Bo's Best Bets
Fresh salmon filet
(middle section, about 2 pounds, skin left on but de-boned, preferably by fishmonger)
5 tablespoons of sea salt
5 tablespoons of sugar
Bunch of fresh dill, roughly chopped, stems and all
Some cracked peppercorns
A couple of tablespoons of cognac
(middle section, about 2 pounds, skin left on but de-boned, preferably by fishmonger)
5 tablespoons of sea salt
5 tablespoons of sugar
Bunch of fresh dill, roughly chopped, stems and all
Some cracked peppercorns
A couple of tablespoons of cognac
Cut the fillet into two halves. Mix salt and sugar and rub it into the salmon.
Add pepper, dill and cognac (dill also on the skin side).
Sandwich the filets together (skin side out) and wrap them in plastic.
Lay salmon sandwich on a plate and cover with another plate,
and anything handy that weighs at least a pound or two. Refrigerate for 24 hours.
Turn package over, and refrigerate for another 24 hours. It can then be frozen, without harm, if desired.
Before serving, remove dill and cracked pepper.
Slice thin slices diagonally and serve with special gravlax sauce.
Add pepper, dill and cognac (dill also on the skin side).
Sandwich the filets together (skin side out) and wrap them in plastic.
Lay salmon sandwich on a plate and cover with another plate,
and anything handy that weighs at least a pound or two. Refrigerate for 24 hours.
Turn package over, and refrigerate for another 24 hours. It can then be frozen, without harm, if desired.
Before serving, remove dill and cracked pepper.
Slice thin slices diagonally and serve with special gravlax sauce.
A QUICK, SOMEWHAT UNORTHODOX GRAVLAX SAUCE
About 1/2 cup of mayonnaise
2-3 tablespoons of Grey Poupon mustard
1 1/2 tablespoons of sugar
About 1 tablespoon of HP-sauce
1/2 cup of finely chopped dill
Mix all the ingredients and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes.
About 1/2 cup of mayonnaise
2-3 tablespoons of Grey Poupon mustard
1 1/2 tablespoons of sugar
About 1 tablespoon of HP-sauce
1/2 cup of finely chopped dill
Mix all the ingredients and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes.
SMOKED SALMON IN ENDIVE "BOATS"
Choose the fattest, longest endive you can find. Carefully snap off as many leaves as you can. Trim the ends so the leaves are more or less the same length.
Have ready your favorite egg salad. I just chop up a couple of hardboiled eggs, add finely chopped onion, plenty of s & p, and mayonnaise.
Cut your smoked salmon into pieces more or less resembling the elongated shape of the endive leaves. Place a spoonful of egg salad in a leaf, spreading it from cut edge to tip. Cover with a section of smoked salmon, tucking it in to “fit” the shape of the leaf. Add a sprig of fresh dill for taste and color.
MUSHROOM MASH HORS D'OEUVRE
Choose two big Portobello mushrooms. Snap out the stems even if they’re sold as “caps.” When you get home, wipe them well on the outside with a damp paper towel.
Now choose a frying pan just big enough to hold them. I usually leave one whole and cut the other in half to fit. They shrink as they cook so don’t worry too much about it.
Heat about 2 TBs of oil in the pan and place the caps gill side down. I use almond oil but any vegetable oil is fine. Let cook for two or three minutes while you cut up 2 scallions, white and green. Turn the caps over and pile in the scallions, salt and pepper, a scant teaspoon of sugar, a pressed clove of garlic and, using your garlic press again, an inch or so of gingerroot. Ginger is harder to squeeze out than garlic but it will work.
Turn down the heat and splash 3 TBs of Balsamic vinegar over the caps and 3 tsp Soy Sauce. I use mushroom soy but regular soy is okay. Add enough broth –any kind – to just barely cover the caps. Cover the pan and cook for about 10 minutes, turn the caps over and cook covered for another 10.
