Ratatouille with a Kale-Walnut Pesto

So, from where did the inspiration for this version of ratatouille come? Well, a friend asked me if I could do a version of it on my blog, since he likes the dish, he was interested in my take. Well, ass it happens, there is a story behind this dish, for me at any rate.

You see, I had always wanted to be a chef. I cooked at home all the time. If I had a party at my house, I was famous for disappearing, only to return bearing culinary creations for everyone to eat. In an interesting chain of events, that began with me getting a job as a banquet steward in the kitchen at the Cloister on Sea Island, with the hopes of getting into their culinary apprenticeship program. After a year of working in Hell, (we used to call it Sea Hell Island), I decided that if that was what being a chef is all about, then I wanted no part of it. Thus, I put in my two weeks notice with no job prospect in sight.

One day I wanted to ask a friend a question, a friend I had fed many times in the past, and he wasn't at home. This was back in the day before cell phones, so if they weren't at home, they must be at work, and if they weren't at work, then you were just SOL. So I called the restaurant where he was working and asked the guy who answered the phone if my friend was there, to which he replied "no." I was about to hang up when the voice on the other end asked me who I was. When I told him my name, he said my friend always talked about how well I cooked and he wanted to know if I wanted a job as part-time day prep and pastry cook.

I accepted the position, knowing full well I had no idea how to make deserts, but that's a story for another time. So after a few weeks goes by, the chef asks me to come up with a new vegetable for "veg of the evening." I can't remember how exactly I arrived at ratatouille, but I made it with no recipe, just tossing in ingredients I knew, or thought, the dish was made from, and cooked up a batch. It was a hit and eventually became a menu item.

So doing this dish was an homage to the first recipe I ever created that made its way on to a menu.

That brings me to the presentation of the dish. One of my favorite movies is Pixar's Ratatouille and I had the presentation from the movie in mind, since it is based on Anthony Bourdain's actual recipe and presentation. I considered duplicating the presentation, but with my own twist, but then I decided to be creative and do something I had never seen before. I would love to try this out in a commercial kitchen, since the presentation could be much improved by fresh herbs, some micro greens, shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano, maybe a basil infused oil, etc...

Note: It is important to realize that these recipes are merely guidelines to follow. They'll taste great as they are, but I encourage you to play with them and make the recipes your own.

Note: It is good practice to read the entire recipe, while paying particular attention to the "Notes", before you try to make the dish, as there are often subtleties that can be easily overlooked, which sometimes, can make all the difference in the world for the outcome. 

Serves 2

Skill Level: Intermediate

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 30 minuets

Ingredients:

• 1 package of yellow squash
• 1 package of zucchini
• 1 Eggplant
• 1/2 Large yellow onion
• 2 Roma tomatoes
• 1/2 cup walnuts.
• 1 bunch kale
• 1/4 cup mozzarella c
• 1/4 cup parmesean cheese
• 1 tbls minced garlic
• 1 tsp Italian herbs
• Red pepper flakes
• 1/2 tlbs butter (See note)
• 1 tsp basil
• 2 cups chicken stock (or bullion in 2 cups of water). 

Note: Vegetarians, omit chicken stock and substitute vegetable stock or a 50/50 mixture of white wine and water with a little salt added or just some salted water. Additionally, margarine or coconut oil can be substituted for butter.

Tools Needed: 

• Chefs Knife
• Birds beak paring knife or standard paring knife.
• Food processor 
• Sautoir Pan (Like a sauté pan, but with side walls perpendicular to the bottom, usually 3 inches high.
• Small sauté pan
• 1/2 Sheet pan or cookie sheet.
• Medium bowl
• Saucer
• Glass of water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cut the ends off the eggplant, stand on end, and use a chefs knife to slice away the skin.

Cut the peeled eggplant in to two, making sure they way you cut it results in halves that are roughly the same size. Since the eggplant isn't cylindrical, you'll have to use your best judgement on how to cut it.

Use a spoon to scoop out the seeds, making eggplant cups. Save the seeds, we are going to use them later.

