shrimp & oysters w/ fettuccine in tomato cream

something i never did until i met my mentor chef ted, was to use classic marinara sauce as a base and add almost anything to it. if there is one thing i learned form him that i do more often than any other, it is that.

this dish, once all the ingredients are assembled is actually a quite simple one that yields fantastic results and ooooh's and aahhhhh's form who ever eats it. on this particular afternoon i was cooking for someone who had expressed to me that they were extremely hungry, so i used X-treme measures. if you look at the picture of the finished dish you will see what i am referring to. the dish is actually a serving platter that is 44 cm wide, which is only one centimeter shy of a foot and a half across. this should give yo a bit of scale for reference. the shrimps were fresh from the emporium's 5th floor market and each one after cooking was 6 cm in diameter. if i remember correctly they were about $6.50 USD a piece and weighed in at 325 grams each with the shell on. and those beautiful little feta stuffed peperoncini peppers (#2 in the image) were about 1.00 USD a piece. add the endangered species pine nuts to that and some pernod liquor, and this dish, although simple, is a costly one. however, value for money, it can't be beat. makes a great christmas dinner appetizer (serve one to each guest on a small nest of pasta with one pepper and a very thin slice of garlic bread) or maybe show someone special how much you really care and cook this for valentine's, the coloring is perfect for that.

like everything else i post here, the ingredient portions are not specific, use your best judgment and refer to the colors in the photos to achieve the desired results.

you will need: 

• shrimp, fresh, as large as you can find, the bigger, the moister, the more flavorful, but fresh!
• oysters, fresh shucked, in their own liquor (juice - if not available you could substitute mussels or hard shell clams i guess - or leave them out)
• marinara sauce, homemade (or store bought tomato sauce amplified with diced canned tomatoes and anchovies, basil and capers added)
• leek, minced
• shallot, fresh, minced
• olive oil, extra virgin, light, no matter, just a good one
• olive oil margarine (is there such a thing? i bet that's a misnomer, better to just call it spread)
• fresh italian basil, do not chop if small leaves, or only chop a little bit
• parsley - italian preferred, curly ok, whole and chopped
• pernod, portion some into a small glass or dish. DO NOT POUR STRAIGHT FORM THE BOTTLE INTO THE PAN UNLESS YOU HAVE A DEATH WISH OR WANT TO BE CALLED LEATHER FACE FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE.
• feta stuffed peperoncini marinated in olive oil 
• pine nuts, toasted (follow the link and check out the part titled: ecology and status)
• sun-dried tomato pesto, you will only be using the oil so do not stir it up, and if necessary,add some olive oil to the jar to provide you with enough.
• capers (if you do not have home made marinara sauce)
• anchovies (if you do not have home made marinara sauce)
• black pepper, fresh, rough ground
• paprika, a good one, not the stuff used to decorate deviled eggs 
• parmigiano cheese, grated not ground if possible (fresh is best, ground tastes like sand, especially if it is the kind from a box or jar. this type of cheese usually won't behave as you would want it too, and won't incorporate/melt into the sauce. thus leaving it with a gritty texture that will lay on the tongue. YUCK! FAILURE!)
• fettuccine, fresh if you can find it (spinach flavored is ok too and adds some more color, especially for a christmas dish) dried if not available (the link to the fett is an awesome blog i just discovered.)
• baguette, fresh (or a similar style bread, but fresh is imperative, isn't it?)
• garlic butter that has been prepared days or weeks in advance (sure you can make it right then and there, but time will show you the difference with this basic ingredient. i think i will have to do a post on this stalwart of my frig, as well as marinara)

a picture is worth a bazillion words (you can always click the pic for a larger image):

btw, i be listening to sade's soldier of love as i write this post, great mood music for just about anything. nice back on sade, isn't it? (some people and things never get older, just better!)

how its done, the method, techniques and assembly:

