A Trip to Chapel Hill

Last week, I went on another fun trip to the triangle area.  The main reason for going to was to take the intro level sommelier exam in Raleigh through the Court of Master Sommeliers.  My friend, Morgan, who works at McCrady's, also took the test.  It involved a pretty intensive two-day seminar prior to the exam, and I was happy to have a friend there with me.  There was a lot of information to absorb, and I think I might have felt a bit more overwhelmed had I gone by myself.

Morgan and I just before taking the exam

I couldn't help but to be a little nervous about the exam, even though I was overall fairly confident about it. Much to our relief, however, we both passed!

So that was pretty exciting. I've been pretty stressed out about the whole thing, and I'm glad to have one less thing looming over my head right now.

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The other purpose of the trip was to celebrate my birthday!  Tuesday was my actual birthday, but I didn't want to party too hard because the wine exam was the next day.  But, you better believe, on Wednesday after I found out I passed, it was on. 

We finally had dinner at Lantern, after having drinks there my last two visits.  My sister and I asked the bartender to just pick dinner for us because, truly, I would have been happy with any single item on the menu.  He happily obliged us, and I loved every bite.

To start, I got Chaat, which is kind of like a warm salad with roasted chickpeas and cauliflower, crispy potatoes, pickled red onion and a nice, refreshing herbed/minty chutney.  I absolutely adore both chickpeas and cauliflower, and I thought this dish was delicious and certainly unique, with lots of fun texture.

For dinner, I had the steamed wild striped bass, which was served with lots of herbs, crispy ginger, a fermented black bean-type broth, baby bok choy, and rice.  This was excellent as well, along with Margaret's lacquered pork tenderloin lettuce wraps, and Sam's crispy duck noodle soup.  Gotta say, though, I did enjoy mine the best.

The dessert was rave-worthy.  Roasted banana ice-cream with peanut brittle, caramel, and whipped cream. To.die.for.  And I'm really not even the kind of person who just raves over dessert.

Here's one of the sis and me at Lantern.  Sissy bought me the dress for my birthday :)

And one of the sis and her hunky boyfriend, Sam, whom I got to officially meet.

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So that's about all I have to share with you, except for a couple gem photos from our hungover trip to the Maple View Dairy Ice Cream Store in Carrboro the next day.

*mmm...*

Don't be jealous of the fact that I ate really delicious ice cream two days in a row.

A Rare Visit from the Parents and the Resulting Foodie Weekend

 At McCrady's Saturday for Dad's bday celebration

So, the parents came in town this past weekend for my dad's big 6-0, and we all enjoyed a tightly scheduled food-and-drink oriented weekend in honor of the occasion.  The last time they managed to escape to Chucktown from our quiet little hometown of Morganton, NC  was for their 30th anniversary, over a year and a half ago, so we (rightfully) made a big occasion out of it.

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The first night they were in town, I buckled to my mother's gentle but persistent urgings to cook for them, and went with a fun, regionally-inspired theme.

To start, I made fried green tomatoes with a ginger-peach relish.  For the relish, I simmered some skinless, chopped peaches with ginger, sugar, vinegar, cinnamon, red onion, and jalapenos.  I let that bubble for about an hour, until it reduced a good bit, then let it chill in the refrigerator.

For the green tomatoes, I sliced them up and breaded them with flour, egg wash, and a mixture of panko and breadcrumbs.

 Heated some oil in a skillet and pan-seared them until they were nice and brown.

 Topped them off with the peach relish and some sliced green onions.  They turned out remarkably well! I was really pleased with the flavor of the peach relish against the slightly tart green tomatoes.

For the shrimp & grits, I started by making a shrimp stock with the fish fume I made a couple weeks ago.  By using the fume instead of tap water in the stock, I was really able to build a nice flavor base.  I've been freezing shrimp and crab shells, so I tossed them in, along with some onions, tomatoes, celery, parsley, and a couple bay leaves.  I let that simmer for a bit, then strained it a few times.

The stock turned out nice and rich, with a mildly sweet flavor from the shrimp.  Next, I gathered the ingredients for the saute.  I used the stock, leeks, garlic, concassed tomatoes, andouille sausage, and local shrimp.

