THE AMAZING MICROWAVED EGG

THE AMAZING MICROWAVED EGG

Microwave an egg? It sounds like heresy, but actually it is a significant technological advance. Takes less than a minute from start to finish; end product is more fluffy than an omelet or scrambled egg; eliminates the need to dirty a pan; you cook and eat out of the same dish; does not require butter or oil if that is your preference (I accept that ‘no butter’ is heresy as well!).

I tried this method recently and have been so pleased that I use it regularly.

Give it a try.

HERE’S ALL YOU NEED:

·      One egg

·      Glass custard dish or small ramekin (ceramic baking dish)

HERE’S WHAT TO DO:

1.    Break egg and whip with fork (lightly or fully—I prefer lightly)

2.   20 to 30 seconds on high power

3.   Remove from microwave and stir once or twice

4.   15 to 20 seconds, until it starts to rise like a soufflé.

5.   Ready to serve

Two or three eggs makes it slightly more complex. Play with the timing and consider using medium power.

GRILLED ONIONS

Grilled onions                                                     

                                                                                    Prep time: 2 hour marinade

                                                                                    Cook time: 10 to 15 minutes

                                                                                    Serves: 4

How, you might ask, is grilled onions deserving of a recipe? Well, it is because I have had so many guests complement me, no, go insane over these onions that I figured more people should know about them. The grilling cooks all the eye-watering pungency out of the onions, and each bite is a warm, sweet, slightly crunchy trip to southern California. In the winter, one can use a broiler, but grilling is definitely the best way to go.

The inspiration for this recipe came from a wonderful Italian restaurant in Portland, Oregon, called Pazzo Ristorante, back in the 1980s when balsamic vinegar was starting become popular in a large way throughout North America. The restaurant still thrives in downtown Portland.

MUSIC: This dish is minimalistic. Let me introduce you to musical minimalism if you don’t already know it. Find Steve Reich’s Electric Counterpoint played by Pat Metheney. It is the perfect piece to lose your minimalism virginity. Equally as inspiring is John Adams’s four movement composition Shaker Loops.

           

HERE’S ALL YOU NEED:

1.    One or two large purple onions. Other types such as Spanish, or Walla Walla sweets also work, but the firm texture and tangy flavor of purple onions keeps me going back to them.

2.   Balsamic vinegar (bulk)

3.   Outdoor grill or broiler (or for the privileged, an indoor grill)

HERE’S WHAT TO DO:

·      Peel onions and slice into whole rounds, about ½ inch thick each.

·      Lay flat in a baking pan or cookie sheet and marinate for 2 hours in balsamic vinegar. You don’t have to completely cover in vinegar, but use liberally, and spoon onto the onions periodically during the two hours.

·      Cook on a medium-hot to hot grill until softened, turning once or more. Usually takes about 10 to 15 minutes. 

CADENZA: No salt or pepper is needed usually. Great with chicken or steak and other grilled vegetables, especially red peppers and eggplant. Great cold, in a sandwich the next day, or reheated.

GNOCCHI in creamy tomato sauce:

           Prep time: 10 minutes

           Cooking time: 30-40 minutes

           Serves 2 to 4

Gnocchi must be one of the ultimate comfort foods of all time: soft, sexy little bite-sized potato puff dumplings, firm enough to resist in your mouth, bland enough to absorb whatever sauce you put with them. Gnocchi are wonderful as a starter, side dish or main entrée.

Try this easy recipe. You won’t be sorry. It’s pronounced approximately: “Nyoki”

MUSIC: Listen to the song Calgary from the Bon Iver album BON IVER, and then the rest of the album. Gorgeous. It’s pronounced approximately ‘Bone Yverre’.

HERE’S ALL YOU NEED:

           

• Gnocchi: one package 500g, vacuum packed, or fresh            
• Shallots or yellow onion, finely chopped, ¼ Cup
• Garlic, ½ to 1 medium clove, finely chopped
• Grape or cherry tomatoes: approx 300 grams (10 oz) or about 30 tomatoes
• White wine: (vermouth, dry white, or sweet white), 1/3 to ½   Cup
• Heavy cream (from 18% to 35% fat), ½ Cup to 1 Cup
• Salt, pepper
• Pinch of sugar
• Olive oil: 3 TBSP
• Thyme (optional) small pinch
• Slivered basil leaves for garnish
• Parmesan cheese, grated, for garnish

HERE’S WHAT TO DO:

·        sautee tomatoes in olive oil for five minutes in a covered shallow sauce pan

·        add shallots, garlic, salt, thyme, pepper, sugar and cook, covered, stirring occasionally, until tomatoes are soft or broken and release some liquid. approx. 5 min.

