A Zest for Conquest

Hernando de Soto (ca. 1500- 1542) was a Spanish conquistador.  In other words, he was an invader and a pillager.  History and modern culture tend to lionize the early European conquerors, but let’s face it, their goal was to seize other people’s territory, plunder the natural resources, pilfer whatever valuables they could, and eliminate any natural inhabitants that stood in their way.

De Soto first distinguished himself in the conquest of Central America where he was known for his brutality.  Later he participated in the vanquishing of the Incas under Francisco Pizarro.  He then returned to Spain and delivered a large cache of gold and valuables to the Spanish monarchy, for which he was handsomely rewarded.

Back to the New World

He was then commissioned to return to the New World on a new quest.  His goal was to “explore” the southeastern US, which translates into finding trade routes to the Orient, claim additional lands for Spain, purloin more gold, and bump off any natives that resisted.

He landed in Florida in 1539 with over 600 men.  The exact route is debated but he traversed numerous southeastern states and eventually made his way to the Mississippi River, thus earning him the distinction of being the first European to discover it.

Along the way tens of thousands of American Indians died, either from direct skirmishes with de Soto’s men, or the spread of European diseases to which the Indians had no immunity, (e.g., measles, small pox and chicken pox).  De Soto himself succumbed to fever during the expedition in 1542.  His men buried his body in the Mississippi River to prevent the natives from desecrating it.

de Soto Introduces the Orange to the Americas

While lauded for his marauding endeavors and “discovery” of the Mississippi, de Soto is also credited for one lesser known fact:  the introduction of the orange to the Americas.  He brought orange trees to St. Augustine where they flourished, eventually giving rise to the large scale production that Florida is so well known for today.

Oranges originated in Southeast Asia and were first cultivated there 6,000 years ago.  Cultivation in China began around 2400 B.C.      The Arabs introduced them to the Mediterranean region about 1000 A.D.  Today they are found in warm weather areas all over the globe.  The US and Brazil are the largest producers.  Interestingly, the word “orange” meaning the color, comes from the fruit and not vice versa.

The Three Categories of Oranges

There are three general categories of oranges: sweet, loose skinned and bitter.

Sweet oranges, such as the Navel or Valencia, are best eaten fresh and are prized for their juice.  Their skins are somewhat resistant to peeling. Blood oranges are an interesting type of sweet orange, their sanguineous name arising from their crimson hue.

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It’s official. I’m now a fan of  Lidia Bastianich and her incredible knowledge of Italian cuisine along with her unique cooking techniques. For Christmas I received my first Lidia cookbook, Lidia Cooks From The Heart of Italy and I was blown away by her depth of culinary knowledge and ability to describe it.

I can’t believe it has taken me this long to get acquainted with her work. She is phenomenal. I was so excited after reading some of her recipes in this book and giving a few a try, I went out and purchased two more of her cookbooks, Lidia’s Italy and Lidia’s Family Table and can’t wait to write about what I’ve cooked from them.

This Tuna Genova Style or Tonno alla Genovese as Lidia calls it started with a trip to the Ardmore Farmers market on Saturday where my friendly fishmonger Andy was cutting up some gorgeous fresh tuna. I asked him when he thought the fish was caught and he thought maybe 3 or 4 days earlier. It looked terrific and again I will advise all home cooks to get to know your fish, meat and vegetable purveyors. They will direct you to the freshest ingredients and the best value of the day. Enough said.

I knew I wouldn’t be cooking the fish until Monday night so I asked Andy to cut me one piece that I could cut up into steaks later. As soon as I brought the tuna home, I vacuum sealed it in one of my favorite food gadgets, the FoodSaver Vacuum Sealer. This tool has saved me a lot of money over time by prolonging the freshness of my cheeses, meats and any leftovers I freeze.

So you can see this whole meal started with my going to the Farmers market looking for something to cook and then finding the freshest ingredients available. Once I had the tuna, I looked for ideas about how to cook and serve it.  Often I will glance through several cookbooks for ideas but this time I picked up Lidia’s cookbook and immediately found what I looking for. This is how I typically decide how and what to cook.

We served the Tuna Genova Style with white rice and Brussels sprouts blanched and then sautéed with bacon and finished in the oven. A delicious meal we all enjoyed including the kids.

