Wednesday, June 28, 2023

IT'S LOBSTER TIME

                                                   It’s Lobster Time

 

          The summer solstice has arrived and in Maine it means that the lobster season is in full swing.  It seems that the bright crustacean is part of every tourist destination plan, and those of us who live here year around savor it as well. Unfortunately, the sticker price for this icon of Maine has succumbed to recent inflation along with everything else.

          So, imagine my delight last weekend when friends of ours stopped for a visit and Dan proudly presented me with two magnificent specimens from his first catch of this year. It has been my good fortune now for many years to be the beneficiary of this largesse and I will confess to savoring every bite, even if one of the specimens required a hammer to break the claws on the cutting board.

          Two large lobsters are a bounty not to be wasted in the best tradition of this column for being ‘thrifty’. While some of the cooked lobster was enjoyed immediately, the rest found its way into an elegant lobster salad. Some years back I discovered the interesting flavor combination of lobster Reuben in a restaurant in Thomaston and I recalled that a bit of tartness went well with the sweet flavor of lobster meat. The following recipe achieves that without being overwhelming.


                                              Lobster salad with capers

          Cut two lobster tails and 2 claws into bite size pieces. In a bowl add: ½ cup finely chopped celery, ½ minced shallot, 2 tsp. chopped capers, 3 chopped cornichons, ½ tsp. salt and ¼ tsp. lemon pepper. Toss all with 1/3 to ½ cup of sour cream, just enough to moisten all ingredients. Serve on lettuce garnished with dill and crusty bread.

          This left me with two lobster carcasses for lobster bisque. Most lobster bisque recipes call for pureed lobster in the soup, which at current prices seemed somewhat extravagant, when it is possible to make the tasty bisque with just shells and any bits of meat left in the main body. This may be the ‘poor man’s lobster bisque’, but it was amazingly tasty and made with rice flour, it was even gluten free.


                                      Lobster bisque ‘economique’

          In a 4 qt. pot sauté I large coarsely chopped onion for 5 minutes in 2 tblsp. olive oil, stir in 3 large, sliced garlic cloves for another minute, pour in 1 cup dry white wine, add the shells and broken backs of two large lobsters and enough water to cover.

          Bring to boil and add 2 whole stalks of celery and 1 and ½ carrots, 1 tsp. salt, ½ tsp. lemon pepper, 1 bay leaf, 1 tsp. thyme, 1 tblsp. Worcestershire sauce and 2 tblsp. double concentrated tomato paste. Cook on medium heat for 1 hour. Remove carrots and celery and set aside. Discard the shells, strain the liquid and puree with the carrots and celery in a blender.

          Return the soup to the pot and if desired, reduce the volume by boiling for 20 minutes. To finish, melt 4 tblsp. butter in a small pan and make a roux with 1/3 cup flour (rice flour for gluten free), stir in some of the liquid to dissolve before adding it back to the rest of the soup. Cook while stirring until thickened, then stir in 1 tblsp. Asian fish sauce, 2/3 cup dry sherry. Finally add I cup heavy cream, heat and serve garnished with croutons and dill.

          Delicious may not rhyme with “Those lazy-hazy-crazy days of summer” as sang by Nat King Cole, but summertime lobsters fit right in with those impressions.

    (I. Winicov Harrington lives in coastal Maine and is the author of “How to Eat Healthy and Well for Less than $5.00 a Day: the Smart-Frugal Food Plan”; website: www.winicov-harrington.com)

 

 

 

Wednesday, June 14, 2023

ORIENTAL STRUDEL ANYONE?

                                    Oriental Strudel anyone?

           Culinary circles acknowledge ‘haute cuisine’ and ‘fusion cuisine’ as separate approaches to food. French chef Carême is credited for inventing ‘haute cuisine’ for King George IV by introducing decadent sauces and high-quality ingredients for the designated succession of courses.  This was soon firmly established in culinary repertoire by Escoffier in the 19th century and is still followed today.

          Fusion cuisine came to everyone’s attention in the early 1970’s when Richard Wing introduced, and Wolfgang Puck cemented the use of oriental ingredients to French cuisine, in order to lighted up the heavy butter and cream influenced menus. It seemed to us novel at the time, but the first recognized fusion cuisine had already appeared 450 years previously in Macao, as fusion of Portuguese and Chinese cooking.

