Best Bits and Pieces of a Big Fish

The tip of the belly is a cut you hardly every see in restaurants, except Japanese ones.  There is maybe 3-4 oz of it in a 10lb fish, most fish markets probably just throw it away.  For me, it is the best part.  Whenever I open up a whole salmon, the first thing after I finish is to cook up the trimmed belly.  I just salt it lightly the sear with a little oil in a very hot pan.  In just a few minutes the skin is crisped and the meat browned, the centre remains moist and tasty as can be. This is a coho I bought today. 

Mountain and Sea Fall Special

Visited my mushroom picker in Granville Island and picked up three kinds of fresh mushroom--yellow chanterelle, slippery Jack and hawk's wings.  One of the best way to eat wild mushroom is rice, risotto is one.  The rice takes up the flavour of the mushroom wonderfully.  The fish is coho, marinated in water, salt, sugar, soy sauce and maple syrup.  It is seared quickly and the skin is crisped up along side.  The combination doesn't work so well together.  The fish crashing a bit with the risotto.  I should have eaten them separately.  Two perfectly good things don't always come together well. Things are like that sometimes, aren't they?

Boeuf Bourguignon

The Carinena isn't too enjoyable to drink but it is good enough to cook.  I like to make stews in pressure cooker not because I need it quickly but I find it gives a much more juicy and tender result.  This is very basic, beef pieces are salted, peppered and browned before carrot, onion, whole garlic and celery are added for a few minutes.  Sprinkle on some flour and then fresh thyme and bay leaves go in before the wine.  Brought it all to a boil and up to pressure then cooked for half an hour.  I like to leave it in the pot overnight before heating it up and simmer for 10 minutes with sautéed mushroom. 

Castillo de Monséran Carinena Granacha

I bought this to give it a try because it was on sale but the result isn't so good.  It has a strong alcohol attack and harsh on the tongue when newly opened.  It the stink goes aways after a hour or so but when the fruit shows up it is rather flabby.  It just tastes cheap.  Too bad.

Chanterelle with Beef

When you live in a temperate climate with forest near by, you have wild mushrooms. It is fall chanterelle season.  Chanterelle is one of my favourite mushrooms, woody and meaty.  Here the beef slices are marinated with crushed garlic, salt, pepper, soy sauce, shaoxing liquor, oil and cornstarch.  The mushroom is sautéed for a few minutes in high heat before removing.  Beef is first browned lightly before the mushroom returns to the pan.  A few seconds more and it is down, finish with a touch of sesame oil.

Now, Back to Eats... Pork Chops, Again.

Pork chop is great for lazy and impatient people--cooks quickly and simply.  I marinated the chops with pressed garlic, salt, pepper, Shaoxing liquor, sugar and cornstarch.  Seared on a hot pan with extra virgin olive oil until brown then brown and crisp lots of garlic and crushed chili with it.  I like this with rice or bread, the garlic is a dish in itself.

Glenfiddich 18 years

The 12 years is available just anywhere one travels and I don't ever order it, found it thin an dull. This is another story entirely--full, rich, deep, long and complex--quite the opposite of the little brother. This is becoming my favourite Speyside malt. This bottle comes from friends visiting from the US, very very very good friend indeed. Thank you, Tom and Ah Lan.

Mezzomondo Negroamaro Rosso Salento

Another wine from a mostly unknown region--Salento, the heel of Italy. Negroamaro is the native grape. It is not a great wine but very good. Dark, plum, perfumed, the tannin is a little rough but not harsh. At C$9.99, I always keep a few around.

Argiolas Costera

When one think of wine, Sardinia is not usually near the top of the list, but this is a very nice wine. Tasted it at the last VIWF and found it interesting enough to buy a couple. It is very well made, lot of fruit, lovely cherry, but without the heaviness one may expect from hotter climate. Maybe a little pricey for what it is at C$25, it is good to have for it's uniqueness--native varietaals Carignano and Bovale blending with Cannonau (Grenache). Come to think of it 25 may not be too much after all.

Schloss Reinartshausen Hattenheimer Wisselbrunnen

Chris asked for drinks and here starts a few alcoholic drinks I drank in the last 10 or so days. This is a mild surprise. I wanted to buy their first growth at the last Vancouver International Wine festival after tasting it, but it was sold out so I picked this up at C$21. Drinking it without comparing to the first growth, it turns out to be very satisfying. Full but not heavy, lots of stone fruit, just slightly oily; it does nothave the mineral level of the first growth but very balanced and bright. The bottle is also great, beautiful blue long bottle with a glass stopper. I will steam off the label and use the bottle.

