Hungry Frenchman

Dinner for the Greeks

We have a contingent of Greek friends & family at home this week. Yesterday night, I cooked them a nice meal that I thought I should share with you all.

Menu:
Seared tuna with coriander seeds salad
Dungeness crab and avocado mousse
New York steak with baked red beets
Mount Tam cheese & bread

I've already posted the recipe for the dungeness crab dish. The tuna dish is an old favorite of mine, inspired by a dish I had at Nobu. It's very easy to make, and always make a very good impression. The secret is obviously the tuna, that has to be very fresh and sushi grade. For 4 people, I usually get a tuna steak of 1 pound. In a pestle and mortar, crush a handful of coriander seeds. Sprinkle the tuna with salt, pepper and the coriander seeds. In a very, very hot pan, sear on each side for 30-40 seconds. With a long knife, cut thin slices of tuna and reserve in the fridge, covered.

Dice (very small dices) half a sweet onion and add to a bowl. Add two tablespoons of soya sauce, two table spoons of rice vinegar, a pinch of brown sugar, salt, pepper. Mix well. Then add 3 tablespoons of sesame oil, and 3 tablespoons of canola oil (or grapeseed oil).

Get the tuna out of the fridge, distribute the slices among 4 plates, laying down some of them, rolling others. Add some greens in the middle (could be anything). With a spoon, cover the tuna slices with some of the dressing.

For the steak, it's dead easy and very yummy. First of all, cut the meat so you have 4 equal pieces. If you have a very big meal, 1 steak should be enough, especially as the meat usually comes at the end of the meal. If you want the dish to be more filling, 2 steaks for 4 people will do the work. On each side of the pieces, sprinkle lot of salt, pepper and fresh thyme. Let rest for at room temperature (i don't hesitate to have it there for up to 45 minutes). During that time, pre-heat the oven to 375F. Cut the top and the bottom of the beets. For each beet, cut a piece of kitchen foil big enough so it will wrap it up completely. Place each beet on its piece of kitchen foil. Salt, pepper, and thyme. Add a tiny bit of olive oil and then wrap in the kitchen foil. Place in the oven for 40-45 minutes.

When the beets are cooked, turn off the oven and let them in to keep them warm. In a very hot pan, cook the steak, turning regularly. I like mine medium rare (even more on the rare side) so as soon as it hits 120F, I stop. When the meat is cooked, place on a plate and let it rest, while you finish preparing the beets. Remove them from the kitchen foil and peel them with a knife. Place each beet on a plate, and cut them in quarters. Add the meat in the middle of the place, with a tiny bit of butter on top of it. Done!

Paella: i'm giving up

It's been the second time I've tried to cook paella, and for the second time, it didn't turn out to be as good as I had hoped. We had great ingredients, fresh, and all. We even had some amazing fish stock, very well prepared by @fvarela_98. And despite all this, it just wasn't that great. It was good, but nothing from out of this world.

So yes, I could persist, and continue to cook it until I find the right balance, and the solutions. But would Paella be this thing that I should leave alone. There are always secrets that one shouldn't try to unveil. Maybe this is one of them for me? What if this is one of those recipes that I shouldn't touch?

At the end of the day, life is better if, when you go out, you can pick dishes that you know you don't cook at home. It gives a whole new purpose to going out. So I'll take this as a sign and won't try to make a Paella again. Instead, I'll focus on two things:

1- Find a great spanish restaurant in San Francisco. I really miss Spanish food, and I still have to eat in a great Spanish place here. Do you know any? If yes, please comment on this post!

2- Try to book a trip to Spain in the next 2 years. 

Live scallops a la @jsolans

Live scallops are so good. When you can get your hands on them, don't even think, just buy them. I haven't asked for his permission yet, but I know @jsolans would be happy to share some (not all!) of his cooking secrets. I've had the chance to watch him cook this live scallops dish a while ago, and last Saturday, I decided to give a try myself.

This dish was part of a 5 courses meal, so I've only had 1 scallop per person (5 people total). It's very straight forward, and yet very tasty. It plays with the combination of hot and cold (that one is for you Katy Perry!), which makes you mind go absolutely nuts...

First, peel and dice 2-3 tomatoes. Let them marinate in balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, and olive oil. You can get creative here and add your own personal touch: garlic, chives, parsley, spices etc... anything you like could bring something new to this recipe. Set aside for 1-2 hours.

Prepare the scallops and keep 1 shell per guest. Preparing scallops may sound like a big deal, but it's actually very easy. A couple of secrets: don't soak the scallops in water. They'll be so much less tasty. I actually even think that some stores soak them in water to make them bigger before they sell them! Hold the scallop with the flat side up. With a knife, go along the shell and cut the scallop away. Open the shell and remove the scallop completely. You may need to use the knife, just be careful not to damage the scallop. The only part you want to keep is the white body, and for some, the coral. All the rest has to go! Don't hesitate to use your hands, but again, be very careful not to destroy it! Rinse under water and pat dry. Sprinkle some salt and pepper, and let rest.

Dice 2 shallots. In a pan, melt some butter and sweat the shallots. In the same time, under high heat, melt some butter in another pan, then reduce the heat to medium high. Cook the scallops, 45 seconds on each side. You could cook them a bit longer, depending on the size, but don't over cook them.

To serve, put some of the shallots in a shell, with some tomatoes, and add the scallops on top.

Enjoy! And thanks @jsolans!

Dungeness crab with avocado

This is a very simple recipe that works great. The combination of dungeness crab and avocado is always a winner.

First of all, buy your crab alive and cook it yourself. That makes a huge difference! I've already written a post detailing how to do that. And no, it's not that cruel. Nothing more cruel that what happens to all those chickens that you eat all the time!

