Lemon Butter Chilean Sea Bass w/ Creamy Crimini Risotto

First, I would like to thank everyone for following my blog last year. I would also like to apologize for not updating it in over 2 months.

However, no need to fear - I'm still cooking but I just haven't had the time to post any blogs. 2011 is going to be a big year for Bistro 331, I've already moved into a new place with new appliances! So hopefully I can do bigger and better things.

Chilean Sea Bass has always been my favorite fish ever since I had my first taste at Eddie V's. Eddie V's serves theirs Hong Kong style steamed in soy sauce and ginger - I'll prepare a variation of that dish in one of my upcoming blogs. The way I've prepare it today is very simple; where you can do this technique with just about any white fish. The risotto I've paired with this dish, pairs perfectly. Personally, I think it enhances the creaminess of the fish itself.

Ingredients:

Chilean Sea Bass
1 1/2 stick unsalted butter
1/2 lemon (juice and zest)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 cup Arborio rice
3-4 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup Crimini mushrooms (chopped)
3-4 tablespoon heavy cream
Parsley (for garnish)
1/8 cup Parmesan cheese (grated and a few thin slices for garnish)

Directions:

You may want to start on your risotto first as it takes 15-20 minutes to prepare. To see how to prepare the risotto follow the link to a previous post.

Now onto the main event - the succulent Chilean Sea Bass. Dry rub your fish by sprinkling a little salt and pepper on all sides. Next, melt 1 stick of butter into the skillet that you will be using to cook the fish. Once the butter has melted, add the lemon juice and zest to the skillet. Place the fish on the skillet - do not try to flip it too soon or it'll break on you. With a metal spoon, take some of the butter from the skillet and begin bathing the top of the fish, you'll continue to do so until the fish is ready to be flipped. To test if your fish is ready to flip or not, take the spatula and gently try to lift the edge of the fish, if it lifts easily, it's ready to be flipped if it's still sticking to the pan then it's not quite ready yet. Depending on the thickness of the fish (this one was about 2 inches thick) you should cook each side for about 4-5 minutes. Once the fish has been cook, you'll want to drain some of the excess butter from the fish by holding the fish on a spatula for a minute or two over the skillet.

Once the fish has cooked, all you need to do now is plate your fish on top of the risotto that you prepared beforehand. Garnish with some fresh curly leaf parsley and a few strips of Parmesan cheese. This is one of my favorite dishes so I hope you'll give it a try.

Baked Shumai Stuffed Mushrooms in Tomato Sauce

As you can probably tell by the title, this dish has a Chinese and Italian inspiration. Shumai is one of my favorite dim sum dishes and how can you ever go wrong with Italian style tomato sauce. The mushrooms are a perfect vessel to bridge the two dishes together. This shumai is made of ground pork and shrimp and the tomato sauce has a hint of cream to help balance out the natural acidic flavor of the tomatoes.

Tomato Sauce Ingredients:

1 can San Marzano tomatoes (28 oz)
4 garlic gloves (minced)
1 large shallot (minced)
5 sprigs fresh basil (finely chopped)
1 tablespoon olive oil
4-5 sprigs fresh thyme
2 tablespoon dry oregano
1 teaspoon dry crushed chili peppers
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1/2 tablespoon kosher salt
1/2 tablespoon black pepper
2 bay leaves
1/4 cup heavy cream
4 ounces mozzarella cheese (thinly sliced or grated to spread on top of dish)

Preheat a stock pot with olive oil on medium high heat for 1-2 minutes. Then add the garlic and shallots, cook until shallots are translucent (about 3 minutes). Add the tomatoes with the sauce from the can and begin crushing the tomatoes with a wooden spoon in the pot. Add the basil, thyme, oregano, chili peppers, salt, black pepper and bay leaves. Bring the heat down to a simmer and cover the pot. Let this continue cooking while creating the shumai stuffed mushrooms and stir every 5 minutes. Stir in the cream in the last 5 minutes before adding to the mushrooms.

Shumai Ingredients:

9-10 large button mushrooms (stem removed and saved for stuffing)
1/2 pound ground pork
1/2 pound shrimp (finely chopped)
2 scallions (finely chopped)
1 teaspoon grated ginger
2 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon black pepper

Accompaniments:

Pasta (Spaghetti or Angel Hair is perfect for this)
Garlic bread

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

Finely chopped the stems of the mushrooms and add to a mixing bowl. Then add the pork, shrimp, scallions, ginger, soy sauce, salt, and black pepper. Gently mix all the ingredients in the bowl. Take the mixture and stuff the hollow area of the mushrooms, I like to over stuff mine and have quite a bit of the stuffing stick out from the mushrooms.

Place the mushrooms in a cast iron skillet (I like using a cast iron skillet because it retains heat and keeps the food nice and hot while serving) or casserole dish with the stuffing side up. Add the tomato sauce and cover entire contents. Bake for 30 minutes and then add the mozzarella cheese on top of each of the mushrooms. Continue baking for another 20 minutes to allow the cheese to melt into the dish. Carefully remove the dish with oven mits and serve with pasta and garlic bread.

