Recently, I’ve been having a wicked craving for Cuban food.  Problem is there’s barely any Cuban food in Toronto.  I always here about a place called Julie’s Cuban but it gets mixed reviews and I never remember it when I’m picking restaurants.  When I lived in New York there were a ton of Cuban restaurants to try.  While they probably aren’t the best Cuban restaurants I’d often check out Cafe Habana, Havana Central, and Margon among others.  Since living in Toronto I often find myself craving tostones, arroz con pollo, cuban sandwiches, rice and beans, maduros… you name it, I crave it.

I considered a trip to New York to squelch my craving but figured it would be more efficient to just make some Cuban food.  I settled on Ropa Vieja because I figured a stew of beefy goodness would be a good choice. The recipe comes via Epicurious and has a a good rating.

Admittedly the recipe looks daunting.  The list of ingredients is long and there are a few steps that take a lot of (inactive) time.  I was up for the task.  To make my life easier I did the first part of the recipe (braising the beef) the night before while putting around the house and finished of the dish the following evening.  This did indeed make life so much easier.  And truth be told none of the ingredients are that hard to find and there isn’t a ton of chopping involved.

The results were good.  Next time I would add a bit more salt while braising the meat because the meat itself needed a bit more flavour to it.  The stew itself was nicely flavoured and I loved the sauce.  I wasn’t a fan of the rice.  It was a bit too heavy on the cumin.  I found myself craving the packaged yellow rice that I normally buy. If it ain’t broke…

For the record I made very few changes to this recipe.  Instead of a yellow pepper I used another red pepper and I omitted the olives at the end.  This isn’t necessarily going into my regular rotation but it’s a good recipe to have on deck for when I’m craving Cuban.

Ropa Vieja
For braising beef:
3 pounds skirt or flank steak, trimmed
2 quarts water
2 carrots, chopped coarse
1 large onion, chopped coarse
2 celery ribs, chopped coarse
1 bay leaf
3 garlic cloves, crushed lightly
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon whole black peppercorns

2 green bell peppers, cut into 1/4-inch strips
1 red onion, cut into 1/4-inch strips
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups braising liquid plus additional if desired
a 14- to 16-ounce can whole tomatoes with juice, chopped
3 tablespoons tomato paste
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
2 red bell peppers, cut into 1/4 inch strips
2 yellow bell peppers, cut into 1/4 inch strips
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
1/2 cup pimiento-stuffed Spanish olive, drained and halved

Accompaniment:

For yellow rice with toasted cumin:
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons cuminseed
1/4 teaspoon crumble saffron thread
2 cups unconverted long-grain rice
4 cups water
3/4 teaspoon salt

To braise beef:
In a 5-quart kettle combine all braising ingredients and simmer, uncovered, 1 1/2 hours, or until beef is tender. Remove kettle from heat and cool meat in liquid 30 minutes. Transfer meat to a platter and cover. Strain braising liquid through a colander, pressing on solids, into a bowl. Return braising liquid to kettle and boil until reduced to 3 cups, about 30 minutes. Stew may be made up to this point 1 day ahead. Cool braising liquid completely and chill it and the beef separately, covered.

In kettle cook green bell peppers and onion in 2 tablespoons oil over moderate heat, stirring, until softened.

While vegetables are cooking, pull meat into shreds about 3 by 1/2 inches. To onion mixture add shredded meat, 2 cups braising liquid, tomatoes with juice, tomato paste, garlic, cumin, oregano, and salt and pepper to taste and simmer, uncovered, 20 minutes.

While stew is simmering, in a large skillet cook red and yellow bell peppers in remaining 2 tablespoons oil over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until softened. Stir peppers into stew with enough additional braising liquid to thin to desired consistency and simmer, uncovered, 5 minutes. Stir in peas and olives and simmer, uncovered, 5 minutes.

Serve ropa vieja with yellow rice.

To make the yellow rice:
In a heavy 3-quart saucepan heat oil over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking and sauté cuminseed 10 seconds, or until it turns a few shades darker and is fragrant. Stir in saffron and rice and sauté, stirring, 1 to 2 minutes, or until rice is coated well. Stir in water and salt and boil rice, uncovered and without stirring, until surface of rice is covered with steam holes and grains on top appear dry, 8 to 10 minutes more. Remove pan from heat and let rice stand, covered, 5 minutes. Fluff rice with a fork.

