by Elena on December 14, 2010
The midterm is over! Did I mention that? After breathing out a huge sigh of relief, the reality set in that I am halfway finished with culinary school. The day of the midterm I selected the tiny piece of paper with the number C2. This meant that for the next couple of hours whenever someone yelled out C2 I would look up anxiously at the clock. It also meant I would cook the potage cultivateur soup as well as the pork chops. It seems fitting that a ham aficionado like myself would select the pork dish on the final. It was fate really, after all there is perfectly cured ham leg sitting in the bodega of our house right now, waiting to be sliced and eaten. I cooked those chops to perfection, according to the judge who very distractingly looked like a culinary Robert Pattinson. Little did the comely judge know about the panic in the kitchen as I rushed to get that dish out the door in time. I was a minute late and 1 point was taken off. It’s over! Onto buffet…
Along with the elation of surviving the midterm I have a bit more news. I will soon begin writing for the Food2 blog on food2.com. Myself and some other students at French Culinary Institute will be chronicling our experiences in culinary school. Check out my bio as well as the other students.
The celebration begins early this year. I’m celebrating the midterm and Christmas, basically any excuse to eat, drink and be merry. Tomorrow night my good friend and I will be celebrating a joint Christmas and Hanukkah and she will finally teach me how to make latkes! Traditionally Christmas dinner is chock full of pork dishes but seeing as we are celebrating an amalgamation of Christmas and Hanukkah, pork will be noticeably absent from the menu. Instead we will be indulging in other meaty delicacies wrapped in dough. We plan to wash down our daily stresses with lots of red wine and sparkling cider. I want to kick my feet up and stuff my face with endless amounts of mini empanadas and potato latkes. There will be lots of mindless talk about celebrity gossip and some yelling at the TV during Top Chef. Hootie hoo! It is healthy to avoid studying every once in awhile and I often excel in escaping reality. It’s good for the soul. You know what else is good for the soul… ham. Lots and lots of ham.
by Elena on December 6, 2010
Today I saw them, the first flakes of snow to fall in New York City. They were small and inconspicuous, more like a dusting naked to the less eager eye. While I wouldn’t call it the first snowfall, you can tell more snow is imminent. You can smell it in the air, winter is here and the sky is ready to drop its bounty.
Tomorrow is my midterm at the French Culinary Institute. It is hard to believe that I am halfway finished with culinary school. Months have gone by where I have stuck my arms into hot convection ovens, sliced my fingers with my sharp knives, and burned my skin with scorching pans and bubbling oil. I keep band-aids on hand and Neosporin stashed away in my knife kit. I have gotten to the point where a cut is more of a nuisance than something I fear.
We use lots of butter and I mean lots. You don’t go to French Culinary school if you’re shy with your butter. Last class I made potage cultivateur a hearty vegetable soup that gets it’s yellow color from sweating vegetables in copious amounts of butter. When the chef tasted my soup he noted the buttery flavor, possibly too much butter he said, but he’s French and butter runs through his aloof veins. He proclaimed the soup to be excellent a word us needy culinary students love to hear. My motto thus far has been that there can never be enough butter or salt and this motto has gotten me far. As my chef always says… taste your food for seasoning and then add more salt for the chef.
During our past exams we were timed when we made creme anglais, filleted fish, quartered chickens, sliced vegetables into fancy french knife cuts, and piped creme chantilly into rosettes. The midterm will be much more intense. For the first time we will be cooking full dishes in an alloted amount of time, with proctors watching over our every move and judges who will taste and grade our final product. We need to work clean, multi-task efficiently, keep pace, know our technique, and plate with precision. Am I nervous? I was… Actually I am, but I know I need to keep my cool. Keeping calm during an exam is key. If you lose your head you will make mistakes.
Tonight I’m going home to study my recipes and to practice a few techniques. Maybe I’ll saute some pork chops and bake some bass in parchment paper. By far this is the most fun I’ve ever had studying.
Image via: erix!, Minimalist Photography
by Elena on December 2, 2010
It has been a week and our refrigerator barely holds remnants of our massive Thanksgiving dinner. The chestnut sage stuffing and oven- roasted turkey were the first to go, not to mention the scalloped potato and fennel gratin that I hid in the back of the fridge that still managed to disappear in a few days time. The holidays this year were extra special for many reasons. I realize we are supposed to give thanks and of course family is important, and yes I do appreciate great food and great company BUT the most important factor of all, the one thing that made this holiday so much more meaningful… I had 4 whole days off! No school, no work, and a free weekend! That is something to give thanks about.
