Some, not so, typical holiday meals!
It’s Spooky Season guys, and right after that’s over… well we go straight in on the rest of the holiday season. One of the big draws of the holiday season is, the food! Most folks grow up on sweets around Halloween, turkey on Thanksgiving, and ham on Christmas. Which don’t get me wrong these things are classics for a reason, but me being a private chef, and not your “typical” sushi chef at that”, means that it’s probably a safe bet that I’m gonna want to go outside the box of “typical” for my favorite holiday foods to. So, I’m putting together this list of some of my favorite foods to make during this season. I hope you guys enjoy!
Like I said, I’m a private chef… one that specializes in sushi, and it’s not just sushi that I love, it’s pretty much all Japanese Cuisine! So of course, a wintertime go to meal for me is Ramen! I’m, not talking the instant noodles from the grocery store either, I’m talking REAL ramen! I realized a while back that we don’t have any real ramen shops in the area, and even when you can find a place that serves ramen… it still doesn’t quite hit the spot. So, with no decent ramen spots in our area, I make a point to really kill this craving at least once a year, and the best part is it’s super simple and you can get most of the supplies from the local Asian markets (I really like Ocean in downtown Panama City). I’ll typically go with a shoyu style broth, which means it’s going to be a dark rich broth with a strong soy presence. I like it because while it is filling, it doesn’t sit heavy on your stomach like a tonkatsu broth. Once you’ve played around with some broth recipes and got it where you like it, it’s time to really fill that bowl, and I mean more than just noodles. My go to for this dish is usually some pretty thick cut pork belly that’s been roasted with some garlic, star anise, salt, pepper, and a little bit of thyme, however shrimp or chicken is a great choice too! After that, it’s a soy marinated soft-boiled egg, some wilted spinach, bamboo shoots, red ginger, and some wilted spinach with garlic and sesame oil! Honestly this dish is super simple to make, and you can find broth recipes galore with a quick internet search, it’s fun, its filling, and there’s really nothing quite like a good bowl of ramen. the best part is you can literally get all the supplies you need here locally too, after that its really just a matter of putting things together to get them to the way you want them to be. Any cool day can be made so much better with a big bowl of ramen!
Next up we are going to go for a real heavy hitter that, I feel, should be up there on the list of iconic cold weather foods. It’s lamb stew! I start making stew the minute we start getting some cool breezes, because I love it that much and I really don’t want to wait for it to properly get cold before i start in on a bowl of it. Now don’t get me wrong, it doesn’t have to be lamb stew, you can do pumpkin stew, beef stew, or any kind of stew you like. For me though it’s all about the lamb, though beef is a close second. I think one of the things that I love the most about making lamb stew is the fact that it fills your house with the most amazing aroma for at least a couple days. i start off putting lamb bones and fat trimmings into a slow cooker with some carrots, onion, garlic, and rosemary add in some water and leave it on low for a full 24 hours, your house is going to smell amazing within the first couple of hours! Once that broth has really developed, we strain out the aromatics and skim off a little bit of the fat, I like to leave the bones in for a while because there’s usually more flavor to be pulled out of them. After that we start adding our protein into a hot stew pot to get a nice sear on them, once that’s done toss in some fresh aromatics like onion and garlic, add in your other veggies and let them get a little brown on them, then add that lamb broth right over the top. I like to season my stew with dried rosemary and thyme, red pepper, clove, and a touch of cinnamon for that real winter flavor. Let that simmer for a while, and while it does, I get a pot of basmati rice on another burner with some turmeric and ginger, and while both of these are cooking, I make a simple roux to help thicken the stew. Once everything is done, a nice handful of rice goes straight into your bowl and then just start pouring the stew over. This is one of those meals where every time I eat it i want to be sitting in front of a fire with a warm blanket, or firmly planted on my couch watching something spooky, or if Rowan is joining me, we’ll go for the latest paw patrol holiday episode.
