The Louisville Chef

This has to be one of the easiest and best tasting recipes I have. I developed it so I could always pull together a healthy dinner in a few minutes and then have beautiful cold salmon leftovers for the next day.

All you need is a nice piece of fresh salmon and a few basic spices. The real key is to get the oven very hot, so it sears the outside of the salmon and locks in the juices.

Ingredients 

2 lb filet of Fresh Salmon, skin on is best, but not essential.
Celery Salt
Dill Weed
Roasted Garlic Powder
Freshly ground Black Pepper
1 Tbsp Butter
Parchment Paper

Preheat your oven to 550F. Take your parchment paper and put it onto a 1/2 sheet baking pan and lay your salmon onto the paper.

Melt your butter and brush it onto the salmon filet. Sprinkle on your spices to taste and bake for 10-15 minutes, depending on the thickness of the salmon. Remove and allow it to rest for 3 minutes before serving. It goes well with the seafood rice pilaf I featured in an earlier post.

Note: All of these spices can be purchased in most grocery stores, but I feel that the prices and quality of The Spice House in Chicago can’t be beat.

I can honestly say that this is my favorite Sichuan dish, second only to MaPo Tofu. I’ve eaten it many times, but had never made it. Well, that has changed. This was really incredible.

I found so many different recipes, but sort of merged a Fuchsia Dunlop recipe and a Wok of Life recipe to create this vegetarian version, which replaces the standard ground pork with Shiitake mushrooms. I’m very happy with how it turned out.

Ingredients

1 pound Green Beans, trimmed.
1 cup Vegetable Oil
1 Tbsp Ginger, minced
3 cloves Garlic, minced
1 tsp Sichuan Peppercorns, crushed
2 Tien Tsin Chilis, crushed
2 ounces dried Shiitake Mushrooms, soaked in hot water and chopped.
1 Tbsp Shaoxing wine
1 Tbsp light soy sauce
1/2 Tbsp dark soy sauce
1 drop of Liquid Smoke
1/4 teaspoon sugar
Dash of Toasted Sesame Oil

You will want to prepare everything up front, because the cooking time is very quick. 

Start your wok and pour your oil in the wok. Once it is up to temperature, add your green beans and cook them for 6 to 7 minutes until they are blistered and softened. Here’s what they will look like at the three stages.

 

 

Set them aside to drain in a colander over a pan. Then drain all of the oil off of the wok except for about 1 tablespoon. Then add your garlic, ginger, shiitake mushrooms, sauté for 1 minute and then add your Szechuan peppercorns and chilies and stir fry them gently on low heat.

Then bring the heat up to high, add in the green beans, and the sauce mixture and stir fry for about one minute Serve with rice and enjoy.

A couvillion is in the same family of the Creole/Cajun courtbouillon and the French court-bouillon. The major difference is that couvillion starts with a medium dark roux and is thick and almost stew like.

There are many different recipes, but mine is traditional and very good. It’s not difficult to make, but the roux takes time and can’t be rushed. If you burn the roux it is unusable and you will need to start over. So once you start the roux, keep stirring. I will give you a step by step to make the roux. If you feel you need additional info, here is a link. http://www.thepasadenachef.com/2011/02/how-to-make-roux.html

As I had guests over, I was unable to get a pic of the final dish, but the pic above is from the amazing meal I had at Couvillion here in Louisville. Mine looked very similar and tasted almost as good, but not quite.

Ingredients

3 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
3 Tbsp Butter
6 Tbsp Flour
1 Onion, minced
1/2 Red Pepper, minced
1/2 Green Pepper, minced
2 ribs Celery, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup White Wine
1 28oz can of Crushed Tomatoes or a large 24 oz jar of Passata
2 cups Seafood stock
1 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground Black Pepper
½ tsp Cayenne Pepper
1 tsp dried Thyme Leaves
2 Bay Leaves
1 1/2 lb pound Catfish filets
2 Tbsp scallions, chopped
Rice for serving

Prepare your onion, celery, red and green peppers and garlic and set aside. You don\’t want to be worrying with this, while you\’re making your roux.

Make a medium dark roux by adding the butter, oil and flour to a cast iron pot. It will take between 30-60 minutes to get it the right color. I cooked mine slowly, so it took a full 60 minutes.

Add your white wine and reduce slightly, 5 minutes and then add your tomatoes, stock and spices and cook until thick. About 60 minutes. I always remember the advice from my very old Creole cookbook. “The mo slow it cooks the mo better it be”. Bless her.

