gravlax

Well, that’ll be the day, when you say goodbye

Yes, that’ll be the day, when you make me cry

You say you’re gonna leave, you know it’s a lie

Cause that’ll be the day when I die

“That’ll Be The Day” by Buddy Holly

Gravlax is a cured salmon dish that is most commonly found in the Scandinavian countries of Northern Europe.  While recipes differ, they usually have some combination of salmon, salt, sugar, and dill.  I got the inspiration for creating gravlax (and the recipe) from my February trip to the Culinary Institute of America.  The biggest obstacle for not creating this sooner was getting my hands on the Aquavit.  Aquavit is a Scandinavian liquor made from potatoes and seasoned with caraway, anise, dill, and coriander.  Be brave and try this recipe, most of the challenge is the waiting.  When you get to the flipping stage, I would suggest flipping in the morning after breakfast and the evening before bed time, which is roughly 12 hours, that way there will be no neglected salmon in your life.

Ingredients:

Cheesecloth
1 whole salmon fillet, pin bones removed (usually about 30 per large fillet)
¾ cup brown sugar
1 cup kosher salt
4 tablespoons Aquavit
Dill fronds as needed
2 lemons, zested
1 orange, zested
2 tablespoons caraway seeds, toasted and cracked

Directions:

1.    Lightly score skin of the fish about one inch apart
2.    Place a wire cooling rack inside a 9×13 pan, line the rack with enough cheesecloth that can be wrapped around the salmon
3.    Mix sugar, salt, caraway seeds, Aquavit, orange and lemon zest, place half of the mixture evenly on the cheesecloth into a shape just larger than the salmon
4.    Lay dill fronds on top of the salt mixture
5.    Place the salmon on top, flesh side down
6.    Cover the skin and exposed sides with the remaining salt mixture and more dill
7.    Fold the cheesecloth over the top to form a tight package, cover with plastic wrap
8.    Place at least 15 pounds of weights (large canned goods work well), refrigerate for 24 hours
9.    Unwrap the salmon from the cheesecloth, remove the wire rack and scrape any leftover salt mix/dill into the brine and rewrap the salmon into the cheesecloth
10.    Lay the wrapped salmon into the brine in the pan flesh side down, cover with plastic wrap and re-weight
11.    Refrigerate for three more days, flipping the fish every 12 hours
12.    Remove the salmon from the brine and rinse off any residual dill or brine with cool water
13.    Wrap the salmon tightly and refrigerate until ready to serve
14.    Salmon lasts up to a month or can be frozen

potato chips

She put nine hundred dollars on the fifth horse in the sixth race

I think its name is Chips Ahoy!

It came in six lengths ahead, we spent the whole next week getting high

At first i thought that she hit off some tip that she got from some other boy

We were overjoyed

“Chips Ahoy!” by The Hold Steady

The best thing about making your own potato chips is that you can control how cooked (or not) they are.  As you probably can tell, these do not look like the lightly fried chips you might remember from summer picnics, these are well done and have much more intense flavor.  I kept the chips pretty simple because it was my first attempt.  Obviously, the possibilities are limitless for creating your own special variations (I’m thinking cracked black pepper, chili powder and lime, etc.). It is of paramount importance that you season the chips immediately after they exit the oil bath.

A mandolin for slicing the chips and a spider for removing them from the hot oil is not necessary but does help immensely…

Ingredients:

Russet potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced with a mandolin (or very carefully with a knife)
Kosher salt
Vegetable oil

Directions:

1. In a medium pot, place in oil until it reaches about halfway up the side
2. Heat oil to about 375° F
3. Place in a layer of potatoes and cook to desired color (2-4 minutes)
4. Remove from oil and immediately sprinkle with salt

thanks michael

When you come near to me

I go away

What is not clear for me

I go away

What is not here for me

I go away, I go away, I go away

“When” by Vincent Gallo

These beautiful macarons were delivered courtesy of my good friend Michael Wolf.  Mike had recently ventured to Europe and went through the pain-in-the-ass process of bringing these back to the states and then mailing them to me.  While they were slightly crumbled, they still tasted wonderful.  I couldn’t imagine what these babies were like straight out of the boulangerie.

