Simple Whole Roasted Branzino

Do you walk by the Seafood section of your grocery store with only a glance at the whole fish on display?  Is it because you're not sure what to do with a fish that feels like it's looking back at you?

Are you just a little bit intimidated by the idea of cooking it, or even what to ask for when it comes to fresh fish?  If so, this is a great beginner's recipe.  I'll tell you what to say, and then within a few simple steps you'll be serving WOW on a plate to your friends and family.  

If you have hooked, scaled and smoked your own catch - you may still enjoy a reminder of how "simple" can mean delicious.

Branzino - pronounced "Brahn-zee-no" is a seabass frequently caught along northern Italian shores in warmer weather. When caught or farmed in other areas, it's called European bass.  In Spain, it's called Lupina. 

It's Mediterranean and when cooked in that style with additions like capers, lemons, tomatoes and olives the flavors turn the simple into the exotic.

A whole roasting pan lined up with Branzini (plural in Italian for Branzino) can be very impressive, but it also makes a nice quiet dinner for two when you roast just one.

Recipe: Simple Whole Roasted Branzino

1 Whole Branzino (or Trout or Sea Bass)

Olive Oil

Citrus Slices

Salt/pepper/paprika

Riesling white wine - Wente makes a crisp, excellent Riesling.

1) Ask for Whole Branzino (or Trout or Sea Bass), then ask them to "Scale and Gut it." 

2) Unwrap it at home, rinse the fish and dry well.  

3) Season inside/outside with Salt, Pepper and Paprika.  Add a few slices of lemon to the inside of the fish.

4) Drizzle oil and add a few slices of citrus (lemons and limes, etc) onto a foil lined baking pan (use parchment if you’re adding tomatoes.)   

5) Put the pan into the oven, and THEN preheat to 450F.  When the oven is preheated, the citrus is roasted and the oil is hot, carefully place the fish on top of the citrus.

 6) Continue Roasting for about 15 minutes (less if the fish is small.) Drizzle White Wine over the fish; continue roasting for 8-10 more minutes.

7)  Remove the fish, place on a serving platter and garnish with the roasted citrus and any other Mediterranean goodies to nibble (ie, small tomatoes, olive, capers, basil leaves.)

8)  When serving, remove the skin and gently scrape the moist white fish fillet onto a plate.  Remove the main bone frame from the middle, then add the bottom fillet to another plate.

Buon Appetito!

ShowfoodChef.com

Drunken Grapes with Wine Poached Shrimp

Drunken Grapes with Wine Poached Shrimp

So many people loved my Drunken Grapes with Goat Cheese that I decided to get more grapes drunk and see what happened.  This time, I soaked the seedless yummies in a nice bright Smoking Loon Chardonnay.  

I'll admit some of the fun was popping a few of these while I decided what to do next.

 

With the rest of the white wine just sitting there staring at me, I was inspired to use it for poaching a few shrimps.  It was so easy, I'm almost embarrassed to put it into a recipe form, but I'm too food-nerdy to not do it.

 

 It probably doesn't come as a shock to find out that crisp Chardonnay, grapes, Herbs de Provence and large fresh lightly poached Shrimp are delicious together, right?

These are easily prepped ahead and chilled, making them perfect Spring, Summer and anytime party favorites.  Pour it, soak it, poach it and serve it, guys.  Party on with ya bad selves! :D

Recipe: Drunken Grapes with Wine Poached Shrimp-

1 bunch seedless grapes

1 bottle Chardonnay (or another light white wine)

1 Dozen large (21count,etc) Fresh frozen Tiger Shrimp in the shells

1 cup water

1 Tbls. Herbs De Provence (or mixture of dried basil, thyme, lavender, savory, fennel, etc)

**Optional - Fresh parsley, fennel fronds or dill chopped fine

1)  Put the picked grapes into a container and pour the wine to cover.  Let soak for at least 2 hours, or up to 3 days in the fridge.

2)  Pour the rest of the wine (at least 1-2 cups) into a deep saucepan or skillet, add the herbs and the water.