Lay your catfish gently into the sauce, spooning a little sauce over each filet, cover and cook until firm. My filets took about 6 minutes.

Serve with rice sprinkled with your chopped green onions.

I wanted to create a more traditional Bouillabaisse and decided to give it a go and I must say I preferred it to my original version. The flavor is amazing and so layered. You keep tasting new flavors as you enjoy it and the fennel really does add a vital element.

I decided against the rouille, as I find the garlic blast can overpower the delicacy of the seafood. If you prefer it, it can certainly be added.

Ingredients 

4 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 large Onion, chopped
1 Fennel Bulb, cored and chopped
1 Shallot, peeled and minced
1 Tbsp Garlic, peeled and chopped
1 teaspoon Sea Salt
1 tsp freshly ground Black Pepper
1/4 tsp Thyme
2 Bay Leaf
1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper
2 Tbsp Tomato Paste
1/2 lb Baby Potatoes, quartered
1 cup White Wine
1 tsp Saffron threads, crushed in palm of your hand.
1 -2 Tbsp Pernod
1 (28-ounce) can diced Tomatoes, juice included
1 quart Seafood or Fish Stock
1 cup/bottle Clam Juice
1 cup/bottle Lobster Juice
1 Tbsp Red Boat Fish Sauce
1/2 lb large shrimp, shelled and deveined.
1/2 lb Scallops, halved
1 pound of either Halibut, Hake, Bronzino, Cod or Monkfish, cut in large chunks. So 2 pounds total of at least two types of fish.
2 tsp grated Orange zest

Directions:

Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven or stockpot, add the onions, fennel, salt, pepper, garlic, shallot and sauté over medium heat for 10-15 minutes, until the onions begin to lightly carmelize. 

Add the wine, Pernod and the saffron and let it simmer and become fragrant. Add the potatoes, tomato paste, thyme, bay leaves, cayenne pepper and incorporate. Sauté for a few minutes.

Add the tomatoes, seafood stock, clam juice, lobster juice, fish sauce to the pot, bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer uncovered for 30-40 minutes. You want it to more of a thick soup consistency. 

Add the fish and bring up to a boil, then lower the heat, add the shrimp and scallops cover, and cook for 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and allow the pot to sit covered for another 5 minutes. Stir in the orange zest, and serve in large bowls with toasted garlic baguette slices. 

Note: I really prefer the Bal Harbor brand of clam and lobster juice. I find them at Whole Foods but they are also available online.

If you follow my blog you know that I’m a big fan of spicy food, and Sichuan/Szechuan food in particular. It’s such a unique regional cuisine. From the smoky fermented vinegar to lip numbing Sichuan peppercorns, it’s a flavor explosion.

When I want a spicy food fix, this is the perfect dish. The interplay between the ingredients is classic Sichuan. Additionally, I like the simplicity of this recipe as the marinade becomes your sauce.

It’s well worth searching out the Sichuan peppercorns, as they add a an authentic flavor that really can’t be substituted. They are not particularly spicy, but give a tingling mouthfeel that is very unique. They are best ground fresh and it’s the perfect place to use your spice grinder.

As I’ve mentioned before I have two coffee grinders and one is exclusively used for grinding whole spices. The white one for spices and black one for coffee beans. They are both well over 20 years old, so they were a good investment.

Ingredients

3/4 lb raw peeled Prawns/Shrimp
2 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
6 cloves Garlic, chopped
2 inch piece Ginger Root, peeled and chopped.
2 Tbsp Soy Sauce
1 Tbsp Shaohsing Wine
2 Tbsp Fermented Black Vinegar
2 Tbsp Chili Garlic Paste
1 Tbsp ground Sichuan Peppercorns
1 tsp Toasted Sesame Oil

Combine all of your sauce ingredients in a mini food processor and grind to a fine consistency. You can also prepare it by hand, but make sure to finely chop the garlic and ginger root.

Pour over the prawns and let them marinade in the refrigerator for an hour or so. 

Preheat your wok to a high heat and add 2 Tbsp of vegetable oil and slide in the prawn and marinade mixture. Cook for 4-5 minutes and serve with rice.

