A recipe is only one piece of the puzzle.
At
my chef's station I have an opportunity to travel down a variety of
culinary paths in any one day. A simple spaghettini drizzled with
white truffle oil becomes haute couture stepping out in the local
mall. Dusting down shrimp with a mix of spices reminiscent of the
Middle East brings to mind fishing boats in the Mediterranean hauling
their nets full of catch of the day. Food can be as exciting as all
of this and more, it doesn't have to be drudgery or boring simply
because our bodies need to be nourished daily.
Let's
begin with some fresh portobello mushrooms, picking out the large and
plump ones. Mushrooms have a wonderful aroma and a woodsy taste,
portobellos can become bowls for all sorts of fillings, eaten hot or
cold on their own or as a side to any main dish. This first recipe
has the portobellos stuffed with an eggplant spread the Eastern
Europeans call an IKRA. Jokingly Eastern Europeans call the
Ikra a poor man's caviar though the taste is no joke.
Ikra
and Portobellos
6 large portobello mushrooms
1 bunch green onion
2 large tomatoes
1 whole eggplant
salt and pepper to taste
Using a teaspoon slowly remove much of
the inner flesh of the mushrooms avoiding the temptation to scrape
too hard and break the mushroom.
Set mushrooms aside with the scraped
flesh.
Peel and cut eggplant into small pieces
and begin to cook in a pan with a tablespoon of olive oil,
the eggplant absorbs the oil and you may
need to add more to avoid sticking and burning.
Add chopped green onion and tomato to the
eggplant and continue to cook
till eggplant is well cooked.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Add half of the scraped flesh of the
mushroom to the eggplant mixture and continue to cook for 10-15
minutes, till everything is combined.
Taking a potato masher work the mixture
to create a smooth spread.
(Do not use a food processor as it will
create a paste, which is not the goal of the IKRA)
Fill mushrooms with the slightly cooled
eggplant mix and place in the middle of the oven under the broiler.
Cook 10-15 minutes or until mushrooms
show a softening
and avoid a burn on the top of the
eggplant.
(Serves 4-6)
Stuffed
Portobellos with Shrimp
6 large portobellos
1 lb of shrimp, frozen or fresh if you
like
1 bunch green onions
1 container zima orange cherry tomato
1 cup raisins
1 tbsp raspberry wine vinegar (Taste of
Spain)
Taking a teaspoon remove gently most of
the flesh of the mushrooms being careful not to break the walls of
the mushroom.
Put both the mushrooms and flesh aside.
Thaw out shrimp and cook over a medium to
high heat till shrimp turns pink.
Clean and put aside.
Chop up the green onions and cut the
cherry tomatoes,
begin to cook with a pinch of salt and
pepper.
Add one cup of raisins when the onion
begins to wilt, and cook till raisins soften about 5 minutes.
Remove from pan and sprinkle in the
raspberry wine vinegar and combine with cooked and peeled shrimp.
Stuff the portobello mushrooms with
mixture and place in the middle rack
in the oven with boiler on.
Cook till mushrooms begin to soften,
about 10-15 minutes.
Serve with a light white wine and enjoy
the wonderful flavours.
(Serves 4-6)
Nippon
Tuna
4 tuna steaks, fresh
1 bunch green onions
1 pack baby bok choy
1 pack snow peas
1 bunch asparagus
1 pack pea shoots
sesame seeds
For the Sauce
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup rice vinegar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp sriracha sauce
Cook tuna steaks to desired doneness.
There are many people who like to leave
the tuna very pink in the centre more like it is the cow of the seas.
Put aside and cover with foil to keep
warm.
Cut asparagus into halves and lightly
cook, then put aside.
Cut green onions and bok choy and begin
to cook, seasoning to taste, then add snow peas and cook till they
soften a little.
Combine cooked asparagus and tumble
through.
In a pan mix the ingredients for the
sauce and over a medium heat combine till sugar fully dissolves,
stirring constantly.
On a plate divide the vegetable mixture,
place one tuna steak on top, drizzle with the warm sauce and garnish
with a sprinkle of sesame seeds and pea shoots.