Eggplant can be bitter. Some say the bitterness is from a very mild poison in the meat of the fruit, since eggplants are in the nightshade family. But whether they are poisonous or not, it's the bitter flavor we want to minimize, so we salt and soak the eggplant for about a 1/2 hour. Use a plate and a glass of water to keep the eggplant fully submerged. After soaking, the water will be a dark brownish color, almost like iced tea.

Strain the eggplant and let dry on paper towels. 

After the eggplants are dry, put them in a bowl and rub with olive oil and salt and pepper.

Bake on a greased 1/2 sheet pan for 35-40 minutes, until the eggplant turns golden. 

Quarter the squash. Then use your chef's knife to remove the seeds, leaving only the flesh behind. Discard the seeds.

Your squash should look like this when done.

Baton cut (1/4 inch wide by 3 inches long) the squash.

Note: Baton cut is commonly know as a french fry cut.

Now small dice (1/4"x1/4") the squash. 

Prepare the zucchini the same way.

Since I have already shown the technique of dicing onions in an earlier post, I wanted to illustrate the correct way to peel an onion. As you can see in the photo, you use the tip of your paring knife. NEVER EVER use your finger nails, as that is just gross. 

Small dice about 1/2 the onion.

Sweat the onions. Adding a little salt. 

I used to have a chef that would ask me questions like, "Do onions come from the farm seasoned?" Meaning, you must season all ingredients separately as you add them to achieve the best flavor.

After the onions have sweated a bit, add the garlic, and a little salt, because, "does garlic come from the farm seasoned?"

Sweat for about 2 more minutes.

Add the zucchini and squash and cook until they begin to get a little color.

Now add about 1/2 cups of crushed condensed tomatoes and the chicken stock or a veggie stock or even just some salted water.

Simmer for about 20 minutes or until the mixture thickens up a bit.

In a pan with some olive oil and salt, toast the walnuts.

Place kale and olive oil in a food processor. I use a immersion blender with a processor attachment for small jobs like this. Puree.

Now add walnuts and parmesan cheese. Puree.

Now adjust the flavor with salt, pepper, maybe some more cheese.

Since I need the processor again, it is a good opportunity to mention that a rubber spatula is a cooks best friend. Not only will scraping out every little bit of food out of various containers make washing them later easier, you will save money by not throwing away what can be a surprising amount of food that is stuck to the side of the container. 

Prep the Roma tomatoes just like the zucchini and squash. Discard he seeds.

Note: I ended up only using the tomatoes as a garnish, so they will get worked into some other dish.

Note: After you have quartered and seeded the tomatoes, use your knife to remove the stems. Doing it this way is far less wasteful than cutting the ends off.

Put the roasted eggplant seeds and scraps in the processor with 1/2 tlbs of butter and some salt and papper. Puree.

Because this is mostly seeds, it resembles caviar, hence it is called eggplant caviar.







Note: If you proceed with with recipe as written, you will invariably have to reheat the eggplant prior to serving. But, if you wait until the eggplant goes into the oven, then begin the other parts of the recipe, you'll  find that by the time your done, the eggplant will be done, and you can assemble everything immediately.

Spoon the zucchini, squash, and tomato mixture into the eggplant cup. Put a dollop of eggplant caviar on top, then sprinkle with mozzarella. Stripe the Kale pesto across the plate and garnish with red pepper flakes. 

Enjoy

Simple and Tasty Potato Salad

A Potato Salad is a staple side dish for any picnic or summer lunch here in the South. It has been done 1001 ways to Sunday, with each recipe having more ingredients than the last. Well, I for one am a fan of simplicity and enhancing the existing flavors, rather than the addition of new flavors. Well, this is one of my favorite potato salads and it is also one of the most simple recipes that you'll find.

Note: It is important to realize that these recipes are merely guidelines to follow. They'll taste great as they are, but I encourage you to play with them and make the recipes your own.

Note: It is good practice to read the entire recipe, while paying particular attention to the "Notes", before you try to make the dish, as there are often subtleties that can be easily overlooked, which sometimes, can make all the difference in the world for the outcome. 

