Posts filed under ‘Appetizer’
Pan-Roasted Mussels in Miso Broth
I think I’ve mentioned this before, but I was not always the omnivore I am today. There was a time when only hamburgers and rice were allowed to pass through these lips, and anything collected from the ocean was categorically forbidden. In a stunning example of mind over matter, however, at 20 years old I determined that fish were good for my health and thus I WOULD LIKE THEM. Beginning with steak-y fish like swordfish, tuna, and salmon, I gradually incorporated the entire classification. From there, mollusks made their debut — mussels leading the charge.
The appeal of mussels for me was really their connection to European culture (moules frites…mmm…), the obligatory slice of buttered and toasted bread served alongside, and the endless variety of delicious broths they swam in. My first experience was a tomato based broth laced with white wine, fennel, and plenty of garlic. To this day, it is my favorite preparation. Purists may prefer the simple white wine, garlic, shallots, and creme fraiche version, aka moules marinières. More adventurous souls have probably seen mussels served with curry or, as demonstrated below, miso. These Asian preparations are a wonderful diversion and can truly impress at a dinner party.
While you have to buy and cook your mussels the same day, you can make the base of your broth early, and your dinner party will come together in an astonishing 5 minutes — faster than it takes to toast your baguette! Also, this is a mussels prep that few people have tasted before: Bonus!
A note on mussels: don’t freak out or anything, but it is important to note that mussels can die between their moment of harvesting and when you are ready to cook. Nothing ruins the memory of a good dinner party like a bad shellfish, trust me! To eliminate these evil-doers, throw out any mussels in the bag that have broken or cracked shells. Mussels that are open and do not close tightly when rapped against the side of the sink or a countertop should also be tossed. After cooking, if you have a mussel that still hasn’t opened up in the heat of the pan, chuck it. WHEN IN DOUBT, THROW IT OUT! Prevent mussels from dying on your watch by keeping them in a mesh bag on a bed of ice in your fridge. Do not suffocate them in a plastic bag, or you’ll end up tossing a ton of them.
Pan-Roasted Bouchot Mussels with Os, from the Momofuku
(serves 4)
1/3 cup denjang, or shiro (white) miso
2 Tbs. sherry vinegar
2 Tbs. minced peeled fresh ginger
2 Tbs. sliced scallions (greens and whites)
6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
4-5 lbs. mussels
1/4 c. grapeseed or other neutral oil
1 c. dry sake (use dry vermouth if you can’t find sake)
Clean the mussels: Put them in a large bowl of cold water and let them sit for a few minutes to purge any grit, then scrub their shells clean of any debris, and rip off the ‘beards’ — the little fuzzy strands sticking out of the side of the shells. Smash together the denjang, sherry vinegar, ginger, sliced scallions, and garlic cloves in a small bowl. Set aside.
Pour the oil into a deep wide pot with a lid that will later comfortable accommodate all the mussels, and set over high heat. After a minute or so, when the oil is hot but not smoking, add the mussels. Cook, stirring, for 1 minute, then add the sake. Cover the pot and steam the mussels until they’ve all opened, about 4 minutes.
Remove the lid from the pot, scoot all the mussels to one side, and add the denjang mixture to the liquid in the bottom of the pot. Stir to incorporate it, which should happen rather quickly, then toss the mussels to coat them with the sauce and pan juices.
Using a slotted spoon, transfer the mussels to four deep bowls. Discard any mussels that did not open. Pour the broth-sauce from the pot over the mussels, and garnish each portion with a heavy dose of black pepper and some of the julienned scallions. Serve at once.
Scallop Gratin
Given that no one in my household is making any income at the moment, Christmas was necessarily a smaller affair this year. My family held ourselves to stocking stuffers and a couples Secret Santa, and RJ and I agreed that we would not exchange gifts (not that he listened, the bastard!). One of my favorite gifts I gave this year was a Christmas Eve feast for my mother-in-law, Patti, and her partner Roger. I planned out a multi-course menu and RJ and I worked out wine pairings from some of the bottles we brought back from Napa.
The menu included whipped brie from The French Laundry Cookbook
Not all of our pictures came out very well – we were too busy cooking, eating, and enjoying one another’s company. However, the stars of the show have already become regulars in my kitchen, so if I don’t have pictures from Christmas Eve, I will share photos from other evenings when I made the same dish. For example, during our holiday feast, I made the following recipe using just one large sea scallop per person, rather than a handful of bay scallops, but below I have reproduced the full-size recipe from the Barefoot Contessa. I actually have never made it with bay scallops — usually I will just chop up the large ones, but I have since found out how much cheaper the little mini scallops are, and will certainly try them the next time!
Bay Scallop Gratin, from Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
6 large garlic cloves, minced
2 medium shallots, minced
2 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto di Parma, minced
4 tablespoons minced fresh parsley, plus extra for garnish
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tablespoons Pernod (In absence of Pernod, you might try adding minced fennel bulb to the butter mixture to add the anise flavor)
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
6 tablespoons good olive oil
1/2 cup panko
6 tablespoons dry white wine
2 pound fresh bay scallops
Lemon, for garnish
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Place 6 (6-inch round) gratin dishes on a sheet pan.