          Fusion cuisine depends on the tasteful blending of ingredients from different cultures in merged recipes. Historically such fusion recipes arose from exploration of the world. Prime examples are corn and tomatoes in European cooking from discovery of the Americas and the iconic pasta dishes in Italy, that can be traced to early trade with China with discovery of the Chinese noodles.

          This savory strudel recipe is a modification of an old “Food and Wine” recipe originally made with phyllo dough but here folded in puff pastry for ease of handling. It blends the best of an Oriental eggroll and European strudel in a loaf like presentation, easy to slice and serve.


                                    Pork, cabbage and mushroom strudel

          Prepare the following ingredients: 4 cups shredded cabbage; 2 ½ cups chopped red onion; 4 minced garlic cloves; 5 oz. sliced shitake mushrooms; 10 oz. lean and trimmed pork tenderloin sliced in 2 by ¼ inch strips; 2 oz. prosciutto sliced in thin strips. In a small bowl mix: 2 tsp. corn starch; 4 tblsp. dry Marsala; 2 tsp. soy sauce, 1/3 tsp. lemon pepper, ½ tsp. balsamic and red wine vinegar each.

          Heat 2 tsp. Oriental sesame oil in a large heavy skillet and stir-fry the pork on medium high heat for 3 minutes. Remove with slotted spoon and set aside. In the same pan heat 2 additional tsp. sesame oil and sauté the chopped onion and garlic to softened for 3 minutes. Stir in the cabbage, mushrooms and 3 tblsp. water. Cover with a lid and cook for 3 minutes.  Uncover the pan to add back the stir-fried pork, cook until any liquid is evaporated and then stir in the Marsala-cornstarch mixture. Continue to cook tossing the mixture until the vegetables are coated and all the liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat, stir in the prosciutto and allow to cool slightly before proceeding.

          In a small bowl fork beat 1 egg with 2 tsp water. Thaw out 2 sheets of frozen puff pastry (17.65 oz,) according to package directions. Unfold on a lightly floured board and roll with a rolling pin to spread evenly. Pile ½ of the cooked mixture lengthwise along the center of each sheet, leaving a ½ inch strip at the ends. Brush the ends with egg and fold the sides of the sheet to meet in the center over the filling. Brush one of the long edges with egg and bring the other edge over to seal. Crimp the ends together to seal and carefully put the loaf on an ungreased pan, folded side down. Brush the pastry all over with the beaten egg, score the top crosswise in the sections for serving pieces and bake at 430 degrees for 20-25 minutes until the top is lightly browned. Remove from oven, cool for 5 minutes and slice for serving.

          To continue with the fusion theme for the meal, I served each strudel slice with my home planter grown, oven roasted Nam-choi (like baby Bok-choi) and some prosciutto wrapped melon.

                             Oven roasted Nam or Bok-choi

          Wash 10-12 oz. Nam or Bok-choi to remove any soil and pat dry. Spread Nam-choi in a single layer on a rimmed baking pan.  Bok-choi is thicker and needs to be halved lengthwise. Drizzle the greens with 2 tblsp. olive oil and sprinkle with some lemon pepper. Bake in a 400-degree preheated oven 6-8 minutes until the white part of the greens is slightly softened.

          Drizzle the greens with a mix of: 1 tsp. toasted sesame oil, 1 tblsp. soy sauce, 1 tsp. red wine vinegar, 1/3 tsp. sugar. Sprinkle with 1 tblsp. toasted black and white sesame seeds.

          Enjoy experimenting with fusion cuisine by blending unexpected flavors in effective combinations.

(I. Winicov Harrington lives in coastal Maine and is the author of : How to Eat Healthy and Well for Less than $5.00 a Day: the Smart-Frugal Food Plan”; website: www.winicov-harrington.com)

 

 

 

 

 

Friday, June 2, 2023

TAMING RHUBARB

 

                                                Taming Rhubarb

 Rhubarb is one of those early spring miracles in Maine that still has a bad reputation in some circles. Even those of us who happily munched on a plain rhubarb stalk fresh from the garden as children and never minded its very sour taste, seem to have developed adult palates requiring some taming of this aggressive taste.

