams/3 cups cooked lentils du Puy, recipe follows
125 grams/4.5 oz fresh brebis or chevre
1 medium tomato, chopped in large chunks
4 leaves basil
2 ounces toasted pine nuts (for garnish; optional)
Noisette vinaigrette, recipe follows

Preheat oven to broil.

1. Rinse and pat dry the salmon, and put about 1 tablespoon of olive oil on each, making sure to evenly coat (and include the skin). Place on a parchment-lined cookie sheet, salt and pepper, and slide into the oven. Watch this carefully — it’ll only take 7-10 minutes to cook, depending on the thickness of your salmon. When it’s cooked, just let it cool, with a little foil tent on top if you’d like for it to stay a bit warm.

2. Assemble the salad. Spoon 1 1/2 cups lentils in a shallow bowl. Flake the salmon on top of the lentils, then add pieces of the brebis or chevre, the tomatoes, the basil and the pine nuts. Drizzle a bit of the vinaigrette over it all and serve.

Note: I like this best cold, as a summer dish, but you could serve it warm, too.

Lentils

INGREDIENTS

500 grams (1 pound) lentils du Puy, rinsed
½ medium white onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
32 oz water
2 tablespoons olive oil

1. Drizzle olive oil in a medium stockpot, add the chopped onion and minced garlic, and turn the heat onto medium and cook until the onion becomes translucent, 5-10 minutes. Add the lentils and water and cook until it boils. Cover, and cook for 45 minutes, or until the lentils become soft, but not mushy. Be sure to check the lentils every now and then as they cook – you may need to add a bit more water as they cook.

2. When the lentils are cooked, let them cool and then put in a container in the fridge until you’re ready to eat them.

Noisette Vinaigrette

INGREDIENTS

⅓ cup sherry vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon minced shallots
pinch sea salt
pinch pepper
⅓ cup olive oil
⅓ cup noisette (hazelnut) oil

1. Put everything but the olive oil and noisette oil in a jar (I always use old jam jars for my dressings) and shake until combined.

2. Add oil, shake again, taste, and adjust for seasonings if necessary.

Last week, I worked up a menu for my Cowgirl Chef column for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram focusing on after-school snacks that kids could make themselves, and this Mexican Pita Pizza was one of the recipes that I came up with — but without the salmon, goat cheese, and chives. When I had some leftover salmon from a dinner party and some pita bread leftover from recipe testing, I made this grown-up version.

Super-easy, y’all. Just refried black beans (I like the texture of beans so I don’t puree them, I simply smash them with an old-fashioned potato masher), salsa, fresh goat cheese and already cooked salmon, finished with some snipped chives — but you could use cilantro instead, and I probably would, if I’d had some on hand. A little chopped avocado wouldn’t be too bad here, either.

What I really, really like about this is, besides the wonderful flavor of black beans and salmon (which may sound weird, but is tres good), is the lightening-fast cooking time. Just two minutes (seriously – set your timers or it’ll burn) to toast the pita in the oven; then less than 30 seconds to warm up the cheese so it’s a bit melty.

See how crispy that bread is? Totally like a pizza crust that you’d find pulled out of your favorite pizzeria — in Rome.

It’s not as strange as it sounds —  the word, pizza came from pita, anyway.

For the kid-friendly version of this recipe, plus other after-school snacks, check out my most recent column in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Mexican Pita Pizza

INGREDIENTS

1 piece pita bread (unsliced and left whole)
½ cup refried black beans (you may use canned or make your own)
1-2 tablespoons salsa (jarred or make your own)
115 grams/2 oz. fresh chevre
60 grams/4 oz. cooked salmon
Cilantro or chives for garnish (optional)
Avocado for garnish (optional)

Preheat oven to Broil.

In a small skillet or saucepan, over medium-low heat, gently warm the beans, stirring frequently so they don’t stick. Once warmed through, turn off the heat.

Now, pretoast the pita. Put pita bread directly on rack of the oven or toaster oven, and set timer for 30 seconds. When buzzer goes off, using your long tongs and flip the pita bread over to the other side. Set timer again, but watch carefully – this side may take less than 30 seconds.

