Not a lot, just a few. After all, parties are about lack of restrictions. First, there needs to be a bit of portability involved. One hand, no utensils type of portability. If you’ve every tried to navigate the consumption of food that requires a knife and fork while trying to mingle, you understand the hard and fast nature of that rule.
You also need something low maintinace. Something you can set down and leave for your guests to grab, sans explanation.
Lastly (only three rules, after all, this is a party), you want something fairly quick and easy to put together. After all, you have other dishes to make, and dishes to wash, and people to mingle with.
But if you can work in beer, there are some bonus points involved.
No matter how often you move, there are things that you forget. Every time. You forget that you won’t know which drawer to put Sharpie markers and batteries in (they always end up in the same drawer), you’ll turn to grab the knife from where is "used to be," you won’t know where the Target is, or where to take your dry cleaning, or where to buy the best prosciutto and you can forget about that guy who offered to sharpen your knives for free if you bring him cookies THAT guy doesn’t exist in your new land.
I have a gypsy soul, I’ve never missed my own bed, I don’t have the home sick gene, I’m never nervous about new roads or new words or new food. I look forward to building a new database of people and place. But there is a learning curve with a new place. Things I didn’t know that I didn’t know. I’ve had to adapt to a new climate, one that was not 80 degrees on Christmas, and involves a near wardrobe change when I need to run out to the car to grab the beer I left in the back.
But the upside is that beer would have been overly warm in my old land, in this place, it was the perfect 43 degrees and ready to drink.
Now I just need to find a guy to trade knife sharpening for baked goods and I’ll be half way there.
Molasses Stout Glazed Salmon with Herb IPA Mashed Potatoes
Add the potatoes to a pot of lightly salted boiling water. Allow to boil until fork tender. Drain and return to pot.
Add the remaining potato ingredients, stir and mash with a potato masher until well combined.
To Make The Salmon:
Preheat oven broiler.
Add the oil to a pot over medium high heat until hot but not smoking.
Add the shallots, cook until softened and slightly browned, about 3 minutes.
Add the soy, stout, molasses, smoked paprika,onion powder and chili powder. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally until slightly thickened, about 6 minutes.
Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Spray lightly with cooking spray (or drizzle with vegetable oil.
Place salmon on the foil, skin side down.
Brush liberally with glaze.
Broil for 3 minutes, re-brush with glaze, and place under the broiler for 3 more minutes. Repeat (re-brushing and broiling) until the salmon is cooked through and flakes easily with a fork.
I told you last week that I’m in the process of saying goodbye to Los Angeles. A process made easier by the fact that it will end with a move to Seattle, a city that I’ve loved for years. A city with a vibrant love for food, people who are aware and grateful, plus a craft beer scene that is one of the best in the world.
I’ll get to discover a new city, fall in love with the local beer, cook with the incredible produce. I’ll also be near my sister who took all these photos, as well as my other sister who almost died with me in Morocco. I’ll be around the world’s best hops and the country’s best seafood. The idea of wandering around a new city, losing myself in the streets and the strangers is incredibly exciting. Especially a city like Seattle that has so much to offer.
I’m not limiting my explorations to Seattle. The entire Pacific Northwest, from Medford to Bellingham, has an incredible craft beer scene that I can’t wait to explore. The beer, the people, the pubs and the events, I plan to jump in with both feet, grab a pint, and become a part of what’s happening up North.
I want to share it all with you. Not just on the blog, but also on Instagram and Twitter. I want you to see the beer I find, the salmon I catch, the people I meet, the butcher shops, the breweries, the farmers markets, the coast and everything else that’s waiting for me up there.
As I pack the boxes and say goodbye to Los Angeles, I wanted to make something that has a bit of Seattle in it, a reminder of what I have to look forward to.
Seafood and beer it is. Can’t wait to dig in.
I start my trek North in two weeks. Join me, it’s going to be a big move and a big adventure. I’d love to have you along for the ride.
In a large pot or deep skillet cook the bacon over medium high heat. Remove the bacon from pot, chop and set aside. Pour off about half of the bacon grease, leaving about 1 tablespoon still in the pan.
Add the butter and cook until melted.
Add the onions, cook until slightly browned.
Stir in the garlic, then add the tomatoes, jalapenos, red pepper flakes, beer, lime juice and chopped bacon. Bring to a low simmer.
Add the mussels, cover and allow to cook until mussels have opened, about 5 minutes.
Discard any that didn’t open. Sprinkle the green onions over the pan.
I’ve been hiding my Instagram account from you under a different name. I changed my Instagram name to The Beeroness last week after I realized that you want to see my life. This is the hang-up for me, the part that’s so hard to wrap my brain around: that invisible people on the other side of the computer actually want to see what my life is like. Sure, it speaks to a hideous level of insecurity on my part, but why wouldn’t I let you in?
