Cedar Plank Salmon

15 Thursday Apr 2010

Posted by Bob and Robin in Recipes, Salmon, Seafood, What's For Dinner?

I belong to several recipe and cooking newsletters. “Sizzle on the Grill” comes from Char-Broil, the manufacturer of my grill. I do get some really awesome recipes and information from them. Here is one such recipe for salmon. I can taste the Beurre Blanc now. But I think I would still add a little tarragon to the Orange Muscat – just a little. I can smell it and taste it now. I have edited the recipe: The original recipe called for 16oz servings. 8oz servings are plenty. This would be great with a good Pinot Griego. Enjoy! Click Here for the original recipe.

Cedar Plank Grilled Salmon with Orange Muscat Beurre Blanc

Yield: 4
Prep Time: 1 Hour
Cook Time: 20 Minutes

Ingredients:
4 Salmon Fillets each about 8 oz. (with skin is fine, without is fine also)
2 lg (or 4 small) Cedar Planks for grilling
2 t Fennel Seeds, lightly crushed
Olive Oil, Sea Salt and freshly ground Black Pepper
1 Shallot, finely diced
2 T Orange-Muscat Vinegar (Available at Trader Joe’s or make your own.)
¼ unsalted Butter, cut into teaspoon sized pieces
finely ground Sea Salt and freshly ground White Pepper, to taste

Directions:
Soak the cedar planks, completely submerged, in cold water for at least 1 hour. Preheat your grill to medium-high heat before grilling.

For the beurre blanc, heat a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the diced shallot and about 1 tsp. of olive oil and cook until the shallot smells great, about 3 minutes. If it looks like the shallot is starting to brown, reduce the heat. Add the white wine vinegar (in this case, orange muscat vinegar) and stir to deglaze the pan. Continue to cook until the vinegar has reduced by half, about 5 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat and 2 teaspoons of butter. Continually whisk the butter until it is completely melted. If the butter starts to foam, place the bottom of the pan on a cold surface (like a stone countertop) to cool it. Add the remaining butter, 2 teaspoons at a time, whisking continually. If the butter refuses to melt, hold the pan over very low heat for a few seconds and then remove.

Once all the butter is incorporated, taste the sauce and adjust with a fine-grain salt and freshly ground white pepper. You can use black pepper if you want, but white pepper will make the sauce look prettier.

Prepare the salmon fillets by patting them dry and coating with salt, pepper and fennel seeds on the flesh side. Rub the fillets on all sides with olive oil. Make sure your grill has been preheated to medium-high heat. Arrange the cedar planks on your grill and place the fillets, skin side down (if they have skin) on the cedar planks. Close the lid and grill for 15-20 minutes, or until the fish is fully cooked. The planks will give off a lot of smoke which adds to the excellent flavor. However, if your planks should catch fire, simply spray them with a small amount of water (I recommend San Pellegrino 🙂 ) until the flames dissipate.

When the salmon is cooked to your preferred doneness (let’s face it, either it’s undercooked, done, or overcooked), use a long spatula or a chef’s knife to remove them from the planks. Top with a spoonfull of the beurre blanc and serve!

This recipe is presented as a courtesy of Seattle Food Geek

Boise Sourdough – Act III, "The Final Curtain"

15 Thursday Apr 2010

Posted by Bob and Robin in Bread, Photos By: Bob Young, Recipe: Bob and Robin Young, Recipes, Sourdough

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So here we go … the Final Act! After the bread rises I always like to do the final rise in the pan that I am baking the bread in. That way I don’t disturb the rise and deflate the bread as much. Slash the top – the cut could be deeper – so the bread has a place to expand, especially when it hits a 450 degree oven.

After it rises to about 1/4 inch above the top of the pan, it is ready to bake. 450 degrees F for about 25-35 minutes. I always use an instant read thermometer. 190 degrees F is the internal temperature I am looking for.

And then … the Bread! The aroma in the house, and in the alley along the house, is amazing and reminds me of Freihoffer’s Bakery in Wilmington, DE. when I was “tiny”.

I took some of this bread with us last night to the TVWS Pinot Noir tasting and shared it with some “testing tasters”. “Good sour taste”, was the comment from Chef James. Other comments were “Good texture”, “Good taste”, “Great with the wine and the dinner”. If you want the recipe, and it is involved, just Click Here and enjoy the process!
Have fun and I do hope you have enjoyed the postings on this bread. Cheers!

