Red Snapper

 1 whole red snapper (have fishmonger gut it, cut the gills out and scale it)

4 -5 sprigs of fresh dill

1 lemon sliced thinly

Salt

Pepper

Cayenne pepper

Butter

Preheat an oven to 425 degrees.

Butter large sheet of aluminum foil, large enough to hold fish.

Salt the fish all over. Also, season with pepper and cayenne.

Stuff the fish with the dill.

Place lemon slices on fish. 

Cover loosely with the aluminum foil – want a vent to release the steam.

Place on a large baking sheet and roast for about 45 minutes until fish easily falls away from the bone. 

Porterhouse Steak - Bobby Flay style

Want an aged steak, 1½ to 2 inches, room temperature.

Salt it aggressively on both sides. With a steak this thick, a little salt sprinkled on the outside won’t do it—make it rain.

Get a skillet really hot over medium-high heat. Add a dash of a neutral oil to get things going. Place steak in pan. Don’t touch it. After about 4 minutes, when it’s got a beautiful brown crust, move it to a cutting board, crust side up.

Cut the steak off the bone in two pieces—the strip on one side, the filet on the other. Cut straight down into thick slices perpendicular to the bone.

Place the bone back in the hot pan, and reassemble the sliced meat alongside it, crust side up. Top the steak with a few fat pats of butter and duck fat.

Heat broiler and place the pan underneath. Broil till sizzling and gorgeous and a perfect medium-rare, 4–6 minutes. (Since the steak is already sliced, you can peek to check doneness.)

Serve directly from the pan, and spoon the buttery pan sauces over each portion.

Grilled Oysters

Sauce

For every stick of butter, clarified, enough for 12 – 15 oysters, place the following along with the clarified butter into the Vitamix. Once blended, pour into squeeze bottle.

Pinch of salt

Teaspoon of ground black pepper

Tablespoon of minced garlic

4 Tablespoons Pecorino Romano

Pinch of cayenne

Pinch of white pepper

Spritz of Lemon Juice

About a ½ teaspoon of dried basil

Also have on hand

Pecorino Romano to finish (1 Tablespoon on each oyster)

Dried basil to sprinkle on each oyster (pinch per oyster)

Minced Italian Parsley for garnish

Scrub the oysters to get all the mud and grit off the shells.

 

Very hot grill.

Cook oysters in own juices for two minutes to open up and liquid bubbles and edges of oysters curl.

 

Remove oyster tops if you have not already shucked.

 Fill up the shell with the sauce.

 

When sauce starts to bubble and sizzle, sprinkle about 1 Tablespoon of Pecorino Romano on top.

Let oysters cook until sauce on the edges of the shells get brown.

Garnish with minced parsley.

Roasted Cauliflower with Olives

Preheat oven to 450 F.

Cut a head of cauliflower into slices about 3/4 inches thick.

Place cauliflower slices in a single layer on a roasting pan. Be sure that there is good space between them.

Drizzle both sides of the cauliflower with olive oil and season with salt and fresh ground black pepper. Use a fair amount of pepper, but hold back a wee bit on the salt since the olives are salty.

Roast cauliflower in oven for a total of 25 – 30 minutes, turning after the first 15 minutes. Roast until it is the way you like it.

While the cauliflower roasts, mash 1/2 tsp. minced garlic with some salt.

Dice up 1/4 cup Kalamata olives into fairly small pieces.

Add about 2 Tablespoons lemon juice to the garlic/salt, then whisk in 2 Tablespoons olive oil, whisking until the vinaigrette is emulsified. (Try other acids as well. I used a champagne vinegar. The amount of acid should be adjusted based on your personal taste.)

Then mix in the chopped olives and let dressing sit so the flavors blend while the cauliflower finishes roasting.

When the cauliflower is done roasting, you may trim out the core section of the cauliflower (or leave it – your preference) and place on serving dish. Spoon the olive/garlic vinaigrette over the cauliflower pieces and serve hot.