After all, you trust me with your Thanksgiving turkey, and to give you a Beer Cheese Dip for your football party, and you even ask my advice on what to do with the remains of the Blueberry Kolsch homebrew that didn’t exactly go as planned.
So why has it taken me so long to show you pictures of my dog, or the behind-the-scenes of my cooking segment on CBS, or that time I stole wood from a construction site to make a prop table? Maybe I still can’t believe that I’m a person that people would want to know about. That you care about me as much as I care about you coming to visit my blog.
After all, you are the reason I’m able to spend my life cooking and drinking beer.
I started this adventure masked as a blog just over two years ago. I decided when I first hit publish that this wasn’t a "let’s see how this goes" endeavor. This is was a full force, every piece of my life, both feet, all chips on the table undertaking. I was all in.
My stack of "I Need To Figure This Stuff Out" was much larger than my "I’ve Got This" pile and the more I fought towards the goals I set, the larger that first stack got. Lucky for me, my reaction to "You can’t do that" has always been, "You watch me." And somewhere along the road I stop hearing people say "no" to me and started to hear them say "Someday I’ll wish I’d said yes to you."
I guess it’s working, and I have a few gold stars to show for it. The first printing of my book, The Craft Beer Cookbook(affiliate link), sold out in less than three months, I’m a regular beer expert on a radio show, I have people from all over the world share photos of the dishes they have made from my site with me over Facebook and Twitter (I LOVE this, keep doing it, highlight of my day), and in the past year I’ve been interviewed by dozens of magazines all over the world. I’m humbled by this in an enormous way, that what I’ve worked nights, weekends, poured so much time and money into is being realized. That I’m able to do this, share this love with you, and find a place in craft beer.
A few days ago an interview I did with the print magazine Imbibe hit newsstands. I stood in Barnes & Noble, trying really hard not grab the guy perusing motorcycle magazine standing next to me and yell, "THAT’S ME!" and shove page 21 in his face. I refrained.
So I’m doing it to you instead, I’m shoving page 21 in your face and yelling. But to you, I’m yelling "Thank you."
Tomato Herb and Beer Poached Cod with Caramelized Fennel
Heat the olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the fennel slices and cook until caramelized on each side, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic, stir for about 30 seconds. Add the white ale, scraping to deglaze the pot.
Add the crushed tomatoes, red peppers, paprika, basil. tarragon and salt, bring to a low simmer.
Add the cod fillets, pushing gently to submerge.
Simmer until cod is cooked through and flakes easily with a fork, about 8 minutes (Note: do not boil or fish will become tough, keep tomato sauce at a low simmer).
Using a slotted spoon, remove cod from the pot, add to a serving platter.
Bring the tomato mixture to a strong simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until thickened and reduced about 10 minutes.
While flavor may be a great go-to reason to cook with beer, don’t overlook the more practical applications of beer cooking. One of the cornerstones of Practical Beer Cooking is the inherent meat tenderizing properties of beer, making it the perfect brining liquid. While infusing the meat with flavor and uping the juiciness factor, beer also lends it’s powers to giving you extra tender meat. While land dwelling meat is often the target of brining, most scallops need a good long soak in a hoppy brine.
Scallops are a deceptive beast. For the most part, these sweet and mild little sea treats look simple to prepare. But a few minor issues could be robbing you of that restaurant quality greatness. The first, and most damaging issue is that the majority of grocery store scallops will come soaked in a phosphate solution that, while whitening and preserving, infuses the scallop with a soapy taste. This phosphate solution also permeates the meat, leaking out during cooking and preventing you from getting a good sear. So, really, you need to flush the beast to get a great meal out of it. The phosphate soaked scallops are generally referred to as "wet" scallops and those that are not soaked in anything are referred to as "dry" scallops. While dry scallops are still available, they are harder to come by, more expensive, and much more rare the farther you get from the water. If your scallop is white and sitting in a pool of milky liquid, it’s a wet guy. If it isn’t labeled "dry packed" you can bet your dinner that your new found culinary delight has been hanging out in phosphates for a while.
The cure to this is really simple, and relying on those meat tenderizing properties of beer will give you a great wash to get your scallop back to a dry pack quality. Allowing the scallops to brine will work the phosphates out, giving you the ability to sear those beautiful scallops without that nasty milky liquid seeping out in the pan, ruining that beautiful sear you want. Make sure to allow them to dry really well before searing to get that great golden crust that always drives us crazy.
For this recipe I used a smokey stout for the sauce (the Sauce of Dreams, that I sort of want to take a bath in), the slight notes of smoke are really beautiful and add a bit of a Texas Barbecue flavor to these nicely seared scallops. I used Still Life by Beachwood Brewing, a really nice stout, with beautifully layered flavors. Look for a stout or a porter (both dark beers that are interchangeable when cooking) that have notes of smoke or espresso.
Beer Brined Scallops over Smokey Corn Puree and Stout Molasses Sauce
In a large bowl stir together the pale ale, salt, water and lemon juice.