(Serves 4)
Beef
Sukiyaki
2 lbs of beef
1 bunch green onions
1 red medium onion
3 cups of carrots
1 bunch broccoli
5 leaves of chard
1/2 lbs shiitake mushrooms
1 bag bean sprouts
For the Broth
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup sake, or rice vinegar
1 tbsp brown sugar
Cut beef into thin strips.
Cook beef till all pink disappears,
seasoning to taste and set aside.
Prepare large pan and set aside.
Cut all ingredients separately and set
aside.
The carrots should be cut into thin
strips, about 2 inches long.
Do not cut or chop bean sprouts.
Cut off stems of broccoli and divide into
small pieces.
Begin to cook each of the ingredients
separately.
Do not over cook.
Each vegetable needs to have some crunch
to it not turned to mush.
As each vegetable is cooked put it into a
large pan separately against the perimeter.
Do not combine the ingredients, this is
not chop suey.
Once all the ingredients are cooked put
the beef into the middle
with all the other ingredients
surrounding it.
Prepare broth combining the soy sauce,
sake
(if you prefer the sake can be
substituted with rice vinegar as both are based on rice as the main
ingredient) and sugar over a medium heat, stirring till sugar fully
dissolves and combines.
Pour slowly over the ingredients in the
large pan,
allow to come to a boil and simmer for 5
minutes.
Serving this delicious dish is a
formality as each ingredient is placed on a plate separately and then
the broth used to drizzle over it all.
This Japanese dish is more formal than
the Chinese chop suey
where everything is mixed together.
Here the individual flavours are honoured
for their distinct taste
and only combined at the will of the
diner.
(Serves 4)
Shrimp
with Heat
Spice Mix
1 tbsp paprika
1/2 tbsp curry powder
1/2 tbsp mustard powder
1/2 tbsp garlic powder
1/2 tbsp coriander
1/2 tbsp fennel seeds
2 tbsp raspberry wine vinegar (Taste of
Spain)
2 radicchio heads
1 leek
1 bunch green onion
4 sweet orange peppers (small long ones)
basil olive oil
1 1/2 lb uncooked shrimp
spaghettini
Combine spice mix and set aside.
Chop radicchio, leek, green onion and
sweet peppers.
Cook till vegetables soften.
Whilst cooking vegetables, boil water and
prepare spaghettini.
Cook shrimp till shrimp turns pink and is
no longer translucent.
Dust the shrimp in the pan with spice
mixture and cook another 5 minutes before serving.
Drain the spaghettini and drizzle basil
olive oil over it then plate.
(Serves 4-6)
A
dry rub for Beef or Pork
1 tablespoon each of:
ground ginger, ground mustard, garlic
salt, curry powder, paprika and salt.
1/2 tablespoon each of:
ground cloves and ground cardamom
Cheater's
Pizza
Pizza is a fun thing to eat and each of
you can enjoy a fresh version of this delectable staple of North
America's diet, and when you don't have the time to roll out your own
dough, then cheat as I have. At my station I had made a number of
versions of this Cheater's Pizza using
freshly baked foccacia bread for a base. The toppings are limitless
and you can satisfy more than one individual at a gathering, even the
most pickiest. This has been one of the favourites with roasted
chicken breast, and the formula simple as one, two and three.
Ingredients:
1 foccacia bread
pasta sauce (choose a good quality sauce)
gouda cheese, shredded not grated
baby spinach
2 roasted chicken breasts
roasted red pepper
1 mango
Spread the pizza sauce over the foccacia
bread then layer baby spinach across the whole surface.
Evenly spread the chosen cheese.
I am not a fan of mozzarella as it tends
to be too greasy and bland.
Place the cheese over the delicate leaves
of the baby spinach to keep it from burning.
Arrange slices of chicken breast, roasted
red pepper and then add the mango.
Place under the broiler and wait till the
cheese melts.
Now all that's left is to lick your
fingers and act like Oliver and ask for more please.