While I was getting my chopping done, I put the grits on to start cooking.  I like to start with 1 part grits, 2 parts water, and 1 part chicken stock. Once it gets boiling, I add more chicken stock and cream alternately, much like a risotto.  This can cook for a long time, like an hour, at a low simmer.  Just let them get all lovely and creamy.

After the grits were on, I browned the andouille sausage.

For the saute, start by cooking the leeks and garlic in a little oil until they are soft and translucent.

Then, add the shrimp stock, the tomatoes, and a splash of white wine to taste.  Let simmer until slightly reduced.

When the sauce is reduced to your liking, add the shrimp, sausage, and a touch of cream.

Cook the shrimp until it is no longer translucent.  Serve the whole mixture over a bowl of grits, and top with scallions.

 

I was really happy with the way this dish turned out!  Nice and rich and full of flavor.  After dinner, we headed out to see a Brazilian jazz show at the Cistern, and really enjoyed it.

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Saturday, we hit up the farmer's market, the beach, and finished it all off with a decadent meal at McCrady's. We had an amazing time and were all collectively blown away by Chef Brock's tasting menu.

Before the parents left town, we hit up High Cotton.  The boys in the kitchen really outdid themselves, and we were stuffed before we even ordered.

Overall, all three of us had an amazing weekend.  The only thing that could have made it any better was if my sister, Margaret, could have made it down. She stays pretty busy, though. Next week, I'll be traveling up to Chapel Hill to visit her and to take my first level sommelier test.  Kinda nervous about that. I'll keep you posted.

Breaking Down my First Fish :)

I've been craving fish for a week or two now, so yesterday I finally I decided to make it happen. I do live in the beautiful coastal city of Charleston, SC, after all, where there's certainly an abundance of fresh, local seafood readily available at all times. So, I headed to Crosby's Seafood, my favorite little fish purveyor, to see what they had.

I named him Nemo.

 This is what I ended up with! A whole, 2 lb., locally caught red snapper.  Kind of ambitious of me, but I decided that it was high time I attempt to break down a fish myself.  I get it theoretically, but practically I've never done it.

First, I had to get those scales off.  So, I put the fishy in a plastic bag in the sink to try to make as little mess as possible.  I grasped his tail with my left hand, and with the right hand I ran a spoon down his body against the grain of the scales, and they came off pretty easily. I did this on both sides of the fish, up to just below the gills. When I was done, I rinsed him off to make sure no scales were left. 

Next, I cut off the spiny fin on his back, just because I knew I would probably hurt myself if I left it on. Because I am ridiculously clumsy.

Next, I started outlining the fillet.  I found the fish's backbone with my fingertips, and ran my knife all down one side of it, staying as close to the bone as possible.

Then, I cut through from the top to the bottom, making a little flap at the tail.

The next step is to run your knife along the belly.  You want to try to keep the bones under your knife, with the nice meaty fillet on top.

 

To finish the outline of the fillet, I ran my knife along the head, behind the gills and the little swimmy fin (yeah I have no clue what that's called).  Now there should be a nice outline of the fillet, with just the meat in the middle keeping it attached to the body of the fish.

So, this picture sucks, but I tried to sharpen it up as best as I could.  I didn't want to leave it out because its kind of an important step.  In this step, you actually finish separating the fillet from the body.  Just run your knife along the body of the fish, trying to keep most of the bones on the bottom of the knife.  It's a little tricky, but eventually, the fillet will come free.

So, do the exact same thing for the other side of the fish to get your second fillet.  I cut a little V out of the center of each fillet because there was a line of big, stubborn bones that weren't worth it to try to pull out.

This is the little piece with all the bones in it.

 Here are my two fillets.  I scored the skin before searing to keep the fish from curling up as the skin shrinks.  But wait!  What to do with the carcass? You wouldn't throw it away, would you?

I threw it in a pot with some onion, green onion stems, celery, garlic, peppercorns, star anise, fennel seed, and a couple bay leaves.

I covered all that with water, brought it to a boil, and then turned it down to a simmer.

 

I let that go for about 20 minutes, strained it a few times, and voila!

I ended up with a lovely fish fume which I then froze to have around for a later use.  I've actually got something in mind for it, so stick around and see what happens.

Okayyy so back to the snapper fillets.

Salt and pepper the fillets.  Heat some oil in a pan, and lay the fillets skin-side down first.  Cook until the skin gets nice and crispy, then right before you flip them, add some butter and garlic to the pan.  Flip, and baste in the butter for a couple minutes more.