1. get everything you will need ready. 
2. if using dry pasta, cook it to the desired bite, i prefer al dente, shock in water and coat with a small amount of olive oil (or anchovy or sun-dried tomato pesto oil). toss with a small amount of chopped parsley, and set aside.
3. prepare the tomato sauce if you do not have marinara. simply take the best jar of tomato sauce you can find (basic tomato or flavored, with olives added is great), the canned diced tomatoes, a small spoon of capers, 2 or 3 anchovies and a bit of the oil from the jar/can and heat through. (before you put the 'chovies away, top the jar off with some good olive oil. its great for sauteing and salads too. if canned, place in a little-teenie-tiny jar or crock and fill with oil.)
4. toast the pine nuts in a toaster oven or simply in a heated, heavy bottomed pan. be very careful, good fresh pine nuts have a bit of oil in them and they will burn or scorch in a matter of a few seconds once they come up to temperature. remove them from the pan or tray and place them on a plate to avoid them cooking any longer - and getting too much color. this will also enhance their flavor 1,000,000%.
5. clean and de-vein the shrimp leaving the very last tail section on for added flavor, color and a stunning presentation. pat dry with a towel, this helps them to develop their color better when you cook them. (do this with all meat, fish and veggies and you will see a distinct difference in the taste and appearance of all your meals.) season both sides with freshly ground pepper. press the pepper into the flesh a bit with your hand to assure the pepper makes it into the pan.
6. mince the shallots and leeks. chop the parsley, and stem the basil.
7. cut the bread and shmear with the garlic butter.
8. open the cream, pesto, etc, and have the spoons for portioning ready too. this will make the assembly go much smoother, and if anyone is watching, you will look like a pro who actually knows what they are doing. a bit of performance always makes a meal taste better to your guests.
9. cook the shrimp until about 85% done and set aside in the pan or dish that you cooked them in. they will continue to cook while you prepare the sauce. (searing is best, sear all 3 sides. broiling is ok, but for me, not fast enough and you loose so much of the precious juice. if yo do broil, be certain to add the pan juices form the shrimp to your sauce.)
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
    just to give you some perspective, this pan is 24 cm across.
   
   
10. toast or bake the garlic bread. keep an eye on it, you do not want to burn it, but then you do not want to be having the entire dish getting cold because you neglected to start the bread.
11. moderately heat some olive oil and some olive oil spread in a pan large enough to accommodate the amount of sauce you will be preparing. use enough to moisten the amount of veggies you will be sauteing. Note: you will want to end up with about 1 cup of finished sauce per serving.
12. add the shallots and leeks and cook until clear. the proper terminology is to sweat.
13. CAREFULLY flame with some pernod, 1 to 2 tablespoons per serving. do not move the pan violently, let the alcohol burn off, do not drown it by moving the pan, this leaves a bitter taste. but, do not cook it to death either.
14. add the marinara, some of the liquor (juice) from the oysters and a bit of good paprika. shake the paprika do not spoon it in otherwise it could lump up, not tastey at all. (if no oyster juice, use a bit of clam juice), and simmer for just a few minutes.
15. add enough heavy cream to achieve the color of pink you see in the picture below, or to taste.
16. add the shucked oysters, chopped basil and parsley. simmer for 1 or 2 minutes longer, just long enough to poach the oysters and not reduce them to pencil erasers.
17. turn off the pan and remove from the heat if you are using that archaic device known as an electric stove. (the only people who like these contraptions are insurance companies.)
18. re-heat the pasta in your microwave. BE VERY CAREFUL NOT TO USE TOO MUCH POWER OR LEAVE IT FOR TOO LONG. YOU ARE HEATING IT, NOT COOKING IT.
19. line up the warm (not hot), pre-heated plates you will use for serving and put 2/3 of each sauce portion onto the plate.
20. arrange the pasta as shown in the picture below and top with the remaining 1/3 of each sauce portion. leave some sauce showing for the presentation FX.
21. press one edge of each cooked shrimp gently into some of the chopped parsley, and place on top of the pasta and sauce. again, presentation.
22. sprinkle some of the toasted pine nuts over the dish, as well as a very small amount of the cheese, arrange the feta stuffed peppers, garlic bread and garnish to accent the pasta and shrimps.
23. drizzle some of the oil from the sun-dried tomato pesto over the dish, the bread and around the plate. do this sparingly as you only need a bit and you do not want the balance to become up-set.
24. serve, bath in the glory, tell them there was nothing to it. accept donations, remember, this is a pricey dish.
25. boot up your computer and show them my blog. i know, shameless pandering.

needless to say, its all in the preparation, like most things in life. sure, once you start to cook it a bit of spontaneity adds to the dish, but just have it all ready. especially if you are preparing this for a large group.

further, you may think there are a lot of ingredients here, but not really. so the better the quality of each, the better your final dish will be. 

