Fairly Fruitful Fish Feat

2008 Fetzer Pinot Grigio and Rainbow Trout: 5/5

2008 Fetzer Pinot Grigio: 85/100

There it lay, lifeless on the cutting board, staring up at me with it’s cold dead eyes. Constantly trying to push myself beyond my comfort zone in kitchen, I began flipping through the culinary rolodex of things I hadn’t done, when I stopped at F, as in fish.

As you can read, I have made fish before, but I always wimp out and buy the already prepared portions from the grocery store. Never have I actually bought an entire fish, and prepared it myself. Never, that is, until yesterday.

Flipping through the pages of my Better Homes Cook Book (just a side note: if there is any cook book worth having it is the Better Homes Cook Book. It’s easy to understand, there are tons of pictures, conversion charts, emergency substitutions, and none of the ingredients are ridiculously hard to find. Seriously buy it. It’s like $16). Anyways as I was flipping through, I opened to the fish section, and found a delicious sounding recipe for Red Snapper with carrots and fennel. http://www.bhg.com/recipe/seafood/red-snapper-with-carrots-and-fennel/

A while back I made a fennel and radish salad, a Top Chef recipe, and ever since then I have been looking for an excuse to use it again. So I thought, perfect, I’ll bone a fish, and get to use fennel. Now fennel is a beast of a vegetable, and is kind of broken down into three parts: the bulb, the fronds, and then the seed (although the seeds are usually sold separate in stores). The whole bunch of it tastes like anise, black licorice, but while the bulb can be cooked like celery, the fronds lend themselves better to salads. So as a side dish, I thought a mixed green salad with fennel fronds, raisins, walnuts, and a champagne vinaigrette would compliment the flavor profile of the fish.

Only one problem, the grocery store didn’t have any Red Snapper. The only whole fish in stock were rainbow trout and white fish. Now as I was reading from Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything, fresh fish, should not smell, their eyes should not be sunken in, and they should be a vibrant color, not translucent. With sunken red eyes, an a milk white discoloration, the white fish did not scream fresh, but the row of rainbow trout seemed to shine with an iridescence. According to the Better Homes Cook Book, rainbow trout is a bit more delicate tasting than red snapper, but would still soak up the flavors of the fennel and carrot nicely.

As Michael started on a milk chocolate malted milk ball cake to take over to my friend Lisa’s house later that evening, I unwrapped the brown paper concealing the fish. So, technically speaking, de-boning a fish is as easy as 1,2,3. If you do purchase an entire fish with scales from the grocery store, I would recommend asking the butcher to de-scale the fish for you, other wise you will be finding scales in your apartment until the end of the lease. First, make an incision along the backbone in front of the back fin. Second Make a second vertical incision just behind the gill. Finally slide your knife over the ribs releasing the filet. Sounds simple right? Well it wasn’t too bad. Even with my brand new incredibly sharp knife, the skin still put up a fight beneath my blade, but I was able to hack off two decently sized filets.

Sale tags lined the liquor isle like leftover confetti from a new years eve party, obviously the Dominick’s I frequent had not sold quite the amount of merchandise they were expecting for the holiday. Good news for me though, I was able to score a $12.00 bottle of 2008 Fetzer Pinot Grigio for 9 bucks.

Described as having notes of apple, pink grapefruit , and lime sorbet, I thought the lighter fruity flavors would compliment the delicacy of the fish, while bringing out the anise flavors of the fennel. With a beautiful straw color, this oaky Pinot Grigio looked to be a delicious match.

Living in close quarters with anyone requires a good deal of patience and compromise, and although Michael and I have a great working relationship, it is not without our fare share of “marital bickering”. Attempting to convince Michael to put the cake on hold for a minute so we could sit down and eat together, was harder than boning the fish, but with some persistence we both sat in front of our steaming filets, glistening greens, and smooth sweet potatoes.

Soaking up the delicious anise, onion, and carrot flavors, the fish was phenomenal. Flaky, fatty, and tender to the fork, each bite was bursting with a rick buttery texture, with complimenting al dente veggies. Providing a subtle bitterness, the salad played opposite the rich and creamy sweet potatoes.

Singing from the glass, the wine rang out with strong notes of pink grapefruit that yielded to smooth apple flavors. With an alcohol content of 13%, the body was the right match for the weight of the fish. Swishing a gulp around in my mouth, the wine resonated with the strong acidity of a fresh grapefruit, which cleansed the palate between each bite.

Seeming to bring out the complexity in the wine, the subtle fattiness from the fish masked the wine’s acidity, allowing me to experience the wine’s subtle lime and apple notes, with even a hint of fresh cut grass. In the same way, the wine’s acidity brought out the earthy flavors in the greens, with out tasting bitterness on my palate. Truly a great example of food and wine pairing.

