Temaki: Spicy Tuna Hand Rolls

As I have lamented elsewhere, there is no place we trust in our town for sushi and so I have been doing my own raw fish dishes to scratch that particular itch. The spicy salmon tartare that we had recently got our sushi urges raging and Ann was really longing for hand rolls, so I made some spicy tuna temaki for us.

Ann Models a Spicy Tuna Hand Roll

Check out Ann's new Christmas nail job! We ended up eating the hand rolls standing at the counter. I would roll a couple, we would eat a couple, and so forth. All great fun.

Hand Roll Mise en Place

For the tuna, I minced some seedless cucumber and sliced some green onions and then made a spicy sauce of equal parts sriracha and soy sauce with a little sesame oil for flavor. I combined these two with the minced tuna and toasted sesame seeds.

Earlier in the afternoon, I had cooked a bit of good sushi rice. Fortunately, we grow excellent sushi rice in California and it is readily available in grocery stores. Although I love imported brands from Japan, my tried and true California brand is Nishiki, but my store doesn't carry it. What I have found is that most sushi rice brands can be very good, but what is really messed up are the cooking instructions.

Most brands call for too much water, resulting in an overcooked mushy mess, especially after you add the seasoned rice vinegar to the rice. In general, I have found that 1 portion of rice to a scant 1 and an eighth portion of water is a very good ratio, depending on how fresh the rice is. For reference, a cup of uncooked sushi rice will make a good dozen temaki.

As for seasoned vinegar, I don't mess with it. I use plain rice vinegar into which I stir a little sugar or agave nectar for sweetness. I use about an eighth cup per cup of rice and sprinkle it over the hot rice, gently turning the rice while it cools to room temperature.

Lay Rice on One End of the Nori

Making temaki, hand rolls, is child's play. It's fun to let everyone, kids included, roll their own. Mistakes are still edible! Start by slicing a sheet of nori down the center longways. Place it shiny side down on your board and with moistened fingers, spread a little rice on one end.

Lay the Filling on the Rice

Lay the filling or fillings on the rice on the diagonal. Start rolling by grasping the lower corner, the lower left corner in this case, and bringing it across the filling until the lower corner meets the top edge. I like to roll left to right. They roll right to left equally easily.

Roll the Resulting Cone Over Itself

Continue to roll the resulting cone over itself until you have but a small flap remaining. Put a few grains of rice on the flap to act as glue, then press the flap down onto the body of the cone.

Spicy Tuna Hand Rolls

Annie Demonstrating Temaki-Eating Skills

Spicy Salmon Tartare

Ann and I are sushi fiends. I'm quite certain that we could eat sushi daily for months on end without getting tired of it. For us to get any decent sushi, we have to drive 45 minutes to an hour into Portland and environs, and besides being a long drive, it's a no-go during COVID anyway. Besides, there is little joy in take-out sushi. We enjoy sitting at the sushi bar and chatting with the sushi chef.

The temporary solution for us is to prepare our own raw fish. Fortunately, we can get amazing quality fish nearby and we do so every couple of weeks whenever we are near the seafood market. It's expensive, but nothing when compared to the tab from a foray to a sushi bar! Recently, I had a craving for spicy salmon, so we picked up a nice piece of king salmon and brought it home so I could make spicy salmon tartare.

Spicy Salmon Tartare

I like to use a contrasting color vegetable or fruit in my tartare for aesthetics as well as to stretch the very expensive fish, something such as avocado, cucumber, or in this case, small bias-cut asparagus sweated for a minute in a hot skillet. To the diced salmon and avocado, I added a bit of a spicy sauce that I concocted from equal parts soy sauce and sriracha with a little bit of sesame oil. The remainder of the sauce is on the plate as a garnish.

I think I speak for Ann when I say that I am afraid that our dinner of spicy salmon only whetted our appetite for sushi. It did next to nothing to satisfy the craving, only making the yearning worse.

Frittata 101: Gravlax, Leek, and Chive Frittata

We eat a lot of eggs, a couple dozen between the two of us each week. They're just fantastic for quick, inexpensive meals. Ann hardboils eggs often. I scramble them or make omelettes. And a couple times a month, I make a frittata, a regular feature on the lunch menu at the restaurant. Making frittatas at home is a recent thing: our resident Italian has claimed heretofore that she doesn't like them. I'm glad that phase is done with; she asked me to make this gravlax and leek frittata.

Gravlax, Leek, and Chive Frittata

Frittatas are real winners for dinner, not to mention brunch. They take almost no active work to make: just a touch of prep, then into the oven for a few minutes depending on size. And they are wonderful for cleaning out the refrigerator. Almost anything goes in a frittata.