Steak!

Sometimes you just need a steak. Ribeye, red wine reduction with shallot and crushed pepper. Simple and enough beef for a month.

Nordic Maki

Hidekazu Tojo said he created inside-out maki, and since I live in the same city, I make one also. On the outside is gravlax with cucumber and crispy salmon skin from the gravlax. It is not bad but the cucumber sort of thin out the taste too much. Maybe I should use avocado next time.

More Smoked Salmon

Garden vegetable pasta is good but add some smoke salmon, it is better. Here is olive oil, garlic, chili pepper, tomato, yellow summer squash, basil, oregano, smoke salmon, salt and pepper.

Salad

Other than the cucumber (from my neighbour) and the radicchio everything else is from my garden. I particularly like the yellow beans, sweet and beany, called Kentucky Wonder Mix.

Chicken with Plum Sauce

Continuing with the plum. Here I sauté some garlic and onion in olive oil then add browned chicken pieces, deglaze with some white wine, add some thyme and cut up plums, brown sugar, salt and pepper. Cook until the sauce thickens and chicken is cooked. Very brightly flavoured, sweet and sour.

Plum Cake

I have a Italian prune plum tree and this is plum season. I have to find ways to eat a whole tree of plums (I still have preserves from last year's harvest in the fridge!). This is easy and tasty. The batter is just a cup of flour, a tablespoon of baking powder, a touch of salt, 2/5 cup of sugar, half a stick of butter, 3/8 cup of milk, an egg just mixed together. Usually this is made with the plum's fresh side up, prettier that way. I like it facing down with the plum melting into the cake, think it tastier.

Quick Pork Stirfry

This is pretty basic: thin slices of lean pork, garlic, ginger, onion, red bell pepper, Sichuan hot bean paste 郫縣豆瓣醬, Shaoxing liquor 紹興酒, scallion and sesame oil. Hot pan, add oil and then ingredients in that order. Perfect to go over rice.

Not Bad as Dinner

Yes, I said the outside round roast isn't great for dinner, but it is good enough. I made a pan sauce with dijon mustard, pepper and a little beef stock. The side is a seasonal vegetable stew of orange bell pepper, asian eggplant, yellow summer squash, potato, onion, garlic, olive oil, basil and oregano. Not refine but very happy kind of meal.

Horny Tomato

Well, what else can I say...

Outside Round Roast

Cheap cuts like outside round may be too lean and dry to make a good dinner oven roast, it does make a good cold cut. I do it simple--salt and pepper, brown in a pan, roast at 300℉ to 135℉ in the centre. When sliced thinly it makes great sandwiches and I even float them over rice noodles and chicken broth. A very economic and tasty standby.

Smoked Salmon Quiche

I still have a pie shell in the freezer and smoked sockeye in the fridge so what is better than a quiche. Sauté some onion and red bell pepper add the fish and some herbs put into the pie shell pour over the custard and back, very simple. I just follow the instruction on box regarding the custard and baking, comes out well.

Summer Garden Spaghetti

Even when there isn't much coming from the vegetable garden, a little of this and that is plenty enough. A couple of tomato, a small yellow summer squash and a few springs of basil are all I have. Chop and cook them with a little olive oil, garlic and crushed chili, salt-n-pepper, toss with some spaghetti and one of the best tasting pasta dish is made.

Smoked Salmon Omelette

If you have a little hot smoked salmon hanging around, omelette is a good way to go. This morning I take a small piece of my own smoked sockeye, sauté some onion and red pepper, add a couple of eggs and voilá a very tasty omelette.

Roast Pork Shoulder

Shoulder is good everyday roast. It is interesting because a few different muscle groups run through it and give the roast different texture. Just don't overcook, slice thinly and it is a very good eat. Here I stuffed it with garlic, thyme, parsley, rosemary, salt and pepper, pan seared the outside and roasted in 300℉ until the centre reached 160.

Giant kernels

Bought a few ears of corn from the farmer's market, every but one is normal and regular. This one, however, has some giant kernels! Taste like others, very sweet.

Tomato Salad

Late summer is great tomato time. The rainbow colour tomato join my own home grown early bird tomato and basil in this salad. Even without cheese, just a simple dijon mustard vinaigrette is enough to make a very fine salad.

Rainbow Tomato

I don't know what this variety is called but I picked it up at the farmer's market. Certainly very colourful, quite tasty too.