Needless to say there was a lot of eating, drinking, and general merriment. And while the leaves have fallen and the temperature continues to fall, I was in a very happy place. For most of the Fall season we had a large pumpkin sitting outside our house. It survived cabbage night, or mischief night, depending on what part of the US you live in, without getting smashed by some underage, bored, suburban kid looking for a break from his Playstation Wii. By Thanksgiving we had a beautiful plump pumpkin ready to be carved into.
Pumpkin is king this time of year, and in addition to my daily pumpkin spice k cup coffee at the office, I’ve been indulging in all sorts of pumpkin delights. After taking apart our pumpkin, and then cooking and pureeing it in the food processor, we had lots of pumpkin on our hands. It was time to make a big batch of pumpkin soup. It’s warm and spicy and with a touch of ginger and curry. I changed the Gourmet recipe to my liking adding some roasted red peppers for color and sweet flavor.
Pumpkin and Roasted Red Pepper Soup
Adapted from Gourmet
Ingredients
2 cups onions, finely chopped
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 tablespoons minced peeled fresh ginger
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 teaspoon curry powder
3/4 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes
3 1/2 cups of solid-pack pumpkin either fresh or canned
1 cup roasted red peppers
4 cups water
1 1/2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Cook onions in butter in a wide heavy pot over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, until softened about 5 minutes. Add garlic and ginger and cook, stirring for 1 minute. Add cumin, coriander, curry powder, and cardamom and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Stir in salt, red pepper flakes, pumpkin, red peppers, water, broth, and heavy cream and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, 30 minutes. Purée soup in batches in a blender until smooth. Be careful when you blend. Let the mixture cool a little before you put it in the food processor. Transfer to a large bowl, and return soup to pot. Keep soup warm over low heat. Stir until combined well and season soup with salt. Soup can be thinned with additional water.
*If you want to use fresh pumpkin you can bake or steam the pumpkin on the stove. In this case I steamed them with the skin on. I scooped out the inside of the pumpkin from the skin when it was soft and easier to take out.
by Elena on November 22, 2010
Despite countless neurotic attempts at avoiding a cold by consuming abnormal amounts of Vitamin C, I recently caught a cold. Under normal circumstances the idea of watching countless hours of movies and TV on the couch would bring a smile to my face, however the idea of missing class and work just made me anxious. I stayed on my couch nonetheless and dutifully took over the television remote. After a daily diet of chamomile tea, honey, and chicken broth I can say that I may be over my sickness, however the cough medicine may be getting to my head…
Last week, at the deli a couple blocks away from my office, I grabbed a bottle of fresh squeezed orange juice and marched right outside the store. I wanted to contribute to my daily dose of Vitamin C in order to fight off that cold. It wasn’t until I was halfway down the block that I realized that the infamous Winona Ryder and I may have a few things in common. I just shoplifted without even realizing, as if the deli counter was the back of my refrigerator and I was pouring myself a glass of OJ to accompany a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios. When I got to my senses I ran back down the street, and practically threw money on the counter out of embarrassment. I ran out again my head bowed in shame. There was too much running going on that early in the morning. I may just be loosing it.
Easy to make recipes that you can store in your freezer come in handy for these frazzled weeks. A sauce you can pull out of the fridge and prepare lunch in under 10 minutes. That’s right 10 minutes. Take that Rachel Ray and your 30 minute meals. All you need to do is boil some water, make pasta, and scoop on a couple spoonfuls of pesto. Pesto is the ultimate go to lunch or dinner for the busy kleptomaniac like myself. It’s easy and flavorful and frankly I never get tired of it. When you heat up your pesto in the microwave at work, you will be the envy of all others within sniffing distance.
I got this recipe from the website Cook’s Illustrated. You need a subscription to see the recipes, but I think it’s worth it. You can freeze pesto if you don’t plan on using it right away. If you aren’t going to freeze it, make sure to keep it stored in an airtight container or the pesto will turn brown.
Pesto
Adapted from Cooks Illustrated.
