Trout with Herbs

Trout is a perfect dish for spring. It's light, tasty and usually super cheap, especially if you can find brook trout. Plus, you can use whatever herbs are currently going to waste in the fridge. I've been seeing whole trout at Fairway lately. Have someone at the fish counter fillet it for you if, like me, your fish butchering skills are not exactly professional.


Trout with Herbs
Adapted from Cooking Light

4 6-ounce trout fillets
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon oil -olive or canola
1 1/2 cups mixed fresh herbs (any combo of chopped fresh chives, tarragon, parsley, dill, oregano, cilantro)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon salt

Score skin side of fish. Sprinkle fish with 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet. Add fish, skin side down, to pan; cook 4 minutes or until skin is crisp and fish flakes easily when tested with a fork.

Combine herbs, juice, and 1/8 teaspoon salt in a medium bowl; toss gently to coat. Serve salad over fish.

Do I Dare Believe My Eyes?

Rhubarb....Bitters...

Two of my most favorite things. All in one cutie bottle. The heavens have opened!

Let the rhubarb manhattans commence.

Cilantro: It loves me, it loves me not.

Love cilantro? Hate it with a passion? Few people fall in between. A charming article in today's New York Times Dining section examines why cilantro aversion exists and suggests a possible cure...immersion.

Passover Rolls !?!

I know what you're thinking. "How can a roll (read: leavened?) be kosher for passover (read: unleavened)?" And, "I guess you could make them, but they must taste baaad." Well, the dough for these rolls is made kind of like a gougere so it doesn't need yeast, but still bakes up fluffy -thanks to a generous amount of eggs. They're definitely tasty enough to deserve a place at your seder table, or make them post-seder to use up extra matzo meal from your matzo ball soup. One cooled, they keep frozen up to one month!

Herbed Passover Rolls
Adapted from Cooking Light Magazine
Makes 12-14

1 1/4 cups water
1/3 cup canola oil
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 cups matzo meal
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives
1 teaspoons finely chopped fresh thyme

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line baking sheet with silpat. Combine water, oil, sugar and salt in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low. Ad matzo meal stirring well with a spatula until the mixture pulls away from the sides of the pan (about 30 seconds.) Remove from heat and transfer dough to stand mixture fitted with paddle attachment. Let cool about 5 minutes. Start beating a low speed. Add eggs one at a time, beating until fully incorporated. Stir in chives and thyme. Use water or cooking spray to keep fingers moist and un-sticky and shape dough into 12-14 mounds. Place mounds on silpat and bake for 55 minutes or until browned and crisp. Cool on a wire rack.

Dogfish Head + Batali = Awesomeness

I'm pretty excited about this news! NYC is always in need of more rooftop options in the sweltering summertime and I can't wait to taste what the alchemists at Dogfish Head come up with. Can they beat my current beer obsession, Dogfish Head 90 minute IPA? We shall see!

Entire Bag of Chips = 5 million calories

Interesting article in the New York Times over the weekend about cracking the serving size code on packaged foods. Seeing how counter-intuitive and frustrating labels, I'd say it's about time that serving size represented the amount an actual full sized human consumes in a sitting. The Obama administration has been vocal in its support for healthy local eating, so fingers crossed that the FDA can get this overhaul done.

Super Bowl Treats from the Today Show

Check out my buddy, Chef Edwin Bellanco (of New York City's Morrell Wine Bar and Cafe) cooking up Super Bowl treats on the Today Show.

Way to go, Ed! Clevelanders Represent!