Roasted poblano cream and Mahi-mahi tacos

First off, apologies for the crappy photo quality. I made this in the evening, with no natural light and no blogging aspirations, but it turned out to be so delicious, I just had to share!

Now that that's out of the way, let me tell you of my love for poblano peppers. As a European, I must say poblanos have been one of the most eye-opening culinary experiences I've had since I moved to the US. They have a particular smokey flavor that I just cannot get enough of! Especially when they are roasted on an open flame.

Now, I don't know about you, but they are not readily available in my regular supermarket, so when I found fresh poblanos at the farm produce stand at work last week, I took advantage and stocked up.

This is what I came up with that very same evening.

Enjoy!


INGREDIENTS (for 2 people, or 1 with leftovers)
- 1 pack of frozen mahi-mahi bits, thawed (very affordable - I found mine at Trader Joe's for less than 4 dollars)
- 1 large shallot, diced very finely (you can use onions, but I had shallots on hand)
- 3 cloves of garlic, diced very finely
- a handful of cilantro, chopped
- 1 poblano pepper, charred on an open flame, peeled and chopped in large chunks (make sure to remove all pits and membranes, as this is where most of the heat is)
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1/2 cup light cream (any liquid cream, sour cream or even greek yoghurt will work too)
- a splash of olive oil
- salt pepper to taste


RECIPE:
- in a medium pan, heat a little bit of olive oil and gently fry the shallot and garlic over medium heat for a few minutes until transparent (do not brown)

- then add the poblano chunks and chicken broth, and simmer for a few minutes on high heat, until the pepper is almost cooked through

- add the cream and cilantro and simmer for another 2-3 minutes, until the cream thickens a little and the poblano is soft and completely cooked through

- using an immersion blender, puree until smooth

Note: if the mixture is still too liquid for your taste, transfer back into the pan and cook over medium heat until thickened to satisfaction 
- serve grilled mahi-mahi bits over a whole wheat tortilla and a bed of lettuce and tomatoes, doused in the poblano cream sauce
- de-lish!

Scandinavian experiment

Some of you may know that a couple of months ago, I went to Norway and Sweden for a few days. I came back from there with quite a few delicacies such as Geitost, Flädersläktet (Elderflower) jelly, Wasa crackers (of course) and smoked moose ham.

A few weeks ago, I decided to use the smoked moose, since the peremption date was approaching.

With that in mind, I improvised a pasta casserole with a Chasseur-like sauce.

I do not recall the exact recipe, as I pretty much went along with the flow, but it went a little something like that:

• fry the smoked moose in a bit of butter, until slightly crispy. Put aside on a plate.
  
• in the same pan, fry a finely diced onion (I would have used a shallot if I had had one in stead) in a little bit of butter, until golden, but not too brown. 
• add a few sliced rehydrated porcini (of which you will have kept the water)
  
• add the meat to the pan, and flame with a little cap of Gin (the original smoked reindeer stew recipe I was inspired from contained juniper berries, which I did not have).
  NOTE: if you flame food, shut down air aspiration! and be very careful with your hair, brows and lashes! ;)
• add a couple of handfuls of spinach leaves (I used frozen spinach, that I thawed completely beforehand, and pressed all the water out of), add the water used to rehydrate the porcini mushrooms and cook until spinach is warm and tender. 
• add a dollop of sour cream on top, a little black pepper and salt to taste.
  NOTE: the smoked meat may be very salted, so be gentle with the salt!

• pour on top of cooked whole grain pasta (I used penne rigate).

29 November 2009

Enjoy!