Ingredients
3 garlic cloves
1/4 pine nuts (blanched almonds or walnuts also work)
2 cups of packed basil leaves
2 tablespoons of parsley (optional)
7 tablespoons of olive oil (I prefer extra virgin)
1/4 grated Pecorino Romano or Parmesan cheese
Salt and ground black pepper to taste
If you can’t get a hold of fresh basil in your supermarket you can also substitute with arugula and mushrooms.
First you toast the pine nuts until they are brown and fragrant. Make sure to move the pan and not to get it too hot because the pine nuts can burn easily and quickly. Set the nuts aside. Now toast the garlic in the pan.
Put your basil and parsley in a ziplock bag and pound the bag with a meat pounder or roll with a rolling pin. This allows for the oils to escape and release flavor from the herbs. The leaves should be a little bruised when you are finished.
In a food processor add the nuts, garlic, basil, and oil. Stir in the Pecorino cheese and season with salt and pepper to taste.
by Elena on November 6, 2010
Since 10 am this morning I’ve been sitting outside with a massive glass of wine in one hand and with my dog Nico sitting by my side. Some may argue that it is inappropriate to drink alcohol this early in the morning, but I cooked eggs Benedict which I feel entitles me to a half price brunch cocktail, in this case a large glass of Spanish wine. The brisk air may contribute to a cold, but sitting out in nature makes me feel ever so transcendental, as if Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau were sitting here petting their dogs and contemplating humanity’s individual freedoms and intuition. I can romanticize all I want, but in reality I probably look more like a crazy dog lady sipping wine in the fall cold.
I have not written all that much about culinary school lately. Cooking over 15 hours a week in addition to a 40 hour work week and the daily commute into Manhattan can turn even a carefree foodie into a person living by their planner. I don’t have as much experience as some of the people in my class and for that reason I need to practice harder and read more materials. Amazon is very happy with my purchase history as of late, as I get new and expensive books shipped to my house every week after fits of nervous fury. Before our mock midterm a week ago, I butchered a side of pork in preparation for our pork chop dish. Excessive?… I don’t deny it.
There are many things that I’ve learned thus far in culinary school, beyond the recipes and how to truss a chicken. Professional cooking is more than just the food and the dish you create. Life in the kitchen is hot, fast paced, and physically demanding, where people holding sharp knives are enclosed in a small space. And this is only school, real life kitchens are even more intense, or so I hear. One of my friends told me that if someone talks to his meat guy during service in the 800 seat steak house where he works, you may just get a pan straight to your head. You need concentration, skill, and probably a bit of madness. I’m scared and somewhat masochistically excited.
At the risk of sounding like an Anthony Robbins book shoved deep into the self help aisle in the library, I dare to say that confidence is a major part of being successful in the kitchen. When you ask some of the better cooks how their dishes turned out at the end of class, they will almost always answer with a smug ‘excellent’ or ‘perfect.’ Initially I had the intense desire to crack a whole case of eggs over their heads, but then I realized perhaps modesty isn’t the smartest way to handle yourself. In a fast paced environment it isn’t wise to modestly let others trample all over you.
You have to have confidence in your abilities, even if your abilities haven’t yet reached your confidence level. More often than not you will be more successful if you keep your cool. Of course that doesn’t mean dragging your feet around the kitchen, but it means you shouldn’t be flailing around and dropping things as you move. The days I perform my best are when I am calm and focused and still able to keep a quick pace. I’m sure there are chefs out there who are able to serve clean and composed dishes while working crazily and sloppily behind the scenes, but I really believe these are the exceptions to the rule. So now before class I try to keep my cool, arrive prepared, and maybe drink a glass of wine beforehand to calm my nerves. More excuses for drinking early Saturday morning.
by Elena on October 26, 2010
It’s harvest time in the Northern Hemisphere of the wine world, and during the month of October wineries are busy picking, crushing, and fermenting grapes. They aren’t the only ones, just ask the strapping young lads in the photographs. You don’t need a fancy winery to make a good glass of wine. Wine aficionados can ferment their own grapes, even in the most unlikely of places, like a basement in urban New Jersey. This year I was unable to attend the crushing because I was busy cutting chickens and filleting fish in preparation for my second final at the French Culinary Institute. Lucky for me however, I had a photographer by the name of Cheena on hand to document the event. Soon enough this wine will be stored in our bodega in the cool corner of our basement.