Once your crab is cooked, let it rest on ice so it gets cold (it can rest for a good hour or so). Then prepare it. In other words, take all the meat away and reserve it in a bowl. This is actually quite a lengthy process, but again, very worth it.

Let's prepare a sort of guacamole. Dice 1 yellow onions very finely. Press 3-4 gloves of garlic in a garlic press and mix with the onions. Finely chop a good hand of cilantro and add to the mixture. Prepare 3 avocados (ie take the meat out) and with a fork, mix with the rest. Add some salt (i like salt!), some white pepper. You can also add some chilies if you want to make it a tiny bit spicy. Then add the juice of 2 limes. Mix well. Taste. Then adjust to taste: more salt, more pepper, more garlic, more lime juice, whatever you think it needs.

To serve, display the avocado mousse in a middle of a plate, and lay the crab on top of it. Feel free to add anything on the side to make the plate look beautiful!
Enjoy!

Swordfish recipe, so easy!

I love swordfish. The fish obviously, and the movie! I love it because it's so easy to cook and yet so delicious. If you're in a hurry one evening, and want to create a funky recipe, that presents very well on a plate, and taste delicious, try this one:

Prepare a salsa. Usually, I dice cucumbers and peeled tomatoes, chopped some spring onions and cilantro, mix all this with a tiny bit of jalapeno pepper and garlic. I sprinkle the mixture with some olive oil and lemon juice (or lime juice). You can actually also buy it all ready, but it tastes so much better when you do it yourself!

Rub the swordfish with salt and pepper (lot of salt actually!). On high heat, grill each side for 2-3 minutes, until it gets brown. Then reduce the heat to medium, and continue to cook until the fish is cooked in the inside, but not dry. There must still be some juices coming out of it! Times vary based on the size of the fish, but it could take another 10-15 minutes.

To serve, put some salsa in the middle of the plate, and add the fish on top of it.

Enjoy!

Seafood plateau at anchor and hope

Having a great seafood platter at anchor and hope in SF for our first anniversary!

Poached Halibut with vegetables

I love halibut - and even more so, poached halibut. Every time I've been in a restaurant with halibut on the menu, i would choose that dish. Just to get inspired.

On Saturday night, I've decided to try a recipe that combined some of the best things I've had. And some crazy little inventions. I have to say, it turned out great. I thought I would share it with all of you so you can take it, and improve it your way.

Ready? Let's go!

Dear Whole Foods,

You sold me crabs, and they sucked. Here's how I cook crabs. It's dead easy. And so much tastier.

1- boil water
2- add pepper - a lot of pepper.
3- add onions, carrots, and leeks
4- add thyme & bay leaves.
5- throw the crabs alive and head first
6- cook for 7 minutes per pound. Mind you, if you put several crabs, the water will get colder and therefore you need to add 2-3 minutes per crab.
7- once cooked, put the crabs in ice.
8- break the crabs and serve them on water.

Yes, it's that easy. Yes, it's that delicious. Dead simple.

Whole food crabs suck part II

I'm still so disappointed by yesterday's experience, that I've decided to go and buy some live crab tonight and cook them myself for a feast. Honestly!!!!!!!!!!! It's just a matter of taste! Can't they understand things like subtle tastes, delicacy, etc... No, it has to be f.... plain and BIG, so people think they have enough stuff for their money.

TASTE for god's sake! TASTE! It is that hard to understand?

So just to make sure that it's not me getting crazy, and that this whole thing is just a seasonality issue, I'm going to cook live crabs myself tonight. Of course I will blog about it. And of course, I'll be totally objective... You know me! :)

[update]: here's my post about cooking live crabs.

Crabs from Whole Foods... suck!

I've been doing some experiments in the last weeks on crabs. Crabs. That's quite basic. But you know what? Companies like Whole Foods still managed to screw it up. How it it possible? Easy! Just boil crab in water, and have them sit on the counter for several days before you sell them.

We just went to Whole Foods and bought two crabs, looking forward to eating them in a quiet and relaxing evening. After one bite, we knew it would be a disaster. Even the shrimps that I bought to accompany the crab were much better. Shrimps Vs crabs, the shrimps should never win. It's like the 49ers playing the Patriots. Or the Red Sox playing the Giants for baseball fans. Well, today, the shrimps won. Big time. The loser? Whole Foods.

So, people from Whole Foods, here's how you can actually make your crab good. Have them alive somewhere you. Boil them, but not in plain water. Cooking class 101. Boil water, and add tons of black pepper. If you can smell the water without your noise going crazy, it means there isn't enough. Add some salt. You can also add carrots, onions, celery etc... Like you would do for a broth. Once the water boils a lot, throw the live crab, head first. It will kill them straight away, and yes, they won't suddenly jump out of the pot to bite you. Usually, a bit less than 20 minutes is enough.

What happens when you cook a crab? The water gets into the crab, in the meat and sit around it. That's why when you eat it, you have some water at the bottom of your plate! As you eat the crab, and break the shell, the water comes out. If that water is plain, your crab will be plain. If that water has some flavors, your crab will get the flavor as well. On top of that, if the crab is fresh, obviously, the whole experience will be much, much better.

So i've cooked live crabs for the last 5 weeks. It was the first time in the last month that I was buying pre cooked crab at Whole Foods. And probably the last.

You can easily buy live crab at the Ferry Building or in one of those Asian supermarket. I don't think they're more expensive than the pre-cooked one, and they will taste thousands times better.

OK - now back to my shrimp dish. There are some left and I don't want to miss on them!

[update]: here's my recipe on how to cook live crab