Uncover, turn up the heat and reduce the liquid until there’s almost none left. Add 2 TBs toasted sesame oil. Push the mushroom caps around quickly in the oil and whatever juicy liquid is left. Put everything in a bowl and leave in the fridge for 2 or 3 days, turning the caps a couple of times.
After they have marinated a couple of days in their own juices, roughly cut up the caps. Do this right in the bowl. The pieces don’t have to be even - you are going to put the whole business in a processor. Process until it is an even, dark sludge. Taste for salt, adding it or soy sauce if needed. Place in a glass bowl and surround with firm raw white button mushroom caps, cut into ¼ inch slices, sturdy enough for dipping.
Choose the fattest, longest endive you can find. Carefully snap off as many leaves as you can. Trim the ends so the leaves are more or less the same length.
Have ready your favorite egg salad. I just chop up a couple of hardboiled eggs, add finely chopped onion, plenty of s & p, and mayonnaise.
Cut your smoked salmon into pieces more or less resembling the elongated shape of the endive leaves. Place a spoonful of egg salad in a leaf, spreading it from cut edge to tip. Cover with a section of smoked salmon, tucking it in to “fit” the shape of the leaf. Add a sprig of fresh dill for taste and color.
MUSHROOM MASH HORS D'OEUVRE
Choose two big Portobello mushrooms. Snap out the stems even if they’re sold as “caps.” When you get home, wipe them well on the outside with a damp paper towel.
Now choose a frying pan just big enough to hold them. I usually leave one whole and cut the other in half to fit. They shrink as they cook so don’t worry too much about it.
Heat about 2 TBs of oil in the pan and place the caps gill side down. I use almond oil but any vegetable oil is fine. Let cook for two or three minutes while you cut up 2 scallions, white and green. Turn the caps over and pile in the scallions, salt and pepper, a scant teaspoon of sugar, a pressed clove of garlic and, using your garlic press again, an inch or so of gingerroot. Ginger is harder to squeeze out than garlic but it will work.
Turn down the heat and splash 3 TBs of Balsamic vinegar over the caps and 3 tsp Soy Sauce. I use mushroom soy but regular soy is okay. Add enough broth –any kind – to just barely cover the caps. Cover the pan and cook for about 10 minutes, turn the caps over and cook covered for another 10.
Uncover, turn up the heat and reduce the liquid until there’s almost none left. Add 2 TBs toasted sesame oil. Push the mushroom caps around quickly in the oil and whatever juicy liquid is left. Put everything in a bowl and leave in the fridge for 2 or 3 days, turning the caps a couple of times.
After they have marinated a couple of days in their own juices, roughly cut up the caps. Do this right in the bowl. The pieces don’t have to be even - you are going to put the whole business in a processor. Process until it is an even, dark sludge. Taste for salt, adding it or soy sauce if needed. Place in a glass bowl and surround with firm raw white button mushroom caps, cut into ¼ inch slices, sturdy enough for dipping.
|
JANKO'S
UNBEATABLE BRETAGNE SCALLOPS |
|
Janko learned this recipe from a friend, who owns a little fisherman’s house near Plérin in Northern Brittany, overlooking the oyster banks of St. Brieux, where seafood is abundant, and exciting things happen.
But why not let Janko tell you:
“Once I saw three fishmongers running a slalom around the rows of shelves in the local supermarket. The poor women desperately tried to catch a load of araignées (spider crabs), who had escaped from their box and made for the exit, crossing under the shelves - a true Brittany jailbreak. But enough of that, here's the recipe:
For hors-d’œuvre or a light lunch, take three or four nicely sized scallops per person, preferably the dry-packed variety without the milky solution. Day boat scallops are fine too, but bay scallops are too small.
Fill appropriate glasses with pastis ("51" preferred, alternatively Ricard or Pernod), top with ice and water. Share with friends and family. Only then proceed.
Melt about 3 tablespoons of butter in a very hot cast iron pan to a nutty brown while patting the scallops dry.