When my grandfather came over to the United States from Galicia he didn’t stop making his own wine. He could no longer grow his own grapes, but he bought the grapes and made wine in his Newark, New Jersey home. The grapes were fermented and kept in oak barrels like he did back home. My family has kept up the tradition, but a few things have changed over the years. For one, they no longer use oak barrels, which are much harder to clean and manage.
Most memories of my grandfather involve him working, either making wine, harvesting grapes, blowing billows of smoke on the beehives before collecting honey, or working with the plow in the garden of his home . He worked almost exclusively with his hands, hands that are over-sized, a little contorted, and calloused from years of labor and long hours at the port as a longshoreman. When I was younger, his hands used to intimidate me, as well as his booming voice and conservative manner. You couldn’t stand up straight enough in his presence. Over the years I learned how to assuage this intimidating display of machismo, perfecting the technique with other haughty Spanish males. All you need is a big smile, a strong voice, and a pair of long, batting eyelashes.
It is inevitable that fruit ferments if you leave it out for too long, just like that half a bottle of apple cider that overstayed its welcome in the back of my fridge last week. When making wine the basic principles exist. You need to crush the grapes and release the sugar that helps in the fermentation. The skins of the grapes are what gives the wine its color and body, which is why you keep the skins when making red wine. For this process they mixed different types of grapes in order to give more complexity to the flavor of the wine. You should remove the stems because it can cause the wine to have a higher alcohol content and stronger flavor. I’m no expert of course, having missed many of the wine making myself, but I can say that I am quite the expert at drinking their wine. I have done so for quite some time, enjoying the fruits of their labor with many a meal.
In Spain making homemade wine is similar. Below are some pictures of our neighbor making his wine in his backyard bodega. He also ferments the grapes in these plastic containers and then he ages the wine in metal containers. He used to use oak barrels like the ones behind them.
My cousin’s husband told us a story that stuck with him when he visited Galicia for the first time. I may get a few details of the story mixed up, but the basic idea is that while exploring he was introduced to a man who washed his hands with wine instead of water. He poured wine over his hands and scrubbed as if wine were just as abundant and free flowing as running water, and in this town it might very well be.
by Elena on October 21, 2010
This post is part of the Taste of Spain series. This series contains information on Spanish flavors, ingredients, dishes, and culinary culture.
This man proudly dangling his octopus is a seller at the feria do pulpo, an early morning market dedicated to selling fresh octopus cooked in large metal barrels. He is a pulpeiro, a trade he adopted from his father who sold octopus in these towns before him. My grandmother introduced me to him and after the ritual catch up and a few ribs between friends who’ve known each other for quite some time, she told me she’s known him since he was a boy selling octopus with his father. He comes to the small town of Cartelle, home to only a few stores with few products on the shelf. On my last trip I noticed they had built an internet cafe, a very welcome addition to the Galician mountains, kilometers away from city limits.
In small towns all over Galicia families plan their meals according to what fresh food is available each week. Markets open certain days of the week and the fish guy rolls into town at certain hours of the day. Vendors set up small stations in the town square waiting for people to make their rounds.
Selling cooked seafood out in the open can be hard for some to grasp, much like eating seafood out of a can has boggled the mind of some friends. I continue to torture her with promises of canned mussels at dinner. This type of canning is very different than your cans of Chef Boyardee ravioli and SpaghettiO’s of course, using methods perfected by chefs since that stern looking Frenchman invented the process. Besides the occasional squid in a can, around Galicia the fish heads, the curling tentacles, and beady eyes are a comforting quality of freshness and good home cooking.
At the fair you can bring octopus home to your families or you can take some to the bar and eat pulpo a la Gallega with a glass of Estrella Galicia. This is a signature dish, often preceding meals and listed on Spanish menus all over Spain. It is dressed simply with extra virgin olive oil, some paprika, and coarse salt and is sometimes served with a boiled potato or pieces of bread.
Octopus a La Gallega
Ingredients
1 medium octopus (about 2 pounds)
8 cups of water (2 liters)
Bay leaf
Garlic cloves
Olive oil for drizzling
Paprika (hot or sweet)
Coarse sea salt
Wash the octopus well. Put the octopus in a large pot and cover it with water. The measurements don’t have to be exact. They will vary depending on the size of the octopus but it must be submerged. Do not salt the water. Salted water will prevent the collagen in the octopus from breaking down. You can however toss in a few bay leaves or even some crushed garlic cloves for flavor. Bring the water to a rolling boil and let it boil for about 45 minutes or until the legs are soft.