Add the scallops, cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.
While the scallops brine, make the puree. Cut the kernels off the corn cob, set aside.
In a saucepan over medium high heat, melt the butter. Add the kernels, salt, pepper, smoked paprika and cream. Allow to simmer until corn has softened, about 8 minutes. Add to a blender or food process and process until smooth, about 5 minutes. Pass through a fine mesh strainer or chinois (this will remove any fibers and give you a really creamy puree).
Make the sauce: Add the stout, molasses, balsamic and soy to a sauce pan over high heat. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to maintain a strong simmer, cooking until reduced and slightly thickened, about 10 minutes (should easily coat a spoon). Sauce can be made three days ahead of time and stored in the fridge, but with thicken as it cools. Heat slightly to thin.
Remove the scallops from fridge and place on top of a stack of 4-5 paper towels. Add another layer of paper towels and allow to drain and dry for 15 minutes. Sprinkle with pepper on both sides.
Add the butter and olive oil to a pan over high heat. Allow the butter to melt and get very hot, nearly smoking.
Add the scallops, flat side down, and allow to cook until a dark golden brown crust forms on the bottom, about 2 minutes. Flip and cook until seared on the opposite side. Remove from pan when a slight hint of translucent pink still remains at the center, don’t over cook.
We tend to feminize or masculinize food. Beer is man food, as is bacon, grilled red meat and bourbon. While tea, lavender, scones and blueberries tend to been feminine. Chocolate seems to be neutral go-between, grabbing it’s gender label once the final product is presented. Chocolate Stout Cake with Maple Bacon Frosting: Man Cake. Chocolate Strawberry Mousse: Girly.
Although I don’t ascribe gender to my food, I can clearly see the lines drawn in the sanding sugar. These daintly looking no-cook treats will fool you like the little vixens they are. One look at these mango and shellfish filled lettuce cups and you firmly place these in the Chick Food category. But with a sharp bite of beer and a punch of spicy heat, they would beg to differ.
Along the lines of my I think now is a really good time to tell everyoneminor motorcycle crash story, It’s past time to tell you that alcohol intensifies heat. While there is no way to tell the precise Scoville Units in any given jalapeno pepper, I can tell you that number will be dramatically increase after those suckers have spent an hour soaking in a high ABV IPA. So if you don’t want to turn on the oven, and don’t mind a little capsasin abuse to the mouth, this is a great meal.
Place the shrimp in a small bowl. Cover with ½ cup lime juice and ½ cup lemon juice. Cover and refrigerate until the shrimp have turned pink, about 2 hours.
In a separate bowl combine the remaining ingredients (except the radicchio and the endive), allow to marinate for at least one hour.
Just prior to serving, drain the shrimp, add to the mango bowl and toss to combine.
Scoop a few tablespoons of the ceviche into the leaves of the endive and the radicchio, serve chilled
Notes
For a lower heat level, reduce Sriracha to 1/4 or 1/2 tsp.
None of us really know what we’re getting into when we launch that very first blog post, that Hello World! salute that enters us into the abyss of Blogland. We start these little cubbyholes in the internet Universe out of curiosity, desperation, boredom or just the hope that maybe our lives will take a dramatic tilt. We see the Holy Trinity of blog talent, the online mistress Trifecta we have to master when it comes to blog success: Food, Photos & Writing.
This by itself is a huge undertaking, the hope to be really fantastically,mind-blowingly amazing at three really specific careers, wrapped up in one title, delivered to you at our chosen URL. But that, unfortunately is just the perfectly placed cherry on top of the seasonally appropriate Sundae. Beneath that homemade cardamom whipped cream and strategically placed sprinkles melts an amalgamation of skills that we don’t just need to attempt, we need to master.
Of course we need to be a skillful recipe developer, photographer, food stylist, culinary-guru and engaging author. But that’s not all, your plate isn’t nearly full enough, pull yourself up to the buffet of online careers and load your platter. You will also need to add to the aforementioned list: SEO expert, web designer, social media darling, PR pro, marketing expert, branding aficionado, and business manager. After all, if you hired someone for each of those positions you’d be in the hole for over 200K.
But who else is going to register the LLC, build the website, apply for a trademark, get a PO box, take those gorgeous photos, not to mention edit them, write the posts, send DMCA take down notice, answer the emails, write the recipes, cook the food, do the interviews, fix that broken code, install the right plugin, promote the content, network with the right people and ohmygodican’tdoitall!
We need to give ourselves a break. These are ten really difficult jobs, ten careers for which colleges all over the land offer 4 year degrees. We can’t be good at them all and we can’t really afford to hire them all out.
We need to learn to make peace with it the things that aren’t were we want them to be. It’s a triage in a way, the biggest blood loss goes to the front, the rest can wait. In the midst of these panics, we need to remember the list of thing we are really good at is longer than the list of things we shame ourselves for. Because, odds are, there is someone out there wishing to be as good as you are at something.
