His culinary expertise has been wonderful though. Aside from his great food, he is someone with a true love for food and cuisine and has always been happy to share his knowledge with me. From a recent recommendation, I purchased "The Modernist Cuisine at Home" which is more a kitchen technique book on modern cooking than it is a cook book. Don't get me wrong, it has great recipes in it, but it gives you the low down on some great techniques and how to develop your home cooking into something pretty amazing.
The book led me to purchase a piece of equipment I had never heard of before, a Sous Vide. The term, sous vide (pronounced sue veed), is French for vacuum. Basically, you vacuum seal your food, fill the large basin of the Sous Vide with water, set it to a temperature that you want the food to cook to, add the vacuum sealed food, and in a few hours, "voila!", amazing cooked meat that is juicy and tender and well, pretty amazing. I made steaks for a dinner party a few weeks ago and can't tell you how many compliments I got on these steaks! It does take some planning, you don't come home from work at 5:00 and pop something in the Sous Vide, but if you think of it it kind of like a crock pot, for most things you can start it in the morning and it will hold the temp of your food for several hours until you are ready to eat that evening. Once out of the bag, it needs a quick sear on the stove and that's it! One thing that it does do relatively quickly, 30-45 minutes, is fish. I made salmon in it as my first venture, and the boys gobbled it up! And my kids aren't usually salmon eaters. Needless to say, I am EXTREMELY happy with this purchase, but it was pricey, so make sure it is something you are sure you would use frequently, because I wouldn't recommend that kind of investment in something that will take up space on your counter or in your pantry just to collect dust.
So, the other day I get a message from my chef friend. He wants to order fish, but he has to order it in quantities of 10 pounds. That's a lot of fish! But lucky for me, he wants to know if I would like to split the order with him. ABSOLUTELY! So our choices are Halibut or Wreckfish. Having never heard of Wreckfish before, I am immediately intrigued. I am now the proud owner of 5 pounds of Wreckfish. Now, my timing couldn't be worse. I said yes on impulse because when a great chef thinks that based on your Facebook posts and emails to him with cooking questions means you would be interested in restaurant quality fish, which I absolutely always am, the fact that your husband isn't home, your parents aren't home and you really have no one to cook for other than you and the kids. On top of that, you are leaving on vacation for a week in three days and trying to clean out the refrigerator, not add more to it, is no reason not to immediately jump up and grab the opportunity for a chance to try some amazing fish. So I did!
Now, thankfully, the things in my refrigerator that need cleaned out includes a bunch of fresh asparagus and ramps from a local market that I also love to frequent, The Carriage House Market. She gets great local produce and I can't resist! I also got chorizo from her market. It was a link cured like salami, not raw chorizo that I buy at the grocery store and then cook, but that would work too. So, armed with fresh local asparagus, fresh local ramps, 5 lbs of beautiful Wreckfish, and my imagination, I am making pan seared Wreckfish served over sautéed baby kale and corn, sweet red pepper, chorizo, ramps relish in a very light cream sauce made from the corn milk, white wine and a little half and half and a side of oven roasted asparagus.
If using the sous vide, the fish would get vacuum sealed, and cooked in a water bath at 126 degrees for 40 minutes. Once finished, then pan seared to give it that nice crust. I am going to do the instructions though without the sous vide, as it isn't a common tool and most people's would just do it in the pan, especially since it wouldn't take as long. I would use the sous vide if I was making fish for a crowd as it allows the flexibility of holding the temp until I am ready to sear and would allow me time to get everything else ready, and do that at the end as I am plating it.
Pan Seared Wreckfish with Corn, Red Pepper and Chorizo Relish in Cream Sauce
6, 4-6 ounce fillets of Wreckfish or other thick, firm white fish
4 ears of corn, cut from the cob with corn milk scraped from the cob
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
4 ramps or spring onions, chopped white and just the beginning of the green
2 oz diced chorizo
7 oz bag baby kale or baby spinach, roughly chopped
1/2 cup half and half
1 cup white wine, divided
1 bunch asparagus
Preheat oven to 500 degrees.
Place asparagus on rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Add to oven. Roast for about 10 minutes. Watch for when they are bright green and crisp tender. Remove from oven.
Warm olive oil in a skillet, add ramps and sauté until soft. Add the chorizo and sauté for additional 2-3 minutes. Add corn and corm milk, sauté another 2-3 minutes. Add red pepper and season with a little salt and pepper. Transfer to a bowl and cover with lid.
In same pan, heat additional olive oil and about 1/2 tablespoon of butter. Season the fish with salt and pepper and add to the pan. Cook for about 4 minutes, flip and sear for another 4 minutes. Remove from pan, place on oven safe tray and put in oven. Add 1/2 white wine to the pan and deglaze. Strain the deglazed wine into dish (I used my Pyrex measuring cup).
Add a little more olive oil to the pan, sauté the kale, add rest of the wine. Sauté until bright green and wilted. Divide among 6 plates.
Return the corn mixture to the pan, add half and half. Heat until warmed through. Remove relish from pan with a slotted spoon, and top wilted kale. Add the deglazed, strained wine from fish to the half and half and whisk until mixed through and move from heat.
Remove fish from oven (this should be about 5 minutes or so), and place on top of relish. Spoon cream sauce around the fish. Top with asparagus spears.
