Halibut Steak Poached in Coconut Milk with Coconut Milk Foam, Garlic Sautéed Asparagus and Mushrooms, Roasted Red Peppers and Potatoes Pan Fried in Duck Fat Paired with 2010 Barboursville Vineyards Virginia Chardonnay

Cooking and creating great meals is an endless challenge with infinite possibilities.  There is always something to learn and explore.  For quite some time I have wanted to conquer culinary foams.  This week I found both the inspiration and the magic ingredient to make it happen.  While spending New Year’s with good friends who are also foodies and wine lovers, Beth mentioned a recent experience with foam she enjoyed – oysters with celery foam.  The idea of celery flavors mixing with the salty sweetness of oysters sounded like a winner to me, so I dedicated my efforts to overcoming the foam challenge.

The key to making culinary foam is lecithin.  I began my search in the local grocery stores – bust.  I moved on to the culinary specialty stores – nada.  I concluded I would have to go to the web and order it.  However, once I started my search I found that lecithin is a common dietary supplement found in health food stores and vitamin shops like GNC.  Bingo!  I jumped on the metro, went to the nearest GNC (conveniently located next to my favorite cigar store) and picked up a big canister of lecithin granules for $11 – enough to satisfy my culinary curiosity for the next year or so.

The process of making foam is pretty simple – take a cup or two of the juice or other liquid you want to use as a foam, add a tablespoon of lecithin granules and hit it with a submersion blender until it foams.  Spoon off the foam and add it to your dish – quick and easy.

Now that you have the ingredients and the process, we can back up and ask the question “why?”  The beauty of culinary foams is the ability to add a layer of flavor without changing the structure of the dish – much like a sauce, but without the addition of butter and lengthy reduction.  The result is pure flavor, and much lighter than traditional sauces. 

The oysters with celery foam is a good example.  Oysters and a celery stick doesn’t work well – the oyster slides to the floor.  You could try grating or shredding the celery, but it still does not work.  By running celery through a juicer, foaming it, and adding a dollop to the oyster, you achieve something visually appealing, does not detract from the essence of the oyster, and adds an interesting layer of flavor while not affecting your experience of oyster structure.

The same holds true for the entre – while poaching fish in coconut milk adds a hint of flavor, the coconut milk foam adds a distinctive layer of flavor to the dish.  With the rich buttery flavors of the halibut steak and coconut milk, I chose the 2010 Barboursville Vineyards Virginia Chardonnay for our pairing.  Fermented in stainless steel, this Chardonnay is nicely acidic, refreshingly crisp and features flavors of apple, pear and bright citrus.  The acidity and citrus formed an elegant balance with the richness of the fish and coconut as well as the rich flavors of the potatoes fried in duck fat. 

At $11, the 2010 Barboursville Vineyards Virginia Chardonnay is an exceptional value and holds great promise for a broad range of pairings.

Recipes

Oysters on the Half Shell with Celery Foam

Easy stuff.  Run 5 or six stalks of celery through a juicer to produce about one cup of celery juice.  Add 1 tablespoon of lecithin granules and blend with an immersion blender until foam forms.  Shuck your oysters leaving the belly in the deep side of the shell and spoon a dollop of celery foam.

Halibut Steak Poached in Coconut Milk with Coconut Foam

Ingredients

• 3 cans coconut milk
• 1 1/2 pound halibut steak
• 3-4 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon lecithin granules

Preparation

1. Reserve 1 cup of coconut milk for foam and pour remainder in a pan just larger than your halibut steak.  Bring to boil over medium-high heat.
2. Reduce heat and add halibut fillets, cooking for about 10 minutes turning the halibut at the 5 minute mark.
3. Just before finished, season with salt and pepper.
4. Add lecithin granules to the reserved coconut milk and blend for about 30 seconds or until foam forms. Spoon foam over halibut and serve immediately.

Vegetables

Added to the halibut steak, I sautéed asparagus and mushrooms with minced garlic.  For additional color and flavor I halved two red peppers and put them under a broiler until the skin was charred.  After removing from the broiler, cover the peppers with a towel to let them steam.  Peel the skins (very easy after charring and steaming), slice into long thin strips, place in a shallow bowl with three thinly sliced garlic cloves, drizzle with olive oil, and season to taste.  Toss.  Do this process early to let the peppers marinade.

