asian jewish deli

It is a sure sign of spring when you start seeing locally grown asparagus and morels in the market. Morels showed up this past week at Central Market, and I think the woman that rung me up is still in shock from the price that appeared on the screen ($25/pound).

One of my favorite spring dishes is a pasta salad using blanched asparagus, sauteed morels, and ricotta. If you are not in a hurry, making your own ricotta is easy and way cheaper than buying it premade. You heat up a gallon of whole milk to 180-185°, then stir in 1/3 cup of white vinegar and salt. Let it sit for a couple hours, then gently ladle out the curds into cheesecloth and let drain. Taste and adjust seasoning. Easy!

The morels got a quick sautee in olive oil or butter and I finished them with some chopped black truffle. The asparagus was blanched for three minutes in heavily salted water. Everything was combined with gemelli shaped pasta and seasoned with truffle salt.

I like this dish cold, but it is also good room temperature, and I’ll eat it warm if I am too hungry to wait.

As soon as Copper River salmon hits the markets, I buy a whole fish, break it down, and the first thing I make is tartare. Copper River salmon is super oily, and this raw preparation really showcases how delicious it can be without a lot of adulteration.

I base my preparation of tartare on Thomas Keller’s recipe from Bouchon. It is very simple: mince the salmon, mix with a bit of shallot and olive oil. Serve with diced egg yolk, red onion, egg white, more shallot, capers, crème fraîche, and toasted baguette slices.

A few months back, while keeping up with the news from new Washington distilleries, I saw that Pacific Distillery was aging and waiting for state approval to begin selling their absinthe. Romanticized by fans and vilified by governments, absinthe was banned nearly worldwide during the 20th century, only to make a comeback in the last few years. The ban in the United States was lifted in March 2007, with Lucid brand being first to market.

Pacifique absinthe is made in Woodinville, Washington using a traditional French recipe from 1855. The two kinds of wormwood that are used in the spirit are grown in the distillery’s own garden. Other botanicals used are: anise, angelica, coriander, fennel, hyssop, and melissa. The flavor is predominately anise seed, as expected, but has a citrus note that pairs well with the soft, slick texture.

The louche halfway through dripping in water.

It still somewhat difficult to find in the Washington liquor stores, but has moved from “special order” to regular stock, so it soon should be easier to find.

Often compared to black licorice, which I don’t care for, absinthe is definitely an acquired taste, although I find the anise flavor much more subtle and complex than in licorice. I would recommend giving it a try before buying an entire bottle, but absinthe certainly makes a unique addition to anyone’s bar.

Meatloaf and meatball sandwiches are very nearly tied for least-photogenic-food. Like many, my normal meatloaf is all beef, or sometimes a combination of beef, lamb, and pork. A while back I decided to try and be a little healthier, so I tried a turkey meafloaf. I have to admit that I didn’t miss the red meat, and actually might prefer the turkey version better. Gasp!

When I recently made the meatloaf again, I realized after I started cooking that I only had half an onion, when I normally would use at least a whole large one. Much of the flavor and moisture in this dish comes from the finely chopped vegetables, so leaving out that much onion would affect the final product. (Shh, the final product is 50+% vegetable, don’t tell!) Looking around, I finally settled on grated apple as a supplement to the onion. As odd as that may sound, this one was better than the original, with a subtle sweetness from the apple. Using apple may sound weird at first, but it is often used in Thanksgiving stuffing, so it works well and will be added to the recipe for the future.

The meatloaf was glazed with a mixture of ketchup, lots of cumin, honey, cayenne, and Worcestershire sauce. Delicious.

Incidentally, around the same time I made that first turkey meatloaf, my friend Lorna made one for her upcoming cookbook as well. Great minds think alike! Click here for her version. I may have to add jalapenos to my recipe…

This is the new best sandwich in Seattle. (And you still can’t have one.) It is my standard favorite grilled pastrami Reuben with chopped liver, swiss, homemade Russian dressing, and sauerkraut on buttered Jewish rye, but this time I used pastrami made out of shortrib.