Serves 6

Skill Level: Beginner

Ingredients

• 4-6 Idaho potatoes (depending on size)
• 4 eggs
• ½-¾ cup mayo (See mayo recipe album)
• ¼ cup yellow onion, small dice
• ¼ cup pickle relish (not pictured)
• Yellow mustard
• 1 dash of Tabasco (not Pictured)
• Smoked Paprika (for color and garnish)
• Salt 
• Pepper
• Garlic salt

Tools Needed

• Chef's knife
• Birds beak paring knife or a standard paring knife
• Medium stock pot
• Small sauce pot

Large dice potatoes (1"x1").

Salt the potatoes and cover with water. Bring to a boil.

Cover potatoes with water and turn to high heat.

Boil potatoes until the smaller pieces fall apart, but the larger pieces are still fairly firm.

Drain potatoes.

Note: Do not run cold water over the potatoes

In a small sauce pot, place eggs that you have allowed to reach room temperature. Just cover the bottom of the pan with white vinegar and about a teaspoon of salt. 

completely cover the eggs in water, as in, no part of the egg is exposed to air, but only just covered as you don't want to dilute the vintager and salt solution to much.

Bring to a boil. When boiling, cook for 12 minutes.

Note: the salt add flavor to the egg white and the vinegar preservers the color of the yolk.

After 12 minutes, pour the hot water out and run cold water overt the eggs. In only a few moments, they';ll be cool enough to handle.

Tap each end of the egg on the counter, then gently roll the egg back-and-fourth until the shell is well broken.

Peel and rinse the eggs.

As you can see, the vinegar kept the yolks nice and yellow. Medium dice eggs (½"x½").

Use a bird's beak paring knife, cut around the root onion. Leave the other side untouched, as it will hold the onion together when you dice it.

If you cut your onions like this you have a lot less waste than if you straight cut the ends off.

Cut the onion in ½, then peel. Cutting towards the root end we cut out, make slices about ⅛-¼ inch apart.

Do not cut all the back, as it will hold the onion together when you turn it to cut the other way.

Note: Notice the finger positioning. My finger tips are curled away from the edge of the knife and my thumb is tucked behind my fingers. This is the optimal hand positioning to prevent cuts

Slice the onion in the other direction in ⅛-¼ wide slices.

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl, lightly folding. If you cooked the potatoes correctly 30% should cream and the remaining potatoes will remain chunky. 

Taste and adjust the flavor with salt, and garlic salt, pepper.

Add more mayo and or mustard if you want creamier.

.

Allow to cool to room temperature on the counter prior to refrigeration.

Note: If you refrigerate hot foods that are thick, when the edges cool off, they basically insulate the warmer interior, keeping it warm for a much longer time. The warmth is a perfect breeding ground for harmful bacteria which can spoil the food or make you ill when eaten.

After cool, cover and store in the fridge and as always, it''s better the next day.






Enjoy

Pan Seared Salmon and Roasted Portobellas inside a Roasted Red Bell Pepper Open-Face Ravioli. Finished with a light Ancho Chili Cream & Fried Leeks.

This is one of my signature dishes form when I was a working chef. It is an Italian meets Southwestern dish with a flavor and texture combination that really works. It is a little labor intensive but the result, you'll find, is well worth the effort.

Note: It is important to realize that these recipes are merely guidelines to follow. They'll taste great as they are, but I encourage you to play with them and make the recipes your own.

Note: It is good practice to read the entire recipe, while paying particular attention to the "Notes", before you try to make the dish, as there are often subtleties that can be easily overlooked, which sometimes, can make all the difference in the world for the outcome. 

Serves 2

Skill Level: Intermediate

Prep time about 30 minutes.

Pasta rest time at least 1 hour.

Cook Time about 20 minutes.