Monkfish, peppers and an onion

A friend of ours, Lonnie, told me about a seafood market that I had to check out. Sure enough, they had monkfish! Thanks, Lonnie!

What you will need:

A bunch of mixed peppers (I don’t use green)

1 onion

Some oil or clarified butter or both

1 tsp of so of mixed herbs

4 or so cloves of garlic, pureed

Salt

Fresh pepper

A monkfish tail

More salt and pepper

Flour for dredging

More oil or clarified butter or both

1 cup of dry white wine

1 cup of chicken stock

Wash, remove the seeds, etc. the peppers and cut into very fine long thin slices.

Peel the onion, cut it in half and cut into thin slices.

Strip the skin off the monkfish.

 

Take the long bone out by cutting closely against each side of it.

Remove any grey membrane from the monkfish. Want nice, white, firm flesh.

Cut the fish into good size chunks.

Heat up the frying pan over medium high heat, add some oil/clarified butter to coat the pan, when ready add the veggies and cook for 4 minutes. Add the mixed herbs, add the garlic. Total cook time should be about 5 minutes with the garlic getting about 30 seconds. Then, empty the veggies into a bowl.

Now it is time to do a preliminary sautéing of the fish!

Add some more oil/clarified butter to the hot pan. While that is warming, season all the chunks of fish on all sides with salt and pepper then dredge them in the flour and shake off the excess.

When the oil/butter is very hot but not smoking, add the fish in one layer. Sauté for 2 minutes, turn and sauté for 2 minutes on the other side. Want to stiffen the fish, not necessarily brown it.

Spread the cooked vegetables over the fish.

 

Pour in the wine and broth. Should be enough to come halfway up the fish.

Cover and simmer for 10 minutes.

Fish is done when it has turned from springy to gently soft. If it overcooks it will fall apart.

Arrange fish and veggies on a hot platter and cover. Then boil down the liquid in the pan until syrupy or there abouts and pour this over the fish.

Steaks

Dry-Aging at Home
Yes, it can be done! 

Wrap steaks in cheesecloth and store them on a rack on a tray in the back of the fridge for four days to give them a meatier flavor and a tender texture.

Home refrigerators are less humid than the commercial units used for dry-aging. Wrapping the steaks in cheesecloth allow air to pass through while also preventing excessive dehydration.


How to Warm Steaks Before Cooking
Warm steaks in a 275 degree oven for 20 to 30 minutes (until internal temperature is 95 degrees) before searing. Place steak(s) on rack on baking sheet and place in oven. Time will depend on thickness. Excess moisture will evaporate and the steaks will brown in half the time.

Season steaks(s) after warming.

When a 40 degree steak is placed in a 400 degree skillet, the temperature of the pan drops significantly. Not good.

When They are Done!
Steaks are going to continue to cook after pulled from the oven. Take them out when the internal temperature is:

Rare: 110 degrees
Medium rare: 115 degrees

Let the steaks rest for at least 10 minutes before serving.


For Very Thick Steaks
If the steak is 2" thick or greater, place the seasoned steak on a rack on a rimmed sheet pan in a 275 degree oven until desired temperature. Let steak rest. Then sear for one minute on each side. Also sear the edge.

Carrot Ginger Soup

1/2 lb (about 4 medium) carrots cut in chunks

1 shallot, peeled and cut in chunks

4 cloves garlic, peeled and pressed

2 Tablespoons oil

½ teaspoon salt

Pepper

1 Tablespoon fresh ginger, peeled and chopped

2 cups chicken broth

Place carrots, onion in Vitamix, secure lid.

 

Turn Vitamix on, slowly increase to 4/5. Blend 10 seconds until chopped.

Heat oil, sauté chopped veggies until onion is translucent and carrot is tender. Add salt and minced garlic and pepper – cook for 30 seconds.

Place all in Vitamix, with ginger and broth.

Turn it on, go from 1 to 10, then on high, for 3 -4 minutes