Fish en Papillote with Julienned Vegetables and Truffle Oil

I have several recipes for fish en papillote (that's "butterfly" en Francais due to the shape of the parchment paper), but yesterday I tried a version from Sara Moulton. It was originally published in her book, "Sara Moulton Cooks at Home." At another time, I'd like to test Alton Brown's take on it, with salmon, dry vermouth, and orange wedges.

I cooked dinner for three people, so I adjusted the amounts of the following ingredients.

FISH EN PAPILLOTE WITH JULIENNED VEGETABLES AND TRUFFLE OIL

makes 2 servings

1 1/2 tbs plus 2 tsp unsalted butter
2 carrots, julienned (I julienned baby carrots)
1 large leek, julienned
1 celery rib, julienned
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Vegetable oil, for brushing
2 thin fish fillets, no thicker than 1/3 inch, such as pompano or flounder, about 6 ounces each, skin removed (I used flounder)
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
2 tsp white truffle oil (I substituted olive oil)

Melt 1 1/2 tbs of the butter in a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the carrot, leek, and celery. Season with salt and pepper. Cook gently, stirring often, until softened, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from heat and cool.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Cut out a 13 x 15" parchment paper rectangle. Fold in half crosswise. Unfold and brush the whole rectangle lightly with some oil. Lay the fillets on one half of the parchment, skinned side down, and season with salt and pepper. Drain the vegetables of as much liquid as possible and divide among the fillets. Drizzle with the lemon juice. Top each vegetable mound with 1 tsp butter and drizzle each with 1 tsp of the truffle oil.

Fold the other half of the paper over the fillets and, starting with the top, make 1/4" folds all around the perimeters and press to crimp and seal. Close the final crimp with a paper clip. Place the packet on a baking sheet and bake until puffed and lightly browned, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer to a warmed serving plate and serve at once, preferably while the packet is still puffed.

Snappy Sushi

Snappy Sushi is a relative newcomer to the Boston scene. It has several locations in the greater metro area and an outpost in Davis Square opened a few months ago. Today, I sampled its fare for the first time.Snappy has an unusual spin: all of its dishes are made with high-quality Koshihikari brown rice. This partially-milled whole grain brown rice is rich in vitamins and minerals and serves as a natural digestive aid. I love sushi (and I've even made it myself), but I had never before encountered brown rice sushi. I was hesitant: would its nutty flavor and somewhat crunchy texture overpower the other ingredients? Would it render an unpalatable flax seed granola aftertaste?

True to its name, the Spicy Salmon-Avo Roll was an inside-out roll with salmon and avocado. The brown rice differs in mouth-feel and taste from white rice, but it didn't discernibly clash with rest of the ingredients. However, it lacked the heat of most spicy sushi sauces:The "fancy" Crispy Eel Roll consisted of eel, avocado, cucumber, and flying fish roe rolled together and topped with crunchy tempura bits and eel sauce. I would've appreciated more eel and less eel mayonnaise and weird cereal-esque topping, but, on the whole, it was still tasty:I had heard mixed opinions about Snappy Sushi. To its credit, it's decidedly cheaper than most other sushi bars and restaurants in the area. My grade? It's somewhere between a B and a B+. In no way is this as tasty as "regular" sushi. However, it's a little easier on your wallet and a little better for your body, so I welcome its attempt to broaden the spectrum of sushi options.

Seafood Pasta

In lieu of a family vacation this summer, my sister and I traveled back home to Hershey, PA for a long weekend. My mom enjoys making copious amounts of food for us. One night, she made this seafood pasta with fettucine, clams, squid, jumbo shrimp, herbs, garlic, and white wine:We ate it with corn on the cob, green beans, crusty broiled Parmesan French bread rounds, and watermelon:

Faidley's Crab Cakes

My dad grew up in Baltimore County, so he's very persnickety and discerning when it comes to crabcakes. It's his opinion that there isn't a decent crab cake to be found north of the Mason-Dixon Line. Geographically, this rules out every restaurant in my home state, so we often drive to Lexington Market in Baltimore to sate our crab cake cravings.

The destination? Faidley's Seafood, a family-owned and operated business since 1886. It is home to award-winning crab cakes acclaimed the world over. According to the Faidley's website, the restaurant was commissioned to develop crab cakes for the US Space Shuttle crew.

The tables are standing room-only. You'd think that this would detract from the culinary experience--you're quite literally rubbing elbows with the stranger beside you--but one bite of a Faidley's crab cake will melt your inner Scrooge. Each crab cake is made to order by hand.
The crabcake has a perfect golden brown crust, but you should never judge a 'cake by its cover: the true test lies in its composition. All too often, you bite into a mediocre crab cake that is mostly filler. There may be a few streaky patches of crabmeat, but it tends to be flaky and not-so-fresh, a disc-shaped patty that was defrosted and fried.

Behold the Colossus of crab cakes: a softball-sized, densely-packed orb of fresh jumbo lump crab meat.

Wagamama

This summer, I've formed a weekly dinner club of sorts with my friends Brendan and Kyle. Really, it's more of an "eating club:" we go out to restaurants in the greater Boston area instead of actually preparing our meals!