Again the time here may vary. Don’t depend on time, but rather check the consistency and feel of the octopus as it cooks. It should not be rubbery. You can stick a toothpick into one of the tentacles to check the texture. When finished the flesh should be soft but not too soft. It shouldn’t be tough or chewy. Think al dente.
When the octopus is finished you can take a knife or kitchen scissors and cut the tentacles into sections. Traditionally the octopus is served on wooden dishes but any plate is fine. Plate the octopus and sprinkle with olive oil, coarse sea salt, and paprika.
by Elena on October 15, 2010
The I 87 is the road that leads through the New York Hudson Valley and Adirondacks up to the border of Canada. I used to spend hours driving to Montreal along the long stretches of towering oaks and maples, driving in and out of telephone service past the Adirondacks until my car radio finally started to pick up French radio stations, the first sign that you are close to Canada.
Wineries and markets scatter the valley, and in the Fall there are plenty of apple farms. This season I’ve had a slight obsession with apple picking. Maybe it’s my homemaker sensibilities finally kicking in, or perhaps the strong desire to be around food and drink as much as possible, but each weekend I have dragged a few lucky souls to frolic with me through the apple fields. This time it was these guys.
Doesn’t this picture look like an obscure Indie band album cover? It isn’t particularly hardcore, considering the apple picking background and sprawling hills, but I can imagine the band name. Anything preceded by the word “The.” The Apples? But once again I digress…
This apple tree has seen better days, but I thought it looked artistic, even a bit hopeful as it clung on to its final apples in contrast to the blue sky. The other trees were bursting with red and golden delicious, which I believe are more prevalent this late in the season. We did our best to scavenge the Empire, Macoun, and Macintosh trees that still had some apples holding on. Macouns seem to hold on longer and this weekend, when I drag a few other people to another farm or farmers market, I plan to buy even more. Apple pie anyone?
This guy greeted us upon arrival and gave us fair warning as to what we can expect before we leave.
All areas of your vehicle are subject to inspection for apples.
And they mean it too. They made us pop the trunk so they could inspect our belongings and make sure we didn’t hide an extra bag or two of apples somewhere. You didn’t hear it from me, but they did not check our glove compartment or our purses, in case you are keen on beating the apple system. We didn’t sneak any apples, but we did fill our bags until the point of bursting, as well as eat enough apples during the trip to make any normal person sick.
The smell of freshly picked apples is incredible. Stick your face in it.
Apple cider doughnuts are one of the main reasons to go apple picking. I completely understand the sentiment when my friend’s mom said to forget the apples just bring her the doughnuts. Accompanied with apple cider there isn’t anything better.
by Elena on October 13, 2010
One of the many perks of culinary school, besides sneaking food home in your knife bag, is when you get to meet talented culinary professionals. These guys make you want to perform your best and practice until it becomes second nature. FCI offers many demonstrations and events that allow students to meet chefs they respect and admire. There is one man in particular that I was hoping would come to the school but I never actually thought he actually would, until this week.
Ferran Adria is a man that culinary professionals have a lot to say about. Some people love him, others hate him, others don’t understand his work, but everyone in the culinary world has something to say about him. His techniques and his restaurant El Bulli contributed to the acclaim and recognition of Spanish Cuisine in recent years. In my humble and completely biased opinion, I think Spanish cuisine deserves a platform in culinary tradition. While Spanish cuisine has always been relevant throughout the years, Ferran and some other chefs from this part of the world made people look towards Spain for inspiration. If you get past the hype, he is a chef, an innovator, who truly changed food: it’s texture, the way we taste it, look at it, and experience it.
Last night I got to meet Ferran. I was excited and skipping around like a schoolgirl with a crush on her teacher. I had many schemes planned on how I would charm Ferran with my clever wit and passion for food. As most haphazardly orchestrated plans go, it failed and instead I stood there nervously, stumbling over my words, barely piecing together how much I respect his work.