Gourmet
January 1995
1998-09-17 15:09:30.0

Once you start getting into cooking you start to hear about the importance of a good set of knives.  Truth be told I’ve never invested in  good set of knives despite the fact that I’ve been cooking seriously for years.  It didn’t make sense to get a good set while I was in university with roommates and when I moved out on my own I didn’t bother.  Every time I get a gift card to Williams Sonoma or a similar store I always think that I’ll buy one but I don’t.

It wasn’t until I stayed at my (married) friend’s apartment and started cooking that I realized what I had been missing out on.  One of her wedding gifts was a set of really good knives.  I made butternut squash soup and slicing the butternut squash was like cutting through butter.  I actually enjoyed the process whereas I normally get grumpy and hate every minute of squash slicing.  That’s when I realized that new knives were in order.

The first thing I decided was that I didn’t need a set.  The “experts” on this sort of matter always say you just need a chef’s knife and a paring knife and MAYBE a bread knife.  While I love the cheese spreader knife in my current it is so NOT necessary.  The next thing I had to do was some research to figure out the right brand.  I’ve always heard of Shun, Global and Wusthof and figured I’d go with one of those but didn’t know too much about anything.  I then uncovered another layer in the knife world: Japanese knives.

The whole business got kind of complicated but luckily I stumbled across this article in Cook’s Illustrated that ranked a variety of chef’s knives.  I hadn’t heard of most of the brands and many of them were pricey.  I was on board with spending a hundred + on a good knife but if I could avoid that I would be happy too.  On the list was the Forschner by Victorinox chef’s knife with a fibrox handle which was a mere $40-ish!  This knife was rated very highly when compared to its more expensive counterparts.  A few years ago when I was in the market for a dutch over and not wanting to pay Le Creuset prices the folks at Cook’s Illustrated recommended a dutch oven from Target for under $40. I bought it and LOVE it.  I bought a smaller Le Creuset a few months later and think the Target dutch oven really does hold it’s own.  With that said I had few reservations about the Victorinox knife.  My faith in the knife was further enhanced by a blog post over at Food with Legs that raved about the knife. SOLD!

I ended up buying my knife at Tap Phong on Spadina in Toronto for about $39.99. SCORE!  It was the last one they had in stock believe it or not, so clearly others are onto this knife.  I bought the 10″ because I love a big knife and didn’t even test it in store.

I’m LOVING this knife. I love the fibrox handle because it’s easy to grip and doesn’t slip.  The knife itself has a good weight to it but isn’t too light or two heavy. The blade itself has made my life so much easier.  I’ve been juicing every morning and it is so much easier to cut through my fruits and veggies now.  It truly is so much easier to slice through everything now and I find my technique has improved because my knife does more of the work.

If you want to upgrade from your current knife set (mine is from Canadian Tire) this is a great nice and a fantastic price.

My quest for the perfect pizza continues.  I was not happy to let my previous endeavour be my authoritative post on the Mario Batalie Otto pizza dough recipe.  I had to give it another shot especially since I”m pretty sure the problem was my yeast.

This time my dough rose properly and actually looked like pizza dough… very promising!  However, when I baked it I didn’t love it.  The dough was pretty dense and didn’t have the air pockets that my first attempt showed.  There also wasn’t a lot of “chew” to it, the crust could have been a bit softer.

I will be removing this dough recipe from my pizza making repertoire for sure.  Please give send along suggestions of other great dough recipes!

For the toppings I decided to get a bit fancier.  I did potatoes, rosemary, sausage and mushrooms.  Sadly, I overcooked my potato slices when I pre-cooked them but the pizza still turned out okay.

PIZZA CRUST

• 1/4 cup  white wine
• 3/4 cup warm water
• 1  package yeast
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 1/2 cups double zero flour and 1/2 cup AP flour, sifted together

DIRECTIONS
Combine the wine, water, and yeast in a large bowl and stir until dissolved. Add the honey, salt, and the olive oil and mix thoroughly. Add 1 cup of the flour and mix with a wooden spoon to make a loose batter. Add 2 more cups of the flour and stir with the spoon for 2-3 minutes to incorporate as much flour as possible.

Bring the dough together by hand and turn out onto a floured board or marble surface. Knead for 6 to 8 minutes, until you have made a smooth, firm dough. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a towel. Set aside to rise in the warmest part of the kitchen for 45 minutes.

