Side Dishes/ Pecan Praline Green Beans

I am a child of the sixties. I was born in '58. I don't think "cuisine" had been invented yet. It was the days of "meat and potatoes" and the nascent frozen food industry. T.V. dinners were just coming into their own, T.V. trays were necessary so the family could sit in front of the boob tube and consume their victuals. Not much nutrition there. Not much family time around the table either.

Every mom knew in her heart that meat and potatoes were not a balanced meal. Enter the vegetable. Not fresh from the garden, not even fresh from the factory farm. I can't remember ever buying fresh vegetables. We had canned vegetables. They were utterly wretched. Speaking of wretched, that is what the sight, smell, and taste of them caused in me; wretching. They were soooooooo bad. The worst of the worst: canned peas and canned green beans. Is it any wonder I ate no vegetables until I reached my teens?

Well, I became a parent, and I too realized that children should eat their vegetables. Green beans included. What to do? Raise your own green beans. They are easy to grow, and nothing tastes better than fresh from the vine green beans, eaten the same day they were picked. A french chef friend of mine was so impressed that I was growing green, yellow, and purple "green beans" that I thought he would cry. He said "I haven't seen these since I left France." Kids will eat veggies much more readily if they "know"their food. Seeding, watering, feeding, and picking one's own veggies will make them taste immeasureably better.

If you can't convince people to eat their green beans for their own sake, buy Garlic Green Beans from SPICY CITY chinese restaurant in Kearny Mesa. Their garlic green beans are the best I have ever had from a restaurant. Or, make these for them. I developed this recipe for our kids who would have nothing whatever to do with green beans under any circumstances. Our son Sam and son-in-law Jerry were avowed green bean haters, and shockingly, always have seconds of these. Pair these green beans as a side dish with the salmon with honey mustard sauce. Enjoy.

Pecan Praline Green Beans

2/3 pound green beans
4 slices bacon
1 shallot
2 cloves garlic
¾ cup chopped pecans or pine nuts
2 T balsamic vinegar
2 T brown sugar
2 T butter

Green beans can be steamed ahead till just tender when pierced with the end of a knife.
Cook bacon. Set aside. Drain grease, leaving perhaps 1 tsp drippings. Saute shallot and garlic in pan, add nuts, stirring to toast. Add balsamic to deglaze pan. Add brown sugar along with 2 T water. Add Butter. Toss steamed green beans to cover with sauce.

Farewell Diliya/ Grilled Salmon with Honey Mustard Glaze

Last night we had such a lovely dinner with two of our dearest friends and fellow workers in the work of Christ Jesus, Scott and Mary Davidson. Also present for a fond farewell supper was our new friend Diliya from Uzbekhistan. I am amazed at the way God puts new friends together, but more than friends, family and fellow heirs of the blessings of being children of our Lord together in all the riches of Jesus Christ.

What do you serve for a farewell meal? The options were beef prime rib, crown rack of pork rib (not something likely to be served in Uzbekh, a muslim country), or salmon (Uzbekh, is also utterly and completely landlocked, so seafood is rare). You can't get salmon in Uzbekh, and Diliya really likes seafood. So salmon it is.

Seafood is also the menu choice for Italian Christmas eve meals. Although I have not one drop of Italian blood, in my heart, I am at least half Italian. I have prepared this salmon for Christmas eve a few times and it is always a hit.

Grilled Salmon with Honey Mustard Sauce

Four to five ounce portions of salmon.

(Farmed is now 7.99 per pound at Costco! At that price go to Trader Joe’s for flash frozen shrink wrapped wild caught salmon. Each species of western salmon has a different color, taste, and texture. DO NOT BUY: anything labeled Keta, Johnson Straight, or silverbrite salmon. These are marketing euphemisms for a species called chum or dog salmon by the locals in Alaska, because it was worthy of using for chum for better species or to feed to the sled dogs.