Although rhubarb is used as a fruit in a variety of deserts, it is actually a perennial vegetable. The leaves are poisonous with high levels of oxalic acid, but the stems are edible and used in compotes, crumbles, sauces, cakes and pies. It is welcomed in spring when fresh produce is scarce from the garden and many recipes pair it with strawberries for both color and taste. Rhubarb is low in calories but requires quite a bit of brown or white sugar to tame its excess tart flavor.

          The quickest rhubarb desert is a cooked fruit compote thickened with cornstarch, chilled and served with whipped cream or a scoop of ice cream.

          Scandinavian rhubarb compote

Trim, wash 1 lb. rhubarb and cut the stalks in ½ inch pieces. Combine with 1 cup water and ¾ cups sugar in a medium, bring to boil and simmer about 10 minutes until soft. Combine 2 ½ tblsp. cornstarch with water to make a paste and stir into the rhubarb. Continue to cook with constant stirring until thickened and clear. Chill, serve in glass dishes with sweetened whipped cream.

Rhubarb pairs well with sour cream or even yoghurt in delicious coffee cakes, whether you layer rhubarb on top, or mix the chopped pieces with the batter.

                   Rhubarb rum-custard cake

Pink colored rhubarb stalks are best for the appearance of this cake, which is baked in a spring form pan.

Trim, wash ¾ lb. rhubarb and cut the stalks in 2-inch pieces. Butter and flour a 9-inch springform pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Whisk together 1 cup all-purpose flour, ¾ tsp. baking powder and ½ tsp. salt. In a medium-large bowl beat 2 large eggs plus 1 egg yolk and 1 ½ cups sugar until pale and thick. Beat in 4 tblsp. melted unsalted butter, ¼ cup sour cream, finely grated zest from 1 lemon and 2 tblsp. dark rum (optional). Fold in the flour mixture thoroughly and turn into the prepared pan. Smooth the surface of the cake and gently distribute the rhubarb to cover the surface. Sprinkle with sugar and bake at 350 degrees for 45-55 minutes until the cake tests done by inserted toothpick. Cool for 10 minutes, rim the sides with a thin knife and remove the sides from the springform pan.

Rhubarb-dried cherry pie is a perennial favorite at our house this time of the year, but last week made me admit that clichés such as “necessity is the mother of invention” are a cook’s best friend.  There were only two cups of cut up rhubarb left, I was out of dried cherries and ready to make a pie. The result was a rhubarb-mixed fruit cream pie, based on an old original recipe of “Rhubarb cream pie” from my friend Elizabeth Lenz.  The results were incredibly tasty, and the combination of ingredients is bound to become a new favorite.


                                           Rhubarb cream pie with mixed fruit

Have ready pastry for a 2 crust 9-inch pie. Pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees. In a small bowl mix 1 ¼ cups sugar, 3 tblsp. flour and ½ tsp. nutmeg. In a large bowl toss together, 2 cups rhubarb stalks sliced in ½ inch pieces, ¾ cup diced dried apricots, ¼ cup diced candied ginger, 1 peeled, cored diced medium apple and 1 tsp. grated lemon zest.

Roll out pastry dough and fit it in the bottom of the pie plate. Sprinkle ¼ of the sugar-flour mix over the pastry dough and spread the mixed fruit on top.  Beat 2 large eggs in a bowl with the remaining sugar-flour mix and spread all on top of the fruit. Dot with 1 tblsp. butter. Roll out the remaining pastry, cut in strips and make a lattice top for the pie, crimping edges to seal.

Brush the top of the pie with cream and bake for 10 minutes at 450 degrees. Turn down the oven to 350 degrees and continue to bake for an additional 30-35 minutes until the top is lightly browned. Cool and enjoy a rhubarb pie, tamed to interesting new delicious blend of flavors.

   (I. Winicov Harrington lives in coastal Maine and is the author of “How to Eat Healthy and Well for Less than $5.00 a Day: the Smart-Frugal Food Plan”; website: www.winicov-harrington.com)