|  Tangelos are a super neat little fruit. They’re a hybrid of a tangerine and a grapefruit. Bright orange like their daddy (assuming that tangerines are male),and shaped kinda like one of those big fat Florida lemons. The reason I get so excited over these little guys is because they perfectly lend themselves to beurre blancs,and plenty of other sauces. Maybe I’m going a bit too fast here,let’s start with an explanation:
Without going into a long winded history of this fantastically naughty sauce (although it is quite interesting),a beurre blanc is a buttery sweet tart sauce that would make fish dance and sing like that burger king commercial,if they weren’t already cooked on your plate. Chefs have bastardized this sauce for years and years,but the one thing that remains the same is that perfect blend of sweet and tart originally achieved with wine and vinegar. When someone uses a sweeter fruit in place of (or to compliment) wine,they still have to add that tangy vinegar element. In steps my hero:The Tangelo. Not only does this fella already have a slight tart flavor built right in,but they’re super juicy so you don’t have to use a million of them (I’m looking at you limes). They also soak up the flavor of tarragon like a retired woman on the Floridian coast. So taking as many artistic liberties as I feel fit,I’ve combined both main ingredients of this decadent lip licking sauce. The process here is really simple,it spends most of its time on the back burner leaving me time to make those labor intensive nibble sized spaetzle. Start by finely slicing shallots,and throw them in a medium hot nonreactive sauce pan with a teaspoon of grape seed oil. Hit them with a little salt to pull out some moisture. After they are translucent (3-5 minutes),juice 6 fresh tangelos right in the pan. Reduce the heat to low,toss in a sprig of fresh tarragon,and let her simmer. I usually take the tarragon out about 3/4 of the way through this process,so the flavor doesn’t become overwhelming. You’re looking to reduce this liquid all the way down to a syrup (about 50 minutes),so don’t rush. I might have been a little hard on the spaetzle (For those who don’t know,spaetzle is a Polish dumpling made from flour,milk,and egg that will never reach its full popularity potential due to the fact that there are 3 different spellings). It’s not that hard to make,just cooking it in those little pieces gets a bit laborious. I use a basic recipe: - Roughly 2 cups of all purpose unbleached flour
- 4 large eggs beaten
- 3/4 a cup of milk
- 4 Tablespoons of whole grain mustard
- A few shakes of some ground nutmeg
- Salt and white pepper to taste
Start by incorporating the milk,eggs,mustard,and nutmeg. Add the flour by slowly sifting and whisking until you’ve got a nice thick batter. Cook these by using a plastic spatula to push the batter through a colander with 1/4″holes into salted boiling water. This is done in batches,as soon as a handful float to the surface,use a slotted spoon to take them out and drop them in a bowl of ice water. Once finished,pop the bowl in the refrigerator. Besides the tangelo,I got a second surprise at the store this day,this time in the form of fresh corvina. An awesome,lightly flavored,sweet,flaky sea bass. I used a basic cook method here,just got a nonstick saute pan blazing hot and threw my salt and pepper seasoned fish in once a tablespoon of grape seed oil began to smoke. After sitting for 2- 3 minutes on one side to give it that golden brown caramelization,Mr. Corvina was flipped,and placed in the 350 degree oven next to the asparagus coated in olive oil,salt,pepper,and coriander. In order to cut down on the dishes Kate had to wash  ,I browned off some butter in my fish pan after I took the filets out to rest. There I threw my strained spaetzle with a little salt and pepper. The last step was just to finish off the sauce. I added a little chicken stock to the syrup,just to thin out the intensity. It’s now butter time! Slowly add butter at room temperature until a rich,thick desired consistency is achieved. Then it’s just a matter of throwing everything on the plate,and enjoying.  Ok,let me start by saying I’m not the biggest French cuisine enthusiast. Escoffier was just a mere mortal to me. His book,although I’ve read it many times,is not my bible. Maybe I’ve been turned off by the pretention that follows it’s delicate nuances,or perhaps I’m just too American and sometimes it’s subtle flavors are lost on my palette. It’s also possible I’m just too lazy,but I doubt it.
