5 tsp. salt
Olive oil
Season the shrimp with the chili flakes, star anise, and salt. Sauté in a smoking-hot pan with a small amount of olive oil until just cooked.
Brown Butter Ginger Vinaigrette
2/4 cup butter
1 tbsp. ginger, brunoise (small dice)
2 tbsp. shallots, brunoise (small dice)
1 tbsp. rice wine vinegar
1 tbsp. lime juice
2 tbsp. soy sauce
Cook butter in a pot until the milk solids turn dark brown. Combine all of the other ingredients in a bowl and whisk in the cooked butter. Be sure to include all of the milk solids with the butter. Reserve warm.
Butternut Squash Puree
Butternut squash, halved and seeded
Salt
White pepper
Olive oil
2 tbsp. butter
Rub the butternut squash with salt, pepper, and olive oil. Cover with foil and roast on a sheet tray at 350° until tender. Scoop out the cooked squash. While hot, puree the squash in a blender until completely smooth. When ready to serve, combine 1 cup of the butternut squash puree with the butter. Work with a rubber spatula in a pot until combined. Adjust seasoning with salt.
To Serve
Arugula, wild lettuce mix, or both
Red radish, julienne
Lay down a line of butternut squash puree on a plate, and then set the seared shrimp on top. Combine the arugula or lettuce with a small amount of radish julienne, lightly dress with the warm brown-butter vinaigrette, and place in a tight pile right next to the shrimp on the plate.
Butter-Poached Lobster with Yuzu Pesto Tagliatelle, Honshimeji Mushrooms, and Shiso
Erik Battes
Serves 4-6
Lobster
1 half-pound lobster per person, alive
Salt
Cayenne
Butter
Remove the lobster tails, claws, and knuckles while lobsters are still alive. In a large pot, boil water and season with salt until it tastes like the ocean. Add the lobster tails and cook for 2½ minutes and immediately put into ice water to cool. Add the claws and knuckles, cook for 9 minutes, and put into the ice water as well. Once cool, crack open the shells and remove the intact lobster meat. It should be 75 percent cooked. Season with salt and cayenne pepper, and put into a sauté pan with ½“ of melted butter. Cook in a 200° oven for 8 minutes or until completely opaque.
Yuzu Pesto
1/4 cup yuzu juice (available in most Asian markests)
or lemon juice
cup pine muts, toasted
4 cloves garlic
1/4 tsp. dry chili flakes
1/2 cup olive oil
1 1/2 tsp. salt
Combine all in a food processor and process until the mixture is mostly smooth but still contains some texture.
Shiso Puree
15 shiso (Japanese mint) leaves, or mint or basil leaves
1/2 cup olive oil
1 tsp. salt
Cook the shiso, mint, or basil leaves in a pot of rapidly boiling water for 45 seconds. Remove from the pot and immediately put into ice water. Remove from the water and squeeze as much moisture as you can out of the shiso leaves. Combine the shiso with the olive oil and salt and puree in a blender on high until the mixture is smooth. Chill immediately.
Mushrooms
1 cup honsbilmeji musbrooms (or other mushrooms such as trumpet, clamshell, oyster, beech, or cremini), cleaned and bases trimmed
tbsp. shallots, brunoise (small dice)
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. water Salt White pepper
Combine all in a small pot and cook covered over medium heat until the mushrooms are tender.
To Serve
1-1½ lbs. cooked tagliatelle (or any other long pasta) Grated Parmesan cheese
Toss the pasta with yuzu pesto and the cooked mushrooms, and place in a serving bowl. Top lightly with some shiso puree and Parmesan. Serve the lobster on top of the pasta.
Sauted Red Snapper with Spanish Lomo, Pickled Baby Bell Peppers, and Fennel
Erik Battes
Serves 4
Snapper
4 6-oz. portions of American red snapper, skin on
Salt
Espelette or cayenne pepper, ground
Grapeseed oil
1 tbsp. butter, unsalted
1 sprig of fresh thyme
Season the snapper liberally with salt on both sides. Season with Espelette or cayenne pepper to taste on the flesh side only. Score the skin side three times with a sharp knife. Heat a pan with ⅛ “ of grapeseed oil over high heat until it has just begun to smoke. Place fish skin side down and press down immediately with a spatula until the skin relaxes and sits completely flat. Turn down the temperature to medium, and cook until the fish is 85 percent done. Add a tablespoon of butter and a sprig of thyme to the pan, and baste the flesh side of the fish with a spoon until done.
Pickled Peppers
1 lb. orange and yellow bell peppers
Olive oil
Salt
White pepper
6 oz. Japanese rice vinegar
6 tbsp. sugar
3 sprigs of fresh thyme
Remove the tops and seeds of the peppers and toss in olive oil and season with salt and white pepper. Roast in a 375° oven until the skin starts to separate from the flesh of the pepper. Do not overcook. Place in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap to steam until cool. Peel the skins off of the peppers and cut into 1” dice.
Combine the vinegar, sugar, and thyme in a small pot and bring to a boil. Pour the vinegar mixture over the peppers and let marinate for at least 2 hours.
Fennel Puree
1 large fennel bulb, top and core removed
2 tbsp. butter
1 tsp.salt
Slice the fennel thinly and cook over low heat with the butter and salt. Once the fennel is completely tender and translucent, puree on high until smooth.
To Serve
2 oz. Spanish lomo (or chorizo), fine julienne
2 oz. of the pickled peppers
1/2 tsp. fresh thyme
1 tbsp. butter Espelette or cayenne pepper, grand
Sauté the lomo or chorizo in a dry pan until it is completely crispy and rendered. Do not drain the fat. Add the pickled peppers, thyme, and butter, and cook until glazed. Season lightly to taste with Espelette or cayenne.
Place 1½ ounces of hot fennel puree on a plate, place the cooked fish on top, and finish with a spoonful of the glazed pickled peppers.
Crab and Corn Fritters with Lemon- Cilantro Aioli
Chef Bill Park
Manchester, New Hampshire
Makes 12 fritters
Fritters
1/2 tbsp. butter, melted
6 ears corn
1/4 onion
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/3 cup milk
1 egg
lb, crab claw meat, fresh or canned Canola oil for frying
Mix all ingredients together and form into equal-size balls, roughly ¼ cup each. Heat a deep pan with about an inch of oil over medium-high heat. Cook the fritters until browned on all sides. Fry in batches so that you don’t overcrowd the pan. Set on paper towels.
Lemon-Cilantro Aioli
1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 tsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. lemon zest
2 tbsp. cilantro, chopped
1/4 tsp. white pepper
1/4 tsp. salt
Mix all ingredients together and serve with fritters.
Mascarpone and Limoncello Dessert
Dwayne Minier, Personal Chef
Boston, Massachusetts
www.minierculinary.com
Serves 4
8 ladyfinger cookies
1 cup mascarpone cheese
1 stp. lemon zest
2 tsp. limoncello (lemon liqueur)
1 tbsp. powdered suga
r
2 tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 cup raspherries
Roughly crumble 2 ladyfingers into each of 4 martini glasses and set aside. In a bowl, whisk together the mascarpone, lemon zest, limoncello, powdered sugar, and lemon juice until thoroughly combined.
Gently spoon cheese mixture on crumbled cookies and top with fresh raspberries.
1
You may also use an herb-flavored honey (rosemary or thyme) or you can drizzle a bit of truffle oil on regular honey.
Fed Up Page 24