Remove from oven, and put the hot, crispy pita “crust” on a cookie sheet, and carefully smear the ½ cup of refried beans all over the surface. Now add the 1-2 tablespoons of salsa, and the goat cheese.

Slide the entire cookie sheet into the oven and set the timer for 1 minute only. Again, watch carefully, because you’re just melting the cheese.

Add the salmon to the pizza, the chives or cilantro, and avocado if you’ve got it, and voila! – you’ve got dinner.

]]> http://cowgirlchef.com/2010/08/20/mexican-pita-pizza/feed/ 2 http://cowgirlchef.com/2010/06/01/chipotle-salmon-salad-tartine/ http://cowgirlchef.com/2010/06/01/chipotle-salmon-salad-tartine/#comments Tue, 01 Jun 2010 17:25:14 +0000 epierce http://cowgirlchef.com/?p=2733

Acknowledgement is the first step, right? Well, all right then.  I’ll just say it. I’ve become dependent on the chipotle.

Happy?

Since I moved to France three and a half years ago, I’ve relied on the deep red, smoked jalapeño — that packs 20 times the heat of a regular jalapeño — to give me the fiery flavor that I missed from home. Easy to transport on those long-haul flights from Dallas to Paris, chipotles come 15 to 20 per 7 ounce can, and are packed in adobo sauce, a puree of ground chiles and garlic. I usually bring back a half-dozen or so per trip, and keep them on the chile shelf in my kitchen. Or shelves, as it’s becoming lately.

While I’m confessing, I might as well admit that I’ve also gotten a bit salmon-crazy. I love its soft orangey color, its distinctive flavor and texture, too, but above all, I love its versatility. Salmon lends itself well to Asian flavors, to Mediterranean, and I’ve found, Tex-Mex, too. Salmon seems not to care who it’s playing with, as long as it’s invited to the party.

So I figured, why not get these two kids, chipotle and salmon, together?

This is what I came up with. A super-simple salad, made with fresh salmon. I just used one chipotle, and added a bit of adobo sauce, too (I’d made my own a couple of weeks before, but you may use what’s in the can), for a little additional smokiness. I mixed it all up and let it sit in the fridge overnight.

The next day, it was perfect.

Chipotle-Salmon Salad Tartine

INGREDIENTS

1 11 oz (300 g) salmon filet, with skin
1 medium lemon, halved
2 tablespoons chopped red onion
1 chipotle chile (in adobo), finely chopped
1-2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon adobo sauce
¼ teaspoon sea salt
pepper

WHAT YOU DO

Preheat oven to 200C/400 F

1. Put salmon filet on a piece of parchment paper (or use foil), put two slices of lemon on top, and a sprig of dill. Wrap the paper up, tucking the last bit underneath the fish, so it’ll stay put. Cook for 15 minutes, or until the top of the paper begins to brown. Rip open the paper, let the salmon cool off a bit, and refrigerate for 2 hours, at least, until completely cooled.

2. With a fork, flake the salmon in large pieces into a medium bowl. Add the chipotle, 1 tablespoon mayo, 2 tablespoons chopped red onion, chipotle, and 1 tablespoon of adobo sauce. Squeeze the other half of the lemon into the mixture, and gently mix. At this point, you may want to add the additional tablespoon of mayo if it needs it. If you like big pieces of salmon like I do (as opposed to shredded), be careful not to overmix.

Taste for salt and pepper and let rest in the fridge for 2 hours, at least, so the flavors can combine. Serve with avocado slices and lime.

Cowgirl Tip: This would also work as a great party appetizer. Just thinly slice a baguette on the diagonal, toast, and top with the chipotle-salmon salad, a bit of avocado, and dill.

I noticed a couple of weeks ago that the price of asparagus started to rise – and then double – so I figured that my love affair with asparagus was coming to a close, for now, at least. But then – hallelujah! – I was pressing through the crowds at Monoprix the other day and saw both asparagus and the funny-shaped Gariguette strawberries on sale, and threw them both in my teensy, already stuffed basket.

How could I say no to asperges at 2.50 euros? Well, obviously, I could not.

