Saturday, March 14, 2009

How to Make Great Sushi Rolls at Home - Part 1


I'm relatively new to the cooking gig. As a result, most of the dishes I attempt are closely based off of recipes, mainly from the chefs that inspired me to start cooking - Jamie Oliver, Curtis Stone and Gordon Ramsay. Sushi is different for me. It is a food that started enticing me 8 years ago when I lived in San Francisco, and is one of the few cuisines that I am now confident fully improvising.

When I travel, I usually search out the best sushi restaurant I can find in the area (more about that in future posts). So I've spent time watching sushi chefs, researching the techniques and reading books. Once you become familiar with the basics, sushi is an amazing (not to mention delicious) way to express yourself in food. It is art and fine food all in one. This is my guide to making great sushi yourself at home.

When I talk to my uninitiated friends about sushi, surprisingly it is more often the taste or the texture of the nori (the seaweed used in maki, or sushi rolls) than the raw fish that is a barrier to enjoyment. When you buy sushi from vendors in the mall or from the sushi stations in the grocery stores it is often regular maki with the nori on the outside. Regardless of how you feel about the taste or texture of seaweed, the regular nori-on-the-outside, rice-on-the-inside rolls (or "outside in" roll) are the simplest way to start making your own sushi rolls.

Step 1 - The Sushi Rice

The quintessential ingredient in any sushi is the sushi rice, or sticky rice. You can buy sushi rice in most grocery stores; check near the sushi station if yours has one. Just make sure you don't pick up your sushi there! Try making your own at home, you won't regret it.

The sushi rice is simple to make - just start by following the instructions on the package. The Kokuho Rose rice that I use calls for 1 cup of rice and 1 1/4 cup of water, bring to a boil and simmer for 25 minutes.

The key to the sticky rice is in what you do next. Mix together 3 tablespoons of rice wine vinegar (also available by the sushi station) and 2 tablespoons of sugar in a small bowl. I usually combine this into the rice while the rice is still warm. If you are going to be making sushi for a crowd you can double or triple the sushi recipe; just do the same with the rice wine vinegar and sugar mixture.

The rice should be close to room temperature before you begin making rolls, so I suggest making it at least a few hours before you want to starting rolling, cover it in a damp dish towel and leave it out.

Step 2 - The Wrapper

Once your rice is cooled down it's time to create a roll! Aside from the rice, the other tools you'll need for making sushi rolls are a sushi mat, the nori and a bowl of water.

Place a full sheet of the nori on top of the sushi mat. Water will be your friend as you roll the sushi, so make sure the mat is a little damp, and also wet your fingertips before you grab the rice.


With both hands place some rice onto the nori and spread it out. You want to cover the entire nori, except the long edge furthest from you, with an even layer of rice, about 1/4 inch thick. Leave about 1/2 inch of the far long edge clear, because you will use this to adhere the roll at the end.

Step 3 - The Filling

The rest is all up to you. I usually prepare a variety of ingredients beforehand - sliced cucumber (no seeds), scallion, red pepper, avacado, Japanese egg and raw jalapeno.


You can also use grated carrot, blanched asparagus, cream cheese (for Philadelphia rolls), or whatever else you want. Play with taste combinations and different textures and create your own roll.


You can create a vegetarian roll using any combination of the ingredients above. Or add imitation crab stick to make a California Roll.


If you are ready for it then add your raw fish at this stage. The most important point about the fish is making sure you get sashimi-grade cuts at a fishmonger you trust. Sashimi grade tuna and salmon are usually easy to find. Other varieties will depend on whether your market has a wider or specialty selections. Cut the tuna or salmon into even strips and add to the rest of the filling.

Step 4 - The Rolling

This the hardest part of making a sushi roll, but if you follow a few basic steps it is pretty simple.

1. Wet your fingertips


2. Starting with the closest end, begin rolling away from you


3. Before you reach the far edge, wet one of your fingertips again and wet the entire length of the nori that was left clear


4. Complete the roll. If you find it helps keep the roll more consistent you can use the mat througout the process - using it to shape the roll as you go, resetting the mat, and repeating as you go. If you find you can complete the roll without the mat, that's fine as well, but once the roll is complete the mat definitely comes into play. Using both hands, wrap the mat completely around the roll and apply pressure starting with both hands at the middle and working them outward.


This makes sure that the roll is even in diameter as well as ensuring it sticks together. Repeat this last process two or three times. Don't worry if the filling spills out on either end a little, it makes for good presentation.



Step 5 - Enjoy!

The last step is to cut the roll. The most important thing about cutting the sushi roll is using a sharp, wet knife. Cut the roll in half, in halves again, and in halves again so that you have 8 equal pieces. Wet the knife in between each cut and cut with two quick motions.