·        While tomatoes cook, bring pot of water to boil for the gnocchi

·        Add wine to tomatoes and reduce, uncovered, to about 1/3 liquid

·        Salt the pot of water and add gnocchi: stir occasionally to prevent sticking on the bottom. Gnocchi are done when they float, about 2 to 5 minutes

·        Add cream to tomato mixture and bring to a medium boil.

·        Add more salt and pepper to taste

·        When gnocchi are done ladle them into the tomato mixture through a slotted spoon and reheat.

·        Mix gently and serve

·        Garnish with slivered fresh basil and parmesan cheese.

  

WINE: This dish goes well with a red or white. White Burgundy, Chablis or Chardonnay, or a Chianti or Rioja would do nicely. Avoid a really heavy red like a Shiraz. I would accept a nice red Bordeaux, especially if the gnocchi are served with an accent of rare rib eye on the side.

            

Papa di pomidoro (fried bread with tomatoes)        

                                                Prep time: 15 minutes

                                                Cook time: 15 minutes

                                                Serves: 4

My introduction to this dish was one of the most pleasurable I’ve ever experienced. It happened in the town of Colle val d’Elsa, in Tuscany, Italy, in the Piazza St. Agostino when I was there with my family. The small restaurant specialized in regional dishes, and this was one of several local dishes we absolutely loved.

We ordered it as a starter even though we didn’t know if it should be a starter or main course. Since then, I’ve made it many times as an accompaniment to a meat dish usually. Basically, it is an Italian version of stuffing, or served alone, an alternative to a soup course. It is one of the easiest to make in this collection of recipes, but the flavor is always pleasing. It is comfort food, through and through. Give it a try!

MUSIC: Do you like Hip-Hop? Eminem, anyone? Okay, forget that one for now. Bill Evans LIVE AT THE VILLAGE VANGUARD or his collaboration with Toots Thielemans, AFFINITY, while not very Italian, would work well here. Of course, Italian operatic arias by Puccini, preferably duets, would probably be best.

HERE’S ALL YOU NEED:

1. Italian bread or baguette, fresh or stale, about one and ½ quarts volume
2. Tomatoes, 2 large field or beefsteak
3. Olive oil, high quality, ½ to ¾ Cup
4. Garlic, 3 large cloves, chopped
5. Salt and pepper

HERE’S WHAT TO DO:

• Break the bread into pieces and chop further or put into a food processor to make pieces about the size of popped corn.
• Chop tomatoes to same size and mix with bread in a bowl, or add tomatoes to the food processor with the already processed bread. IMPORTANT: do not use too many tomatoes. The ratio of bread to tomatoes should be about 1 to 1 or 1 ½ to 1. You don’t want tomato sauce. The final mixture should be the consistency of a moist stuffing that goes in a turkey.
• Heat olive oil to medium in a large skillet and add the bread-tomato mixture and garlic.
• Cook, avoiding burning, to soften and heat fully, usually 10 minutes. You may add some more tomatoes, oil, or water if it is too dry.
• Add salt and pepper to taste
• Serve warm

CADENZA: I usually don’t top it off with parmesan cheese, but it wouldn’t hurt.

WINE: An Italian red wine (Valpolicella, Ripasso, Amarone) could elevate this dish into full entrée status. Otherwise, marry the wine to the main course.

About tomatoes: Ripening tomatoes has nothing to do with sunlight. In fact, they ripen best in the dark, at room temperature. A refrigerated tomato: Sad, sad, sad.

Chèvre chaud (French vinaigrette salad with melted aged goat cheese)

                                                            Prep time: 15 minutes

                                                            Cook time: 5 minutes

                                                            Serves: 2

           

I just returned from Provence (France), where goat cheese is a way of life. We enjoyed this salad while looking out on tall cypress trees and linear rows of lavender with purple just beginning to peek out from tight buds.

Chèvre chaud (which translates literally from the French, to hot goat cheese), is a salad, best served as a starter before dinner, or as a light lunch. This salad is one my family’s all time favorites. The inspiration comes from David Simpson and Noёlle Spieth, friends, gourmet cooks, and musicians from Paris who first made it for us (with unpasteurized cheese of course). We flipped, and have made it regularly ever since. See the commentary on goat cheese and lettuce, below.