Last week, I still had some leftover gravlax in the refrigerator along with some leeks left from making leek fritters. It sounded like a great start for a frittata.

Here is a step-by-step for making frittatas.

Two Leeks Before Cooking

I first prepped two really large leeks. Why two? Because I had exactly two in the refrigerator that I wanted to use before they went south. And also because leeks cook down into almost nothing.

Two Leeks Cook Down to Very Little

One of my secrets to making good eggs is that some spice helps them taste eggier without being spicy. I rarely use sriracha except for eggs; otherwise I find it almost too sweet and not spicy enough. You can see that I put a healthy amount in the eggs along with the chives and some salt. This amount of sriracha in 8 eggs will not be detectable to most palates.

Eggs, Chives, Salt, and Sriracha

Things that you want evenly dispersed in the frittata, such as salt, herbs, and spices, mix directly into the eggs before whipping them really well with a fork. Keep in mind that I use extra large or larger eggs. The number of eggs will depend on the size pan you are using. For one person, use a standard 8-inch restaurant skillet which wants three eggs. For two or three people, use a standard 10-inch restaurant skillet which wants eight eggs. None of my pans are non-stick. In fact, the pan that you will see below is actually a stainless steel clad aluminum skillet. If you do it correctly, eggs won't stick to any pan.

Leeks, Eggs, and Gravlax Ready to Cook

Once your oven is to temperature (350-375F will be fine, although we did them at 500F at the restaurant.) you are ready to cook your frittata on the range top. Start your pan on a high flame. Once it gets hot, add a good amount of oil to fully cover the bottom of the pan. Whip the eggs one last time and pour them in the pan. 

Frittata, Flame Off, Ready to Bake

Immediately turn off the flame. With the flame off, you can take your time in adding the fillings to the frittata. If you leave the flame on, you are likely to end up overcooking the bottom of the frittata. Just drop the fillings right on top; they will sink in a bit.

Frittata, Ready to Slice

The final step is to put the frittata in the oven, set a timer, and then relax. You'll know when the frittata is done. As soon as the eggs in the very center are cooked, the frittata is ready to come out of the oven. Cook time depends on a lot of factors, but a general rule of thumb is that in a moderate oven, an 8-inch frittata will take about 8-9 minutes and a 10-inch frittata will take about 18-20 minutes, give or take.

If your pan was clean and hot and you added enough oil to cover the bottom, your frittata will slide right out of the pan onto your cutting board. Sometimes they will stick in small spots, in which case, slide your spatula under the frittata to free it. I generally let the frittata cool for a couple of minutes if I am going to slice it, as in the photo above. I serve small frittatas whole while I cut large ones into 8 slices.

Frittatas are one of the most cost-effective and easiest dinners that I know. Next time you need to clean out the fridge, why not try one?

Frittata Ideas

As I mentioned earlier, just about anything that you want will go into a frittata. They are useful for using up leftover vegetables, meats, and cheeses. Make sure that any meat that you add is already cooked. Consider using leftover starches as well: potatoes, corn, beans, pasta, croutons, and rice have all found homes in my frittatas. Here's a quick list of ideas.

Shrimp, Baby Corn, Thai Basil, Green Curry Paste
Tomato, Spaghetti, Basil
Corn, Poblano, Chorizo
Potato, Hard Chorizo, Piquillo
Smoked Sausage, Ricotta, Chive, Pecorino
Spinach, Feta, Tomato, Oregano
Broccoli, Bacon, and Swiss Cheese
Rapini, Cannellini, and Porcini
Smoked Sausage, Onion, Tomato, Pesto
Sausage, Mushroom, and Smoked Gouda
Smoked Salmon, Cream Cheese, Capers
Chorizo, Jalapeño, Cilantro, Queso Fresco
Salmon, Red Onion, Dill, Lemon Zest
Asparagus, Bacon, and Cheddar
Caramelized Onion, Pancetta, and Cheddar
Roasted Chicken, Corn, Poblano, Oaxaca Cheese

Pancetta, Rapini, and Fresh Mozzarella Cheese

Bread Cubes, Fresh Tomato, and Basil

Spaghetti Squash, Pine Nuts, Nutmeg, and Lemon Zest

Crab, Herbed Cream Cheese, and Chives

Roasted Red Pepper and Goat Cheese

Wild Mushrooms, Caramelized Onions, and Brie

Fennel, Tomatoes, and Olives

Summer Rolls

When the temperatures soar, we always go looking for cooler foods at home, especially ones that we can eat outside on our shaded front porch. Summer rolls fit that bill nicely. With almost no effort and with about anything in the refrigerator/garden, you can have a cool delicious dinner. Thank you Vietnam!

