Recipes to Rival: Thank George's Bank

This month I was able to co-host the challenge for Recipes to Rival with Lori from Lipsmacking Goodness. We made Thank George's Bank from The Black Dog Summer on the Vineyard Cookbook. I had bought this cookbook a few years ago on a trip to the Vineyard and have tried several of their dinner recipes with great success, but had never tried one of their breakfast ones. I wasn't sure how many people would think of a challenging breakfast recipe for their turns to host, so I thought a breakfast recipe would be a good choice.

Since so many people only really have time on the weekends for a cooked breakfast, I think many people, including myself, made this for a brinner (breakfast for dinner) to complete the challenge. I was glad I made this for dinner rather than a brunch or breakfast, it took a lot longer than I thought it would to make! It wasn't that the recipe itself is a long, involved recipe, it would actually be a great special occasion brunch or breakfast, it's that I had a few problems.

The recipe for the fishcakes is pretty runny. I tried forming patties and ended up with this:

I found that using a ladle to pour the batter onto the non-stick skillet and cooking them like pancakes (the American kind, not English) did the trick.

I then moved on to poaching eggs. I have never poached eggs before and was so scared! It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I tried both cracking the egg right over the water and dropping it in, then cracking the egg into a bowl and pour it from the bowl into the pan, but that worked about the same. Jeanette of Cooked from the Heart mentioned cracking the egg into a ladle and allowing it to begin to set before pouring it into the liquid helped prevent feathering and Temperance of High on the Hog mentioned using muffin tins to create a hot water bath and cooking them in the oven (she recommended 350°F) for cooking larger batches. I think I would use large muffin tins for this, I'd worry about the smaller ones. I'll have to give each of these a try. The only problem with the muffin tins would be how to get them out....I used a fine mesh skimmer to get my eggs out of the pot, but I guess a slotted spoon would work for the muffin tins?

When melting the butter, I put it in a plastic container and it popped and the butter sprayed over the whole microwave!! It was a mess to clean up (sorry, not the best picture, eggs and fishcakes were done and all I had to do was hollandaise sauce and was ready to just be done with it all!!!).



We both really liked this dish. I'd love to make it again for guests.

Black Dog Fishcakes
(this says 4 patties, but even with wasting a lot on mistakes, I still got 6. I think this more closely yields 12)

These fishcakes are a popular Black Dog alternative to bacon or sausage. These are excellent for using up leftover potatoes!

2 cups cooked potatoes, mashed
1 pound skinless and boneless codfish
1 cup diced yellow onion
1 tablespoon fresh chopped thyme (1 teaspoon dried)
1 teaspoon white pepper
1-2 teaspoons salt
1 egg, beaten
½ cup cream
2 tablespoons butter

1. If you don’t have leftover mashed potatoes, peel and dice two large potatoes. Boil in salted water for about 20 minutes or until soft. Mash and set aside.
2. Place fish in a steamer, cover with diced onion and seasonings. Cover and steam for 10-15 minutes or until the onion is cooked.
3. In a medium bowl, combine cooked fish and seasoned onions with the mashed potatoes. Mix in the egg and cream, divide into four patties.
4. Sauté the fishcakes in a sauté pan in butter over medium heat until browned.


Easy Hollandaise Sauce
(yields ½ cup)

2 egg yolks
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
¼ pound (1 stick) butter, melted
splash Tabasco sauce
dash cayenne pepper
dash salt

1. Combine egg yolks and lemon juice in the bowl of a food processor.
2. Turn on the food processor and slowly add the melted butter.
3. Allow to run until the sauce emulsifies.
4. Add Tabasco, salt, and cayenne pepper.