Bring the oven up to 350F degrees. Then assemble the eggplants by spooning in the Boca and tomato mixture into the eggplant halves, and then lay them in Pyrex or other oven proof baking pan and then spoon on the yogurt and finally sprinkle the pine nuts. Then bake for 15-20 minutes and serve.

Harissa is a fiery paste which is commonly used in North African cuisine. You see it show up in Tunisian and Moroccan food quite often. It is packed with flavor and comes in many varieties, but common ingredients are chilies, olive oil, garlic, sundried tomatoes, salt, coriander, cumin and caraway seeds.

You can certainly make your own, but for a quick meal, I always have some on hand. It’s a versatile ingredient and can be used in many ways. That being said, I’m particularly fond of it with fish, shrimp, vegetables and anything grilled. It’s amazing in shakshouka, makes a mean mayonnaise and would certainly be great paired with any grilled meat.

I decided to make this at the last minute, so having the paste on hand was essential. It’s not often that you can find a recipe with only three ingredients that tastes this good.

Harissa du Cap Bon, Zamouri, Mina and Traditional Harissa Spread by Les Moulins Mahjour (this is the brand I use, as it’s made by a family in Tunisia and organic) are a few brands that are easy to find online. You can even find brands that come in a tube. Just find a brand that you enjoy and experiment. However, if you have the time, make your own. It keeps for up to 6 months in the fridge.

https://www.bestproducts.com/eats/food/gmp2031/harissa-paste-sauce-brands/

Ingredients
3/4 lb raw Shrimp, peeled with tails on.
2 Tbsp Harissa Paste
Juice of 1/2 Lemon

Put your shrimp into a medium sized bowl and toss with the harissa paste. Cover and allow to marinate for 2-3 hours in the refrigerator.

Remove shrimp from the refrigerator and preheat your grill or broiler to high heat. I really enjoy doing this on my range top griddle pan.

Quickly lay your shrimp on the griddle pan using tongs and cook about 2 minutes on one side and turn and then another 2 minutes, add a squeeze of lemon and remove and serve over rice, pilaf or roasted cauliflower rice.

Hint: As I store my harissa in the refrigerator, I find it can be a little tacky when I first take it out. A little splash of olive oil loosens it right up.

I wanted to find a way to make the incredible Nobu black cod miso, without having to wait three days for it to marinade. Additionally, black cod can be difficult to find and expensive in many regions, so I wanted to try an streamlined version utilizing Pacific cod. Any flaky white fish will work, but fresh cod is perfect. 

This version can be ready in as little as one hour, but I do think it benefits from 4-5 hours of marinating before you cook it. Read through the recipe in its entirety, as there is a hint that will make prepping the glaze a lot easier. I found this recipe on the NYT cooking site and modified it slightly. I was very happy with how it turned out. Enjoy!

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs fresh Pacific Cod filets, skinless.
1/4 cup Sake
1/4 Mirin
4 Tbsp White Miso
1 Tbsp Sugar
1 tsp Toasted Sesame Oil

To prepare your sauce add the mirin and sake into a small saucepan and bring up to a soft simmer for 20 seconds. Reduce the heat to low and add in the miso, then increase the heat to medium and whisk until the miso dissolves. Add the sugar and whisk until the sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and let it cool.

Hint: I have never had the miso completely dissolve, but I have a trick to address that issue. Once it has cooled slightly, push it through a fine mesh strainer. Throw away the miso that has not dissolved. Add the toasted sesame oil and set the glaze aside to continue cooling.

Rinse your cod filets and pat them dry. Pour a bit of the glaze on the bottom of your Pyrex dish and lay the filets in and pour the remaining glaze over the top. Cover and pop it into the refrigerator for marinading. Before you are ready to begin, take the filets from the refrigerator and set aside. You don’t want them to be very cold when you start to sear them.

Put the rack in the middle to upper middle part of the oven and preheat to 500F. Not too close to the broiler. Basically you are going to bake it and sear it at the same time. Once the oven is up to temp, kick the broiler on high. This is how you are going to bake and sear at the same time. 

Using a non stick sauté pan that can go into the oven, heat up the pan and add a tiny bit of oil. Take the filets out of the Pyrex dish and knock off any extra marinade, but don’t wipe it off. Put the filets in the sauté pan and sear on one side for 2-3 minutes. 

Transfer the entire sauté pan into the oven and cook until the fish starts to brown and bubble. About 6-8 minutes. You want the fish to be caramelized and flake easily.

Gently transfer to a warmed plate and serve immediately.