To make the topping, place the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (you can also use a hand mixer). With the mixer on low speed, add the garlic, shallot, prosciutto, parsley, lemon juice, Pernod, salt, and pepper and mix until combined. With the mixer still on low, add the olive oil slowly as though making mayonnaise, until combined. Fold the panko in with a rubber spatula and set aside.
Preheat the broiler, if it’s separate from your oven.
Place 1 tablespoon of the wine in the bottom of each gratin dish. With a small sharp knife, remove the white muscle and membrane from the side of each scallop and discard. Pat the scallops dry with paper towels and distribute them among the 3 dishes. Spoon the garlic butter evenly over the top of the scallops. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until the topping is golden and sizzling and the scallops are barely done. If you want the top crustier, place the dishes under the broiler for 2 minutes, until browned. Finish with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and a sprinkling of chopped parsley and serve immediately with crusty French bread.
Summer Updates and a Few Recipes
I feel like it has been a very long while since I last posted here, and although only a little over a week has passed I feel I owe an apology! Not that anyone hangs on my words here or anything, but I aim to keep up at least a two-posts-per-week rhythm. As you know, I’ve been moving into temporary housing (cough)myparentshouse(cough) and am bracing for a second move, into our new apartment, in three weeks. The stress of moving and of living out of cardboard boxes has been great – far greater than I imagined – but that did not prevent me from spending a wonderful time with my family over Memorial Day weekend (note the champagne!) or from getting in some bite-sized cooking for a baby shower this past Sunday.
Below I share some photos from these various events and the occasional short-hand recipe, for the summer is too wonderful and too fleeting to waste with your eyes glued to a cookbook. Summertime is the perfect season for impromptu cookouts and improvised menus, spontaneous salads and kitchen-sink side dishes. I cannot wait for the first call alerting us to fresh tuna on the dock, or the first bite of sweet August corn. In the meantime, enjoy the below and share your summer creations in the comments.
First up was our Memorial Day weekend cookout at my father-in-law’s house. He wrapped scallops in raw bacon and secured them with toothpicks (don’t forget to soak the toothpicks in water for a couple hours before so they don’t burn), then cooked them in a small disposable aluminum tray on the grill, just to render the fat, followed by a few minutes directly on the grill to get the charred marks and flavor. These were followed by kebabs of swordfish and beef tips with mixed vegetables.
For the baby shower I attended I brought three dishes: an appetizer of caramelized fennel and onion goat cheese tarts, an artichoke-spinach-leek quiche, and mini cheesecake bites.
For the appetizer I sliced a large fennel bulb and a large red onion very thinly. In a pan I melted 3/4 stick of butter over med-low heat and then added the fennel and onion as well as about a tsp. of kosher salt (or more to taste). Stirring occasionally, I let the vegetables soften then start to caramelize. When they reached the color brown I was looking for (about 45 minutes later), I stirred in a tsp. of herbes de provence and let that cook for a minute or two before taking the pan off of the heat. I did this part well ahead of time so that all I had to do on the day of the party was warm up the caramelized vegetables and assemble the tarts. To assemble, I placed two packages of Athens mini “fillo” shells on a baking sheet and put a teaspoon or so of goat cheese in each shell (supermarket brand Chevron, shaped like a pyramid, worked great since it is so soft). Then I topped each tartlette with the caramelized fennel/onion mixture and a couple of fresh thyme leaves and put them in the oven for about 8 minutes at 350 degrees Farenheit. They came out perfectly and were a huge hit.
Those phyllo shells are also great for desserts. With an electric mixer, I blended one package of room-temperature cream cheese (I used low-fat but you don’t have to) with 1/4 cup sugar and a 1/4 tsp. of vanilla. Then I mixed in one egg. Fill the phyllo shells with the cheesecake batter then cook at 325 degrees for about 15 minutes or just until the filling sets. After they cool to room temperature, I top the mini cheesecakes with fresh berries, chocolate sauce, or individual cherries from a can of cherry pie filling (gimme a break, okay?). One warning – if these go into a refrigerator for any length of time the shells lose their crunchiness.
Finally the quiche. Again I used this recipe for both the pie crust and the leeks – it’s a winner. Then I mixed into the hot leeks about a 1/2 lb. of shredded baby spinach and a drained can of quartered artichoke hearts, stirring gently until the spinach had fully wilted. I let the vegetable mixture cool while I mixed 5 eggs and 1 cup of half and half in a big bowl, then added about a cup of shredded parmesan cheese, some salt and some pepper. I dumped the veggies into the egg mixture, making sure they were well blended, then poured it all into my prepared pie crust. I baked the quiche at 400 degrees for about 50 minutes, slightly overcooking the quiche. To avoid this, I would recommend doing what I did with the remainder of the quiche batter that didn’t make it into the crust — cook your quiche (crust or no) for about 40 minutes at 375 degrees or until the quiche is only slightly jiggly in the middle.
