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Food musings
Dec. 16th, 2007 10:18 pmSo, no pics tonight because it was a bit of Sunday chaos with kids and family running in and out (not to mention me finishing up a two-week project of laying about 1500 square-foot of laminate floor in my MIL's house). The camera setup didn't come together, but I'll probably remake this dinner because it was pretty tasty.
Fresh red grouper, shrimp, cajun-cream sauce, and shrimp-stock insta-risotto.
I'm not much of a recipe person as I am technique, and that's kinda the purpose of this LJ entry, to basically document the techniques I used tonight to remind myself what I did. So here it goes:
For the sauce -- minced shallots (a couple small, or one large) sweated in a film of olive oil, a couple cloves of garlic tossed in with the pan off the heat (overcooking garlic makes it bitter -- resist). 30 seconds of stirring ... just when the garlic smell really hits your nose it's done, then put the saucepan on the heat again and add about a 1/4 cup white-wine to deglaze a bit, cajun seasoning (I make Emeril's Essence from foodtv.com, but I only use half the salt. His Essence is a finishing seasoning, but I like to use it while cooking, so half the salt makes it work in, say, reduction sauces, without throwing your sodium through the roof). I added about a cup of shrimp stock I had sitting in the freezer for a recipe such as this. Throw in about a half-cup of heavy cream (just happened to have -- I'm making bisque soon so had it on hand) and let it simmer gently to reduce.
Roux: Even reduced, the sauce needs to be a little thicker than the old back-of-the-spoon test. So, in a small pot, I heat up a tablespoon of butter to sizzling, then throw in a tablespoon of flour, stir together, but take off the heat before it colors. We're not making gumbo or creole, so this roux is almost platinum blond.
Insta-risotto: Risotto is a labor-intensive process involving a vat of stock, a lot of vigorous stirring, and chemical starch breakdown that would get Alton Brown almost sexually excited. I generally don't have time for that, unless I'm doing a dinner party or something. So, I start with Italian risotto rice (Arborio, or any any thick, short rice like sushi rice. If it's $0.50/lb, it's not the stuff you want). Start with butter simmering in a pot, add the rice and stir around until the outside of the rice is translucent while the center is still white-opaque, then add the liquid. Personally, I like 1/3rd cup rice per person, with double-and-a-bit-more for liquid. Tonight it was Christey, my Mother-in-law, and me, so it was a cup of rice, plus 1 & 2/3rds cup shrimp stock, plus 2/3rds cup white wine. Once the rice and butter was ready, I tossed in the stock/wine, a hefty pinch of kosher salt, turned the heat to low/simmer, and put a lid on it for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, I took it off the heat, tossed in a pat of butter, then stirred the hell out of it with a wooden spoon, and it's close enough to real risotto that it's worth the time saving to cheat. The thing is, risotto (insta- or real) won't sit long, so you kinda have to plan your entire meal around the risotto. Fortunately, rice is an almost mathematically precise dish, so you can trust the science.
Grouper: Before the rice even starts, preheat oven to 400, because it might take a while. I rinsed and dried the fillets to remove any scales/guts/etc that fish tends to acquire, then dusted all sides with the aforementioned reduced-salt Essence. I heated a pan with olive-oil to almost smoking, then throw the fillets in. Sizzle to a nice golden, then flip the fillets and toss the whole thing, pan and all, into the 400-degree oven. I learned this from the manager and chef of my favorite hangout in Atlanta. About 10 minutes per inch of fish and it's perfect.
Shrimp: Once peeled and deveined, I patted dry with paper-towels, and dusted with the ubiquitous Essence. Heat up a small pan with olive oil, then flash-sear the shrimp on both sides. Maybe 30-60 seconds on each side.
Come together: Timing is always the key. Overcook anything -- fish, shrimp, rice -- and ick. So, 20 minutes for the rice, 10 minutes for the grouper, 1-2 minutes for the shrimp, it gets interesting, but doable if everything is planned out. Prep everything, start the sauce, then the rice, then mix a drink, sear the grouper, toss it in the oven, sip the drink, sear the shrimp right before the fish and rice are done.
The sauce should be reduced about 2/3rds, so I stir in just enough of the roux so that it has a thickness sorta like sweet-and-sour. I throw in the shrimp to just finish cooking the center. Take out the fish and let it rest for a couple minutes to finish cooking on the inside. After whisking the hell out of the risotto with butter to do that last-minute starch-breaking, I plate that in a shallow soup-bowl-dish, toss the fish on that, spoon out the shrimp evenly for each serving, then spoon the sauce over it all -- fish and shrimp and rice. Garnish the top with chives or scallions, then sprinkle some Essence around the outside rim of the plate and there it is.
