Author Archives: Ducks Mahal

Bergen Fish Soup (Bergensk fiskesuppe)

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Ingredients: Serves 2

1 ½ cups fish stock (I used 1 ½ TBSPs of dried hon dashi for 2 cups of water)
2 skinny carrots, sliced to 1 inch and them quartered
¼ red bell pepper, chopped
2 celery stalks, roughly diced
1 leek, cut in half lengthwise and thinly sliced
1 cup Blue Moon wheat beer
1 cup heavy cream
1 frozen salmon fillet 4” x 4”
6 frozen shrimp, with shells
1 frozen cod fillet, 4” x 4”
8 ounces clams, with shells
3 TBSPs olive/butter

Cut leek ends and leave 1 inch green stalk. Slice it in half long ways then cross cut. Put in a bowl of water and gently rinse with your hand. Leeks come with a lot of dirt inside. Set aside in a bowl. Cut the celery and add it to the leeks. In another bowl skin and cut the potato into squares and cover in water so as not to brown the potato. During the soup process I will actually use an immersion blender to blend all these items into a fine thick puree.

In another pot add 1 ½ Tbsps. of hon dashi to 2 cups water. The recipe calls for fish stock but there is no better fish stock in my opinion than hon dashi which is Japanese dried bonito. It has a superior ocean flavor – kind of salty, kind of mellow, used in most Japanese soups.

I add the cut carrots and cut red bell pepper to the stock as well as the frozen shrimp with its shells to add more seafood flavor and cook the shrimp on medium to low heat until it turns a solid pink. Remove with a tongs and add the frozen cod to the hon dashi. Cook 5 minutes and remove. Add the salmon and cook 5 minutes and remove. Add the mussels and cook 5 minutes then remove. Then strain the stock. Set aside the carrots and red bell pepper. Peel the shells off the shrimp, cut the fish into squares.

In a large sauce pan add 3 TBSPs of butter and melt. Add the leeks and celery. Sauté on medium low heat for ~20 minutes until the leeks are very tender. Drain the potatoes and add to the pot. Add 1 ½ cups of strained fish stock. Add 1 cup of Belgium wheat beer. Add 1 cup of heavy cream. Blend with an immersion blender. Add salt to taste. Add the seafood. Cook on very low 30 minutes.

Serve

Chicken Tetrazzini

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This dish is a little different than Turkey Tetrazzini in that I don;t make a traditional Bechamel Sauce.  If you want that you can substitute one cup of chicken broth for one cup of milk.

INGREDIENTS:
(SERVES 2)

Mirepoix
• ½ Onion (Chopped)

Veggies
• 8 oz. Portabella mushrooms (stemmed and sliced)
• 1 large garlic (pressed)
• 3 Serrano peppers (seeded and sliced into circles)

Meat
• 4 medium chicken breasts

Herbs and Oil
• Butter
• 6 Tbsps. Olive Oil
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Paprika

Other
• 4 Tbsps. flour
• 3 cups chicken broth (or exchange 1 cup broth for 1 cup milk)
• ½ cup white wine
• ½ lemon – juiced
• Mozzarella (shredded)
• ½ cup Romano cheese (shredded)
• ½ cup Parmesan (shredded)
• 1 round bunch of Linguine noodle the circumference of a 25 cent coin

PREPARE:

1. In a sauce pan boil water and boil Linguine noodles exactly 10 minutes and drain and add olive oil
2. In a non-stick fry pan add a little olive oil and brown the chicken. Remove and cut the chicken into bite size chunks
3. In a non-stick fry pan add 1 Tbsps. Butter and brown the mushrooms and remove
4. In a non-stick fry pan add butter and sauté onions and add a little white wine and remove
5. In a Dutch oven blend 4 Tbsps. Olive oil and 4 Tbsps. Flour and whisk on medium heat until the flour starts to turn light brown (a Roux).
6. Add the remaining white wine and whisk until it turns into a thick paste
7. Add the chicken broth ½ cup at a time whisking until you make a thick gravy
8. Add all ingredients except Mozzarella cheese and preheat oven to 350⁰
9. Add the Mozzarella to the top and then paprika, cook 30 minutes with lid and 15 minutes without a lid

Beef Sukiyaki

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This is a great dish.  It looks like the Japanese stew but has a much different flavor and taste.  The Hon Dashi makes the difference.  Sukiyaki means “Like Grilled”.