Don’t forget that when you start to panic about creating a newsletter or figuring out copyright laws. You are really good at more that you are really bad at, the ship will float, it just takes time.
In a saucepan over medium high heat stir together the smoked paprika, garlic, cayenne, chili powder, red chili flake, tomato paste, beer, honey, pepper and salt. Add the butter and bring to a strong simmer, stirring frequently until reduced and thickened, about 5 minutes.
In a separate pan heat the olive oil until hot but not smoking. Add the shrimp and cook until ust starting to turn pink, about 2 minutes. Pour the sauce into the shrimp pan, cook until the sauce thickens and shrimp are cooked through.
When I edit photos, I just pick the ones that I think are the stand outs (often only one or two) edit those, export and review what I’ve done.
It wasn’t until I pulled this set up in review that I saw that it seemed to tell the story of shrimp desperation. Maybe it’s just me, spending too much time behind this computer with limited human interaction, but this is what I see:
First, the recently transformed shrimp, fresh out of a scorching oil bath, sees potential solace in an a pool of amber liquid.
He makes his move, hesitant at first, he throws himself towards the cool pool of dipping sauce that will surely quench the scorching heat that radiates in his coconut crusted core. He’s close, but there’s still a ways to go before he can dip his heated middle in the apricot flavored oasis. He pushes on, hoping a few more flips will land him in his sticky sanctuary.
He pulls all the strength he can muster after his recent collision with the deep fryer and launches forward, landing cleanly in the middle of the delicious basin. It’s not enough, he wants more. He takes a moment to gather his strength.
One more explosive shove and he’s there, right in the middle of the refreshing wellspring. He lets out a deep sigh.
It’s ok to judge me for that. I’ve mostly spared you all from the incessant rambling of my haywired brain, but today has been a long day, you’ll have to forgive me. And my shrimp crazed ramblings.
But I do hope you come back tomorrow, I’ll have a lovely cocktail for you that will go well with this delicious shrimp.
Fried Coconut Almond Shrimp with Apricot Dipping Sauce
Ingredients
For the Shrimp:
Oil for frying
12 shrimp, raw, deveined, shell removed (tail still on OK)
½ cup all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
2/3 cup sweetened shaved coconut
¼ cup almond slices
2 egg whites
1 tbs water
For the Sauce:
¾ cup apricots, chopped (fresh but soft work best)
¼ cup thai sweet chili sauce
¼ tsp sriracha
1 tbs soy sauce
Instructions
Add 3 inches of canola oil to a pan, clip a deep fry thermometer onto the side. Bring the oil to 375 to 400 degrees, adjust heat to maintain that temperature range.
Add the coconut and almond slices, pulse until well combined, add to a small bowl.
In a separate bowl whisk the salt and flour.
In a third bowl whisk together the egg whites and water.
One at a time, dredge the shrimp in flour, then coat in egg whites, and finally roll in coconut mixture.
Drop into the hot oil, fry until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Drain on a stack of paper towels.
Add all of the sauce ingredients to a small food processor or blender, blend until smooth.
There is a magic to sharing a dish of food with a group of people, it’s unifying. We can all have our separate plates, and play nice, but placing a big pot of food in the middle of a table seems to breaks down walls. For this same reason, I love those big sharable 22 ounce beers that require that beer glassware I love so much.
At the moment, my grill is broken so I need other options for, fun, get-your-hands-messy, food that can feed the Sunday Supper guests I keep begging to come over and eat my food at the end of the week. This was great, it only took about 15 minutes, really delicious and it has an unholy amount of butter.
If you can handle it, get the head-on prawns for some added flavor. And don’t forget that bread to mop up that fantastic sauce.
This is that savory strawberry recipe that I was telling you about. I made this three times, and loved it more and more each time. This is how I love to eat on a regular basis: fresh produce, healthy fats, no dairy (I love dairy and I eat it, but I try to eat as little as I can, which is a challenge), and so much flavor that I’m proud to serve it to dinner guests, which I did.
I made it once with quinoa, and of course that’s healthier for us, but the orzo just tasted special. I love the brightness and slight sweetness that strawberries add to savory dishes, so even if hadn’t taken on a strawberry ambassadorship with California Strawberry Commission, I’d still be in love with the idea of coming up with strawberries on the savory end of the scale.
Speaking of salmon, I’ve recently started to learn about sustainable seafood and what that means. Did you know that Target is known for a commitment to sustainable seafood? I have to say that was a little surprising to me, I thought I had to shop only at high end fish markets and expensive grocers to stay commited to the cause.
We can blame irresponsible fishing all we want, but the only place we can take action is in the store. It sounds like a giant undertaking, but really, just knowing where to buy fish and what types to avoid and you can jump on board. I love fish and eat it often, and it’s not very difficult to avoid the types of fish that are in danger and buy the fish that caught responsibly, like Alaskan salmon.
