Mackerel in Scapece with Lemon Thyme and Sweet Peppers

Over the past week I have really been working on this blog and how it looks to all of my readers out there. I probably should've done some research or taken a class or two about Blogger and how it works before I started doing this project. It seemed really simple to use when I first started posting back in 2014, but now I find it a struggle with even the simplest of changes and tweaks. To my eye, the blog could always look and flow better than it does. 

I make this blog entirely on my iPad. I don't use an expensive camera, nor do I write my posts on a laptop. It's all on here which makes it so easy to assemble once everything is completed. Half of the time I talk into my hands-free set so that I don't even have to labor over typing, like today. 

I think the overall read-ability could be better along with the graphics. How do you feel about it? It is a free blog site and not my own website domain. That would require a lot more technical  expertise that I just don't have nor care to acquire. Plus, using Blogger keeps everything free and we like free. It allows me to have the extra cash to buy some of the more off beat ingredients found in this book. 

If you're out there and have any suggestions on how to make the blog better please let me know. Subscribing to this blog via email is probably the easiest way to read it and the free emails come to you on autopilot. The link for that is up on the top of the page. I never thought that anyone would ever see these pages but me, but Blogger tells me that we are up to almost 2300 page views which is just incredible! I thank you for hanging in with me. 

Holyoke completely missed out on blizzard Jonas this week, so I had no trouble making it to Whole Foods to see what was looking good. I like to look at produce first and the seafood department right afterwards. They had some nice looking whole mackerel so I made sure it came home with me. 

Mario describes mackerel as a trash fish that's quite oily so in this recipe we'll cook the mackerel with plenty of acid to counteract that. 

I start by filleting the mackerel then cutting it into 2-inch diamonds. 

Then, in a sauté pan I add vinegar, sugar, lemon juice, thyme, red pepper flakes, saffron, salt and pepper. It gets brought up to a simmer and the fish chunks are added. They get cooked through, but being thin fish it should only take about 5 minutes. Once done, the fish is cooled in the liquid. 

In another sauté pan I heat olive oil and add diced red bell peppers. 

Once softened I add sliced garlic, sugar, and mustard seeds. 

Now that my components are finished I am ready to plate. The mackerel is arranged in a stack on the plate, the saffron liquid gets spooned over the top, and the peppers are sprinkled around.   

Both my wife and I really liked this antipasto. I loved the rich fat and acidic balance that Mario gave to this. I would certainly make this again. The longest part was filleting the fish, but the more you practice the easier it gets. And if you're a squeamish one, just have your fish monger do it for you. 

Well that was quite a simple post. The next one promises to be much more intricate and is something that I've been wanting to try for so long. Until next time...

Big Eye Tuna al Tarocco

Now that the holiday craziness has died down at work I'm starting to hit my stride with a pretty consistent schedule. Two days off in a row in fact! It's allowed me to start planning to take on some of the more complicated and prep heavy recipes of the book. This next one is a prime example. Just look at some of the produce that it required at Whole Foods.

There are quite a few ingredients plus three other sub-recipes that make up this dish. So the shopping and sourcing are taking longer and I have to allow myself more time to make these dishes shine. Because of that, this is probably not the most practical recipe for the average home cook. Many would probably say 'why should I go through the trouble of finding all of these ingredients' or 'do I really need two sauces on one plate?' But again, this is not your average cookbook for the average joe. It's designed to challenge you in the way that you would be challenged if you were one of the line cooks at Babbo. I'm trying to recreate a dining experience at an amazing restaurant that I've never been to. Insane isn't it? 

I won't waste too much time with the chit chat today as I have a lot of work to do. I will mention that the tuna was fresh sushi grade, that Whole Foods had almost everything I needed with the exception of mizuna so I substituted fresh spinach, and the name 'al torocco' means blood orange in Italian which flavors one of the sauces in this recipe. 

I start by making the sweet garlic cloves. Peeled garlic cloves get browned in extra virgin olive oil. Once browned i add sweet vermouth and reduce until syrupy. The cloves get put aside and cooled. 

Next up on the list is to make the blood orange vinaigrette. I love how Mario pushes the creativity envelope and creates some different than expected vinaigrettes. I start with juicing fresh blood oranges and reduce the juice by half. 

Once reduced, I add Dijon mustard, olive paste, salt, and pepper, then whisk in some extra virgin olive oil. 

Next up I have to make some parsley oil. I've actually made this for another recipe in the book before so I'll skip boring you with the details again. 

Here is a look at the rest of the ingredients prepped and ready to go. Quite a bit huh? 

Now I can get cooking. First we have to preheat the oven to 350°, why I'm not really sure as the rest of the recipe never mentions what it's needed for, unless you want to throw in your tuna to cook it past medium rare. But we're foodies so why would we want to do that?

