by Sam Tackeff | Nov 10, 2009 | Asian, Books, Seafood
MAKE THIS SHRIMP.
Jaden Hair, the most fabulous lady responsible for the Steamy Kitchen website, visited San Francisco this weekend for her very own book signing with us at Omnivore Books! I’ve been reading Jaden’s blog for several years now, and she is certainly one of the best out there. So, when word was out that she was finally coming out with a cookbook – I was psyched. Let me just say, her book is AWESOME – this shrimp is only one of the reasons!
Among the other reasons why this cookbook is awesome, and you should get a copy:
1. It’s pretty! And she took all the photos *herself*. This is phenomenal for any cookbook author to be given such control over the layout of the cookbook. Inspiration for any budding food blogger, or really, just perfect for anyone who wants to be instantly hungry.
2. It features tasty and delicious Asian recipes, easy enough that anyone can make, even if you live hundreds of miles away from an Asian grocery and can only shop at a big-box . And, it’s really well organized – entertaining introduction, informative tools and a really great ingredient section where she goes into some depth about creating an asian-food friendly pantry – and helpful substitutions.
3. My copy is signed… in Pink Sharpie! Let me tell you, Jaden is as wonderful in real life as she comes across on her blog and in her cookbook. What a treat!
Isn’t she great? (Photo of Jaden at Omnivore Books, mid-pose, by Inuyaki)
Jaden’s coconut shrimp is delicious. Shrimp, coconut, a little bit of booze – some of my favorite ingredients, period.
Tonight I went into the liquor store and purchased a mini bottle of cognac to use in a recipe, and after making it, let me tell you – I sure as heck wish I had bought the whole bottle so that I can make this one on a regular basis and not have to go back!
Jaden’s Coconut Shrimp (from The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook)
Serves 4 as part of a multi-course meal
(Or two hungry people!)
1/4 cup (20g) unsweetened shredded coconut
1 tablespoon high-heat cooking oil
1 lb (500 g) raw tail-on shrimp, deveined and patted really dry
2 tablespoons butter
4 green onions (scallions), cut into 2-in (5-cm) lengths
1 tablespoon finely minced garlic
3 tablespoons cognac (brandy or rum make good substitutes)
Generous pinch of salt
3/4 teaspoon sugar (omit if you are using sweetened shredded coconut)
1. In a wok or frying pan over medium eat, add the coconut and toast until golden brown. This should only take about 3 to 4 minutes. Take care not to burn the coconut! Once the coconut is toasted, immediately remove to a plate to cool.
2. Wipe the wok or pan dry and set over high heat. When a bead of water instantly sizzles and evaporates upon contact, add the oil and swirl to coat. Add the shrimp to the wok, keeping them in a single layer. Fry for 1 minute, flip and fry an additional minute until almost cooked through. Remove from the wok, keeping as much oil in the wok as possible.
3. Turn the heat to medium, add the butter and , once the butter starts bubbling, add the green onion and garlic. Fry until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Pour in the cognac and add the salt and sugar. Stir and return the shrimp to the wok. Let the whole thing bubble and thicken just a bit – the sauce should lightly coat the shrimp. Remove from the heat, sprinkle in the toasted coconut and toss well.
Wise Note to Self / everyone: I served this on brown rice – which was tasty – but for next time I will split the sauce equally and not hoard it all on my own plate. But it was oh-so-delicious!!!
by Sam Tackeff | Oct 3, 2009 | Breakfast, Seafood
Smoked Fish. I love it all. Smoked salmon, smoked trout, smoked whitefish, smoked sable… I’m the type of girl who would rationalize a one day trip to New York City – as long as I could pick up some smoked fish at Zabars before heading home.
This adoration started early. Growing up in New Hampshire, my parents and I would frequent Seaport Fish every week to get all our seafood needs. I was always on board for this trip, because from the age of about one, the staff at seaport fish started bribing me with smoked salmon. Honestly, I must have gotten an entire salmon’s worth of smoked salmon for free over my childhood.
While I generally interchange the terms smoked salmon, nova, nova lox, and lox, there is technically a difference between them- here’s a simple breakdown:
– Nova or Lox are usually what we see when we order the platter from the deli, or on the bagel – the fish has been cured in a liquid brine and cold smoked.
– Scottish style salmon is cured in a dry brine, and then cold smoked.
– Nordic smoked salmon is salt cured and then cold smoked.