As Michael rushed about the kitchen, piling cake layers, and mixing frosting, I polished off the rest of the wine. With a pile of dishes left in the kitchen sink, we left the apartment with feeling full and satisfied with a frosted cake and some party games for the evening. Bearing the cold I reminisced on yet another perfect pair.

Pear and Pinot (Grigio That Is)

Ginger Pear Chicken and 2008 3 Blind Moose Pinot Grigio: 5/5

Last night, overlooking a relaxed lake Michigan bathed in burnt yellows and oranges of the setting sun, I got a craving for something seasonal. So, perched on my orange couch, I thought of the flavors of the season I hadn’t had this year. I’ve tasted the crisp crunch of a fresh picked apple, the smooth creaminess of pumpkin soup, and turkey, stuffing, and cranberries are all just around the corner, what else was there?

Pears, juicy and ripe with pulp that seems to melt like butter in your mouth. So since I gorged myself trying nearly half of The Cheesecake Factory menu this past week, I wanted to make something that was lighter, yet seasonal. So I found this recipe for ginger pear chicken. http://busycooks.about.com/od/chickenbreastrecipes/r/gingerpearchick.htm

Although there were 4 1/2 stars, this recipe was only reviewed by two people, but I was willing to take a chance and doctor things accordingly. As I pondered over the recipe in my head, I decided fennel, with its slight anise flavor, and dried cranberries, with tartness and sweetness, would provide more complexity to the dish. A prior reviewer recommended topping the dish with a drizzling of balsamic vinegar, which I would suggest as well. The additional acidity, adds a mouth watering effect, and plays well with the the tart and sweet flavors already in the dish.

I’d like to take a minute and talk about ginger. Ginger, like potatoes, carrots, beets, and parsnips, is a root, and an ugly one at that. Where as carrots and potatoes tend to be cone shaped and oblong ovals, ginger is tuber, which basically means there is no rhyme or reason for the shape of this veggie. The first time I used ginger, I was intimidated to say the least. Here I am, holding this amorphous beige mass, that I have only ever seen picked and served with wasabi, and I am supposed to do what with it? Really the process is quite simple and just takes a peel and a chop, but for those less adventurous, it’s understandable that trying new things, especially food, is nerve racking. So my advice with any new food is to slice a little bit, smell it, taste it, and then cook it. Be careful, as some thing, like ginger, are very potent.

Since this meal was going to be lighter in nature I decided that a Pinot Grigio would be a great candidate to pair with the meal. Where Chardonnay tends to have a heavier body and a rich buttery flavor that pairs well with alfredo and light pastas, Pinot Grigio is silkier and a bit more delicate, lending itself nicely to the range of flavors in the dish at hand. As I scouted about the store, I wanted to find a bottle with notes of pear and citrus. Lo-and-behold, a bottle of 2008 3 Blind Moose had just that, and it was only $9.

To accompany the Chicken I prepared some rice with chopped green onion and seasoning. When everything hit the plate, the contrasting burgundy cranberries popped against the slivers of green onion. Without the two, the dish would have been beige and boring.

Moist and flavorful, the chicken breast, dredged in flour and browned before cooked throughout, had no thought of being dry, while the balsamic vinegar resonated on the palate giving off that mouth watering effect I was hoping for. Moist bits of onion and fennel provided a base for the sweet pears and cranberries, while the rice soaked in the excess juice from the chicken and pears.

With aromatics of sun ripened citrus, pear, and a hint of melon, the wine filled my nostrils with a scene of a perfect fall day, brisk enough for a coat, but just right with a cup of warm apple cider, or hot chocolate. Resting on my tongue, the wine’s light weight gave way to a stronger acidity and a lingering finish.

Together the meal was a perfect example of the power of pairing. Alone the Pinot Grigio was to acidic, making my lips pucker, and palate tense as it moved down my throat, but together, the wine’s acidity was cut down by the sweetness of pear and cranberry, only leaving the added flavors of the wine, which accompanied the dish perfectly. Alone the herby chicken and rice would have gotten monotonous by the end of the meal, but together the wine was able to bring out the subtleties of the dishe’s fennel, onion, and ginger flavors.

Usually it is the food that induces a coma after the meal, but this time it was the wine. Stimulated by good conversation, Michael and I had no problem finishing the bottle with the meal. With the boom of fireworks outside, as the lighting parade on Michigan Avenue came to a close, the only fireworks we were paying attention to were the ones inside our mouths from another perfect pair.

Top Chef of Tomorrow

Confit of Eggplant, Lentils, Garlic Purée, and Radish Salad + 2008 Firefly Ridge Pinot Gris: 4/5

I have pondered, over many a Top Chef viewing, what the food tastes like. You see, while I am not afraid to try anything, ingredients, processes, and preparations seen on Top Chef are as foreign to me as Chinese to a native english speaker. My lips have never touched a truffle, nor have I ever smelled a thread of saffron.