Varietals of the World

14 Wednesday Apr 2010

Posted by Bob and Robin in Main Dish, Photos By: Bob Young, Wine and Food, Wine Dinners

≈ 2 Comments

April 13, 2010. Another great evening at The Buzz in Boise tasting and eating; eating and tasting. Varietals of the World: Nebbiolo and other Piedmont Favorites and Muscato. Debbie did another great job and the wines matched and pared extremely well with what Debbie chose. But lets look at the wines and the meal! Cheers.

(Sorry for the lousy photo!) We started with a 2004 Villa Felici Classico Orvieto, 12% (17). This was a grassy, vanilla and sea shore nose. This would age another 4 years or so. Then we had a 2006 Masked Rider Syrah, 13.5% (16). A very light red that is easy to drink. Both of these wines were the preliminary wines. Then with the Wine and Cheese Strata, we had a wonderful NV Risata Moscato D’Asti, 5.5% (19). Very drinkable and clean. A wonderful wedding wine. Robin and I both enjoyed this blue bottle, wine.

And with the Stuffed Zucchini, we had a good 2005 Mezzacorona Moscato, 11.5% (17). A dry and still wine that really goes well with the light spicyness and herby stuffing of the zucchini. Yet, the zucchini, usually a very mild squash, was not overpowered by the Moscato.

The Asparagus Soup with Lemon Crème Fraîche. What can I say. It was delicious! Cristi did a wonderful thing: she served a 2008 Muscadet, 12% (19) as a comparison. Nice touch! And the 2006 Prunotto Barbera D’Asti, 13% (18) went quite well with the asparagus. But, so did the 2008 Muscadet. We saved a little to try with the asparagus. And, in my opinion, the Muscadet went best with the soup.

This White Bean Salad was different. Lots of green pepper. But surprising, the 2007 Marchesi Di Barbera Monferrato Maraia, 13.5% (18) went very well with the salad. The green pepper did not interfere with the wine. But just to let you know, this is not one of our more favorite varietals.

With the Nick and Toni’s Pasta ala Vecchia Bettola, we had a good, but not exceptional, 2003 Travaglini Gattinara, 12% (16). This wine would go well with a spicy Veal Parmigiana or Lasagna. It did go very well with this pasta.

And to top the dinner off, a wonderfully, refreshing Tripple Orange Soup. The wine that was chosen was a NV Zonin Moscato D’Asti,(18). Such a good meal with a wonderful selection of wines to go with it. If you missed this one, don’t fret!! You can redeem yourself on Tuesday May 12, or May 16 for the Quarterly Dinner, on July 25 for a BBQ or on Mother’s Day! Your choice. Hope to see you at the next event. Contact the Buzz for more specific information and to make reservations. Cheers!

Sauerkraut

13 Tuesday Apr 2010

Posted by Bob and Robin in Recipe: Bob and Robin Young, Recipes, Sauerkraut

≈ 3 Comments

This is far too much fun!! Developing these recipes, the Sourdough Bread and this Sauerkraut. The results of the first batch of sauerkraut is almost complete. If you had some to sample, now is the time. Just let me know what you thought. Thanks Gail for your input!! Here is the Kraut Recipe that I am working on. There was a song – last century – that had the line in it, “… second verse, same as the first…”. Well, this second batch is better than the first, as sauerkraut goes! I just sampled some. It’ll be ready, I think about, 01 May. Basically, here is what is in my sauerkraut.

Ingredients:
14 lbs Cabbage, fresh
3½ T Kosher salt, no iodine
1¾ T Cinnamon
3¾ T Caraway seeds
4½ T Mustard seeds
2¾ c Four Monks White Wine Vinegar

Look at the recipe for the procedure. My crock is one that Robin bought me for Christmas and is awesome. Holds about 20 pounds of shredded cabbage. Also, I added 1/2 head of red cabbage to this batch, as I did the original batch. Gives it some color. I said above that I sampled some: There is a bite, but not offensive. And I detected some sweetness, but there is no sugar in the recipe. The caraway is good and the cinnamon is there, but in the background. Mustard seed gives a unique flavor. So for now, there is the report. We’re talking about 2 weeks before I bottle the kraut. Cheers!!