Cut the risen dough into 4 equal pieces and knead each portion into a round. Cover again and let rest 15 minutes.

To make the pizzas: Dust a clean work surface lightly with flour. Working one dough round at a time, use your fingers and palms to flatten the dough into a 10 to 12-inch circle, each about 1/8-inch thick.

A few months ago I was so pumped to finally buy Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking Vol. 1. Something happened shortly after and I didn’t really make any other recipes.  I mean, I always MEANT to open up the book when doing my menu planning but other dishes got in the way.  I was doing some menu planning the other day and decided that I wanted to make salmon but wanted to try a new method.  I thought to myself, why not see what Julia would have to say.  There weren’t a ton of recipes for salmon but there was this delicious sounding recipe for Salmon Gratin.

I’m a sucker for a gratin.  You can make most things taste pretty delicious by cooking them in cream and topping them with cheese.  True story.  How one could turn fish into a gratin had never occurred to me but I was pretty happy that it was an option. This recipe had me at hello.  I mean butter, milk/cream, wine and cheese? Sign me up folks!

This could definitely be a weeknight meal for most.  Before I started cooking I threw some fingerling potatoes in the oven.  While the gratin was in the oven I steamed some broccoli.  It took about 45 minutes to get the complete meal on the table.  Not bad. The steps in between were easy too and none of the ingredients are hard to find and chances are you have them on hand.  The only thing I had to buy was the Swiss cheese.

The results were pretty delicious. As in, I could eat this every week delicious.    I’m not sure what consistency Julia was aiming for but mine was a bit firmer than a stew.  There was no slicing, you had to scoop it out.  Not that there’s anything wrong with that.  The flavours were simple but worked well together.  I opted to use white wine (riesling) over Vermouth and the flavour worked really well with the dish.  Next time I would probably stick the dish under the broiler for a minute or so for a nice cheesy crust on top.

For more on this recipe check out the Julie/Julia Project entry for this recipe.

Salmon Gratin

* 1/4 cup onion, finely chopped
* 3 tablespoons butter
* 3 tablespoons flour
* 1 cup boiling milk, cream or half-and-half
* 1/4 cup dry white wine (optional) or vermouth (optional)
* juice, from salmon can (if any)
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1 pinch pepper
* 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
* 1 1/2 cups canned salmon or cooked salmon
* 1/4 cup grated swiss cheese
* 1 tablespoon butter
* mushroom, sauteed in their own juice (optional) or lemon juice (optional)

1. Cook onion in butter over low heat about 5 min or so – do not brown. Add flour, cook 2 minutes without coloring.
2. Off heat, beat in boiling milk, wine (if using), salmon juice (if using), and seasoning. Boil several minutes to thicken. Thin to medium consistency with 4-6 T. additional milk. Taste for seasoning. Fold salmon (and mushrooms, if using) into sauce, check seasoning.
3. Spread in 8” shallow baking dish or cooked pastry shell. Sprinkle on the cheese.
4. Bake at 425 degrees F for 15 minutes, or til top is nicely browned.
5. Note: You can also add extra ingredients such as peas, diced hard boiled eggs, etc. to the casserole.

One of the by-products of my butter making experiment was buttermilk.  Buttermilk is great.  I use it pancakes all the time.  Problem is I can usually only find it in 1L formats.  Half the time I say screw it and just make “buttermilk” by adding either lemon juice or vinegar to regular milk.  It works out just fine.  When I discovered that making butter would yield buttermilk I was thrilled!

I immediately decided that I wanted to make biscuits.  I NEVER make biscuits, but I love them.  Fluffy, soft, yet crunchy biscuits of goodness.  Plus I acquired a bottle of homemade honey while I was in Jamaica which I thought would be a perfect accompaniment to my biscuits.

I decided to check out the Food Network website to find a recipe. I figured they have enough chefs that dabble in Southern food to come up with a good recipe. Plus, the recipes tend to have a lot of reviews. One thing I noticed immediately is that there’s a split between those that prefer biscuits made with butter vs. those made with shortening. While shortening freaks me out a bit, I did have a ton leftover from making butter tarts a few weeks ago that I wanted to use up. I also happened upon a few comments that said that biscuits made with shortening are overall better. Sold.

I ended up going with this recipe from Tyler Florence. I’ve had some luck in the past with Tyler Florence recipes AND it was reviewed more often than the other recipes I was considering.  The reviews were very positive.