This next one is probably a little bit more on the “not so typical side” for a lot of people. My oldest brother, and his family are pescatarians, so a fish and vegetables kind of crowd. Which I love seafood, but remember… Thanksgiving is turkey… Christmas is ham… so what do you make for them? Salmon is the answer, and this one is kind of a double feature, because one thing that is always a hit is a salmon patty, or salmon croquette. They’re simple and delicious you can jazz them up a little with a couple sides or add a sauce or you can treat them as a side for your plate and let another dish shine. No matter what you do with them, they’re always delicious.
Now for the star of the meal… I use fresh salmon with the skin still on, though i do suggest that you remove the blood line. Which if you don’t know what the blood line is, just pick up a salmon filet and look at it from the side, you’ll notice a dark spot near the middle against this skin, that runs down the whole length of the fish, so I just cut the filet so that center piece is removed (which it makes a great treat for any of your four-legged friends). It is totally safe to eat the blood line, but a lot of people notice that the flavor is different. After that just season the top and bottom of the filets, I typically do garlic, salt and pepper on the skin side, and use the same but add in some chili powder on the top along with some ground dill. Once it’s seasoned, I’ll cook the salmon the way most people suggest you cook a steak, a little oil in a hot pan, then put the skin side to the heat first and let it get crisp, one flip and wait about 2-3 minutes, then I toss it into the oven to finish cooking. Remember too that in most cases, you’re better off undercooking a piece of fish by a minute or two, than to overcook it for even a second. Fish picks up a “fishy” flavor when its overcooked, old, or been frozen for too long. I have had so many people tell me that they don’t like salmon because of the fishy taste that it has… then I make them some salmon and its always, “Wow, how did you cook it? This isn’t Fishy at all.” Once your salmon is in the oven, I usually make a side that also acts as the sauce for the salmon, I start with putting minced garlic and shallot into a hot pan and letting them turn fragrant. Once you get them lightly golden I add in some pinot grigio and let it reduce by about half before adding a few pats of butter. Once the butter is melted and the garlic begins to brown I’ll add a splash of vegetable broth and then load the pan down with spinach. Once the spinach is in the pan i immediately take it off the heat and just keep turning it. This will wilt the spinach without turning it into a goop. Once your salmon is done then i plate it and take a few spoonfuls of the broth from the pan and pour it over the top and then crown the salmon with the spinach, though using the spinach as a bed can also make for a great presentation.
I’m going to close out this blog entry with one of Rowan’s most favorite foods, Onigiri! My kiddo loves some sticky rice, and she loves surprises. So, what better way to sneak some veggies into her diet than to make them a surprise inside of some sticky rice! If you don’t know what onigiri is, it’s a Japanese street food, that’s pretty much just a stuffed ball of rice, that’s typically shaped into a triangle. You can stuff them with just about anything, or you can take your filling and mix it into your rice before pressing out your rice balls. I make these for Rowan all year round, plus I always make them for her birthday party, but during the winter I find myself craving them. I’m not picky about the filling either, maybe some naato, or some shrimp, maybe some red bean paste, or even some pickled mango and cucumber. Onigiri is just one of these foods that leaves you feeling warm and happy, plus since you’re eating it with your hands you kinda end up with this feeling of nostalgia like you’re a kid again somehow. It’s quick, its easy, and somehow it just pairs well with a cool fall day.
I hope you guys have enjoyed this, and I hope I’ve inspired you to do some cooking of your own. Before making the leap of being a Private Chef, and when I was working at different sushi bars in the area, I know that sometimes I would just not feel the spark or inspiration to want to cook for myself. Though when that would happen, all i really needed to do was go back to making some of my favorite dishes and checking out other people’s methods for making them. So, if the cold weather has got you down, hopefully this list has helped give you some ideas for dishes you can make and fall in love with yourself. Or hey, I am a private chef… so maybe you want to love the dishes without making them yourself! If that’s the case feel free to shoot me a message, or maybe you just want the best sushi in the Panama City and 30a areas. Either way I am happy to be of service.