Ready for Summer Rolls

Step 1: Soak the Rice Paper

Step 2: Build the Roll

Step 3: Dip Away

I usually make nước chấm, a fish sauce based dipping sauce, for our summer rolls, but alas, out here in farm country fish sauce is hard to come by and I was almost out. Instead, we made do with a sauce of peanut butter, lime juice, fish sauce, sriracha, and garlic.

It was a blast for us, eating our first outdoor meal of the year out on the porch, rolling the little packages like burritos and stuffing our faces. There is something that we really enjoy about eating with our hands: it seems so much more intimate in a way.

But I found out in the restaurant business that Ann and I are in the minority. While Americans will make exceptions for hot dogs and corn on the cob, many, the majority I would wager, have an issue with eating food with their hands. I remember seeing customers in the dining room of the restaurant struggling to eat mussels, summer rolls, pork belly tacos, and flat breads with a knife and fork.

At least for our tasting menus, I would have the servers discreetly let customers know that it was OK and even preferable to eat a particular course with their fingers. Still, a significant percentage of customers couldn't forgo the knife and fork. We Americans have a built-in bias: eating without utensils is somehow improper and low class.

I wonder what they would make of our late night dinners at Shiv's restaurant where there were no utensils on the table, only a basket of naan, straight out of the tandoor. Or a foray to an Ethiopian restaurant where injera stands in for the naan.

If sight, smell, taste, and sound (think of the hiss of sizzling beef on a black iron skillet) are all part and parcel of the dining experience, why make an exception for touch?

Faux Pho Bo

Faux Pho Bo

Yesterday, after working all day catering a dinner at Delaplane Cellars on Sunday, I moved heaven and earth at work to get my deskwork done and to get home as early as possible to spend some time with Ann. My last stop on the way home is FoodMaxx and it was there that I got a text from Ann asking if we could go out for Thai food for lunch. Knowing that it was already about 1pm and by the time I got home and got the groceries unpacked and we got back into town to the Thai restaurant, it would be every bit of 2pm, I decided that since we generally order a rice noodle soup very similar to pho, that I would just throw together a quick version at home so that we could spend more of our afternoon being with each other and less of our time scurrying about trying to get somewhere.

So I grabbed two bowls of instant pho bo, cilantro, a lime, and a pack of snow peas (because I know how much Ann loves snow peas). At home, I got a red pepper and Thai basil out of the garden and sriracha and hoisin sauce out of the cabinet. I made the soup in the microwave following the directions printed on the sides of the disposable bowls and while they were cooking, I squirted hoisin and sriracha in the bottom of big soup bowls and strung the snow peas.

Here you see the result fully garnished with cilantro, Thai basil, sweet red pepper, sriracha, hoisin, lime, and snow peas. And you know, it wasn't half bad, all doctored up like this. An OK bowl of soup in under 10 minutes: now that's my kind of lunch!

We sat outside under the umbrella and had soup along with a bottle of Taittinger Brut Française Champagne. What else to have with pho? ;)

Pork Tenderloin Bánh Mì

Monday morning came way too early after a late Sunday night out on the patio and I wasn't in the mood really to think about dinner. Moreover, Ann left her phone in Dimitri's car and I had no way to talk to her about dinner as we usually do on Monday mornings, so I was left to my own devices.

At some point during the morning, I got this vision of a pork tenderloin bánh mì in my mind and that was all the spark I needed for dinner.

Pork Tenderloin Marinated in Hoisin, Fish Sauce, Garlic, and Cilantro

I sliced the pork tender into medallions which I flattened with the side of my knife blade and then threw into a seal-top plastic bag with hoisin, fish sauce, and finely minced garlic and cilantro stems.

Simple Garnishes: Cucumber, Cilantro, and Fried Red Onions

This Bánh Mì Tasted Even Better Than it Looks

I made a spicy mayo to go on the bread from equal parts sriracha, hoisin, agave nectar, minced garlic and cilantro stems, all mixed with two parts mayonnaise. For a little crunch, I sprinkled on Thai fried red onions, which I believe is a misnomer. I believe that they are shallots fried in palm oil and they are one of my favorite guilty pleasures!

