where the image is meant to titillate and inspire the cook
Firm, lean, meaty, mild, and slightly sweet. Bright white flesh Halibut is often best cooked with moist methods like poaching, steaming, or braising. Inspired by Cantonese technique, here a beautiful piece of Alaskan halibut is cooked in a bamboo steamer then served in a big shallow pool of soy-ginger-garlic-sesame sauce. Each flake is drenched in the flavorful sauce before each bite. It’s quite heavenly.
These delightful soufflés are perfect for a springtime luncheon! 36 month-aged Gouda from the Netherlands adds nutty, butterscotch flavors and an interesting salt crystal crunchy texture. This flavorful cheese pairs well with a full-bodied complex Alsatian Pinot Gris.
The soufflés are super easy to prepare, and bake up to a puffed golden brown in 35 minutes. Served with a pretty side salad, they make a lovely light lunch…or easily double the recipe and serve them on a platter as part of a buffet because, as a bonus, the soufflés hardly deflate so they are excellent for entertaining.
Time to get crusty! Developed in Japan during World War II, the dough for panko is baked by electrical current, heated rapidly and uniformly, quickly producing a light, yeasty, crust-free bread. The bread is then ground to create fine slivers of airy, crispy crumb. Then the crumbs are toasted to a delicate crunch which results in breadcrumbs that absorb less oil and add more volume than the traditional type.
Both goat cheese and chicken cutlets are very satisfying with wide international appeal when cooked with a panko crust. They are often served with a fresh green salad to balance the crispy-fried technique.
Spring is just around the corner but…No need to wait another month to serve this super-easy, spring-inspired soup! It is made with frozen peas and just a handful of ingredients.
Frozen peas are simply delicious, inexpensive, and convenient. They are picked and flash-frozen at the peak of freshness so they are always sweet and tender. Turn a bag of plain ol’ peas into something extraordinary, a soup that is quite pretty and awfully tasty.
And if fresh edible flowers are not readily available, you can serve the soup with a (still fabulous) goat cheese crouton topped with fresh herbs like mint or dill.
Continue reading “Cream of Pea Soup, Goat Cheese Flower Crouton”
Our monthly seafood subscription from Alaska arrives in a smart environmentally responsible box. Shipped to us in Las Vegas, the fillets have always been rock-hard and frozen-solid due to the great packaging using -110°F dry ice.
When the box arrives, it always has a few small slabs of dry ice still intact. It was fun to use the remaining dry ice to present a piece of the fabulous Alaska sockeye salmon served sashimi style.
Sockeye Salmon SashimiSince dry ice must be used soon after delivery, defrost a beautiful piece of sockeye using the “quick-thaw” method.
Remove skin and pin bones from the salmon and slice sashimi style. Arrange on a piece of slate chosen to fit over the dry ice display. Serve with chili crunch, edamame, and tamari in small bowls on the side. Also place lemon wedges and smoked Maldon sea salt flakes for serving, on the platter.
Finally, when ready to display, drizzle olive oil down the middle of the salmon and top with thinly sliced shallot and minced garlic. Orchids make a nice presentation too, while edible, they are here mainly for show.