Chinese New Year 2009

The parents came over for Chinese New Year and I decided to whip up a fun healthy light meal. Not necessarily a Chinese meal, but it was hella tasty. Big flavors and not disgustingly stuffed afterwards. Below is what we had...

Ligurian Style Chilean Sea Bass
Got the book Urban Italian for Xmas (killer book btw) and I've wanted to make this recipe for a while. I've seen this on the show Reservations Required when Carmellini was still at A Voce. Lots of little steps, but everything comes together beautifully. Poaching the sea bass yields an incredibly juicy, flaky fish and the clam broth imparts a great briney flavor to the buttery fish. The combo of the rich pesto, buttery potatoes, green beans, and crunchy bread crumbs puts this dish over the top. Get you're favorite bread out and get ready for some dipping, since the broth is out of control flavorful...

Ingredients (all are guesses, since I never measure)
1 cup Pesto (basic with parmiggiano reggiano)
1 pound Chilean Sea Bass
1/2 pound Fingerling Potatoes, scrubbed
1 pound Green Beans, trimmed and halved
1 ciabatta bread (for dipping and bread crumbs)
20 clams thoroughly washed
2 cups white wine
2 cloves thinly sliced garlic
2 tsp dried red pepper flake
Extra virgin olive oil
1 cup clam cuice
Sea Salt and pepper

1) Toss the potatoes in olive oil and salt/pepper. Put in a tray and roast in a 400F oven till creamy on the inside - I think 30 minutes, since these suckers are tiny. Check by using the knife method or just eat one and see. Remove and let it cool for 30 minutes. Cut into bite size pieces and set aside. A potato boiled is a potato spoiled - so roast or steam these suckers...the flavor is more intense that way.
2) Dice 1 cup of bread, toss with salt/pepper, olive oil and throw in the toaster oven in the toast setting. Should be crispy. Remove and set aside. Taste and re-season if necessary.
3) Get a pot of boiling salted water and blanch the green beans for 2-3 minutes (color should be bright green and still a bit crunchy). Remove and place in a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking. Set aside.
4) Put a pan over high heat. Add olive oil, garlic, clams, red pepper flake and wine. No idea on the time here, but cover and keep on shaking the pan. As each clam opens up remove immediately - they all open up at different times so pay attention. The left over broth needs to be used.
5) In a pyrex container with high walls, add the chilean sea bass and season both sides with salt and pepper. Add the clam broth (being careful to not any grit at the bottom) and the clam juice - almost submerging the fish. Cover and put in a 375F degree oven. I think you could simmer it over the stove top too, but I went with the Carmellini's method and used the oven. Should be done in about 10-15 minutes. Flip the fish midway through and check.
6) Remove the fish and slice into 4 portions. Add the pesto to the pyrex container with the potatoes and the green beans. Leave in until potatoes and green beans warm up...
7) To serve, add fish in the center of a warmed plate (you can microwave it for 30s-1min to warm it up). Add the clams, potatoes, green beans, croutons, and extra sauce. I brought the extra pesto clam broth to the table for people to dip the bread into. Any leftover potato, bean broth mixture can be tossed with some pasta for a second meal. Buono appetito!


Roasted Beet Salad with Gorgozola
Another recipe from the book Urban Italian, but I tweaked it a bit adding sour apples, walnuts, and gorgonzola. Great refreshing salad with the agro dolce (sweet sour) thing. Sweet beets, cut by the red wine vinegar, with the creamy pungent gorgonzola, crisp sour apples, and crunchy walnuts gets you a combo of texture and flavors...

Ingredients (all are guesses, since I never measure)
1 granny smith apple
4 red beets, 4 yellow beats
2 shallots fine dice
High quality Gorgonzola (not the supermarket kind)
Red wine vinegar
Balsamic vinegar
Walnuts
Mixed Salad (preferably including arugula and chicory)
Sea Salt and pepper

1) Scrub each beet thoroughly and trim the two ends (you can either discard the beet leaves or thoroughly clean them and use them in the salad). Wrap each beet in aluminum foil with a pinch of salt and pepper. Covering each beet in it's own foil roasts them more evenly. Throw in a 400F oven and cook for an hour.
2) Once the beets are cool to the touch. Remove the skin, and cut into bite size pieces in a bowl. Add shallots, good douse of balsamic vinegar, good douse of olive oil, and salt/pepper. Let marinate for at least an hour and taste. Re-season if necessary. Beets are like sponges (did not know that before), so it soaks up a lot of flavor.
3) Toss salad in a tiny amout of red wine vinegar, a little oil, and salt/pepper. Remember - the leaves should not be drowning in dressing, just slightly coated.
4) Slice up some apples into match sticks.
5) To serve, add the salad greens to the center of the plate, scatter a couple of beets around with the apples, add some crushed walnuts, and cut up some tiny pieces of gorgonzola around the plate. Be generous with the gorgonzola too, since that really makes this dish sing!

Desserts
I didn't have time to do desserts, so I copped out and bought some. We had a mango panna cotta, brownie cheesecake, and pecan tart. Good times...