SALMON FILLET POACHED IN A FRESH AND LIGHT MISO BROTH INTENSIFIED WITH SHIITAKE MUSHROOMS AND A TOUCH OF CHILI FLAKES. WITH STEAMED RICE, POACHED VEGETABLES, AND SHREDDED PURPLE CABBAGE.
Don’t let Pea’s 5 foot, 2 (and a half!) inch frame fool you. She grew up in Brazil and trained in the buffet-eating arts of rodízio churrascarias. As an adept of Louis C. K.’s philosophy of stopping only when you get to the point of hating yourself, Pea and all-you-can-eat restaurants make for a wonderful (or dreadful, depending on your point of view) combination. Usually, after a night of gorging on infinite food, the imminent regret is converted into a craving for a lighter, but still comforting next meal. And this poached salmon really hit the spot.
Since I actually forgot to think ahead and soak some dried shiitake mushrooms beforehand, we let the mushrooms soak and infuse into the poaching liquid we used for the salmon and veggies, infusing our dinner with savory and mushroomy flavors. To top off the broth, I added a sprig of rosemary for an interesting fresh taste. Just to make an easy dinner even easier, our veggie portion of sliced onions and Chinese spinach was poached for a minute or two after taking the salmon out. Hope you enjoy this one-pot (or pan) recipe as much as we did! – Boo
Servings: 3 (main portions) Difficulty:
Ingredients:
3 tb miso paste
3 c water
8-12 dried shiitake mushrooms
Seasoning
3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 cm ginger, sliced in half
1.5 tb soy sauce
2 bay leaves
1 sprig rosemary
1 ts chili flakes
3 (4-6 oz) portions salmon fillet
sesame oil
Directions:
In a large pan, saute miso paste in vegetable oil over medium-low heat, 30 seconds.
Gradually whisk in water until miso paste dissolves.
Add mushrooms and seasoning. Gently simmer until mushrooms are soaked and softened, ~1 hour.
Lay salmon fillets into the broth, and poach in barely simmering broth, 8-9 minutes for medium.
Serve salmon with shiitake mushrooms, rice, and vegetables. Drizzle each plate with poaching broth and ~1 tb sesame oil.
DARK CHOCOLATE MERINGUE MOUSSE ACCENTED WITH ESPRESSO AND SALT. MILK CHOCOLATE CREME ANGLAISE MOUSSE. WHITE CHOCOLATE CREAM MOUSSE. COCOA POWDER. SERVED OVER CHOCOLATE GENOISE SPONGE.
Chocolate is the key to the heart and soul, and mousse is one of the all-time great ways to deliver it. There are basically two kinds of mousse – egg white mousse and cream mousse, sometimes with gelatin to help keep structure. Each of these types of mousse can borrow a little from the other, but egg white mousse generally has more body to it, while cream mousse is… well, creamy. So we made mousse out of three chocolates – dark, milk, and white – which would all be great on their own, but were even better layered on top of each other in showstopping fashion! And who doesn’t like a coffee-enhanced chocolate sponge cake surprise at the bottom?
Each mousse layer is a little different, giving a little contrast as you nom your way through the layers. The dark chocolate mousse is a classic meringue mousse, with egg whites and cream folded into a melted chocolate. The milk chocolate mousse started with a custard that enriches the milk chocolate before being lightened with whipped cream. The white chocolate mousse is a a classic cream mousse that gets topped off with a healthy dusting of cocoa powder.
While the recipe itself isn’t too hard, it does test your patience since you have to let the layers set completely before pouring on the next one! Hope you give this one a try soon! – Boo
Servings: 12-16 slices Difficulty:
Oven: 350 F, 25 minutes
Preparation:
Line an 8-inch cake or springform pan with parchment paper. Butter and flour the interior.
Line a 9.5-inch cake ring or springform pan with parchment paper. Optionally, line interior with acetate paper.
Chocolate genoise:
2 eggs, room temperature
0.33 c sugar
0.5 ts vanilla
Dry ingredients
0.25 c flour
2.5 tb cocoa powder
0.25 ts salt
0.25 c coffee liqueur
Over a bain-marie, beat eggs with sugar until warm, but not hot. Remove from heat, and beat until eggs fall in ribbons. Beat vanilla into eggs.
Sift and fold dry ingredients into egg mixture.
Bake batter in a buttered and floured 8-inch cake or springform pan, 25 minutes.
Remove from oven, and cool to room temperature.
Transfer cake to the center of lined 9.5-inch springform pan, and brush with coffee liqueur.
Refrigerate while preparing the dark chocolate mousse.
Dark chocolate mousse:
Chocolate mixture
6 oz dark chocolate, recommended 70-78%
2 tb cocoa powder
1 tb instant espresso powder
0.33 ts salt
Over a bain-marie, melt dark chocolate. Stir cocoa powder, espresso powder, and salt into melted chocolate.
Beat egg whites with sugar and vanilla to stiff peaks. Fold meringue into chocolate mixture by thirds.
Beat cream to stiff peaks. Fold whipped cream into meringue mixture by thirds.
Pour mousse over the chocolate genoise, starting from the center. Tap down gently several times, and smooth the top.
Refrigerate to set, 1-1.5 hours, then prepare milk chocolate mousse.
Milk chocolate mousse:
1.5 ts gelatin powder
Custard
2 egg yolks
3 tb sugar
0.33 c milk
0.25 c heavy cream
6 oz milk chocolate, chopped
1 ts vanilla extract
1.25 c heavy cream
In a small bowl, stir gelatin into 1 tb water. Set aside.
In a saucepan, heat milk and cream on medium heat to a bare simmer.
In a mixing bowl, whisk yolks with sugar. Whisk hot milk mixture into yolks.
Return yolk mixture to the saucepan over medium heat, and whisk constantly until slightly thickened. Small pea tip: the custard should coat the back of a rubber spatula.
In a mixing bowl, stir custard and vanilla into chocolate until homogenized.
Microwave gelatin until melted, 6-8 seconds. Whisk gelatin into chocolate mixture.
Beat cream to stiff peaks. Fold whipped cream into chocolate mixture by thirds.
Pour mousse over the set dark chocolate layer, starting from the center. Tap down gently several times, and smooth the top.
Refrigerate to set, 1-1.5 hours, then prepare white chocolate mousse.
White chocolate mousse:
1 ts gelatin
White chocolate cream
8 oz white chocolate
0.5 c heavy cream
0.5 ts vanilla extract
1.5 c heavy cream
In a small bowl, stir gelatin into 1 tb water. Set aside.
Microwave and stir white chocolate in 30-second intervals until melted. Whisk cream and vanilla into white chocolate.
Microwave gelatin until melted, 6-8 seconds. Whisk gelatin into chocolate mixture.
Beat cream to stiff peaks. Fold whipped cream into chocolate mixture by thirds.
Pour mousse over the set milk chocolate layer, starting from the center. Tap down gently several times, and smooth the top.
SALMON FILLET POACHED IN A FRESH AND LIGHT MISO BROTH INTENSIFIED WITH SHIITAKE MUSHROOMS AND A TOUCH OF CHILI FLAKES. WITH STEAMED RICE, POACHED VEGETABLES, AND SHREDDED PURPLE CABBAGE.
