But I digress. This was intended to be a happy post, so in the most positive spirit of Valentine's Day, I will share a recipe for a fancy meal that won't break the bank. The prices listed are from my cheapest sources (e.g. organic frozen beans from Trader Joe's, sustainably caught frozen flounder from Aldi). My own costs were a bit cheaper, but I don't expect that everyone has home-grown tarragon hanging in their kitchen and a freezer full of green beans from last summer's Farmers' Market.
For the sauce, if you don't have a double boiler, you can use a metal bowl over a pan of simmering water.
Flounder with Mustard Sauce and Green Beans
Adapted from La Grenouille restaurant’s recipe, via Bon
Appetit magazine
I increased the vegetable serving size, decreased the fish
serving size, and cooked the fish under a broiler to simplify preparation.
Serves 4
2 lb. cut green beans
3.98
Coarse sea salt .02
1 Tbsp. olive oil
.09
1 lb. skinless, boneless flounder fillets 3.99
1 tsp. (or more) paprika
.17
1 Tbsp. unsalted butter or ghee .33
1 small shallot, minced
.10
1 small garlic clove, minced .10
1 Tbsp. chopped parsley
.04
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh tarragon (or 1½ tsp. dried) .29
Freshly ground black pepper
.05
Mustard sauce 4.01
Lemon wedges .33
Cook beans in a large pot of boiling water until
crisp-tender, about 3 minutes. Drain; transfer to a large bowl of ice water to
cool. Pat dry.
Arrange flounder in an oven-proof baking sheet or gratin
dish. Season all over with salt and use a sieve to dust paprika over both sides
of fish. Cook under broiler for 3 minutes, then turn and cook another 3
minutes.
Meanwhile, melt butter with olive oil in a large skillet
over medium heat. Add shallot and garlic; cook, stirring often, until softened,
about 2 minutes. Add green beans and cook, stirring to coat, until warm. Stir
in parsley and tarragon. Season with salt and pepper.
Divide fish equally among 4 plates, with mustard sauce on
the side. Serve with green beans and lemon wedges.
$3.38 per serving (13.50 total)
Mustard Sauce
¾ cup dry white wine
(I used Charles Shaw Chardonnay) .76
2 tsp. minced
shallot .10
1 small sprig
thyme .24
½ small bay
leaf .36
¼ tsp. tarragon or
white wine vinegar .01
6 Tbsp. (3/4 stick)
unsalted butter 1.98
2 large egg
yolks .58
1/8 tsp paprika .02
1½ tsp. Dijon
mustard .05
Bring first 5
ingredients to a simmer in a small saucepan; cook until reduced to 2
tablespoons, about 10 minutes. Transfer to the top of a double boiler. Let cool
slightly. Discard thyme sprig and bay leaf.
Meanwhile, simmer
butter in a small saucepan over low heat until foamy, and the solids are
slightly browned and settled to the bottom. Pour clarified butter into a small
glass measuring cup, leaving brown bits behind. Keep warm.*
Whisk egg yolks,
paprika and 1 Tbsp. water into wine mixture. Set double boiler over a saucepan
of simmering water (do not allow water to touch bowl). Whisk constantly until
ribbons form, about 5 minutes. Slowly whisk in butter. Whisk constantly until
well blended and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat; whisk in Dijon
mustard. Season with salt. Serve immediately. **
*This instruction is
important! If the butter gets too cool, it will “break” the sauce when it is
subsequently added to the egg yolk mixture. I learned this the hard way.
However, even if the sauce breaks, and isn’t glossy and gorgeous, it is still
absolutely delicious! I put the leftover sauce in the fridge, then took it out
about 30 minutes before serving and stirred to incorporate the butter. It was
fabulous! An Italian might call it brutti ma buoni: ugly, but good.
**Because I had already messed up on the sauce, it didn't seem to suffer from having to wait to be served.
And if you want a little something for dessert, here's a flourless, sugarless chocolate torte that my Mom (who, admittedly, has a bit of a sweet tooth) thought tasted like a nutrition bar. Ummm...thanks Mom, I guess. My non-Primal Eater boyfriend, however, thought it was good, and really enjoyed it with raspberry jam. I am generally not a chocolate person, but I enjoyed it. It reminded me of a less-moist brownie.
Serves 8
6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, ghee or coconut oil ($1.98 for
butter or homemade ghee)
8 ounces unsweetened chocolate, broken up into squares; I
used Ghirardelli ($5.00)*
6 large eggs, room temperature, separated ($1.76)
1½ tsp. alcohol-free vanilla extract (.66)
½ tsp. (64 drops) stevia liquid** ($.23)
¼ tsp. coarse sea salt ($.01)
½ cup chopped walnuts, divided (optional) ($.74)
Preheat oven to 275 degrees with the rack in the center.
Grease (using butter, ghee or coconut oil) the bottom and sides of a 9-inch
springform pan. Set aside.
Place butter and chocolate in the top of a double boiler
over simmering water. Do not allow water to touch bottom of the top pan. Heat
until melted, stirring occasionally. Allow to cool to barely warm/tepid.
In a large bowl, whisk egg whites until glossy stiff peaks
form. Set aside.
Beat egg yolks, vanilla and stevia. Gradually add cooled
chocolate mixture, a little at a time. It will get quite thick.*** Beat in ¼ of
the egg whites. Gently fold in remaining egg whites, salt and half of walnuts.
“Pour” batter into the prepared pan, and smooth top with a
rubber spatula (or with moistened fingertips; it will be stiff). Top with
remaining walnuts (if using) and a little more sea salt (if desired). Bake
until cake pulls away from the sides of the pan and is set in the center, about
45-50 minutes. It might be hard to discern this visually, as the top of the
torte will still appear sort of damp, so you may quickly and carefully tap the
top with your finger to see if it is dry and seems set. The toothpick test may
not apply with this type of cake.
Cool completely on a wire rack. Remove sides of pan. Serve
at room temperature. May be served with whipped coconut cream with vanilla and
stevia added. It is also good with raspberries (thawed from frozen or fresh
picked in season; please do not buy raspberries in February unless you live in
the Southern hemisphere!).
If you are sharing this with non-Primal eaters, theirs can be topped with powdered sugar,
raspberry jam and/or sugar-sweetened whipped dairy or coconut cream.
If the torte turns out a bit crumbly, fret not! Just layer
it in individual glass serving dishes with whipped coconut cream and
raspberries and serve it as a trifle.
$10.38 total ($1.30 per serving)
* If you are sensitive to caffeine, please note that each
serving has 22.5 mg. of caffeine. On an unrelated note, according to their
parent company, while they are not officially buying Fair Trade, Ghirardelli
does not source cocoa beans from Ivory Coast.
** I used Stevita brand. Since the sweetness of stevia
varies by brand, you might start with 20 drops and keep adding and tasting
until you get to your preferred level of sweetness.
*** I must interject at this point to say that, if you aren’t
squeamish about eating raw eggs, you could stop right here and just eat the
mixture right out of the bowl; it reminded me of truffle filling.
Oops! I forgot to mention that the cooking time is for flounder that has already been thawed. Follow the cooking directions on the package that you have purchased for either thawed or frozen fish.
ReplyDeleteOohhhh, I'm so gonna make that torte....
ReplyDelete