Seared Wild Striped Bass with Tomato Sage “Fondue”
Recipe Courtesy: Chef Michel Nischan, 2016
Serves 6
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons roasted garlic cloves (4-5 cloves)
2 tablespoons sliced fresh sage
Sea salt
6 skin-on striped bass fillets (each about 6 ounces)
2 tablespoons grapeseed oil
2 tablespoons diced shallot
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
4 heirloom tomatoes, preferably 2 or 3 varieties (about 2 pounds), cored and sliced 1/4″ thick
2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2″ cubes
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup fresh herb leaves, such as chervil, parsley, or young carrot tops
Instructions:
Smash the garlic, sage, and 1/2teaspoon of salt together using a mortar and pestle or the broad side of a knife on a cutting board until combined and fragrant.
Season the fillets with sea salt and then heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, add the grapeseed oil and immediately add the fillets, skin side down. Lightly press each fillet to ensure that the skin makes contact with the hot pan. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes, or until the flesh nearest the bottom of the pan turns white and the skin browns.
Use a thin spatula to turn the fillets over. Add the shallot and softened butter to one side of the pan while tilting the pan toward you slightly. The butter will immediately melt and bubble and collect with the shallot in the nook of the pan closest to you. Use a large spoon to baste the fillets with the butter and shallot. Continue basting for about 2 minutes, lifting the fillets gently so that the butter seeps under them. Transfer the fillets to a warm, ovenproof platter. Check the doneness of the fillets. If they need a little more cooking, put the platter in a 250°F oven for 2 to 3 minutes. The bass should be cooked through but not overcooked.
Reduce the heat to medium-low. Add the tomato slices, cold butter, and garlic-sage paste. Cook at a simmer for 4 to 5 minutes, gently moving the ingredients around the pan with a wooden spoon to distribute the butter and garlic paste evenly, until the sauce comes together as a thickened mixture.
To serve, spoon the fondue on a warm serving platter and set the fillets on top of the fondue. Drizzle with olive oil for serving. Garnish with the herbs.
Tomato Rice Soup with Braised Beef Shanks
Recipe Courtesy: Chef Michel Nischan, 2016
Serves 8
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons grapeseed oil
2 bone-in beef shank slices, each 12 ounces and about 1″ thick
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 pound cubed beef stew meat, such as shoulder or blade roast
2-3 celery ribs, cut into 1/4″-1/2″-thick slices
1-2 large carrots, peeled and cut into about 1/4″-1/2″-thick slices
1 onion, diced
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 quart beef or chicken stock
1 fresh bay leaf
1 quart tomato juice
1/2 cup brown rice
11/2 cups water
1 cup milk or sour cream, at room temperature
Instructions:
Heat the oil in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot enough to ripple, season the beef shanks on both sides with salt and pepper, and sear for about 6 minutes on each side, or until nicely browned. Remove the shanks from the pot and set aside, covered, to keep warm.
Season the stew meat with salt and pepper and cook, stirring, for about 6 minutes, or until well browned all over. Remove the meat from the pot and set aside.
Add the celery and carrots to the pot, reduce the heat to medium, and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the vegetables are lightly browned and have released some liquid. Add the onion and garlic and cook for 3 to 4 minutes longer, or until lightly browned.
Return the stew meat and beef shanks to the pot. Add the stock and bay leaf, bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, partially cover, reduce the heat to low, and simmer gently for 11/2 hours. Turn the heat off beneath the pot.
Lift the shanks from the pot and transfer to a cutting board. Cut the meat off the bone into bite-size pieces, trimming any fat or gristle. Return the meat and marrow bones to the pot.
Add the tomato juice. Return to a simmer over medium-high heat and cook gently for 30 minutes. Add the rice and water and cook over medium heat for 45 to 55 minutes, or until the rice is cooked through and tender.
Season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir in the milk until well blended. Serve immediately.
La Vida Buena
Recipe Courtesy: Steve Olson, 2016
Del Maguey Single Village Mezcal pays homage to the Negroni.
Del Maguey Vida Mezcal, Carpano Antica Formula, Aperol, Orange Bitters, orange peel.
La Vida Buena recipe
1 ½ ounces Del Maguey Single Village Mezcal Vida
¾ ounce Carpano Antica Formula
¾ ounce Aperol
3 dashes Regan’s orange bitters
Stir over kold draft ice. Strain into rocks glass over BFIC. Garnish with orange peel.
Sherry Cobbler
Recipe Courtesy: Steve Olson, 2016
Believed to be the most popular drink from the 1830’s to 1860’s, served with small cubes (cobbles) hence the cocktail’s name “Cobbler”. A new invention at the time was the straw, which allowed you to sip the cocktail from below the ice cobbles.
Dry Sack Medium Dry Sherry, Pedro Ximenez, Gran Duque d’Alba Brandy de Jerez strawberries, blackberries, raspberries.
Sherry Cobbler recipe
2 ½ ounces Dry Sack Medium Dry Amontillado
¾ ounce W&H Collection Pedro Ximenez
¼ ounce Gran Duque d’Alba Brandy de Jerez
1 strawberry
1 blackberry
1 raspberry
½ ounce fresh lemon juice
¼ ounce demarara syrup
Muddle berries with fresh lemon juice in a mixing glass and add rest of ingredients. Shake with ice and strain over ice cobbles into a rocks glass. Garnish with a blackberry and raspberry.