Pistachio Crusted Salmon with Strawberry Balsamic Glaze over Orzo Summer Salad
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients
For the Salad:
1 cup dry orzo
1 cup chopped strawberries
1 English cucumber, peeled and chopped
2 cups chopped fresh spinach
¼ cup chopped cilantro
¼ cup diced red onions
1 avocado, peeled and diced
¼ tsp sea salt
For The Salmon
¾ cup strawberries, chopped
1 cup balsamic
1 tbs honey
½ cup shelled pistachios
¼ cup bread crumbs
3 tbs olive oil
4 salmon fillets
Instructions
Cook the orzo in lightly salted boiling water until al dente, drain and allow to cool to room temperature, toss with remaining salad ingredients.
Add the strawberries and balsamic to a food processor or blender, process until smooth. Add to a saucepan with the honey. Bring mixture to a boil, reduce heat to medium and simmer, stirring frequently, until reduced and thickened, about 15 minutes (can be made up to five days ahead of time).
Add the pistachios to a food processor, process until they resemble bread crumbs, about 3 minutes. Add the breadcrumbs, pulse a few times to combine. Add to a small bowl.
Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat (too hot and the salmon will burn before it cooks through).
Place the salmon into the pistachio mixture (non-skin side down), pressing the pistachio mixture into the salmon. Place the salmon into the pan, pistachio side down, allowing to cook until golden brown, flip and cook on the skin side until cooked through.
Divide the salad between four plates, add the salmon on top of the salad, drizzle with balsamic glaze.
Notes
Taking the salmon out of the fridge 10 minutes before cooking will allow it come to room temperature and cook more evenly, allowing you to avoid burnt crust and undercooked middle.
Life’s funny, isn’t it? One minute you’re sitting there enjoying a nice Mother’s Day breakfast that your husband made you, and the next minute you’re talking to The Today Show and agreeing to take a last minute flight to JFK so that you can stand behind a podium for 3 minutes and pretty much say zero words on National Television. Something like that.
The real prize in this competition was the journey. I flew to New York on Tuesday, was able to have dinner with my new friend Ashely, and drinks with my old friend David. You could pretty much preface any request with, "wanna a free trip to New York and have dinner and drinks with some friends?" and I’d pretty much say yes to whatever followed.
Wednesday morning I was taken to NBC Studios at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, through the celebrity filled green room, and into hair and make up. Then up to a tiny studio that they referred to as The Spa, which included no studio audience, just lots of producers, cameras and a beautiful camera friendly kitchen. This was all for Joy Bauers Joy-full Cook Off. She wanted healthy one pot meals that where easy and family friendly. She choose my dish, along with two other amazing dishes to be taste tested on live TV by Kathie Lee and Hoda, who would choose the winner.
The other dishes were amazing, and to be honest, I didn’t really care who won. I’d already collected my prize of flight to New York, hotel room, and dinner and drinks with friends, I was all set. But it turns out, Kathie Lee and Hoda are huge fans of skinny shrimp dishes and choose mine. I won!
Here’s clip of me saying pretty much nothing on the Today Show and winning a basket of NBC related swag:
Place shrimp in a small bowl, sprinkle with ¼ tsp sweet paprika, ¼ tsp smoked paprika and ¼ tsp onion powder, toss to coat.
Heat olive oil in a 12-inch skillet (with a lid) over medium high heat, cook shrimp until seared, about 3 minutes per side (don’t over cook). Remove from pan, set aside.
Add chicken sausage, cook until browned, remove from pan, set aside.
Add the onion and bell peppers, cook, stirring frequently, until onions and peppers have softened, about 6-8 minutes.
Add garlic, tomatoes and tomato paste, stir until combined.
Add saffron, salt, pepper, remaining smoked paprika, and onion powder, chicken broth and peas, bring to a simmer. Add quinoa stir and evenly distribute quinoa. Add the lid to the pan at a vent, adjust heat to maintain a simmer. Cook without stirring for 16-18 minutes or until the quinoa is cooked through and the liquid has absorbed.
Place the shrimp and sausage on top, replace lid and cook for 1 minute or until shrimp and sausage is warmed.
It’s been a strange few weeks for me, cooking wise. I’ve been getting back to the food I love, remembering why I ever picked up a whisk in the first place, challenging myself as a cook and remembering the food I fell in love with. If you follow my other blog, you are aware of this shift I’ve taken.
I’m happy, and relived in a way, chasing the Traffic Dragon is exhausting and cooking what I love makes me happy, and for the first time in a while I’m excited to share a dish.
The first time I ever had a salt packed roasted anything was while traveling through Italy as a broke college student. I’d worked three jobs and saved for six months to send myself over seas and had ended up in the small city of Trieste. I’d wandered into a restaurant that was far too fancy for my tiny budget. I saw pesci listed on the menu and just pointed to it. There weren’t any prices on the menu and I just hoped that the fish I order wasn’t too expensive.
