September 5, 2012
A young chef’s guide to the Rosh Hashanah meal
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Olive Oil Poached Sardine Fillets and Fried Heads with Lemon
Olive oil as needed
6 sardines, fresh/whole
6 garlic cloves, peeled, whole
1/2 bunch Italian parsley
Kosher salt to taste
Black pepper to taste
Lemon wedges
Procedure to clean sardines:
Cut off the head of the sardine by cutting behind the gills.
Run your knife down the belly of the fish, careful not to cut into the meat.
Using your thumb or forefinger, run your finger down the belly in order to clean out the innards.
Gently butterfly the fish with your fingers to expose both fillets.
With your finger, follow the spine of the fish to the tail. Gently bend the tail backward in order to break the spine bone at the tail. A small piece of the bone should pop through the fillet. Grab this piece of bone, and pull toward the front of the fish. The spine and bones should come out in one clean piece.
Rinse the fillets under cold running water to remove any remaining innards. Pat dry and keep in a cold place.
Recipe procedure:
In a small sauce pot, add about 1 inch of olive oil.
Place the sardine fillets, garlic and parsley stems in the cold oil in the sauce pot.
Bring the oil to a simmer. As soon as the flesh of the fish turns opaque, remove the sardines, garlic and parsley stems from the oil and let drain on a paper towel. Season the fillets with salt and pepper.
While the oil is still hot, fry a handful of parsley leaves for 1-2 minutes until the leaves turn bright green. Remove and drain on paper towels.
Increase the heat under the oil, add the sardine heads, and fry until very crispy. Remove from the oil, drain on paper towels and season with salt and pepper.
Serve the poached fillets along with the fried heads, a wedge of lemon and fried parsley leaves.
Serves 6.
Chilled Honey-Cucumber Soup
Chilled Honey-Cucumber Soup
1 cup almonds, blanched and slivered
1/8 cup honey
1/2 cup olive oil
2 leeks, white part only, thinly sliced
1/2 cup challah bread crumbs, crust removed
1 Kirby cucumber, peeled and seeded
25 green grapes
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
In a blender or food processor, add the almonds, honey and olive oil. Puree to a smooth nut butter texture.
In a sauté pan, sauté the leeks in a small amount of olive oil. Let cool.
Add the remaining ingredients — challah, cucumber, grapes, vinegar, salt, pepper and leeks. Puree until smooth.
Strain the soup through a fine mesh strainer. Chill.
To serve, portion the soup into bowls and garnish with green grapes and almond slivers.
Serves 6.
Apples and Honey Chicken
6 chicken thighs, skin on, bone in
1/2 cup olive oil
1 onion, grated
2 Golden Delicious apples, peeled and grated
6 garlic cloves, grated
1 tablespoon red pepper paste
1 tablespoon honey
14 ounces coconut milk
Salt to taste
Preheat oven to 350 F.
In a wide, shallow pan with straight walls, brown the chicken thighs skin side down over high heat in a small amount of olive oil. Do not remove or agitate the chicken until the skin is golden brown and crispy. Repeat this process until all of the thighs are browned, being careful not to overcrowd the pan.
Reserve the rendered chicken fat from the browning process to be used in the sweet potato recipe.
Either on a box grater or using the grater attachment on a food processor, grate the onion, apples and garlic.
In the same pan used to brown the chicken, add the onions, garlic and apple and sweat over medium heat for 5 minutes. Season with salt.
Add the red pepper paste and let cook for another 3 minutes.
Add the honey and coconut milk. Bring the mixture to a simmer.
Place the chicken thighs in the simmering liquid, cover and place in the oven for 45 minutes.
Serves 6.
Warm kale-and-fennel slaw with smashed garlic vinaigrette
Warm Kale-and-Fennel Slaw With Smashed Garlic Vinaigrette
1 bunch kale leaves, stems and ribs removed
1 bulb fennel, sliced thinly
1/2 cup olive oil
4 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Black pepper to taste
Clean the kale and remove the stems and ribs. Tear the leaves into bite size pieces.
Remove the tops of the fennel bulb and the core. Separate each layer of the bulb, and slice thinly.
In a small sauce pot over low heat, add the olive oil and garlic. Let the garlic toast for about 5 minutes until golden brown.
Turn off the fire and add the lemon juice, sugar, salt and pepper. Stir to combine.
In a heat resistant bowl, pour the warm dressing over the kale and fennel.
Let the slaw marinate for at least 30 minutes before serving.
Serves 6.