Unless you're a natural, it isn't likely to look very pretty the first few times (see below for one of my first attempts), but with a little practice you'll be making better-than-restaurant quality sushi in no time.


Serve with soy sauce, wasabi and pickled ginger, and enjoy!

Saturday, March 7, 2009

The Best Baked Potato Ever



I made these Jamie Oliver baked potatoes last night to go with a roast leg of lamb. Bacon makes everything taste better. Add anchovy, sage, garlic and lemon zest to the mix and of course the potato is going to have amazing flavour.


These are super easy to make and they taste great. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Take an apple corer to medium sized white waxy potatoes and core all the way through. Save the core for later.


Place the following in each potato: a half slice of raw bacon, a big sage leaf, an anchovy fillet, a couple slices of garlic and a little lemon zest. Use a half inch of the potato core to plug each end.


Coat the potatoes in some olive oil, sprinkle a little sea salt over them and bake for 60 minutes. Anchovies turn many people off, but when you bake them for this long they just disintegrate and add great flavour, so don't leave them out!

Saturday, February 28, 2009

Chocolate Cookie Cheesecake



I've eaten many a cheesecake in my day, but I've never had the opportunity or inspiration to make one myself until now. The catalyst was when I was commissioned to make a dessert for my friend's staff meeting. After a little browsing I came across this chocolate cookie cheesecake recipe.


I always love when something you make for the first time turns out great. Not that cheesecake is a very difficult dessert to make, but it's still rather satisfying.


For the cookies I used Mr. Christie's Chocolate Wafers, and I followed the above recipe fairly closely, with the following exceptions:
  • I found that I needed more than 2 tbsp of butter to get the crust to a consistency where it would sufficiently stick together. I used two to three times as much.

  • I used a fresh vanilla bean instead of extract in the cheese mixture, another bean in the sour cream mixture, and a 3rd in the chocolate sauce. It sounds a little over the top, but it adds tremendous flavour. Plus I think that it's great when you see the vanilla spots in a dessert.

  • Instead of a solid coating of chocolate sauce, I used a sauce bottle to decorate the top, and then added some milk chocolate shavings for a little extra presentation.


Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Fresh Clearwater Lobster



I lived in Halifax for 4 years and there's no better place for great, fresh seafood. I was back in town recently for business and took advantage of the Clearwater shop conveniently located in the Halifax airport. Clearwater ships fresh lobsters worldwide, and if you happen to be passing through Halifax they will package a live one up for you. You carry it right on the plane and when you get home you've got fresh lobster for dinner!


The biggest discussion around lobster always seems to involve the most humane way of killing them. I'm a fan of Gordon Ramsay, Jamie Oliver (Naked Chef) and Curtis Stone (Take Home Chef) and watch a lot of their shows. Both Gordon and Jamie advocate the knife-to-the-back-of-the head approach. To pull this off, place the lobster on your cutting board right side up, locate the cross mark toward the back of the head, place the tip of the knife at the intersection and then push down confidently in one motion. They can freak you out a little when they try to waddle away, which is why you have to be quick and confident about it.


The approach Curtis espouses is a little different. Curtis tells you to place the lobster in the freezer for 30 minutes prior to cooking. This apparently puts the lobster into a deep state of sleep so that they aren't totally aware when you place them in a pot of boiling water.


I'm no expert on this by any means, and while I agree the freezing temperature would make one quite sleepy, boiling water is bound to wake you up fast. Execution style seems more violent, but its quick and painless, and it's the approach I prefer to take.


Regardless of how you do the deed, lobster is damn good fresh. This time I parboiled the lobsters, split them in half, removed and coarsely chopped the meat, then mixed the meat with fresh garlic butter. I put the lobster meat and garlic butter mixture back in one half of the lobster and filled the now empty half with the remaining garlic butter and baked for a few minutes in the over. Aside from a fabulous tasting meal, it also makes for some creative presentation.

Sunday, February 1, 2009

Fast Food: Spicy Chicken Sandwich



These days I really do make an effort to cook using quality, fresh ingredients instead of eating out. This is always easier said than done, of course. When I was a little younger I spent my weeks driving and flying most days, which made home cooked meals a challenge. However, since I moved to Ottawa I've acquired a little more stability and established a semblance of routine. Part of that routine is making sure that all meals - not just dinner - are made fresh, and unhealthy fast food is avoided as much as possible.

This spicy chicken sandwich is something I concocted a few months ago as an alternative to boring deli sandwiches, for those days when there is no leftovers from the evening before. It is simple to make, filling, and worth the few minutes of effort that it takes to cook.