What came to my table was a salt packed whole fish on a cart. I panicked for a second and then decided to order a glass of wine and enjoy it. It ended up costing $60, a small travelers fortune, but it was worth it. I lived off bread and cheese for a week, but I’ll never forget that fish.
Lately I’ve been trying to remember food I’ve fallen in love with and that fish came to mind. It’s a classic, old world, technique that isn’t used much in the US, but it’s brilliant at locking in flavor with zero added cooking fat.
I found a video online by Tom Colicchio about salt roasted fish, just like the one I had in Italy. It paired well with the artichokes, and grilling is my absolute favorite way to make artichokes now, something you need to try this summer if you get a chance.
The fish is simple. Just start with a whole fish that’s been gutted. Most markets sell these cheaper than large fillets because there is less labor involved.
Mix the salt and the egg white, make a bed of salt on an oven safe serving platter (or rimmed baking sheet)
Put lemon and herbs in the cavity, then pack the remaining salt around the fish before roasting.
It comes out of the oven a light golden brown and steamed to perfection. Very impressive, and pretty easy.
For the artichokes, just cut them in half down the center
Use a melon baller and a sharp paring knife to remove the hair and the purple leaves, then boil for 25 minutes,
baste with melted butter and grill until you get those beautiful grill marks.
Salt Roasted Whole Fish
Yield: Serves 4
Ingredients
2 lb whole fish, gutted and cleaned (sturdy fatty fish like: salmon, arctic char, whitefish, sablefish, bass)
3 thin slices of lemon
1 sprig rosemary
4 egg whites
2 cups coarse Kosher salt
Instructions
Pre heat oven to 400.
Whip the egg whites with a fork for about 1 minute. Add the salt, mix until it resembles wet sand.
Lay about ¾ cup of salt mixture on an oven safe serving platter (you can also use a baking sheet with sides) add the fish to the top of the salt bed. Stuff the cavity of the fish with lemon slices and rosemary.
Add the remaining salt to the top of the fish. Pack the salt around the fish (it’s fine if the head and tail are sticking out).
Roast at 400 for 25-30 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 125F and the salt pack is light brown.
Remove from oven, the salt pack should break away cleanly.
Grilled artichokes
Ingredients
2 large globe artichokes
1 lemon, juiced
4 tbs unsalted butter, melted
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
vegetable oil for grill
Dipping sauce, if desired
Instructions
Prepare a pot of lightly salted boiling water.
Slice the artichokes down the center, lengthwise. Using a melon baller and a paring knife remove the hair from the choke as well as the inner purple leaves, leaving a cavity in the center of the each artichoke half.
Boil in the pot of lightly salted boiling water until the outer leaves tear away easily, about 20 minutes.
Mix the lemon juice, melted butter, salt and pepper in a small bowl.
Brush a preheated grill (or a grill pan) with vegetable oil. Brush artichokes lemon butter mixture, grill cut side down, until nice grill marks appear, about 8 minutes. Baste artichokes with melted butter while grilling.
Serve warm with dipping sauce, if desired (pesto butter, garlic aioli, herbed mayonnaise, lemon butter).
Both of these feelings, that I figured were separate, came into sharp focus this past weekend as originating from the same issue.
A very dynamic woman, a catalyst of inspiration, stood in front of me saying, "But what do you want? But what do YOU want?"
What do I want? Looking around at people who inspire me, who make incredible, insightful, layered and important food, thoughts began to form. I want to write things that matter. I want to make food that feels compelling and substantial. And in the midst of this realization, someone mentioned my Cheesecake Fudgesicles, and I cringed.
I want to stop making stupid food.
The issue is that stupid food gets shared, pinned, and trafficked. Smart food is scary, intimidating and gets ignored.
But what do I want? I want to be taken seriously, I want to be respected and I want to grow as a cook.
I have to stop making stupid food.
The conflict is that I need to pay my bills, and stupid gets noticed. This is just how the world works, in almost every area. InBev makes billions more than Russian River, Carly Rae Jepsen sells more records than Delta Spirit and Oreo Funfeti Cake Batter Fudge will get more traffic than homemade Duck Confit Raviolis with Stout Cherry Sauce.
Although I can eat nachos like a champ, and I’ll never pass up a good brownie, when it comes to building a food resume I need to ask myself: what do I want?
I want to make smart food, I want write things that matter.
Taking a step back from the trenches of Google Analytics and the Traffic Trap of caring more about numbers than content, I thought about what I love when it comes to writing and food.
Writing: The piece I wrote on Homeboy Industries for Honest Cooking iPad magazine is the best thing I’ve ever written and possibly the only thing I’ve ever written that is truly important.
Food: Even though a food blog may never really matter in any real way, I used to cook food that a friend once described as “with food.” He said I could never just make a cake, it had to be a Chocolate Stout Cake with Orange Mascarpone Filling and Smoky Chocolate Ganache, everything I made had a “with” somewhere in the middle of the tittle. Layers, flavors, thought, and time spent on the food I really love somehow got replaced with Chocolate Bacon Cupcakes and Green Beer Cheese Soup.