Fresh red grouper, shrimp, cajun-cream sauce, and shrimp-stock insta-risotto.
I'm not much of a recipe person as I am technique, and that's kinda the purpose of this LJ entry, to basically document the techniques I used tonight to remind myself what I did. So here it goes:
For the sauce -- minced shallots (a couple small, or one large) sweated in a film of olive oil, a couple cloves of garlic tossed in with the pan off the heat (overcooking garlic makes it bitter -- resist). 30 seconds of stirring ... just when the garlic smell really hits your nose it's done, then put the saucepan on the heat again and add about a 1/4 cup white-wine to deglaze a bit, cajun seasoning (I make Emeril's Essence from foodtv.com, but I only use half the salt. His Essence is a finishing seasoning, but I like to use it while cooking, so half the salt makes it work in, say, reduction sauces, without throwing your sodium through the roof). I added about a cup of shrimp stock I had sitting in the freezer for a recipe such as this. Throw in about a half-cup of heavy cream (just happened to have -- I'm making bisque soon so had it on hand) and let it simmer gently to reduce.
Roux: Even reduced, the sauce needs to be a little thicker than the old back-of-the-spoon test. So, in a small pot, I heat up a tablespoon of butter to sizzling, then throw in a tablespoon of flour, stir together, but take off the heat before it colors. We're not making gumbo or creole, so this roux is almost platinum blond.
Insta-risotto: Risotto is a labor-intensive process involving a vat of stock, a lot of vigorous stirring, and chemical starch breakdown that would get Alton Brown almost sexually excited. I generally don't have time for that, unless I'm doing a dinner party or something. So, I start with Italian risotto rice (Arborio, or any any thick, short rice like sushi rice. If it's $0.50/lb, it's not the stuff you want). Start with butter simmering in a pot, add the rice and stir around until the outside of the rice is translucent while the center is still white-opaque, then add the liquid. Personally, I like 1/3rd cup rice per person, with double-and-a-bit-more for liquid. Tonight it was Christey, my Mother-in-law, and me, so it was a cup of rice, plus 1 & 2/3rds cup shrimp stock, plus 2/3rds cup white wine. Once the rice and butter was ready, I tossed in the stock/wine, a hefty pinch of kosher salt, turned the heat to low/simmer, and put a lid on it for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, I took it off the heat, tossed in a pat of butter, then stirred the hell out of it with a wooden spoon, and it's close enough to real risotto that it's worth the time saving to cheat. The thing is, risotto (insta- or real) won't sit long, so you kinda have to plan your entire meal around the risotto. Fortunately, rice is an almost mathematically precise dish, so you can trust the science.
Grouper: Before the rice even starts, preheat oven to 400, because it might take a while. I rinsed and dried the fillets to remove any scales/guts/etc that fish tends to acquire, then dusted all sides with the aforementioned reduced-salt Essence. I heated a pan with olive-oil to almost smoking, then throw the fillets in. Sizzle to a nice golden, then flip the fillets and toss the whole thing, pan and all, into the 400-degree oven. I learned this from the manager and chef of my favorite hangout in Atlanta. About 10 minutes per inch of fish and it's perfect.
Shrimp: Once peeled and deveined, I patted dry with paper-towels, and dusted with the ubiquitous Essence. Heat up a small pan with olive oil, then flash-sear the shrimp on both sides. Maybe 30-60 seconds on each side.
Come together: Timing is always the key. Overcook anything -- fish, shrimp, rice -- and ick. So, 20 minutes for the rice, 10 minutes for the grouper, 1-2 minutes for the shrimp, it gets interesting, but doable if everything is planned out. Prep everything, start the sauce, then the rice, then mix a drink, sear the grouper, toss it in the oven, sip the drink, sear the shrimp right before the fish and rice are done.
The sauce should be reduced about 2/3rds, so I stir in just enough of the roux so that it has a thickness sorta like sweet-and-sour. I throw in the shrimp to just finish cooking the center. Take out the fish and let it rest for a couple minutes to finish cooking on the inside. After whisking the hell out of the risotto with butter to do that last-minute starch-breaking, I plate that in a shallow soup-bowl-dish, toss the fish on that, spoon out the shrimp evenly for each serving, then spoon the sauce over it all -- fish and shrimp and rice. Garnish the top with chives or scallions, then sprinkle some Essence around the outside rim of the plate and there it is.
