Avec Eric à vos loisirs!

How can you not like Eric Ripert? First off, it is fun to say his name, especially if you use your over the top French accent: "Ereek Reepairrrrrrrrrr". And apparently he is not only an absurdly gifted chef at his 4-star NYC restaurant Le Bernardin, but he is also reputed to be an incredibly nice, not full-of-himself person, which totally comes across in this this promo video for his "Avec Eric" food series that starts Thursday on OPB TV here in Portland....

Now, if you are like, oh, I don't know, 90% of the viewing audience who would like to watch the show but have that pesky job to go to so can't catch it's 12:30pm start time, and your boss just doesn't get why this is SO important to you that you need to take a long lunch break, then technology will come to your aid. All you have to do is click this link to get to the Avec Eric website and you can watch the 30 minute episodes online. Even at work if you're really sneaky! I for one have already started in (adding to the benefits of being my own boss as I am watching them at VINO while I "work"), and love how accessible and fun this show is. As if you needed another avenue to whet your appetite!!

Go to your room and play with your toy!!!

Can I please? Can I, can I??? Especially when my room is the kitchen and my new toy is this gorgeous Cuisinart BRK-200 Brick Oven Deluxe toaster oven. "Toaster oven"...it seems kind of demeaning to call this a mere toaster oven. Before this when I thought of toaster ovens I pictured those grimy little Oster numbers that litter garage sales across America. No, the BRK-200 is a serious piece of kitchen fun. Lined on the inside with pizza stone, equipped with a convection setting, heating to 500*. It kicks ass! How did I come to posses this stainless clad bit of inspiration? I have to thank Eric Ripert.

Most of you foodie types have hard of chef Eric Ripert. 4-star Chef at NYC's Le Bernardin. An incredible cooking talent who also happens to be tall, good looking, and with that damn charming French accent. Like the British accent that always has this innate authority (those BBC radio guys could say "The interior ministry has decreed that everyone should eat more dirt" and I'd probably be out in the garden shoveling handfuls in my mouth), the French accent has this lilting, sing-song, je ne sais quoi quality that makes everything sound romantically fabulous, including my new BRK-200. See, I just found Ripert's blog "Avec Eric" and he's had a series of posts about cooking things in his Cuisinart oven (they are also one of the sponsors of his blog). Avec Eric is a really great site, where Ripert posts recipes and videos of simple, delicious (so far) recipes that everyone can make. After seeing him whipping fish, tomatoes, and other delectable looking edibles in and out of his own countertop oven, I, being weak of mind, just HAD TO HAVE AN OVEN OF MY OWN. I'm like that junkie who needs the quick hookup. So w, in her great understanding of my kitchen gadget fetish, acquiesced to my desire to use our leftover credit from our recent wedding at PDX cookware store Kitchen Kaboodle. So the next day off I went, and home I came with my new toy, and it has been a blast! We've done fish, toasted bread for garden fresh tomato BLT's, and last night replicated ER's recipe for Tomatoes Provençal, which were an awesome pre-dinner treat. Sure, you could do these under the broiler in your regular oven, but don't you NEED one of these too? Yeah, I thought so. Happy shopping!!
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Eric Ripert's Tomatoes Provençal
feeds 2

ingredients:
2 tomatoes, sliced into thirds
1 ½ teaspoons herbes de Provence
¼ cup olive oil
1 small clove garlic, sliced thin
fine sea salt and freshly ground pepper
fresh basil

method:
1. Heat toaster oven to broil.
2. Arrange the sliced tomatoes on a toaster oven tray, season with herbes de Provence, salt, pepper, and olive oil and garlic
3. Broil for about 4-5 minutes until the tomatoes are tender and a little caramelized.
4. Serve with fresh basil, making sure to pour the excess oil from the tray over the top.

Four star cooking at my house? Hell yes!

Eric Ripert, superstar and four-star chef at NYC's Le Bernardin has nothing on me. Well, except for better equipment, years of experience, and a battalion of prep slaves, plus movie star good looks and that damn French accent. But other than those minor differences, we're pretty much alike. At least as far as this Ripert recipe came out.