Thanks Mike, see you at Christmas!

red beans and rice

On the way back home we sang a song

But our throats were getting dry

Then we saw the man from across the road

With the sunshine in his eyes

Well he lived all alone in his own little home

With a great big gallon jar

There were bottles too, one for me and you

And he said hey there you are

“And It Stoned Me” by Van Morrison

Growing up, the cold weather favorite for my family was always chili.  The weather would start to really cool down in Wisconsin in late October/early November and my mom would whip up a huge pot of ground beef chili with loads of beans.  While chili still holds a large spot in my heart, red beans and rice now replaces all of my cold weather, belly-warming needs.  Don’t go nuts with the salt and hot sauce until the end, the simmering will concentrate the flavors and give you a stupid hot and salty steaming bowl of crap…nobody wants a steaming bowl of crap.

Ingredients:

Green bell pepper, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 ribs of celery, chopped
1 large red onion, chopped
2 cans red kidney beans
2 ½ cups chicken stock
1 cup long grain white rice
½ pound precooked andouille sausage cut into ¼-1/2” pieces
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon Franks Red Hot Sauce

Directions:

1.    Heat olive oil over medium high heat, sauté sausage until dark brown
2.    Add vegetables, sauté until tender
3.    Add kidney beans, salt, pepper, onion powder, hot sauce, simmer over low heat
4.    Meanwhile, start rice, bring stock to a boil in a separate small pot, add rice and butter, cover and cook for 20 minutes
5.    Add cooked rice to vegetable bean mixture
6.    Adjust seasonings if necessary

at the farmers market: peppers

Dear land from the giant speakers of all man

Time from the swollen mountain tops

The stolen sun thoughts the solar wind chimes

To ring the morning the morning up

O ring the morning the morning up

O I heard your voice in Dresden

And now it follows me everywhere

“I Heard Your Voice in Dresden” by Elvis Perkins

Some of my favorite blogs do peppers:

Beetses: Spicy Pork Goulash

Smitten Kitchen: Couscous and Feta-Stuffed Peppers

Closet Cooking: White Bean and Red Pepper Dip

house vinaigrette

My mom would give me twenty and say “stay out till dawn”

When her boyfriend was over and they wanted me gone

I would walk through the woods to the old graveyard

And roll my own Tops and think two kinds of thoughts

Are we high enough to clear these trees

I don’t know

“Pittsburgh” by Mason Jennings

This is my final recipe for chopped salad week…

When I chop up my salad on Sunday afternoon I also prepare a nice big jar of vinaigrette.  I love making my own salad dressing for a number of reasons.  First, it’s cheap, making a big jar of your own vinaigrette probably costs about seventy percent less than buying something from your local megamart.  Second, it’s better, you will never find a vinaigrette from the grocery store that tastes better than your own. Last, it can be as simple or complex as you want it to be, sometimes my vinaigrette may have four ingredients (including salt), sometimes it may have over ten (fresh or dried herbs, spices, champagne vinegar, molasses, Worcestershire, etc.), it all depends what you feel like doing.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup cider vinegar
3/4 cup olive oil
2 medium shallots, minced
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1/4 cup honey

Directions:

1. Place all of the ingredients in a large mason jar
2. Shake
3. Season with salt and pepper

cheese curds

All you gangsters and rude clowns

Who were shooting up the town

When you should have found someone to put the blame on

Though the fury’s hot and hard

I still see that cold graveyard

There’s a solitary stone that’s got your name on

“Complicated Shadows” by Elvis Costello

I miss Wisconsin cheese curds dearly. I miss the cheddar flavor, I miss the off-of-the-farm freshness, and I miss the squeakiness, oh how I miss the squeakiness.  My readers from Wisconsin know what I am talking about! Fresh Wisconsin cheese curds will actually squeak between your teeth when you bite into them.

