Nut Crusted Halibut with Vegetable Curry

Nut Crusted Halibut with Vegetable Curry
serves 6

Ingredients:
FOR CURRY BASE
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup minced chopped peeled ginger
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 tablespoons Thai yellow curry paste
3 cups carrot juice
3 cups vegetable broth or chicken broth
15 ounce can unsweetened coconut milk
4 cups 1 inch pieces of mixed vegetables, such as zucchini, yellow squash, eggplant, red pepper, shitake (or other) mushrooms
sea salt and fresh ground pepper
FOR NUT CRUSTED HALIBUT
3/4 cup gound nuts such as macadamia or almond (process in food processor, until crumbly, not paste)
6  5-ounce pieces of Halibut or other thick mild white fleshed fish filets (skinless)
sea salt
1-2 large egg whites
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup chiffonade basil, mint and cilantro (your choice here)

Directions:
Heat oil in a large pot over medium low heat. Add carrots, celery, onion, ginger, and garlic. Cook, stirirng occasionally, until veges are soft, 10-12 minutes.
Increase heat to medium high and add the curry paste. Cook constantly until paste is incorporated, 2-3 minutes. Add carrot juice and broth, bring to boil on high heat and then reduce heat to medium low. Simmer until juice is reduced by half about 15-20 minutes.
Strain curry through a sieve into a large bowl, discard solids from sieve. Return the liquid to the same pot, add the coconut milk and mixed vegetables.  Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until veges are just tender, about 8 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper and turn off heat.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Place ground nuts in a wide shallow dish.  Season both sides of fish with salt.  Whisk egg white(s) in  another wide shallow bowl until frothy.  Dip top of fish in the egg white and then dredge in ground nuts, pressing to adhere.  Transfer to a plate, crust side up.
Heat oil in a large oven proof skillet, over medium high heat.
Place fish, crust side down, in pan.  Cook until nuts are golden brown, 3-4 minutes. Turn over fillets and transfer skillet to oven.  Bake until fish is just opaque in center, 4-6 minutes.
Reheat curry, do not boil.
Divide curry among wide soup bowls, or soup plates.  Top with fish, crust side up.

Garnish with the fresh herbs.  Serve with cooked white or brown basmati rice on the side if you like.
I grilled some of the eggplant just to give the dish extra appeal, totally optional.

Quinoa Cakes with Kale and Goat Cheese

Quinoa Cakes w/ Kale and Goat Cheese

By chef Diana Temple

This is a gluten free recipe !

Makes approx. 15-18 cakes (2 ½ inches)

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups quinoa, rinsed well in strainer and drained

2 ¾ cups water

2 cups (lightly packed) kale, stem and center vein removed, thinly sliced in one inch strips

5 ounces goat cheese (soft type)

1 onion, chopped

½ cup sundried tomato (preferably oil packed but drained) chopped

1 tablespoon fresh thyme or oregano or both (or 1 teaspoon dried)

2 extra large eggs, lightly beaten

½ cup rice crumbs (not flour)

Salt and pepper to taste

Bring the quinoa and water to boil, reduce heat to low and cook, covered about one half hour or until the grain looks “opened up” and top is dry. Could take a little longer.

Saute onion until soft over medium heat, add the kale, sundried tomato, and herbs.  Continue to cook until kale is very soft about 3 minutes only.

In a large bowl, mix quinoa, kale mixture, eggs, goat cheese and mix by hand or with a wooden spoon into nicely incorporated.

Add the rice crumbs and mix well, then salt and pepper.

Shape into patties about ¾ of an inch thick by 2 ½ inches and dredge lightly in rice crumbs (on a plate is easy).

Saute in an olive/vegetable oil mix, about 4 tablespoons in a large heavy skillet over medium heat until golden brown, turn and cook other side, about 3-4 minutes on each side.  Place on paper toweling.  You can do this in batches, replenishing the oil and place all in the oven to heat up before serving.

Serve with a mayo dip with lemon juice, lemon zest, curry powder, pesto if you like on the side.

Tempura Squash Blossoms (Gluten-free)

Gluten Free Tempura Batter for all Vegetables!

1 1/2 cups of White Rice Flour
2 Egg Whites (beaten)
2 cups Sparkling Water
2 cups of vegetable oil

Add the egg and sparkling water to the flour in a medium bowl and mix with a fork quickly (do not over mix).  Batter shouldn't be too thick, more like a thin pancake or crepe batter.  Place bowl of batter in another bigger bowl of ice water (half ice, half water), full enough to come up the sides of the bowl of batter, but not too much to risk the water getting into the batter.

Heat your oil over a med-high heat in a skillet, oil should be about 1 inch deep until hot but not smoking.
Dip your cleaned and dried squash blossoms (zuchinni work very well) in the batter and let drip off a couple of seconds before slipping them into the hot oil.

Fry for about one minute and turn to fry other side for another minute.  Remove and place on papper toweling to dry.  This batter stays pretty white and doesn't turn brown.  So be sure to check for crispyness when removing from pan.  If it seems a little soggy still, then either turn up the heat a tad or return to the pan for more cooking.
Serve after cooling for about one minute with a wheat-free dipping sauce such as Tamari with a little agave and water.