Tonight, we ventured to Wagamama in Harvard Square. The cuisine is a fusion of Japanese, Chinese and Southeast Asian dishes. It's kind of an upscale ramen noodle bar. As noted above, the Wagamama chain has spread across the globe. The interior of the restaurant is that of a sleek noodle bar/canteen-style restaurant--somewhere between a pho noodle dive and David Chang's Momofuku in New York. All of the dishes are made-to-order, so entrees often arrive to the table at different times. Servers write on your paper placement to keep track of your order.Brendan had Yaki udon, or teppan-fried udon noodles with curry oil, shiitake mushrooms, egg, leeks , shrimp, chicken, yaki chikuwa, bean sprouts, green and red peppers, black and white sesame seeds, fried shallots, pickled red ginger, and a spicy cilantro vinaigrette.Kyle had the Yasai Katsu curry, which consisted of deep-fried slices of sweet potato, eggplant and butternut squash coated in panko breadcrumbs. The dish was served with a light curry sauce, rice, mixed leaves, and red pickles.For a starter, I had duck gyoza, which I have ordered in the past. They were filled with duck and leeks, deep-fried, and served with cherry hoisin sauce. Basically, some of my all-time favorite ingredients...deep-fried!I also had teriyaki salmon. It was grilled and served with rice and steamed baby bok choy. The dish was garnished with mixed sesame seeds, nori, and teriyaki sauce.

Saumon à l’Unilatéral

This recipe is from Mireille Guiliano's "French Women Don't Get Fat." It's so simplistic that I feel guilty about posting it here. Still, it's light and healthy, and you can get creative with vegetable sides.

SAUMON A L’UNILATERAL

serves 4

4 pieces of wild salmon
1 tbs fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp coarse saltHeat a nonstick frying pan. Place the salmon in the pan, skin-side down. Pour the lemon over the salmon, add the salt, and cook for about 6 minutes over medium heat until the skin is crispy. When it is cooked to medium-rare, it will be pink at the center.

Serve immediately. Season, if you like, with a dash of extra-virgin olive oil and a sprig of fresh thyme.

Tray-Baked Salmon with Green Beans, Anchovies and Tomatoes

When I'm at home, I often ask my mom to make this Jamie Oliver recipe. It's "easy peasy," to borrow his terminology: everything cooks at the same time, and you only have to clean one pan and one bowl! It's a great go-to for a no-fuss weekday dinner yet it's also simply elegant fare for a casual dinner party. I love the vibrant color combination of the greens, reds, pinks, and purples. The briny anchovies complement the green beans and oozing cherry tomatoes perfectly.
TRAY-BAKED SALMON WITH GREEN BEANS, ANCHOVIES AND TOMATOES

serves 4

7 oz green beans
20 small cherry tomatoes
2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper
4 (8 oz) thick salmon fillet steak, pin-boned, with or without skin
2 lemons
1 handful of fresh basil, picked
12 anchovy fillets

Tail the green beans, blanch them until tender in salted, boiling water, and drain. Put in a bowl with the tomatoes. Toss in the olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper. Squeeze the juice of hald a lemon over the fillets, on both sides, then season both sides with salt and pepper and drizzle a little olive oil over the top.

Preheat the oven and a roasting tray at the highest temperature. Put salmon at one end of the roasting tray. Toss the basil into the green beans, olives and tomatoes and place this mixture at the other end of the tray. Lay the anchovies over the green beans. Roast in the preheated oven for 10 minutes, then remove from the oven and serve with lemon quarters.

Tom Yum Koong

This spring, I took a Thai cooking class with my friend Emily, so the following recipe comes courtesy of the Thai Cultural Club at my alma mater. If you're not familiar with it, tom yum--also known as tom yam or dom yam--is a signature Thai soup that is popular the world over. It has an unusual taste: due to the tom yum paste, the broth is hot, spicy, and sour. You can also make this soup with chicken or mixed seafood instead of shrimp. Really, you can adjust a lot of the ingredients according to your personal preference. Experiment!

Tom yum paste is composed of oil and seasonings like lemongrass, lime juice, kaffir lime leaves, tamarind, galangal, chili peppers, shallots, and fish sauce. It's very potent; a little goes a long way. You may need to look for tom yum paste at a local Asian food store.

TOM YUM KOONG

serves 2-3 people

1 1/2 c chicken broth
1 1/2 tbs tom yum paste
1 tbs garlic
1/2 of a lemongrass stem
4 dried bay leaves
2 cloves of shallot
1 handful of mushrooms
6 or more large shrimp
4 tbs evaporated milk
1 tbs fish sauce
1 1/2 tbs lime juice
Fresh chopped cilantro leaves (optional)

Heat the chicken broth on high heat until it boils. Add the tom yum paste, garlic, lemongrass, bay leaves, and shallots, and stir. Reduce to medium heat. Wait 3 minutes before adding the mushrooms, fish sauce, and lime juice. Add the shrimp and additional fish sauce according to your taste. Let the shrimp cook for no longer than 30 seconds. Ladle the soup and sprinkle it with chopped cilantro leaves, if desired.