Everything I’ve made for the blog is delicious; the issue isn’t really with the recipes, but with me. Cupcakes are fine, so are Beer Cheese Nachos and Oreo Funfetti Slutty Nutella Red Velvet Brownie Cake Pops, especially if that is what you want to make, then do that. It’s not about “right” food and “wrong” food, it’s about finding what I want, and figuring out how to get there.
There is a magnetism to the S’mOreo Cake Pop posts, because it brings in readers, and seems to make people happy, things that I care more about than I should when it comes to what do I want?.
I’ll lose traffic, I can guarantee that. I can promise that my numbers will go down.
But I can also promise that nothing that I post will be difficult. Maybe you want to come on this journey with me and make layered “with” food, even if it doesn’t sounds as sparkly as those Red Velvet M&M S’mores Krispy Treats.
I just need to have faith in what I want, faith that the Universe will conspire in my favor, faith that this will lead to path in which traffic won’t matter, faith that seeking the answer to what do I want? will lead me down the right rabbit hole.
In a saucepan over medium high heat, add the sugar, salt, vinegar and water. Stir just until the salt and sugar have dissolved, remove from heat. Stir in the beer, pour into a jar.
Refrigerate until cold, about 20 minutes.
Add the jalapenos to the jar, replace the lid and refrigerate for at least 24 hours.
In a saucepan over medium high heat, add the sugar, salt, vinegar and water. Stir just until the salt and sugar have dissolved, remove from heat. Stir in the beer, pour into a jar.
Refrigerate until cold, about 20 minutes.
Add the jalapenos to the jar, replace the lid and refrigerate for at least 24 hours.
Avocado season in California is pretty fantastic, avocados are so easy to come by. Of course, they’re great for you. Lots of minerals, antioxidants, healthy fat, but to be honest this is a food I’d eat even if it was bad for me. It’s flavor, texture and even gorgeous color has me hooked. It’s also my go-to when I want to add creaminess to a vegan meal.
I’ve told you before that Risotto is one of my favorite meals and adding one of my favorite members of the produce family just makes it better. Top it with some beer butter shrimp and you have yourself a dinnertime winner.
For this I used Allagash White, one of my staples of my beer cellar (I wish I had an actual beer cellar, until I figure out how to make that happen my beer selection takes up residence in the bottom shelf of my fridge). Allagash White is clean, bright, and has great spice and citrus flavor. It does not have the typical strong banana notes that most Witbiers have, which puts it over the top in my book, I hate bananas. It has an accessible complexity that makes it great beer to use when introducing people to craft beer. It’s a great example of the genera, and of craft beer in general.
Place the chicken broth in a saucepan and bring to a mild simmer, keeping to warm, but not boiling.
In a food processor or blender add the cream, parmesan and avocado, process until smooth, set aside.
In a separate pot, add the butter and allow to melt over medium heat. Add the shallots and oil, cook until transparent, but don’t allow to brown. Add the garlic and cook until you can smell it, about 20 seconds
Stir in the rice, cooking until the rice is completely coated with butter and it smells slightly nutty, don’t allow to brown. About 2 minutes.
Add 1 cup of the beer and cook until the pan begins to dry, stirring frequently. About 6 minutes.
Add about ½ cup of broth into the rice. Stir frequently until the rice is almost dry, and then add another ½ cup and repeat. This process should take about 20 minutes. Don’t leave the risotto while it’s cooking, the rice on the bottom of the pan burns easily. (if you run out of broth, just use hot water the same way you would broth)
Once your risotto is cooked through (taste it to verify that the rice is cooked and not crunchy), turn heat to low and add the avocado mixture, 2 tbs beer and salt and pepper to taste. Risotto should be soft and wet, not dry like typical rice. It should be firm enough to be served as a side on a plate, but soft enough to jiggle when the plate is shaken.
To make the shrimp, add 1 cup beer to a sauce pan over medium high heat, reduce by about half, add the butter and stir until melted. Whisk in the chili powder, smoked paprika, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Add the shrimp and cook until shrimp have turned opaque in the center, about 3 to 5 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to remove shrimp from the cooking liquid.
Plate risotto, top with shrimp and sprinkle with chopped chives.
I realize that quinoa has become a food trend that will inevitably run it’s course, I don’t care. I’ll love it and I’ll eat it long after it’s no longer cool.
The first time I made it, I cooked it the same way I cook rice and the results were pretty sad and mushy. I did some digging and figure out a few quinoa tricks and started to cook it this way. It has more flavor and better texture and it isn’t mushy at all, now I’m hooked.
After I made the jalapenos dressing I wandered around my kitchen looking for more things to eat it with, it’s amazing. I’m so glad I started making my own dressing, it takes about 30 seconds. It’s great to be able to through a bunch of ingredients in a blender and those little ingredients come out as a delicious sauce.