I had picked up a beautiful piece of fresh cod fillet at our local Wednesday farmer's market here in PDX, and was as always looking for new inspiration. I checked on epicurious and this Ripert recipe popped up. If anyone knows their way around a piece of fish, it's Ripert. He made his 4 star chops by turning out stellar interpretations of classic French preparations, mostly seafood focused. So with that as my inspiration, how could I not try it?

Final verdict? This was really tasty. The fish was perfectly moist, the sauce was excellent. Complex, silky smooth, not a thick curry, so if you wanted that I suppose you could reduce it down, but I think Ripert's point was to have it more of a broth. And the baby bok choy cooked in the buttered water water was genius, something I'd never heard of. Maybe my plating wasn't up to four-star standards, but this dish nailed it!
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Cod with Coconut, Lime, and Lemongrass Curry Sauce
Makes 4 servings.

ingredients:

The Sauce:
1 tablespoon butter
2 shallots, thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 lemongrass stalk, thinly sliced
1-inch knob ginger, thinly sliced
3 kaffir lime leaves
1 tablespoon Madras curry
3 cups chicken stock
3/4 cup fresh coconut milk, or canned
4 cilantro sprigs
Fine sea salt to taste
Freshly ground white pepper to taste
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

The Cod:
2 tablespoons canola oil
4 7-ounce cod fillets, 1 1/2-inches thick
Fine sea salt to taste
Freshly ground white pepper to taste

The Garnish:
1/2 pound butter
Fine sea salt
9 heads baby bok choy, divided in half (quartered if large)
1/4 cup kosher salt

Special equipment:
2 10-inch nonstick ovenproof skillets

method:
Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Two of the wonderful flavoring agents: kaffir lime leaves and sliced lemongrass








To make the broth, melt the butter in a small sauté pan or wok over medium heat.
Add the shallots, garlic, lemongrass, ginger, kaffir lime leaves and curry and sweat until tender and with no color, about 5 to 6 minutes. Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Lower the heat simmer for 15 minutes.
Add the coconut milk and cilantro, and simmer for 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Strain through a fine chinois and set aside.

Divide the 2 tablespoons of canola oil between the skillets.
Place over high heat until oil is just smoking. Season the cod on both sides with salt and pepper. Put 2 pieces of cod in each skillet and sauté until golden brown and crusted on the bottom, about 2 1/2 minutes. Turn and sear on the other side for 30 seconds. Put the pans in the oven and roast until a metal skewer can be easily inserted into the fish and, when left in the fish for 5 seconds, feels hot when touched to your lip, about 6 to 7 minutes.

The cod fillets, just out of the oven looking good. Top that Ripert!








In a large pot, heat 4 quarts of water, the butter, and the kosher salt.
Bring to a boil over high heat. Add the bok choy and cook until crisp tender, about 4 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside on a sheet pan in the refrigerator to cool quickly so they retain their bright green color.

To serve, reheat the sauce and finish with the lime juice.
In each of 4 bowls, place a piece of cod. Place 3 to 4 pieces of bok choy around the cod. Pour the sauce over the cod and serve immediately.

Add the coconut milk and cilantro, and simmer for 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Strain through a fine chinois and set aside.

Divide the 2 tablespoons of canola oil between the skillets.
Place over high heat until oil is just smoking. Season the cod on both sides with salt and pepper. Put 2 pieces of cod in each skillet and sauté until golden brown and crusted on the bottom, about 2 1/2 minutes. Turn and sear on the other side for 30 seconds. Put the pans in the oven and roast until a metal skewer can be easily inserted into the fish and, when left in the fish for 5 seconds, feels hot when touched to your lip, about 6 to 7 minutes.

In a large pot, heat 4 quarts of water, the butter, and the kosher salt.
Bring to a boil over high heat. Add the bok choy and cook until crisp tender, about 4 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside on a sheet pan in the refrigerator to cool quickly so they retain their bright green color.

To serve, reheat the sauce and finish with the lime juice.
In each of 4 bowls, place a piece of cod. Place 3 to 4 pieces of bok choy around the cod. Pour the sauce over the cod and serve immediately.