January 28, 2012
I know, I know. You read the word “salad” and you’re instantly wary, likely envisioning endless bowls of deep green leaves or raw vegetables smothered in bland balsamic vinaigrette, and you’re not particularly interested in reading any farther. Fortunately, this salad is anything but bland. In fact, it’s more like a complete meal that just happens to include some lettuce leaves – the overall flavour is rich and satisfying.
This salad gets a kick of deep, porky flavour from the crispy pieces of guanciale – cured, unsmoked pork jowl that’s well-known in Italy but still relatively unheard of here. Your local grocery store probably won’t sell it (in fact, they probably won’t have a clue what you’re asking for), but you might have better luck at an artisan butcher shop or a specialty Italian imports store. And if you still can’t find any, don’t panic. While the guanciale does give the salad its own unique flavour (richer than bacon and packed with explosive savoury flavours but without the overpowering smokey tones), you can swap in bacon or pancetta and still end up with a delicious final result. And the richness from the fish (which has a nice buttery texture) and the guanciale is balanced nicely by the bright flavours of the roasted beets and the bite of the raw radishes, while the dijon mustard also packs a punch of its own. Give this salad a try – I think you’re going to like it.
Ingredients
(Makes about 4 servings)
- 4 small Steelhead trout fillets
- 2 small yukon gold potatoes (or other starchy potatoes, like russets), sliced very thinly
- 3 beets
- 3 – 5 radishes (depending on size), thinly sliced
- 150 grams of guanciale, sliced into small cubes
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 shallot, minced
- 2.5 cups mixed salad greens
- 1/4 cup dill, chopped
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons dijon mustard
- Olive oil
- Salt and freshly cracked black pepper
Preparation
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Remove the stems and leaves from the beets, wash thoroughly, then roast until softened, about 45 minutes. Let the roasted beets sit for about 10 minutes, then remove the skins (they should easily slide off) and slice into bite-sized wedges.
- Lay the potato slices out on a baking sheet – they should not be overlapping. Brush thoroughly with olive oil, then sprinkle with salt and freshly cracked black pepper. Roast for about 10 minutes, then flip each slice over and roast for another 10 – 15 minutes or until the edges are beginning to turn brown and crispy (this will depend on how thinly you’ve sliced the potatoes – you want to aim for slices about 2 millimetres thick).
- Heat a pan over medium heat. Sauté the shallot until translucent, then add the garlic and continue to sauté for another 1 – 2 minutes. Remove from the pan and set aside. Now add the guanciale to the pan and sauté until crispy, then set aside.
- In a small bowl, stir the the mayonnaise and the mustard until well mixed.
- Place the steelhead fillets on a baking sheet. Brush lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper, then bake until no longer translucent, about 10 – 12 minutes.
- In a bowl, combine the salad greens, shallot, garlic, guanciale, radishes, beets and dill. Drizzle lightly with olive oil (or, if you’re feeling adventurous, a little bit of the fat that’s rendered off of the guanciale – it’ll add extra depth of flavour to the salad) then toss to combine. Add a handful of the salad to each plate, then add several potato slices and top with a steelhead fillet. Add a spoonful of the dijon mayonnaise on top, then serve.
January 26, 2012
1. It’s raining in Vancouver. Pouring, actually. I drag my suitcase through a series of puddles to a coffee shop, where I drop my waterlogged umbrella on a chair and immediately order a cappuccino while I wait for Diana. I’m halfway through the cappuccino when she bursts through the door wearing bright red boots, her hair dotted with raindrops and a miniature cupcake in each hand. It’s only been a couple of weeks since she moved to Vancouver, but it feels like much longer – there’s already so much to catch up on, and I could swear she looks just a little bit different, like this new city is starting to leave its impression.