I grabbed some smoked trout, and was planning to make tartines, but when I got home, I remembered that I had all of this bread from the weekend that I needed to use in some way, so I made some croutons (drizzled in olive oil, sea salt, pepper and baked in a 400-degree oven for 10-15 minutes or so), roasted the asparagus, and tore the smoked trout into different size pieces. Tres simple.

Tossed the mixture with a little sherry vinaigrette, and added just a bit of creme fraiche, because, well, you simply must. It’s just the right amount of creaminess that the smoked trout and asparagus need to come together peacefully, plus it gives a wonderful contrast to the crunch of the toasted bread.

Hey, Monoprix, I’m coming back.

Bread Salad with Asparagus and Smoked Trout

INGREDIENTS

1 pound (about 450 grams) asparagus, rinsed and ends trimmed
4 oz (about 113 grams) smoked trout, torn into bite-size pieces
4 cups bread croutons, toasted (this is approximate; I really go by how this looks in the bowl)
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 tablespoon fresh dill
2 tablespoons creme fraiche or sour cream
2 oz (¼ cup) sherry vinaigrette, recipe follows
sea salt
pepper
olive oil

WHAT YOU DO

1. Turn the oven onto broil. Put the asparagus spears on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with a bit of sea salt and pepper. 
Slide into the oven and cook until the spears begin to turn brown, about 10-15 minutes. You’ll want to roll them around a bit half-way through, to make sure they cook evenly. Remove asparagus from oven, and cut in 2-inch pieces.

2. In a medium bowl, toss the asparagus with the bread croutons, smoked trout, lemon zest, dill, and approximately 1/4 cup of the sherry vinaigrette (go light; you don’t want to overdress). If you can, let this sit at room temperature for a half-hour, at least. Serve with a bit of creme fraiche.

Sherry Vinaigrette

INGREDIENTS

⅓ cup sherry vinegar
1 medium shallot, minced
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon chives, minced
sea salt
pepper
⅔ cup olive oil

WHAT YOU DO

1. Put the sherry vinegar, shallots, chives and mustard in a jam jar and shake so everything combines. Let sit for 15-20 minutes.

2. Add the oil, taste for seasonings, and add salt and pepper.

It’s funny how things come together.

There I was, in the kitchen, testing recipes for haricots verts, when I thought, Hmm, what about making a little Salade Nicoise for dinner? I’d already cooked the haricots verts, had the olives, and found this great can of tuna packed in olive oil, too. So I opened it up. I was ready.

Then, just as suddenly, I wasn’t. I needed coffee. I was tired of chopping. Tired of roasting. The idea of washing potatoes, then cutting them up, parboiling them, and putting them back in the oven seemed overwhelming.

The can of  tuna was open. I had to do something with it.

I remembered that I had a new loaf of Poilane bread.

I decided that I’d make tuna fish sandwiches – no, I’d make tartines, the Frenchy, open-faced sandwiches — and because I’d cut back on the bread by one slice, I’d reward myself (!) with a batch of brownies. Oh yes, that’s what I’d do, I thought, shooing kitchen fatigue out the door like an Amway salesman.

I put my tuna and olives in a bowl, and added some chopped up sundried tomatoes, some basil, and some capers — all of my favorite things. Then, for good measure (and because I’d just made some), I drizzled some basil oil over it all, mixed it together, and put it in the fridge for a half-hour.

When X came back from walking Rose, I toasted up a couple slices of  bread, spooned out the tuna, added some arugula, and drizzled a bit more basil oil on top.

Fabulously easy. Delicious.

Then we had brownies.

Mediterranean Tuna Tartines

Makes 2

INGREDIENTS

160 gram (5.64 oz) can tuna in olive oil, drained

4 sundried tomatoes, chopped in slivers

6 Kalamata olives, halved lengthwise

1 teaspoon capers, drained

2 leaves fresh basil, chopped

pepper

2 tablespoons basil oil, recipe follows

handful arugula

2 pieces country bread, toasted

WHAT YOU DO

Put drained tuna, sundried tomatoes, Kalamata olives, capers, and basil in bowl and toss to combine. Add basil oil, give the pepper mill a couple of cranks, and taste. Serve on toast with a heap of arugula, and drizzle a bit more basil oil on top.

