During my week alone I dismantled Christmas, deep cleaned the house, slept very little and cooked for one, something I hadn't done in a long time. On Friday on the phone with Nicole, who was returning Monday, she asked me if I had missed the date for the amateur chef reality show entry that Kara had sent me via the emails. I checked and by God it was that Sunday. I downloaded the application, map quested the Manhasset location, and began constructing the dish I would plate for the judges in my head.
To my mind the challenge was to create a dish that would be yummy at room temp or chilled. There would be no heat element provided, you had to wait in line, go in the room and plate your dish.
One of the side effects of eating alone all week was that I was drawn to the wok. In order to keep my middle aged waist line in check I find that I need to eat small meals (Low fat protein, simple carb, veggie) every three hours. This regimen is easiest to maintain when I'm doing a show. I can do all the cooking in the morning and load up small meal sized tupperware in my bag and head to the train. I save money and drop weight. When the family is all home and I'm in between jobs, it's more difficult to perpetuate this regimen because of the high value we place on the dinner ritual. However, during the alone week, I discovered that putting the protein, carb, and veggie together in the wok with some asian seasonings was providing a tasty new angle on the small meal regimen. So, I was in an Asian frame of mind.
So, Asian, room temp and show them chefiness. I had salmon in the freezer. I researched poached salmon and learned the french way. Ah! It started to form.
I would do an East meets West across the plate poached Salmon. On the right side of the plate I would do Satay noodles and continue the Satay sauce on the fish. On the right I would do broccoli rabe with shaved parmesan or pecorino and a green pea/mint sauce that carried over to the fish. Across the bottom of the plate Asian marinated mushrooms. While each sauce would be pure East or West, the sides would have secret elements that would foot them in both East and West cuisines. In other words, the satay noodles would use Italian spaghettini instead of bean thread noodles, and the broccoli rabe would be prepared in the wok using soy, oyster sauce, and toasted sesame. The fact that the salmon was the common ground felt very right due to it's prominence in both cuisine worlds.
I had a plan and I had a whole day to prepare. After a trip to the market, I put on my Iron Chef chef's jacket Nicole bought one Christmas in Brooklyn years ago and spent the day preparing my dish.
One of my last conversations with Paul, he sat at the counter in Marshfield while I made the sweet sausage/cream spaghetti for dinner. I told him that I had made a decision that I would somehow get some formal culinary training this year. I told him what he already knew, that we couldn't survive another year like the one we'd just had unless I had another way to make money. He said he thought it sounded like a good idea. What I loved him for is what he didn't say. He didn't say, "Are you crazy for ever trying to support my daughter and grandchildren by singing and dancing and telling stories? You better get a real job McVety." No, he didn't say that, and I loved him for it. He said the spaghetti looked good and asked me what "caramelized" meant.
I have made such a decision and since I can't afford any training until I get my next lucrative acting job I am sort of Catch 22ing it here. My toes curled over the starting block, head bowed, knees flexed, measured breathing, eyes on the prize, ready... ready...
I spent the day before making the sauces, poaching the Salmon, rehearsed plating the dish and then packed everything in the cooler so that I could plate with ease and rapidity in front of the judges in Manhasset, bringing all necessary tools with me.
I followed the map quest instructions arrived and waited with the other amateurs for three hours in the 22ยบ Long Island air. When my turn came, I plated the dish on a waist high table with eight other amateurs on either side of me. The judges came and I explained my dish. I had gotten as far as "hidden clues in each side element" when one of the two judges, the food judge I guess, asked me if I had had any culinary training. I said "No." She nodded and moved on with out tasting. The other judge, who I guess was the personality judge, asked me what was the most life changing event I had ever experienced. I told him about Paul, and that I now am really responsible for his and my family and I have to find a way to keep feeding them. He pointed me toward the girl in the back.
I cleared my plate and repacked everything. I made my way to the girl in the back who told me that I would be going on to the next round. I was actually giddy like any American Idol contestant going to Hollywood. While I had been waiting in line, I watched the people relate to each other, telling about their dishes, struggling to keep their Lobster Fra Diavalos, their venison stuffed peppers warm. I found I didn't have anything to say to anyone, and I worried about it. I worried that I wouldn't have the reality TV show personality thing kick on when I needed it. But an interesting thing happened. Once I got into the room and plated the food, and saw other people's food all I wanted to do was talk to them about it. "Man, that looks great! Beautiful." Not sure what that's all about except that I'm not very good at small talk.
There will be more Masterchef to come. It's not the same as enrolling at the French Culinary Institute, but it keeps me moving in a certain direction.
SPICY ORANGE SATAY/PEPERONCINO NOODLES
6 tablespoons smooth natural peanut butter,
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
3 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 to 3 teaspoons hot chili paste (Sambal Oelek)
1/4 to 1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 lb. Spaghettini Noodles (I used ones pre-infused with peperoncino. )
Cucumber, peeled and cut into match sticks
Radish cut into match sticks
Chopped scallion green part only.
Whisk sauce ingredients until smooth and season with salt and pepper.
Boil pasta in salted water until al dente. Toss with enough sauce to coat pasta. Refrigerate serve cold garnished with cucumber, radish and scallion.
MARINATED SHITAKE/PORTABELLO/OYSTER MUSHROOMS
1 tsp. sliced garlic
1 Tbs. sliced fresh ginger root
3/4 pounds mixed mushroom caps wiped clean and stems removed.
1 tsp. Sambal Oelek
1/2 cup sesame vinagrette
2 tsp. sesame oil
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup Rice wine vinegar
In heavy saucepan, heat the sesame oil over medium heat. Add the garlic, ginger root, and mushrooms and saute for three minutes. Deglaze pan with vinegar and reduce over medium high heat until almost no liquid remains. Stir in sambal oelek and salt and remove from heat. Add the vinagrette and stir. Cover and refrigerate and allow to marinade for at least six hours.
EAST/WEST BROCCOLI RABE
1 bunch broccoli rabe
2 Tbs. olive oil
2 cloves garlic sliced
2 tsp. toasted sesame seeds
2 Tbs. soy sauce
2 Tbs. Oyster sauce
Shaved Pecorino Romano
Fill stock pot to half with water and bring to boil. Submerge broccoli rabe in boiling water for two to three minutes. Remove from boiling water and submerge in ice water immediately.
Heat olive oil in wok over high heat. Add garlic and saute for 20 to thirty seconds. Add broccoli rabe in batches, do not over crowd. Add soy sauce, oyster sauce, and toasted sesame seeds, salt and pepper and saute in wok until wilted and tender - two to three minutes. Remove from wok and allow to cool. Cover and refrigerate. Garnish with shave Pecorino Romano.
POACHED SALMON
Two Leeks,
2 cups white wine
2 cups water
Bay leaf
3 shallots
2 cloves garlic
salt and pepper
Salmon fillet
In Dutch oven with lid, heat all ingredients until wine and water are boiling. Place salmon skin side down until just submerged. Reduce heat until liquid is just barely bubbling. Cover and poach salmon for 15 minutes. Remove salmon and reserve broth as fish stock. Allow salmon to come to room temperature then cover and refrigerate.
GREEN PEA SAUCE
1 cup frozen or fresh green peas
1/2 stick butter
splash or two of cream
1/2 cup fish/poaching stock
Tbs. fresh chopped mint
In blender combine peas, butter, cream, fish stock. Blend until all elements are incorporated. Add more stock as necessary until desired consistency is reached. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Stir in chopped mint.
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