Hake

You may have noticed a small fish deficit on Indirect Heat. Do we have something against the fishies here? Do we dislike the taste of fish flesh?

No. It's just that fish doesn't photograph well. Chicken looks terrible raw, but looks pretty tasty when cooked. Fish - looks flaky and pale raw. Looks pretty gnarly cooked.

We've discovered something interesting here in the Boston area. We could purchase hake in Baltimore. We can purchase hake here. But hake is completely absent from the grocers and fishmongers of southern California. We didn't see it even once.

Well, we're loving having it here again. And we've had it several times since we got out here. It's a quick and easy dinner to make.

Pre-heat your oven to 300°F. Heat 3 tbsp of butter in a pan over medium heat.



Lay your fillets of hake in the pan and season with salt liberally (and a wee dash of pepper).



Meanwhile, bring a pot of water to boil over high heat.

Flip the hake after 6 minutes. Sear a few minutes on the other side, and transfer the pan to the oven.

While it's cooking in the oven, toss a few arugula leaves in the boiling water. Wilt the leaves in the hot water for 30 seconds.



Fish the arugula out of the water, and set on a plate, arranged as a holder for hake.



Remove the hake from the oven. Place on top of the bed of arugula and serve.



So, sorry for that shot. It doesn't look all that great, but holy moley was it tasty. HOLY MOLEY! Squeeze a wee bit o' lemon juice on there. And serve with a nice white wine. We had it with this:



Yum.

By Bbq Dude

Roast beef

Life in the Dude household is still very busy. We haven't had the time to dedicate to a smoked brisket, for example. It's all been about speed. Utility. But we have done our best to not sacrifice tastiness.

So how about a quick roast? Not only is roast beef delicious, but if you whip up a quick loaf of bread, with some horseradish, leftovers are starting to look pretty awesome...

Okay, so it's Saturday night, you've been unpacking all day. Pull a

top-round roast

out of the fridge an hour and a half before you cook to bring it up to room temperature. Pre-heat the oven to 300°F. Liberally salt and pepper the roast. Roast for one to one and a half hours, until the internal temperature measures 125°F with a meat thermometer (for medium-rare).

Pull out of the oven. Let rest 20 minutes.



Slice thinly. Serve with horseradish on the side.



Quick. Simple. And tasty.

By Bbq Dude

Livestrong

By Bbq Dude

Coq au vin

We have family visiting our new abode in the Boston metro area. And for dinner, we needed something delicious. Relatively low effort. And comfort foody. Foodish. Foodly. Right.

Braised chicken fits the bill. Coq au vin, to be precise. French for rooster in wine, this is a rich, tasty preparation of chicken. I prepare it here with chicken thighs, as I simply don't know where to get a rooster. It's a good way to break down an older rooster. Much like bbq, braising softens tough cuts of meat.

I used the recipe from James Peterson's Meat:

8 large chicken thighs
1 bottle dry red wine
1 onion, sliced
1 large carrot, peeled and sliced
3 cloves garlic, crushed
bouquet garni (thyme, rosemary and parsley)
¾ pound thick-cut bacon
salt
pepper
1 ¼ pounds mushrooms
2 10 oz packages pearl onions, blanched
3 tbsp butter
3 tbsp flour
red wine vinegar

I chose a Côtes du Rhône for the marinade.



I marinated the chicken for four hours in the wine, onions, carrots, garlic and bouquet garni. Here's the obligatory shot of raw chicken in marinade. Avert your eyes. You've been warned. Raw chicken does not photograph well.



Chop the bacon into large chunks. Fry over medium heat until crisp.



Fish out the bacon bits and set aside. Retrieve the chicken from the marinade and pat dry. Fry in the bacon grease over medium heat until nicely browned all over. A few minutes on each side.



Place the browned chicken back into the marinade.



Heat over medium heat until the liquid starts to boil. Cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer for three hours.

During the cooking, remove a quarter cup of broth. In a separate covered pot, steam the mushrooms in the broth for twelve minutes until mostly cooked. Remove the mushrooms and cool.



Return the remaining broth to the chicken pot.

Remove another quarter cup of broth. Steam the blanched pearl onions until softened, about fifteen minutes.



Reomve the onions and set aside. Return remaining broth to the chicken pot.

Continue to cook until done, approximately three hours, until chicken accepts a knife easily. Go ahead. Stab it. When done, remove the chicken from the broth, and cover to keep it hot. Pour the remaining broth through a fine sieve. Heat until it is reduced to about one and a half cups.

Meanwhile, mix the butter and flour into a fine paste.



This is called a beurre manié, and is for thickening sauces. Add to the broth, a bit at a time, stirring, until the broth reaches a nice saucy consistency. I used about ¾ of it to thicken the sauce. Continue cooking the sauce a few minutes to eliminate the raw flour flavour. Season with salt, pepper and red wine vinegar to taste.



Assemble the coq au vin. Place the mushrooms, bacon and onions on top of a piece of chicken. Drizzle liberally with sauce. And serve.



The chicken will be stained internally with a nice red colour. And the flavour is very comforting. Warm and juicy on a cold day, this is good stuff.

By Bbq Dude