VARIATIONS: of course i am not done ranting about this dish, we can do all sorts of things to it. setting some fresh blanched asparagus on the plate so it is sticking out from under the pasta would be great. or possibly adding a bit of sliced fresh okra, or diced eggplant to the pan when you are sauteing the shallots and leeks. possibly sprinkle a few bright green peas over the dish, or a little bit of slivered sun-dried tomato. if these stuffed peppers are not available you could use some very nice greek olives on the side instead. toss them with some crumbled feta! or, spread some feta on the garlic bread and garnish that with some chopped olives. the idea is to add some accents, not to adulterate the dish with too many other flavors.

most importantly, HAVE SOME FUN, SHARE!

ps - it took me over three hours to format the pics and write this post. it should only take about 20 minutes to cook the dish. - tlg

near perfect beef sandwich

well its been over a year since my last post and i wanted to get going again with a favorite food of mine, beef and bearnaise sandwich.


i first made this item when i was working for a seminar and convention hotel in connecticut back in the late 1970's. it was my first experience working in such a large kitchen. the main dinning room at this place had the capacity to seat close to 1,200 guests at a time, with 2 private banquet/reception rooms that each handled between 300 to 400 guests for weddings and parties. these rooms cold also be joined into one larger room. there were an additional 16 satellite rooms that could seat between 15 to 30 pax each. at times we operated at full capacity with all rooms in service at one time.

being a resort complex there were also 3 swimming pools with cabana service, close to 20 tennis courts and 2 18-hole golf courses with club houses and a full bar and cocktail lounge. plus 24/7 room service.

i started working the evening shift as a line chef, was then promoted to personally assist the executive chef, and was then finally put in charge of food that was going out of date and leftovers. now you may think that is an odd position, and might think it was a demotion of sorts, but considering the size of this place, and sheer amount of food that went out the kitchen doors everyday, it was the biggest responsibility i had ever been given.

in the back kitchen area were all the storage rooms and walk-in coolers all in a line down a long hallway. besides the storage rooms for canned and dry ingredients, bar supplies, liquor and wine, there were rooms filled with all the tools, equipment and necessities it takes to run such a large catering operation. there were 5 of these massive walk-in coolers. one for fruit and vegetables, one for meat and poultry, another for fish and seafood, still yet another for dairy, cheese, finished desserts and also the plants and flowers that were used for room and table decorations. one final cooler was for finished, prepared and leftover foods. there was also a large walk-in freezer that not only held all the frozen foods, but massive slabs of ice used for carvings.

at the end of each day it was my responsibility to take inventory of all foods that were going to be out of date, or not earmarked for service the next day. i would then have to make an itemized prep list for the next shift that would utilize these items. if this were not done these things would end up either in the trash, or sent to the pig farmers down the road as feed for their stock.

prepared foods for buffets that were not fully depleted would either become employee meals, or possibly converted into tidbits and savories for the next day's seminar coffee breaks and luncheons. raw items would usually be transformed into soups, quiches, side dishes, crepe fillings and pies and the ever present "mystery dishes" that appear on buffets one time, never to be seen again.

if this was not done food cost would escalate out of control and we would not run within the required margins set down by the cost analysis department, and budgeting office. most large operations such as this, hotels and ships, convention centers and catering facilities, all have someone working on this daily.

one banquet menu that was extremely popular with our clientele was roast prime rib of beef. we had banks of ovens that ran around the clock simply filled with these massive joints of flesh, potatoes of every kind ranging from simply baked to the ever creamy potatoes au gratin, and popovers that were baked in extra large muffin tins that were grease in the fat that was rendered from the ribs as they roasted.

when it became time to send out a banquet for between 100 to 300 guests who were being served prime rib we would set up 2 assembly lines in a counter and steam table area that was designed just for this. each line had a team of chefs that consisted of a person slicing the beef, another placing the potato and pop-overs on the plate, another would add the vegetable, and then another would nap on either a gravy or jus. a final person would make certain the plate was arranged as it should be, that it was spotless and then lay on the garnish before covering it with a lid and placing it on the tray. this all had to be done quickly in order for a room of 100's of guests to all be served in a reasonable amount of time.

there were waiters employed strictly for this type of en mass style of service. they had to be strong, fast and light on their feet. the trays all had room for 4 plates each. but these were then stacked 3 to 4 high which the plate covers are designed for. meaning, each one carried between 12 and 16 orders at a time. yes, we could have used carts and trolleys to get this food out of the kitchen, but this was actually a faster and more efficient way, plus the food arrived as hot as it could possibly be. these runners would then go to a table side and the waiters would off load the plates to the quests. each tray could accommodate no less than a table of 10.

the feeling of accomplishment and a job well done after each of these affairs never seemed to lessen for me. although some may not like or appreciate this type of production work, and feel that fine dinning is where it is at. there is something to say for a room of 500 people who are happy and content and you it was done in a minimal amount of time. its all in the preparation, coordination and execution of the task. it is not simply cooking or churning out meals.

