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Q).
My wife and I live on the Monterey Peninsula and have enjoyed your
restaurants for many years. The fish you serve always tastes so fresh.
When we cook fish at home, we can never seem to completely remove the
fishy taste - even when we are cooking immediately after purchasing in a
local fish market. We've tried cooking the fish many different ways
(e.g., grill, bake, etc.). Is there anything we can do to |
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achieve a fresh, not fishy, taste?
Troy Holt
Via e-mail
A).
Try cooking a T-bone steak - just kidding, Troy. Ask to smell the
fish before you buy it. It should smell briny and fresh like the sea,
not fishy. When you get your fish home, rinse it off and rub with
a small amount of salt. I said small, like 1/4 teaspoon - a pinch. Once,
I was at a banquet where you had a |
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choice of fish or beef. The stink of the
fish permeated the room. Guess what I ate. The main reason, other than
just being too old, for the fish smell was that it had been frozen. This
was several years ago, before vacuum packing was widely used for frozen
fish. Vacuum packed frozen fish is quite good. Just make sure you
defrost it slowly in the fridge. So remember when you are shopping for
fish - the nose knows! |
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Q). Do you
have any recipes for baby food? I want to start introducing my son to
solid foods but can't find anything interesting.
Robin Jeffers
Via e-mail
A). Baby
food? - you bet. Good friends the Goldberg's were at the house last week
with baby Lily - almost one year old. She looked a little
thin to me (but most people do) so I asked, "Have you got her on pastina
yet?" "Nope", they said. "You mean she hasn't tasted the best flavors in
the world - pasta, extra virgin olive oil, zucchini and Reggiano?" Stand
by, pastina coming up. I started off by cooking the pasta in bottled
water to just over al dente. "Pastina" is Italian for "little dough". These are tiny pearl shaped
pasta like acini de pepe. Drain the pasta, splash with some of my best
extra-virgin olive oil and toss in some freshly grated
Reggiano (Romano is a bit salty for a little squirt) and steamed
Zucchini cut into matchsticks and |
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diced. Okay, mama Goldberg, let's see what
little Lily can do with some Italian soul
food. Folks, let me tell you, she was amazing. Licking her tiny lips
with her eyes opened wide. She liked it! Little Lily's taste buds have
come to life. Can't wait to serve her a Prime filet mignon - watch out!
Q). I
almost choked on my coffee this morning when I read in your column: "I
could never understand why anyone would add vegetables to a hot roux."
About 10,000 Cajun cooks rolled over in their graves when you said those
words. The Mississippi River stopped flowing for a moment and people in
Plaquemine Parish are just now picking themselves up off the floor. Let
me quote from "La Bouche Creole" by Leon E. Soniat, Jr. (published 1981)
in his recipe for Shrimp Étouffée: "...you are making a roux, if you
have done it right it takes at least 20 minutes of cooking. Dump in the
pot 2 cups of chopped onions, 1 cup of chopped bell pepper, 1 cup of
chopped
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celery and 4 toes of chopped garlic.
Stir and smell! Inhale those great odors." That's why you do it,
for the sheer sensory pleasure of that moment. I even turn my vent hood
off just before dumping in the "Holy Trinity" so I can spread the
pleasure around to everyone in the kitchen. I have about 30 Louisiana
cookbooks and some call for adding the Trinity to the hot roux and some
don't. But after making that Shrimp Étouffée the first time I always
make that a part of any gumbo or étouffée. If you have all of your
veggies in a bowl and ready to dump there's nothing to manage. It is
just to enjoy. Dan Peterson,
Prunedale, Via e-mail
(and Tony Riccardi is my dentist, so that shows
you how smart I am)
A). When
adding the vegetables to the hot roux, you must constantly stir or you
will burn everything - that's the part I don't' like! |
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Readers: What a perfect
eat-at-your-desk lunch - mushu combo - (hold the pancakes). This dish,
from northern China, is loaded with all the right stuff. Great Wall
Chinese Restaurant on Munras does a great one!
Q). I caught the tail-end of your show on
AmericanLife Network where you were cooking a beef stew. Could you please
e-mail me the recipe for Tuscan beef stew
that you prepared at Tuscana |
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Winery. Thank you for your attention.
Sincerely,
Leesa Belva , Via e-mail
A). That must have been the stew with
the dried chestnuts.
Beef Stew with Chestnuts Recipe
Start with 2 lbs. of veal (or a good stew meat),
and make sure there is some fat. |
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1 cup soaked dried chestnuts |
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1 cup chopped carrots |
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1 cup celery |
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2 cups chopped onions |
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10 garlic cloves |
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1 bunch chopped parsley |
Brown the meat in butter, olive oil,
salt and pepper. Flame with grappa (be careful). Next add 2 cups of dry
red wine. Add all of the vegetables and 8 cups of beef stock. Cover and
cook over medium low heat for 1 hour. Meat should be very tender. Cook
up some soft polenta according to directions on the box and serve the
stew on top.
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