Biscuit making is pretty easy.  Not a lot of ingredients. Minimal mixing.  Minimal kneading. Some rolling and cutting.  Bake them and you’re done.  All in all about 10 minutes of active time and 15 minutes baking.  It couldn’t be easier.  I grew up eating biscuits made with boxed mix (special shout out to Jiffy biscuit mix!) but the real deal is not that much harder and is so much more delicious.

I served my biscuits with scrambled eggs and peameal bacon (aka Canadian bacon) as part of a breakfast feast.  I’d love to serve these with some fried chicken, gravy and mashed potatoes.  That will be next.

Better Buttermilk Biscuits

Ingredients

* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 tablespoon sugar
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/2 cup vegetable shortening, chilled, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
* 3/4 cup buttermilk

Directions

In a mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients together with a fork. Cut in the shortening using a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Make a well in the center and add buttermilk. Quickly fold dry ingredients into buttermilk with your hands until a sticky dough forms.

Turn dough out onto floured surface. Gently fold the dough over itself 3 or 4 times to create layers. Roll dough out to 3/4-inch thick. Cut with a 3-inch biscuit cutter. Transfer dough rounds to a sheet pan. Gather scraps and repeat. Make a dimple in the center to help the top rise evenly. Brush with butter. Bake for 15 minutes in a preheated 400 degree oven until golden brown.

Every once in a while I start feeling extra crafty when it comes to cooking.  I get these impulses to make really basic things that are readily available in the supermarket.  Once it was jam, another time it was bread – and there have likely been many other things over the years.

A few years ago I was reading The New York Times Magazine when I came across this article on how to make butter.  I clipped the article thinking I would make it soon.  Well two and a half years and a cross-border move later I finally did!

I decided to make butter at the oddest time. I came home from work one day and decided to go on a cooking rampage.  I made sloppy joes and sweet potato fries, a pear crisp, a loaf of bread and then butter…. at about midnight.  CRAZY TOWN.  I guess that’s when I felt inspired to do it, nothing wrong with that.

I remember making butter YEARS ago.  We’re talking when I was in DAYCARE years ago.  We made butter by shaking cream in a jar.  Every kid got a turn and I remember it being pretty cool learning that that was how butter is made.  Our daycare teacher then spread it on some bread and handed it out as a snack.  I threw up.  Not sure why but ever since then I’ve associated homemade butter with throwing up. True story.

Making butter gave me a quick lesson on cream.  The recipe calls for Heavy Cream which is 36% fat.  In Canada we don’t have “Heavy Cream” but we do have “Whipping Cream” which is around 36% fat too.  But then I went to my regular supermarket to pick some up and took it home.  I then looked at the ingredients and there were about 6 or 7 ingredients!  I was thinking that cream should have one ingredient, cream, but I guess I was wrong.  Apparently cream needs Carrageenan and Guar Gum and a bunch of other stuff.  Needless to say I returned the cream.  I mean, if I’m making butter from scratch it should be pretty pure.  I did some research and discovered that Harmony Organic makes Whipping Cream with only Cream as an ingredient. VICTORY!

Making the butter was pretty easy.  The recipe suggests using a stand mixer but I don’t have one so I used my regular hand mixer. A stand mixer would have been less stressful but I”m not knocking my hand mixer for getting the job done.  You basically beat the cream until it can’t be beat anymore.  It goes from whipped cream to a state where it looks like NOTHING is happening and then all of a sudden the butter separates from the buttermilk and you’re almost there!  This took about 12-15 minutes with my hand mixer, although the recipe suggests that it takes 8-10 minutes with a stand mixer.

From there I had to strain the buttermilk from the butter and then knead the butter to expel the rest of the buttermilk and make the butter dense.  This is kind of a weird step if you don’t know what you’re working towards.  I could have kneading forever!  But then your body heat starts making the butter softer.  I also kneading in some sea salt because I found the butter needing some flavour.

The verdict, NOT BAD.  It was really rewarding to make my own butter and I like that I could see what ingredients I used etc.  The butter was a bit sweeter than your typically supermarket butter and did seem “fresher”.  Would I do this regularly? Probably not.  It’s not that it’s a lot of work but I don’t really do enough with butter that I would want to spread on things for this to be a good option.  But I have to say, there’s noting like eating homemade bread with a schmear of your own butter.

