Tag: braised and grilled

Fresh Sole, Miso Butter, Braised Bok Choy

Fresh Wild Petrale Sole
Sautéed in Miso Butter
Over Braised Baby Bok Choy in Broth
Steamed White Rice

Braising liquid:
  • 1 c. white wine (I like inexpensive, yet still tasty Pinot Grigio for cooking)
  • 1 c. fish stock or bottled clam juice
  • 6 T. butter
  • Soy sauce
  • Toasted sesame oil
Heat the wine, stock and butter on high to cook off the alcohol, turn down to simmer and add halved baby bok choy. Cover. Cook about 5 minutes until the bok choy is tender. Remove boy choy to a platter. Turn up the heat and further reduce the sauce. Finish with a splash of soy sauce and a splash of toasted sesame oil.

Season the fish with salt and pepper, dust with flour and dip in egg. While the braising liquid is reducing, sauté the fish fillets in miso butter. I am showing this bird’s-eye view of my stovetop because I am the proud recipient of a 5 pc. set of SCANPAN Ceramic Titanium Professional Cookware made in Denmark. It is elegant and awesome, the improved non-stick surface allows for the use of any utensil, including metal utensils. A big thank you to Heather and the folks at SCANPAN!
Left: 10 1/4″ Fry Pan – sautéing fish
Front right: 6 1/2 qt. Dutch Oven (comes with cover) – reducing braising liquid
Back right: 3 qt. saucepan (with cover) – steaming white rice
Cast stainless steel handles stay cool longer. The set came with these nifty handle covers, but I found that the handles were fine on their own. Robin and Jimmy over at Caviar and Codfish blog are hosting a Scanpan giveaway. I highly recommend participating! Now, my first foray with the new Scanpan was with scrambled eggs.
The scrambled eggs were extraordinarily creamy. They cooked differently than in my usual non-stick pan. I wish I could explain the difference… the pan seems to me to be slipperier? Anyway, I was very impressed. They soon will have another line available for induction cooktops, can’t wait for that! My favorite way to serve scrambled eggs, I enjoyed it this way at a hotel in Mexico City many years ago. With all things green: cilantro, salsa verde, sliced avocado with lime. Tortillas and coffee too.

Back to bok choy: Alternate the bok choy up and down on a platter. Ladle hot braising liquid on top. Then place the fish on top of the bok choy and serve with steamed white rice on the side.
I am sending this dish over to my blogger friend Simona of Briciole blog as she is hosting Fresh Produce of the Month Event and this month, it’s cabbage! And to my other friend Lore of Culinarty, for her Original Recipe Round-Up. Do check out these fun monthly events.
Miso butter:
  • 1 stick butter (softened)
  • 2 – 3 T. white miso
  • 1 1/2 t. garlic minced
  • 1 1/2 t. fresh ginger minced
Mix all ingredients in the small bowl of a food processor. Miso butter has a complex and intriguing flavor. I used it to sauté this fish, also on vegetables, noodles (great on soba noodles), in corn ramen soup (more on that later), or try a pat of miso butter on your grilled steak.

I am such a fan of this miso butter, I gave it as a Christmas gift. What? You gave butter as a gift? I did, and it was totally appreciated (so I was told), especially in this little pot with lid.

Anise-Ginger Lamb Shank

Braised and Grilled Lamb Shanks
with Tamari,  Star Anise, Ginger, Garlic

The braising liquid is made with tamari, water, star anise, garlic cloves, sliced fresh ginger and sugar.

The shanks are simmered for over 2 hours in my Le Creuset covered French Oven.

The shanks are then seasoned with salt and pepper, grilled for about 15 minutes, until nicely browned. Meanwhile to prepare the sauce: use a fat separator to remove most of the fat, return the sauce to the pot and heat on high. Dilute 1 T. cornstarch with 1 T. cold water and whisk into the sauce to thicken just slightly. Add a splash of rice vinegar, salt and pepper to taste.
Many recipes for shanks use red wine as the braising liquid, like this one with Zinfandel. Last weekend, we were quite pleased with the exotic combination of tastes of tamari, anise, ginger and garlic. Whatever liquid/sauce you choose, I highly recommend the method of braising and grilling the lamb shanks, as this technique gives the meat an added dimension of flavor.
This recipe was adapted from Mark Bittman. The original recipe can be found here. After picking up four beautiful shanks from the butcher, I was searching the internet for a recipe for “braised and grilled” lamb shanks and came across his. It’s a winner!