Lesson Learned: Trusting Your Purveyor

One of the first lessons in any restaurant management class is to Trust Your Purveyor. I can't stress the importance of this. Even as a seasoned cook, I relearned the lesson recently.

As with any dish, the quality of the ingredients will become the deciding factor of a good or bad dish. Even more than the skill of the chef.

I've been craving one of my favorite tried and true dishes lately - Ahi Poke. It's a simple Hawaiian dish of marinated raw tuna in a mixture of soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, scallions and spices. Not a complicated dish or difficult to make. What makes this dish delicious is the quality of the tuna.

I've had a tough time finding a good purveyor of sashimi grade tuna. Every so often Whole Foods gets in a shipment, flash frozen. While buying it frozen is not my favorite thing to do, I've had good luck at other Whole Foods stores in other cities. This weekend, I was in luck! Even at $24 per pound, I was so excited just to have found it that I trusted the fishmonger and let him wrap it up without inspecting the fish myself.

As I cut it into cubes for the Ahi Poke, I noticed the color of the fish was paler than normal. It wasn't too stringy or fatty so I thought it was maybe just a different type of tuna than I'm used to. Another mistake I made at the store - I didn't ask what exactly the fish was or where it came from.

Finally, the dish was ready to eat. My other half takes a bite and I wait for the reaction. There was none. Huh?? he should be saying "Yum! This is good!" I ask if there's anything wrong with it. he said, "No. It's fine." FINE??? Ahi Poke is FINE?

I take a bite and see what he's talking about. While not spoiled and without a bad stench, the tuna is just "eh." Somehow, this $24 per pound tuna has NO flavor! It was so disappointing, neither of us had seconds and I actually threw away the leftovers. Something that would normally evoke reactions of rage or tears.

*Sigh* Lesson Learned.

Below is my beloved recipe for Ahi Poke.

2lb Sashimi grade tuna, cut into 1/4" - 1/2" dice
1 cup Soy Sauce (low sodium is preferable)
3/4 c. chopped green onion, white and light green parts only
2 Tbs. Toasted Sesame Oil*
1 tsp. Toasted sesame seeds
1 Tbs Crushed Red Pepper
2 tsp Wasabi powder (or to taste)

Combine all ingredients and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, stir again and serve.

* Toasted Sesame Oil is different from regular Sesame Oil and the flavor of the Toasted oil is much richer and tastier in this dish.

Serving suggestions:
Sushi Rice - let cool slightly before serving with tuna.
Sesame crisps - made by brushing a VERY light coating of Toasted Sesame Oil on store-bought, packaged Wonton wrappers, toasting in a 350 degree oven for approximately 5 minutes until golden. Take care not to let them burn.
Edamame Puree - shelled edamame, cooked for 5 minutes, pureed in a blender with lemon juice, a Tablespoon of vegetable oil, a pinch of salt, a teaspoon (or to taste) of Wasabi powder and a few Tablespoons of water, until the mixture is a paste texture.
Extra prepared Wasabi and/or Crushed Red Pepper

Dream Recipe - Shrimp Pesto Pasta

I was cooking in my sleep again.

This time it was a cold or room temperature pasta dish with Orchiette (the little ear-shaped pasta), shrimp, pesto, cherry tomatoes cut in half, toasted pine nuts and some sort of cheese shaved on top.

I don't remember what the cheese was, but since it was shaved (there were wide, thick ribbons as if made by a cheese slicer or vegetable peeler, not grated or shredded) I'm guessing it was a Parmesan or Asiago.

I think I'll have to make this soon.

Let me know if you make it first!

Autumn Lamb Dinner

One of my favorite autumn comfort food dinners.

Rack of lamb, Roasted brussel sprouts, mashed golden potatoes

Mashed Golden Potatoes:
* 4 medium sized Golden potatoes, cut into 2" pieces, skin on.
* Place in heavy pot, cover with water.
* Bring to a boil - cook for 15-20 minutes or until a knife pierces through the potato with no resistance.

Rack of Lamb:
* 1 rack of lamb, frenched
* Spread prepared Dijon mustard over the fat side of the rack.
* Press seasoned Panko breadcrumbs into the mustard.
* Place rack on a parchment lined sheet pan, in a pre-heated 450 degree oven.
* cook 20 minutes for rare, 25 minutes for medium rare. Remove from oven, tent with foil and let rest for 10-15 minutes. Cut into chops.

Roasted Brussel Sprouts:
* Trim ends of the sprouts and cut into 1/2 or 1/4, depending on how large the sprouts, keeping the end result uniform size.
* Toss with olive oil and generously sprinkle kosher salt.
* Place on parchment lined sheet pan.
* Place in the oven with the rack of lamb, but check after 5 minutes. Shouldn't take more than 8 - remove when browned but take care not to burn.

Don't be intimidated that these aren't exact recipes. This is a menu you can impress your friends with but isn't difficult at all. In fact, this entire meal can be made in well under an hour, even for the slow choppers!

You can buy a Frenched rack of lamb in grocery stores, Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, Costco or better yet, a butcher.

Enjoy!

Autumn in Vermont

It was a picturesque day, hiking in the mountains in Vermont on the peak foliage weekend in October. The air was a crisp 48 degrees with just enough of a wind to remind you that winter is coming.

Later that day, with a fire roaring in the fireplace, a table is set for 10 friends, old and new, lit by candlelight.

A huge platter of Prime Rib is placed on the table, surrounding a mound of mixed baby potatoes - red, yellow and purple. Next to the platter was a salad of mixed greens, onions and late season gold and red tomatoes straight from the garden, dressed just right.

The house is filled with a glorious smell of wood smoke - partially from the fireplace but also from the dinner placed before us.

For the last few hours, an emornmous Prime Rib of Beef along with the potatoes have been slowly cooking on the charcoal grill with a handful of Hickory wood chips.

The meat, juicy and delicious, cooked to a perfect medium rare, the potatoes, the flowing red wine, the friends and the scenery. Most definitely a memorable meal.

It's what food is all about.

"It is a true saying that a man must eat a peck of salt with his friend before he knows him."
Miguel de Cervantes, 'Don Quixote'

Expiration Date on Candy

Anyone who has spent any time with me knows I'm somewhat of a stickler about food safety. This includes how long eggs belong in a fridge, if a sandwich with mayo can be eaten at lunch if it was packed at 7am and if that mystery meat in your freezer for the last 6 months is still good.

One gray area is candy. How long can commercial made candy stick around before it's considered bad. There are so many preservatives in there that you have to wonder if it ever really goes bad.

Well, today, a bag of candy was discovered from a party over 3 years ago. A little experiment showed that the Dark, White and Milk Chocolate Kit-Kat bars were fine (did you know they made white and dark chocolate Kit-Kat bars??) as were the Sweet-Tarts. The only thing that appeared not to have survived were the Tootsie Rolls. As our test subject unwrapped the roll, it began crumbling in her fingers. Taking a tentative bite, she quickly spit it out, mumbling something about a "corn-syrup glob."

So the next time your kids want to eat all of their Halloween candy right away, you might want to consider letting them.