Mission: Cook! (31 page)
This dish takes a little more planning due to the production of the sauce, so we will begin there. This can also be done the day before and, in fact, the sauce benefits from sitting overnight in the refrigerator.
You are making your own stock for the sauce. This can be done the day before or, if you do not have the time to make a stock, use a good bouillon cube. However, if you have made your own stock before, you know that there is nothing quite like the results. If you have not done so before, I encourage you to challenge yourself to achieve this skill.
To
make the sauce, in a stockpot, heat the oil. Add the thyme, garlic, and red onions, and sauté until tender.
Deglaze the pot with 2 cups of chardonnay and reduce until the liquid is almost all gone.
Add the duck bones and water to form a stock. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat, cooking for a further 3 hours. The liquid needs to be reduced by half of what you started with to intensify the flavor.
Strain the liquid through a fine strainer or cheesecloth and reserve.
In a new saucepan, add the remainder of the wine, the star anise, and the peppercorns, and cook until it also is reduced by half.
Then combine the two liquids together (the stock liquid plus the wine reduction), and again reduce this combination by half. Strain and refrigerate before reheating just before serving (or finish as indicated below, if serving it immediately).
To finish this sauce,
just before serving
add about 3 ounces of butter to the heated sauce and immediately remove from the heat, continuing to whisk.
To prepare the rub, place a large sauté pan or wok on medium to mediumhigh heat, add the salt and peppercorns, and roast
slowly,
stirring constantly. (If the peppercorns pop out of the pan, the heat is too high.) Roast slowly until the mixture begins to smoke. This should take 15 to 20 minutes. If you don't see wisps of smoke at the 18-minute mark, then turn up the heat a bit.
Allow the mixture to cool, then blend this mixture in a coffee grinder until thoroughly combined. Rub into the chicken breasts, cover, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. However, the longer the breasts are rubbed, the better the flavor, preferably 24 hours.
To prepare the salad and dressing, in a large bowl, combine the Brussels sprout leaves, hot pepper, and salt, and refrigerate.
In a small saucepan, mix together the peppercorn oil and garlic. Sauté for a couple of minutes, add the sugar and vinegar until the sugar dissolves, then allow to cool. Pour this mixture over the refrigerated Brussels sprout leaves and refrigerate for a couple of hours.
To make the basting liquid, in a small saucepan, heat the oil, add the shallots, and sauté until brown, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the soy sauce, vinegar, and sesame oil. Set aside to have ready for the roasting pan for the chicken.
To smoke the chicken, first, in a mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, rice, and tea leaves.
Prepare to make a small stovetop smoker with a wire rack:
1. Line the bottom of your smoking vessel with heavy-duty aluminum foil on which you will put the smoking mixture. (This is important because the mixture contains sugar, which, when melted, will make everything stick like glue to the surface.)
2. Spread the smoking mixture in the bottom of your smoker.
3. Put the wire rack into the smoker and assemble the rubbed chicken pieces on it. Ensure that the rack sits high enough in the smoking vessel to provide enough clearance for both the smoking mixture on the bottom
and
the chicken pieces, which will sit on the rack. (Remember, a lid will be put on the smoking vessel atop the chicken.)
4. Put on the domed lid, which must provide enough clearance for the chicken to fit on the rack and still be securely covered.
5. Cooking this dish will make your kitchen smell wonderful, but it's probably a good idea to turn on the fan in the range hood and possibly open the kitchen window in case you have a very sensitive smoke detector.
6. Turn up the heat to high for 5 minutes. Reduce the heat and smoke for an additional 10 minutes. (Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.)
7. Turn off the heat and leave the chicken for a further 10 minutes.
8. Remove the chicken from the smoker and set aside.
To finish the chicken, use tongs to put the smoked chicken pieces in a roasting pan and coat on both sides with the prepared basting sauce. You will be finishing the chicken in the oven at 350 degrees.
Remember, the turning can only be judged when you check the chicken. Ovens are calibrated differently from each other, and some chicken breasts are thicker than others.
Continue to baste as you check the chicken for doneness to your liking. (Our test cook left the chicken in her oven for an additional 50 minutes! But only you know your oven.)
PRESENTATION
Strain the Brussels sprout leaves from the liquid, and place on the center of the plate. (Please remember, these leaves are served chilled.) Top with the chicken breasts (or slice the breasts), cover with the finished sauce, and spread cilantro leaves on top.
Oh, yesâ¦bask in your sense of accomplishment.
A Note on Bones for Stock
In the event that you are unable to obtain bones for the chicken stock, buy wings, legs, and/or thighs (or use the necks you have stockpiled in the freezer from the roasters you have bought), and cook them down. Your butcher should accommodate your need for the bones, but in today's world some supermarket butchers are disinclined to provide individual attention for real cooks like you.
The local butcher of our home test cook for the Tea-Smoked Chicken recipe recently retired after nearly fifty years in the business. This neighborhood butcher had achieved nearly godlike status because of his helpful, knowledgeable, and friendly service. To a regular customer, he would have given the chicken or duck bones for the stock. This, of course, is nearly unheard-of today, and most customers would be willing to pay for the bones anyway. A message to all you entrepreneurs out there: real home cooks need real butchers and real fishmongers! There are plenty of real home cooks who really cook and who aspire for excellence. They need your services. Remember, in
Fiddler on the Roof,
Tevye made a match for his daughter with the village butcher so she would never be hungry. This wasn't because the would-be couple would be “eating up” the profits, but because a local butcher who treats customers like valued individuals can easily achieve a loyal following, which translates to a successful business. Andâ¦in the case of our cook's recently retired butcher, adoring fans. Future meat purveyors should follow his example.