Basil Oil

INGREDIENTS

1 tablespoon basil, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

⅓ cup olive oil

sea salt

WHAT YOU DO

Put first 3 ingredients in a jam jar, and shake. Salt and pepper to taste. Let sit for an hour, at least, before using. Will keep for a week or two in the fridge.

When a group of expats here in Paris asked me recently if I’d teach a class on how to make moles, I knew a couple of things: one, that we’d probably only have time to make one mole, since even the super-speedy ones take 2 hours, minimum, to put together; and two, that I wanted to give them something really useful in addition a mole recipe or two to take home.

Which brings us to adobo salsa.

You’ve probably seen the word, adobo, on the side of the chipotle cans, because those little firecrackers are packed in this sauce. Other than that, you may have eaten enchiladas with adobo; or if you haven’t, you should.

It’s a workhorse of a little sauce, and I thought that it would be just perfect with shrimp tostadas for a first course for my mole class, and I was right. It would work nicely on chicken, or pork, too, or, as I mentioned before, slathered all over your favorite enchiladas.

Adobo is used quite a bit in Mexican cuisine as a marinade, and I plan to make some adobo pork tacos in my trusty slow cooker as soon as I come up for air. Between my “French-Tex” cooking classes, the mole classes, testing and writing recipes for my cookbook, and writing my regular columns for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and Cowboys and Indians magazine, I’ve hardly had a moment.

But now I’ve got adobo in the fridge — and mole, too — and possibilities are suddenly opening up.

Crispy Shrimp Tostadas with Adobo Salsa

Makes 6 large tostadas

INGREDIENTS

17 oz (500 g) shrimp, cooked and peeled

9 oz (250 g) mozzarella (or your favorite mild melty cheese)

8 oz Adobo sauce, recipe follows

8 oz creme fraiche or sour cream

handful cilantro, chopped, for garnish

4 green onions, chopped

8 corn tortillas

cilantro, for garnish

WHAT YOU DO

Preheat oven to 450 F.

1. Lay the tortillas on a cookie sheet, lined with parchment, and slide into the oven for 5-10 mins to toast.

2. Now, put a few shrimp, some cheese, adobo sauce and green onions on each tortilla and put it back in the oven until the cheese bubbles, about 5 min.

3. Serve each tostada with a dollop of creme fraiche and cilantro.

Adobo Salsa

Adapted from a recipe by Sylvia Kurcyzn, Culinario Centro Ambrosia, Mexico City

INGREDIENTS

5 chiles guajillos

3 chiles anchos

2 chiles cascabel

3 cloves garlic, skins on

1 teaspoon Mexican oregano, stems removed

1 teaspoon cumin seed

1 teaspoon peppercorns (about 15)

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

sea salt

WHAT YOU DO

1. Split chiles and remove the seeds and veins. With a wooden spoon or spatula, pressing the chiles down, toast chiles on comal over medium heat or fry in corn oil until they begin to change color slightly. This won’t take long — 30 seconds to 1 minute – per side. Put the chiles in a bowl and cover with boiling water, and let sit for 15 minutes, at least, or until they soften. Reserve the chile soaking water for the puree.

Cowgirl Tip: Be careful, and watch the chiles closely, because they’ll easily burn if they cook for too long.

2. Remove the skins from the garlic and toast on the comal.

3. Toast the cumin seed and peppercorns.

4. Now, put the softened chiles, garlic, cumin seed, peppercorns, and Mexican oregano in a blender. Add vinegar, and enough chile water to blend easily. Keep the blender going until the mixture is super-smooth — 5-7 minutes. Have patience. The longer this blends, the more complex the flavors will be.

Now, taste. Add salt.

This sauce will freeze for about 6 months, or keep in the fridge for a couple of weeks.

After awhile, it just happens. You start craving the things here in addition to the stuff that’s already in your comfort food scrapbook from your real home.