MUSIC: David Simpson has a beautiful CD of Barriere’s sonatas for cello, but you might have trouble finding it. Next, try Bach unaccompanied cello suites. Not in the mood for Bach? Try any Chet Baker or Miles’s KIND OF BLUE.

HERE’S ALL YOU NEED:

FOR THE SALAD:

1. Goat cheese (the ‘chèvre’): this is the important part (see about goat cheese, below).  Rounds ¼ inch thick of 'Chabichou du poiton', placed on a small pan for melting under a broiler.
2. Lettuce, one small head or half a large head, soft leaves only.
3. Green onions, thinly sliced, white part or green part, 1 tsp per serving, approx. (don’t over do the onions)

FOR THE DRESSING: Any oil and vinegar dressing will work except those that come from a bottle—they have too many extra flavors. I prefer a French style white vinegar-Dijon vinaigrette. In a jar, mix:

1. Olive oil, ½ Cup
2. White wine vinegar (or red wine vinegar) (1 part for 5 or 6 parts oil, about 1/8 Cup)
3. Garlic, 1 clove peeled, cut in half (to stay in the jar)
4. Dijon mustard, ½ tsp
5. Salt, about ½ tsp or less (remember, mustard is salty also)
6. Black pepper

HERE’S WHAT TO DO:

• Add all the dressing ingredients, shake and let sit for 2 hours, shaking periodically, to bring out the garlic flavor
• Tear the fine lettuce leaves (washed and dried well) into bite sized pieces and place in salad bowl.
• Add sliced green onions.
• Turn on broiler (a broiler in a toaster oven works just fine).
• Add some dressing to the greens and combine gently. Add more dressing if too dry.
• Plate the salad on separate plates and wait for the cheese to melt.
• Broil chèvre and watch until it is bubbling and soft, maybe even some liquefaction. A little brown is okay, but not too much.
• Scoop pieces of melted chèvre with spatula directly onto each salad and serve immediately. One or two pieces per serving is usually plenty.
• Serve with fresh baguette and butter.

WINE: Generally, wine does not accompany dressed salads well. Water is better. If it is the main course, then a Chardonnay, Sauvignon blanc, or Beaujolais would do nicely.

About goat cheese (Chèvre). Goat cheese starts out soft and white when it’s fresh. Mounds are shaped into the size of a child’s fist and put aside for aging. When Chèvre ages, it develops a slight rind, dries somewhat, and becomes more firm the more aged it is. The flavor gets stronger as it ages.

            For the right ‘melt’ in this recipe, use a medium aged cheese. Too fresh, it remains tangy white goat cheese like it started out. Too aged (firm), it never melts enough to soften.

            Look for Chabichou du Poiton. Ask simply for “Chabichou” (pronounced: shabby-shoe). It is a firm but squeezable medium aged goat cheese perfect for this salad. Slightly firmer and smaller is the Pelardon, also good. Any serious cheese store should carry some aged goat cheese

About lettuce. It has become harder and harder over recent years to consistently find lettuce with nice delicate leaves. Lettuce seems to be bred these days for durability, and the leaves are too thick, too stiff. And the bitter lettuce, though fashionable, doesn’t work at all. For this recipe you want soft, sweet leaves. Boston butter lettuce is the best when the leaves are soft. Directly out of your garden, or the hydroponic varieties are usually best. Green or red leaf lettuce can also be delicate. Romaine, while crisp and great for Caesar salad, doesn’t work well. Wild bitter greens should be avoided. If you happen to be in France, several butter lettuce varieties are grown. The Chinois variety is spectacular: a broad head of light green small soft leaves.

One other thing. Many recipes exist for Chevre chaud, and many suggest melting a piece of fresh (not aged) cheese onto a piece of thin toast (with olive oil) before placing it on top of the salad. This is fine, especially if the quality of the melt is less amenable to placing cheese directly on the salad.

PORTIFICATION© of red wine

Red wine lovers! Try these two unconventional approaches to preserving your wine. Purists, don't scoff just yet. These methods, I admit, are heretical. But your palate does not lie. If you detect good flavors where once there were bad ones, that’s the name of the game.

1. Portification. How many times have you opened a not-so-inexpensive bottle of red and been disappointed? You wouldn’t serve it to guests, but are reluctant to pour it down the drain. And how many times have you wished you could resurrect a two-day-old bottle of Bordeaux that has lost its mojo? 