Trio of Pizza Dough and Waffle Cut Parmesan Fries with Kaffir Lime Aioli

I'm heading Houston this weekend and still refuse to do any grocery shopping. I was going to just make pizza but that was too simple so I decided to utilize the pizza dough in 3 different ways. From left to right there's your standard margarita pizza with fresh tomatoes and basil, calzone stuff with mozzarella and pepperoni, and an open pizza roll stuffed with pineapples, mushrooms, basil, tomatoes, and tomato sauce. For an appetizer I made waffle cut fries topped with Parmesan cheese and fresh parsley.

Pizza dough ingredients:

1 cup flour

1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 tablespoon yeast
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup warm water

Directions:

Add yeast to warm water and let it rest for 5 minutes. Then add yeast and water mixture along with salt, sugar, and olive oil to flour. Knead dough well and let it rest for an hour.

Pizza sauce ingredients:

14 ounce San Marzano tomatoes

1 large shallot diced
2 garlic cloves diced
2 sprigs fresh basil
1/2 tablespoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Directions:

Add all ingredients to a sauce pan and cook on medium high heat. With an immersion blender blend mixture until it is all the same consistency. Set aside and keep on simmer until ready to use.

Margarita pizza ingredients:

1/3 of pizza dough

Pizza sauce

Roma tomatoes sliced

Fresh basil
Mozzarella cheese

Directions:

Cut 1/3 of pizza dough, create a ball and begin rolling out the dough into a circular shape (you can make it as thin as you like it). Add pizza sauce with a ladle on top of the pizza in a circular motion. Then add your toppings, for this application simply add mozzarella cheese, tomatoes and basil. Bake for approximately 10 minutes at super high heat (500 plus degrees).

Calzone ingredients:

1/3 of the pizza dough

Pizza sauce

Pepperoni

Mozzarella cheese

Directions:

Roll out pizza dough into a circle. On one half of the dough add, pizza sauce, mozzarella cheese and pepperoni. Fold the empty side of the dough over the top of the filled side. With a fork seal the edges of the dough and brush with olive oil. Cook at 500 degrees for 10 minutes. Serve with a side of pizza sauce.

Open pizza roll ingredients:

1/3 pizza dough

Pizza sauce

Pineapples

Mushrooms

Basil

Mozzarella cheese

Directions:

This one is a little tricky. I was trying to find a way to roll the pizza dough into a cone shape and the only thing I could find was an empty tomato sauce can that I split in half and roll into a cone. Roll out the pizza dough and then cut it in half. Then wrap the dough around the metal cone and brush with olive oil. Cook in a 500 degree oven for 5 minutes. Retrieve the crust and let it cool down before pulling it off of the metal cone. Stuff crust with ingredients other than the pizza sauce and place in oven for another 3 minutes. Add pizza sauce into the roll prior to serving.

Waffle Cut Parmesan Fries:

1 russet potato

Grated Parmesan cheese
Parsley finely chopped
Canola oil

Directions:

Cut your potatoes with the waffle fry insert into a bowl of cold water. Heat oil to 375 degrees while drying potatoes on a towel; when oil is ready, cook potatoes for approximately 5 minutes. Immediately after you pull fries out of the oil add cheese and parsley and mix well.

Kaffir lime aioli ingredients:

1 cup mayonnaise (store bought or homemade)
7 large kaffir lime leaves (spine removed)
2 garlic cloves

Directions:

In a food processor add garlic and kaffir lime leaves. Blend to very fine consistency and add mayonnaise. Continue blending until all ingredients are incorporated.

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Lobster with Risotto and Lobster Bisque

I went to the market today to grab some water for the weekend guests and I just so happen to stumble upon a live lobster sale. That got my mind racing a million miles per hour. Should I or shouldn't I buy a lobster? Should I wait for my long delayed lobster battle? Well, if you see the picture posted above, you already know the answer. Now I was thinking, how can I fully utilize this lobster? I felt sorry for the little crustacean at first but there's no turning back now, it's already sitting on my cutting board (I also didn't want its sacrifice to go in vane). So off the tail goes and the rest of the body and claws went into a boiling pot of water to make some stock. I used the stock for the risotto and bisque (I consider this to be a trio of lobster dishes). The bisque also contains the meat from the knuckles and claws. I really wanted to use this lobster to its full potential. Hours later this is what the result was (I was also making some spicy beef noodle soup at the same time, for the weekend that's why it took a couple of hours).

Lobster stock ingredients:

10 cups of water
Lobster head
Lobster claws
1 tablespoon kosher salt

Directions:

Bring water to a boil and add all ingredients. Wait for at least 20-30 minutes before using the stock. Also always keep the stock hot.

