Hamachi Kama Shioyaki

this is so delicious and ridiculously easy. The hardest part is finding the hamachi kama. If you're in SF, they sell it at Nijiya Market in Japantown.

1 hamachi kama (yellowtail collar)
lots of sea salt

rub salt all over fish. let sit for a while. broil for 10 minutes or so.

eat.

Miso Black Cod

Tonight I got about 1 lb of black cod at the fish store near my work. This fish is not actually a type of cod - it's called sable fish, and there's a very interesting NYT article about it here:
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=travel&res=9D04E1DC153AF935A25756C0A9679C8B63

Sable has been for sale in New York at Jewish Delis for years as a cheap, smoked fish...but it more recently became trendy after Nobu in NYC put this recipe on the map.

What I made tonight is based on the Nobu recipe, which is similar to this:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Black-Cod-with-Miso-105872

But I just used ingredients that I had in my house:


1 lb sablefish (black cod) fillet, cut in three pieces (with skin)
miso paste (about 1/2 cup)
white wine (about 1/2 cup)
sherry (about 1/4 cup)
dash of soy sauce
sugar (about 3 T)
dash of salt
fresh ginger chopped (about 2 T)


In a pot, mix all of the ingredients and bring to a simmer. Allow the miso and sugar to dissolve into the rest of the liquid. Let cool, then put the marinade in a tupperware of plastic bag with the fish so it's totally covered. Marinate ideally for a day or overnight - I just did it for 2 hrs since I was in a rush, and it was fine.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Heat a cast iron pan on the stove, add some oil (I used grapeseed). Once the oil is hot, take out the fish, let most of the liquid drip off, then put into the pan face up (skin touching the pan). It will sizzle a lot. Allow the fish to cook for about 2 minutes, then flip it with a spatula. Allow the fish to sear on the other side for another 2 minutes, then flip it back over again. The fish should be browned on top. Take the cast iron pan and put everything in the oven for about 10-15 minutes, until the fish is tender. You can check doneness of the dish by sticking a knife in it - if it can sink through easily, the fish is done. It will be white and flaky.

Meanwhile, take the leftover marinade and heat it up in a pot until it simmers. The bad fish juices will boil away, and there will be a nice (but very salty) sauce.

Once the fish is done, remove it from the cast iron pan, and serve on a plate. Drizzle a bit of the sauce over the top of the fish.

I served this with coconut rice and some thai-style vegetables, although I thought these flavors overpowered the fish a bit. It'd be better served with more mild sides, like simple garlic-stir-fried vegetables or mashed potatoes.

Enjoy!

Dry-Fried Masala Okra

I wanted to recreate the okra dish at Sultan Restaurant in San Francisco, so I posted on chowhound to get some advice about it. Here's a link to my post:

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/586773

Here's the recipe I made. It came out great. I think I will continue to experiment with different spice combinations, but this was a good start for sure.

1/2 lb okra (2 cups) - cut diagonally into bite-sized pieces
3 T veg oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp tumeric
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 c finely chopped onion
1 T minced garlic
1 T minced ginger
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 small jalapeno chile
sprinkle of fried garlic

Make sure that the okra is completely dry before cooking - this means that if you need to wash it, you have to do that way ahead of time and then dry it on paper towels. I just decided not to wash mine (yum. dirt.)

In a wok, heat oil on medium, add mustard seeds until they start popping, and then add the turmeric, cumin, and coriander. Stir the spices into the oil for a minute, then add onions, ginger, and garlic. Stir fry these together until onions get soft...the mixture will also start to turn brown and a bit crispy, which is good.

Once onions are mostly cooked, add the okra, garam masala and the jalapeno. Cook until the okra are tender (I did a combination of covered and uncovered wok). Make sure to minimize the stirring as much as possible so the okra doesn't get gummy, but stir enough so that the okra doesn't burn. The cooking will take about 7 minutes.

Turn off heat, and add salt (1/2 tsp made it quite salty - this can be toned down a bit if you prefer less salty). I think it's important to add salt at the end because adding it too early will extract water, which will make it gummy.

Done! I served the okra w/ some homemade daal, rice and mango chutney. Yum

Beer-Can Chicken

I originally heard about this recipe for the grill, but since it's snowy and freezing here, we decided to try it out in the oven. If I had had some aluminum foil, I probably would have used it to make a tent. We added some potatoes to the baking dish, and these would have been better were there something trapping the moisture in the pan. All in all, the most moist chicken I've ever had.

Easy
Prep: 15 min; Cook: 2 hours

If starting with frozen chicken, defrost for 3 days in refrigerator.

• 3 - 4 pound whole chicken
• any spices you want - I used s/p, paprika and garlic cloves
  
• 1 12-14 oz can beer

PREHEAT oven to 400 degrees F. - rack on bottom.

REMOVE any innards or other items from inside of the chicken.

RINSE the chicken inside and out in cold, running water.

OPTIONAL: seal neck of chicken with skewer (shown) for gravy, seal neck, for moister chicken, leave open.

RUB the chicken, inside and out with your choice of spices.