Tuna Genova Style
Adapted from Lidia Cooks From The Heart of Italy

Ingredients:

• 1½ pounds fresh tuna, cut into 2 large steaks
• salt, to season the tuna
• flour, to dredge the tuna in
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• ½ cup of dried porcini mushrooms
• 6 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
• 2 small anchovy fillets (try anchovy paste if you don’t want to open up a whole can for 2 fillets)
• 1½ cups of dry white wine
• juice from 1 small lemon
• 3 sprigs fresh thyme
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil to finish the sauce
• 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped.

How to Make Tuna Genova Style at Home

I made the sauce separately from the tuna only because I wanted to get it done before everyone was ready for me to make dinner. In the end I just added the sauce to the pan the tuna cooked in and finished the recipe. Next time I would prepare the entire dish in one pan as Lidia does.

Start by soaking the dried porcini mushrooms in a cup of water. Next season the tuna steaks with salt on both sides and dredge in flour being sure to coat both sides but more importantly, shaking off any excess flour.

Heat a frying pan large enough to hold both steaks over medium-high heat until hot. Add 4 tablespoons of the extra virgin olive oil and let that get hot but not smoking.

Add the tuna to the pan and pan fry for about 1 minute. Flip the tuna steaks over and cook on the other side for another minute to minute and a half. Remove the pan from the heat and transfer the tuna to a plate to keep warm while you make the sauce. I covered the fish with aluminum foil.

Start the Sauce

Remove the soaking mushrooms from the water but don’t throw the water out. We will use it in the sauce. Chop up the porcini mushrooms to fine pieces.

Add the frying pan back to the burner over medium high heat. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil and let it get hot. Add the crushed garlic, chopped anchovy fillets and chopped up porcini mushrooms.

When those ingredients start to sizzle, add the white wine, lemon juice and the water the porcini mushrooms soaked in. I used a funnel lined with a paper towel to remove any sediment from the water. I would have liked to use a coffee filter in a funnel but couldn’t find any.

Add the thyme sprigs and season with a little salt. Bring the sauce to a low boil and cook until it is reduced by half.

Finish the Tuna Steaks

When the sauce is reduced by half, add the tuna steaks back into the pan and be sure to pour any juices from the resting tuna into the sauce. Let the tuna cook in the sauce for about a minute, flip and cook the steaks on the other side for another minute. If you like your tuna more well done, let it cook longer.

People ask me all the time how long is longer. I wish I could tell you but it depends on the stove you are using, the pan, the thickness of the fish and much more. The best I can tell you is over time you will get a feel for it. You can always cut into a piece if you have to know, but I don’t like doing that because you are letting a lot of the juices escape. This is even more a problem with meat and chicken.

Extra Flavor

Now to add even more flavor to the sauce, add 2 tablespoons of butter or extra virgin olive oil to the pan and stir to combine the flavors. Remove the pan from the heat, add the parsley, give a quick stir and you are ready to serve.

I put a couple of spoonfuls of rice in the center of the plate, topped with a tuna steak and spooned the sauce around the sides of the fish and some on top. The Brussels sprouts were tastefully arranged on the side of the plate.

This is a very delicious meal I encourage you to try it and be sure to check out Lidia’s cookbooks. I may create a page dedicated to her, the recipes I try from her cookbooks and some of the little cooking techniques she offers.

Let me know how you like this recipe.

The 2009 Winner of the LG Electronics / Bon Appetit’s Life Tastes Good Competition Kristine Snyder Interview featuring her winning Mahi Mahi recipe.

I have been following this cooking contest and am thrilled to have been able to interview the winner, Kristine Snyder, who will be traveling to Thailand to compete in a global cooking event. If you want to read more about the contest, the judges and other competitors, go to Taste of Something Better.

Kristine is from Maui, HI and prepared a Soy-Glazed Mahi Mahi with Cilantro Pesto Shrimp dish that I will share with you in the interview. I would like to thank LG Electronics and Bon Appetit for helping make this interview possible.

So let’s get started by asking how you became involved with the LG Electronics/Bon Appetit Life Tastes Good Cooking Competition?

I am a member of a website called Cooking Contest Central which lists recipe contests and when I read about LG’s fabulous prize packages, I decided to give it a try.  I emailed my entry the day before the deadline (I never submit a recipe early because I usually want to change something) and was notified that my recipe was in the top 10.  After that, Bon Appetit prepared the 10 recipes and narrowed it down to the 3 finalists (I was on pins and needles during that waiting time!)