Boise Sourdough Starter, Part III

13 Tuesday Apr 2010

Posted by Bob and Robin in Bread, Photos By: Bob Young, Recipe: Bob and Robin Young, Sourdough

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Let’s see. Almost 6 days to get to this point. But, the starter is made and can now be saved and used again. So, unless I mess up the starter I have, I should not have to make any more for, say, 100 years!! Now we start the bread making process. This will take 2 1/2 days, or there abouts.

Sourdough Bread

Ingredients:
For the starter: (04/13/10) See Note #4 below
• 1 piece of starter the size of a tangerine (kept out at room temperature for 6 to 8 hours or in the refrigerator for a few days)
• 2 cups warm water
• 2 cups organic, unbleached white or all-purpose flour

Directions:
1. (04/13/10) Break up the starter, dilute it in the water, and mix in the flour. Cover this mixture loosely and set it aside in a warm spot for 18–24 hours or until it is quite bubbly.

After mixing the 2 cups of water and the 2 cups of flour. Let this sit and rise. Remember: There is only wild yeast in this bread. No cultured yeast. So be patient!!

For the dough: (Not quite yet, but soon!)
• 2 1/2 cups organic, unbleached white or all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 3/4 cup starter from the previous step
• 3/4 cup cool water
• Cooking oil (to grease the bowl)

2. Mix the flour and salt together in a food processor fitted with the plastic dough blade. Pour the starter in and pulse the machine several times to mix the ingredients. Then, with the machine running, slowly add the water and continue mixing for a few minutes (If you don’t have a food processor, simply mix the dough in a bowl for about 5 minutes, until it forms a ball.)
3. Remove the mixture from the bowl and place it on a well-floured work table and round it into a ball.
4. Let the dough rise in a well-oiled bowl, covered, in the refrigerator for 12–15 hours. Remove from the refrigerator and allow it to warm up at room temperature for 2 hours.
5. Divide the dough into 2 pieces, and stretch them into tight baguette shapes. Place each one on a baguette tray or a parchment-lined baking tray.
6. Cover the baguettes and let them rise for 6–7 hours, until they have doubled in size.
7. Preheat the oven to 450° F.
8. Using a sharp razor blade, slash the tops of the loaves diagonally 3 or 4 times (this will allow them to expand more easily while baking) and spray them with a fine mist of water from a spray bottle.
9. Place the loaves in the oven and immediately spray them, along with the walls and floor of the oven, with water. Repeat this step after about 5 minutes of baking.
10. Bake the loaves 25–30 minutes, until they are entirely golden and the crust is crisp and blistered. Cool on a rack for 15 minutes before slicing.

Notes:
1. The (Dates) represent the days that I performed the stated tasks.
2. Step #4 (04/09/10). I added 1 c King Arthur flour and 10 T of water. I placed the starter in a bowl and covered it with a warm, damp towel.
3. This starter is the same starter that Boudain Bakery in San Francisco uses. They have had theirs since 1849.
4. (04/13/10) It looks like this amount of starter is enough for about 8 loaves.

—————————–

I know it looks like a bread making. But, I won’t normally change any new recipe until I have tried it. Then I can see how the recipe works and can change it at that point. Cheers!

Boise Sourdough Starter, Part II

12 Monday Apr 2010

Posted by Bob and Robin in Bread, Recipes, Sourdough

≈ 1 Comment

All three of these photos are from Step #7.

Boise Sourdough Starter
or
Celebration Sourdough Starter

Directions:
1. (04/06/10) In a mound of flour, make a small well and add the water.
2. Slowly mix the flour and the water, bringing more flour into the center of the well. The mixture will gradually transform from a paste into a small piece of dough.
3. Knead this small piece of dough with your fingers for about 5–8 minutes, until it becomes springy.
4. (04/09/10) Place the dough in a small bowl, cover it with a damp towel, and let it sit in a warm spot for 2 or 3 days.
5. When it’s ready, the dough will be moist, wrinkled, and crusty. If you pull off a piece of the crust, you’ll find tiny bubbles and smell a sweet aroma.
6. Throw away any hardened crust. “Refresh” the remaining piece by mixing it with twice the original amount of flour and enough water to make a firm dough. Set aside as before.

7. (04/12/10) After 1 or 2 days the starter will have a new, fresh look. Remove any dried dough and mix with about 1 cup of flour.
8. (04/12/10) Once again, cover the bowl with a damp cloth and leave it in a warm place for another 8–12 hours.
9. When the starter is ready, it will appear fully risen, and a small indentation made with a finger won’t spring back.