Just like my favorites from Texas, it’s the simple things here that I love – and go back to time and time again. Duck confit. Steak frites with Roquefort sauce. Chouquettes in the afternoon with my coffee, still warm in the little 100-gram sack, twisted on the corners, like tiny mouse ears. A ham and cheese crepe, with an egg on top. Chevre. Pate and vin rouge. Moules frites.

Figured since they were just 6 euros for a kilo last week — enough for X and I to split — at the poissonnerie down the street, it was time to whip up a batch.

If you’ve never made mussels, they’re super-easy, and lightening fast –they just take 3 to 4 minutes, at the most, to cook. The key, as you’d expect, is getting your hands on the freshest mussels that you can find, so talk to your fishmonger in advance about the best time to pop in for a sack. Then, about 20 minutes before you want to cook them,  just grab a dishtowel and clean the outsides and pull out the little beards. If they start to open, just tap them until they shut, or give the bowl a shake, and they’ll close right back up.

Unlike what many recipes and how-tos will tell you, my fish guy says that you should not put these guys in a bowl of water. Ever. In fact, he says keep the water away from them completely. Keep them in the fridge in the little plastic bag that you brought them home in, and clean them right before you put them in the pot.

This is a slight adaptation of the recipe that I found in Patricia Wells’ book, “Bistro Cooking.” Next time, I’m going to try making moules with a little cream sauce.

Cream, butter, cheese. Hmm, I have no idea why my new pants keep coming unsnapped, do you?

Moules a la Provencale

Makes 2 main course servings

INGREDIENTS

2 pounds fresh mussels

½ bottle dry white wine, such as a Sauvignon

4 cloves garlic, minced

4 medium shallots, minced

1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes

3 tablespoons flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped

1 tablespoon olive oil

WHAT YOU DO

1. With a clean, dry cloth, beard the mussels, and wipe any sand off of them and put them in a large, deep stockpot. Don’t put the mussels in water.

2. Add the wine, garlic, and shallots to the mussels, cover the pot, and turn the heat on medium. Cook for 2 minutes, then, with a large spoon, scoop the ones from the bottom to the top so they all cook evenly. Cook for 2 more minutes. The mussels should now all be open. With a slotted spoon, remove the mussels from the pot and put them in two large bowls for serving.

3. Strain the liquid through cheesecloth or a dampened paper towel, so any sand is left behind. Wipe out the pot with a damp cloth to get any remaining bits of sand.

4. Add the liquid back to the pot, along with the tomatoes. Turn the heat on medium and cook for 3 minutes or so. Pour over the mussels, sprinkle the parsley on top, and serve.

]]> http://cowgirlchef.com/2010/03/30/moules-a-la-provencale/feed/ 1 http://cowgirlchef.com/2010/01/03/salsa-veracruzana/ http://cowgirlchef.com/2010/01/03/salsa-veracruzana/#comments Sun, 03 Jan 2010 17:45:10 +0000 epierce http://cowgirlchef.com/?p=1489

Oh, I know this looks fancy, but it’s really one of those things that you can throw together (chopping time included) in less than half an hour. This little salsa is a Mexican classic, and it’s a great recipe to have in your back pocket for those times when you want to serve fish, but would like to give it a little pizazz – something we all could use a little more of, if you ask me.

Salsa Veracruzana, a Mexican salsa with Spanish roots, is your solution. Deceptively easy, this works with whatever kind of fish you’ve got on hand, and the fish can be added and cooked on the stovetop or in the oven. Either way, you’re looking at about 10 minutes to chop, 10 minutes to cook the sauce, and another 10 to cook the fish in the sauce. Facile!

When I saw this dish on the menu in the restaurant at La Casona in Mexico City, I asked the chef, Frederico Olss, if he’d share his recipe and show me how to make it,  so I could share it with all of y’all. He was happy to oblige, and I’m so glad that he did.

Sometimes you’ll see raisins or prunes added to this salsa, too, which adds a nice sweetness, and gives a subtle contrast to the rest of the flavors here, and if you’ve got some hanging around, you just might want to toss some in, just for fun. Because if it’s not gonna be fun, why cook?

Enjoy the show.