I have written many times before about how much I love short rib, so when I found large boneless slabs of the super marbled cut, I bought about 12 pounds and started the curing process.

What came out after smoking was amazing! The short rib has much finer marbling than any other cut I have used before, leading to a very tender, moist, and lucious pastrami without the large hunks of fat that are usually trimmed off of my other batches.

Another benefit—it is cheaper than the beef plate and brisket I have used in the past. Win!

Another request for this week, coconut cupcakes with toasted coconut cream cheese frosting. This is a recipe I borrowed from Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa herself. It has always worked out well, with moist flavorful cupcakes. The only beef I have with Ina’s recipes is that she always calls for extra large eggs. Who writes recipes with extra large eggs? It is an unwritten rule that the term “eggs” in recipes refers to large eggs. Perhaps it is to keep others from stealing her recipes?

If you try making this recipe yourself, be aware that it makes twice as much frosting as you could ever use on these cupcakes. The frosting is delicious though, so I’m sure you can find a use for the remainder.

Continuing with the week of meal requests, tonight’s dinner was fish & chips. I used one of my favorite whitefishes, wild caught halibut. My original breading was based on cornmeal, but I found that it did not crisp up properly when deep fried. I have a feeling that cornmeal crusted fish is traditionally panfried (see my friend Lorna’s version here). After a test piece with the cornmeal, I whisked up a tempura-style batter which resulted in a crisp, light crust. I still prefer fish with my regular beer batter, but this was fine in a pinch (I only had Guinness in the fridge).

I served this fish with my usual truffled fries and a homemade tartar sauce, using dill and preserved lemon rind.

Big Hunk was one of my favorite childhood candies, and while I don’t buy much candy these days, I gave into a recent nougat craving and had a go at making my own.

The term nougat de Montelimar is actually protected under appellation d’origine contrôlée (AOC), hence my nougat being Montelimar-style. Traditional nougat from Montelimar must contain at least 28% almonds, 25% lavender honey, and 2% pistachios, and of course must be made in Montelimar, France. For my own batch of nougat de Phong, I complied with the almond and honey amounts (although I used a local blackberry honey) and increased the pistachio amount considerably. I also used almonds that I had lightly smoked the last time I made pastrami.

The beginning steps in making the nougat were not promising, since my honey boiled over and immediately caught fire on top of the range. After cleaning up that mess and getting everything back on track, I thought my Kitchen-Aid stand mixer might not be able to whip through the super thick and sticky mixture. Although there was some gear slipping, the mixer performed like a champ. Then, while trying to scrape the mixture into a sheet pan, I spilled some of it on the floor, stepped in it, and the dog got it caught in her hair.

Was it worth it? YES! The final product showcases the dark, musky blackberry honey, and has the tiniest hint of smoke from the almonds. I have not been able to stop eating it. While Big Hunk was simpler in flavor and only contained peanuts, this version brings back many childhood memories.

This dish, based off of a recipe by Thomas Keller, begins with two ingredents that take several hours to make, but could be considered staples that you should keep around at all times. Garlic confit is simply garlic immersed in oil and cooked over super low heat for hours, and soffritto involves onions and tomatoes slowly fried in oil also for hours. The garlic confit is similar to roasted garlic, and the soffritto comes out sweet, savory, reflects the hours of simmering. Spreading some garlic confit on bread and topping with soffritto is a worthy meal in itself.

These clams are very easy and start out by sweating shallots in oil, then adding in garlic confit and soffritto. (If you dodn’t want to spend the time to make the confit and soffritto, you could substitute in fresh tomato, onion, and garlic. The flavor will be different—fresher instead of the the deep roasted flavors from the soffritto. Different, but not bad.) Throw in the clams, some white wine, a few tablespoons of butter, and clamp the lid on tightly. About a minute later, you’ll find most if not all of the clams will have opened. Some of the more stubborn clams can be coaxed open with a stir or a shake.

Spoon the clams into a deep bowl, top with plenty of the broth, and serve alongside toast topped with aioli and more soffritto. Delicious!