Ingredients:

• 1/3 Jar of roasted red bell peppers
• 2 6-8 oz portions of salmon
• Basil (dry of fresh)
• 2 portobellos
• 1 leek
• Heavy cream
• 2 eggs
• 4 cups all purpose flour
• 2 small ancho chilies
• Kosher Salt
• Pepper
• Garlic powder
• Extra virgin olive oil

Tools Needed:

• Food Processor
• Chefs knife
• Sauté pan
• Sauce pot
• Pasta roller or rolling pin

Note: You will have pasta leftover, so you can try another recipe, such as http://goldenislescooks.blogspot.com/2014/01/sauteed-chicken-and-pearl-onions-tossed.html

Puree roasted red bell peppers and basil

Make a bowl of flour on a cutting board.

Add 2 eggs and begin beat them while pulling in a small amount of flour. You want enough flour mixed in, so that the eggs are thick when you add the pepper puree. This will help bind the entire mixture so that it has far less chance of spilling out and all over the cutting board.

Add red pepper puree. This essentially replaces the moisture that water would normally add.

Scrape in more and more flour into the egg/pepper mixture.

Towards the end, and the pasta mix is a thick paste, begin pulling liberal amounts of flour into the mix. 

Once the pasta has become tacky, but not wet, it is ready for kneading.

It is alway a good idea to dust the cutting board with flour during the kneading process.

Knead the dough for at least 3-5 minutes, dusting the cutting board with flour as needed.

Knead in one direction, fold and knead in the opposite direction.





When done, you should have a nice little dough ball.

Let the dough rest for at least one hour at room temp.

Cut tops and roots off of the leeks.

Julienne the leeks.

Soak the leeks in cold water. Any dirt will settle to the bottom of the bowl.

Remove the stem of he portobella.

Using a spoon, scrape the gills away and discard them.

Slice the portobella into 1 inch thick strips.

Pan Roast the portobellas until golden.

Place 2 ancho chilies in some water, or white wine if you have it, and bring to a simmer. 

Add some salt to the simmering ancho chilies.

In a bowl, add some AP flour, salt, pepper, and garlic powder.

Dredge the wet leeks in the flour mix.

After simmering for about 20 minutes, remove the ancho chilies and add a cup and a half of heavy whipping cream. Reduce my half and season to taste.

Fry the leeks until golden brown, place on napkin to drain and sprinkle some salt on them.

After the pasta dough has rested for over an hour it is ready to be rolled.

Cut the dough ball in half. We will use the other half of the pasta for another recipe tomorrow.

Run through the pasta maker several times, working from the thickest setting to the thinnest.

Between each pass through the pasta machine, you can dust the pasta sheet with a little flour to ensure it doesn't stick going through the pasta machine.

You'll end up with a long thin pasta sheet. Cut into lengths equal to the width of the pasta to create squares.

Boil the pasta sheets for about 5 minutes.

Note: Fresh pasta cooks faster than dry pasta.

Note: If you use frozen fish of any kind, there are 2 thawing methods:

1. The "staging" method, which is the prefered way to thaw any type of meat, is to let the meat thaw in the refrigerator overnight. With this method, it is important to plan your meals ahead of time.
2. The next method is not recommended, but we all do what we have to do, and since this way is faster and takes no pre-planning, it is the method most of us are going to use. So what method is it? Simply thaw under a stream of constantly running cold water. Do NOT turn water off before the meat is completely thawed. ONLY use this method on CRYOVACED meat. If the cryovac packaging is perforated, where water can seep in, the quality of the meat can be compromised. There are, however, exceptions to this rule as shrimp and calamari can be thawed in water directly, without damage.  

Note: Some frozen fish, like tuna, come with instructions to remove from the cryovac packaging and thaw in refrigerator overnight. Refer the the packaging. 




Once the fish has thawed, it is always a good idea, for any fish, to place the fish on towels, or a thick layer of napkins, and lightly press any water out of the meat. You want the meat fairly dry to the touch, as dry to the touch as its fresh counterpart would be.

Salt, pepper, and pan sear the salmon, in extra virgin olive oil, until golden brown.

Place on sheet of cooked pasta on a plate or large bowl. Assemble the salmon and portabellas and cover with ancho chili cream.

Cover with a second sheet of cooked pasta and a little more ancho chili cream, then top the fried leeks.

Enjoy.