1 tablespoon capers, rinsed
Lemon wedges
Hold the fish dorsal side up (as though it were swimming) on a work surface and, using a sharp serrated knife, make 3 or 4 cuts about 1½ inches deep and 1 inch apart straight across the back of the fish. Fold the prosciutto loosely in half and insert as much as you can of it into the cuts, letting the excess drape attractively. Brush the fish all over with 1½ tablespoons of the olive oil.
Pat the olives and capers dry. Chop coarsely. Combine in a small bowl and set aside.
Heat a chapa or a large cast-iron griddle over medium heat. Brush with a spoon of oil. When the oil shimmers, add the fish and cook for about 8 minutes, without moving it, until the skin and prosciutto on the first side are crisp. Using a sharp-edged wide spatula, turn the fish over, spooning a little more olive oil under it, and cook on the other side until the flesh turns opaque throughout, about 7 more minutes. Transfer to a serving platter.
Drizzle the fish with the remaining olive oil, scatter the olives and capers over it, and serve immediately, with lemon wedges.
Chupin de Pescado
A chupin is a fish stew, traditionally made by the Indians in the north of Argentina. I am indebted to them for the cooking lessons given me over many campfires in the wilds of their homeland. The name chupin comes from the Spanish chupar, a word one uses when something is so delicious that you say, “Hasta que chupar los dedos,” which means “finger-licking good.” I love a cod chupin, but hake, grouper, or any similar firm-fleshed white fish works well. SERVES 6
½ cup extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
2 onions, finely chopped
8 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 large fennel bulb, trimmed, cored, and diced
1 tablespoon pimentón dulce (sweet Spanish paprika)
1 large red chile pepper, cut lengthwise in half and seeds removed
1 cup dry white wine
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
6 cups Rich Vegetable Stock (page 288)
2 red or Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into ½-inch pieces
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
8 ounces green beans, topped and tailed
2¼ pounds thick cod or other firm white fish steaks
3 large ripe tomatoes, chopped (or 2 cups chopped canned plum tomatoes)
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, plus more for serving
1 small bunch Swiss chard, stems removed and leaves cut crosswise into thin strips
Heat ¼ cup of the olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-low heat. Add the chopped onion, garlic, fennel, and pimentón and sauté until the vegetables are softened and starting to turn golden. Add the chile pepper and white wine, raise the heat to medium-high, and boil until the wine reduces by half. Add the bay leaves and oregano, pour in the vegetable stock, and return to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, add the potatoes, and cook for about 5 minutes, or until the potatoes are half cooked. Season with salt and pepper.
Meanwhile, cut the green beans into bite-size pieces and blanch them in a saucepan of boiling salted water for about a minute, until they are bright green but still crisp. Drain in a sieve and run under cold water to stop the cooking. Set aside.
Add the fish and chopped tomatoes to the pot and simmer gently until the fish flakes easily from the bone, about 5 minutes or so. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly.
Use a slotted spoon to transfer the fish to a bowl, then remove the bones and skin. Return the fish to the soup and stir in the remaining ¼ cup olive oil and the lemon juice. Season carefully with salt, pepper, and the red pepper flakes.
To serve, return the soup to a boil, add the green beans and chard, and cook for a minute or two, until the chard is just tender. Ladle into soup bowls and serve with olive oil and red pepper flakes on the side.
Mussels Steamed in Red Wine–Butter Sauce with Shallots and Parsley
Cooking mussels in white wine is a delicious tradition, but you don’t always have to baby your mussels with white wine. They have a deep briny flavor and the fortitude to stand up to red wine too. In addition to the traditional garlic, I use shallots, sautéed and cooked in a golden roux. The result is a rich, velvety sauce. To mop it up, instead of a baguette, try some dark bread, which will add to the powerful flavor of the wine sauce. SERVES 4
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
⅔ cup minced shallots
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups light red wine
4 fresh thyme sprigs
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 pounds mussels, scrubbed if necessary, any cracked or open ones discarded
1 cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Crusty bread
Melt the butter in a large Dutch oven over low heat. Add the shallots and sauté gently for 2 or 3 minutes, until they soften. Add the garlic and sauté for 1 minute. Stir in the flour to form a roux and cook, stirring, for about 5 minutes, until it turns a light blond color.
Gradually stir in the red wine, using a wooden spoon. Add the thyme, raise the heat to medium, and bring to a gentle boil, stirring. Continue cooking for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the alcohol cooks off and the mixture thickens enough to lightly coat the spoon. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Add the mussels and half the parsley, stir, cover, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, depending on the size of the mussels. Remove the lid and transfer any mussels that have opened wide to a large bowl. Give the rest of the mussels a stir to redistribute them, replace the lid, and cook for several minutes longer, shaking the pot from time to time to move the mussels around, and checking every minute or so to remove them as they are done. Discard any that refuse to open.
Off the heat, return the cooked mussels, in their shells, to the sauce and stir to coat. Stir in the remaining parsley and ladle into soup bowls, with plenty of sauce. Serve with slices of crusty bread.