I will make some bread from this tomorrow, Tuesday 13 April. I will save you some. Yea ….. Right! Cheers.

Sauerkraut, Part I

11 Sunday Apr 2010

Posted by Bob and Robin in Recipes, Restaurant Reviews, Sauerkraut

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I made 2 pints – 4 half-pints – of kraut back around the first of the year and gave some to a few people to try. It was OK if they did not like it, but I had to know why. I now have 14 lbs in “getting happy” with some minor changes. (Robin gave me a great Kraut Crock for Christmas) Here is the first reply to the tasting so far. Two more to go.

Hi, You Two,

I have just eaten the best, most delicious sauerkraut I have ever tasted in my whole life—a mere 29 years—and I’m sure you can guess who made it. Wow! That is terrific; absolutely wonderful. I am running out of superlatives, but, no kidding, it was the best. Can I get on your Sauerkraut Donation list? Here is how I made it: boiled red potatoes until just barely tender, drained water, added hot Louisiana sausages, your sauerkraut, a bit of brown sugar and a sliced apple. To die for. Our stomachs are bulging, we can barely move, but Bob and I are happy campers—we ate the whole thing.

Thank you for sharing your wonderful sauerkraut with us—I need to return your jar. See you next Wednesday—I’m sure I will still be raving.

Hugs,
Gail

Once I get the recipe down and the technique corrected, I will post the results here. Until then, think Pork Mit Kraut! Cheers.

Boise Sourdough Starter, Part I

09 Friday Apr 2010

Posted by Bob and Robin in Bread, Food Prep, Sourdough

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I have been asked to keep everyone informed about the progress of the Sourdough Starter I am making. The technique comes from the Boudin Bakery in San Francisco. Just the technique – not the starter. The photo here is at Step #4 in the directions as listed below. It looks like I will not be able to start any bread until 12 or 13 April. Maybe I’ll call it Celebration Sourdough Starter in honor of 15 April. You know, “Read it and weep.” At anyrate, here is the proceedure as of now. Enjoy!

Boise Sourdough Starter
or
Celebration Sourdough Starter

Directions: (See Notes Below)
1. (04/06/10) In a mound of flour, make a small well and add the water.
2. Slowly mix the flour and the water, bringing more flour into the center of the well. The mixture will gradually transform from a paste into a small piece of dough.
3. Knead this small piece of dough with your fingers for about 5–8 minutes, until it becomes springy.
4. (04/09/10) Place the dough in a small bowl, cover it with a damp towel, and let it sit in a warm spot for 2 or 3 days.
5. When it’s ready, the dough will be moist, wrinkled, and crusty. If you pull off a piece of the crust, you’ll find tiny bubbles and smell a sweet aroma.
6. Throw away any hardened crust. “Refresh” the remaining piece by mixing it with twice the original amount of flour and enough water to make a firm dough. Set aside as before.
7. (04/11/10) After 1 or 2 days the starter will have a new, fresh look. Remove any dried dough and mix with about 1 cup of flour. (See photo on Left Above)
8. Once again, cover the bowl with a damp cloth and leave it in a warm place for another 8–12 hours.
9. When the starter is ready, it will appear fully risen, and a small indentation made with a finger won’t spring back.

Notes:
1. The (Dates) represent the days that I performed the stated tasks.
2. Step #4 (04/09/10). I added 1 c King Arthur flour and 10 T of water. I placed the starter in a bowl and covered it with a warm, damp towel.
3. This starter is the same starter that Boudin Bakery in San Francisco uses. They have had theirs since 1849.

Maharajah’s Mince Lamb Curry (Bhēra karī), Part II

09 Friday Apr 2010

Posted by Bob and Robin in Indian Cooking, Interesting Information, Lamb, Things To Do

≈ Leave a comment

Here are our completed dishes for Maharajah’s Mince Lamb Curry (Bhēra karī). If you look for the post, by the same name, earlier today, you will find the recipe.
I was amazed at how delicious this is! The spices were balenced just right. I did adjust them somewhat, and I did add the Red Pepper Flakes.

I also used fresh garlic and ginger and raised that amount a little. The Curry powder and the Garam Masala were also increased. I think this is an awesome dish and I will make it again.

The top photo is the meal cooking. The bottom photo is the meal plated. I used a good Basmati rice. Cheers and if you make this, please let us know how it came out for you and how you liked it.