Troutus Interruptus

The past week was very busy and I unfortunately didn't have enough time to make dinner for the blog. I hate going a full week without a post, so this past Saturday, I invited a friend over for dinner and planned on making a quick and delicious meal. As I was about to get up from the living room to start cooking, one of my roommates came home with some friends after a boozy brunch. I'm more than happy to have company in the kitchen while I cook, but navigating around a drinking crowd is always a difficult task. The dish I was preparing was some seared trout over cannellini beans with french beans (skinny green beans), and while it's not a labor intensive meal, preparing and photographing around some unexpected visitors proved to be a challenge in itself.

A visitor, a pregnancy, and halibut

 

 My sister was in NYC for the weekend, so we wanted to have a really good Sunday dinner. She lives in Colorado and is pregnant, so seeing her in the city was cause for celebration. I decided to buy some halibut. It's a really mild white fish that has a nice meatiness that other fish like cod lack. To go with the fish, I wanted to make contrasting sides. I decided on a white bean puree with chorizo for a warm flavor and a corn and zucchini salsa for a bright and sharp flavor.

 

I cut the fish into even pieces for me, my sister, and my girlfriend and rubbed salt and pepper on it. I then removed the hot Italian sausage from the casing and browned it in a saucepan. Once the meat was brown, I removed it from the pan and added some chopped garlic and chopped sage. Once the garlic began to brown, I poured in 2 cans of cannellini beans which I had opened and drained. I let that cook until the beans began to break up and used a hand blender to puree the mixture. Once the beans were smooth, I added the sausage back in and let the puree sit on low.

I then chopped up the zucchini, red pepper, red onion, garlic, jalapeno, and removed the kernels from the corn. I tossed all of this in olive oil, salt, and pepper and sauteed it in my hot cast iron pan until lightly cooked through but still crisp. I put lemon juice and chopped cilantro over the salsa and set aside.





I tossed the veggies in olive oil, salt, and pepper and sauteed it in my hot cast iron pan until lightly cooked through but still crisp. I put lemon juice and chopped cilantro over the salsa and set aside.

 Once the 2 sides were done, I seared the fish skin side first in the cast iron, cooking it for about 6-7 minuted aside until the flesh came apart easily. Once the fish was cooked, I put the bean puree on the plate, the fish on that, and then spooned the salsa on top. I added a little dollop of quark cheese on top with some cilantro and served.

The dish was superb. The warm puree and crisp, bright salsa worked perfectly with the fish, and the quark added a nice tangy flavor. We toasted water and celebrated a really great night in the city together.

*Disclaimer - I was just told by my sister that Halibut is actually a fish with a high mercury content, so it is not recommended for pregnant women. Now I know...

Cassoulet in the Mountains

While visiting my sister in Aspen along with Heath and my cousins Adam and Stephanie, I wanted to cook a great meal for everyone to celebrate our trip. I wanted to cook something hearty and warming in the cold Colorado air; something that would refill us after a solid weekend of skiing. I decided on making a cassoulet with crispy braised chicken legs with a kale caesar salad. I picked up 6 chicken legs, 3 cans cannellini beans, bulk chorizo, fennel, onion, parsley, diced canned tomatoes, garlic, some white wine, and bay leaves. To cook the cassoulet, I diced the onion and sauteed it in a large saucepan. I added the garlic after a few minutes, and once the onions began to get translucent, I added the chorizo to brown it and cook through. Once the chorizo was cooked through, I added the beans (drained) and the can of tomatoes and some chopped parsley. I added a little salt, pepper, bay leaf, crushed red pepper, and a little bit of sugar and let the pot simmer for 45 minutes on low to cook through and let the flavors expand.While the cassoulet cooked, I prepped the chicken by patting it with paper towel and rubbing salt and pepper over it. In a large dutch oven, I heated some olive oil on medium high, and in batches, browned the chicken skin side down for about 5 minutes, and then flipped and cooked for about 1-2 minutes. Once the chicken was browned, I set aside. I drained most of the fat from the dutch oven and added the sliced fennel and onion. Once the fennel and onion became translucent, I added garlic, white wine, and bay leaf. I added the chicken back in in one layer, skin side up, and put the pot covered in the oven at 375 for about 25 minutes. Once the chicken was cooked through, I put the cassoulet in large bowls, served the chicken on top, and the fennel and onions on top of that. I added a little parsley garnish on top as well.

For the kale caesar, the key is making a good dressing. For the kale, I steamed it for a few minutes until it’s starting to wilt. I tossed the kale with a little salt and set aside in a large salad bowl. For the dressing, I used a small food processor and mixed 2 garlic cloves, dijon mustard, an egg yolk, and 2 chopped anchovy filets until smooth and combined. I then added lemon juice, red wine vinegar, worcestershire, and a dash of tobasco and mixed until that is fully combined. I then added olive oil while stirring to emulsify. The result is a creamy, tangy caesar dressing. I cooked the leftover egg white in a small sautee pan, mixed that with the kale, tossed the salad with the dressing and added some croutons.
The trip was awesome, amazing skiing, fun stories, great meals. This meal was a really special way to finish the trip up, and we all had a great time.