Cape Fear Cuisine

A couple of recipes from a recent cooking class

Red Wine Glaze
1 bottle of good red wine
6 peppercorns
3 tablespoons of honey
2 tablespoons of room temperature butter
Combine red wine, peppercorns, and honey. Slowly simmer until the sauce becomes syrupy (about 1/4 cup). Keep warm and strain out peppercorns. Slowly whisk in butter and keep warm until ready to use

New Potatoes with Brown Butter and Cider Vinegar
6 cups new or fingerling potatoes, par boiled (like you would for potato salad)
3 tablespoons of butter
4 tablespoons of cider vinegar
3 tablespoons sugar
4 tablespoons chopped fresh chives

Heat butter on medium and cook until lightly browned and begins to smell nutty. In small dish, combine sugar and vinegar, microwave for 45 seconds (or until sugar dissolves). Heat potatoes in butter and add vinegar mixture. Garnish with chopped chives.

Salt Roasted Beets
3 pounds assorted medium beets, unpeeled
Enough kosher salt to bury beets
Preheat oven to 350. Bake for an hour and a half. Remove from salt  and peel. Drizzle with olive oil and quince vinegar. Don't add salt to finished dish, just pepper

This went with some kobe ribeye, but would be great with lamb or pork as well.

Tuna, Tomatoes, and Basil...Summer is around the corner

Cape Fear ingredients, what's for dinner?

Twelve Foot Tiger Shark

Check out my buddies encounter with a huge tiger in the Gulf of Mexico. Insane! I am really interested in going with him though....will keep you posted. May have to cut and paste link.

http://www.surfingmagazine.com/surfing-photo-video/surfing-videos/flash/12ft-tiger-shark-attack/

Pecan Oil

Here is a link to Liz Biro's new blog, get info and insight. Read about the great uses of extra virgin pecan oil.

http://foodies.starnewsonline.com/default.asp?item=2348830

Back on WECT, Carolina in the Morning... hope they paid their insurance premium!

Smoked Shrimp with Passion Fruit Mustard, Charred Spring Onions, and Herb Salad

Want to suggest a cooking segment or ask Chef James a question? Go to www.capefearchef.com for recipes, stories, and more cooking in the Cape Fear.

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 pound of steamed and chilled shrimp

12 spring onions, grilled for 4 minutes (or charred in a cast iron skillet)

4 cups of assorted fresh herbs (cilantro, basil, parsley, arugula)

olive oil

lime zest (to taste)

Soy salt*

Fresh ground pepper

Passion Fruit Mustard (recipe below)

Cold smoke shrimp with smoker** (or toss with 1 tablespoon of smoked paprika or 2 tea liquid smoke) and season with salt, pepper, and olive oil. Keep chilled

Cut spring onions into 3 inch pieces and toss with assorted herbs. Season with olive oil, lime zest, salt, and pepper

To serve, arrange shrimp on salad an drizzle with passion fruit mustard

*Soy salt is an incredible product found through www.atthemeadow.com. It involves a 250 year old method of producing and it is worth every penny! You have to try some!

**The hand held smoker I used is made by Poly Science. It is called the smoking gun, enough said! I use it to smoke anything from peppercorns to ribeye. Find it at www.ebay.com. It's a steal.

Passion Fruit Mustard

2 Tablespoons of coarse grained mustard

2 Tablespoons of passion fruit puree

1 Tablespoon of honey

Combine all ingredients and reserve

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"Dulche De Leche" (Caramel Sauce) with Sauteed Pineapple and Honeydew, Tangy Yogurt, and Almond Wafers

Want to suggest a cooking segment or ask Chef James a question? Go to www.capefearchef.com for recipes, stories, and more cooking in the Cape Fear.

Serves 4

Dulche De Leche

1 can sweetened condensed milk****

In a heavy bottomed sauce pot, put in can of milk and cover with water. Cook for 3-4 hours on low boil. Let come down to room temperature and open. Combine caramel and add water or cream until desired thickness.

****Make sure to keep checking water level, if too much water evaporates, the can could explode. 

16 pieces of 1 inch cubed pineapple and honeydew

2 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoons sugar

Melt butter on medium low heat and add fruit. Cook for 5 minutes and add sugar. Turn up to medium and cook until caramelized. About 3 minutes

Other ingredients

4 tablespoons Greek yogurt 

12 almond thins, store bought or homemade

To serve

Divide yogurt between plates, add fruit, and drizzle with dulche de leche. Garnish with almond thins and serve

Bluefin Tuna

I've seen a 300+ bluefin come up behind our boat. What a massive fish, we gotta keep them in the ocean. Plenty of other options that are sustainable.

Who is more of a bad ass?

-A sushi chef who can clean the deadliest fish in the world -the fugu- and has guts enough to serve it.

-Abalone diver in great white infested Northern Cali.

-Percebe -giant goose neck barnacle- harvester who picks the barnacles off giant boulders while trying not to get smashed by 15 foot waves. (Many die each year Spain) 

-Tuna ranchers chasing sharks out of tuna pens that sit miles out at sea.

-Of course the king crab guys get on the list. Or do they? * 

*True story- One of the main captains of "Deadliest Catch", who will remain nameless, came through Dockside a couple of years ago on a promo tour and drank a bunch of...pina coladas! So maybe they don't make the list!!!!!!

American Red Snapper

This guy was about 20 pounds and deeeeelicious!

I'm Back!

Geeze, 

Three boys has put it to me! No, maybe I've just been slack. Well here it comes...

-Working on a book

-Back on WECT TV in the morning doing cooking shows

-Looking to organize a green movement down on the water way

-Tons of new ingredients, techniques, and stories to share...