‘Kitchen Gypsy’ confidential
There’s no doubt about Joanne Weir’s culinary celebrity. The James Beard award-winning food writer and Chez Panisse alum has penned 18 cookbooks and starred in her own PBS cooking series. And her modern Mexican restaurant and tequileria, Copita, on Sausalito’s waterfront draws happy crowds all day long.
Her newest volume is a cookbook-memoir, “Kitchen Gypsy,” that includes her culinary studies in France, her 5-year stint at Chez Panisse — Alice Waters wrote the book’s preface — and her life today. It’s a delicious, often humorous read, lavishly illustrated and filled with inspiration. Fans of Copita will be delighted to find some of their favorite dishes among the home cook-friendly offerings, and there are recipes from Weir’s Chez Panisse days, too.
The chapter on the legendary (and slightly terrifying) French culinary instructor Madeleine Kamman is accompanied by a Kamman-inspired Salmon With Cucumber and Mint Fettuccine recipe, the salmon glistening on a refreshing, fettuccinelike bed of lemon-dressed cucumber ribbons. In classic French culinary fashion, the recipe uses a lot of pans, but the cucumber ribbons are gorgeous and ridiculously easy to produce with a vegetable peeler. We found the salmon steak prep too fiddly for a weeknight, and subbed in salmon fillets; either way, the dish is a beauty. Here’s a taste.
Salmon With Cucumber and Mint Fettuccine
Serves 6
6 center-cut salmon steaks, 8 to 9 ounces each
1 cup fish stock or bottled clam juice
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 shallots, minced
1 cup sauvignon blanc
Lemon dressing:
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Cucumbers:
2 English cucumbers, halved lengthwise
3 tablespoons chopped fresh mint, plus small leaves from 6 sprigs to garnish
12 thin lemon slices, garnish
1. Working as closely as possible to the large bone in the center of a salmon steak, cut around the bone and remove it and attached ribs. Remove any skin or pin bones. You will end up with 2 pieces of fish, each one with a wide end and a narrow end. Repeat with remaining steaks. Position the pieces from each steak together in a yin-and-yang pattern, forming a medallion. Secure by tying kitchen string around the exterior or with toothpicks.
2. In a saucepan over medium-high heat, simmer stock until reduced by half. In another saucepan, simmer the cream over medium-high heat until reduced by a fourth; add the cream to the stock. In a third saucepan, simmer the shallots and wine until 3 tablespoons wine remain when the solids are pressed. Add wine reduction to the cream; set aside.
3. In a small bowl, whisk the lemon juice and oil. Season with salt and pepper; set aside.
4. Using a vegetable peeler or mandoline, slice each cucumber half lengthwise into long, paper-thin ribbons until you reach the seeds; rotate and repeat to cut more ribbons. Place ribbons in a bowl; add the mint.
5. Brush a large nonstick frying pan lightly with olive oil; place over medium heat. Add salmon; cover with a lid slightly smaller than the pan, resting lid directly on the salmon. Reduce heat to low and cook until salmon is opaque, about 3 minutes. Turn salmon, re-cover and cook until each medallion reveals a thick line of pink in the center, 2 to 3 minutes longer. Season with salt and pepper.
6. Meanwhile, reheat cream sauce over low heat. Drizzle all but 1 tablespoon of lemon dressing over cucumber and mint; toss to coat.
7. To serve, divide cream sauce among individual plates. Top with cucumber mixture, place a salmon medallion on each (remove string), then brush the top with the reserved dressing and finish with 2 lemon slices. Garnish with mint leaves.
— Joanne Weir, “Kitchen Gypsy” (Oxmoor House, $35)
Other Fall Cookbook Recipes
Burrata With Blood Oranges from ‘NOPI’
Grilled Skirt Steak With Chimichurri from ‘Cooking Like a Master Chef’
Grandma’s Chocolate Cake from ‘Guittard Chocolate Cookbook’
Pistachio, Hazelnut and Raspberry Friands from ‘The Violet Bakery Cookbook’
