Roasted Shrimp Salad, Barefoot Contessa

One more from Dawn's collection of favorite recipes to share:

Roasted Shrimp Salad
Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 pounds of shrimp (12 to 15 count)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Kosher salt
• Fresh ground black pepper
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon orange zest (2 oranges)
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
• 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup minced, fresh dill
• 2 tablespoons capers, drained
• 2 tablespoons small diced red onion

Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Peel & devein shrimp. Place them on a sheet pan with the olive oil, one teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and toss together to coat. Spread shrimp out in one layer and roast for 6 to 8 minutes until just pink, firm and cooked through. Allow to cool for 3 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the sauce. In a large bowl whisk together the mayo, orange zest, orange juice, vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper. When the shrimp is cooled, add them to the sauce and toss to coat. Add the dill, capers and red onion. Toss well.

The flavors will improve if you allow the salad to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. Otherwise chill and serve at room temperature.

Dawn's Notes:
I had this at a friend’s party and it knocked my socks off.  Definitely use fresh herbs. I used her notes and I adjust and combine citrus flavors to suit what I have in the house. Instead of all mayo use 1/2 cup mayo and 1/2 cup greek yogurt or I sometimes use kefir (my go-to breakfast routine). Can use lemon zest in lieu of orange. I thought of you as this is perfect for those days when you have company by the pool and want to have something refreshing.  I love this in lettuce wraps.  It’s springtime/summer goodness – the orange slices added to the sauce are a perfect compliment.  This you can make ahead that morning so it’s terrific for relaxing in the afternoon poolside.

Nobu's Black Cod with Miso

Shared by Dawn, adapted from Nobu: The Cookbook...

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons mirin
• 3 tablespoons sake
• 1/2 cup white miso paste
• 1/3 cup sugar
• Six skinless black cod fillets (6-7 oz each); about 1 and 1/2 inches thick
• Vegetable oil
• Pickled ginger for serving

Directions:
In small saucepan, bring the mirin and sake to a boil. Whisk in the miso until dissolved. Add sugar and cook over moderate heat, whisking until just dissolved. Transfer the marinade to a large baking dish and let cool. Add the fish, turning to coat. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 400. Heat a grill pan on high and oil it. Scape the marinade off the fish. Add fish to grill pan, cooking until brown, about 2 minutes. Flip the fish onto heavy rimmed baking sheet and roast for 10 minutes until flaky. Transfer to plates and serve with pickled ginger.

Dawn's Notes on Recipe:
We had this at Nobu and it reminded me of the Salmon appetizer I had from a texture perspective.  I absolutely love this when my fishmonger gets black cod as it’s not that common to source.  I have also made this with swordfish.  Both melt in your mouth.  It’s a bold flavor so you can adjust and dilute with plum wine, sake or more mirin.  I half the sugar or leave out.  Simple, easy, marinate for min 4 hours.  We decided to only do the black cod in smaller portions – Robert and I found the fish to be so super rich and buttery that it’s a lot for ½ lb each as a main course.  Definitely a wow-crowd pleaser and easy to do for company. Drizzle remaining marinade or pipe into dots on the plate

Chicken or Turkey Scallopini Recipe

Thank you Dawn for sharing this go to & easy recipe for a classic Italian dish.

Scaloppine:

• 1 and 1/2 or 2 pounds of boneless chicken or turkey breast
• 1/4 flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 1/8 teaspoon white pepper
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 1 and 1/2 cups small mushrooms halved
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic, pressed
• 3/4 cup dry white wine
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 1 tablespoon minced parsley

Place chicken breast in freezer for 45 minutes to 1 hour until surface of meat is thoroughly chilled and slightly firm. Cut meat crosswise in 1/4 inch slices.

Mix flour, salt, paprika and white pepper together. Flour chicken, shake off excess. Heat 1 tablespoon butter and oil in large skillet. Add layer of chicken and brown lightly on both sides. As meat is browned, remove and keep warm. Brown remaining slices, adding butter and oil as needed. When all chicken in browned and removed from skillet, add mushrooms and garlic. Saute lightly.

Return browned chicken to skills. In a bowl, combine wine, lemon juice, Italian seasonings and parsley; stir. Pour over the chicken & mushrooms in skillet and simmer rapidly for 5 to 10 minutes until the liquid is reduced and chicken tender.

Dawn's notes on this dish:

(This recipe is) one of my favorite go-to weeknight meals.  I have my butcher pound out the boneless chicken breasts ahead of time into large cutlets. I’m not a big veal or turkey fan but I’m sure it’s just as good.  I use crimini mushrooms.  This gets adjusted all the time based on what’s growing in my garden – Italian seasoning can be oregano, basil, garlic, parsley – whatever you have.  Dried is fine too.

Robert sometimes adds cayenne for a little kick.  I always put extra parsley on top.  The sauce is super yummy and I usually serve with haricot-verts and Israeli couscous or rice pilaf.  Takes less than an hour.  I almost never eat Italian out - I laugh when I see $25+ for an entrée of piccata, scallopine, oreganata, francese.  They are so simple to make and the base is the same for us.  They are our weeknight staples. 

db Bistro Moderne, NYC

One of the best things to come out of LinkedIn and Facebook is that you might actually reconnect with someone you genuinely liked and lost touch with. For me that was the case regarding a co-worker from Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., that I haven't seen for over a decade. And even better, to find out she's a foodie and still lives in the tri-state area! For our get together we decided to meet for lunch at db Bistro Moderne on 44th in Midtown. This is one of Daniel Boulud's and not including his namesake restaurant, my personal favorite.