Octopus in an Iron Box with Chard, Green Beans, Tomatoes, and Eggs
I often prepare this recipe in cast-iron boxes of the type that I first saw in Brazil. They make for a terrific presentation, but a big cast-iron skillet, griddle, or brazier will do just as well. You want an octopus of about two pounds, which has tentacles large enough to give you a crunchy outside and tender flesh inside. Too big, and they are invariably tough, while the small ones are all crunch and no chew. SERVES 4
Coarse sea salt
1 octopus, about 2 pounds
2 onions, cut in half
2 carrots
12 black peppercorns
About 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 heads garlic, cut horizontally in half
1 bunch Swiss chard, stems removed
12 ounces green beans, topped and tailed
24 cherry tomatoes
12 small potatoes, boiled in their skins
4 large eggs
Freshly ground black pepper
Salsa Provenzal (page 288)
Pour water into a stockpot until it is a little more than half full and salt the water. Bring it to a boil and, holding the octopus by the head, plunge it into the water for about 10 seconds, then pull it out. Bring the water back to a boil and repeat twice more.
Add the onions, carrots, and peppercorns to the water and reduce the heat to a low simmer. Return the octopus to the pot and simmer for 30 minutes, then turn the heat off and let stand for 30 minutes, then bring back to a simmer and repeat the process. It should be done once for each pound of octopus. Let cool in the liquid.
Separate the head of the octopus from the tentacles and discard. If not cooking immediately, wrap the tentacles in plastic wrap and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature before charring.
Heat four individual iron boxes or as many cast-iron skillets or griddles as you have over medium-high heat. Brush the surfaces w
ith oil, and when it shimmers, add the halved garlic heads, cut side down. Let them brown and soften for several minutes, then rub them over the hot surfaces to flavor them and move them to the side. Add the octopus tentacles to one box. When they are crisp and slightly charred on one side, after about 2 minutes, drizzle them with oil and turn them. Meanwhile, quickly cook the chard, green beans, tomatoes, and potatoes in the same way, keeping the items separate and drizzling them with olive oil to keep them moist.
Clear a space in each box or pan, add a little more oil, and fry the eggs.
Divide the vegetables, octopus, and eggs among four boxes or individual dinner plates and serve immediately, with the salsa.
Split Lobster a la Parrilla with Scallops
Many people cook lobster on a grill by splitting it and placing it meat side down: This method is guaranteed to dry out and toughen the meat. I place the lobster shell side down on the parrilla so that it poaches quickly in its own juices, basted with butter and tarragon. As for the scallops, they are more delicate and require less cooking, so they are sautéed briefly in butter at the end. By all means, use scallops with roe if you can get them. The roe is much loved in France, but I rarely see it elsewhere. Its combination of creaminess and tang is intense but very pleasing. SERVES 2
1 live lobster, about 1½ pounds
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
¼ cup finely chopped fresh tarragon
8 ounces scallops, preferably with roe attached
Fleur de sel
Lemon wedges
Heat a charcoal grill over medium-high heat.
Set the lobster belly side down on a cutting board and hold it down firmly by the tail with a kitchen towel. Plunge a sharp chef’s knife into the base of the head just above the point where it meets the back, to kill the lobster instantly, then pull the knife toward you and continue cutting to split the head in half. Turn the lobster around and cut down the length of the tail to split it in two. Remove the sand sac from the head and the gray intestinal vein from the tail and discard. Set the lobster aside.
Melt half the butter in a small saucepan, add the tarragon, and stir to combine. Keep warm on the grill.
When the coals are ready, place the lobster halves shell side down on the grill and baste the meat with the tarragon butter. Grill, basting occasionally, until the shells turn bright red and the flesh is opaque throughout, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer to a large platter.
Meanwhile, set a chapa or a cast-iron griddle on the grill next to the lobster and melt 2 tablespoons of the remaining butter in it. Pat the scallops dry with paper towels, and when the butter foams, arrange the scallops on the griddle in a single layer. Cook them, without moving them, for about 2 minutes, until they brown lightly on one side. Turn them carefully, add the rest of the butter, and cook for another minute or so, depending on the size of the scallops. They should be just opaque throughout, with the roe, if you have it, still creamy. Sprinkle with fleur de sel and transfer to the platter with the lobster.
Serve immediately, with lemon wedges and fleur de sel.
Two large lobsters in the kitchen of the Uxua Casa Hotel in Trancoso.
VEGETABLES AND BEANS
Braised Carrots
Carrots are universal: they go with anything. This is the most uncomplicated of braises, with a spectrum of beautiful flavor notes. The carrots accept them, and elevate them, but still retain their essential flavor. SERVES 4 TO 6
2 pounds young carrots, trimmed, leaving a bit of green, and peeled
3 cups Rich Vegetable Stock (page 288)
1 cup dry white wine
2 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
4 large bushy fresh thyme sprigs
1 bay leaf
6 black peppercorns
Coarse salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Extra virgin olive oil for drizzling
Heat an horno or the oven to 375°F.
If some carrots are much thicker than others, halve them lengthwise so they will all cook evenly. Lay them in a single layer in a small roasting pan. Add the stock, wine, garlic, thyme, bay leaf, and peppercorns and sprinkle lightly with salt. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the carrots are very tender. Transfer the carrots to a wide serving dish and keep warm.
