Recipe War Round #4: Second Fucking Fish Course

Comrade PhysioProf is extremely thrilled and excited that he has won Round #3 of the Recipe War with his delicious–yet simple to prepare–miso-glazed black cod served with chilled somen noodles. His fierce, yet honorable, competitor Dr. Isis did come forward on the field of battle with a very tasty-looking vermouth poached salmon provencal, which Comrade PhysioProf confesses he may very well have to make at some point. This week’s battle could turn out to be a key turning point in the Recipe War, as the score is now 2-1 in favor of Dr. Isis.

For this week’s Second Fish Course, Comrade PhysioProf prepared broiled arctic char with a Cotes-du-Rhone balsamic reduction sauce, served on top of sauteed mushrooms and leeks, and accompanied by toasted parmigiano reggiano asparagus topped with a fried egg. As you will see, Comrade Physioprof has exploited Dr. Isis’s excellent sautee-based method for cooking asparagus that she presented in last week’s recipe. Here we go!

Ingredients
2 8-ounce arctic char filets, skin on
1 cup Cotes-du-Rhone red wine (or other full-bodied red wine)
1 cup balsamic vinegar (get a decent one, but for a reduction, no need for the $20 per bottle shit)
1/3 large white onion, diced
12 cloves fresh garlic, diced
6 ounces shitake mushrooms
6 ounces oyster mushroom
6 ounces crimini mushrooms
2 bundles of asparagus
1 bundle of leeks
2 eggs (not shown in photo; Comrade PhysioProf fucked up)
Fucking Jameson
parmigiano reggiano
extra virgin olive oil
salt
fresh ground black pepper

Instructions

Cotes-du-Rhone Balsamic Reduction

(1) Sautee the onions until light yellow and translucent, then add the garlic and sautee until both the garlic and onion are lightly carmelized. (As you will see, the carmelized onions and garlic become a very salient component of the final reduction. I fucking love onions and garlic, and think that arctic char has enough flavor to stand up to them. For a less ass-kicking sauce, just use a lot less garlic and onion, or even none.)

(2) Add the wine and balsamic vinegar. At this point the sauce is just a nasty-looking pool of liquid:

(3) Add 1 tablespoon of Jameson:

(4) Reduce the shit down, adding fresh-ground black pepper liberally when part way through, by simmering until it thickens like so:

(5) Pour the sauce into a bowl and put aside.

Sauteed Mushrooms and Leeks

(1) Slice the mushrooms and leeks, after washing well (especially the leeks, which tend to have dirt in them), into pieces like this:

(2) Sautee them down until nearly carmelized, adding 1 tablespoon of Jameson part way through, and salt and pepper to taste. It will look like this when done:

(3) Put aside.

Toasted Parmigiano Reggiano Asparagus Topped With Fried Egg

(1) Partially cook the asparagus using Dr. Isis’s quick sautee in olive-oil method:

(2) Arrange the asparagus in a broiling pan, top with a fuckload of grated parmigiano reggiano, and broil until the cheese is browned, and then plate:

(3) Fry two eggs topped with fresh-ground black pepper until they are done like this:

(4) Put the fucking eggs on top of the fucking asparagus:

Broiled Arctic Char

(1) Salt and pepper the filets, and broil until just done. It’ll take 8-10 minutes.

Final Presentation

(1) Put the sauteed mushrooms and leeks on the plate, and gently rest the broiled char on top.

(2) Pour the Cotes-du-Rhones balsamic reduction on top.

(3) Pour a very big white wine to drink with the food.

(4) One very, very, very important general point: The chef better have been liberally drinking the motherfucking Jameson throught the cooking process, so as to be nearly totally shitfaced drunk while eating!

You can check out Dr. Isis’s entry here, and place your vote here.