Alternately, you may use this hollandaise sauce from The Joy of Cooking (yields 1 cup) (for those without a food processor):

10 tablespoons (1¼ sticks) butter
3 large egg yolks
1½ tbsp cold water
½-2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
dash of hot pepper sauce
salt and white pepper to taste

1. Over low heat, melt the butter.
2. Skim the foam off the top and keep warm.
3. In a double boiler (or a bowl on top of a saucepan), place the egg yolks and water.
4. Off the heat, beat the yolks with a whisk until they are light and frothy.
5. Place on top of saucepan or double boiler and whisk continuously until eggs are thickened, 3-5 minutes, making sure the eggs don't get too hot.
6. Pour into a separate bowl to cool, and while whisking continuously, slowly add the butter, omitting the milk solids.
7. Whisk in the lemon juice, hot pepper sauce, salt, and white pepper.
8. If sauce is too thick, add a few drops warm water.
9. Serve immediately or you can keep it warm up to 30 minutes by placing the bowl in warm water.

Thank George’s Bank
(serves 2)

4 Black Dog Fishcakes
2 teaspoons white vinegar
4 eggs for poaching
½ cup hollandaise sauce
toast or breakfast bread of choice

1. Prepare fishcakes and hollandaise sauce.
2. Fill a large saucepan with water and bring to a boil. Add white vinegar and reduce the heat to a simmer.
3. Crack and gently drop in the eggs.
4. Simmer about 3-5 minutes or until whites are firm and yolks are done to your likes.
5. To serve: place each poached egg on a fishcake, cover with hollandaise sauce. Serve with your favorite breakfast sides.

Steamed Salmon with a Ginger/Soy Glaze

Tonight I made another recipe for the Zaar World Tour. I was making a recipe for the "Hot and Steamy" challenge. There was a recipe I found to be interesting called Steamed Salmon with Soy Glaze and I decided to make that last night.

There was one problem with that.

There recipe wasn't complete.

It was missing directions for the noodles and green beans.

I sent a message to the woman who posted the recipe and she let me know that she is trying to edit the recipe and get it fixed, but let me know how to complete the recipe. I didn't get the message until well after dinner last night. That wasn't much of a problem though because I just changed around my plans.

This was delicious!!! It is also low calorie, according to the nutrition facts on Recipezaar. This was pretty easy to make as well. The most difficult part was grating the ginger because it was so moist.

This is definitely a recipe I'll have to make again sometime!

Steamed Salmon with Soy Glaze

4	skinless salmon fillets, 6 oz. each
3	tablespoons soy sauce
1/2	cup soy sauce
1	garlic clove, minced
1	tablespoon finely grated ginger
2	tablespoons shredded ginger
2	tablespoons rice wine or sherry wine
1/4	cup rice vinegar
2	tablespoons lemon juice
1	tablespoon sugar
2	tablespoons sliced scallions
1 (18 3/4	ounce) package soba noodles or 1 (1 lb) box whole wheat pasta
1/2	lb small green beans, sliced in half lengthwise

1. Place the salmon in a shallow dish. Combine 3 t. of the soy sauce, the garlic, grated ginger, and 1 T. of the rice wine and pour over the salmon, turning to coat. Cover and marinade for 15 minutes in refrigerator (fish shouldn't be marinaded for much longer than that).
2. Place the rice vinegar, lemon juice, sugar, the remaining soy sauce, and the remaining rice wine in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir, and when sugar is dissolved, bring to a boil, and cook until reduced by half, about 3 minutes. Set aside and keep warm.
3. Fill a large saucepan with 1 inch of salted water and bring to a boil. Remove the salmon from the marinade and place in a steamer basket over the pot. Sprinkle the scallions and shredded ginger over the salmon. Cover and steam over the boiling water for 4 minutes or until cooked through. Remove and keep warm.
4. While the salmon is cooking, bring a pot of water to a boil and cook noodles to package directions. Add green beans to the noodles for about 3-4 minutes of boiling time.
5. Drain the noodles, serve on a plate, topped with the salmon, and pour some glaze over the top.

Enjoy!

Fish n' Chips

Fish n' Chips is synonymous with England. That and curry, but fish and chips was first. I've been to a chippy (a fish and chips shop) in England a couple of times and just loved it! Fish and chips in the US is just not the same, it's really hard to find a place that even comes close to a British chippy. In England, the fish fillets we had were huge, about ½ pound each! Over here, all the "fish and chips" I've ever had or seen have been smaller and more like fish sticks.

