Winter Gatherings (7 page)

½ teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for the baking sheet

1½ pounds center-cut salmon fillet with skin

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

• 1.
  To make the lentils, heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and bell pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until it is fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the chili powder, cumin, and coriander, and stir until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in the lentils, then the stock. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cover. Simmer until the lentils are tender, about 30 minutes. During the last 5 minutes, stir in the salt.
  
• 2.
  Meanwhile, position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 400°F. Lightly oil a large rimmed baking sheet.
  
• 3.
  Lightly oil the salmon flesh and season with salt and pepper. Place the salmon on the baking sheet, skin side down. Cut the salmon vertically into 4 serving portions, but do not separate the pieces. Roast until the salmon shows the barest sign of pink when pierced in the thickest part with the tip of a knife, about 10 minutes.
  
• 4.
  Divide the lentils evenly among 4 soup bowls. Top each with a portion of the salmon, and serve hot.
  

Cod with Grapefruit, Avocado, and Fennel Salad

Makes 4 servings

This light and refreshing dish puts me in mind of long weekends in Florida or some other tropical paradise. It takes just a few minutes to prepare, but the mélange of colors and textures is restaurant-worthy. Other mild, firm-fleshed fish fillets, such as red snapper or tilapia, can stand in for the cod.

G
RAPEFRUIT
, A
VOCADO, AND
F
ENNEL
S
ALAD

1 small fennel bulb, preferably with fronds attached

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

¼ cup olive oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 ripe avocado, pitted, peeled, and cut into ½-inch dice

1 pink or red grapefruit, peel removed, cut between the membranes into segments

Four 5-to 6-ounce portions cod fillet

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 teaspoons olive oil

• 1.
  To prepare the salad, cut the fennel in half lengthwise. If the fronds are attached, cut them off and reserve. Cut out and discard the triangular core at the base of the bulb. Cut one fennel half crosswise into thin half-moons. Reserve the remaining fennel half and stalks for another use.
  



• 2.
  Whisk the lemon juice and oil together in a medium bowl until combined. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add the fennel, avocado, and grapefruit, and mix gently. Set aside while preparing the cod.
  
• 3.
  Season the cod with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the cod and cover. Cook until the undersides are golden, about 3 minutes. Turn and cook, uncovered, adjusting the heat as needed, until the other side is golden brown and the cod looks barely opaque when flaked in the center with the tip of a knife, about 3 minutes more. Meanwhile, chop enough of the reserved fronds to measure 2 teaspoons.
  
• 4.
  Place a fish fillet and a portion of the salad on each of 4 dinner plates, sprinkle with the chopped fronds, if using, and serve immediately.
  

San Francisco Crab Cioppino

Makes 6 servings

Cioppino, the Mediterranean-inspired but purely Californian shellfish stew, is one of the best ways to savor the winter’s Dungeness crab. I have many happy memories of cooking up a pot of cioppino in my flat in San Francisco, with its fragrant steam fogging up the kitchen windows. As an experienced cioppino cook and eater, I can tell you that it is as messy to eat as it is delicious. Serve it in large, wide bowls with big napkins (or bibs), nutcrackers, and long-stemmed shellfish forks to get the meat out of the shells, a bowl to collect said shells, and bowls of hot lemon water for cleaning your fingers. And don’t forget crusty sourdough bread!

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1 green bell pepper, cored, seeded, and diced

1¼ cups chopped fresh fennel

4 garlic cloves, chopped

1½ cups dry white wine, such as Pinot Grigio

One 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes in puree

One 8-ounce can tomato sauce

2 cups bottled clam juice

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried basil

½ teaspoon fennel seed

¼ teaspoon crushed hot red pepper flakes, or more to taste

Salt

3 cooked and cracked Dungeness crabs (see Cracked Crab with Green Goddess Dip, Chapter 3), about 2 pounds each

Chopped fresh parsley, for garnish

• 1.
  Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, bell pepper, and fennel. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender, about 7 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add the wine and increase the heat to high. Boil until the wine is slightly reduced, about 3 minutes.
  
• 2.
  Add the tomatoes and their puree, the tomato sauce, clam juice, oregano, basil, fennel seed, and red pepper flakes. Bring to a boil, stirring often. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until lightly thickened, about 1 hour. Season with salt to taste and more pepper flakes, if you wish.
  
• 3.
  Add the cracked crab to the pot and cover. Cook just until the until the crab is heated through, about 3 minutes.
  
• 4.
  Using a ladle and tongs, transfer the cioppino to deep soup bowls. Sprinkle with parsley and serve hot. Tell your guests that it is perfectly fine (if not imperative) to pick up the crab with their fingers.
  

