Disaster Ensues!

I took tonight's recipe from the Top Chef Cookbook. I had been looking forward to Sea Bass, Scallop and Shrimp Sausage with Jicama Slaw, Sweet Chili Glaze and Asian Chimichurri all day. Things did not turn out the way I had planned, unfortunately! Let's take a look at where things went wrong!

Warning: Once things went downhill, the camera got pushed to the side, so I apologize!


The dinner started out like any other...with a mise en place. The link for the recipe can be found above so I'll give you a run down of the exact ingredient measurements:

For the Sausage:

1 pound Corvina or any other sea bass fillet, cut into 1-inch pieces (I used cod, actually)

1/2 pound of black tiger shrimp, peeled and deveined

1/2 pound scallops

1 garlic clove, minced

One 1-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and minced

4 scallions, finely chopped

1 bunch fresh cilantro, stemmed and chopped (I used parsley because Matt hates cilantro)

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon sesame oil

2 teaspoons red wine vinegar

2 teaspoons soy sauce

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

I put the fish, shrimp and scallops into my food processor and pulsed until it was a smooth mixture. Adding the rest of the ingredients in the above list, I continued to pulse until well combined. 

At this point, I cut a small corner off of a zip lock bag and started to spoon the mixture into the bag. I would be using it like a piping bag. For each sausage, I laid out a 12-inch piece of plastic wrap on my work service, and piped a 1-inch in diameter, 6-inch in length line down the center. I then rolled it up to create my sausages.

So far so good, right!? Okay, I put a pot of water on to boil and started in on my Sweet Chili Glaze. You'll need:

1/2 cup sambal chili paste, or more to taste (I used Korean red pepper paste)

1/2 cup honey, or more to taste

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

2 teaspoons cornstarch

In a small saucepan, combine the chili paste, honey and red wine vinegar and bring it to a boil. In a separate cup, stir together the cornstarch and 2 teaspoons of water, stirring until smooth. Once your mixture is boiling, add the water and cornstarch and boil for 3 minutes. If the glaze is too spicy, you can add more honey to it, and if the glaze isn't spicy enough for ya, you can always add more chili paste. Here's the beginning and end images of this process:

Now that my water is boiling, I can add my sausages to the water. They should be in there for 6-8 minutes, until they are firm to the touch. Because mine didn't really seem firm to the touch after 8 minutes, I left them in a little longer. 

So, I let them cook for a few more minutes, and then spooned them into the ice bath as the recipe describes. The sausages seemed to be a bit broken apart within their plastic wrap casings but I allowed them to rest in there for a few minutes while I prepared the jicama slaw and dressing. For that I needed:

1 small jicama, peeled

1 small red bell pepper, cored and seeded

1 carrot

1/2 bunch fresh cilantro, stemmed and chopped (I left that out again)

Dressing:

1/2 shallot

1/2 cup peeled chopped fresh ginger

1/2 bunch fresh cilantro, stemmed (left out)

1/4 cup sriacha hot sauce

2 teaspoons soy sauce

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

3/4 cup vegetable oil

I julienned the carrot, jicama and red bell pepper and put them in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, I added all of the ingredients for the dressing and whisked them up. I just realized I was supposed to actually blend them all together in a food processor, but I thought it was really good with the chunkier version. Mixing it into the julienned veggies, I was relieved to see how quickly this slaw came together! 

Here's where things went terribly wrong! I heated up my grill pan in anticipation of grilling my sausages.  I went to the bowl of ice water to unwrap my sausages but alas, it seems they had either burst through in parts of the plastic, or opened so that the water had seeped inside of the plastic. So what I had were a bunch of PIECES of soggy sausage, crumbling all over my grill pan! As I moped around the kitchen, trying my hardest to piece together the sausages enough to resemble their form, they started to brown in the grill pan. They smelled delicious, they just didn't really LOOK very appetizing. I'm sorry that I have no photos - this was no time for a camera!

When I had deduced that the sausages were warmed through and browned to my satisfaction, I plated the slaw and placed the "sausages" on top and to the side. I drizzled it with the Sweet Chili Glaze, and voila...a poor representation of a delicious meal! I'm trying this one again, I swear it!

Joey's Scallops with Jasmine Rice Risotto

So, I've started cooking from my new menu, and the first meal I chose to make is Joey's Scallops with Jasmine Rice Risotto, from Top Chef: The Quickfire Cookbook. Joey was part of Season 3, and during Episode 4, he participated in a Quickfire Challenge that asked him to create an appetizer to pair with a Bombay Sapphire cocktail for Bombay Mixologist, Jamie Walker. The recipe included in the cookbook has been adapted for main course servings, and was reproduced here, as well.

Now this recipe doesn't call for that many ingredients, and while they are a bit more exotic than you may be used to, this dish is SUPER-easy, so don't get overwhelmed.

What you'll need:

1 cup jasmine rice

2 cups coconut milk

8 shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and sliced

1 mango, peeled, pitted, and diced

1 tablespoon thinly sliced fresh mint, plus more for garnishing

1 tablespoon thinly sliced fresh basil, plus more for garnishing

8 sea scallops

salt

cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon peanut oil, for frying

And of course, here's a look at my mise en place:

Did you take a look at those GORGEOUS scallops? So let's get going with the first step, shall we? In a medium dry saucepan over medium heat, lightly toast the rice. Add the coconut milk, stir, and cover. Bring to a slow boil, then reduce heat to medium-low. Cook the rice until creamy, about 15 minutes.

Remove from heat, then stir in the mushrooms, mango, the 1 tablespoon of mint, and the 1 tablespoon of basil.

I recommend waiting until the risotto is complete, before starting the scallops. They only take 2 minutes per side, and I will warn you, overcooked scallops are TERRIBLE, and you shouldn't eat them. You want to JUST cook them through, no more than that (and I will admit now that I threw away a LOT of scallops before perfecting it, but if you follow the times on the recipe, you should make out okay!)

Season the scallops with salt and cayenne pepper. In a large saute pan over medium-high heat, heat the peanut oil. Add the scallops and sear for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes per side.

To serve, place several spoonfuls of rice on each plate and top with scallops. Garnish with mint and basil.

Mmmm, this sure was delicious! And I know you guys can do it too! So, give it a try, and let me know how it goes...and if it doesn't go so great the first time, try again. Perfecting a cooked scallop takes some practice, but oh, it's SO worth it!