Did you think from the start you had a chance of winning the New York competition and be on your way to Thailand to compete in a global cooking cook-off?

Always hopeful but I am realistic which meant having a 33.3% chance of going to Bangkok.  I also didn’t know anything about my competition which probably was a good thing since their recipes looked and sounded delicious!

What was your strategy for choosing your recipe for mahi mahi and shrimp flavored with soy, lime and cilantro?

I really didn’t think of it as strategy - I just put together some of my favorite Hawaiian flavors (which also includes ginger, garlic, and Hawaiian Portuguese Sausage).  After moving to Hawaii in 1998 I immediately fell in love with the Pacific Rim ingredients and tastes and I cook with them about 80% of the time.  I had created a recipe similar to this one for another contest but it wasn’t chosen so I decided to try again.  The two lessons here are 1) how difficult it is to get into cooking contests and 2) if you know you have good recipe, stick with it and keep trying!

By the way, do you mind sharing your recipe with all my readers?

Love to….

Soy-Glazed Mahi Mahi with Cilantro Pesto Shrimp

• 3 tablespoons Japanese soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons sesame oil
• 4 tablespoons minced fresh ginger, divided
• 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons minced garlic, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, divided
• 4 5-ounce Mahi Mahi fillets, 3/4 to 1” thick
• 2-1/2 ounces spicy Hawaiian Portuguese sausage (preferably Purity Brand), thinly sliced & quartered

• 3/4 cup clam juice
• 1/4 cup low salt chicken broth
• 3 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon Thai sweet chili sauce

• 3/4 cup (packed) fresh cilantro
• 3-1/2 tablespoons macadamia nut oil
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
• 1/2 teaspoon grated lime zest
• 1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• 1-1/2 tablespoons cold butter, cut into pieces
• 8 large shrimp, peeled and deveined, tail on
• 3 cups chopped watercress
• grape or cherry tomatoes, halved

1) Combine the soy sauce, sesame oil, 2 tablespoons ginger, 1 tablespoon garlic, and 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes in a 1 gallon sealable plastic bag.  Add fish and sausage to marinade, turning to coat.  Refrigerate 1/2 hour.

2) Combine clam juice, broth, vinegar, and sweet chili sauce in a small saucepan.  Boil over medium-high heat until reduced to 1/2 cup, about 10 minutes.  Set aside.

3) Puree cilantro, macadamia nut oil, remaining 2 tablespoons ginger, remaining 2 teaspoons garlic, lime juice, zest, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes in a food processor.  Reserve 2 tablespoons for shrimp and set remainder aside.

4) Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.  Remove fish and sausage from marinade, scraping off excess, and place on a parchment-lined baking pan (sausage should be in a single layer on pan).  Bake 7 to 9 minutes or until just cooked through.

5) Meanwhile, to finish sauce, reheat broth mixture over medium heat and stir in cilantro pesto.  Gradually stir in butter and season to taste with salt.  Melt reserved cilantro pesto in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat and sauté shrimp until opaque, about 1-1/2 minutes per side.  To serve, divide watercress onto 4 warmed plates and top with fish.  Drizzle sauce over the fish and top with shrimp.  Garnish with tomatoes.

Serves 4

Kristine with Judges Richard Blais, Cat Cora, Jonathan Lindenauer

You won a complete kitchen makeover with LG Electronic products. How exciting is that? Can you talk a little about how this will inspire your cooking?

What a dream!  I have always wanted 2 ovens and a 5-burner cooktop!  LG set up a beautiful kitchen at the Bon Appetit Supper Club for the NY cook off and their products were fabulous.  Their refrigerator is the nicest I’ve ever seen and the ovens were easy to use and worked perfectly.  I found out that the microwave  works as a warming oven as well (how clever! ) and the dishwasher cleans with steam.  Having these wonderful new appliances will definitely make cooking easier and more fun (it’ll be like having a room full of new toys to play with!).

Are you nervous about going to Thailand to compete?

Of course!  I get nervous when cooking for a dinner party so the idea of a global competition is a bit overwhelming!  LG’s global contest is being judged differently than the US contest and there are many details that I won’t know until we arrive in Bangkok.  I found out the recipes will be judged on being light and healthy as well as taste and we will also be judged on our cooking skills which is very scary since I tend to cut myself in every contest (I’m a professional harpist, not a chef!).  We’re also cooking our dishes in LG’s SolarDOM oven which cooks food using light.  It’s exciting to be able to use a new high-tech cooking method but it also adds the fear of trying something new.