Finally, I pan fried thinly sliced potatoes in garlic and duck fat.  Just reach in the freezer and pull out your container of duck fat next to the ice-cream (no duck fat?  Shame.)  Just before tender and turning brown, add a healthy portion of finely chopped parsley and season to taste.

In vino veritas, buen provecho.

Craig

Crispy Pan Seared Duck Breast with a Red Wine and Blueberry Reduction, Duck Fat Sautéed Potatoes Paired with 2009 Aspen Dale Winery at the Barn Parris County Blend Virginia Merlot

Way back in the early days of my culinary independence, I picked duck as a challenge not yet conquered.  This recipe is my first foray into the wonderful world of duck, and duck fat.  My first attempt was very successful, and I have prepared it several times since.  However, I realized I had not shared this recipe.  Today, I am rectifying this tragic oversight.

If you have not yet attempted duck, this is an easy and tasty place to start.  From prep to plating, this recipe takes only 30 minutes with the most difficult challenge for the uninitiated being cutting the breast from a whole duck.  If you are not comfortable with this, I am confident you will find plenty of resources on Youtube.  You can also follow these easy instructions. 

First, a boning knife is a real plus.  If not, any knife with a sharp tip will work.  Begin by scoring through the fat along the center of the duck.  Continue to lightly cut until you reach the bone.  Once you get to the bone, move you knife slightly to one side and continue to make scoring cuts along the bone until the breast is laying off to the side and connected by just the layer of fat.  Cut through the fat, and you have a duck breast ready for the pan.  Repeat for second breast.

The principal flavors in this dish include the mild gaminess of the duck, dark fruit flavors of the red wine and blueberry reduction, and the rich earthy flavors of the potatoes pan fried in duck fat (the fat is reserved from rendering the duck breast).  With the acidity of the reduction, this dish is well balanced and therefore selecting a wine with strong acidity is not particularly important.  The combination of duck and the reduction call out for a medium to full bodied wine (tending more to the full bodied).  A wine featuring dark fruit flavors and healthy earthiness will also echo flavors found in the dish.

To achieve the pairing characteristics I was looking for, I chose a 2009 Aspen Dale Winery at the Barn Parris County Blend Virginia Merlot.  You are first greeted with earthy and dark fruit aromas which are echoed in your first sip.  Although the flavors feature pleasant blackberry and plum notes, I find the earthiness most memorable.  The tannins accentuated the earthiness and promise this wine will continue to drink well for years to come.  I am confident this wine has not yet arrived at it’s peak.  I recommend picking up a few bottles to cellar for a few years.

The 2009 Aspen Dale Winery at the Barn Parris County Blend Virginia Merlot featured each of the flavor components I was looking for, and the pairing was a great success.  Although I was not looking for healthy acidity, the wine delivered and balanced the rich duck fat perfectly.

Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 duck breasts
• 2 cups full bodied red wine (extra tannins are good)
• 1 pint blueberries
• 2 potatoes (thinly sliced – I used a mandolin)
• 1 onion (thinly sliced – I used a mandolin)
• red wine vinegar and sugar (to adjust balance of reduction)
• 4 tablespoons duck demi glace
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• Fresh parsley

Preparation

1. Score the fat on the duck breast in a 1/2 inch cross hatch pattern.
2. Place the duck, fat side down, in a cold skillet.  Render fat over medium low heat for 8 to 10 minutes.
3. Pour rendered fat into second skillet for frying potatoes.
4. While rendering the fat, pour two cups of red wine into a sauce pan and reduce by 1/2 over medium high heat.
5. When reduced by half, add blueberries (reserving about 1/4), 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and demi glace.  Reduce by 1/2 again.
6. Increase heat under the duck to medium high and crisp the skin.  When crisp, return heat to medium, and turn breasts to the meat side.  Continue to cook for 8 minutes.
7. Remove the red wine and blueberry reduction from the heat and blend with an immersion blender.  Adjust balance by adding sugar or red wine vinegar. Add remaining blueberries and return to medium heat.
8. Bring your second skillet (with duck fat) to medium high heat, and add thinly sliced potatoes, onion, garlic, and 1/4 cup diced parsley leaves.  Continue to cook until potatoes are tender and just turning brown.  Season to taste.
9. Remove duck from heat, slice on the bias and plate with a drizzle of the reduction.  Plate potatoes and onions with parsley garnish.

In vino veritas, buen provecho

Craig