Wasabi Foodies,
Here is your latest installment of Cooking with Soja. I realize that there was only one prior installment about a year ago, but whatevs, I didn't have a computer before. So, a couple of days ago, I "entertained" the Stephens in my Julia Child-era kitchen, which says nothing about my skills or lack thereof as a cook, as it does about the age and state of my 1960s kitchen. These are the breaks when you live in an area that doesn't ever seem to be affected by the housing depression the rest of the country is suffering from, thereby precluding my ability to actually purchase a house with a useable kitchen. I'd even take something circa 1985. I don't need Viking and Subzero...just something newer than I am....I digress.
Here is our lovely menu from Tuesday night that everyone seemed to enjoy. I put my own take on a Food and Wine 2006 recipe called Salmon with Leek Fondue. We had a side of rice pilaf and some sauteed squash. Here's what I did to serve 3-4 people:
Buy four nice filets of salmon. I normally just hit up Whole Foods for my fishticles but Mrs. Stephens advised me of a fish market right off 395 in Alexandria called Slavin and Sons Market. Do not be put off by the aquarium smells when you walk in; they have tons of fresh and frozen fish that do not smell once you get them home and cook them up. I purchased four filets of Wild Alaskan Salmon. Do not faint when when you go to pay- its worth it!
Season the salmon with salt and pepper, brush with olive oil and broil four inches from the heating element for 10-11 minutes. Done.
While the salmons are broiling, make the leek Fondue. Here's what you'll need:
2 leeks
1 onion
2 garlic cloves diced
Saute everything in a large skillet until everything is very soft- about ten minutes. Sprinkle two tablespoons of flour on the sauteeing veggies. Cook for 2-3 minutes, add 1.25 cups of chicken stock and simmer until it gets noticeably thicker. Transfer to a blender and puree. Return the puree to the skillet and add 1/3 cup of half and half or whole milk or if you are feeling too thin or your thighs could use some cellulite, heavy cream. Stir it all up and season to taste. Keep warm on the back burner.
Make the rice: Dry roast some pine nuts on the stove top- about a handful is good for a cup of rice. It takes about 5-8 minutes to get them nice and dark. Empty toasted nuts into a bowl and set aside. In the same pot, saute some onions and a piece of garlic with some butter for five minutes or so. Then, add the 1 cup of rice and toast the grains for about 2 minutes. Dump 2 cups of chicken stock and the pine nuts into the pot, bring to a boil and cover, then turn the heat down to low and simmer for 16 minutes. Once it was finished cooking, I dumped some edamame in the pot, but you don't have to.
Saute the Squish. I had some yellow squash but you can use anything you can find. Like eggplant or zucchini or butternut. Whatevs, this is not Gordon Ramsey's kitchen holmes. So just take some panchetta or bacon and get it crispy in the pan, add the squash and about one small diced onion and just cook it down until its really soft- about 15 minutes.
Now you are ready to eat: Pour the leek fondue over the salmon, get yourself some squish and some rice and a big glass of vino and have fun. I like to get myself an additional big glass of vino during the cooking process and so should you.
Here is a picture of the French Quarter in New Orleans. Because this is a food blog, I mention this because there are alot of great places to get delicious meals, and because I was there for a month last month, here's a pic from my hotel room. I enjoyed a similar meal as this post in New Orleans at Emeril's NOLA restaurant in the French Quarter. This is not a town conducive to losing weight or eating healthy or not drinking. My next posts may be about eating hay and soy and wheatgrass and "shakes" made of lemon juice and cayenne pepper. yum.