Don’t get me wrong here,I do not hate the French. I’ve never referred to a French Fry as a Freedom Fry,and never boycotted Grey Goose (Although I do prefer a nice scotch). Let me further discredit my above statements by saying this is one of my favorite dishes in the world. It’s such a wonderful,hearty,and comforting stew. It is quite laborious,but when you’re all said and done,every bite is well worth the effort. This is quite a versatile dish too,so you can totally modify it to suite your needs (except vegetarianism and alcoholics…sorry). The other great thing about Coq Au Vin is it makes wine pairing a snap. So now I have to tell you that this isn’t Coq Au Vin at all. Traditionally it’s made with rooster,hence the Coq. I don’t wanna use a whole fryer for just two people,so I opted for Cornish hen. Now due to the fact that hen isn’t nearly as fatty as rooster,there was a little sacrifice in richness,but the presentation made up for it tenfold. There’s no shortage of rich flavors here though,so I don’t think it matters that much. This dish has to be started the night before as you want everything to marinate over night. The first step is to render diced salt pork nice and slowly. Throw a cast iron Dutch oven on medium heat while you cut the white bacon. Throw a few drops of grape seed or olive oil before adding the pork. Really render this slowly because you’re going to use the juices quite a bit. Adjust the heat if needed. After the pork is nice and golden brown,transfer to a paper towel and leave the pot alone. Now it’s time to cook everything else in that tasty juice. One at a time brown off the the mushrooms,remove and follow that up with some pearl onions (Now that I think about it,you should do this first so you’re not standing around waiting for water to boil). The best method for removing the skin from those little buggers is to cut a small “x”on the root end of the onion,drop in boiling water for 2 minutes,remove and cool in ice water. One pinch should pop those skins right off. Add them to the fat and cook till golden brown. After that dredge the Cornish hens in flour seasoned with salt and pepper. Drop them on the pot and brown until caramelized on all sides,once again,remove and set aside. Next add mirepoix (carrots,celery &onion) and cook until soft. Add the garlic and saute for two more minutes. It’s finally time to introduce the main ingredient:Wine! This is really up to you and what flavors you want to aim for. I happen to love this dish with a nice peppery zinfandel,but have also used pinot noir several times with delicious results. You may get a few flames,but fear not. Let it boil down a bit and add your chicken stock. Toss in a fresh herb bouquet of bay leaves,parsley,thyme and and rosemary. Reintroduce the hen and kill the heat. Once it’s cool,cover and stick it in the refrigerator along with the rest of your vegetables. That’s it for today. Give yourself about 4 hours the next day,and move your covered pot into an 325 preheated oven. You can shake it a few times during this process,but try not to stir it. This stuff is gonna tender,and you don’t want to break it up. After the hens reach “fall off the bone tender”,you have to remove the poultry and strain the sauce;toss the vegetables. Transfer the sauce to a new pot and cover the hens and keep them warm. You have two options here. One is to reduce the sauce naturally and the other is to use a rue to thicken. The way I look at it is you’ve come this far already,so let her simmer down. After it gets to a nice “stick to the back of a spoon” consistency,throw the pork,mushrooms and the onions back in the stew. Adjust the seasoning to taste. Hens go on the plate,cover with that wonderfully rich sauce and serve. I paired this one with roasted zucchini,squash,and french crostini,but that’s another story for another time. Whew. Go ahead and relax a bit. Ingredients: - 2 Cornish Hens halved
- 1 bottle of wine
- 24 ounces of chicken stock
- 8 ounces of salt pork
- 15 –20 pearl onions
- 10 –12 ounces of cremini mushrooms
- 1 medium onion
- 1 large carrot
- 2 celery stalks
- 6 cloves of garlic
- Fresh herbs:parsley,thyme,bay leaves,rosemary
This was a great dish for a great night. Kate was out of work for a few weeks,and wound up finding an even better job than the one she lost. It was a pretty special night,so I figured I’d have to break out the big guns. Duck is one of her favorites,so [...] It’s a perfect day,and an easy meal to kick off my first post. I love the beginning of the season where anything is possible. Pickle is going crazy from being in the house all winter,and I’m not far behind. The great thing about this dish is that both marinades are [...] | |