There is hope. PORTIFY© your wine. Add Port to a glass of wine, about ¼ Port, ¾ wine. It makes all the difference in the world. Cheap $10 Port is fine for the job. Ruby Port is better than Tawny Port. Works best with Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Shiraz, Malbec and Italian wines, and less well with Pinot Noir.

2. Refrigeration. The second approach is a no-brainer. Personally, I’ve been disappointed with the evacuation method of preservation, but white wine can sit around in the refrigerator for days until the bottle is gone. Red wine is the same: put leftover red wine in the fridge; when you pour a glass, microwave it for about twelve seconds and, Voila!, you are back in business with a surprisingly good reconstitution. Red wine can last for days that way.

Enjoy. 

For all of my publications, visit https://www.jameschanningshaw.com

Tilapia with mango salsa

   

                                                Prep time: 30 minutes

                                                Cook time: 15 minutes

                                                Serves: 2

          

Tilapia is a beautiful little fresh water fish, farmed sustainably, firm enough to barbeque or to fry hot; it won’t fall apart easily. My personal favorite is lightly floured and fried in olive oil, with either a Latino mango sauce or a Mediterranean tomato sauce. Both are in this collection. We start with the mango salsa recipe.

MUSIC: This calls for something with some rhythm. Classical won’t do. Latin music, while cliché, is perfect here. The Brazilian bossa nova  works of Carlos Antonio Jobim, with vocals by Astrud Gilberto or Elis Regina (Girl From Ipanema, etc.) are always appropriate. Or, tangos by the great Astor Piazzolla (Kronos Quartet: FIVE TANGO SENSATIONS), or, if you can find the original album, Gato Barbieri’s LAST TANGO IN PARIS soundtrack.

HERE’S ALL YOU NEED:

1. Tilapia whole filets, 2 or 3 (approx 1 pound in total), brought to room temperature
2. Olive oil, extra virgin, 3 Tablespoons
3. Flour, about ½ Cup for dusting the fish
4. Kosher salt to sprinkle after cooking

For the salsa:

1. 1 Mango, diced into small chunks (may use 2 mangos, especially if small)
2. ½ large sweet red pepper or 1 smaller pepper, also diced into small chunks
3. Cilantro, one bunch, chopped finely



** Scotch bonnet peppers

4. Hot peppers (jalapeño or Scotch bonnet**), chopped finely, 1 tablespoon or less, depending on how hot they are. ( or a few splashes of hot pepper sauce if you don’t have fresh peppers)
5. Juice of ½ lemon (without seeds!)
6. Juice of ½ lime
7. Kosher salt, 1 large pinch (about ¼ teaspoon)   

HERE’S WHAT TO DO:

Prepare salsa first.

• Combine salsa ingredients in a bowl and refrigerate 30 to 60 minutes for flavors to meld. This salsa is fine at room temperature, but when chilled, it produces a wonderful temperature contrast of cool and fresh in your mouth with the warm fish. While it chills, have a glass of champagne, dance, whatever. Do not pay bills or work on your taxes.

           

To cook the fish:

·        In a 10 or 12-inch skillet, heat olive oil to medium heat.

·        Lightly flour the fish and fry in olive oil until golden brown on both sides.

·        When almost done, squirt some of the remaining lemon juice on top, and sprinkle with Kosher salt. You almost cannot overcook Tilapia- it retains its flaky texture quite well.

CADENZA: Serve right out of the pan onto plates, with sticky (Sushi) rice, and salsa on top. Excellent with cooked carrots, black beans, bok choy, broccoli or green beans.

VARIATIONS ON THE THEME: Try barbecuing instead of pan-frying. Lightly brush the fish filets with olive oil before placing on the hot grill. Turn once or twice as needed.

WINE: Un-oaked chardonnay or sauvignon blanc go very well.

About sweet peppers. If you cannot find dark red sweet peppers, use yellow or orange. Light colored red peppers often have a chemical taste that upsets the entire balance of the salsa, if not life itself.

About hot peppers. The heat has been bred out of jalapenos, so I prefer Scotch bonnet peppers, originally a Jamaican pepper, full of great taste and plenty of fire.

About chopping cilantro. Wash the whole bunch and shake dry. Holding the cilantro by the stems, sweep away the leaves with one swipe of either a French or Asian knife, and chop accordingly in the French style with one hand on top of the blade, or rapid fire Asian style like playing a drum (or with two knives like playing tympani). Takes about thirty seconds.