– Gravlax is generally cured in a mixture that has more herbs and spices including dill and juniper berry.
These are not to be confused with hot-smoked salmon, which you may see in packages by the fish counter – hot smoking makes the fish feel like cooked fish, whereas cold smoking makes it a little more like the consistency of sushi.
(Photo: Russ and Daughters)
Where to find good smoked fish:
If you live on a seacoast, particularly in New England, you would be in luck. Most local fish markets will carry good quality salmon. If you are near a city, you might try going to an old style Jewish deli. When buying packaged, I like Ducktrap, particularly the “Kendall Brook Variety” which comes from Maine. I find that packaged however are sort of luck of the draw – I like being able to taste a little bit before I buy it, to make sure it’s not too salty for my taste.
I picked up mine for breakfast at our new Whole Foods in Noe Valley, so if you live near one of these you might check out their fish department, and see if they will give you a little sample.
If all else fails, you can just order it from either of the two golden sources – Zabar’s fish counter, or Russ and Daughters and they will ship it to you, right quick. While you are at it, order a jar of salmon caviar from either of these guys and you won’t be disappointed.
A few things you can do with smoked salmon:
:: The composed breakfast (see above) – toast, dry farmed early girl tomatoes, and ripe avocado – spreads like cream cheese.
:: Smoked salmon on a bagel (or brown bread, or rye bread, or seedy bread ie: anadama) with *full fat* cream cheese, and slices of onion if you are so inclined. *Please note, unfortunately, I spent several years of my life with nothing but fat free cream cheese in my refrigerator. Don’t make the same mistake.
:: Smoked salmon pinwheels – great for the lunchbox (either just salmon and cream cheese, or wrap style in a tortilla)
:: Smoked salmon with scrambled eggs.
Any brilliant salmon ideas? I’m always looking for more!
by Sam Tackeff | Jul 2, 2009 | Pantry Staples, Seafood, Uncategorized
I’ve been reading the Pioneer Woman religiously for several years now, and she is always reminding me of the beautiful things in life – love, the land, family, food, and friends.
Last month her friend Pastor Ryan of This is Reverb came to visit her, and made the most delicious looking shrimp risotto – I knew I had to try it. I had just purchased some beautiful asparagus at the farmers market, and decided to add that to the pot. This stuff is so incredibly good I can’t stand it.
Pastor Ryan is a hip, tattooed, man of god, with the most adorable daughter Ava Beans – he also happens to cook exactly how I want to cook – flavorful, painfully delicious food that is created without recipes, but with a basic foundation for your starting point and then just go! He’s been advocating Michael Ruhlman’s book Ratio – which is next on my to read list.
Aren’t they beauties? I was so excited to use them. A note on choosing asparagus: These were not too thick (sometimes the stalk gets really thick in late summer, in which case I would have used a vegetable peeler to peel them so that you aren’t trying to gnaw through the tough exterior), and the tips were tightly together, rather than splayed out or slimy or soggy which is a sign that they aren’t fresh.
This dish seems labor intensive from the recipe, but don’t let it scare you. The entire process takes about 45 minutes from start to finish, and it just requires gentle coaxing and will reward you immensely.
Shrimp and Asparagus Risotto
adapted from Pastor Ryan of This is Reverb
serves 2 (plus one lucky person for lunch)
For the shrimp:
4 tablespoons unsalted butter (or salted)
several good glugs of worcestershire sauce
3 cloves of garlic
1 lb. peeled and deveined shrimp, ends removed
a lot of seasoning of your choice (lemon pepper, old bay)
For the risotto
a few good glugs of olive oil
1 large shallot, finely chopped
1 cup Arborio Rice
1/2 cup dry white wine
4 cups organic chicken broth
1 bunch asparagus, steamed, cut into inch long pieces
Method:
1. In a small pot, warm the butter on low heat, and add in the worcestershire sauce, and a few cloves of garlic. (I smushed ’em with the heavy side of my knife and then chopped them really finely before dumping them in.) Let that all mellow together on low while you peel the shrimp (and devein them – although I usually like to purchase them cleaned) – and then in a shallow bowl, spoon the sauce over the shrimp and let sit while you start your risotto.
