The Louisville Chef

Years ago I had this authentic rustic dish in an old converted farmhouse restaurant near Turin. It was a very local place and didn’t look like much, but it was packed with truck drivers and a beef roast was cooking in front of an open fire. 
They collected the drippings in a pan below the roast and then used them to toss with the pasta. I still remember it as one of the best things I’ve ever eaten. It was called Taglierini al sugo d’arrosto. There are many recipes for it, but how do you make it if you no longer eat meat? 



Well, when I found this Spaghetti with Marmite on Nigella Lawson’s blog, I thought this would be great place to start recreating the sugo d’arrosto. With some minor changes and additions it came out absolutely amazing. Basically, we are recreating a roast beef flavor using Marmite, garlic and rosemary. 


Note: This can easily be made vegan by replacing the butter with Earth Balance and the cheese with non dairy Parmesan.

Ingredients
1 lb Spaghetti  3 Tbsp Butter 1 Tbsp Extra…

I wanted to find a way to make the incredible Nobu black cod miso, without having to wait three days for it to marinade. Additionally, black cod can be difficult to find and expensive in many regions, so I wanted to try an streamlined version utilizing Pacific cod. Any flaky white fish will work, but fresh cod is perfect.



This version can be ready in as little as one hour, but I do think it benefits from 4-5 hours of marinating before you cook it. Read through the recipe in its entirety, as there is a hint that will make prepping the glaze a lot easier.

I found this recipe on the NYT cooking site and modified it slightly. I was very happy with how it turned out. Enjoy!

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs fresh Pacific Cod filets, skinless.
1/4 cup Sake
1/4 Mirin
4 Tbsp White Miso
1 Tbsp Sugar
1 tsp Toasted Sesame Oil

To prepare your sauce add the mirin and sake into a small saucepan and bring up to a soft simmer for 20 seconds. Reduce the heat to low and add in the miso, then increase the heat to medium and …

Dal is an Indian staple which can be eaten in the morning, lunch, dinner as a side dish or for a snack. It can be eaten with rice, bread or on its own. Bottom line, it is Indian comfort food. A thick stew of moong (mung) beans, spices and creamy goodness. It is often made with spilt moong dal, but I prefer to use the whole moong dal
I had eaten various types of dal in many places around the word, including India and was always impressed with its creaminess, but speaking frankly I wouldn't have gone out of my way to make it at home. A friend kept mentioning that he was gong to cook “mug” which was a recipe from his Indian friend and I finally asked what he meant and he said moong dal.
I was intrigued and after comparing many recipes from my own cookbooks and online, I came up with this recipe which is nothing short of amazing. The house smelled wonderful while it was cooking and the flavor was hearty, wholesome and a bit spicy and just perfect for a fall afternoon. 

Additionally, it i…

This is such a amazing dish. It has all the spiciness of Sichuan cooking, with that sweet and sour undertone that I really enjoy. 

The story behind it is that we had a wonderful Sichuan restaurant near my old office in City of Industry, California called Lucky Dragon aka Lucky’s. We probably ate this fish accompanied with dry sautéed string beans and ma po tofu at least three times a week.
To make it simpler to prepare, I’ve divided the ingredients into stages. Additionally, any of these ingredients can easily be found at your local Asian or Korean markets. Once you buy them, they last forever in your pantry, so you will be able to prepare many meals from just one buying trip. 
In Asian cuisine, the prep time is important, as the cooking time is minimal. You want everything within reach. Try to give the fish at least an hour with the glaze to soak up the flavors. 
Note: This could easily be made as a vegetarian/vegan dish by substituting extra firm tofu slices for the fish. 
Step One, Fish …

There is no dish that epitomizes Nobu more than Miso Black Cod. Such a simple dish, but flawlessly prepared and finished so that is has a rich crispy caramel glaze.

I must admit finding black cod took some doing, but it was worth the wait. I was able to special order it from Whole Foods and it arrived in two days.

While I was waiting for it to arrive, I did some research and found out that Black cod is not even in the cod family. Black Cod, also known as butterfish or sablefish is an entirely different family of fish, and also when black cod is smoked, it is the deli classic known as sable.




The key to this dish is letting it marinade for a full 2-3 days. I made a slightly smaller recipe, as there were only two of us, but even with only 4 filets, I still recommend the full amount of marinade.

Ingredients

1 cup of Sake
1 cup of Mirin
8 Tbsp White Miso
1/2 cup White Sugar
6 Filets of Black Cod (Sablefish), about 1/2 lb each

Marinade:

Begin by adding the sake and mirin into an average sized saucepan…