My local cheese source is the Spring Hill Cheese Company a vendor from Petaluma that shows up, rain or shine, at the Temescal Farmers Market every Sunday.  These guys have all sorts of wonderful cheeses, spreads, and curds.  My favorite item is the spicy cheese curds, which are white curds that are coated with spicy peppers.  While these curds don’t squeak when I bite into them, they definitely have great flavor and are a great addition to my chopped salad.

I am also thinking they would be a great canidate for fried cheese curds…thoughts?

chopped salad

The only girl I’ve ever loved was born with roses in her eyes

But then they buried her alive one evening 1945

With just her sister at her side and only weeks before the guns

All came and rained on everyone now she’s a little boy in Spain

Playing pianos filled with flames on empty rings around the sun

All sing to say my dream has come

“Holland 1945″ by Neutral Milk Hotel

I had a spectacular chopped salad last month from the recently opened Marzano restaurant, which is less than a block away from my apartment. I liked the salad so much that I have been recreating it every week since I’ve had it.

I know what you’re thinking “salad, really???“. Yes, salad, and it kicked ass.

I usually cut up all of the vegetables and make the vinaigrette on Sunday and make salads throughout the week.  I keep the heartier “chopped” items in a separate bowl in the fridge and cut up the leaf lettuce as needed (this prevents it from getting limp).  All of the items should be about the same size, around 1/4 inch-ish squares (except the leaf lettuce and cheese).  I will be featuring my favorite item in the salad (spicy cheese curds) and my go-to vinaigrette in posts later this week. Marzano’s chopped salad was probably better than mine, I think it’s mainly because I don’t feel like cooking pancetta everytime I eat a salad…

Marzano’s Chopped Salad:

Corn, broccoli, fontina, crispy pancetta, radicchio, ice berg lettuce, hard boiled egg, and red wine vinaigrette ~ $11

My Chopped Salad:

Corn, broccoli, spicy cheese curds, red pepper, mushrooms, carrots, raddichio, leaf lettuce and house vinaigrette ~ Not $11

pickled jalapenos

The dancin’ in the valley, the moons the mirror ball

Blew open my mind now it’s an empty room

Swingin’ in the hammock, dogs are walkin’ cross the roof

I watch you braid your hair, you’re from another time

When the earth wasn’t so angry, and god was on our side

“Temazcal” by Monsters of Folk

They go well with nachos, tacos, hot dogs, and countless other bar cuisine.  If pickling stuff intimidates you, this would be a good place to start, you can literally complete pickling jalapenos using this recipe in under fifteen minutes.

Ingredients:

1 cup white vinegar
1 cup water
1 teaspoon salt
10 jalapenos, cut into 1/4 inch rings
1 small carrot, cut into 1/4 inch discs
2 garlic cloves, lightly crushed
2 bay leaves

Directions:

1. Place jalapenos, carrots, garlic, and bay leaves in a 1 pint canning jar
2. In a small pot, bring salt, vinegar, and water to a boil
3. Fill the jar to the brim with the warm liquid
4. Allow to cool before placing the lid on the jar
5. Keep in the refrigerator for at least a week before eating

at the farmers market: jalapenos

A kitten on fire

A baby in a blender

Both sound as sweet as a night of surrender

I know it ain’t easy but you do what you can

If your livin’ gets weezy you can follow this plan

“Into the Woods” by My Morning Jacket

Well, not really at the farmers market but from the front yard garden.  We had a bountiful harvest from our jalapeno plant this year, my only complaint was they were not very spicy. Anyone know why?

Some of my favorite blogs do jalapenos:

Beetses: Jambalaya

Closet Cooking: Cranberry Chutney

Food Loves Writing: Homemade Ketchup