Quinoa Crab Salad with Jalapeno Vinaigrette
Ingredients
For the Salad:
½ cup dry quinoa
¾ cup water
2 cup baby arugula, washed
6 ounces lump crab meat, drained
1 heirloom tomato, chopped
Yield: 4 side dish portions
For The Jalapeno Vinaigrette:
1 large jalapeno, stem and seeds removed, chopped
1 clove garlic, rough chopped
1 small shallot, rough chopped
1 tbs lemon juice
2 tbs aple cider vinegar
¼ cup olive oil
pinch salt and pepper
Instructions
Add the quinoa to a dry pan, toast until you can smell it cooking, about 3 minutes. Add the water, bring to a simmer over medium heat. Add the lid at a vent. Cook for 16 minutes. Remove from heat, cover and allow to steam for 10 minutes. Let the quinoa cool to room temperature.
Add quinoa, arugula, crab meat, and tomatoes to a bowl , toss to combine.
In a blender add the jalapeno, garlic, shallots, lemon juice, vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper. Blend until well combined. Drizzle desire amount of vinaigrette to the salad (this recipe makes more dressing than this salad needs, save the extra for future salads).
Apparently, I like to torture myself. Sometimes it’s in small ways, like keeping my size zero jeans from my modeling days that I will never fit into again. Ever. Ever.
8. Winner, Winner Chicken Dinner! I won the Foster Farms regional cook-off in San Diego.
9. Trip to San Francisco and Napa valley for the Foster Farms National Cook off Finals. I didn’t win, but I did get an amazing weekend trip to San Francisco and Napa Valley, the opportunity to cook at the CIA, and some cash out of the deal. Not bad.
10. I signed my first book deal! with Adams Media.
13. Joy and I had a couple of drinks. And then picked up sharp knives. She made a salad, and I mostly just giggled.
14. Christmas Eve at The Dresden a long running tradition. Although most people just know it as "That Place They Filmed The Movie Swingers" It’s a Los Angeles landmark.
15. I rearrange my entire living room to take pictures. Of food. During my lunch break.
16. I gave my daughter a trampoline for Christmas and she doesn’t want to get out of it. Ever
I had such an incredible year, truly a year that was blessed by the blogging community and those who have supported me, the online friendships that turned to lasting ones and the connections we feel through food.
One of the my favorite events this year was The Feast of the Seven Fishes, a small dinner party and Fancy Schmancy Pot Luck thrown by Greg and Alaska SeaFood (see numbers 12 &13 above). A truly incredible night, hoisted up by the stellar seafood, an epic example of how essential it is to buy the good stuff when cooking a meal from the sea. Alaska Seafood is focused on providing the world with incredible, sustainable, wild seafood and were they gracious enough to provide each of the seven cooks who participated with the best Alaska has to offer.
There are two ways to buy scallops, "wet" and "dry." A wet scallop with be soaked in a phosphate solution to preserve it. This makes it taste soapy and gives it a bit of a rubbery texture, but the vast majority of scallops sold in US markets are wet. Dry scallops are more expensive, harder to come by and infinitely tastier.
If you can’t find dry scallops, the best way to treat a wet scallops is a quick brine.
If you can find some dry Alaskan scallops, I highly recommend that you grab them.
Also, I used this smoker. It’s less than $50 and stores in your cabinet, perfect for me and my occasional smoking needs.
Scallops On Smoked Sweet Corn Puree With Stout Balsamic Glaze
Ingredients
5 ears of corn, shucked
1 stick butter, divided in half
1 leek, chopped, white and very light green parts only
1/2 cup cream
¼ tsp salt
1/3 cup stout beer
2/3 cup balsamic
1 tbs honey
2oz pancetta
12 scallops
Maldon salt & fresh cracked black pepper
Yield: 6 appetizer portions
Instructions
Brine scallops if necessary.
Smoke one ear of corn for 8 minutes over alder-wood chips according to smokers manufactures specifications. (in lieu of this add 1/4 tsp smoked paprika or replace the salt with smoked salt).
Cut the kernels off all ears of corn, including the smoked ear of corn. Set aside.
In a large pot, melt 1/2 stick butter. Sautee leeks until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the cream and corn kernels, cook until softened, about 8 minutes. In a food processor or blender, puree until very smooth, abut 5-8 minutes.
Pass through a chinois or strainer.
In a medium sauce pan, add the stout, balsamic and honey. Boil until reduced to a thick syrupy consistency, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes.
Dry the scallops well by placing between two stacks to paper towels.
In a pan over medium high heat, melt the remaining 1/2 stick butter.
Season the scallops on top and bottom with salt and pepper.
Sear on both sides until cooked thorough, about 3 minutes per side.
Cook the pancetta until crsipy.
Plate the corn puree, top with two scallops per plate, drizzle with balsamic glaze, then top with crispy pancetta.