South Beach Fish Sandwich

South Beach is definitely the land of sandwiches. Not only are they on every menu, but there are plenty of small sandwich joints that specialize in them. Because there is a heavy Middle Eastern influence around here, I thought I would make a healthy fish sandwich bringing in some of the fresh flavors of the Mediterranean. You can find fresh fish daily on the Rickenbacker Causeway that leads to Key Biscayne. Ask them to filet the snapper for you on the spot, so that all you have to do is pop it in the oven when you return home. The tahini sauce is full of different herbs- the more the merrier.

4 pita breads (whole wheat or white)
1 medium mutton, red, or yellowtail snapper, filleted
4 tablespoons tahini herb sauce per sandwich (recipe follows)
1 medium tomato, medium dice
¼ cup Kalamata olives, small dice
½ Kirby cucumber, medium dice
1 medium eggplant (optional)

If you want to include the roasted eggplant in your sandwich, begin by slicing it into very thin rounds. Bake on a lightly oiled baking sheet at 375°F for 20 minutes, or until soft and cooked through.
Line a baking tray with olive oil and place fish filets skin side down. Season well the filets with salt and pepper and bake for 20 minutes at 400°F, or until cooked through.
Remove from oven, turn off heat, and slip pita breads in the oven to toast in the residual heat. Place 2 slices of roast eggplant followed by half a filet in each toasted pita. Top with about 1 tablespoon tahini sauce per filet and some of the diced tomato, cucumber, and olives.
Makes 4 sandwiches. If you are only making this for two people, just use 1 filet of fish and 2 pitas.

Tahini-Herb Sauce
Small handful of each: dill, cilantro, parsley, mint
1 clove garlic
1 cup tahini
3 lemons, juiced
Olive oil
Water
Salt

In a food processor, start grinding up the garlic, followed by the herbs. Add the tahini, a couple tablespoons of olive oil, and continue to blend. Add the lemon juice, and enough water to loosen up the mixture. Adjust the taste with the salt.

Mole poblano is one of Mexico’s national dishes. Nuns in the convents of Puebla developed the original recipe by combining ingredients and techniques indigenous to Mexico with those of Europe. It is characterized by its dark, deep brown color which it gets from both chocolate and the chiles. This is a home-style mole poblano that we learned from a lovely woman named Teresa. She learned to make mole by watching her mother cook it for the family as a child. We have tweaked the recipe only slightly. We would like to remind you that ingredients and spices change from place to place. It is important for you to adjust the quantities and ingredients according to your own tastes and kitchen conditions. In Mexico, each family has its own mole, with different ingredients and secrets. This recipe is open for interpretation, and we encourage you to make this mole your own.

For the Mole and Chicken:

1 whole chicken, quartered

6 cups vegetable or chicken broth

11 Ancho chiles

2 Guajillo chiles

¼ cup raw almonds

Small handful cloves

Small handful black peppercorns

Small handful allspice

1 small cinnamon stick (broken up into small pieces

¼ cup raisins

6 pitted prunes

2 tomatoes, halved

½ teaspoon cumin

½ plantain (you can use a regular banana if you can’t find plantains), peeled and quartered

¼ cup sesame seeds

Sunflower seed oil, grapeseed oil, or another high heat vegetable oil

2 rounds of Mexican drinking chocolate, such as “Abuelita”

2 T brown sugar (optional)

Garnish:

1 white onion, sliced in strips

Salt

2 T toasted sesame seeds

Bring the chicken or vegetable broth to a boil in a large pot.

Toast the chiles in a dry medium hot skillet on all sides. When cool enough to handle, remove their veins and seeds.

Heat up some oil in a cast iron skillet or deep sauté pan and fry the almonds and spices in the hot oil. When the almonds have gained a little bit of color, transfer everything with a slotted spoon to a plate lined with paper towel.

In the same oil, fry the raisins and prunes for about 1 minute. Transfer to the plate.

Add the tomatoes to the oil and fry until they gain color.

Fry the chile peppers, in batches, until they slightly change color adding more oil to the skillet if necessary.

Fry the plantain in the hot oil, browning it on all sides.

Toast the sesame seeds until lightly browned in the pan, stirring constantly. Remove and let cool.