2. In a heavy bottomed pot, sautee the large shallot in a few good glugs of olive oil. After a few minutes, throw in your arborio rice, and a half cup or more of white wine. Now this is a bit of a process – add your broth in, about a half cup at a time, stir, and let it cook down slowly (a few minutes each time) before adding the next half cup. – this whole process takes about 30 – 40 minutes or so – but don’t feel like you have to be stirring the whole time. (when you have about a cup of broth left, start back on the shrimp)
3. Shrimp, part two. Now that the flavors have been mellowing, heat up the grill. (Or in my case, a grill pan). Before puttting the shrimp on, toss in some of your favorite seasoning into the shrimp mixture – I used my grandmother’s super special seasoning mix – but lemon pepper or old bay would work absolutely fab here. Toss them onto the grill, and cook just a couple of minutes on each side. When done, chop up about three quarters of the shrimp, and save the rest whole for garnishing.
4. Steam the asparagus – just cut them into couple inch long pieces, put them in a pyrex in the microwave for five minutes with an inch of water and covered with a lid or some saran wrap.
5. Ok! Back to the risotto! I hope you have been stirring occasionally! Now add in your chopped shrimp, and your steamed asparagus – take a little taste – and season with some salt and pepper if it needs it. (The flavors from the shrimp should usually do it, but it might need just a tad more. Pastor Ryan adds in some green onions here… but I erm… don’t like them very much, so I omit them. I’m sure they would be good if you enjoy them though!
Serve, with the whole shrimp on top – man the stuff is good.
Thoughts – for next time – I think I might add in some chopped kielbasa – and you could theoretically do this with any seasonal vegetable you have and it would be pretty delicious. You could also do it with lobster I would think – that is if you are living on the east coast and it’s 5.99 a pound rather than more than double that here in California!
Thanks Pastor Ryan! Thanks Pioneer Woman!
For a foundation on cooking risotto, you can look at Ree’s post on Basic Risotto.
by Sam Tackeff | May 31, 2009 | Pantry Staples, Seafood, Soups
Can you see it there in the dark light? It’s some delicious Salsa Salmon with Brown Rice and a very quick Black Bean Soup, (I promise you). For some reason, the three (3) cameras in my home managed to fail last week all at once. I was cooking in the mid evening, and watching the sun slowly descend as I tried painstakingly to compose the shot and take some photos – oh, no battery – gah, wrong lens – wait! why won’t you take photo without flash – sometimes these are the things you have to deal with.
But let me tell you a bit about this stuff. It was goooood. Really, really, completely satisfyingly good. I might end up making it every week good. It’s something you can put together without much effort and most of it is hands off, if you have a little time to wait and let the flavors marinate.
The secret? Store bought salsa. About an hour before eating, I take my pieces of salmon out into a dish, and coat them with about a cup of salsa – I used Mrs. Renfro’s Habanero Mango Salsa- and shove it back into the refrigerator. This can sit here for an hour or more (more is better) and if you want, you can check it halfway or so and turn the fish over.
Then I get started on the brown rice. Brown rice is fickle. I’d give you an exact time of how long it takes to cook, but it seems to depend on a thousand variables that I can’t quite pin down. Usually I check Mark Bittman’s ‘How to Cook Everything’ to check up on grain cooking times. It usually takes me about an hour. When the brown rice is done, I turn off the heat, cover it with a cloth, put the lid back on, and get a start on the rest of the meal. I get the black bean soup started, and once it’s going, then take the salmon out and cook it- usually it takes about five minutes on each side on medium heat for how I like it (a little rare).
When everything is done, you can plate it, and serve it with the rest of the salsa from the jar.
Really Quick Black Bean Soup
serves 2 or 3 as a generous side
Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 heart of leek, chopped (or small onion)
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tablespoon cumin
1 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon chile powder
1 large heirloom tomato, chopped
1 can black beans, undrained
salt and pepper
Method:
1. In a medium saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat, and add leek (or onion) and garlic, and cook for about five minutes, stirring so they don’t brown.
2. Add the spices, and give a stir. Then add in your tomato and your beans, and let cook for ten minutes or so on medium heat, and season to taste.
It’s almost as easy as opening a red can of pre-made Goya black bean soup mix, except you know, it’s better for you.
by Sam Tackeff | Mar 26, 2009 | Mexican, Restaurants, Seafood
On our way back from our day trip up the coast, we stopped for a quick bite at Salsalito Taco Shop, in Sausalito, CA. I had a craving to fulfill, a baja style fish taco (fried fish, topped here with slaw), which somewhat tragically I missed out on even though I was actually in Mexico last weekend. I’m sure this doesn’t come close to Tacos El Fenix (in Ensenada, Mexico), but it was pretty tasty. 
