SM and I went to the Hollywood Farmer's Market per our usual Saturday routine. Love, love, love this time of year! It's right when the markets are brimming with vegetables, but so much more to come and everyone is out and about enjoying the lovely Portland summer. However, the downside is I always buy way too much and I'm really trying to stick to my no vegetable left behind rule. So when I got home I found there were still vegetables I bought last week eagerly waiting to be cooked. What's a girl to do?
From last week, I had beets, fennel and some carrots waiting in the wings and this week I bought some cabbage, leeks and salmon (among other things, including more beets...I'm Polish, what can I say?). Hmm...what does this all add up to? Well, a delicious accident.
SM, who is Italian and my perennial dinner guest and life guest, is also in the beet fan club. So I quickly knew we had to beet it for dinner. I cut off the tops and bottoms of the beets, added a clove of garlic, so salt and a drizzle of olive oil and wrapped them in tin foil and popped them in our toaster oven @ 425 until tender (about 40). IMHO, there's really no better way to cook a beet. Shout out to Marcella Hazan for this revelation.
Made myself a gin martini to inspire the creative process <--This is a crucial step not to be missed.
I then grabbed the cabbage (used 1/4 head), 3 leeks, 2 carrots and 1 trimmed fennel and decided after a little braising they'd make a comfy and yummy bed for the salmon. Another crucial step besides the martini is to thoroughly clean the leeks. After cutting off the snaggles, and dark green leaves, cut the root horizontally and soaked in some cold water. Soil, be damned! I sliced up everything (leaving the carrots a bit thicker for texture), plopped them in a saute pan with some melted butter and 1 sprig of thyme and tarragon for about 4 minutes. I added 1 cup stock and let it simmer until the stock was absorbed. Set aside. Reheat and sprinkle with parsley before serving.
While I working on the braised veggies, I had another revelation (thank you, martini!). Horseradish cream sauce would complement all the elements quite nicely. I am addicted to Fage Greek style yogurt (1 cup), so pulled that, some heavy cream (1/3 cup) and prepared horseradish (1 TB or to taste) and some chopped chives (1/2 TB), courtesy of the herb garden. I mixed this all together and put in the fridge. Honestly it was a bit tart and recommend a little butter (1 TB).
After letting the salmon come to room temp, I seasoned it and pan fried it in butter with a bit of lemon, shallots and chives.
Served this over Israeli couscous, but any grain/small pasta would do.
I am really trying to amp up my cooking "UI." I come from a long line of cooks who focus too much on taste and not on presentation. I hope to break that habit. Posting a photo with each entry keeps me honest.
I layered the dish this way:
--couscous
--braised veggies
--salmon
-sauce
-beets, quartered and reassembled on the side
We enjoyed this with a bottle of Elk Cove Vineyard La Sirene. Nice light red that complemented, but didn't intimidate the dish.
Both SM and I enjoyed this dinner immensely and I am grateful that this blog is forcing me to record my happy accidents. :-)
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Ok, you have to share your secret on preparing the cooked beets! I have had very little luck getting the skin off without burning and/or staining my hands! :) I love them too, but I dread cooking them so they often pile up in my frige from the CSA!
ReplyDeleteThe skins come off easily once the beets are tender--they turn almost black. I wait until the cooked beets are room temp and peel the skins off with my hands while the beets are submerged in a bowl of water. A little lemon juice will help with staining. You can also wear gloves.
ReplyDeleteMark Bittman has a great recipe for beet salad using peeled, grated beets. You don't even need to cook them!