Spring Crostini

Walking through the Pike Place Market a few weeks ago I picked up some fava beans and English peas for a splendido spring crostini. Back at home, I had some cannelini beans soaking for another favorite crostini of mine. These are quick, cheap, and totally satisfying. They are usually served as a starter or a side, but they can also be the main event. 

For the fava bean and English pea crostini, you need to shell a good handful of each. Along with a glug of good olive oil and some fresh mint, use a mortar and pestle to mash them up or give them a whirl in a small food processor. Add a squeeze of lemon, some more olive oil, some grated pecorino or parmesan cheese, and a little dash of salt and pepper. Then spread it on toasted crusty bread of your choice and top with a little more pecorino and fresh mint leaves.

For the cannelini bean crostini, cook your cannelini beans (if they are not of the canned variety). Saute a few cloves of chopped garlic in olive oil and add a couple handfuls of the beans to the pan. Using the back of a fork, mash up the beans and garlic, adding more olive oil if needed and a good swig of red wine vinegar until it forms a nice consistency. Season with some salt and pepper. Beforehand, make a rosemary olive oil by smashing some fresh rosemary and a pinch of salt into the oil. Spread the beans on some toasted, crusty bread and spoon on the rosemary olive oil. This will be our last post for a while as we travel to Italy for a couple weeks. I'm sure we'll return with many items that gustato come un buon!! Until then, here is part one of a great Italian film, Divorce Italian Style.

Recipe: Salmon Nirvana

What a glorious time in the Pacific Northwest! Salmon season has begun with the highly anticipated arrival of Copper River Chinook and Sockeye. Last night, I picked up some Sockeye -- which I believe to be one of the world's greatest delicacies. At the moment, I do not have a grill, so I prepared it my next favorite way, pan-fried. Wild salmon is best when it is just simply prepared. It doesn't need any sauces or even much seasoning. The beauty is in the way you cook it. It always makes me crazy when you go out to dinner, and the wild salmon on the menu is covered in a an orange glaze or has a butter sauce on it. Why? Leave it alone, cook it properly, and taste it in all its natural goodness.

I improvised this salad to go with it, and it turned out spectacular: arugula, shaved asparagus, cherry tomatoes, red onion, sliced Sicilian-style green olives, and toasted pine nuts. I put this all in a bowl and made lemon juice and olive oil dressing. I then added a shake of salt, pepper, and oregano.

Add a good glug of olive oil to a hot pan, and season your salmon with a dash of salt and pepper. I place the salmon skin side up first to get a nice crisp color on the top. Cook like that for a few minutes then flip it over, skin side down. When I have a piece with a good bit of the thin belly of the fish, I take that off first, because it cooks in a few minutes and is the best part of the fish. I don't want that to be overcooked! Just take your spatula and lift that part off the skin. Now cook the rest of it for about 5 more minutes (depends on the thickness of the fish). You can put a lid on it so it cooks through a little faster. You want the texture of the salmon to be moist, and it should practically melt in your mouth -- better undercooked than over-done. It will continue cooking once you pull it off the heat. (Overcooked salmon will stick to your teeth, and you will be searching in your cabinet for ingredients to make an orange glaze!) If cooked right, it will be like butter, and you will be in salmon nirvana.

Recipe: Seared Halibut Cheeks w/ Cucumber-Kale Salad and Crispy Potato Rings

Monday night: Regan's new spiral slicer arrived!

I'd bought some halibut cheeks and a cucumber earlier in the day. Back at home, I had some lacinato kale, a couple Roma tomatoes, and a red onion. I sliced the kale into thin slices chiffonade-style, along with a small amount of radicchio. I cut up a few slivers of red onion and the Roma tomatoes (without the innards) and added a couple cloves of freshly chopped garlic. Regan spiral-sliced me a good-sized cucumber, and I added all that jazz together, along with a nice swirl of olive oil and balsalmic vinegar. (Spanish sherry reserve vinegar is a great balsamic substitution, and it is cheaper than a high quality balsamic. )

Now it was time to cook the cheeks. I pulled them out of the fridge 20 minutes before cooking, and seasoned them with a little salt and pepper. I got the pan nice and hot and added some olive oil. I'm working with an electric stove top that doesn't like to cooperate. Sometimes it gets too hot and other times not hot enough. Just try your best to get a nice brown color on the fish and flip it after a few minutes. The key is not to overcook the fish and to get a nice sear and crispness on the outside.) This time I didn't quite achieve maximum searing, but at least the fish was not overcooked and still tasted great.

For the finish, Regan spiral-sliced a potato into thin curls that I soaked in water and air- and towel-dried. I threw those into an oven at 425 degrees until nice and crisp. This helped compensate for the lack of proper searing of the halibut. I plated the salad, added the halibut, and placed the crispy potato rings on top of the halibut.

Ingredients (for 2 people)
4-6 halibut cheeks
1 potato
1 large cucumber
1/2 bunch of lacinato kale
1/4 head radicchio
2 roma tomatoes
a few slices of red onion
balsamic or Spanish sherry reserve vinegar
2 or 3 cloves of garlic
olive oil
salt, pepper