Moules-Frites (Mussels and Sweet Potato Fries)

This week’s theme was Belgian food, so how could I not cook mussels? They’re cheap, simple to prepare and delicious. I served them with sweet potato fries made in the oven, which I left in there for about a minute or two too long. Save for a few which didn't make it to my plate they didn't end up too burnt.

If you’re not familiar with mussels, make sure that when you buy them you use them the same day. Ideally you should cook them right when you get home from the store, but if you need to keep them, remove them from the sack the came in and place in a large bowl covered with a damp towel, then place in the fridge. Also, check for any dead mussels when you do so – If a mussel is open, run it under a bit of cold water and give it a few taps; if it closes back up it’s fine, if it stays open it’s dead, and should not be eaten.

  

Mussels:

2 lb. mussels

1 large shallot, diced

2 cloves garlic, diced

½ cup white wine

2/3 cup heavy cream

Parsley

Lemon slices

Salt and pepper

Olive oil

Bread for dipping

Fries: follow this previous post

For the mussels:

Soak the mussels in cold water for 10 minutes. Scrub the mussels one by one with a brush, moving them to a clean bowl. If any are open, give them a tap – if they close up they’re fine, but if they stay open they are dead and should be discarded.

Preheat a pot over medium. Add in olive oil, then the diced shallot and garlic. Cook for about 3 minutes, stirring with a wooden spoon, until softened. Add the white wine and heavy cream and bring to a boil.

Dump in the mussels, reduce the heat to low and put a lid on the pot. Steam for 5 minutes, or until the mussels have opened up.

Serve in a bowl topped with parsley, lemon slices, and plenty of bread to soak up that delicious cooking liquid.

Sweet Potato and Tomatillo Soup

I didn’t know there was such a thing as white sweet potatoes until I saw them at the market this weekend, and I’m a sucker for novel vegetables. This can easily be made vegetarian/vegan by using vegetable stock, however since I made chicken stock this weekend that’s what I went with.

Recipe:

2 large white sweet potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped

½ large white onion, diced

1 clove garlic, diced

2 poblano peppers, diced

4 cups chicken stock

6 tomatillos, husks removed, halved

3 tomatoes, stems removed and halved

2 teaspoons cumin

1 teaspoon ground coriander

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon ground thyme

1 teaspoon black pepper

For garnish:

Cilantro

Jalapeno slices

Diced shallots

Preheat your oven to 450°F.

In a dutch oven or other decent sized pot, heat over medium and add some oil. Add the onion, garlic and poblano peppers and sweat for about 5 minutes. Add the stock and the sweet potatoes, then add the salt and spices and taste to adjust. Cover the pot and bring to a simmer, cooking for 20 minutes or so, until the potatoes have softened.

Meanwhile, place the halved tomatoes and tomatillos on a baking sheet (cut side down) lined with foil and sprayed with cooking oil. Place in the oven and roast for 20 minutes. The tomatillos will have some color on them. Remove from the oven, take the skins off the tomatoes, and add to a blender.

When the potatoes have softened add them to the blender as well. Blend smooth and adjust seasoning. Garnish with cilantro, jalapeno pepper slices and shallots.

Shrimp Po Boys

Seafood po boys are just ridiculously delicious, so I decided I had to make one. The bread typically used has a slightly softer crust than the baguette I used, but being far away from Louisiana I had to make do with what I had (and with a seriously good baguette from a local bakery, I can’t complain too much). Remoulade adapted from: http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/remoulade_sauce/

Shrimp: (for 1 sandwich)

6-8 jumbo shrimp

1 cup water

3 tbsp salt

1 tbsp sugar

Flour

1 egg + 1 tbsp water

Panko Bread Crumbs

Canola/Vegetable Oil

I bought my shrimp whole, so the first step was to devein and deshell: hold the shrimp in your hand, belly side up with the tails facing your fingers and take a paring knife underneath the tail section and run it down the center of the shrimp. Peel back the shell, and remove the blue vein from the center of the shrimp.

Once your shrimp is prepped, mix 1 cup of water, 3 tbsp salt, and 1 tbsp of sugar in a bowl and add the shrimp. Brine for 20 minutes.

Set up a dredging station: 1 container with flour, 1 with a beaten egg + 1 tbsp of water, and 1 container with panko breadcrumbs.

Remove the shrimp from the brine and bread them by dredging first in the flour, then the egg wash, and then the panko. Repeat for remaining shrimp.

In a medium pan add enough canola oil to cover the shrimp. Heat the oil to 350°F. Add the shrimp and fry for 4 minutes. Remove to a paper towel lined plate.

Remoulade:

1 cup mayonnaise

3 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1 tbsp paprika

2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning

2 teaspoons pickle juice

1 tablespoon chopped pickes

2 teaspoons hot sauce

½ teaspoon garlic powder

Mix everything in a bowl. Makes approximately 1 ¼ cup.

To Finish:

Baguette

Butter Lettuce

Tomato slices

Fried Shrimp

Remoulade

Lemon slices (optional)

Cut the baguette in half and smear some remoulade on the bottom. Add lettuce, tomato and shrimp. Serve with lemon slices (optional).

"Anti-Vampire" Pot Roast

A few weeks back I made a one pot pot roast, so this time around I wanted to do something a little different. It bugs me when the vegetables in a braise get all mushy, so I decided to roast my veggies separately, sort of like Julie Child’s Beef Bourguignon. I kept some extra veggies for the braising pot to add flavor, but discarded them after they did their job.