4 4-5 oz portions salmon filets, lightly seasoned with salt and pepper and just a hint of garlic powder

Wood chunks and smoking box for the gas grill

2 tbsp Dijon or your preferred type mustard (for San Diego locals use Raspberry/wasabi mustard from the Julian Cider Mill in Julian, CA. It brings some amazing complex flavors to the dish)

2 tbsp Honey ( brown sugar may be substituted for honey, but use light brown)

2 tbsp dry white wine, chardonnay, pinot grigio or sauvignon blanc are nice choices

2/3 can chicken stock (of course use a good fish stock if you have it)

2 tbsp butter

Sauce can be prepared ahead for better synchronization of cooking times. Combine mustard, wine, honey, and stock in a sauce pan. Over medium high heat reduce by half. You will be concentrating flavors. Start the sauce well ahead as it will take a bit of time to reduce the liquid. Sauce will thicken without flour or corn starch.

Set aside. Grill fish until JUST DONE. Very center should be just pink as you pull fish off the grill. It will “coast” to complete doneness as you plate. Warm sauce through. Add cold butter to sauce just before serving and melt in.

Dill can be added to the sauce or put a sprinkle of it on the fish of those that like it.

Christmas Memories

Time speeds by much faster these days. Each year seems to fly more swiftly than the one before. Do you remember how painfully slow time passed in childhood. Counting down the days to Christmas seemed an eternity. I think I am still digesting turkey from Thanksgiving, and the calendar tells me it is nearly Christmas. No lights are up yet, no tree has been trimmed. We have marked the season in one of our favorite ways. I had a rare free day on Friday, a beautiful rainy day. We lit a fire in the hearth, made tea, put on Christmas music of our childhood years and baked biscotti.

When I was a child at home we had neighbors from Italy. They dug a wine cellar into the hill in their backyard. They planted fruit trees throughout the property. They had vegetables growing in the front yard while everyone else on the block had lawns. The Vitales could also really, really cook. I don't mean make a dinner now and then, everything was a production. Meals were masterpieces. They even put another cooking range in the garage off the kitchen to handle the overflow. I can still smell the fragrance of fennel, basil, rosemary, and ripe figs. Pizzas baking, sauces bubbling on the stove, Joanne Vitale cranking pasta on tables in the garage. There was always something delicious in progress at the Vitales, but Christmas time was unrivalled in the variety and quantity of treasures that were baked, simmered, roasted, rolled, and stuffed.

For some reason, the Vitales never bought a mixer. There was no need. They borrowed my mother's. We could anticipate them knocking on the door a few days preceding holidays asking to borrow our white Sunbeam mixer. I was always so delighted to rummage through our cabinets looking for the mixer and the beaters. I was excited because I knew when the mixer returned it would be accompanied by a heaving plate of goodies like nothing we had ever seen or tasted. Christmas star cookies, cannoli, pannetone, biscotti, and bowls of zabalgnon and panna cotta would be brought over by Emmanuel or Giovanni. No fairer deal has been made in history than a few hours use of our small appliance for plates full of exquisite holiday treats. I can still smell the smells and taste those tastes.

Friday's rainy day took me back to those sweet days of my childhood. The smell of cookies in the oven, brisk winter weather, and the delight of giving away love through baking for others. Who needs a tree and lights to get in the Christmas spirit.

You will love these biscotti. They contain NO FAT. No butter or shortening will be used in the making of this treat. They contain only two eggs! The flavor notes come from the variables you add to the mix. Make up your own combinations. Each ingredient brings something different to the party. Mix and match. I like to use liqeurs for adding a punch of flavor. The alcohol also adds lightness to the cookies. Try limoncello walnut! Do some experimenting. You will find the moisture content to be the trickiest part. If you get stuck or have troubles, call me or write. I am happy to give phone consultations. If you want, let's bake some together. Teaching is loads of fun.

Biscotti di prato (almond orange biscotti):

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup corn starch

1 cup sugar

1 t baking powder

1/2 t baking soda

1/2 t salt

1/4 t cardomum

1/4 t dry powdered ginger

2 eggs

zest from one whole orange

1 t vanilla

1 T orange juice

1 t triple sec or grand marnier

1-1 1/2 cups chopped almonds

1 cup finely chopped dried cranberries (optional)

1) Preheat oven to 375 or 350 convection.

2) Sift together dry ingredients. Mix thoroughly after sifting. With mixer on low add one beaten egg. Add zest, vanilla, orange juice, and triple sec. Add the next beaten egg. Mix thoroughly. Fold in nuts and cranberries.