3) Bring to a boil, then immediately turn down the heat to a bare simmer, no rolling.  Add the shrimp and poach (below the boiling point) for about 3-5 minutes.  Drain the shrimp and chill.

4)  Peel the shrimp and assemble by putting one grape inside the curl of each shrimp and attach with an appetizer pick or skewer.

5)  Arrange on a bed of finely chopped fresh parsley, fennel fronds or dill.  Serve chilled or room temp.

Drunken Grapes with Wine Poached Shrimp by SHOWFOODCHEF~

Bread Stick Quickies - Simple Saturday

This recipe may look like just an excuse to drink a glass of wine, but sometimes a glass of wine is just an excuse to eat a cracker, or a bread stick...or a box of chocolates. Not you or me, but for some people.

Actually, these easy elegant bread sticks have come in handy several times for serving with soup, cheese plates, and for kids' snacking. In fact, I've had friends join in making these on the spur of the moment and they had a lot of fun trying different spices, seeds and shapes.Of course you could also make your own puff pastry for these, but the "Simple Saturday" version uses store bought boxed puff pastry with great success.

It will take about 15 minutes to do the whole thing. While they bake, let your Pinot Noir breathe, let your soup cool for sipping or get your kids to wash the flour off their hands. By then, these buttery crisp sticks of flaky melt-in-your-mouth bread wands will be ready to perform their magic.

Recipe: Bread Stick Quickies

1 Sheet Puff Pastry (ie. Pepperidge Farm)
Flour for dusting and handling

*Optional ingredients depending on your preference*

2 Tbls Cinnamon, 2 Tbls Sugar mixed
or
3 Tbls. Shredded Cheese
or
2 Tbls Sesame Seeds, Pinch of Sea Salt

1) Divide the sheet into 3 parts (Pepperidge Farm has this done in folds already.)
2) Roll out to 1/8 inch thickness OR use a pasta machine to roll the dough out thin.
3) Sprinkle with *ingredients to your taste. Fold the dough over twice length wise, creating a long narrow strip.
4) Sprinkle with flour for ease, roll the dough out again into a thin sheet. Using a Pizza cutter, the pasta machine or a knife, cut into long thin strips.
5) Place the strips on a parchment lined baking sheet, try to keep them from touching.

6) Bake in preheated 425F oven for about 5-8 minutes.

Make a few or make a bundle. I'd love to hear about your ideas for flavors. May all your Saturdays be simply wonderful :D

Tempranillo Poached Blackberry Panna Cotta w/ Florentine Cookie - Daring Bakers

For the last couple of months, I've been developing a few recipes using the wines from a very lovely winery in Paso Robles - J & J Cellars. While poaching blackberries in their exquisite Tempranillo wine, I imagined how sweet and sultry a Panna Cotta with these flavors would pair.

Tempranillo Poached
Blackberry Panna Cotta w/ Florentine Cookie

James Judd is one of the sons in James Judd and Son's Vineyards and our friendship started years ago in the Entertainment/Sketch Comedy business of Show. Now, he performs an award-winning and hysterical one man show called, "7 Sins", along with many other ventures. His family-owned vineyard has been growing grapes and citrus for over 100 years and passing expertise, talents and instincts down their family lines.

Their Tempranillo under the label, A Cellar Full Of Noise, is affectionately named after lyrics from a Petula Clark song about fun, friends, hanging out and loving life. The Tempranillo is vibrant, spicy and lives up to the dark black fruity grapes of its origins.

The fresh blackberries from the farmer's market, gently poached and added to a milk-honey Panna Cotta, created a dessert that was full bodied, but light on the tongue. It started off creamy and cool, then followed with a deep and lingering fruit and spice combo.The February 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Mallory from A Sofa in the Kitchen. She chose to challenge everyone to make Panna Cotta from a Giada De Laurentiis recipe and Nestle Florentine Cookies.

With Panna Cotta being this month's challenge, it was a no-brainer to put my original curiosity to the test. Wow, I'm glad I did. First of all, I was lucky to have any blackberries left for the Panna Cotta and the Syrup. Just the berries poached in this beautiful wine alone were being popped into the mouths of myself and my husband as if they were candy.