Variation

Crabmeat Cioppino:
I admit that eating classic crab cioppino in the shell is a little sloppy. For a more elegant presentation, substitute shelled crabmeat for the cracked crab. If using fresh crab, remove the crabmeat from the three cooked crabs, and stir the shelled crabmeat into the cioppino broth. Or use 1 pound of cooked lump crabmeat (preferably not pasteurized), picked over for shells and cartilage.

Cracked Crab with Green Goddess Dip

Makes 4 servings

One of the best meals I ever had was at a prewedding dinner for my friends Roseanne and George Dobbins. It was in San Francisco, and all we ate was a mountain of sweet, cracked Dungeness crab with this dip, sourdough bread, and a modest green salad, downed with bottles of Chardonnay. Live Dungeness crabs used to be available only on the West Coast during their winter season, but they are now sold all over the country at many supermarkets and Asian grocers. While you can easily buy freshly cooked and cracked crab from Seattle to San Diego, outside of that region, you may have to cook the crabs yourself. Here’s how, and it is the method to use if you are making the cioppino on Chapter 3.

G
REEN
G
ODDESS
D
IP

Grated zest of 1 lemon

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon anchovy paste

1½ cups mayonnaise

3 tablespoons nonpareil capers, drained and rinsed

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh chives

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh tarragon

Freshly ground black pepper

4 live Dungeness crabs, about 2 pounds each

• 1.
  To make the dip, whisk together the lemon zest and juice with the anchovy paste in a medium bowl to dissolve the anchovy paste. Add the mayonnaise, capers, parsley, chives, and tarragon. Season with pepper to taste. Stir well. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. (The dip can be made up to 3 days ahead.)
  
• 2.
  Bring a very large pot of salted water to a rolling boil over high heat. Using tongs, add 1 crab to the pot and cover. Cook for 3 minutes, then set the lid ajar. Continue cooking until the crab is deep red-orange, about 20 minutes (or about 15 minutes for smaller crabs). Using tongs, transfer the crab to a large bowl of cold water, and let stand until easy to handle. Repeat with the remaining crabs, adding more boiling water to the pot as needed. (See Note.)
  
• 3.
  To clean and crack the crabs, work with 1 crab at a time. Turn the crab upside down. Locate and pull off the small triangular “apron” in the lower center of the crab. Pull off the small flippers at the front of the crab. Pull off the top shell in one piece, discarding the shell and any liquid in it. Discard the reddish membrane and any viscera in the body. (Some people save the yellow “fat,” but there isn’t much and it isn’t worth it, in my opinion.) Rinse the body under cold running water. Remove the legs and claws. Using a flat meat cleaver, crack the shells of the legs and claws. Using a heavy knife, cut the body into quarters. Transfer all of the crab pieces to a large bowl. Cover and refrigerate until chilled, at least 1 and up to 12 hours.
  
• 4.
  Serve chilled, with nutcrackers, shellfish forks, and bowls for the shells, as well as individual bowls of the dip.
  

Note

Even if you have a huge pot, it is most efficient to cook the crabs one at a time. The water should be boiling furiously when the crab is added, which will hasten its final dispatching. Two pots of water will speed things up.

Rib Roast with Blue Cheese Crust

Makes 6 servings

To many cooks, a large, impressive rib roast is the main course of choice for a winter holiday feast. No matter how many other options present themselves, I usually fall back on good old rib roast myself. In an effort to make it different than the straightforward version I’ve offered in the past, here is a glorious roast with a delicious crust to accent the lush meat. I like this roast just as it is, but you can serve a sauceboat of homemade beef stock alongside to make it “au jus.”

One 3½-pound rib roast

1½ teaspoons kosher salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

2/3 cup fresh bread crumbs

½ cup (2 ounces) crumbled blue cheese (see Note)

• 1.
  Trim excess fat from the surface of the roast. Season the roast all over with the salt and pepper. Let the roast stand at room temperature for at least 1 and up to 2 hours.
  
• 2.
  Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 450°F. Stand the roast, bone side down, in a roasting pan. Roast for 15 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 350°F. Continue roasting for 1 hour more.
  
• 3.
  Remove the roast in the pan from the oven. Spread the mustard over the top of the roast. Mix the bread crumbs and blue cheese together in a small bowl. Press the crumb mixture in a layer over the mustard. Return to the oven and roast until the crust is golden brown and an instant-read thermometer inserted in the center of the meat registers 130°F for medium-rare meat. (If the crust has browned before the roast is cooked to the desired temperature, tent the roast with aluminum foil.)
  
• 4.
  Carefully transfer the roast to a carving board and let stand for 15 to 20 minutes. Carve the roast and serve hot.