My wife and I were recently invited to a really fun surprise birthday party for a friend of ours.  He, and most of his friends, are big foodies and in the past we’ve gotten together to make food, each bringing 2-3 courses for a great big multi-course extravaganza.  This time his wife invited a big group of us, in surprise fashion, with a cooking theme…avocados and pears.  While I like avocados and my wife loves them (being a California girl), the majority of the ways I eat avocados would not be considered fine cuisine.  My idea of a perfect use of avocado involves carne asada and heaping portions of guacamole from what is simply the best roadside taco stand, Vaqueros, in San Diego.

So I started trying to think of a good use of avocados and pears.  For the pears, my wife and I took our favorite dobos torte recipe, and baked sliced pear into the cakes, topped it with a pear mousse, and dipped slightly dried pear slices into caramelized sugar to make decorative garnishes.  (We forgot to take a picture of the final product before we ate it…*smile*). 

For the avocado, I remembered how much I love the pairing of avocado and crab, so off to the market I went to get a live crab!  In the process I decided that the light creaminess of blinis would go great as a substrate to carry the crab and avocado.  In the end, I ended up with this recipe, which turned out pretty tasty if you ask me!  In full disclosure, I borrowed heavily from my new cookbook, The French Laundry Cookbook, which I highly recommend, though I’ve changed recipes somewhat.

Blini with Poached Crab and Avocado Salad

Poach Crab

1/2 cup – coarsely diced carrots

1/2 cup – coarsely diced fennel bulb or celery

1 cup – coarsely diced onions

2 – leeks, coarsely chopped

1/4 tsp – black pepper corns

1 – bay leaf

4 – sprigs of thyme

small handful of parsley (whole)

1 tsp – kosher salt

11 cups – cold water

Add all ingredients above into a large stock pan and bring to a boil then lower to a simmer.

1 cup – white wine

1/2 cup – vinegar

1 lemon (squeeze into broth then place the rinds in as well)

1 – Live Dungeness crab (looks like you can also buy this frozen online)

Add the above ingredients and return to a simmer.  Add live crab and cover with a lid.  Simmer 4 minutes and then turn off the heat and let cool completely on the stove. 

Blini Batter

3 – small potatoes (russets or other drier potatoes…I used Yukon gold)

2 – Tbsp all purpose flour

2 Tbsp – 1/4 cup – Creme Fraiche (you can substitute full fat sour cream or heavy whipping cream)

3 – eggs

kosher, white pepper, cayenne to taste

For the Creme Fraiche, I made my own.  I took about 1 cup of heavy whipping cream (I planned on having extra) and mixed it with a sprinkling of Mesophilic A (MA) cheese culture (I had some on hand).  I then covered it and let it sit in a warm place overnight.  Once it was about the consistency of sour cream I put it in the fridge.

Gently boil the potatoes (whole with skin on) until soft.  While still hot, peel and rice them as fine as possible.  Add the flour, then 2 Tbsp of creme fraiche and whisk thoroughly.  Now add the eggs, one at a time, whisking between each egg.  I discarded the last egg white (using only the yolk) and then added salt, pepper, and cayenne to taste.  From there I added more creme fraiche, a little at a time, until the batter had the consistency of pancake batter.

Avocado Puree

1/2 – ripe avocado

2 Tbsp – red onion

1 clove – garlic

1 Tbsp – olive oil

2 Tbsp – fresh lemon juice

kosher salt and cayenne pepper to taste

Add all ingredients to a blender and blend smooth

Poached Crab Salad

1 cup – poached crab meat (canned crab meat could be substituted)

1 Tbsp – Dijon Mustard

1/2 Tbsp – Lemon juice

cayenne pepper – to taste

kosher salt – to taste

Mix all ingredients to taste.

Avocado Salad

1 – ripe avocado

1/2 cup – red onion, finely diced

1/2 cup – cucumber, peeled, seeded, and finely diced

1 Tbsp – olive oil

1/2 Tbsp – Lemon juice

kosher salt and white pepper to taste

Mix red onion, cucumber, olive oil, and lemon juice with some kosher salt (start with a pinch or two).  Try to dice the avocado as finely as possible without mashing (my photo is actually the end of the batch so it’s a little mashed up, the stuff we served was much cleaner looking).  Gently fold the avocado into the rest of the mixture, trying not to mash anything.

Plating

Fresh Chives

Kosher Salt or Sea Salt in large granules

Heat a griddle up as you would for pancakes, once the griddle is preheated, butter generously.  Place one Tbsp of batter per blini, and, using the bottom of the spoon, spread the batter out until it is of a uniform height and round in shape.  Griddle and flip like a pancake. 

