Don't Passover Gefilte Fish

Gefilte Fish is a traditional course served during a Passover Seder.  Many people are unaware of what it is and those that are familiar with it only know of the gefilte fish sold in jars.  The jarred variety does not look very appetizing, as it tends to look like clumpy fish balls in a murky liquid.  But take heart, gefilte fish is an easy and delicious course to make from scratch, foregoing the murky fish balls.

Start by cooking tender some carrots and parsnips.  I cooked mine sous vide for 30 minutes at 180F. 

Traditionally gefilte fish is made of fresh white fish, like carp.  But living in California I opted for some local fresh caught cod fillets.  Here are two pounds of it.  You want to cut the fish into 1/2 cubes and then  place in freezer for half an hour.

While the fish chills, mince two cooked carrots and one parsnip, with one preserved lemon (skin only) and two tablespoons of minced tarragon. 

After the fish has chilled place in a food processor and pulse into a smooth paste about 1-2 minutes.

After the fish has been processed into a paste, place into a large mixing bowl and add the minced carrots, parsnips, preserved lemons, and tarragon.  To that add one egg and a quarter cup of matzoh meal.
Mix well to combine, then form into 3 equal sized logs about 2 inches in diameter.

I then bagged each log in its own vacuum pouch with 1/4 cup of frozen fish stock and cooked sous vide at 140 for 1 hour, then removed the cooked fish and placed in an ice bath to cool for half an hour before refrigerating over night.  

To serve the gefilte fish remove from the bags and slice into disks and serve immediately with minced tarragon.  Traditionally gefilte fish is served cold so there is no need to reheat.


Chef Mick is co-owner and Culinary MC of Add Thyme Cooking Classes

Sous Vide Pork Chops with Currywurst Dry Rub

I started off with a few pork chops I sliced out of a whole pork loin.  I left the fat on as I know even in the sous vide the pork can dry out, as the first time I tried out sous vide pork chops they were a bit on the dry side.  So there the fat and the temp will help control the moisture.  I think I just took my temp a little too high the first time I tried it.  This time I am using a 138 F temp for 2 hours.

 In my mind I wanted to do something similar to a maple brined chop, but since I had to have the chops ready for dinner time I improvised.  First thing was a dry rub, but sweet so I started with a base of kosher salt, brown sugar, dried garlic, dried onions, and a little cayenne.  But while pulling out the spices, I realized I had a little spice mix left over from some currywurst I recently made.  What a lucky discovery.

 After rubbing the dry rub on to the chops, they were placed in the bag and cooked for 2 hours at 138 F.   While not looking so great out of the bag, the aroma was fantastic.  After a quick dry off I placed the cooked chops in a smoking hot oiled grill pan and seared each side a minute, then rotated 90 degrees for another minute, before flipping over and searing on a cross hatch pattern on the opposite side.

 Ah, a nice and juicy chop is done.









Mick Dimas, Culinary M.C. Co-owner of Add Thyme, a great place to take cooking classes in San Francisco.

Sous Vide Chicken Breast in Creamy Ricotta Sauce

What I love about sous vide cooking besides its amazing ability to keep meats moist and tender, is its convenience factor.  Now I am someone who likes to cook, really loves to cook, but those that are a little timid in the kitchen can take heart - cooking sous vide really simplifies things for you.  There may be a little bit of planning involved, but would you rather leave the planning to a food scientist figuring out a better way to add water weight to your frozen semi meat microwave meal?  It is cliché but it all goes back to you are what you eat, literally.  So why not take just a little bit of time out of your day and make something that is better for you and that actually tastes good as well.  OK, off my soap box.

One of the quickest meals to make is using chicken breast in the sous vide.  

This is a recipe for Chicken Breast in Creamy Spinach Ricotta Sauce.

Sous Vide Chicken Breast in Creamy Ricotta Sauce

For Sous Vide (Prep 5 minutes, Cook time min 1hour)

2 - 6 oz boneless skinless chicken breast

1 Tablespoon Butter

Kosher Salt

1 Bay leaf

For the sauce (Prep time 5 minutes, cook time 25 minutes)

1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil 

1 shallot or half an onion

2 cups fresh baby spinach

½ cup of chicken stock

½ cup Ricotta Cheese

¼ cup cream

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

A couple of zests of a lemon

Salt & Black Pepper to taste

Sous vide:

Generously salt the chicken breast with kosher salt and place in pouch, with butter & bay leaf.  Seal and add to water bath pre-heated to 146 F and cook for a minimum of 1 hour.

Sauce:  

To make the sauce, dice your shallot.  Heat a sauté pan over medium high heat.  When the pan is heated, add the extra virgin olive oil, then the shallots and cook until soft about 3-5 minutes, taking care not to brown them.  Once the shallots are soft, add your baby spinach and with a wooden spoon move it around the pan until the spinach has shriveled and is limp.  Then add the chicken stock, turn pan up to high heat and bring to a boil and reduce the stock by half, about 8 minutes.  Once the stock has reduced, lower the temperature to medium low and stir in your ricotta cheese.  Stir to incorporate the cheese into the spinach and onion mixture, simmer for a minute and then add the cayenne and cream and let simmer for 5 minutes.  Just before serving zest in a couple of swipes of lemon zest with a micro-plane zester.

After the chicken has cooked for a minimum of an hour remove the breasts from the bags and serve with the creamy spinach ricotta sauce. 

Serving suggestion- Serve with a brown rice pilaf and broiled asparagus.

Recipe by Mick Dimas, Culinary M.C. and Co-Owner of Add Thyme a cooking school based in San Francisco.  For a list of cooking classes offered please check out www.addthyme.com