what this meant was that we always had an abundance of roasted beef. typically the end cuts, that were well done, would be shredded and turned into roast beef hash that was served for either breakfast, lunch or 24 hour room service. but the center cuts were thinly sliced and used for traditional american style hot roast beef sandwiches with mashed potatoes, veg and gravy or triple-decker club sandwiches. cubed and converted into soups, crepe and pie fillings. julienned and used for chef salad, or sliced and used for a sandwich known as a french dip. a french dip is when the beef is thinly sliced, placed on a baguette, and served with a cup of warm beef jus (the juice that accumulates on the tray when you are slicing a hot roast. at times it has some broth added to it as well.

one day while i was going through my routine i decided to stop and eat lunch. always being on the run and having little time, i did as i usually would, i made something with left overs.

i grabbed some sliced rare center cut prime rib, a handful of crispy watercress, a baguette slathered in garlic butter left over from an italian style buffet, and a tub of bearnaise from the grill station. i re-heated the bread by placing it cut side down on a griddle, shmeared (that's a new york city deli term that never justifies in my spellchecker) it with the bernaise, plumped up and layered the thin slices of beef, and topped that all with the cress finishing it off with a good twist of the pepper mill .the next day it was on the buffet's sandwich station for lunch, and i have included it on innumerable coffee shop, cafe and room service menus ever since.

now, when i have a craving for this delight, and i don;'t have 50 pounds of left over prime rib, i use steak. and being in a local where water cress is hard to come by, i use rocket, or arugula, which has a similar nutty flavor and a definitive bite. i always have a jar of my home made bernaise essence, and a piece of baguette in the freezer.

the method is simple as i stated above. prepare the bernaise sauce, slice the bread and shmear it with garlic butter, and then pan fry or sear it on a griddle. slice the beef as thinly as possible (chilled or room temperature medium-rare skirt steak [most often the cut used for fajitas]is best IMHO when prime rib or roast beef are not available),layer it on the baguette with the greens and its ready to serve. you will note in the pictures below that on this particular day i had a half of a red onion sitting in my crisper so i also used some very thin slices of it too.

NOTE: at times when i am in a hurry or simply do not wish to prepare bernaise, i simply add the bernaise essence to some good mayo and use that. if you do this before you start the other steps the mayo will have a longer time to become infused with the essence. further, unlike bernasie, the mayo can be made in a larger batch and refrigerated for later use.

sorry to digress for so long, but i just couldn't resist that trip down memory lane.

been so long it looks like > > > egg salad to me ...

it has been so long since i contributed to my own blog. so here we go with a great egg salad on whole grain baguette.

i use quail eggs for this because i can get them on most any bangkok salad bar these days and they are already peeled. nice and creamy and i now prefer them over chicken eggs for this application. i mash them with some chopped chives and curly parsley, minced shallot, french's ball park mustard, some 0% cholesterol japanese mayonnaise (a bit sweet, but that's cool because i usually like to throw in some salad cream which is also sweet), a dollop of olive oil margarine and finish it with fresh ground sea salt and black pepper.

note that my chives, shallot and parsley are not 100% up to par.
this is due to the airport having been closed for 8 days
as it was occupied for political demonstrations
(go democracy thailand)
and there is not a lot of fresh stuff around.
things should get better now as the airport opened today.

note that i use a potato masher, works just great for this application,
and it is easy to clean too.

salad is ready and the baguette has been just barely toasted
and allowed to cool down.
we don't want to heat up the salad
and have it get warm and runny now do we?
that would defeat the purpose of the margarine
which is added not only for flavor, but also to bind it.

the sandwich garnished with arugula and all ready for slicing with the
trusted dropped-edge sandwich maker's knife.

every time i take a pic of this knife and look at the broken tip on it
i want to find the cook who abused it and stab him with the damn thing.


the sandwich has been sliced on a bias and is now ready for eating.
note: when i sliced it, i sawed through it carefully,
i did not cut straight down.
that would have caused the egg salad to ooze out
and that is not what we want.


there are two reason for cutting this way.
one, it looks good, and two -
it makes the first, all important bite, easy and proper.

if you turn the sandwich on its side, and bite into it
so as not to push the top and bottom together,
the egg salad will not squirt out.
this is easily done when the sandwich
has been cut on an angle as you see here.

the arugula adds a nice nutty flavor and some bite to the already sweet salad.
notice i choose not to add tomato slices to my sandwich.
just pure creamy quail egg and arugula is about
all i want to taste here set off by the robust baguette.


i wash this all down with a steamin' hot fresh cup of
fresh ground hill tribe coffee
my friend brought me from chinag mai last week.

not as robust as i prefer, but for thai beans,
o'tay buckwheat!