Place a teaspoon of avocado puree on the center of each plate.  Place two overlapping blini on top of the puree.  Place a quinelle of avocado salad on top of the blini and a teaspoon of crab salad on top of that.  Garnish with a piece of chive and a sprinkling of sea salt.

Since we are doing the whole New Years Resolution thing right now, we haven’t been cooking much in the way of ‘postworthy’ food.  But tonight we had some very nice salmon ‘slow cooked’ in the tagine, you could use a Dutch oven or heavy braising pan with a lid. 

We’ve been working hard these past few weeks to eat healthy, low calorie meals.  We were in the mood for eating some of the Chum salmon that I caught recently so we were looking for salmon ideas.  One of the things that can often be hardest when being really strict on a diet is to find food that is satisfying and flavorful.  This is why I thought of doing something Moroccan.  All of the spices and the slow braising sounded both comforting and tasty!

We started with a recipe we found here.  We found that we inevitably changed a few things, but for the most part we were pretty faithful to the recipe.  The two main differences are that I season the fish (salt and pepper) prior to cooking and I make my own tomato paste since everything here is too delicate to use canned.

SALMON TAGINE WITH CHERMOULA
3 tsp        – cumin seeds
1 1/2 tsp  – coriander seeds
3 cloves   – garlic, minced
3/4 cup    – extra virgin olive oil
1-1/2 tsp – sweet paprika (not smoked!)
1/2 tsp    – cayenne pepper, or 1-1/2 tsp harrissa, to taste
3/4 tsp    – kosher salt
1/3 tsp    – black pepper
1-1/2 oz  – fresh lemon juice
2 Tbsp    – flat-leaf parsley, chopped
2 Tbsp    – fresh cilantro, chopped
3/4         – roasted red pepper, chopped (plus kosher salt and olive oil for roasting)
1            – whole preserved lemon, pulp removed, finely chopped
1/2 cup   – small cherry tomatoes, halved
6            – Kalamata olives, pitted, halved (these can now be found in the a la carte deli in many Supermarkets)
3 stalks   – celery, cut in half lengthwise, then into 3-inch long slices
1-1/2 to 2 lbs – salmon, cut into 6-8 pieces (plus additional kosher salt and pepper for seasoning)

4-6 cups  – cooked quinoa (we prefer to cook ours in chicken broth)

For the sauce:
3-4       – roasted Roma tomatoes (plus kosher salt and olive oil for roasting), optionally use 1 1/2 Tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp     – sugar
3 tsp     – lemon juice
2 Tbsp  – olive oil

Roast Veggies

This can be done in advance.  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Cut open the pepper and remove the seeds and veins.  Lightly oil the inside of the flesh with olive oil, season lightly with kosher salt and place flesh side down on a parchment covered cookie sheet.  Lightly oil and salt Roma tomatoes and do the same.  Place in oven for 20-30 mins or until the skins begin to wrinkle.  Remove from oven and let cool for 1-2 minutes.  Place in plastic bag or air tight container to cool.  Once cool, peel the skins and rinse lightly.  These can be stored for stored for several days in the refrigerator.

Place chilled roasted Roma tomatoes in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.  Place puree in a double lined chamois or cheese cloth and press as much water as possible then hang it over the sink to continue to strain for at least 20 minutes.  The remaining solids will make a tomato paste that you can reserve in the refrigerator.  For an extra smooth paste, press the remaining solids through a metal sieve using a spatula.  Reserve 1 1/2 Tbsp for the recipe.

Season the fish

Pat each piece of salmon dry with a paper towel, then sprinkle generously with kosher salt and pepper.

Make the chermoula

In a small, dry frying pan, toast cumin and coriander until slightly fragrant, about 1 minute. Remove from heat and grind thoroughly with a mortal and pestle.  Remove to a large bowl.

In the same pan, sauté garlic in 1 Tbsp olive oil until lightly cooked, 1 minute. Add to the mixing bowl, along with paprika, cayenne, salt, pepper and lemon juice. Whisk well. Add remaining olive oil slowly, then add parsley and cilantro. Then, add chopped red pepper, preserved lemon, tomatoes and olives, to make the chermoula.

Set aside 1/4 of the chermoula. Place fish in a nonreactive glass or ceramic baking dish, and rub on all sides with the remaining 3/4 of the chermoula.

Make the Tagine

In the base of a tagine, Dutch oven, or heavy braising pot, arrange celery stalks to form a “platform” for the fish.

Arrange fish pieces on top, along with the chermoula marinade. 

Make the Sauce

Mix together the sauce ingredients (tomato paste, sugar, lemon juice, oil) and pour over the fish. Add 1/2 cup of water to the pan, trying not to wash the chermoula or sauce off of the fish.

Cover and cook on lowest heat for 20-25 minutes, until the fish is just cooked. Top with reserved chermoula, and serve over couscous or rice (we ate it with quinoa).