Anti-Vampire Pot Roast

3 lbs chuck roast

3 cloves garlic, sliced into thin pieces

1 cup beer

1 quart beef stock

2 sprigs fresh rosemary

3 sprigs fresh thyme

2 bay leaves

4 carrots, divided

1 leek, halved

1 onion, sliced

3 cloves garlic

10 shallots

1 lb. mushrooms

1 cup frozen peas

3 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons flour

Olive oil

Salt

Pepper

Egg noodles

Poke holes into your roast with a paring knife and insert the slices of garlic. Salt the meat, and brown in a dutch oven over medium high, about 4 minutes per side.

While that’s going on, slice the onion, halve the leek, remove the 3 cloves of garlic from its papery-sleeve and slice 2 carrots. Once the meat is browned, remove it and add these veggies to the pot and cook over medium for 5 to 7 minutes, until softened.

Add the beer to deglaze any stuck on bits and let the liquid cook down a little, for about 3 minutes. Add the meat back in along with the stock, rosemary, thyme and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover and cook for 2 to 2.5 hours.

Meanwhile, cut the remaining 2 carrots into pieces. Halve the shallots and cut up the mushrooms into chunks. Preheat your oven to 425°F. Toss the carrots with olive oil, salt and pepper and roast for 45 minutes, turning periodicaly. Toss the shallots and mushrooms with olive oil, salt and pepper and roast in the oven for 30 minutes, turning once or twice.

Once the meat has cooked, remove it from the pot, and pass the liquid through a strainer, discarding the vegetables.  Set the pot back on the stove and turn the temperature to medium. Melt 3 tablespoons of butter and add in the flour, whisking to form a roux. Cook the roux for 1 to 2 minutes, then add back in the reserved cooking liquid. Whisk and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, or to your desired consistency. Cut the meat up while the gravy cooks down and add it back in the pan. Add the peas to the gravy for 2 minutes to cook through. Serve the meat, gravy and vegetables over egg noodles.

Chocolate Fallen Souffle Cake

There’s no better cake than chocolate, and I just had to satisfy my sweet tooth today. The center of this cake will fall as it cools. You should allow it to completely cool before digging in, which I didn’t, which is why the piece looks a little runny at the end. There’s only a few ingredients, so be sure to get high-quality chocolate, or else the end product wont’ taste all the great. I used Ghiradelli 62% cacao. This recipe comes from the Staff Meals from Chanterelle.

Recipe:

1 lb. good quality chocolate

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

9 large eggs, separated

¾ cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar

Cocoa powder, for dusting the cake

Powdered sugar, for dusting the cake.

Preheat the oven to 300°F. Prepare a double broiler by placing a bowl on top of a simmering pot of water. Add the chocolate and butter, and stir as it melts. Once the mixture is almost completely melted, remove from heat and stir until the final bit melts.

In a large bowl, add the 9 egg yolks and ¾ cup sugar. Using an electric mixer, blend for 4 to 5 minutes, until the mixture falls in ribbons from the mixer blades.

In a separate bowl, add 9 egg whites and the remaining 1 tablespoon sugar. Beat with an electric mixer for 3 to 4 minutes, until the egg whites form soft peaks.

Gently Fold in 1/3 of the cooled chocolate mixture into the egg yolks. Fold in 1/3 of the egg whites (again, gently!). Repeat with the remaining chocolate and egg whites.

Once everything is incorporated, butter and flour a 9” springform pan. Carefully pour in the mixture and bake for 30 minutes, until the outside is set but the center of the cake is still jiggly. Let cool completely, then remove the side of the springform pan. Dust the cake with a layer of cocoa powder, then a layer of powdered sugar, then another layer of cocoa powder, and finally one last layer of powdered sugar.

Braised Rabbit with Dijon Mustard Sauce

I’ve never eaten rabbit before, so I figured what the hey. Turns out it tastes a lot like chicken. This is a simple enough braise, and would work well with chicken too. I’ve adapted this from the Staff Meals From Chanterelle cookbook. You’ll notice the side dishes are exactly the same as the poached snapper post I made, because leftovers.

Recipe:

1 rabbit

8 ounces crimini mushrooms, sliced

1 yellow onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, diced

1 cup white wine

3 cups chicken stock

4 sprigs Parsley

5 sprigs Thyme

2 Bay leaves

2.5 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons flour

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Salt and pepper       

Cut the rabbit into pieces – cut off the front legs (they come off pretty easy), then the back legs. You’ll want to pop the joints on those, like if you were taking the legs off a chicken. Chop the loin off from the rib cage, and chop off the bony part. Here’s what you’ll end up with:

Heat a dutch oven over medium high heat. Salt the rabbit pieces, and brown on both sides. Remove to a platter. Turn the heat down to medium, and add the mushrooms, onion and garlic. Cook until the mushrooms have released much of their liquid, 5 to 6 minutes. Add the wine, and reduce by half. Wrap the parsley, thyme, and bay leaves in a piece of cheese cloth, and use butcher’s twine to secure the ends so you have a little bundle.

Add the rabbit and the herb sachet back to the pot, along with the chicken stock. Bring to a simmer, cover, and simmer for 40 minutes, until the rabbit is cooked through.

Remove the rabbit to a platter. Turn the heat up to medium high to get the sauce at a boil. Knead the 2.5 tablespoons of butter and 2 tablespoons flour together in a bowl. Add to the sauce and stir to incorporate. Reduce for about 20 to 25 minutes, until the sauce thickens. Add the Dijon mustard, the lemon juice, and salt and pepper as needed. Add the rabbit back to the sauce to warm it back up.