Homemade Butter and Buttermilk

6 cups organic heavy cream

Salt to taste (optional).

1. Pour the cream into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk. Tightly cover the top of the bowl with plastic wrap and start mixer on medium-high speed. The cream will go through the whipped stage, thicken further and then change color from off-white to pale yellow; this will take at least 5 to 8 minutes. When it starts to look pebbly, it’s almost done. After another minute the butter will separate, causing the liquid to splash against the plastic wrap. At this point stop the mixer.

2. Set a strainer over a bowl. Pour the contents of the mixer into the strainer and let the buttermilk drain through. Strain the buttermilk again, this time through a fine-mesh sieve set over a small bowl; set aside.

3. Keeping the butter in the strainer set over the first bowl, knead it to consolidate the remaining liquid and fat and expel the rest of the buttermilk. Knead until the texture is dense and creamy, about 5 minutes. Strain the excess liquid into the buttermilk. Refrigerate the buttermilk.

4. Mix salt into the butter, if you want. Transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate. Makes about 16 ounces (2 cups) each of butter and buttermilk.

Okay, for this week’s Barefoot Bloggers I’m cheating a bit.  When  I saw that this week’s pick was for Ina’s Baked Shrimp Scampi I was a bit disappointed. I make this ALL THE TIME. Seriously at least once or twice a month.  The recipe is great the way it is so I never make any changes except for cooking it in individual dishes.

Check out this post to read about my first time making this recipe.
Can’t wait for the next round of Barefoot Blogger picks!

Nota Bene
180 Queen Street West
Toronto, Ontario
416.977.6400

(Photo from Nota Bene)

Nota Bene has been on my list of restaurants to visit since it opened about two years ago.  The place gets great reviews and received numerous “Best New Restaurant” accolades along the way.  Despite being a quick subway ride away the visit never happened.  A few of us were talking on Twitter about Nota Bene and a plan to visit was born. Oh happy day!

The outside of Nota Bene looks sleek and modern.  I love the neon glow outside the restaurant.  Inside is a great bar area that I’ve made a mental note to revisit for post-work drinks one evening.  Now in all my walking by Nota Bene I always assumed it was a pretty small space – not at all.  I was shocked to see how big the space is.  I didn’t count tables but the place is big.  But alas I didn’t come to stare at the space, I came to eat (and boy did I!)

I did my homework prior to my visit and everyone that I spoke to said to try the Crisp Duck Salad and the Sticky Toffee Pudding.  Those were definitely on my list.  The joy of going with a few people (there were 3 of us) is being able to order copious amounts of food in order to get a good feel of the menu.

To start we ordered the Farm to Fork Charcuterie platter which featured “a lot of meat” with a few types made in house.  My favourite, oddly enough was the lardo.  Who knew that slices of pure fat could be so delicious.  It was like eating butter but porkier.  The Crisp Duck Salad was just about as good as everyone warned me.  I recently discovered that I enjoy duck (depending on the preparation) so there was no apprehension around this salad.  The salad features crisp duck (duh) on a bed of papaya slaw and cashews.  I thought this was a great combination with the brightness of the papaya slaw really cutting through the richness of the duck.  I really enjoyed the overall variety in textures.  I also tried the Hamachi Ceviche with avocado, lime and jalapenos. Whoa nelly! I enjoy spiciness but this was spicy.  Delicious but if you weren’t expecting it the spice would catch you off guard for sure.

For my main I was really banking on the pulled suckling pig and boudin noir tart which I saw on the online menu.  Sadly this tart is no longer.  Le sigh.  Instead I opted for  Pulled Crab with Buckwheat Pasta.  I was intrigued by the idea of pulled crab which ended up just being crab pieces.  The dish had an overall citrusy flavour and had pieces of basil and some other greens.  It was a really interesting combination of flavours and almost felt “healthy”.   I considered ordering the Grilled “Rare” Hanger Steak but chickened out because rare meat freaks me out.  Luckily the dish ended up at the table and I learned that a.) the rareness was palatable and b.) it was delicious!  The steak had a South American flair and was served with chimichurri sauce.  I also tried the Braised Short Ribs which was absolutely delightful!  The short ribs were so rich, soft and buttery – pure heaven.  Last but not least I tried the Papardelle Pasta with Grilled Rabbit Loin.  I had never had rabbit before and was significantly less freaked out by the whole thing and enjoyed the pasta.