1 ½ cups prepared dashi stock (1 ½ cups chicken broth and 1 TBSP dried hon dashi)
3/4 cup soy sauce
3/4 cup sweet Marsala
3 TBSP Sake
1 chopped green onion

2 stalks carrots, thinly sliced (match sticks)
4 ounces sliced fresh mushrooms
½ onion, thinly sliced
2 leaves w/stalk large bok choy (sliced long way and chopped)

2 TBSP peanut oil
1 garlic clove minced

1 package cellophane noodles (3 ¾ oz.)

Combine dashi, soy sauce, Marsala and Sake with 1 chopped green onion in a sauce pan, bring to a boil and turn on low simmer. http://www.ajinomotofoods.com/Products/HONDASHI.aspx

In the wok fry minced garlic on medium in 2 TBSP peanut oil to give it a garlic flavor until the garlic turns light brown, then remove the garlic and set aside.

Boil water in a sauce pan for the noodles. When the water has boiled turn off heat and add the noodle. Let it sit in the hot water.

Fry meat in a wok in the oil in 3 stages until the water from the meat evaporates. With a slotted spoon remove meat and place into the simmering dashi stock. When the meat is cooked in the dashi several minutes after the last batch turn off the heat and cover.

In the hot wok pour 1 TBSP of Marsala and deglaze the wok. Then add all the veggies and the onion. For 4 minutes turn the veggies in the wok. Then add a ½ cup of the dashi into the wok and cover. Turn off heat.

Let everything stand 10 minutes with the heat off. Serve the noodles in a bowl, the veggies and then the meat.

 

 

 

Tomato Pie

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This is nothing short of spectacular.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup grated mozzarella cheese
• 1 cup grated cheddar cheese
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• Several fresh basil leaves
• ½ cup chopped green onions
• 4 tomatoes peeled and sliced
• 1 – 9” deep dish pie crust
• 1 garlic clove chopped
• 1 ¼ slice of black forest ham, browned on both sides and cut into pieces
• Salt pepper

Preheat oven to 350ᵒ

Mix cheeses and mayo with salt and pepper in a bowl

In the pie crust layer first the ham, garlic, green onions, tomatoes, basil and then the cheeses mixture.

Bake 30 minutes

Serve

Chicken Parmigiana w/Eggplant

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This is a wonderful dish and easy to make.

• 2 large chicken breasts cut in half and pounded flat (~1/2 inch thick)
• 4 whole slices of eggplant
• 4 thick slices of Mozzarella (ask in the deli, mine comes from Wisconsin, not found in a bag)
• 4 large basil leaves
• Parmesan cheeses grated (for topping)
• Italian bread crumbs
• 2 eggs
• Thin spaghetti
• 4 Tbsp Butter and olive oil mix
• Audubon Ron Special Sunday Tomato Sauce or your special sauce
• Olive Oil (or Special Sunday Tomato Sauce olive oil, sauté 1 large garlic clove and several basil leaves in ¼ cup olive oil, let cool and strain)

Make your Audubon Ron Special Sunday Tomato Sauce before hand or use whatever sauce you like. It should be thick and full of tomato pulp. My sauce takes about 2 hours to make, mostly simmering.

Drag the chicken through egg and Italian bread crumbs and fry in butter/EVOO until golden brown on both sides. If you fry the chicken in batches, wipe the pan each time and add fresh butter. Set aside.

Place the eggplant on a baking sheet and paint EVOO on both sides and place in a 350ᵒ oven for 10 minutes. Care is needed not to overcook.

Stack the ingredients. On top of the chicken place eggplant, then the basil leaves, (pour a dash of Special Sunday Tomato Sauce olive oil) or olive oil, then add the tomato sauce, then the Mozzarella cheese and then sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese.

Place on baking sheet and cook in 350ᵒ oven for 25 minutes or until the cheese melts. Serve over thin spaghetti.