And that's it! I had my snapper with a simple chilled cucumber / heirloom tomato / red onion salad, some pan roasted red potatoes, a squeeze of lemon, and a simple basil pesto.  The fish was sooo good.  I'm still dreaming about that crispy skin this morning.  And seriously, it probably took me just as long to post about breaking down the fish as it took me to actually do it.

Daring Cooks' May Challenge: Enchiladas!

Our hosts this month, Barbara of Barbara Bakes and Bunnee of Anna+Food have chosen a delicious Stacked Green Chile & Grilled Chicken Enchilada recipe in celebration of Cinco de Mayo! The recipe, featuring a homemade enchilada sauce was found on www.finecooking.com and written by Robb Walsh.

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I'm glad to get back into the swing of things with Daring Cooks.  I was kind of bummed that I missed out on last month's challenge because of all the craziness that has been going on in my life.  Anyways, I really enjoyed this challenge, and appreciated all the room for creativity.  

The mandatory part of this challenge was to make a homemade Mexican-style sauce for enchiladas.  I know my mom has a few great enchilada recipes, so I asked her to send them to me.  I based my enchiladas on one of her recipes, which focused on a tomato and spice based sauce.

Chicken and Cheese Enchiladas

For chicken:

2 large chicken breast halves

2 cups chicken stock

1 cup water

1 clove minced garlic

1 bay leaf

1/2 an onion, finely chopped

1 jalapeno pepper, minced

1/2 a serrano pepper, minced

1/2 tablespoon olive oil

2 thinly sliced green onions

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1/2 teaspoon oregano

salt and pepper to taste

For sauce:

2 tablespoons oil

3 cloves minced garlic

3 tablespoons chili powder

3 tablespoons flour

1 tablespoon cumin

1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

1/3 cup tomato sauce

To assemble:

10-12 6-inch corn tortillas

3/4 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese

sour cream and cilantro for garnish

~

For chicken:

Arrange chicken in heavy medium saucepan.  Add stock, water, garlic, and bay leaf.  Bring to boil.

 

Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until chicken is cooked through.  Transfer to bowl using slotted spoon and cool.  Discard bay leaf.  Reserve liquid.

In the meantime, heat oil in a small pan and saute onions and peppers until slightly softened and aromatic.

 

 

Peel skin off chicken and remove meat from bones.  Tear meat into bite size strips.  Place in a large bowl.  Mix in green onions, cilantro, pepper and onion mixture, and oregano. Add salt and pepper to taste.

 

For sauce:

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in medium saucepan over medium-high heat.  Add 3 minced garlic cloves and saute 30 seconds.  Add chili powder and saute 1 minute.  Add flour, cumin, and cinnamon and stir 1 minute (mixture will be dry). This seemed like a lot of spice to me, but it ended up tasting great.  Don't use less! 

 

Whisk in 1 cup reserved poaching liquid.

 

  

Add remaining poaching liquid and tomato sauce.

Cook until thick and smooth, whisking frequently, about 5 minutes.  Adjust seasonings.  I added a dash of Sriracha chili sauce.  I think a splash of strong coffee would have done the sauce justice, but I didn't have any brewed so I skipped it.  Next time, though.

Cool slightly before assembling. 

To assemble:

Lightly oil a 13x9x2" baking dish.  Heat heavy medium skillet over high heat until hot.  Add 1 tortilla and cook until heated through, turning frequently.  Using tongs, dip into sauce, coating both sides.

Spoon about 3 tablespoons of chicken filling into the tortilla and roll.  Repeat.  (Can be prepared one day ahead- cover with foil).

 

Spoon any remaining sauce over.  Sprinkle with cheese.  

 

 

Cover with foil.  Position rack in top third of oven and preheat to 425.  Bake enchiladas 10 minutes.  Uncover and bake until hot and bubbling, about 10 more minutes.

 

 

And that's it!  These were delicious and easy, despite the seemingly long amount of steps.  They would be great to make ahead and throw in the oven after a long day at work.  

 

 

I served mine with some spicy red rice, sliced avocado, and sour cream, and cilantro.  These would be great with a margarita, but I thought a couple Modelos with a bit of salt and lime were perfect.