Wild Fennel Ice Cream

Wild Fennel Ice Cream

Modified from KCRW, Good Food Blog

3 cups organic heavy cream

3 cups organic whole milk

5-6 ounces wild fennel fronds, chopped  (yep, it is quite a lot)

10 organic egg yolks

1 cup granulated sugar

½ teaspoon sea salt

Place the cream, milk and fennel in a heavy-bottomed sauce pan, and scald over medium heat.  Turn off the heat, cover the pan, and allow the mixture to steep for one hour.  Prepare an ice bath by mixing ice and enough water to cover in a container large enough to hold a separate container of ice cream base.  In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks, sugar and salt until well combined.  Re-heat the dairy and fennel mixture, and bring to a rolling boil.  Strain out the fennel in a large bowl.  Pour the hot cream into the egg yolk mixture all at once.  Whisk until combined, and immediately pour the custard into a metal container and place in the ice bath.  Stir until the base is cold.  Place into an ice cream freezer according to manufacturer’s directions.

This recipe does not slowly temper the yolks or cook until thickened like many recipes.  The sugar keeps the egg yolks from scrambling and the boiling cream raises the temperature of the yolks to cook them sufficiently.

Key Lime-Coconut Pie

Key Lime-Coconut Pie

Chef Diana Temple

For one 9 in. pie:

Crust ingredients:

1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs

1/3 cup sugar

¼ cup toasted sweetened shredded coconut (optional)

4 tablespoons melted butter (1/2 stick)

For filling:

5 egg yolks

1 can sweetened condensed milk (14 ounces)

½ cup key lime juice (have patience, these little guys are tedious to juice.  Roll them on hard surface first to loosen juice)

½ cup thick good quality coconut milk

1 teaspoon lime zest (best to grate this off the limes before you cut them!)

Pinch of salt

Meringue:

4 egg whites

6 Tablespoons sugar

½ teaspoon cornstarch

Pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine the crust ingredients with your hands and press into bottom and sides of 9 in pie pan.

Whisk together the filling ingredients; eggs and milk first then other ingredients.

Pour into prepared pan and place in center of oven, bake approx. 20-25 minutes or until set.

Remove pie from oven and raise temp. to 400 degrees.

For meringue, beat egg whites until soft peaks form, add sugar, cornstarch, salt and beat until dissolved.

Spoon onto the hot pie using wooden spoon to create peaks.  Return to oven for 10 minutes or until peaks turn golden.

Garnish with toasted coconut if desired and lime slices.  Serve at room temperature.

Curried-Cashew Cauliflower

Curried-Cashew Cauliflower

1 large head Cauliflower

½ cup cashew butter (roasted) this can be made in a vita-mix with cashews and a little oil

1/3 cup olive oil

2 tablespoons curry powder

¼ teaspoon kosher salt

Juice of one half of an orange (or about 3 tablespoons)

1 tablespoon orange zest (grate from orange before juicing it)

2 tablespoons of chopped roasted cashews (garnish)

1 tablespoon parsley, chopped (garnish)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Cut the cauliflower in large bite size pieces, discarding the middle tough part of the stalk, set aside.

Mix together all remaining ingredients except the last two that are for garnish

Spread the curry-cashew mixture as best you can on the tops of the cauliflower pieces as   you place them on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper

Place in the preheated oven for approx. 10-12 minutes or until a little tender (not too soft)

Transfer to a platter and sprinkle with the chopped nuts and parsley

Kabocha Squash Soup

Kabocha Squash Soup with Caramelized Apple and Crème Fraiche

Ingredients: (serves 6-8)

One medium kabocha squash

2 quarts vegetable or low sodium chicken stock

1 cup heavy cream

¼ cup honey

2 cinnamon sticks

2 star anise (optional)

1 tablespoon curry powder

1 large granny smith apple (or any green apple)

¼ cup crème fraiche

1 tablespoons sugar

Preheat oven to 425 degrees

Cut kabocha in half, remove seeds and place on a sheet pan with about ¾ in. of water.  Place in preheated oven for approx. 45 minutes or until soft.  Remove from oven and set aside to cool.  Scoop out the squash flesh and discard skin. Combine flesh in a large pot with the stock and c bring to simmer.  Remove from heat.  With an immersion blender, blend mixture until smooth. ( you can use a standing blender, but be sure to blend in small batches, and pulse gradually, holding lid securely with towel, as hot soup tends to expand) Place mixture back on stove and continue simmering for 15 minutes.  Add cream and continue to simmer slowly for another 5 minutes. Remove from heat and add honey, cinnamon sticks, curry powder and star anise. Allow to steep for one hour, stirring occasionally.  Strain out the cinnamon and star anise.

Peel apple, cut in quarters, core and cut each quarter in 4-5 slices.  Sprinkle the sugar among the apple slices and broil until golden brown on greased baking sheet.

Divide the reheated soup among 6-8 bowls, top with a dollop of crème fraiche and a few slices of caramelized apple.  You can also whisk in a few tablespoons of milk or cream to the crème fraiche and drizzle on top of soup to prevent it from sinking. Serve hot!