Ingredients
  • Chicken breast

  • Bacon

  • Hoagie bun, kaiser or something similar

  • Spicy seasoning

  • Cheese

  • Tomato

  • Mayonnaise

Equipment
  • Oven

  • Cast iron pan

  • Cookie sheet

  • Sharp knife

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375°F / 190°C. While the oven is heating up, place a cast iron frying pan on medium heat.

Prepare your chicken breast. Take your knife and cut the breast in half lengthwise. This makes for a thinner cut of meat, which will cook more quickly, and also make for a more appropriate lunch portion. If you get a breast from a full-figured chicken, the split breast will be a perfect size for your sandwich. You can often buy split chicken breasts which are already prepared this way.

Pour a glug of olive oil in the cast iron pan and when the oil is hot place throw in the chicken breast.


Season the top side of the breast with spicy seasoning. I think it is a great idea to always have a few different all-purpose seasonings pre-mixed in the kitchen. For the spicy chicken sandwich I use a variation of Emeril's Essence Creole Seasoning. Use the measurements as a guideline; you can adjust the cayenne up or down based on your tastes.


Fry the chicken breast for a couple of minutes until there is a little colour, then flip the chicken and season the other side as well. Take the cast iron pan and place it in the oven to continue cooking. It should take between 12 - 15 minutes to fully cook depending on the thickness of the cut.


Place another frying pan on medium heat and add two strips of bacon.


To check doneness on the chicken just cut into it with a knife and ensure there is no pink. When cooked, take out of the oven. Turn the oven off and turn on the broiler at the second highest level.


Cut the bun in half and place both halves, cut side up, under the broiler. You want to lightly toast both the top and the bottom of the bun, so that its not soggy when you place the chicken breast on top. When the bun has sufficiently browned, take both halves out of the oven.


Cut the cheese into short, thick slices. You can use any type of cheese you like. In keeping with the spicy theme, I usually favour JalapeƱo Monterey Jack. Place the cooked chicken breast on the bottom half of the bun, layer the cheese on top, and put back under the broiler to melt the cheese.


In the meantime spread real Mayonnaise on the top-half of the bun and cut two thick slices of tomato.


When the cheese is melted, take the chicken breast out of the oven, top with the sliced tomato and bacon slices.


This is my version of the Spicy Chicken Sandwich. Eat your heart out Wendy's!

Friday, January 30, 2009

Great African Fusion Meal



This past weekend I joined good friends for some homemade African food. It is always a privilege to have someone else cook a meal, especially when it is something new, and particularly when it turns out as tasty as this did.

Guest Chef Enid (it is fitting that Enid is "Dine" backwards) created a menu of Beef Stew served on Injera bread as an appetizer, Arctic Char with Sakay seasoning and Toasted Almond Tamarind balls - faithfully executed by Guest Chef Matt - for dessert.


Injera is the Ethiopian bread that you typically get in an African restaurant. It is a flatbread style bread with a spongy consistency, which is torn into pieces and used to grab the salads or stews that are served on top of the bread. This was the most challenging component of the meal to cook. Because of a gluten-free requirement, the Teff flour was mixed with a wheat flour, with some results that were initially crumbly. After 3 or 4 throw-away attempts however, we figured out that by cooking the Injera "pancakes" to a bit of a crisp on one side would help hold the bread together better. From there we were set. The beef stew that was served over the Injera had a great flavour and worked very well as an appetizer for the half-dozen guests.


I call this "African Fushion" because the main course was Arctic Char, which I doubt is found in abundance there. However, the fish was combined with the wonderfully flavourful Sakay - which is a mixture of various spices such as paprika, cayenne, ginger and garlic. The power of the Sakay works very well with a mild fish like the Arctic Char. The result was likely the best cooked fish dish I've ever had. The fish was paired with a mango and vegetable couscous.


For dessert we enjoyed tamarind balls (tamarind paste mixed with a little ginger and lime) with toasted almonds in the middle. A simple, but surprisingly filling end to an amazing dining experience.

Friday, January 23, 2009

In Search of the Perfect Sushi - Dublin, Ohio

My colleagues and I ate at House of Japan in Dublin, Ohio (outside of Columbus) yesterday. Ever in search of a great sushi joint in every city I travel to, I decided to try out their sushi menu.

Recommendation: stick to the Hibachi, which is their speciality. In retrospect I should have followed my co-workers, who had the Hibachi chicken, steak and shrimp. I ordered the Spicy Tuna, Yellowtail, Rainbow, Spider and H.O.J. Special rolls. Unfortunately the sushi is run-of-the-mill, uninspired and not the freshest sushi I've ever had. If you go to House of Japan, go with the Hibachi menu - at least it's better theatre. Or go to the P.F. Changs across the road.