Quickly add scallops to pan, don't even THINK of moving them for about a minute - size matters. Add salt and a pinch of fresh black pepper, then turn scallops around for 30 seconds to a minute. Don't overdo, just to an opaque interior. Salt and pepper, remove scallops from the pan and keep in a warm place.
Add a liberal dash of pastis to the pan, boil up, whisk in a good pinch of cinc epices/five spices (star anise, cloves, Chinese cinnamon, Sichuan pepper, fennel seeds).
Stir in a dollop of crème fraîche, then turn off the flame just before the sauce starts boiling again.
Place scallops with browned side up on top of some sauce on prewarmed plates. Serve either with a fresh baguette and a summer salad, or with thin spaghetti no 5, sprinkled with freshly shaved Parmesan cheese and chopped flatleaf parsley.
Cheers, Janko
Fill appropriate glasses with pastis ("51" preferred, alternatively Ricard or Pernod), top with ice and water. Share with friends and family. Only then proceed.
Melt about 3 tablespoons of butter in a very hot cast iron pan to a nutty brown while patting the scallops dry.
Quickly add scallops to pan, don't even THINK of moving them for about a minute - size matters. Add salt and a pinch of fresh black pepper, then turn scallops around for 30 seconds to a minute. Don't overdo, just to an opaque interior. Salt and pepper, remove scallops from the pan and keep in a warm place.
Add a liberal dash of pastis to the pan, boil up, whisk in a good pinch of cinc epices/five spices (star anise, cloves, Chinese cinnamon, Sichuan pepper, fennel seeds).
Stir in a dollop of crème fraîche, then turn off the flame just before the sauce starts boiling again.
Place scallops with browned side up on top of some sauce on prewarmed plates. Serve either with a fresh baguette and a summer salad, or with thin spaghetti no 5, sprinkled with freshly shaved Parmesan cheese and chopped flatleaf parsley.
Cheers, Janko
Chicken Provencale
1 large boneless chicken breast, cleaned and cut into medium-sized pieces
extra virgin oil
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tomatoes, or small can of peeled canned tomatoes, chopped
chicken bouillon (Knorr)
bay leaf
at least one cup of dry white wine
salt and freshly ground pepper
thyme
pitted black olives (Kalamata, for instance)
strained Greek yogurt
Italian parsley
white or, preferably, brown rice
Fry chicken in olive oil. add salt and pepper. Transfer to warm oven when just done.
Add garlic to frying pan and simmer under low heat until very lightly browned. Add tomatoes and pour in the wine. Add bouillon, salt, pepper, and thyme. Let simmer under low heat for at least 20 minutes (you may want to add more wine).
Meanwhile, boil the rice.
Add olives. Let cool a little, then stir in the yogurt. Transfer chicken back into to the frying pan and heat up again. Sprinkle with parsley, and serve on heated plates.
I usually serve it with an Arugula salad (with a dressing of balsamic vinegar and olive oil) and either red or white wine. Both go well with this dish - which has proven to be quite a crowd-pleaser.
1 large boneless chicken breast, cleaned and cut into medium-sized pieces
extra virgin oil
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tomatoes, or small can of peeled canned tomatoes, chopped
chicken bouillon (Knorr)
bay leaf
at least one cup of dry white wine
salt and freshly ground pepper
thyme
pitted black olives (Kalamata, for instance)
strained Greek yogurt
Italian parsley
white or, preferably, brown rice
Fry chicken in olive oil. add salt and pepper. Transfer to warm oven when just done.
Add garlic to frying pan and simmer under low heat until very lightly browned. Add tomatoes and pour in the wine. Add bouillon, salt, pepper, and thyme. Let simmer under low heat for at least 20 minutes (you may want to add more wine).
Meanwhile, boil the rice.
Add olives. Let cool a little, then stir in the yogurt. Transfer chicken back into to the frying pan and heat up again. Sprinkle with parsley, and serve on heated plates.
I usually serve it with an Arugula salad (with a dressing of balsamic vinegar and olive oil) and either red or white wine. Both go well with this dish - which has proven to be quite a crowd-pleaser.