But unfamiliarity aside, I still have the words of Julia Child in the back of my head,

“No Fear.”

Since 2 of the 4 guest I invited for dinner were vegetarian, and the latest Top Chef episode featured an homage to Veggies, I thought I would capitalize on the opportunity to test my culinary ability by making Chef Eli Kirshtein’s Confit of Eggplant, Lentils, Garlic Purée, and Radish Salad. http://www.bravotv.com/foodies/recipes/confit-of-eggplant-lentils-garlic-pureacutee-and-radish-salad

For the future, when attempting a Top Chef recipe it is best to go to Whole Foods. This is where the Chef’s usually shop for challenges, and their selection of produce is superior to that of Dominick’s or Jewel. Unfortunately for me, I did not think of that until I was at Dominick’s already.

While the recipe called for Japanese eggplant, heirloom radishes, spring garlic, and Banyuls vinegar, I could only fine baby eggplant, full grown radishes, cloves of garlic, and balsamic vinegar. Similar, yes, but exact? No. So I picked up some watercress, and herbs to see if I could come up with similar flavor profiles. Since the recipe was also categorized as an appetizer, I decided to add a carrot salad to insure that there would be enough food.

I am not going to lie, the preparation and cooking was stressful. Never have I used so many dishes, spoons, pots, pans, blenders, and heating surfaces for one recipe. Luckily having a serving background has given me the ability to multi-task and handle stressful situations. No Fear, right?

As my guests, Rocio, Shelbey, and Zachary, came into the apartment, I was putting my eggplant medallions into the pan, browning butter, reducing cream, simmering lentils, and blending the garlic and watercress into a purée. Seeing my stress, I was greeted with compliments of good smells, french bread, a bottle of white wine, and a block of brie. Taking a deep breath, I went back to work.

For wine I was feeling pretty confident in my pairing abilities. Since the dish was strictly vegetables and grains, I was certain that the wine of choice would be white. Afraid that a buttery Chardonnay would be overpowering, and a Riesling too sweet, I narrowed my options to Pinot Grigio or Sauvignon Blanc. While both wines are un-oaked Pinot Grigio provides more fruity notes, while Sauvignon Blanc offers earthier tones.

As an alternative, I opted for a 2008 Firefly Ridge Pinot Gris. Similar to Pinot Grigio but usually categorized as a new world wine, this particular wine offered tropical and melon flavors, with a smooth and silky body.

Plating is just as important to a Top Chef as taste, so when it was time, I tried aligning each component horizontally. Not liking that, I separated everything into circles on a triangular plate, which looked more appetizing to me. When it came to my plate, I had used all of the triangles, so I plated mine with the circle grouping style on a rectangle(pictured).

With the lentils and eggplant acting as “meat” the carrot and radish salads provided pops of color on the plate. I went for the carrot salad first, familiar with its zesty dressing, sweet raisins, and crunchy carrots. Apprehensive that the carrots would be unrelated to the rest of the dish, I moved to the fennel and radish salad. Providing a spicy crunch, a sweet anise overtone, and a bitter herby vinaigrette, the Top chef salad teetered on the tongue, hitting a multitude of senses before a lingering finish. Finally I moved to the eggplant. Having sat, covered in salt, for a half an hour, the eggplant was tender, and flavorful. The garlic puree, added an additional earthy undertone, brought out by the saltiness of the eggplant. When paired with the lentils the texture was creamy, but though enough to chew. The lentils themselves, on the other hand, were another story.

After I added the reduced cream, the lentils took on a sweet, almost spoiled, milk flavor. I did the best I could to return to the original carrot, celery and onion profile, and even doctored it with spices, salt and pepper, but in the end my palate had been tainted and I could only taste the cream. The others said they liked them, but the only remnants found on anyone’s plate was lentils.

The melon and citrus notes of the Pinot Gris gave off an almost Jolly Rancher or rock candy aroma. Worried that the wine would not hold up to the range of flavors in the dish, I took a sip. The light straw-like colored wine had a silky body and left a lingering fruity flavor in the mouth, but at the same time, was cleansing to the palate. Playing off of the sweetness of the carrots, the spiciness of the radish, and the earthiness of the eggplant, each sip brought out a different colour of the dish, while not loosing itself to the bold flavors. Since the overall effect of the meal was light, the wine was a perfect match.

Obviously I am no Top Chef, but for a first attempt at stepping into the gastronomic world of fine food, I would categorize my meal as a success. My vegetarian friends were pleased, Michael, although left craving meat, like it. Rocio was ready for bed. As I looked over the mountainous stack of dirty dishes, I couldn’t help feeling accomplished. Who knows what the future holds, but I know that food will be a part of it. Another perfect pair.