My Cheese Plate and a Short Dissertation on the Subject
This month’s Barefoot Bloggers bonus recipe was more of a fun free-for-all. Suggested by Rebecca of Ezra Pound Cake, participating bloggers each put together a cheese plate for mass digital/visual consumption. I kept mine very simple, and only included 3 time-tested and well-proven crowd pleasers on the plate — St. Agur (a blue cow’s milk cheese from France), Boucheron (a wonderful goat cheese from France), and Pecorino (a sheep’s milk cheese from Italy that comes in many delectable variations – my favorite is Pecorino Nero):
I thought I would include in this post not only some of my favorite cheeses, but also some standard rules for cheese plate construction that I have picked up from books
1. It is fun to have a theme to your cheese plate, especially if it is served as an hors d’oeuvres course. The theme can be as general as “Cheese from France” or as acute as “Manchego” (featuring the cheese at different stages of aging). Obviously the theme you choose should take into account the type of people you have invited – the uninitiated guest may not appreciate the subtle differences in flavor between Loire valley goat cheese and Corsican goat cheese, but the aficionado may enjoy the challenge – and the type of gathering you are hosting – if you are serving a huge multi-course meal, don’t go too crazy or elaborate with the pre-dinner cheese, but having friends for cocktails can be the perfect time to feature the cheeses you love.
2. When serving cheese as a course during dinner, it is best to limit yourself to one to three cheeses, as more can overwhelm the palate. In this setting, it is particularly nice to offer a variety – different milks (cow, sheep, and goat), different textures (soft, semi-hard, hard), maybe one blue cheese – and possibly a selection of accompaniments (baguette and walnut bread or crackers; a fig jam or chutney; some honey and walnuts; or a side plate with olives, cured meats, and fresh fruit).
3. Always serve cheeses at room temperature for optimal flavor. I usually take my cheese out of the refrigerator 45 minutes to an hour before serving, and leave it in its wrapper until guests arrive.
4. When tasting multiple types of cheese, start with the most mild-flavored (usually the younger cheeses), and move up the scale to the stinkiest or sharpest (blues, washed rind cheeses, etc.) so that you don’t lose your discerning palate before you even begin! For this reason, it is always a good idea to know a little bit about the cheeses you’re serving before the party – ask your cheesemonger for a taste, or at least his/her opinion.
5. As a very general rule, when pairing wines with cheese, it is always a good bet to pick a wine from the same region as the cheese – Epoisses with a red Burgundy, Chaource with a Champagne, a chevre with a Sancerre. Some fun exceptions are the blue cheeses which almost always LOVE a sweeter wine, such as ruby Port or a Sauternes.
So, those are some basic guidelines. The most important one, however, is:
6. KEEP EXPERIMENTING! There are so many wonderful cheeses out in the world, and U.S. farms are now producing some absolutely fantastic examples. Here are a couple of my favorite cheeses:
St. Agur: pictured on my cheese plate, this is a cow’s milk double-cream blue from the Auvergne region of France. It is less salty and less piquant than other blues, and has a fabulously creamy texture. I sometimes drizzle a little honey over a spread of this for a great contrast of flavors. If it weren’t so gosh darned expensive (about $23/lb.), I’d brush my teeth with it. 
Robiola & Rochetta: These mixed-milk cheeses are über-creamy (read: runny) and rich, with a flavor that gathers in strength as it ages. I could eat these both (but especially the rochetta) in their entirety with just a baguette and a glass of Bordeaux to wash it down. In fact, please note my last supper
Beaufort: This was one of the first cheeses that I truly appreciated. I was introduced to it in Paris by a French woman who insisted that her daily cheese consumption was the reason for her physical fitness. Quite a philosophy! Beaufort tastes similar to gruyere, but has a fruity overtone and a more complex, layered flavor delivered in a subtle progression.
Abbaye de Belloc: This is the most gentle of the cheeses listed here – semi-firm in texture with a creamy, mouth-coating finish and an understated flavor profile. It is pleasing to nearly every palate and, personally, transports me back to the side of a mountain in the Pyrenees. That is one of the wonderful things about food – not only does it taste good, it has the ability to conjure up lovely memories.
Humboldt Fog: When I worked at the cheese shop, this was one of my weaknesses. From the outside, it looks like a brie – it has a bloomy rind and tends to soften (liquefy, really) from the outside in. Through the middle of the cheese is a line of vegetable ash, similar to what you would see in a Morbier. The goat cheese from this west coast producer is almost fluffy in texture, and embodies all that is wonderful in the taste of a good chevre, with a distinctive American look and feel.
Taleggio: I had to wrap up with the stinkiest of my list. This northern Italian cheese has a washed rind, meaning that during the affinage period it is ‘washed’ with a rinse of sea water (some cheeses are washed with wine or brandy too) – this promotes molds that prefer the moist surface, and aids the maturing process. While I have a taste for VERY stinky cheeses too (like Epoisses which is washed with a strong local brandy), taleggio is nice in that the rind has a strong, complex aroma while the interior is more mild and oozy – not nearly as threatening as it seems.
Well, that list of favorite cheeses was longer than I thought! Thanks for reading, and please leave your comments as to your favorite cheeses – I’m always looking for new ones to try! If you can’t get enough cheese, check out the other Barefoot Bloggers’ boards.
