Recipes by Ingredient + Prep – Page 62 – Writing With My Mouth Full

Bluefish Sashimi with Kochujang Sauce

This isn’t really a recipe for the bluefish as much as it is for the spicy sauce that Koreans use to eat their sashimi with. The Dr. grew up fishing in Los Angeles and this is what his family does when they eat their catch. He replicated it in New York after he caught some bluefish off Sheepshead Bay in Brooklyn.

Kochujang is a spicy Korean condiment made of fermented soy beans and chilis. It’s the same red pepper paste used in making kimchi. You need sushi-grade or freshly-caught fish to make the sashimi. A Korean boy with knife skills is also important. A big plus is spicy arugula to wrap and pick up the sashimi with.

Ingredients:
freshly-caught bluefish or any sushi-grade fish, filleted and sliced in small pieces
a dollop of Korean kochujang red pepper paste
1 tbsp sugar
a few jigs of rice wine vinegar
toasted sesame seeds
salt
a few leaves of spicy arugula

1. Combine and whisk all ingredients together in a bowl, except for the sashimi and the arugula. Season the mixture with some salt to taste.
2. On a serving plate, lay some arugula leaves and top with sashimi. Drizzle with the kochujang sauce and sprinkle with extra sesame seeds.

Orzo Citrus Pasta with Orange Oil

Lisa emailed to ask me where she can buy fregola pasta. I wondered why on earth an Italian would ask me that. It turns out that even her father didn’t know what it was. She couldn’t find it in her supermarket either. Fregola is a North African pasta used often today in Sardinia. It’s made with semolina and then rubbed to form small pellets and then toasted. It’s crumbly, almost like couscous. After I called Di Palo’s and confirmed that they had the pasta in stock, I sent Lisa to pick up a box before they closed.

I was intrigued that she needed the exact pasta, so I did some research and looked for a substitute. Orzo, and even couscous, were suggested. I have both at home but I decided to go for the orzo. My mother has plenty of grapefruit and oranges she uses as our coffee table centerpiece, so I ended up stealing a few to give the orzo a summery taste. The fennel was a bit of a surprise here–it gave a toasted smell and taste. You can make this meatier if you add some half-cooked peeled shrimps.

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups of orzo
1 orange
zest of that same orange
half of a pink grapefruit
chicken broth
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
2 stalks of scallion, white parts only, chopped
a handful fresh mint leaves, finely chopped
a pinch of fennel seeds, lightly toasted, grounded
salt, pepper, olive oil

1. Make orange oil for dressing. Soak the orange zest in some olive oil using a small bowl. Set aside.
2. In a pot, bring the chicken broth to boil. Add orzo pasta and cook until tender, about 7 minutes. Drain and remove to a baking sheet. Spread to a single layer to avoid sticking and clumping.
3. In the meantime, cut the skin off the orange and the grapefruit, and slice flesh into smaller pieces over a serving bowl to catch the juice. Add the onion, scallions and the orzo. Toss with the mint, fennel seeds, salt and pepper. Drizzle with orange oil before serving.

Grilled Nectarines with Honey-Balsamic Glaze

This recipe came from Bon AppÃ©tit Magazine. The original one uses creme fraiche, but I decided to skip it to make the nectarines stand out. Nectarines are bountiful in the summer and they don’t really need any accompaniment–they’re bright and juicy on their own–but the glaze makes for a prettier presentation. A dollop of good vanilla ice cream doesn’t hurt, though.

Ingredients:
3 firm but ripe nectarines, halved, pitted
1/4 cup honey
a few jigs of balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1. Heat stove-top grill while making the glaze. Whisk 1/2 cup honey, vinegar and vanilla in small bowl. Brush glaze on nectarines.
2. Grill nectarines until heated through, about 3 minutes. Gently turn over and grill the other side. Drizzle remaining glaze before serving.

Golden Beet and Fennel Salad

The heat is on! There were some beautiful golden beets in Whole Foods the other day but I was too lazy to cook. This recipe doesn’t require much work, but it does take an hour or two of your time to cook the beets. The good thing is you can just put them in the oven and leave the kitchen to avoid the heat. Cameron served this at her apartment when the Dr. and I came over with a dozen and a half of blue crabs. We covered her table with the Sunday Times and had a very nice summer night dinner. I made my own salad later and matched it with a pan-fried branzino.

Ingredients:
1 bunch golden beets, tops trimmed, thoroughly washed
1 fennel bulb
1 tbsp cumin seeds
lemon juice
olive oil, salt, pepper

1. Wrap beets in foil and put on a baking sheet. Broil on high for about an hour and a half. When done, let completely cool. Gently peel off the skin using your hands. The skin should come off easily. Chop in small chunks.
2. While beets are cooking, slice fennel thinly and set aside in a bowl sprinkled with fresh lemon juice. The lemon juice will keep the fennel from turning dark. Cover with plastic wrap and store in the fridge until ready to assemble the salad.
3. Using a small pan, toast the cumin seeds. Ground using a mortar pestle. In a small bowl, whisk oil and some lemon juice with the grounded toasted cumin. Season with salt and pepper. Toss with the rest of the ingredients.

Asparagus-Stuffed Branzino

I was in the mood for fish after eating too many tacos, so I stopped by the Whole Foods in the Time Warner Center to buy one. It was getting late on a Sunday. I didn’t want to deal with the Fairway crowd and there was not enough time to go to Chinatown. I knew I had no choice but the expensive produce and the long lines in Whole Foods. Their stock was low that late in the day, but I managed to find a whole branzino. I like branzini–in plural form–because of their fleshy, flaky, white meat. They remind me of the Filipino bangus, or milkfish, without the perseverance requirement to pick on small fish bones. Branzino is essentially a Mediterranean sea bass, or to the French, loup de mer, and farm-raised. I also like that they come in smaller sizes than black sea bass or red snapper; perfect for one serving.

I walked over to the vegetable section and found some nice bundles of asparagus. I’ve been eating them grilled lately–watch out, smelly pee!–since they are so easy to cook. If I didn’t end up making a light sauce with them to go with the fish, I thought I’d use them as stuffing. Almost 15 minutes standing in the checkout line led me to go the easier route when I got home.

Ingredients:
1 branzino, butterflied, deboned
4 pieces of asparagus, cut in short pieces
1 shallot, sliced thinly
olive oil, salt, pepper

1. In a large wok, heat some olive oil. SautÃ© onions and asparagus until onions caramelize a bit and asparagus pieces are tender, about 10 minutes. Remove from wok and set aside.
2. Lay the butterflied branzino on a chopping board. Season the inside with salt and pepper. Scoop some of the asparagus-onion mixture and stuff the fish. Using kitchen twine, close the fish to keep the stuffing inside. You can either use a giant kitchen needle or just gently wrap the fish with the twine to hold the butterflied pieces close together.
3. Using the same wok, heat some more oil. Add the fish and cook one side until golden brown, about 8 minutes. Using a heat-resistant spatula, gently turn the fish over and cook the other side for another 5 minutes. Remove to a paper towel-lined plate.