I’ve spoken about this in my Herbs & Spices class: cilantro is a love/hate flavor profile. Unless you’re a reformed hater. Like I am. And you can be, too.
I don’t make it a habit of linking to the New York Times. Let’s say I have strong opinions on the quality of what passes for news. However, the food section doesn’t count. It consistently has quality writing and subjects.
In honor of the return of iceberg lettuce, I came up with a salad dressing that would add a bite to counterbalance the cool crispness of the lettuce.
Then I added horseradish.
I poached the sole (frozen, ugh) in water with allspice, mustard seed, peppercorns, salt, lemon juice, carrots and onions. The kohlrabi was cut small, with minced onions, boiled until soft and pureed with some dark celery leaves and salt. I used about a tablespoon of potato flakes to bind it together.
I made a puree from the poaching liquid carrots which gave everything it touched a lemony note. Not a bad thing.
Lunch took about 25 minutes to prepare. Zero fat. Minimal starch.
Poached Sole with Pureed Kohlrabi
Now that's a leek!
Winter leeks in Israel are in season in Israel in January, but generally available all year long. They are available as organic produce as well.
My wife found one of these monsters yesterday in Machane Yehuda, where I haven’t had a chance to go in nearly a month. Looking at the same old vegetables in my local grocery is a little depressing, but when these started showing up, I started thinking about how many different ways I could play with them. (more…)
I have discussed ingredient substitutions in classes, and I will probably go on mentioning them here in my blog. They’re not cheating, they don’t fundamentally detract from the recipe and they’re not wrong. Purists who click their tongues are nothing but elitist food snobs who can’t think in the kitchen the way a chef thinks. And anyone who disagrees with me so far should remember that many of the original, classic recipes bear no resemblance to their modern day counterparts.
Substitutions should redefine a dish, not sabotage it. Here’s a classic example. A la Florentine is a well-known preparation of with spinach and typically Mornay sauce. Whether your protein is chicken, mullet, pork or eggs, the preparation remains the same.