For one set of Panna Cotta, I also used the Tempranillo for a Gelee to layer in the Panna Cotta and then crumbled the Florentine cookie on top.
James was kind enough to send me a few bottles to drink, I mean -- experiment with for other ideas. I'm also creating a few Wine Jellies, Spice and Marinade mixes and Baked Goods with the Malbec and Barbera wines from J & J Cellars. I'll keep you posted about how they come out.

I would love to hear how you've used wine in your own cooking. As always, thanks for stopping by.
Vanilla Panna Cotta (Giada De Laurentis)

1 cup whole milk
1 Tbls. unflavored powdered gelatin
3 cups heavy whipping cream
1/3 cup honey
1 Tbls. sugar
pinch of salt

1) Pour the milk into a bowl and sprinkle gelatin thinly over cold milk. Let stand for about 5 minutes to soften the gelatin.

2) Pour the milk into a saucepan over med. heat. Heat the milk until it's hot, but not boiling and whisk a few times.

3) Add the cream, honey, sugar and salt and continue to heat while occasionally stirring until sugar and honey has dissolved (about 5-7 minutes). Make sure the mixture does not boil.

4) Remove from the heat, allow it to sit for a few minutes to cool slightly. Pour into ramekins, glasses or molds that you want to use.

5) Refrigerate at least 6 hours or overnight. Garnish and serve.

**For mine, I added a few sliced Tempranillo Wine poached blackberries to the glasses just before pouring in the panna cotta liquid.

Tempranillo Wine Poached Blackberries and Syrup-

1 handful of fresh blackberries
2 cups of Tempranillo Wine
2 Tbls. sugar

1) In a small saucepan add all the ingredients and heat on med. just to hot, but not boiling.

2) Stir gently to dissolve the sugar and continue to heat for about 5 minutes. Remove and let cool (can be held overnight in the refrigerator.)

3) Remove the berries and hold for serving. Return the saucepan of wine to the stove and heat on Med/High until the wine has been reduced by half and is syrupy enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon. Let cool until serving.

Florentine Cookies - (Nestle Classic Recipes)

2/3 cup butter
2 cups quick oats
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup dark corn syrup (** I used Agave)
1/4 cup whole milk
1 tsp vanilla pinch of salt

(Optionally - melt chocolate for making sandwich cookies or drizzling on top)

1) Melt butter in saucepan, then remove from heat.

2) To the melted butter, add oats, sugar, flour, corn syrup, milk, vanilla and salt. Mix well.

3) Drop a spoonful of batter, 3 inches apart, onto a silpat or parchment lined baking sheet. Flatten slightly with the back of your spoon.

4) Bake in preheated 350F oven for 6-8 minutes. Cool completely on the baking sheet, then peel off and place on rack to remain crisp.

**If sandwiching, put a smear of melted chocolate on the flat side of one cookie and sandwich together with the flat side of another cookie. Or, drizzle melted chocolate over the top. Recipe makes about 2 1/2 dozen sandwiched cookies.

Wine Gelee-

1 cup of wine
1/2 tsp. powdered gelatin
1 tsp. sugar

1) Sprinkle the gelatin over 1/4 cup of wine and allow to sit while the gelatin softens.

2) Pour the rest of the wine into a saucepan with the sugar and heat on low.

3) Add the gelatin/wine to the saucepan and stir until all is dissolved. Heat until the wine mixture is very hot, but not boiling for about 5 minutes. Remove and allow to cool completely.

To use with layering Panna Cotta, make sure the wine gelee is room temp before spooning over the chilled and set Panna Cotta layer. Then, refrigerate for an hour to allow the Gelee to set before adding another layer of room temperature Panna Cotta. Return to refrigerator and allow for all to set for serving after several hours or overnight.

Orange & Pinot Jelly; YES I CAN!

I did it. I did it, again. I joined another monthly challenge. But who can blame me with this one? It's the brain child of Tigress Can Jam and every month we will be hot water canning or jamming a pre-chosen ingredient. To kick off 2010, the ingredient is CITRUS. Since I've made a lot of marmalade, and because I'm possessed with wanting to push my own envelope I chose to try something new. And let's face it; wine? Even if the jelly didn't work I could have a blast drinking the leftovers! However: the jelly not only worked, it's so unusual and tummy warming without being too sweet - I've eaten it by the spoonful.