Salsa Veracruzana

INGREDIENTS

½ medium white onion, sliced thin

1 whole red bell pepper, sliced thin

2 Roma tomatoes

2 cloves garlic (appx 1 teaspoon)

1 Bay leaf

1 teaspoon thyme

1 cup white wine (dry)

4-5 whole green olives, pitted

6-8 capers

1 banana pepper (whole)

1 tablespoon tomato puree

salt

Mahi-Mahi, Red Snapper or any other white fish that’s in season

WHAT YOU DO

1. In a medium skillet drizzle a bit of olive oil and add the onion. Turn heat on medium-high.

2. When onion becomes translucent, about 5 minutes, add the garlic. Cook for a minute or two and add the red bell pepper.

3. Cook until pepper becomes soft, about 3 to 5 minutes.

4. Now add: tomatoes and tomato puree, white wine, Bay leaf, and thyme.

5. Cook until tomatoes begin to turn orange, then turn heat to medium-low. 
Slide fish into the sauce and add the olives, capers, and banana peppers. Let cook until fish is done, about 5-7 minutes, depending on the fish and the thickness. (You may also cook the fish in a 350-degree oven for the same amount of time.)

I’m forever amazed and enchanted by the versatility of the black bean.

On its own, or with brown rice, it’s the perfect meal-in-a-bowl — topped with pico, chopped avocado, a dollop of creme fraiche and a squeeze of lime. Rolled up in a tortilla with a spoonful (or two) of salsa and shredded cheese. Stuffed into an empanada with goat cheese. Or into ravioli, as I did recently. Pureed and spiked with chiles for a dip. Made into its own pico, with corn.

Or, as I demonstrate here, fried into fat little cakes, and topped with Margarita Shrimp.

I came up with both of these recipes last year in Paris, because I thought that they’d be fun to demonstrate for my cooking classes.

I hope y’all like them, too.

If you don’t have time to make Margarita Shrimp, don’t worry. These Black Bean Cakes are great on their own — with a bit of salsa, or topped with a fried egg, ranchero sauce, and a bit of guac, for brunch.

Enjoy the show.

Black Bean Cakes

INGREDIENTS

6 cups cooked black beans
1 medium green bell pepper, 1/4-inch dice
1 medium red bell pepper, 1/4-inch dice
½ medium onion, 1/4-inch dice
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon chili powder
sea salt
1 tablespoon canola oil

WHAT YOU DO

1. Blend black beans with potato masher* and set aside.

2. To the bean mixture, add onion, red and green bell pepper, and garlic. Add cumin, chili powder and salt.

3. Put canola oil in large, cast-iron skillet and turn heat on medium-high. Cook beans until they start to dry out and thicken. Remove from heat and let cool for at least 15 minutes.

Note: All of this can be done in advance. Once the beans have cooled off, you may want to cover them until you want to make the cakes.

4. When ready to make the black bean cakes, put the second tablespoon of canola oil in the skillet, and cook cakes until crisp on each side, about ten minutes total.

5. Top with Margarita Shrimp and cilantro.

*Cowgirl Tip: I like the old fashioned, hand-held potato masher to make my refried beans, because I don’t like them to be too smooth. If you’re a smooth-lovin’ bean person, just get out the hand blender and whip it. Whip it good.

Margarita Shrimp

I wanted to add shrimp to my black bean cakes, but here in Paris, the shrimp come already cooked, so the recipe itself was an experiment. I didn’t know if the flavors would come together, but they did. If fresh shrimp are available, use the same ingredients, but just add a tablespoon of olive oil and/or butter, cook the garlic, then the shrimp, and add the rest at the end. Either way, it’s so easy!

INGREDIENTS

16 medium shrimp, cooked, peeled and cleaned
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons tequila (blanco)
1 tablespoon cilantro, chopped
1 lime
sea salt
splash Cointreau

WHAT YOU DO

1. Put shrimp in a bowl, and add garlic, cilantro, tequila, Cointreau, juice of half a lime, and salt.

2. Let marinate for a half hour.

3. Spoon on top of warm black bean cakes, along with a sprinkle of cilantro.