Category: Lost Kitchen

Whole Sea Bream, Fried Green Tomatoes Two Ways, and Strained Ricotta and Blackcurrant Compote

July 30th, 2023

Time to build a dinner around garden-fresh green tomatoes! I decided to fry the tomatoes according to two different recipes: one from Lost Kitchen, the other from On Vegetables (tl;dr: Lost Kitchen wins even though it is easier.) For the main, I decided on a whole Sea Bream, which is available at New Deal Fish Market and feels appropriate for the dog days of summer. Finally, I got ahold of some fresh blackcurrants at The Mushroom Shop and decided to take a stab at a strained ricotta dessert from Nopi.

Whole Sea Bream (Polpo): This dish is super straightforward and delicious! Make extra herb-garlic oil and salt generously. Cook the fish to 135F-140F. Grill if possible. I roasted in the oven in preheated cast-iron at 435F; I’d recommend going even higher to crisp the skin next time.

Fried Green Tomatoes with Buttermilk and Dill (Lost Kitchen): I’ve made this recipe before and know that it is excellent! The recipe is straightforward. Just make sure you get/keep your oil hot enough so that it doesn’t get soggy and oily. I needed to move the oil to a larger burner to accomplish this.
Joe’s Rating: 7.5
Difficulty: 4

Fried Green Tomatoes, Burrata & Green Tomato Preserves (On Vegetables): This recipe features a spiced green-tomato-raisin compote that takes 2-3 hours to make (it only took me about 2 hours) and is served with burrata, basil, and a cornmeal breading. Opinions were divided on whether the grittier cornmeal improved the dish. I also thought the spiced compote was more of a fall flavor than a mid-summer one (although it was delicious.) I’d recommend adding a hit of acid to the compote and salting all components generously.
Joe’s Rating: 7
Difficulty: 6.5

Strained Ricotta with Blackcurrant Compote and Rhubarb (Nopi): The strained ricotta is sweetened and folded together with sweetened whipped egg whites (so an unbaked meringue) and then strained for two days. I can attest that quadruple-layered cheese cloth works but is a poor substitute for the muslin cloth here. We also found the strained-ricotta to be overly sweet. In the future, I would add more ricotta and cut the sugar. Serving with good vanilla ice cream was very appealing and outshone the ricotta. My rhubarb (not pictured) ended up stringy and chewy because I left it unrefrigerated for a couple of hours; it needs to remain super fresh and crisp for this to work.
Joe’s Rating: 6
Difficulty: 7.5
Rabbit Confit Dinner Party (Lost Kitchen)

November 20th, 2022

Having recently moved to Cambridge, I wanted to host a dinner party that was both delicious and did not demand too much in the ways of equipment, time, or specialty ingredients. I turned to Lost Kitchen, which has generally been a safe bet to easily impress with a 3-course meal. After Plenty, this is the cookbook I am most likely to cook every single recipe in due to its consistency and ease. I selected “Fried Rabbit with Charred Radicchio & Mustard Vinaigrette,” one of the two remaining main courses for autumn (the other being a moose stew… let me know if you have a source for this!) For an accompanying appetizer and dessert, I selected “Roasted Buttercup Squash Cups with Apple Slaw” and “Rustic Plum & Honey Pie with Vanilla Bean Soured Cream,” substituting pear for the plums.

Roasted Buttercup Squash Cups with Apple Slaw
Butternut squash worked fine as a substitute for the buttercup, although this dish could use more concentrated flavor. Perhaps the buttercup would accomplish this. I recommend cutting the squash “cups” into sixths instead of quarters if serving as an appetizers. Can be prepared vegan/gf to-order if you substitute oil for the butter when you roast an individual portion. The apple slaw is essential and yummy here, although I don’t have any further notes on it. Sadly, I forgot to take a photo of both the appetizer and the dessert. Paired OK with Icaro Nemico Bianco Vulcanico, a white Italian Malvasia.

Fried Rabbit with Charred Radicchio & Mustard Vinaigrette
This rabbit-leg preparation is a true confit in duck fat (I got a 10-pound tub of it from D’Artagnan, which is a bit more than a gallon) that is then finished by deep frying. The dish is overall excellent, but you need to be very very careful not to over-fry the legs. The recommended time of 3-4 minutes is should be more like 1-3 minutes (Erin French must have designed this recipe with meatier rabbits.) Just fry them hot and fast to get the outside crisp. Given the shorter fry time, I’d recommend starting with the inside still warm. Also note that people confit rabbit at temperatures much lower than the recommended 250F (I saw as low as 210F online) and not necessarily for longer. I would try the lower temperature as an experiment in the future.

Overall, the dish was a hit (despite the rabbit being dry). The accompaniments were lovely. I paired this with two wines: a fruity red-Rhône blend from Ventoux and a more foresty nebbiolo from Langhe. The latter definitely worked better with this dish.

Rustic ~~Plum~~ Pear & Honey Pie with Vanilla Bean Soured Cream
The dessert was the highlight of the meal (as with many Lost-Kitchen dinners I’ve prepared). Two months later, people still bring up this pie as an example of how underrated and amazing pear can be in a dessert! I made two of them and we almost finished both. Erin French’s disclaimer “I’m not one to fuss over pie crust; I lack the patience” was truly unnecessary. The crust turned out very impressive. I love how easy the crust is because it comes out very flakey and visually striking on the other side. I will definitely be using this simple and quick technique in the future. Served to much delight with a Sauternes.

Joe’s Rating: 6/6.5/8 (Squash/Rabbit/Pear)
Difficulty: 5/7.5/5

Category: Lost Kitchen

Whole Sea Bream, Fried Green Tomatoes Two Ways, and Strained Ricotta and Blackcurrant Compote

Rabbit Confit Dinner Party (Lost Kitchen)