We caught up with each other last week on one of those incredibly beautiful and warm days. The restaurant opens for lunch at noon, when our reservation was, so we were among the first seated at a nice table in front of the window.

Contemplating the menu, we started with a glass of Billicarte-Salmon, Mareuil-sur-Ay Rose, multi-vintage. We agreed on an appetizer and an entree each. To start I ordered an appetizer portion of the traditional house made Sagnerelli Pasta with Braised Veal Ragoût, Seasonal Vegetables Fricasée and Mascarpone Cheese.

This was a delightful and comforting dish with a mixture of grape tomatoes, fava beans and snow peas. The veal ragout had a richness to it that complimented the creaminess of the pasta. The foam on top was visually appealing and delicate. Yummy!

Dawn started her meal off with the Atlantic salmon tartare with Artichokes Purée, Shaved Celery
Toasted Pumpernickel Bread and Crème Fraiche with lemon dressing. The tartare was pure Spring with the light citrus dressing bringing out the freshness of the fish and showcasing the delicate chives. A great start to the meal.

For my main course I went with a favorite - the lobster salad with Mesclun, Hearts of Palm, Green Beans and Pesto Dressing. I had this dish once before a few years ago with Alan and remembered it vividly. So nice that it was as great as I hoped it would be again. I took a picture of it but it didn't come out so just take my word for it that the dish was as pretty and elegant as it was delicious. Loaded with perfectly poached lobster claw meat and lovely greens...so perfect.

Dawn choose the Maine Sea Scallops with Glazed White & Green Asparagus, Warm Herb Vinaigrette, Black Trumpet Mushroom and Fumet Emulsion.

Lunch was just delightful ~ great food and great conversation. If you're ever in midtown looking for a place to have a leisurely meal, this should be on your radar.

Zagat's Rating: 25-22-24
Jenn's Rating: 88

La Sirene, French BYO in Manhattan

A BYO in Manhattan? And a French Bistro BYO, no less ~ practically a miracle! But how's the food? Over the weekend, Alan and I met Brian & Molly there for dinner at this tiny little SoHo restaurant. We were seated at the window with an attentive server and a good view of not only the lively patrons inside, but the walking traffic on Broome Street at Varrick.

The menu is a delight unto itself ~ with staff commentary peppered throughout the selections giving the whole thing a bit of an intimate, family feel. I knew ahead of time that I'd need to try one of their four mussel dishes. I was equally tempted by the escargot, foie gras and cassoulet. I mean, it just doesn't get more French than that.

To start I had the steamed mussels with Dijon mustard sauce; Alan had the French Onion soup; Brian & Molly shared an order of the snails and the foie gras tourchon. My mussels were very good with lots of flavor and plenty of juice for mopping up with pieces of bread. But they didn't come close to Thomas Keller's version offered at Bouchon. Alan's onion soup was traditionally prepared with lots and lots of cheese on top and a great onion flavor. He gave it a good review since it wasn't totally dominated by onion pieces - something he doesn't like. Brian & Molly finished off their dishes but I didn't get any comments on the taste or texture.

For our entrees: I ordered the Gratin de Fruits de la Mer (baked seafood) with Calamari, Mussels, Langoustines, Bay Scallops, Sole and shrimp over Mushroom Duxelles in a light Mornay Sauce and bread crumbs au gratin. Alan ordered the special of the evening; black sea bass with assorted wild mushrooms in a mushroom sauce. Molly & Brian shared the Cassoulet Toulouse’s Style; cannellini beans, tomato, garlic duck confit, slab bacon & pork sausage all braised with Noble Duck fat and the Roasted Lamb Leg sliced with white wine Crème de Garlic Confit sauce.

My dish was smaller than I expected but light and wonderfully prepared. I suppose if it had been much bigger I would have quickly become full on the creamy, rich gratin and mornay sauce. Alan's fish was nicely seasoned and the mushrooms were splendid. But for me, the surprise winner of the night was the Cassoulet. Not a dish I usually gravitate towards, not being a fan of cannellini beans but I tried a bite anyway. WOW. The bacon and duck added a succulence; the beans gave it body and a nice texture with the whole thing coming together as you'd image in country homes throughout the Rhone region. Just wonderful!

For dessert we agreed to all split an order of bittersweet (woohoo) chocolate profiterolles (puff pastry, vanilla ice cream all bathing in chocolate sauce) and a selection of three cheeses. The profiterolles were perfection - it was hard to stop eating them long enough to give someone else a fair shot at them. The cheeses however were a bit disappointing. The cheese themselves were pretty good but they were served more or less by themselves with three lone little apple slices as accompaniments. I happen to love to spread my cheeses on toast points, with honey or compote, a few nuts...something to match them up with.

All that being said...we have three fabulous bottles of wine (the best part of a BYO, you know you're going to get to drink get wines); a champagne and two French reds. The total bill per couple was $150. So good food, fabulous company, excellent wines and cheap!! You just can't beat this experience. I look forward to going back in the near future!

Jenn's rating: 85
Zagat: 25-14-23

Inedible Lamb Shanks

I tried slow cooking some nice looking lamb shanks over the weekend, following a recipe from the Everyday magazine. But it was so incredibly gamey, we literally couldn't eat it. We're pretty sure the problem was the meat itself and not the slow cooker or recipe. That being said, I'm now very wary of trying again. Anyone have any good lamb recipes they can share?