With the back of a fork, crush the garlic cloves and thyme into the cooking liquid. Set the roasting pan over medium heat for a minute or two, stirring, to concentrate the flavor; adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper. Strain.
Spoon the liquid over the carrots, drizzle lightly with olive oil, and serve.
Baby Turnips a la Plancha with Sun-Dried Tomatoes
Everyone loves babies. Baby turnips are no exception for me. They always have beautifully tender leaves too. When you split them lengthwise and grill them slowly on a chapa, they caramelize nicely. For decades I’ve gotten my vegetables from the incomparable Sergio Chaben, who sells them from his truck in Buenos Aires. After twenty years, he still can be trusted to find something special. I like his truck because it is old and beat-up but obviously well loved. It is so ancient and timeworn that it is the color of no color, and I have absolutely no idea what kind of truck it is. SERVES 4
1 pound baby turnips, with leaves attached, or small Japanese turnips
1 red onion
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
8 slices Sun-Dried Tomatoes (page 285)
Slice the turnips in half from root to stem, or quarter them if larger. Thinly slice the red onion on a mandoline.
Heat a chapa or a large cast-iron griddle over low heat. Brush with the oil. Arrange the turnips on the hot surface, cut side down. Scatter the sliced onion over them and top with the sun-dried tomatoes. Cook for about 8 minutes, until the turnips are browned on the bottom and tender, turning any quartered ones to brown both cut sides. Toss and serve.
Eggplant a la Plancha with Cherry Tomatoes and Anchovies
There are few things I like less than undercooked eggplants: they are tough and bitter, and I think undercooking is the reason many people despair of making them on the grill. But when cooked properly, they are soft, creamy, and delicious. I start with small to medium eggplants, which are more tender to begin with, and then slice them fairly thin, so they will cook all the way through on the chapa relatively quickly while developing a pleasing char.
Eggplants, as Italians discovered centuries ago, play very nicely with tomatoes—which scientists tell us are their biological cousins. You may think this recipe calls for too many anchovies. Trust me, they are brilliant with the eggplant. SERVES 4
About ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 large garlic clove, minced
2 medium eggplants, about 10 ounces each
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
8 ounces cherry tomatoes, cut in half
6 ounces anchovies packed in olive oil, drained
Place ¼ cup of the olive oil in a small bowl and stir in the minced garlic.
Cut off the stem end of the eggplants and slice them lengthwise about ⅓ inch thick. Brush the tops of the slices with some of the garlic oil and season very lightly with salt and pepper.
Heat a chapa or a cast-iron griddle over medium-high heat until a drop of water hisses on the surface. Brush generously with some of the remaining plain olive oil, and when it shimmers, add the eggplant slices, oiled side down. Cook, without moving them, for about 7 minutes, or until nicely browned on the bottom. Brush generously with the garlic oil, season with salt and a few grinds of pepper, and turn, adding more olive oil to the chapa if necessary. Cook on the other side for about 6 minutes, or until the eggplant is crisp, browned, and very tender when pierced with a fork. Transfer to a wide serving platter. You may cook the eggplant in batches.
Meanwhile, brush another part of the chapa or another hot griddle generously with olive oil. When it shimmers, add the tomatoes, cut side down, about 1 inch apart. Cook the tomatoes, without disturbing th
em, for about 3 minutes, or until they are nicely charred on the bottom. Transfer to the serving platter, arranging them over the eggplant.
Roughly chop the anchovies and scatter over the eggplant and tomatoes. Drizzle with more olive oil, season to taste with pepper, and serve hot or at room temperature.
ALSO PICTURED ON PAGE 198
Eggplants Stuffed with Tomatoes and Cuartirolo Cheese
You want fresh, firm, sweet eggplants with as few seeds as possible for this recipe. Huge eggplants won’t do. If the eggplants you get do have a significant proportion of seeds, salt them and allow to drain for 20 minutes, as described below, to draw out any bitter juices and improve the texture. In Argentina, cuartirolo, originally an Italian cheese, is my preference for this dish, but somehow the Italians who immigrated to North America (usually from the same areas as the Italo-Argentine community) forgot to pack any cuartirolo. Fresh mozzarella will do just fine. You can double this recipe for a main course. SERVES 4
2 firm medium eggplants, about 8 ounces each
2 bay leaves
One 10-ounce loaf country bread, day-old
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
6 large ripe plum tomatoes, cored and roughly chopped
10 ounces cuartirolo cheese (or substitute fresh mozzarella), cut into ½-inch-thick slices
Heat an horno or the oven to 375°F.
Cut the eggplants lengthwise in half. With a sharp knife, trace a margin about ½ inch wide around the perimeter of each half. Using a sharp spoon, scoop out the center of each eggplant half. Roughly chop the pulp, keeping it fairly chunky. If there are a significant amount of seeds, salt both the shells and the pulp and drain in a colander for 20 minutes, then rinse off the salt and bitter juices and pat the pulp very dry with paper towels.
Mallmann on Fire Page 12