3) Shape dough on a floured board into two squat logs no taller than 1". Place the two logs on two ends of a cookie sheet on parchment paper. Bake at 375 for twenty minutes until firm and golden. Remove from oven and cool about five mintues. Reduce heat to 300. Cut logs into 1/2 slices with a sharp chef's knife. Go straight down as you cut, do not "saw."You want clean sharp edges to the slices.

4) Bake twenty more mintues on cookie sheet until lighty toasted. Let cool on wire rack. Makes 2 1/2 dozen biscotti.

Gougeres- Cheese Puffs from Bourguignonne

I have not been to Burgundy (or Bourguignonne). In my dreams I visit in the Fall, perhaps take a trip down the river on a barge. Food and wine is a big part of life in this region. Perhaps this is why Bourguignonne has given us some of the world's best chefs: Escoffier, Bocuse, Pepin, Franey, Boulud, and many others. One of the signature dishes of this region are gougeres. Gougeres are simply a cheese puff made with pate choux, the same dough used to make eclairs and creme puffs. If you master this dough, you can do all of these delicious pastries.

The first time I had gougeres I was doing a landscape consultation at a home in Rancho Santa Fe owned by a couple that owned a well known chain of french bistros about twenty-five years ago. It was a foggy, damp, cold November late morning. I was invited in for a cup of tea and gougeres. The kitchen was about 30'x 25' with french country antiques, limestone walls and floors, a walk in fireplace with a spit and places near the fire for pot au feue. I may as well have been in Lyon. The tea warmed the body, and when I bit into a gouger I was shocked. It was as light as air. The puff was nearly hollow, but there were gossamer threads of light, eggy pastry and hints of earthy cage aged gruyere cheese. It was utterly delicious. I hope you enjoy these. I have altered 3 different recipes to arrive at this one. This recipe includes milk in the pate choux and I think it makes all the difference. Most recipes only use water. This recipe is very easy, but will impress anyone. I like to dip them in really good home-made tomato soup or with a quality salad. Go very, very Lyonnaise and serve them with bowl of french onion soup. These puffs should warm up any brisk Fall or Winter morning.

1 cup water

1 cup milk

6 tablespoons butter, cut into tablespoons

3/4 t salt

1 1/2 cups + 1 Tbsp all purpose flour

1/2 t paprika

4 large eggs

2 cups shredded gruyere cheese (Dubliner cheddar, ementhaller swiss, and many other cheeses are equally delicious)

1/4 t black pepper

1) Preheat oven to 375. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silpat. In a saucepan, combine milk and water. Heat to a near boil while stirring. Add butter 1 T at a time while stirring, till all butter is melted into the liquid. Add the flour all at once. Add the salt, pepper, and paprika. Reduce heat to low, beat vigorously with a sturdy wooden spoon over low heat, cooking the dough until flour is thoroughly incorporated. Continue to beat about three minutes until dough pulls away from the side and bottom of the pan. Trust me, you will know when this happens.

2) Remove pan from heat and let stand at room temperature about five minutes, stirring occasionally to even out heat in the dough. Add the eggs, ONE AT A TIME, beating briskly and incorporating each egg throughout all the dough, before adding another egg. This is very important. Dough will become very silky.

3) Add the cheese to the dough by gently folding in a bit at a time. Drop 3 Tbsp mounds of dough onto the baking sheets, a couple of inches apart.

4) Bake the puffs for 15 minutes at 375. Then, turn pans GENTLY. Reduce temperature to 300 for thirty more minutes. CAREFUL with the door. These are like little souffles. You do not want them to deflate due to rough handling. Turn off the oven. Prop open the door with a wooden spoon and leave for another half hour. The gougeres will be crispy on the outside and light and puffy on the inside.

Enjoy!

Avocado, Ruby Grapefruit, and Shrimp Salad with Sesame-Ginger Vinaigrette

This combination developed when we had guests en route for dinner. Somehow we had forgotten to purchase lettuce. We had avocadoes on the counter, some Ruby Red grapefruit on the trees, and shrimp in the freezer. The combination worked, and these ingredients are seasonally perfect for Fall in southern California. The flavor combinations work together beautifully, and the colors are beautiful together.

I flour the shrimp lightly with flour containing salt, pepper, and a little paprika. Saute lightly in a little oil. Cook until just done, overcooked shrimp are rubbery.

Slice off outside red Grapefruit rind. Slice out each wedge of grapefruit.

