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Sunday, January 23rd, 2011

The Secret Ingredient (Vanilla) Part III: Vanilla Cream Pots

RECIPE: Vanilla Cream Pots

Vanilla Cream Pots

Get the whole story at Serious Eats.

I hope this month’s series on vanilla has given you some ideas about how to use it in different ways. This recipe is my attempt to recreate my favorite dessert in Paris: the vanilla pot de crème at my favorite restaurant in the Carrefour Odéon. When I lived down the street, I would order this several times a week. Pot de crème is most similar to our pudding, but really, they’re nothing alike.

Pot de crème is extremely thick; you have to tug it off the spoon with your lips. Dense and almost cloying, it is redolent of its flavor—whether that’s the Bourbon vanilla at my favorite place, or chocolate, or caramel, or anything else. There is no other flavor here besides vanilla, and the vanilla is use-the-bean-and-the-extract intense. It proves that vanilla can be special, even a bit glamorous. Continue reading …

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Categories: Desserts, Eat, Recipes, Series, The Secret Ingredient, Vegetarian

Saturday, January 22nd, 2011

Franglais: Marinière Mussel Chowder

RECIPE: Mussel Chowder

Mussel Chowder

Get the whole story at The Huffington Post.

I like when food tastes familiar. It’s routine, and it’s comforting. Like the way clean sheets always smell out of the dryer, or the first perfume you remember your mother wearing (Shalimar), or the feel of a soft rug under your toes when you get home from work. It’s the same everyday, but that doesn’t make it any less precious or perfect or satisfying. It only becomes more so with every repetition.

I do tend to make a lot of comfort food–and maybe that’s reflective of where I am in life. Maybe, with all the imminent changes ahead, I gravitate towards familiar food because I need that warm, dryer-baked blanket or whiff of Shalimar to anchor me, to remind me that I’m not floating away like an untethered balloon out into the vast unknown. I come from somewhere, and I’m going somewhere, even when it feels like the wind may whip me in any direction on a whim.

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Categories: 30 Minutes, Eat, Franglais, Recipes, Series, Soup, Soup & Salad

Friday, January 21st, 2011

French in a Flash: Swordfish Paillard with Citrus Salad

RECIPE: Swordfish Paillard with Citrus Salad

Swordfish Paillard with Citrus Salad

Get the whole story at Serious Eats.

Growing up in Florida, winter always meant one thing to me: citrus. We had a Lilliputian orchard on our small plot of land that produced Key limes, Persian limes, oranges, lemons the size of softballs, and ruby red grapefruits. We couldn’t get to the fruit fast enough. We gave away sacks upon sacks of tart yellow, orange, and green gems, running around under the trees like squirrels anxious to get ahold of their nuts before anything sinister might befall them. And that is why to this day I recoil at the idea of paying 69 cents for a stingy lemon in a New York grocery store. Ridiculous.

I’m in Florida this week, and the choices of citrus overwhelmed me—I’m like a greedy little kid in a Sour-Patch candy store. This dish was inspired by the bistro classic chicken paillard: thinly pounded fillet of meat, quickly seared on a hot grill, and served with salad. It’s one of those French dishes that is so simple, but made special by just the smallest amount of attention paid to preparation. When I’m in Florida, I eat nothing but fish, so I made this with thawed frozen swordfish fillets. You could substitute any meaty steak fish. Pound the fish thin, and grill it in seconds on a panini press. Top it with a salad of rough-and-tumble spinach and arugula, with pink Florida grapefruits and blood oranges, sweet fennel, and salty onyx oil-cured olives. Light and lovely, it’s the perfect lunch in the sunshine—or for dreaming about it. Continue reading …

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Categories: 15 Minutes, Easy, Eat, Fish, French in a Flash, Main Courses, Recipes, Salad, Series, Soup & Salad

Monday, January 17th, 2011

The Secret Ingredient (Vanilla) Part II: Almond-Crust Tilapia with Vanilla Sauce

RECIPE: Almond-Crusted Tilapia with Vanilla Sauce

Vanilla Tilapia

Get the whole story on Serious Eats.

The history of vanilla is a rich one. It is the pod of an orchid, and long grew only in Mexico; when explorers tried to bring vanilla back to Europe, the plant could not survive without the little Mexican bee that pollinated it. It wasn’t until 1841, when a young slave on the Ile Bourbon discovered that vanilla could be hand-pollinated, which led not only to an international vanilla market, but also to vanilla’s high price. It is the second highest priced spice, after saffron.