Snow Day

The snowstorm of Wednesday March 6, 2013 will go down as pretty much of a dud, but I didn't know that when I walked the dogs at 7am with fresh snow well above my boot tops, howling wind, and swirling snow that had visibility at a couple hundred yards. From everything that I could see and feel and the forecast predicting hard snow through midafternoon with more snow lingering into the dinner hours, it was obvious that none of our vendors would be sending out their trucks and it seemed a no-brainer to close the restaurant for the day. Who knew? Who knew that by 2pm the roads would all be clear and the sun would be out and everyone would be asking derisively of the weather gods, "Is that all you got?"

So what do two foodies do on the rarest of rare days, a snow day? We eat and drink! Duh!

The Star of our Day

It just so happened that Tom Leonard of Leonard's Truffière in Tennessee was in town meeting with friends of mine and had stopped by the restaurant with a present worth a small fortune, this beautiful black truffle. And it just so happened that it was sitting on my counter at home on this wonderful day off from work.

My Mandoline is Perfect for Shaving Truffles

For maximum effect, truffles are generally best when thinly shaved over warm food so that the warmth of the food liberates the haunting smell. Though they make a specialized truffle shaver, which is essentially a razor blade in a handle, I prefer my more general purpose mandoline that I can use for many other things (pommes Anna!) besides truffles.

Eggs, Perhaps the Perfect Vehicle for Truffles

The French really do know a thing or two about cooking and not only did my mandoline come from France, but so did my black steel pans. These are the pans that we use at the restaurant not only to get that awesome crust on fish and scallops, but also for cooking eggs. Does this look like a non-stick pan? It most definitely is not. But once a black steel pan is broken in, almost nothing sticks to it, if you care for it properly. The cooks at the restaurant and I love these pans. They're cheap, nearly indestructible workhorses but they do require a bit of loving care and regular oiling to keep them from rusting. After wiping it clean, I always rub mine all over with oil before putting it away.



Can You Smell This?

Our breakfast was a big pile of what I call scrambled eggs but what the French would likely call an omelette. No matter the name, it is decorated with ultrathin truffle shavings that perfumed the kitchen gloriously. There is no substitute for fresh eggs and these came from a local farmer from her Rhode Island Reds. Once every couple of years when the egg production goes way down at the depths of winter, I will have to buy some commercial eggs to augment the supply at the restaurant. You should hear the cursing and muttering from the cooks when they have to use those thin-shelled, watery, tasteless things that they sell at the grocery store.

Ann Makes Spicy Dragon Noodles

Speaking of eggs, Ann scrambled a couple more of them for lunch along with a copious amount of crushed red peppers flakes, the beginnings of the dish that she calls Spicy Dragon Noodles. To these eggs, she added large wheat noodles, soy sauce, sriracha, and brown sugar. She finished the dish with some Thai basil, though in the past she has used green onions or cilantro, neither one of which we had on hand.



Spicy Dragon Noodles

Orecchiette with Garlic and Black Truffles

Dinner was quite the simple affair. We wanted pasta (yes, our second pasta dish of the day, thank you!) and simple pasta at that. I wanted to use the remainder of the truffle and with the addition of some slivered garlic and butter, that's about all you need for awesome pasta. Truffles shine best when they don't have to compete with other flavors. This is why you so often find them paired with very mild ingredients such as eggs and potatoes, or in this case, pasta.

Breakfast Treat

It is very rare that other people cook for me. I can see that my being a professional chef could be intimidating, but I am sure that people don't really understand that chefs love it when others cook and that we are not at all picky eaters and we don't rate food. We just eat it and enjoy ourselves, wallowing in the luxury of not having to cook for once. One thing that I love about my Annie (among the myriad reasons) is that she will cook for me. It doesn't happen often, but I love it when it does. I take that back. She does cook during the week so that there will be leftovers in the fridge when I come home at night, but I'm talking about cooking a planned, sit-down meal, a real rarity given my schedule.

This past Sunday, she planned to make breakfast for us. I was getting more and more intrigued as the week went on as she asked me to score both goat cheese and shiitakes for her. I mean, goat cheese and shiitakes is just a fantastic combo, so I was getting to wondering what deliciousness she had in mind for them.

On Sunday morning, as I was reading the news and doing my sudoku, she was in the kitchen working away making an awesome goat cheese and shiitake bread pudding and bacon candied with sriracha and brown sugar. After the bread pudding baked and while the bacon was in the oven, I made mimosas for us. Does it get better than that?

Shiitake-Goat Cheese Bread Pudding Strata

Bacon Candied with Sriracha and Brown Sugar!!!!

Yum!

Ann called this concoction a strata, but I am not about to go all chef on her and tell her that to be a strata, it has to have strata (layers), otherwise, it's just a savory bread pudding. Thank you baby for a fantastic breakfast!