At least I fought back all urges to beg and plead for a stage at El Bulli before it closes. I didn’t trip, fall, or drop anything so it could have been worse. My fate however had other plans for me. On my way out of the French Culinary library, my knife case successfully pushed down on the chain of light switches that controlled the lights on the whole floor. I left the room leaving Ferran Adria in the dark and turning off most of the lights on the 3rd floor. Looks like my chances of getting a stage at El Bulli went from slim to you can pretty much forget about it.
by Elena on October 10, 2010
I woke up early this morning after spending the first half of the night singing Bohemian Rhapsody with some friends at a bar in Newark NJ where the bartender made the unfortunate decision to play one of the most sing along friendly songs ever made. Blame Wayne’s World. The latter part of the evening I spent tearing apart my collection of cook books for some inspiration for our menu project for school. Finally we get to have some input on the dishes we make, and of course that means the countless options are racking at my brain.
For now I will bask in my day off and take part in a few autumn friendly activities which include running around in my fall attire and new leather jacket that still has that wonderful new leather smell. I’d like to bottle up that smell and keep it in my pocket along with the smell of fresh apple cider and apple cider donuts and the smell of the brisk breeze of the Hudson Valley. Too picky? I’m sure someone has that obscure perfume somewhere. Apple picking is on the agenda, and maybe some pumpkin picking as well. Frankly I’m so tired of the daily city commute that I would like nothing more than to stand à la Captain Morgan, chewing on a strand of wheat like a Jersey farmer girl overseeing her crops. Picking someone else’s crops will do for now.
Bottling produce is another activity that comes along with the changing of the leaves. All the extra produce we find in our garden will soon go to waste, or die in the colder weather, if we don’t cook them and preserve for later. This is exactly why we bottled a whole bunch of sweet red peppers. They also come in handy in Spanish cooking where we use any excuse to pile on a roasted pepper de morron.
Roasted Sweet Red Peppers
Ingredients
6 Red Bell Peppers (number of your choice)
You can roast red peppers a number of ways. The way I chose to roast them this time is on top of the stove, crackling the skin on the flame of the burner. This requires a pair of tongs that allows you to turn the peppers around so all sides get charred. Let the peppers cool and them remove their skins.
You also can use your oven’s broiler. First let the broiler heat for 5 minutes before you put in your peppers. Make sure your rack isn’t too close to the open fire, about 3 inches away from the flame. Now add the peppers on a sheet pan and let them broil for about 5-7 minutes or until their skin gets crackled about brown. Once the peppers are finished remove them from the oven and let them cool. Remove their skins.
After you remove the skin, the seeds, and veins from the inside of the pepper you can rinse them with some water to get rid of some of char. Use a colander to save some of the pepper liquid because you will need liquid when you bottle them.
by Elena on October 5, 2010
My father and I spent the better part of an evening scaling some fresh caught Atlantic porgie over the sink. Admittedly this isn’t my normal Monday night routine, which usually consists of watching How I Met Your Mother with my puppy Nico curled up on my lap, however this Monday preparing a meal with my dad was much more appealing. The small comforts of home were relaxing at a time when I’ve been feeling lost and unhappy. Last month I lost a good friend of mine and I spent the past couple of weeks in shock and confused. I found it difficult to sit down and write, putting any sort of words together, so instead I surrounded myself with family and friends, peeling potatoes, baking pies, and grilling steaks. Coming together at the dining room table felt normal and normalcy was all I needed.
So when my father came home with a bag full of fresh fish I got to work. Scaling fish with him made me feel like I might be waking up before dawn to get on a rickety boat with my fishing net rather than waking up to face the early morning commute. The fish were fresh, so fresh in fact they did not smell fishy at all. The scales were thick and hard to peel off without the help of a fish scaler. My overeager motions caused a few nicks on my knuckles when the scraper slipped off the slimy flesh and into my hands. They made me feel authentic, like I’ve been doing this for years. The scales get everywhere, even if you swear they are only hitting the sink, somehow you end up slipping on the kitchen floor.
Since the scaling took some work we decided to make an easy recipe, essentially baking the fish on a bed of potatoes, red peppers, onions and tomatoes. It is easy and tasty and should take under an hour to cook and prepare if you have already cleaned your fish and have honed your knife skills. Once the fish is baking you can pour yourself a glass of wine that you didn’t use in the recipe and curl up on the couch, which is exactly what I did, jumping into the place that Nico kept warm for me.