Vanilla, for being so common and ubiquitous, has a very exotic history. This dish is a bit exotic itself, even though I had a version of it at the now defunct Hoot, Toot, and Whistle in Delray Beach, Florida. I crust tilapia with almonds and panko, and fry it until golden and crisp, and serve it with a mild and creamy vanilla beurre blanc. The original version, I think, was with catfish and pecans. So you can play around. But it’s an unusual and savory way to play with vanilla in your own kitchen. Continue reading …

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Categories: Eat, Fish, Main Courses, Recipes, Series, The Secret Ingredient

Friday, January 14th, 2011

Franglais: French Onion Dip

RECIPE: French Onion Dip

French Onion Dip

Get the whole story at The Huffington Post.

Names are tricky. They are supposed to be the roadmap to a person. You hear their name, and you assume you can know a little bit about them. Not so. Names are misleading. Misnomers even. For instance, my name. Kerry is a masculine, in the best of times gender-neutral, Irish name. And yet, there is probably no one less Irish or more girly, than me. So, I don’t put too much stock in names.

French Onion Dip is another name that is a complete misnomer. Never, ever, have I seen French Onion Dip in France. I can only assume the “French” part comes from caramelized onions, which might bear some resemblance to those in French onion soup. But there’s really nothing French about it. It is the ultimate American food, with maybe just a hint of what we wish were behind it: sweet bistro onions, and the Paris skyline. Maybe my parents named me Kerry because they wished I were an Irish boy. Who can say, really?

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Categories: 15 Minutes, Appetizers & Hors D’Oeuvres, Bread & Butter, Dips, Spreads, Preserves, Easy, Eat, For a Crowd, Franglais, Recipes, Series, Vegetarian

Friday, January 14th, 2011

French in a Flash: Spinach Salad with Strawberries and Goat Cheese

RECIPE: Spinach Salad with Strawberries and Goat Cheese

Spinach Salad with Strawberries and Goat Cheese

Get the whole story at Serious Eats.

Who says watching TV is bad for you? Just last weekend while I was watching the Food Network I saw an idea that I loved: a recipe that combined strawberries and goat cheese. I use goat cheese in sweet dishes all the time, but I have never done the reverse of putting strawberries in savory. I tried it by combining two restaurant classics: crispy warm goat cheese salad and raspberry vinaigrette.

I started with the warm goat cheese salad we all know and love from every bistro in America. The fresh chèvre is coated with panko, and fried until crisp and oozing. If you want to save a couple of steps and calories though, the salad would be just as good with some goat cheese crumbled over the top.

Then, instead of raspberry vinaigrette, I concocted a strawberry vinaigrette thickened with fresh strawberries and honey. Toss it with baby spinach leaves and crunchy pine nuts, along with more sliced strawberries and you have a salad that is sweet, tangy, and full of character. (I know strawberries aren’t in season, but the flavor of the vinaigrette makes up for it.)

I had the salad for lunch. It turned out that watching TV was very good for me—this time, at least.

Spinach Salad with Strawberries and Goat Cheese

serves 4

Ingredients

6 ounces fresh goat cheese log, cut into 4 1-inch medallions with a string of dental floss
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup panko
12 strawberries, divided
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon honey
Kosher salt
Freshly cracked black pepper
4 ounces baby spinach salad
3 tablespoons toasted pine nuts
Vegetable oil for frying

PROCEDURE

Bread the goat cheese medallions. Coat each round in egg, and then in panko. Place on a parchment-lined small rimmed baking sheet, and refrigerate 30 minutes.
Make the dressing. In a blender, combine 4 strawberries, diced, vinegar, olive oil, honey, salt, and pepper. Purée until smooth and thickened.
Assemble the salad. Thinly slice the remaining 8 strawberries, and toss with spinach, pine nuts, and a bit of vinaigrette (you may have some vinaigrette left over).
Fry the cheese. Heat about 3 tablespoons vegetable oil, or enough to thickly coat the bottom of a small skillet, in a small skillet over medium heat until the oil shimmers. Fry the cold goat cheese medallions until golden and crsip, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes on each side, using a slotted fish spatula to turn the cheese in the pan. Place on top of the tossed salad, and serve immediately with baguette alongside.

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Categories: Eat, French in a Flash, Recipes, Salad, Series, Soup & Salad, Vegetarian

Monday, January 10th, 2011

The Secret Ingredient (Vanilla) Part I: Sweet Vanilla Iced Tea

RECIPE: Sweet Vanilla Iced Tea

Sweet Vanilla Iced Tea

Get the whole story at Serious Eats.

Whenever I go for ice cream, I always have a hard time ordering. I know what I want, but I never get it. I go for pistachio, or cookies and cream, or some flavor of the week—because I’m paying for it and it’s fattening and I shouldn’t get something so vanilla.

But that’s all I want: vanilla.