ORANGE & PINOT NOIR JELLY

I grew up watching my Grandmother can and jam, but as a kid didn't pay much attention to the how, just the rewards. The impressions that stayed are: boiling water making the windows steam over in the kitchen, jars and jars sitting on muslin (lining the table, window sills and counters), sugar bags with cups inside for easy access, lemons squeezed by her farm hands until nothing remained but dry yellow shells, the smell of hot fruit and the music of the lids as they pinged to an air-tight hug. Canning and jamming is a time honored tradition that is centuries old and yet has returned to be a truly hip and happening culinary art form.

If you haven't tried making jam yet, it might be because you've fallen for the fear tactics, as the famous and talented sugar artist, June Taylor, explained in a workshop I took with her in Berkley, CA last year.

June Taylor Jams and Preserved Fruits are famously delicious. If you ever have the chance to take a workshop with her, you'll find her to be generous with her vast knowledge, completely passionate about her craft and inspiring. (After two of her seasonal workshops, I started selling my own creations.)

As June expressed: Some where in the 1950's American home cooks were convinced (mostly by the expanding "convenience food" processing companies) that it was a waste of time for people to cook at home when they could buy it, zap it, or reheat it in a few minutes. The idea of actually PRESERVING it yourself was old fashion and could kill you if not done by a large corporation. It created a generation of folks who felt embarrassed to actually cook or preserve daily food.

Thankfully, we are rediscovering how important fresh seasonal food is for our families and our communities, and how easy and modern it is to extend our seasons and talents by creating our own jars of treats and savories. Instead of eating those tasteless dollar jars of "almost fruit" jams; Learn the easy basics, and like anything else; you CAN make your own.
RECIPE: ORANGE & PINOT NOIR JELLY
(adapted from Mes Confitures, by the world reknown Christine Ferber, and using skills and techniques taught by June Taylor)

6 Large Oranges (making about 2 cups juice)
Zest from those oranges
5 Granny Smith Apples
6 cups Sugar
1 cup Pinot Noir
1 lemon (juiced)
1 cinnamon stick
1 tsp. ground clove
1 tsp. ground cardamom

Cut apples into quarters, cover with water and boil for about 20-30 minutes.
Pour soft apples and the juice through a cheesecloth or jam bag and press on the bag to get all the juice. Let the juice sit in the refrigerator over night so the sediment can settle. The next day, filter again through cheese cloth and save juice.

Zest the Oranges and boil them in water to cover for 10 minutes, drain and save. Then, squeeze juice from Oranges and filter through a cheesecloth, saving the seeds and pulp in the cheesecloth.
In a large pan, preferably a preserving pan, add the orange juice, the juice from one lemon, the apple juice, the zest, cinnamon stick, cardamon, cloves, sugar, and the tied-up cheese cloth full of seeds and orange pulp.

Bring this to a boil, skim, and keep boiling for about 12 minutes while stirring now and then. Remove the cheese cloth and cinnamon stick. Pour in the Pinot Noir and continue boiling until the temp reaches about 220F.

[Or check for your set using this method: Keep a small plate in the freezer. When checking the set, spoon a small bit onto the cold plate and if it has a "shoulder" to it (a bit of a rise), or you can drag a finger through the mixture leaving a clear path, you're good to go for a loose gell. Remove the preserving pan from the heat while you check this.

Pour your jelly into prepared jars, place them in readied water bath, boil for 10 minutes, carefully remove and wait to hear the song-of-pings when the tops close tight on your success.
This jelly is amazing on toast and muffins or bread, but also adds quite a zing to cheeses and meats.
Hope you'll try this; and let me know so I can admire you.

Quote from my adorable daughter: "I didn't think I'd like this, I don't like marmalade and seeing the zest made me think ewww, but it's not marmalade it's just really delicious jelly and I can taste the wine and it doesn't have that "way too sweet" thing going on. I love it! "