I also had some fish Ceviche, which was marinated really nicely in lime, and had a decent kick. It was also served on a fish shaped plate, so bonus points, in my opinion.
by Sam Tackeff | Feb 24, 2009 | Culinary Disaster, Seafood
[warning: post not suitable for the squeamish]
It was an easy recipe: I was going to take the cleaned squid and score it in a criss-cross pattern, season it with some salt and pepper, char it for a few minutes in a very hot griddle, and then splash it with garlic, lemon juice and olive oil. It’s a simple preparation, quite pretty, and tastes delicious.
So I needed a squid.
You probably can get frozen squid at Trader Joe’s, but I wanted fresh squid, and I wanted to clean it. I’ve cooked with pre-cleaned squid before, but I had never cleaned my own, and was up for a culinary challenge.
I headed over to a pan asian market with a bustling fish counter, where you can have your fish cleaned, gutted, even cooked for you. I found myself in front of the large container of jumbo squid, with my hand in a plastic bag ready to pick up my chosen specimen. Having never chosen a squid before, I wasn’t quite sure what I was looking for, and perhaps my first mistake was not asking someone. Squid are supposed to be cream colored and firm, with eyes clear and full. I think mine looked good, but to be honest I can’t be sure.
As I picked my squid, a British woman, who seemed very out of place, and slightly horrified at the frenetic pace and general “whole animal” aspect of the fish section, asked me what I was going to do with the squid. As I began to explain, she lost complete interest, and let out a gasp at the “live frog” box next to the squids. “You should probably just ignore those,” I smiled at her coyly. At least I was.
When I got home, I put the squid in the fridge, and waited until the next day to attempt the procedure. (Mistake #2, if you buy a fish or squid, use it as soon as possible.) Somehow I managed to psych myself out a little bit. I’ve butchered a few different types of animals, but I wasn’t looking forward to having to hold the gelatinous little creature and cut right below his eyes.
Cleaning the squid: (a few simple steps that work perfectly)
Surprisingly, this part was quite easy! I lay my squid out flat, used my sharp ceramic knife, and cut right below the eyes, to remove the tentacles. If you cut right below the eyes, you get a ring at the top that holds the tentacles together, which is convenient, and keeps things clean. I rinsed them, and put them aside in a bowl, ready to cook.
The next step was to separate the head and innards from the body. After taking a firm grasp on the squid’s head and body, I pulled on the head, and it came cleanly out of the body, innards in tow. I looked around for the ink sac, but it was tiny, and wouldn’t have produced any quantity needed in a recipe, so I threw both the innards and head in a double wrapped trash bag (to avoid a smell) into the garbage.
The next step is to take the body, and remove the clear pins (the spiny part) and the skin. I reached in, and grabbed the pins which came right out in one piece, and then proceeded to get under the skin with my knife and then pull it right off. In all, I’d say the whole process took no more than ten minutes.
Mistake #3 The Smell:
It was around this time that I was starting to get complaints from the next room. “It smells awful!” Devon, my faithful taste tester told me. Indeed, the squid did smell fishy, and after rinsing it, the smell didn’t seem to go away. This should have been the giveaway. It can’t be bad though, right? Right? Well, I’ll just go ahead and start cooking it. I scored the squid, salted and peppered it, and put it on my smoking grill. It was cooking beautifully, but let’s just say, it smelled, foul, terrible, nauseating, erm, “not pleasant”. Now, I’ve grilled cleaned squid before, and the smell of charred squid is generally a delicious one, but although this wasn’t the case, I still didn’t want to call it a failure. “I’ll just taste it!” I thought. BAD IDEA. BAD IDEA. BAD IDEA.
The result was awful. I can’t express it, but lets just say, it goes up in my memories side by side with the day I chugged a whole container of soured milk at the beach, or the day I first had rancid peanut butter in a pb and fluff sandwich, or the day I used some olive oil that had been sitting in the burning summer sun for an entire day.
Le grand sigh. It was a complete foodie failure, but I assure you, I won’t let it stop me. I’ll just wait a few weeks before trying again. A few longish weeks. And maybe I’ll get some of that pre-cleaned squid.