My boyfriend tells me that plaice is the traditional fish to eat for fish and chips, but his step-father says it is cod. Regardless, I saw cod at the market, so that is what we had.

One thing I was really confused about on one of my trips to England is that I knew they called "fries" "chips" but I saw some restaurants advertise french fries. I found out that, in England, that "french fries" are the thinner version, more like you would get at McDonald's or Burger King. "Chips" are like what we Americans call "steak fries." Chips are "chipped off the potato" instead of "being Frenched" or "being cut in the French manner."

As for the debate of whether to do beer batter or not, I found a recipe from a woman who was from Yorkshire that was for beer batter. I also see boxes of batter at the supermarket for beer batter, so I figured it was traditional. My boyfriend said that he didn't think that he ever had a beer battered one, and I looked online and it seems as though only some places do beer batter. It makes sense since chippies are relatively inexpensive and beer would raise the price.

We both loved this meal, although neither of us are beer fans so I don't think I'll do a beer batter next time. There was just too much of a beer taste for us. I used a Newcastle Ale for the beer since that is from England.

We both LOVED the chips! I didn't have a mandoline or Vslicer, so I just used my chef's knife, which was perfectly fine for chips. I soaked them in water for about an hour to get rid of some excess starch and then did a double frying method. The chips turned out perfect! Lee couldn't stop eating them. I thought I made too many chips (six or seven russet potatoes go a long way!), but it turns out we didn't really have leftovers.

To fry or not to fry...Fry!! Baking won't give the same taste as frying. Also, according to Alton Brown, if you do the frying correctly you don't get in much extra fat anyway. As he explains, the moisture in the food is trying to get out and there is no room for the fat to go in. It's only once the moisture in the food is gone that it begins to absorb the oil. If done correctly, the food should absorb no more than a tablespoon for the entire dish!

As for the oil and frying method, I used canola oil because it doesn't add a lot of strange flavor to the food. When first making mozzarella sticks, I used vegetable oil, but I could taste the oil too much. I switched to canola and it soon became my favorite oil for frying. I didn't manage to get the oil up to the recommended temperature, but the oil got plenty hot enough and the chips turned out perfect anyway. I think the oil got up to 350°F in the end, but for most of the cooking the temp was in the high 200s.

One more tip, when beginning the process, turn on the kitchen fan and/or open some windows, otherwise your home will start to smell like a chippy. It's one thing to taste like a chippy, a completely different thing to smell like one!

I am rating this dish as a 4 out of 5 just because we would prefer it without the beer batter.

Beer Batter Fish and Chips


~3lbs. russet potatoes (or other good frying potato)
1 gallon mild oil such as canola
2 lbs cod fillets (you can sub either haddock or plaice)
6 oz. all-purpose flour + a bit extra for coating the fish
1 teaspoon baking soda
8 oz. beer
juice of ½ a lemon
salt
pepper

1. Place oil in a dutch oven or fryer. My 6.5 quart dutch oven held a gallon. Leave about 1½ inches at the top to allow for oil bubbling.
2. Scrub, peel, and thickly cut potatoes. Place in water to soak for about an hour.
   
3. When oil reaches approximately 320°F, remove potatoes from water and dry. Carefully drop potatoes in oil one by one. Do small batches so the chips don't crowd. To safely drop in chips, hold by the end and only let go when the potato is mostly submerged. Cook for about 3 minutes or until soft, but not browned. Allow to sit on a cooling rack placed on top of a baking sheet.
   
4. When potatoes are finished with the first fry, prepare the fish for frying. Coat them in the flour, shake off the excess, and coat in the batter. When thoroughly coated, slowly submerge the fish in the oil. Do not just drip the fish in the oil or the batter cannot set and it may stick to other parts of the fish. Cook for about 6-10 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to cooling rack and sprinkle with lemon juice. Place in oven at warm setting.
   
5. Raise the temperature of the oil to approximately 375°F. In small batches, fry the potatoes in the same manner as before for about 3-5 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to the cooling rack and salt.
   
6. Serve with malt vinegar and ketchup.