Then it was on to dessert!  Of course I had the Sticky Toffee Pudding which was on the sweet side but still heavenly.  It was served warm so it was all gooey and ummm… sticky.  On top was a scoop of ice cream.  Well played Nota Bene, well played. Next up was a Panna Cotta served with a fruit compote and a meringue crisp.  I’m not a huge fan of Panna Cotta (it’s a texture thing) but this wasn’t bad.  What I really enjoyed was the Passion Fruit Sorbet.  I’m a sucker for finishing off a meal with cold icy things.   The sorbet wasn’t too sweet and had a really pure fruit flavour.

This was truly a great dining experience.  The appetizers surpassed the entrees and I could see myself wanting to have a few appetizers for my meal rather than an entree.  Not to knock the entrees but I always enjoy me some appetizers.  The service was very present and attentive without being intrusive.  Another great point about Nota Bene are the prices.  You get a great fine dining (not sure if it’s truly fine dining… I should find a definition) – amazing food, fantastic service etc. without the crazy price tags.  I can’t wait for my next visit.

Check out what’s already been written about Nota Bene:
Toronto Life
En Route
The Globe & Mail
Toronto Star

Hello all!  After  week’s vacation in Jamaica I’m back to the cold and the blogosphere.  Sadly no Jamaica related posts… it really wasn’t a take pictures of your food kind of vacation, although I did do some good eating.  I ate a ton of fresh-caught, never frozen fish, locally grown yams, bananas, mangoes, pineapples, sugar cane and many other things.  Eating “local” in Jamaica is so much more delicious than eating local in Toronto in February.    Even the local “fast food” chains have better fast food grub than we have here.  I’m not trying to move to Jamaica anytime soon but I could definitely get down with the food situation.

Anyways… as you know I always have salmon in the freezer.  We buy the giant packs of salmon at Costco, portion it and freeze.  It makes life easy because you can always quickly whip up something with a salmon fillet.  As per usual I was trolling on Epicurious when I came across this recipe from Gourmet (RIP).  What intrigued me here was the use of red wine and the idea of “lacquering” the fish.

This was one of those meals that seemed a bit cursed.  For some reason I had it in my head that mirin was rice wine vinegar… it totally isn’t!  Of course I go to make the recipe and realize this.  I didn’t want to go to the LCBO to get some mirin so figured I’d use some rice wine vinegar mixed with water and sugar.  Of course AFTER doing this I searched the internet for substitutions and everyone said to not use vinegar, oh well.  The first time I tried to make the sauce it ended up burning.  When I say burning I mean the bottom of the pan was covered in hard, black stuff.  My apartment smelled AWFUL!  Needless to say I ended up having something else for dinner that night.

The next night I tried again.  This time using a sherry + sugar combination for the mirin.  Luckily there was no burnt pots.  The results were pretty good.  It was definitely a different way to prepare salmon and was pretty easy.  I love the way it looked when it was ready.  It truly looked like it had been lacquered!  I’ll definitely give this another time and may even spring and buy me some mirin to see how this should really taste.  I served this with sweet potato gnocchi and broccoli, although I can see it being delicious with some potatoes.

Slow-Roasted Red-Wine-Lacquered Salmon Fillet
1 (4-inch) piece peeled fresh ginger
1 cup soy sauce
2 cups dry red wine
1 1/3 cups mirin (Japanese sweet rice wine)
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 (4 1/2-pound) salmon fillet (preferably wild king; about 1 1/2 inches at thickest point), small bones removed

Accompaniment: lime wedges

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 225°F.

Finely grate ginger on small holes of a box grater into a fine-mesh sieve, then set sieve over a bowl and press on ginger to extract 2 teaspoons juice. Bring soy sauce, wine, mirin, brown sugar, and ginger juice to a boil in a 3- to 3 1/2-quart heavy saucepan. Reduce heat to moderate and briskly simmer, stirring occasionally, until syrupy and reduced to about 1 cup, 45 to 55 minutes. Transfer to a bowl, then quick-chill by setting bowl in a larger bowl of ice water and stirring occasionally for 5 minutes. Stir in lime juice. Reserve 1/2 cup glaze in a small bowl for brushing after roasting.

Line a 17- by 12-inch heavy shallow baking pan with foil and coat foil with oil (1 tablespoon).

