Foie-get a-beet it. (Just one of like 3 awful pun titles I came up with. I chose the family friendly one.)

Heirloom Beet Salad, Torchon de Foie Gras Ribbons

Perfect Winter Salad as far as my ego is concerned. I love the idea of beets (earthy, sweet) mixed with foie gras (fatty, rich, expensive). I use creme fraiche to add a little acid. To make the ribbons, make a torchon, freeze it, then to order, run the torchon lengthwise across a sharp slicer and plate right away. Beets are cooked in citrus/butter/cranberry reduction au sous-vide for 4 hours @ 185.

I have gotten into the habit of attaching links at the end of my post because A) SOPA is trendy right now and B) It's what I am sourcing when I am not actually cooking. So again, here is more interesting stuff.

http://www.cracked.com/article_19410_5-absurdly-expensive-pieces-junk-food.html


-Jerek

Brodetto Abruzzese ("Heaven" in Italian I am pretty sure)

That's God's arm going for that soup!!! ...Alright, it's my Father In-law, but I suspect God has hairy arms too.

I am pretty sure you cannot make a bad fish soup unless you go out of the way to do so. I have never tried, but I am convinced that if you took fresh fish, salt water, and heat, the result would be amazing. The fact that we are able to add such wondrous ingredients like fennel, saffron, and tomato only shows me that God is a foodie.

To me, this is the perfect dish. A) Totally get to use my crock pot. B) Totally get to eat half of what comes out of the Adriatic, and C) Totally have to make my own bread for it.

Recipe as follows;

Brodetto Abruzzese

Ingredients

1.5 Kg Assorted fish (Monkfish, John Dory, Halibut) but avoid more oily fishies like Salmon, and Sardines…

1 Sliced Onion
1 Cubed Fennel Stock
½ Stock of Celery Cut
1 Diced Carrot
4 tbsp. Red Wine Vin.
1 Bay Leaf
500g. Calamari (SQUIDINI!!!)
7 tbsp. EVOO (NOT 6 GOT IT!?)
3 Cloves of Garlic
Chili (TT)
2 Diced Tomatoes
1 Tsp. Tomato Paste
Saffron (Pinch)
Salt and Pepper (TT)
Fresh Chopped Flat Leaf Italian Parsley
1 kg. Mussels (and toss in a few clams to be sooooo awesome)
150ml. Dry White Wine (Drink the other 600ml while cooking this…)

Method

1) -Make a stock with the fish bones.

2) -Sweat the veg (Mirepoix) and delaze with the stock. Add the chili, tomato, and tomato paste.

3) -Bring to a light simmer and add the Squidini. Let cook for 1 hour.

4) - Using the white wine, cook the mussels (and awesome clams). Add everything (juice and all) into the soup.

5)-Add the remaining ingredients in for perfection.


For your amusement, I have attached an interesting link about 50 culinary words you may not know...


Article:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/food-republic/foodie-terminology_b_1132354.html

-Jerek

White Bean & Truffle Soup, B.C. Spot Prawn Nage

White Bean & Truffle Soup, B.C. Spot Prawn Nage

Ingredients

1 lt. Chicken Stock

1 tsp. Olive Oil
1 Ham Hock
White Mirepoix (1 Onion, ½ Celery Bunch, 2 Leeks)
Bay Leaf, Garlic, Parsley Stems, Black Peppercorns (All in Sachet)
Navy Beans
35% Cream
Salt
White Truffle Oil

Garnish

B.C. Spot Prawns

Whole Black Truffle, Sliced, cut as thin as a chiffonade
Butter

Method

• Soak the beans for 24 Hours
• In a large pot, sweat the onions, celery, and leeks until they become translucent, but do not colour.
• Add the stock, ham hock, and aromatics. Bring to a slow simmer and cook for 45 minutes or until the beans are completely cooked.
• Remove the sachet, use a hand blender to puree the soup. If possible, run the puree through a fine mesh strainer.
• Once strained, season with Salt, Truffle Oil.
  
• Finish with 35% Cream to adjust consistency.

Presentation (French Service)

• For the Spot Prawns, Do Not Season, using a sauté pan, add a nub of butter on medium heat, add the prawns and cook for 1 minute on each side. Place in center of soup bowl.
• Top the Prawns with a chiffonade of truffle and chives
• Add a nub of butter to the soup, use a hand blender to froth, then quickly pour into a proper serving vessel. Pour into the soup bowl in front of your guest.

Soups are fantastic. Take a very good stock (That you made yourself like yesterday, add fresh ingredients, and generally, strain well).

This soup is pretty much about as easy as it gets. I love to serve bean soups (and thicker veloute styled soups in general) french-ed. The photo says it all. That is how a soup becomes sexy.

For your amusement, click on this link below. Funny. Haha.

http://www.cracked.com/article_19433_the-6-most-horrifying-lies-food-industry-feeding-you.html

-Jerek