I follow up by sautéing sliced shiitake mushrooms, minced red onion, and thyme until the mushrooms are crispy. These get seasoned and set aside. 

Next I coat the tuna steaks with instant potato flakes, which intrigues me, and sauté the steaks for about three minutes per side keeping them medium rare. 

While the tuna is cooking, I heat olive oil in a sauté pan and add orange segments, mizuna or in this case spinach, the sweet garlic cloves and radicchio over high heat until warmed through. 

It's time to plate. The recipe makes no mention of what to do with the shiitakes but I figure they get plated first, the radicchio salad on top of that, followed by the tuna steak, some extra salad and the vinaigrette and parsley oil. 

Wow. There's a lot going on here. But it all compliments each other well. This plate looks better than most of what your local restaurants will put out. I really like the potato flake crust, I'm totally using that again. All in all my wife liked this enough to want me to remake it in the future. This is probably the nicest looking plate I've put out so far. 

Until next time...

Goat Cheese Truffles Three Ways with Peperonata

Happy New Year!! It's finally 2016 Whoop Whoop!!

I'll spare you any false promises of New Years resolutions because I know I don't plan on exercising at all this year. I think being more charitable, making big progress with this blog, and learning as much as I can about fatherhood is about all that you'll get out of me. 

2015 was a long year. Looking back, I'm just glad that I survived it. In January of 2015, my wife and I started a new tradition where every time something good happens in our life throughout the year, we write it down on paper and put it in a mason jar. Then, on New Year's of the next year you look at all of the notes of the year past. It sounded kind of corny to me at first,but it actually was fun to look back at our year and to count all of the good things that we experienced throughout the year. We're going to continue this tradition in 2016. 

This year should prove to be an amazing one. I have a new job at a great restaurant, some family members getting married soon, a baby on the way, and a blog with recipes that are just about to start getting more complex in nature. 

Every time I put those orange clogs on I have a renewed spark to continue on with this project. I want to eat at Babbo so bad. That's the prize at the end of this of course. My wife promised me a pilgrimage and that's what I am working towards. I think it would be best if we stay in NYC for a few days so that one night we can eat a la carte off the menu then try a tasting menu the next night. Wine pairing too? Of course it's Babbo! (Hint,hint)

Before I start off the first official recipe of the year, I do have some sad news to report. After I finished writing the last post, I checked out Mario's Facebook page and was saddened to hear that Gina DePalma, the original pastry chef of Babbo who was also credited in the book as to creating most of the desserts that I'll be making here, lost her battle to ovarian cancer. She was a great chef that will certainly be missed and her desserts challenge and inspire many! 

I chose another cheese-laden antipasto for my first recipe this year. It's a pretty simple one to put together that looks impressive when plated so let's get started. 

I start by reading my ingredient list and make sure that I have what I need and to see if I have any prep work to complete. Red and yellow peppers will need to be julienned to make the peperonata. 

I start to make the peperonata by heating olive oil in a sauté pan until almost smoking and add the peppers that cook until browned and softened. 

At that point, I add sherry vinegar, salt, and pepper and set it aside to cool. 

I then take goat cheese, season it, and shape it into balls. I chose a locally made goat cheese from Westfield Farm that tasted so good. 

The goat cheese balls then get rolled in three different coatings. Fennel pollen, poppy seeds, and ground pimenton. 

I get my broiler preheated and bring water up to a boil. In the water I blanch fresh arugula for about 10 seconds and dunk in an ice bath to stop the cooking. The arugula then gets put in a paper towel where I squeeze out all of the excess water. 

The arugula then goes into a mixing bowl and tossed with olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. 

Sliced bread from a baguette then gets put under the broiler to toast. I love the fresh baguettes from Whole Foods!

Now I'm ready to plate. The arugula and peperonata get put in the center of the plate, the goat cheese truffles get placed on top, the toast points go next to the truffles, and I drizzle some quality extra-virgin olive oil around the salad. 

Again, simple yet bold flavors that really work. I would prefer the arugula to be raw and dressed like a salad but my wife didn't mind it prepared this way. In fact, her plate was just about licked clean. Always nice to start the new year off right. 

Before I sign off, I want to mention this cool website out there called omaze.com where people can bid on fun celebrity experiences and the money raised goes to AIDS research. I mention this because Mario is auctioning off a chance to travel to NYC to meet him and have dinner at Otto, have a private meal, and be a guest on The Chew. This is like a dream experience for all of us orange-clog fans. I'm entered in, fingers crossed, but glad that at least it's for a good cause. The website is www.omaze.com/Mario. Check it out. 

Until next time...