Arrange salmon, skin side down, diagonally in pan, then spoon about 2 tablespoons glaze over salmon, spreading it evenly with back of spoon. Let stand 5 minutes, then spoon and spread another 2 tablespoons glaze over salmon.

Roast 15 minutes. Remove from oven and glaze again (use a clean spoon each time), then roast 10 minutes more. Repeat glazing and continue to roast until fish is just cooked through (opaque), 10 to 20 minutes more (35 to 45 minutes total, depending on thickness of fish; check frequently after 35 minutes). Transfer with 2 wide metal spatulas to a platter, then coat with a final layer of reserved glaze (about 2 tablespoons) using a clean spoon. Serve remaining glaze on the side if desired.

Cooks’ note:
Glaze can be made 2 days ahead and chilled, covered. Bring to room temperature before using.

Gourmet
June 2007

The other day my work bestie was raving about this soup and gave me the recipe.  I admit it looked pretty delicious and I NEVER covet other people’s lunches.  It sounded right up my alley with all the thai flavour and meatballs (I LOVE meatballs) so convincing me to make it was hardly a task.  I wasn’t even put off that the recipe came from one of those brochures put out by a food company (KNORR) and a the Beef Information Centre.

I setup shop to make this and things immediately started heading south.  When I read the recipe prior to grocery shopping I saw the whole “Chinese lettuce or cabbage” which made me think that green cabbage would be just fine.  But when I went to go make it I realized that green cabbage would probably not be ideal.  So no cabbage for me.  Then as I was attempting to break apart my “rice” noodles something seemed odd – they weren’t breaking apart!  I flipped the package over and saw that they were bean noodles.  Who knew there was even such a thing!  I forged ahead though.

The meatballs were quick and easy to make and I loved that there was no pre-frying required.  It’s all poaching!  The flavours in the meatballs were pretty perfect and would be great on their own or in a  cool Thai sub kind of meal (note to self).  Then it came to the soup making.  Since I wasn’t using 4 cups of cabbage I decided to add more noodles. Biggest.Mistake.Ever.  I didn’t think ahead.  I didn’t think that the noodles would absorb 90% of the liquid.  Nope, didn’t think of any of that.

Needless to say my “Thai Beef Soup” turned into “Thai Beef Noodles”.  On the plus side it tasted FANTASTIC and was so easy to make.  I will make this again the proper way and all will be right in the world.  For the record I didn’t use KNORR broth, I used whatever I had on hand.  Also I think the meatballs would be fantastic with a beef /pork mix.

THAI BEEF SOUP

Meatballs:
1 slice white bread, crust removed
2 pkg (900 mL EACH) KNORR® Simply Chicken Broth™
1 lb (500 g) Lean Ground Beef Sirloin*
1/4 cup (50 mL) fresh coriander leaves, minced
1 tbsp (15 mL) EACH minced gingerroot, green onion and garlic
1/2 tsp (2 mL) EACH salt and granulated sugar

Soup:
1/2 tsp (2 mL) dried chili ?akes (optional)
1-1/2 cups (375 mL) dried rice vermicelli, broken into small
lengths (approx 3-1/2 oz/100 g)
4 cups (1 L) thinly sliced Chinese lettuce or cabbage
1 sweet red pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
1/4 cup (50 mL) coarsely chopped fresh coriander
3 green onions, thinly sliced
Limes and soy sauce

1. Meatballs: Place bread in large bowl. Moisten with 1/4 cup (50 mL) of the Knorr broth. Let stand 5 minutes. Using fork, stir to form paste. Add ground sirloin, coriander, ginger, onion, garlic, salt and sugar, using wet hands to gently work together. Shape into about thirty 1-inch (2.5 cm) balls; cover and refrigerate. Make ahead: cover and refrigerate for 1 hour or up to 1 day.

2. Soup:Meanwhile, bring remaining Knorr broth and chili ?akes (if using) to boil in large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add vermicelli. Reduce heat to simmer; cook for 5 minutes. Stir in lettuce and red pepper.

3. Slip meatballs into broth a few at a time. Without boiling, bring back to a simmer; cook, covered, until meatballs are thoroughly cooked, about 10 minutes, or until the temperature of several meatballs reads 160°F (71°C) when tested with a digital instant read thermometer. Stir in coriander and green onions. Use tongs to transfer meatballs, pasta and vegetables into eight soup bowls; ladle broth over each. Serve each with a lime wedge and splash of soy sauce.

Makes 8 servings.