Lobster bisque ingredients:

1 shallot minced
1 garlic clove minced
3 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 cup lobster stock
1 tablespoon flour
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon tomato paste
4 tablespoon heavy cream
Lobster claw and knuckle meat (chopped)

Directions:

Add butter, shallot, and garlic to a small stock pot on medium high heat. Add all other ingredients except for lobster meat and use an immersion blend to bring all the components together. Add lobster meat at the very end and keep on simmer until ready to serve.

Lobster stock risotto ingredients:

1/4 cup arborio rice
1 cup lobster stock (more or less until rice is cooked)
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
3 tablespoon heavy cream
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
4-6 button mushrooms thinly sliced

Directions:

Add rice and 1/4 of lobster stock to a skillet on medium high heat. Continue cooking and stirring until stock is reduce by 75% then add another 1/4 of the lobster stock. Continue this process until rice is almost cooked completely. Then add cream, cheese, and mushrooms. Continue cooking and stirring until risotto thickens.

Lobster tail ingredients:

Lobster tail
Pinch of garlic powder
Pinch of paprika
Pinch of kosher salt
1/2 tablespoon butter
1 sprig fresh parsley minced

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375°. Cut a slit down the middle of the tail with shears. Pull the meat out and let it sit on top of the shell. Clean meat and shell under cold running water. Pat dry and sprinkle garlic powder, paprika, salt, and parsley on to of the tail. Place butter on top of the dry ingredients. Put lobster tail on baking sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes.

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Shrimp Fettucine Alfredo

I don't know what was worst, me craving pasta or me just wanting to use the pasta machine. Either way, I had some ingredients left over from Friday night's dinner so that was the inspiration to this dinner. Most of the time I'll make this dish using chicken but shrimp's not a bad alternative and goes great with this cream sauce. This recipe will probably yield 2 small portions or 1 large portion.

Pasta ingredients:

1/2 cup semolina flour
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 tablespoon water
1/2 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil

Alfredo ingredients:

1/2 - 3/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup white wine (I like Pinot Grigio)
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1/4 zest of a lemon
1 small shallot (thinly sliced)
2 garlic gloves (minced)
Pinch of kosher salt
Pinch of freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
3 sprigs curly leaf parsley (finely chopped)
Several thin slices of fresh Parmesan cheese
10 medium shrimp (peeled)

Alfredo directions:

Add oil to sauce pan or skillet and bring to medium heat. Then add shallots and garlic, once shallot becomes translucent add wine and let it reduce down halfway. Add cream and grated Parmesan cheese and continue stirring the mixture. Add lemon zest and juice while stirring. Add salt and pepper to taste. Once pasta is finished cooking add shrimp to the sauce first and let that cook through halfway before adding pasta noodles to the sauce. Cook noodles in sauce for at least 2-3 minutes and finish off with parsley and freshly sliced Parmesan cheese.


Pasta directions:

Create a bowl in the middle of the flour and add beaten egg. Continue to slowly add flour to egg and mix until the egg has absorbed most of the flour. Continue kneading dough and add water and oil. Knead dough for another 3-5 minutes and create a ball. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and let it chill in the refrigerator for about an hour.

Once dough has rest for an hour lightly dust your counter space with some flour (all purpose is fine) and roll out dough to about 12 inches long and then flatten dough so that it can be easily rolled in the pasta machine. Start with the setting width of 1 and lightly dust with flour as you increase your number, I like to finish my dough at number 6.  Then simple place the flatten dough in the fettuccine cutter. If you're doing it by hand simply roll the dough out length wise but remember to dust the dough and your rolling pin so that it doesn't stick and end up tearing the dough. Fold the dough into layers and then cut the noodles with a knife. Remember to keep lightly dusting the noodles after each cut.

In a stock pot add water and bring to a boil. Once water comes to a rolling boil add pasta noodles and let it cook for 1-2 minutes. Place noodles in stainer and let all of the water strain out before adding noodles to the sauce.

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Bruschetta - Zesty Tomato and Mozzarella

I've prepared this dish for a friend's birthday party tonight. Of course there was a lot more of it. I also made papaya salad, which I will be posting later. The initial reason why I came up with this recipe was because I had half a can of Cento Whole Peeled Italian Tomatoes and some bread endangered of going stale. Actually, a lot of my recipes come together at the very last minute just because I try not to let anything go bad or spoil.

Classic bruschetta

Ingredients:

1 medium can cento whole tomatoes
4-5 garlic cloves
2 small shallots
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
6 sprigs fresh basil (chiffonade)
3 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon dried crushed Thai chili pepper
1 teaspoon freshly cracked pepper
1 loaf french baguette
Several thinly sliced mozzarella cheese
Several pepperoni (julienne)
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

In saucepan saute shallots and garlic in olive oil. Add tomatoes and with scissors cut tomatoes into small bite size chunks. Add salt, oregano, bay leaves, chili peppers and black pepper. Let simmer for 15 minutes then add most of the fresh basil (save some for garnish). Slice bread on bias about 1/2 inch thick. Add tomato sauce on top of bread, then add cheese and pepperoni. Place bruschetta under broiler until cheese melts. Finish off by topping it with fresh basil, dried oregano and Parmesan cheese.

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