SERVES
4
FOR THE CAULIFLOWER RISOTTO
2 large heads of cauliflower
Salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
FOR THE SAUCE AND PRAWNS
3
/
4
pounds medium heads-off prawns or other fresh shrimp, or 1 pound shrimp with heads on
2 tablespoons grapeseed oil
1 cup fish stock (fumet)
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 tablespoons chopped shallots
¼ cup dry white wine
1 sprig of fresh thyme
½ cup cold unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch pieces
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
FOR THE BLACK BASS
2 tablespoons olive oil
Four 4-ounce pieces black bass fillet, skin on
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, for garnish
This recipe takes a little patience, because the deconstructed cauliflower microflorets act as the risotto. And never underestimate the power of a good, well-made stock (or, in this case, fumet.)
Remove
and discard the outside leaves of the cauliflower, cut out the cores, and separate the heads into florets. Using your hands, break apart half of the large florets into the tiniest possible florets, or what we call “microflorets,” and set aside. Put the remaining large florets, about 4 cups, into a large saucepan with generously salted water to cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Lower the heat to maintain a lively simmer and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, or until tender. Drain and
reserve the liquid.
Let the cauliflower cool for a few minutes, then put 2 cups of the large florets and ½ cup of the reserved cooking liquid into a blender with the butter and puree until smooth. Transfer to a bowl and set aside. Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook only the tiny florets for about 1 minute, or until slightly tender but not mushy, and set aside.
Peel the prawns and set aside, reserving the shells and heads for the sauce. Heat 1 tablespoon of the grapeseed oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. To make the sauce, add the shells/heads and cook for about 2 minutes, or until they turn pink, then add the fumet. Simmer until the liquid has reduced by half. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, discarding the shells and reserving the liquid. Melt the 1 tablespoon unsalted butter over medium heat in the same skillet, add the shallots, and cook for 1 minute. Add the wine and thyme sprig, and the reduced fumet, and cook until reduced again by half. Decrease the heat to low and whisk in the ½ cup cut-up butter one piece at a time, adding each piece only after the previous one has melted. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a small bowl and season with salt and pepper. Set the bowl into a small saucepan of hot water to keep warm.
Clean the skillet and heat the remaining 1 tablespoon grapeseed oil over
medium-high heat. Add the prawns and cook, stirring frequently, for about 2 minutes, or until just pink. Set aside.
Heat the oil in a large skillet or sauté pan over high heat. Season the flesh side of the fish with salt and pepper. Put into the pan, skin side down, and cook for about 3 minutes, or until the skin has crisped. Using a spatula, turn the fish over and cook for 2 to 3 minutes more.
PRESENTATION
To serve, reheat the cauliflower cream (the pureed mixture) in a small saucepan, add the microflorets, and warm over low heat. Put a spoonful of this “risotto” in the center of 4 warm dinner plates and top with the fish. Spoon a ring of warm sauce around the fish and arrange the prawns in the sauce. Then drizzle a little more sauce over them and sprinkle the parsley over all.
A Note on Fumet
Fish stockâfumetâis required for the Pan-Roasted Black Bass with Cauliflower Risotto. There is nothing like the results obtained from making your own stock, fish or otherwise. Besides being a skill that proficient cooks should have, there is something almost spiritual about itâin the shamanic sense of wholeness. The use of the entire fish with little or no waste is admirable at the very leastâand can even be considered responsible. In your freezer, you can stockpile the shells of raw or cooked shellfish, and bones and trimmings from lean (not oily) fresh fish, all of which can be used to make your own fumet. (You can also use whole fish that's not too expensive.)
About 2 pounds of fish parts will yield approximately 2 cups of stock. Sauté a chopped onion and half a dozen parsley stems in some butter. Add a dash of salt, about a teaspoon of lemon juice, a cup or so of white wine, and enough cold water to cover the ingredients. Bring to a simmer and skim off the unwanted surface material. Simmer for a further 30 minutes to reduce by half and strain through a fine sieve. Store the labeled stock in the freezer in 1-cup increments for use as needed.
F
INALLY, FEED YOUR PASSION BY KEEPING SOCIETY WITH LIKE-MINDED
individuals. Seek out people you can who share your passion. If possible, meet the very best; get to know them. If you can't meet them, follow their exploits, read their theories, consider their work and opinions, and let them inform your own. I would like to take a moment to refer you to two of the best examples I know of professionals in the pursuit of excellence.
Michel Richard has achieved the status of legend in our field. A magnificent Frenchman who came to America as a baker and basically conquered the country, his impact on cuisine in the United States, and especially on California cuisine, which has become the seminal movement in American cooking since the early days of Chez Panisse, has been as profound as that of his countryman Lafayette on the art of political revolution. Still, he refuses to sit on his laurels, though he has earned enough to stuff an entire sofa. His restless mind needs to be fueled by constant experimentation. He still amazes me to this day with the cross-pollination he achieves between baking methods and cooking methods. He is able to isolate and employ suspension agents typically found only in baking to create textures and flavors in hot food that I am still not sure I completely understand. I love to visit his restaurants not only because I know that the food and hospitality will be of the very highest order but because I know I will always learn something. He is one of the most brilliant culinarians I have ever known. He never lets it get old.