August!

One of the greatest things about cooking and food in general is that the possibilities of preparation are nearly endless. There are many "standards" in cooking, and the standards are important because if nothing else, it allows a diner to order something that they recognize. Some people are not what you would call adventurous eaters, and the existence of these standards allows people a frame of reference, and an expectation that they have of what they order. They know what they will be getting, because they have had the food prepared in that manner before, and know what to expect. Also, standards are often in place because they have earned their "spot" in the world of cuisine. That being said, I thought that this month I would talk about some food that sort of "crosses" between 2 or more standards, and puts a new spin on certain recognizable dishes. Hopefully, these crossover dishes might carve out their own spot in your kitchen. I thought that I would talk about three different courses, appetizer entrée and dessert, so that maybe you could serve all three in the same meal so people could talk about your new standards! A few weeks ago, I was trying to think about some new ideas for a weekly special, and I saw a food magazine opened to a picture of pancakes. Also, that day we had just received some asian style ingredients, and one thing led to another? I started thinking about how when caviar is served, sometimes people serve them with blini-style pancakes with which they wrap the caviar. Since this is a neat and delicious way to serve appetizers, I thought that maybe it would work with another starter course, seared tuna. Tuna is often served with asian ingredients like soy sauce, pickled ginger, scallions, wasabi, etc. So, I thought that maybe if we combined these 2 different styles, asian and the blini-style pancakes, we could come up with something new that stood on it's own as a delicious appetizer idea, try it and see what you think? Tuna with Wasabi, Scallion, and Ginger Pancakes. Although this entrée isn't quite as large a crossover in style, it does use a certain dish in an interesting manner. I am sure that most of you have tried ratatouille at one time or another, but normally it is served as a vegetable side dish. A friend of mine had the idea that instead of using it as a side dish, it might be a good idea to coat one side of a piece of sea bass, and sear the fish so that it makes a crust.

Go To Page: 1 2

Articles in this Topic    Discussions in this Topic