Prepare avocado just prior to serving. I like to slice avocado with skin on, then remove skin from each wedge. It keeps the pieces from falling apart.

Assemble pieces artfully and drizzle with a sesame-ginger vinaigrette.

Dressing:
2 T white wine vinegar
2 T soy sauce
2 T honey or sugar
4 T olive oil
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp ginger
½ tsp curry powder

Applewood Grilled Salmon with Honey Mustard Sauce with Hints of Wasabi and Raspberry

Four to five ounce portions of salmon for four

(Farmed Atlantic salmon is now 7.99 per pound at Costco! At that price, better to go to Trader Joe’s for flash frozen shrink wrapped wild caught western salmon. Each species of western salmon has a different color, taste, and texture. Sockeye is definitely my favorite. DO NOT BUY: anything labeled Keta, Johnson Straight, or silverbrite salmon. These are marketing euphemisms for a species called chum or dog salmon by the locals in Alaska, because it was worthy of using for chum for better species or to feed to the sled dogs.

Wood chunks and smoking box for the gas grill

2 tbsp Dijon or your preferred type mustard (We particularly like the Raspberry-Wasabi Mustrd from the Cider Mill in downtown Julian for this recipe.)

2 tbsp Honey ( brown sugar may be substituted for honey, but use light brown)

2/3 can chicken stock (of course use a good fish stock if you have it)

2 tbsp butter

Sauce can be prepared ahead for better synchronization of cooking times. Combine mustard, honey and stock in a sauce pan. Over medium high heat reduce by half. You will be concentrating flavors. Sauce will thicken without flour or corn starch.

Set aside. Grill fish until JUST DONE. Very center should be just pink as you pull fish off the grill. It will “coast” to complete doneness as you plate. Warm sauce through. Add butter just before serving sauce.
Dill can be added to the sauce or put a sprinkle of it on the fish of those that like it.

Just for the Halibut

I am a huge fan of Alaskan Halibut for a variety of reasons. Reason one: they can become really large, sometimes really, really, large. Reason two relates to reason one: their huge size makes them a remarkably challenging big game catch. I have caught many halibut over a hundred pounds, as well as a 150, and a 200. It can be intimidating when you catch a fish almost as big as you are. The big ones can be extremely dangerous brought aboard a boat. They can break legs, bite off fingers, throw around hooks the size of tuna cans, five pound lead weights flying around, just generally create a lot of havoc. The big ones are shot in the head with a shotgun before being brought on the boat. The third reason I am a fan of Alaskan halibut is that they taste delicious. The flesh is very firm, very mild flavor, and is quite healthy for you.

The halibut we have on the Pacific coast of California is a different fish from its Alaskan cousin. It is quite a bit smaller, although it looks the same. A thirty or forty pounder in San Diego is a real trophy catch and quite a rarity. I have been on Halibut charters in Alaska where we were throwing back thirty pounders to hold open our limit of two for the big boys. One trip our average fish was eighty-five pounds, with a number of hundreds. The San Diego version of this flat fish is better pan sauteed with a nice beurre blanc. The meatier fleshed Alaskan fish are best as beer battered fish and chips or on the grill with a little wood smoke adding some complexity to the flavors.

Tonight Alaskan halibut was on the menu. We had a lot going on so things needed to come together fast. What to do? A very quick treatment that has its inspiration in a little Sicilian dish called pepperonata. We had this halibut dish with boiled baby red potatoes, and grilled asparagus.

Halibut with pepperonata

4 halibut fillets, about 4 ounces each

1 finely chopped shallot

4 cloves garlic, pressed

1 yellow bell pepper

1 red bell pepper

4 oz jarred sun dried tomatoes in oil (Trader Joe's brand is excellent)

4 slices cooked bacon

2 tbsp butter

3 tbsp white wine

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp pine nuts

Cook bacon, set aside, chop when cool. Drain off bacon grease. Add olive oil to pan, saute shallot, garlic, then add chopped bell peppers.

De-glaze pan with the white wine. Add pine nuts. Cook until peppers are tender, but still have body. Add chopped bacon and sun dried tomatoes.

Grill halibut on the barbeque until just done, DO NOT OVERCOOK.

Add butter to pepper mixture, stir in, spoon over the halibut.

Enjoy