Thread: cuisine with Chef Zambini

I lived in anchorage on 2 seperate occasions and have made 3 additional visits in the summer for fishing and visiting with friends...
REINDEER sausage;
never had a bad one !
one of my co-workers grilled up one of his own rendeer staeks for me as a going away gift.
THANKS for the 411 on reideer at costco !
Glad to know that costco offers reindeer sausage, i will check it out and give it a try !

Originally Posted by Chef Zambini

I lived in anchorage on 2 seperate occasions and have made 3 additional visits in the summer for fishing and visiting with friends...
REINDEER sausage;
never had a bad one !
one of my co-workers grilled up one of his own rendeer staeks for me as a going away gift.
THANKS for the 411 on reideer at costco !
Glad to know that costco offers reindeer sausage, i will check it out and give it a try !

I know Anchorage costco has it. Not sure if others do or not.

I see now you live in eagle river, just outside anchorage, lucky you !I havent been back to alaska since 2003.
My perfect retirement would be to live in alaska may thru september.
when I win the lottery...

maybe I should buy a ticket.

Originally Posted by Chef Zambini

I see now you live in eagle river, just outside anchorage, lucky you !I havent been back to alaska since 2003.
My perfect retirement would be to live in alaska may thru september.
when I win the lottery...

maybe I should buy a ticket.

Do what I do....live of the Alaska Airlines credit card. Get the buy 1 get 1 ticket for $10 deal and all the miles.

I made ribs today, I bought two babay back racks for memeorial day, but with the burgers and turkey only had room for the one rack.
Today i went with my traditional oven method, and to be honest folks, they blew away what I labored over with the weber !
so much more tender, and moist.
great flavoe and texture, I may never do my ribs on the weber again.
I didnt have PECAN for my monday smoke, so I may leave open that small window of possibility.
but todays ribs were awesome !
my chef at work gave me a new hot sauce, GUAVA LAVA, I added it to my regular sauce concoction instead of tabasco and the ribs were amazing.

DR. PEPPER BRISKET:
wash and dry brisket marinade for 12 hours in Dr. Pepper with fresh sliced sweet onion rings
(pickling spices optional )
remove from marinade, broil for 10 minutes along with onions, 5 minutes each side.
return the beef and onions to same marinade '
add fresh sliced orange wheels,
and braise in oven at 300 degrees for 2 hours.
remove meet from braising liquid, rest at room temperature for 15 minutes.

meanwhile portion a head of cabbage
cut in half down the middle of the core stem, then divide into 6 sections, again cutting along stem core.
(this will keep the cabbage intact, I use red cabbage)
add the portioned cabbage to the braISING LIQUID ALONG WITH ORANGES AND ONIONS
ADD A THIRD CUP OF VINEGAR, i used a raspberry balsamic.
be sure cabbage is almost completely submersed in liquid, add stock or water or beer to maintain level.
braise the cabbage in this liquid for 30 minutes.
(either in oven or on range top, covered if red cabbage, uncovered if green.)

after 20 minute rest period for meat, broil again, both sides 4 minutes each, carmelize additional onions if you wish.
remove brisket from broil, rest additional 15 minutes before slicing.


pull cabage and oranges from braising liquid, bring liquid to a boil, then simmer 20 minutes.
pour over sliced brisket and cabbage,
serve with onions and braised orange segments.
be sure to slice brisket across grain!

bump

Originally Posted by Chef Zambini

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so ZAM....Gimmie your best halibut receipt or white fish in general.

halibut steaks dry out quickly, you , however are catching big fish in alaska so fillets are more common. I have always liked roasting halibut, either with a macadamia crust or or seasoned and finished in an aluminum foil envelope to steam and roast with a good aplication of white wine before you seal it in the 'bag'.
i then top it with sliced avocado, fresh diced tomato and then laddle some orange juice infused hollendaise over the top for a final glaze !
I normally like to do halibut in parchment, but the technique for making the classic parchment pouchis a little too complicated to cover here.
maybe someone like alton brown has a video?

Originally Posted by NightTerror218

Do what I do....live of the Alaska Airlines credit card. Get the buy 1 get 1 ticket for $10 deal and all the miles.

A friend of my family, John Kelley, used to be the Chairman and CEO of Alaksan Airlines. Irrelevant, I know.

So Zam, what's the best west coast fish to grill and I'll take any advice on preparation. Cheers.

I consider salmon especially this time of year west coast.
TUNA too.
swordfish is probably the most common, but parasites and the water it swims in makes it less attractive.
it is easy to overcook sordfish too, especially on the grill.
barracuda, bonita both some common game fish that you can catch off california shores, they are receptive to all grilling methods and taste delicious !
when I grill, especially fresh fish I am very minimalistic about how I dress it up ! I like to let the natural, fresh flavor of the fish to be the central, donimamnt theme.
I always encourage people to use the spices and herbs that they like, but here are a few of my favorite additions and seasonings as well as techniques.

for fish;
get the grill as hot as possible, always cook skin side down, even if you remove the skin, put that side on the grill.
use fresh grond pepper, I like the mixed peppers, far superior to just black pepper.
if you salt, kosher or coarse sea salt, especially on the skin side.
CORIANDER powder ! this really brightens up the flavor of fresh fish, almost like citrus.
and speaking of citrus, instead of the ubiquitus lemon try squeezing fresh oranges or lime instead, even cutting orange , lime and lemon segmnets along with some fresh melon or mango and combine as a fresh "salsa to serve on top of your freshly grilled fish!
fresh diced tomato and avocado also make nice grilled fish toppers!

campfire cooking.
along with that bottle dressing marinade, you can add julliene onion and bell peppers along with crushed garlic and fresh herbs to your fish and wrap it all in an aluminum foil envelope to grill roast and steam all at the same time. when you open the foil the aromas and flavor will be amazing.
takes less than 10 minutes once on the grill so do not overcook.
Perhaps the biggest mistake folks make is overcooking their fish! get all the other cooking done first, before you throw that fish to the fire !
when I go salmon fishin in alaska, the KENIA, i cut salmon steaks i make individual "nests" out of foil line the bottom with onion red bell pepper and crushed garlic, all tossed in oil and then place the salmon steak, seasoned with coriander and cracked mixed pepper on top of the veggies! these nests go right on to a hot grill (my weber0 and I just put the lid down and drink a bear or makers mark and cream soda with my friends, 8 minutes later, I remove the lid, pull out the salmon in a nest and put one , as is on a plate for each of my guests. 2-4 aditional minutes if they like their fish well done.

no I dont drink a BEAR, that should be beer.

Zam, talk to us about cooking a whole "dressed" fish. Such as Striped Bass or Rainbow Trout.

I understand the bones add a ton of flavor.

Zam,

I have, on occassion had fish with a buerre blanc sauce at a restaurant and really enjoyed it. Especially at one local restaurant that does a blackened tilapia with buerre blanc.

However, when I try to make this delicate sauce at home, the vinegar seems to really take over, and I don't really like it.

So my question is basically, am I not doing it right, or is the sauce I'm having at the restaurant not a true buerre blanc? Should there be a really strong vinegar flavor, or am I not reducing the vinegar down far enough, or am I using an inferior vinegar, what do you think?

If it is supposed to have a really strong vinegar taste, then the sauce I'm having at the restaurant is not a true buerre blanc. But if it is supposed to be more buttery and creamy, than maybe I'm not reducing the vinegar down enough, or using bad vinegar or something.