Steam Baked Porgy Over Oven Roasted Potatoes, Red Peppers, Onions, and Thyme
Ingredients
Porgy fillets
Garlic and parsley, crushed
6 medium starch potatoes
3 ripe tomatoes, sliced thin
1 red pepper, sliced thin
Couple sprigs of thyme
Olive oil
1/2 cup white wine
Salt & pepper
Clean your fish by scaling the outside, gutting the interior and cutting off the fins. Rinse the fish cavity to get rid of blood and other impurities. Once your fish are nice and clean you can season them and cover with crushed garlic and parsley. Make small cuts vertically along the body of the fish which will help them cook later on. Cover and refrigerate.
Peel and thinly slice your potatoes which you can reserve in water to prevent browning. Next slice your tomatoes, onions, and red peppers, seasoning them lightly with salt and pepper. Sprinkle some olive oil on the bottom of a shallow pan. Drain the water from your potatoes and place the potatoes and onions at the bottom of your pan and mix in with the olive oil. On top of your potatoes and onions, you can arrange your red peppers and tomatoes. Drizzle more olive oil and season to taste.
Put the pan in the oven sans the fish and let everything cook for about 15-20 minutes or until the potatoes are almost finished cooking (they should be soft and browned) and the tomatoes and red pepper will begin to break down. When the potatoes are cooked you can place your fish pieces on top. Pour the white wine over the fish and then cover with foil and place back in the oven. The fish will cook quickly, depending on their size. Leave them in for 8-10 minutes and then check the flesh to see if it is separating from the bones. When the flesh has turned white and is soft but separating
by Elena on September 15, 2010
This post is part of the Taste of Spain series. This series contains information on Spanish flavors, ingredients, dishes, and culinary culture.
Padron peppers are fickle. They aren’t a sweet pepper or a hot pepper, but rather a confused capsicum, wavering back and forth between the extremes. Just when you think it’s ok to finish off the whole plate of salty, charred padrones, you get an angry guy amongst the others, waiting for that unsuspecting person to take a bite.
These peppers are worth the 1 time out of 10 you may singe your tongue. Honestly the hot ones never really do much damage, although my dad likes to tell the story about a Mexican line cook who boastfully claimed that these small peppers couldn’t be as hot as they say. After biting into a real big one, he spit it out and started to cry. Ok maybe my dad embellished a little.
If you are worried about getting a hot one, there are some tips on how to avoid them. I have tasted many throughout the years and can say that for the most part these ‘rules’ are true. The larger peppers tend to be hotter than the smaller ones that haven’t had the time to develop as much capsaicin, the chemical responsible for the heat in peppers. Younger, smaller peppers are almost never hot. Another clue is thick and waxy skin which usually forms around the bigger peppers. Don’t eat the ones with thick skin. If you grow your own Padron peppers, always pick them when they are small. Some say the peppers grown later in the season tend to be hotter. Padron peppers are harvested from June to early September.
Padron peppers are from Galicia and named after the municipality of Padron not far from the Atlantic coast near the city La Coruña. The seeds of these peppers were brought to Galicia from Mexico by Spanish monks in the 16th century. The peppers adapted to the Galician climate, wet and cool compared to the rest of Spain. The Fiesta de Padron (Padro Festival) occurs in Padron and Herbon, neighboring towns, where people celebrate and eat the latest crop of Padon peppers and drink wine. All year long there are various feasts and festivals, lots of which revolve around food.
These peppers are one of my favorite foods, and while I may say that often (I really love food) this time I really mean it. My last meal would no doubt have Padron peppers fried topped with olive oil and coarse salt. They remind me of summers in Galicia, feasts and getting home late as the sun comes up and our parents were waking up for breakfast. They remind me of my grandmother tattered, gardening hat she wore as she filled baskets to the brim with greens from her massive vegetable garden. She always had a plate of fried peppers on the table at mealtime, much to my delight. I have to say I’m a little sad as the season comes to an end. I think I’ll fry some tonight.
Pimientos De Padron
Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
Padron peppers
Virgin olive oil, to drizzle
Coarse sea salt
Heat some olive oil in a pan. Fry the peppers until they start to wilt a little and get some color. Take the peppers out of the hot oil and place them on a plate. You can drizzle with virgin olive oil and coarse sea salt.