Let’s talk a little about your culinary background - Where did you learn how to cook?

My mother was a wonderful cook so I grew up loving food and cooking but I learned the most in my 20’s when a few girlfriends invited me to join them in starting a “Bon Appetit Club.”  We alternated hosting a monthly dinner, choosing recipes out of Bon Appetit and assigning everyone a recipe to make with an emphasis on trying something new.  We had a great time and I learned a lot at as well.

When do you think you really became passionate about food? Or better yet, when do you think you realized it? Was there an “ah ha” moment or was it just part of your nature?

As I mentioned, I’ve always loved food (sometimes too much!) but my “ah ha” moment was in 2001 when I very unexpectedly won $20,000 in Sutter Home’s Build a Better Burger contest by creating a salmon burger.  After that win I  became much more passionate about cooking and creating my own recipes.

Did you ever have any fears about cooking or trying something new and if so, how did you overcome those fears?

I still have fears that something won’t turn out as I want it to but my main rule is to only try new dishes out on my closest friends and never try more than 1 new recipe at a time.  When creating my own recipes, my poor husband is my guinea pig and when I’m working on a contest, we can eat some strange dinners.

Fortunately he’s a good sport and also a good judge of food tastes.  When it comes to cooking contests, you can’t overcome the fear of making a mistake but I try to make my recipe as many times as possible beforehand.  I think that practicing cooking is just like practicing a musical instrument or training for a sport.

Have you ever thought of going to culinary school to become a professional chef? If so, why didn’t you?

I would love to go to culinary school to learn more about cooking but would never want to become a
professional chef.  I like to cook for fun and don’t want to think of it as “work.”  I also enjoy not having to follow rules and don’t cook every night since my “real job” requires evening work.

I receive lots of email from home cooks who feel like they are in a “cooking rut” and they prepare the same 5 or 6 “safe” meals week after week. What advice would you offer these frustrated home cooks?

Swap recipes with your friends or try joining an internet recipe exchange.  Anytime you think of something you’d like to eat, write it down and then search for a recipe off the internet.  Cooking magazines are great too.

To me, there are at least two types of cooking styles and each has its pros and cons. There are those who find a recipe in a great cooking magazine like Bon Appetit, shop for every ingredient and follow the recipe exactly as written. Then there are others who look through their Bon Appetit for ideas and go prepare a unique dish using what they have on hand in their pantry and refrigerator. I was wondering if you have a favorite style of cooking?

Although I don’t condone it as being the best method, I’m unable to follow a recipe exactly as written.  I usually add or substitute a different ingredient or two and sometimes I’m just too lazy to measure the ingredients.  Fortunately you can get away with a lot of little changes in cooking but that’s not the case in baking.  I suppose that’s why I don’t often bake!  But my husband hates it when I create a “throw together everything in the refrigerator” dish because when it turns out well he knows I’ll never be able to make it exactly like that again.

What are your favorite ingredients to cook with, why and can you give us an example of how you cook with them?

Garlic and ginger are my favorites because they enhance and brighten anything they’re added to.  Plus, they are great for your health!  I put garlic and ginger in stir-fries, sauteed veggies, soups (makes a fabulous Asian chicken noodle soup), meat, fish, and chicken marinades, coconut curries, rice dishes, and just about everything else I cook!  I also love using citrus (lemon or lime), cilantro, and soy sauce or fish sauce (I consider them sort  of a complex-tasting salt).

What 5 cookbooks would you recommend every home cook own?

Personally, I utilize the internet for recipes and ideas more often than cookbooks because of the multiple sources available with the search engines but I also like to create my own cookbooks and files with recipes I’ve cut out of magazines or printed off the internet.

What are the top 5 cooking tips or suggestions you would give a novice cook?

1. Make cooking fun!  Try fun-sounding recipes or try to make something you’ve always wanted to eat.

2. Don’t try something too difficult.  Learning takes patience so start slowly and remember, great recipes don’t have to be complicated.

3. Use good quality, fresh ingredients - yes, it matters!

4. Don’t try new recipes out on guests unless they’re VERY close friends and make dinner parties a
combined effort - assign friends or family members to bring a dish.

5. Practice makes perfect.  Mistakes will still happen but the more cooking you do, the fewer mistakes you’ll make.  Soon you’ll be a great cook!

Thank you so much for this interview and good luck in Thailand.