Blend together the almonds, spices (except cinnamon), raisins, prunes, tomatoes, plantain, and sesame seeds with enough broth to make a thick sauce. Add the chiles and continue to blend until perfectly smooth. Season with the salt and cumin.

Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper. Add about two tablespoons of oil to the pan. Place skin side down in the hot skillet, working in batches if necessary, until the skin is nice and brown. Flip over and cover the skillet and cook the chicken through, about half an hour. Remove from pan.

Melt the chocolate in the same pan and pour over the blended sauce. Add the cinnamon stick back into the pot.

Add the chicken pieces to the pot and bring the sauce to a boil. Let the sauce cook down until nice and thick, while the chicken gains the flavor of the sauce.

For the garnish: Place the onion strips in a medium sized bowl and sprinkle with salt. Pour over enough boiling water to cover the onion and let sit for about 5-10 minutes. Drain the onion and use as a topping for the mole.

This is a delicious and very different kind of pasta. The dough is made with “oo” flour, which is a finely ground durum wheat flour often used in pasta making. We add a little bit of homemade pistachio flour to the mix to give it a subtly sexy flavor and nutty texture. The sauce is a sort of mélange of aromatic flavors and aromas that is sure to please whoever you make this for.

Pistachio Pasta:
1 ½ cups “oo” flour
½ cup pistachio flour*
2 eggs, lightly beaten
salt
water

Sift the flours together in a bowl. Make a well and add the eggs and salt. Start mixing the flour into the eggs with a fork, and then eventually start using your hands. Add water if the dough is too dry. The best way to do this is just wet your hands under the sink and continue working the dough. When the dough comes together, knead on a floured surface for 5-10 minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours, or until you are ready to make the pasta.

* Make pistachio flour by grinding up raw, shelled pistachio nuts until fine. Sift the ground nuts through a sieve. What falls through is pistachio flour, what doesn’t remains. Keep grinding the remains until you have enough flour. 2 cups of the nuts will make enough flour for this recipe. Use the remains for the sauce and other garnishes.

2 tablespoons olive oil
½ tsp ground coriander seeds
2-3 few sprigs of mint
small fistful of parsley
1 tsp orange zest
¼ cup of lightly toasted pistachios, crushed
Really good parmesan cheese

Chop up the herbs very fine. Toss together the herbs, coriander, orange zest, pistachios, and Parmesan cheese.

This pasta dish is decadent comfort food, bringing in the best flavors from the Northwest: salmon, hazelnuts and mushrooms! The pasta is made with a combination of whole wheat and hazelnut flour, which gives it a rustic texture and delicious flavor. Bob's Red Mill makes hazelnut flour, which you can find in the organic section of supermarkets.

For the Pasta:
1 cup all purpose flour
½ cup whole wheat flour
½ cup hazlenut flour
2 eggs
water

For the Sauce:
2 tablespoons olive oil
¼ medium onion, small dice
1 cup dried black trumpet mushrooms
1 cup red wine
4 portabello mushrooms, cleaned and thinly sliced
¼ cup heavy cream
4 oz. smoked salmon filet, flaked (buy the thick filet, rather than the thinly sliced pieces)

Sift the flours together into a bowl. Make a well in the center and add the eggs. Mix the eggs in with the flour using a fork, integrating the flour into the center of the well. Begin to use your hands to knead. If the dough is too dry, add a few drops of water. If the dough is too wet, add a bit of flour. Knead the dough until smooth and elastic, about 5-10 minutes. Let rest in the refrigerator for 2 hours.

Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to about 1/4-inch thick and cut into thin strips (linguine) using a pasta roller or a sharp knife. If you don't have a pasta roller, your pasta will just look more rustic, but will be no less delicious.

Soak the black trumpets in the red wine (and hot water if necessary to cover) for about ½ hour to re-hydrate them.
Heat the oil in a large sauté pan. Add the onions and cook until translucent.
Strain the black trumpets from the red wine. Add the mushrooms and wine to the pan and bring to a simmer. Cover with a lid and leave the mushrooms to simmer in the wine. After the wine has reduced by half or more, pour in the cream and simmer lightly until thick. Stir in the smoked salmon and add to the sauce.

Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook for about 3 minutes.
Drain the pasta, reserving ½ cup of cooking water.
Transfer the pasta back to the pot, adding a little bit of the cooking water. Pour the sauce over the pasta and stir. Serve the pasta to your hungry family.
Serves 4.