Food and Wine Blog by Azat Aslanyan

This recipe is for my friend Nancy.  Sorry its a bit late but been a bit distracted because of work. I have also seen Pork Loin cooked like this. In fact at the Little Door its one of their specialties that everyone loves unfortunately I have never tried it before because I dont eat meat or chicken. Here is the recipe. the pictures are form a Spanish website I found

Ingredients for 2 servings
- 1 line-caught Sea Bass or Trout.  Not too large
- 6 lb.coarse Salt
- 3 1/2 oz. lemongrass leaves or bay leaves depending which flavor you prefer
- 4 tbsp. black Peppercorns
- 2 tbsp. coriander seed
- Dried fennel, tied in a small piece of cheesecloth
- 3 1/2 oz. parsley stems
- 2 Egg whites and 1/4 cup of water

Method
-Clean the fish, remove the gills and cut off the fins with scissors. Do not scale the fish.(important as we are not going to eat the skin in this recipe
-Finely chop 1 3/4 oz. lemongrass.
-Stuff the sea bass with the dried fennel, parsley stems and the remaining lemon grass.
(if using the bay leaf stuff 4-5 leaves in the belly and the rest on the bottom and top of the fish)
-Combine the salt with the peppercorns and coriander seed, chopped lemongrass and egg whites and water to form a workable mixture.
-Heat the oven to 450° F. Have ready a baking sheet and a piece of parchment paper twice as large as the fish.
-Place the parchment paper on the baking sheet and with some of the salt mixture form a base on which to place the fish. Make sure to place the fish on top of the salt base and close the top part of the cut belly on top of the bottom so salt does not get into the belly.
-Enclose the fish in the remaining salt mixture, molding the salt into a shape identical to that of the fish.  Leave only the head and tail open(an inch on each side)
-With a knife, trim the parchment paper all around the fish. Check that the mixture is smooth and adhering well to the fish. Gently place in the oven. After 15-20 minutes(depending how well you like the fish cooked), remove from the oven and let rest 5 minutes longer in the salt.

Presentation
-Present the fish to your guests on a platter, then cut off the salt using a serrated knife. Cut up the fish and serve.  Use the knife to remove the skin as well as it will be salty and the flakes are on it to remove it much easier

Today Im going to write 2 blog entries.  First one is a salad that I just made and second is a great bottle of wine…

Stetson Chopped salad  is a salad that I kind of stole the idea from a restaurant in Scottsdale Arizona called Cowboy Ciao.  I first tried the salad few years back when I was there with a bunch of friends.  We went to see the Packers play the Cardinals(This is many years back when the Pac was great and Cardinals sucked, yet they beat the Pac that game).  Anyways our first night we when to Cowboy Ciao and I had the salad.  I loved it so much that I went back the second night just for the salad.  And I have been back one other time when we were visiting family is the Phoenix area.  I have made the salad a few time.  Initially it was not as good nut nowadays it comes out perfect.

here is the recipe I used today.  serves 8, adjust the recipe based on how many you are cooking for

Ingredients:
4 cups cooked Israeli couscous
2 cups shopped smoked salmon
2 cups roasted corn kernels
1 cup grated asiago cheese
1 cup pepitas (salted roasted pumpkin seeds)
1 cup dried currant
1 1/2 cups chopped tomatoes
2 cups chopped arugula

Pesto Dressing :
1/2 cup basil pesto
1 cup aioli
1 shallot, roughly chopped
1 cup buttermilk
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 teaspoon coarse black pepper
Salt to taste
Step #1 Layer salad ingredients in large bowl.

Step #2 To make dressing, add first 3 ingredients of the Dressing to food processor/blender & mix thoroughly.
Step #3 With motor running pour in buttermilk and lemon juice. Add salt and pepper to taste

Step #4 Dress salad as desired, tossing to mix in front of guests.

I enjoy making different meals with fish and one of my favorite fish to cook is fresh trout.  Many times trout is not very fresh in the stores but if you can find good fresh trout(for me Fish King or Whole Foods usually is the source to find them at) you can make a great meal.  I have three very simple trout recopies that I will share over time but tonight wanted to write about grilled trout.  I also make an oven baked trout and a very unique one baked inside coarse salt dome

Ingredients
2 trout with heads cut (8?10 oz.)
1/4 cup olive oil
8-10 sprigs of tarragon
1 lemon
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt – to taste
1/4 teaspoon black pepper – to taste

Cooking Instructions
Clean the trout and cut the head off and wash it well.(your local fish monger will do this for you)  If it has a fishy smell put it in a bowl and squeeze 1 lemon juice on it and let it sit for 30 minutes…

Cut lemon in half.  Slice one half of the lemon into 1/8 inch thick slices.  You should get about 6-8 half circle slices.

Add salt and pepper to the fish.  Be generous as some of it will burn off on the grill.  Make sure to put it inside the belly as well.  Stuff the belly with 4-5 sprigs of the tarragon and 3-4 slices of the lemon.

Cook the trout on a charcoal grill for 3 to 4 minutes on each side over fairly slow heat.  Not fire.  Brushing occasionally with lemon and olive oil mixture

Serve with your favorite vegetables on the side and a nice bottle of Sauvignon Blanc or maybe a nice light Chardonnay.