Spice (61 page)
Authors: Ana Sortun
We’ve had this elegant dish on the menu at Oleana since we opened in the winter of 2001. I was inspired to create it after I had a delicious meal at a fish restaurant on the Asian side of Istanbul, where I dined on creamy eggplant with crab that was broiled with raki. I also sipped on raki as I ate, and discovered that the liqueur matches perfectly with the flavors of eggplant and crab.
Raki, also called
Arak
, is a fennel-flavored liqueur similar to Greek ouzo that brings out the wonderful flavors in this dish but won’t overwhelm it. If raki is unavailable, you can substitute ouzo or even the French pastis or pernod. If raki or ouzo doesn’t appeal to you for sipping, try a clean pinot gris from Oregon, with ripe stone fruit flavors.
Serve Eggplant Soufflé (page 265) with this delicate fish dish.
S
ERVES
6
1 cup heavy cream
½ pound Maine or Dungeness crabmeat
1 plum tomato, quartered and seeds removed
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
Salt and pepper to taste
Six 4-to 5-ounce sole or flounder fillets, boned and skinned
1¾ to 2 cups fish fumet (page 161)
½ cup raki or ouzo
4 tablespoons butter
1.
Preheat the oven to 375°F.
2.
In a small heavy saucepan, over medium heat, bring the cream to a boil and reduce the heat to low. Simmer for about 12 minutes, until the cream is thick and reduced by half.
3.
Meanwhile, drain the crabmeat in a colander and press on it, extracting as much water as possible without tearing up the meat.
4.
Chop the tomato into a small dice and place it in a medium mixing bowl with the crabmeat.
5.
Add the fresh herbs and gently stir in the cream, seasoning the mixture with salt and pepper. The thick cream should bind the crabmeat but not make it soupy or too creamy.
6.
Season both sides of the fillets with salt and pepper and place them; skin-side up, into a baking dish or roasting pan.
7.
Place 2 to 3 tablespoons of the crab mixture on the bottom third of each fillet and roll the fillet over and around the crab mixture, making 6 roulades. Make sure the roulades are tightly rolled for a nice presentation.
8.
Add the fish fumet and raki to the pan and bake the fish for 16 to 18 minutes, until it is just cooked through.
9.
Remove the fish from the baking dish and set it aside under foil to keep it warm. Reserve your pan juices in a small saucepan.
10.
Just before serving, heat the saucepan with pan juices over high heat. Boil the juices until they reduce by a little more than half and are slightly thickened and concentrated, 12 to 15 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium-low and slowly whisk in the butter, 1 tablespoon at a time. When the butter is incorporated, remove the saucepan from the heat and season the sauce with salt and pepper.
11.
Pour the sauce over the fish and serve immediately. You can also pass the sauce around the table in a gravy pitcher for guests to pour themselves.
Trout Spanakopitta with Avocado and Salmon Roe
This dish is a fun, modern twist on two classic Greek mezze: spanakopitta and taramasalata.
Spanakopitta
means “spinach pie” in Greek, and instead of phyllo filled with the traditional spinach and feta cheese, I like to fill rainbow trout with a creamy spinach mixture, seasoned with plenty of fresh dill. Crisping the trout skin as much as possible mimics the crisp and flaky pastry used in traditional spanakopitta.
Taramasalata is a potato purée with carp roe that is smeared on pita bread and eaten before a meal. I like to make the purée with avocado and stud it with little pink salmon eggs. Each one bursts a little sea salt into a mouthful of creamy, rich avocado.
Gamay is perfect for this dish, with its fruity notes of cherries and black pepper spices. The tannins are low and the high acidity complements the richness of the trout. Look for a Beaujolais (see page 264) from the villages of Julienas, Chenas, Morgan, or Moulin a Vent. These provide the deepest, most aromatic red.
S
ERVES
6
Ice cubes
Salt and pepper to taste
2 pounds spinach, large stems removed and washed
1 bulb fennel
6 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 teaspoons finely chopped garlic (about 2 large cloves)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
2 scallions, minced
1 teaspoon ouzo or raki (optional)
½ cup feta
1 egg
½ cup Greek-style or plain whole-milk yogurt
6 rainbow trout, boned but left whole (6 to 8 ounces each)
2 avocados, peeled, halved, and scooped out
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice (about ½ lemon)
1 cup flour
5 tablespoons brown butter (page 108)
4 teaspoons salmon roe or caviar
1.
Prepare a medium mixing bowl with ice water.
2.
In a large saucepan, bring 4 quarts of water to a boil. Add salt. Add the spinach and cook until wilted and tender, 1 to 2 minutes. Drain the spinach into a colander and then set it in a bowl of ice water to shock and cool it quickly.
3.
Drain the spinach into the colander again and squeeze out as much water as possible with your hands. Squeezing small amounts at a time works best. Roughly chop the spinach and set aside.
4.
Trim off the long fennel fronds and remove the tough outer layer. Cut the fennel into quarters and remove the core. Slice the fennel lengthwise and then chop it into to a fine dice.
5.
In a medium skillet over medium-high heat, heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and add the onion and fennel. Cook for 4 to 6 minutes on medium-low heat, until the onion is translucent. Stir in 1½ teaspoons of the garlic and all of the spinach and cook for 5 minutes more.
6.
Place this mixture in a medium mixing bowl and stir in the dill, scallions, and ouzo (if using).
7.
Using a food processor fitted with a metal blade, purée the feta, egg, and ¼ cup of the yogurt. Stir this into the spinach mixture and season with salt and pepper.
8.
Remove the heads from the trout and lay them open with the tails toward you, on a work surface. Season each fillet with salt and pepper.
9.
On the top half of each fillet, spread ½ cup of the spinach mixture. Fold the fillets in half the short way, forming rectangles. Set aside.
10.
Using a food processor fitted with a metal blade, purée the avocados with the remaining ½ teaspoon garlic and ¼ cup yogurt, the lemon juice, and 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, until smooth and creamy. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
11.
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
12.
In a medium skillet, over high heat, heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Lightly dredge the trout fillets in flour and shake off any excess. Brown the trout in the skillet for 2 to 3 minutes on each side. You can probably fit 2 fillets at a time in the skillet. After both sides are brown, place them on a heavy baking sheet and wipe the skillet clean with a paper towel. Repeat the browning process until you’ve browned all the trout.
13.
Place the trout in the oven. Bake the trout for another 5 to 6 minutes to cook it through and to assure that the spinach mixture is hot. The trout should be crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside.
14.
Drizzle the trout with brown butter and serve each piece alongside a few heaping spoonfuls of avocado purée dotted with salmon roe.