2. Suede high-heeled ankle boots are a poor choice for a twenty-minute walk in a torrential downpour, but I’ve never been one to choose practicality over style. By the time we arrive at L’Abattoir (earlier that day I read that its name means “slaughterhouse”, which gave it a sort of sinister allure) there are pools of water sloshing back and forth in the toe of each shoe. My umbrella has also developed a leak somewhere between downtown and Gastown, and I can feel a few cold droplets creeping their way down my scalp. But inside the restaurant – a high-ceilinged, dimly-lit space full of exposed brick and intricate tile floors – we’re soon enveloped in the warm buzz of the place, drinks in our hands and a parade of plates in front of us while we talk and talk and talk.
3. The day begins with brunch at Medina Café: An egg, pita chips, tabbouleh salad, baba ghanoush, followed by a tiny waffle – edges crisp, centre almost custardy – slathered with orange fig marmalade and washed down with a lavender-spiked latte. It’s an unconventional combination, but it’s delicious, and it fuels us for the rest of the morning, which we spend wandering through Gastown’s shops. The rest of the day plays out in one continuous string of food-related moments: We buy exotic meats (elk sausage, venison prosciutto), cook up a lunch worthy of a restaurant, go out on a walk to work off the lunch, then return to the apartment to bake cookies. A few hours later we’re eating yet again: Plates of raw fish, Japanese-fusion style. By the end of the night, we never want to look at food again.
4. The attack is swift and unexpected, and neither of us see it coming: We’re at the Granville Island market, sitting on a bench overlooking the ocean and eating doughnuts out of brown paper bags. I take a bite of maple-glazed doughnut, and Diana pulls a chocolate doughnut out of the bag and begins to raise it to her mouth when suddenly there’s a whooshing sound and something firm and airborne smacks the back of my head. At the same time, Diana is yelling, jumping to her feet and shouting a string of obscenities at the sky: A seagull has just swooped in, stealing her doughnut directly out of her hand before soaring off over the water.
All photos taken on an iPhone 4S and processed with ShakeItPhoto.
January 17, 2012
A cold winter day calls for a specific type of dinner – something simple and hearty, full of rich flavours and deep colours; something that leaves you feeling warm and contented when you push your chair back from the table at the end of the meal. This dish – chicken wrapped in rich, salty pancetta and served with roasted butternut squash, tangy-sweet balsamic-glazed apples, and kale sautéed with onions and thyme – is the perfect winter comfort food. You can prepare the entire dinner in around an hour, or save time by roasting the butternut squash ahead of time (let it cool, wrap it, and keep in in the fridge), which will allow you to go from stove to plate in around half an hour.
Ingredients (serves 4):
- 4 Chicken breasts
- About 24 thin slices of pancetta
- 6 cups of kale
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 1 medium-sized butternut squash
- 3 honeycrisp, royal gala, or other firm red apples, cut into 1-inch cubes
- 2 tbsp fresh thyme, chopped
- 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1/4 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
- Olive oil
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Preparation:
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Slice the butternut squash lengthwise, scoop out the seeds, then lay it cut-side-up on a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and roast until cooked through. This should take around 45 minutes, give or take, depending on the size of the squash. Allow the roasted squash to cool, then cut into 1-inch cubes (discarding the peel).
- Wrap each chicken breast in several strips of pancetta, making sure each strip begins and ends on the bottom of the chicken breast to prevent them from unwrapping while cooking. Place the chicken on a rimmed baking sheet (the pancetta will release fat as it cooks, and you don’t want this dripping all over your oven and burning), then bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until cooked through.
- While the chicken is baking, heat a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add a few tablespoons of olive oil, then the apples. Sauté until softened but not mushy (about 8 minutes), then add the balsamic vinegar and continue to sauté until the vinegar has reduced slightly and is coating the apples. Remove the apples from the pan and set aside.
- Add more oil to the pan, then add the onions and sauté until translucent. Add the garlic and thyme and cook for another 2 minutes, then add the kale and sauté until wilted. Add the chopped squash and apple, the walnut pieces, and sprinkle with salt and (liberal amounts of) freshly cracked black pepper, then toss until combined.
- Serve the chicken overtop of the sautéed vegetables, then finish with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar.