OPEN a standard can of cheap beer (i used PBR), punch a few extra holes, and quaff off about 1/4 of the beer.

ADD 2 TBSP rub or spice to beer can.

PLACE beer can on ovenproof pan or dish (this allows the chicken to cook indirectly and catches the juices if you want to make gravy.

ARRANGE chicken on beer can, allow the two legs to form two sides of tripod so chicken is stable (picture).

WHEN oven is ready (400 degrees), place chicken on pan or plate on bottom rack. Some cooks 'tent' the bird with foil for the first hour or so to prevent over-browning.

REDUCE oven to 350 degrees after 1/2 hour. BEST when chicken cooks 1 1/2 - 2 hours - check visually after about 1/2 hour and rotate the chicken in a half circle to cook evenly, should brown slowly and evenly.

WHEN chicken is ready, using tongs and oven glove if necessary to separate chicken and beer can, carefully remove to separate platter. Allow to stand for 10 minutes.

REMOVE ovenproof pan or dish, and pour in any remaining beer, stirring, if make a sauce.

Sugar Crinkles

These cookies come from a cookbook that my Mom has. It is a cookbook of recipes from bed and breakfasts throughout the country, and it's organized by state. This sugar cookie recipe is from Alaska. I made them twice this past weekend, and they came out really well.

Sugar Crinkles

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 cup shortening (I use unsalted butter)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 egg

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

Extra Sugar for rolling and sprinkling

Cream together the sugar, brown sugar, shortening, vanilla, and egg. Add the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt. Mix well. Roll into 1 inch balls and roll in sugar. Place the balls about 2 inches apart on an un-greased baking sheet. Bake in a 350˚ oven for 10 minutes or until lightly browned. When the cookies come out of the oven, they will still be very soft on the top. Sprinkle a bit more sugar on them right away, so it sticks to the cookies as they cool. The cookies are best once they are cooled. Don't overcook, or the cookies will be too crunchy when they are cold.

The secret ingredient in this recipe is the cream of tartar. Definitely necessary. Also, this recipe supposedly makes 4 dozen cookies, but I don't see how that's possible. For me, it makes only 25 cookies or so. It can be good to double the recipe. It can also be good to add a chocolate chip or drizzle of chocolate at the top of each cookie as decoration when they are done. But they are also good plain.

Broccoli Crunch - from 101 Cookbooks

from 101 Cookbooks

(channy note: I used peanut butter instead of almond butter, and i candied some walnuts and pecans with balsamic, brown sugar, garlic powder, and cayenne)

The success of this salad hinges on the broccoli. Buy good-quality bright green broccoli with tight florets. Now that you have good broccoli, do your best not to overcook it - you don't want it turning to mush.

4 -5 cups tiny broccoli florets (and chopped stalks if you like)

1 garlic clove, smashed and chopped
scant 1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1/4 cup almond butter
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon honey
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons hot water

2 small crisp apples, cut into bit-sized pieces (if you aren't going to use the apples immediately, let them sit in a bowl of water with the juice of 1/2 a lemon)

1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup toasted or candied walnuts or almonds
1/3 cup pan-fried crunchy shallots*
chives (optional)

Bring a medium pot of water to a boil and salt as you would pasta water. Boil the broccoli just long enough to take the raw edge of - 10 or 15 seconds. Drain and immerse it in cold water (or let cold water run over it). At this point, I like to spin the broccoli in a salad spinner to get the water off, but a few good knocks against the sink in a strainer can do the trick pretty well. Set aside.

Make the dressing by sprinkling the salt over the clove of garlic. Smash the clove and chop, smash and chop - turning it into a paste. In a small bowl whisk the salty garlic paste with the almond butter, lemon juice, honey and olive oil. Add the hot water and whisk until light and creamy. Taste, make any adjustments and set aside.

In a large bowl gently toss the broccoli, apples, red onion, most of the shallots and nuts with a generous drizzle of the almond dressing. Turn out onto a platter and finish with the rest of the shallots and chives if you like. Serve family style.

Serves 4.

*Stir together the shallots, a splash of clarified butter (or olive oil) and big pinch of salt In a large skillet over medium heat. Stir every few minutes, you want the shallots to slowly brown over about fifteen minutes. Let them get dark, dark brown (but not burn), and if needed turn down the heat. Remove from skillet and onto a paper towel to cool in a single layer where they will crisp up a bit.

Potatoes Braised in Butter and Sake

this recipe was recommended by my sister, and is from "Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant." It's super simple, and really really tasty.

• 4 medium potatoes (starchy ones, like russet)
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1/2 cup sake (filtered)
• 2 tbsp tamari or other soy sauce

1. Peel and chop potatoes into large chunks. Cover with water and boil until ender (about 10 min.) Drain.

2. Melt the butter in a heavy skillet. Add the potatoes and gently toss until each piece is coated with butter. Add the sake and cook on high heat, uncovered, stirring regularly, until the sake has almost evaporated. Add the tamari sauce. Lower the heat and continue to cook about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are covered with a thick, brown sauce.
Serve hot.