Mamma's poached salmon
Leif's Special Meat Sauce
2 pounds ground meat
6 green peppers, cut into small pieces
Crushed hot red pepper
Nearly a whole bottle of red wine
2 meat or chicken boullions
White & black pepper
12 garlic cloves, minced
Plenty of oregano
A large can of peeled tomatoes
1/2 tube of tomato paste
Saute the ground meat in equal amounts of butter and oil. Use a fork to break up the meat. Add white
and black pepper.
After the meat is done, add tomatoes and boullions, tomato paste, garlic, the crushed hot pepper, two thirds of the green peppers, and enough wine to cover all the ingredients. Sprinkle generously with oregano, and let simmer under low heat for 2 hours. Stir every five or ten minutes. You may want to add more wine.
Half an hour before finishing, add the remaining green peppers.
Serve with spaghettti and cold beer. Also good with rice - and with dark kidney beans.
2 pounds ground meat
6 green peppers, cut into small pieces
Crushed hot red pepper
Nearly a whole bottle of red wine
2 meat or chicken boullions
White & black pepper
12 garlic cloves, minced
Plenty of oregano
A large can of peeled tomatoes
1/2 tube of tomato paste
Saute the ground meat in equal amounts of butter and oil. Use a fork to break up the meat. Add white
and black pepper.
After the meat is done, add tomatoes and boullions, tomato paste, garlic, the crushed hot pepper, two thirds of the green peppers, and enough wine to cover all the ingredients. Sprinkle generously with oregano, and let simmer under low heat for 2 hours. Stir every five or ten minutes. You may want to add more wine.
Half an hour before finishing, add the remaining green peppers.
Serve with spaghettti and cold beer. Also good with rice - and with dark kidney beans.
How to make a perfect Manhattan?
Ask Ralph.
"First you'll need 2 ounces of Rye, preferably Old Overholt or another 40% rye
(don't use anything too strong; it kills the effect of the ingredients)."
(don't use anything too strong; it kills the effect of the ingredients)."
"Then 1/2 ounce Dolin Sweet Vermouth (being French, it is notso ghastly sweet as Italian vermouths). And 1/2 ounce Dolin Dry Vermouth (it speaks for itself)."
"Add 4 drops of Angostura Bitters, and 4 drops of Angostura Orange Bitters. I hate sweet drinks, which is why this Manhattan fits the bill nicely. The sweet vermouth is cut with French, or dry, vermouth, and the orange bitters are mixed with Angostura bitters.
Pour ingredients into a steel cocktail shaker with 2-3 inches of ice. Stir with a cocktail whisk 50 times (this is important; it bruises the ice and infuses the ingredients)."
Pour ingredients into a steel cocktail shaker with 2-3 inches of ice. Stir with a cocktail whisk 50 times (this is important; it bruises the ice and infuses the ingredients)."
"Drain into a cocktail glass, and garnish with orange slice and cherry."
"Cheers!"
2 oz. fresh lime juice
6 oz. Tequila
2 oz. Triple Sec
Ice cubes
Coarse salt
1. Combine the ingredients, except for salt, in blender. A handful of ice cubes for
a regular Margarita, a lot for frozen. Blend.
2. Rub the rim of the glass with lime juice. Dip in salt. Pour.
3. Some people think it's better with the more powerful (and more expensive) Cointreau liqueur
instead of Triple Sec.
4. CAUTION: Never make a second batch, unless no one is driving.
More to come...
6 oz. Tequila
2 oz. Triple Sec
Ice cubes
Coarse salt
1. Combine the ingredients, except for salt, in blender. A handful of ice cubes for
a regular Margarita, a lot for frozen. Blend.
2. Rub the rim of the glass with lime juice. Dip in salt. Pour.
3. Some people think it's better with the more powerful (and more expensive) Cointreau liqueur
instead of Triple Sec.
4. CAUTION: Never make a second batch, unless no one is driving.
More to come...