Blackened Catfish

Servings: 2-4

Ingredients:
½ cup Purchased or Homemade Cajun Seasoning* (Recipe Below)
4 Catfish Filets (any size)

Preparation:
First, heat a well seasoned iron skillet on high until it becomes smoky.

Next, rub Cajun seasoning onto the fish and lay it flat side down directly onto the iron skillet (Note there is no fat in this recipe). Sear the fish until the bottom side tenses up and browns thoroughly, then using a fine-edged spatula, flip. Continue cooking until the fish is finished through. The cooking time will always depend on the size of the fish filets and the power of your stove. Look for flakey white flesh all the way through and signs of protein coagulation (the white ooze that comes out of a piece of fish or chicken when cooked). If temping, 145°You’re your aim.

Chef’s Notes:

After cooking your fish, you can always use your hot skillet to mix up a quick veg or sauce on the fly.

As for my Cajun spice recipe, dubbed Camping Spice #3, I like to blend the following to taste: Kosher salt, crushed white or black pepper, granulated garlic, onion powder, spicy paprika and crushed red pepper flakes, fresh oregano and thyme leaves, dried rosemary, other dried Italian seasonings, celery seeds, chili powder (optional), cumin (optional).

Boursin Cheese

Yield: 3 Cups

Ingredients:
4 each Garlic Cloves, roasted until golden in a little olive oil over the stove
1 ounce Shallot or Onion, minced fine
8 ounces Butter, cubed at room temperature
16 ounces Cream Cheese, cubed at room temperature
1-2 ounces Parmesan or Asiago Cheese, freshly grated
1 tablespoon Dill, fresh and lightly chopped
2 tablespoons Parsley, fresh and lightly chopped
½ teaspoon Basil, fresh and cut chiffonade (sliced into ribbons)
½ teaspoon Chives, fresh and lightly snipped
½ teaspoon Oregano, dried
½ teaspoon Thyme, dried
½ teaspoon Black Pepper, toasted then crushed coarsely
To taste Salt
To taste Red Chili Flakes (optional)

Preparation:
First, using a pastry blender or a food processor, cut the garlic, onion, butter and cream cheese into each other. Next, add all the remaining ingredients and blend thoroughly. If you find the mixture too thick for your liking, you can thin it by using some of the leftover oil from roasting your garlic. Then, either serve it immediately or refrigerator until needed. Remember to allow it to warm to room temperature before serving.

Chef’s Notes:
Boursin pairs great with cranberry sauce and most fruity jams. Try it on your next cheese platter.

 A real summertime spread isn’t complete without the green king of South American grilling sauces, chimichurri. Chimichurri is a sauce that is similar to pesto in that it is made of smashed herbs, garlic and seasonings emulsified with oil. It originally hails from Argentina, where various histories of its invention always hinge on someone from the UK being misunderstood by locals as saying “chimichurri” when they meant something else. Despite the misinterpretation, the recipe holds true to a few basic ingredients—though it can change per region and country. This particular recipe hails from the Patagonia region of Argentina and makes an excellent marinade and serving sauce with any type of grilled steak, chicken or fish.

Chimichurri Sauce 

Servings: Sauce for 4

Ingredients:
2-4 cloves Garlic, roughly chopped
¼ cup Red Onion, roughly chopped
1½ cups Parsley, fresh
1½ cups Cilantro, fresh
½ cup Oregano, fresh
2 tablespoons Sherry Vinegar (good quality)
To taste Salt & Pepper
To taste Cayenne Pepper
1-2 teaspoons Toasted Cumin
¼-½ cup Olive Oil
Preparation:
In a food processor or mortar & pestle, puree or smash the garlic and onion into a paste. Add the herbs and puree or smash further along with the spices. Drizzle in the olive oil while pulsing or stirring rapidly in order to make a temporary emulsion. The right amount of olive oil should make the mixture look slightly milky and smooth. Adjust seasonings to taste and use when you’re ready, though its best when refrigerated overnight.

Chef’s Notes:
If the garlic in the chimichurri is too much for you, try using less or try cooking the sauce. By simmering it slightly on the stove, you can lower the garlic’s pungency and sweeten it slightly.

Enjoy!

Now before I get into this recipe, let me make one thing clear. Rock lobsters, AKA spiny or Florida lobsters, which are clawless, are well known for being the absolute best for grilling and jerking, but, because I live in Rhode Island, they are not as easily found or as cheaply purchased as their cousins that live up here. So I went out on a limb and got some sweet ol’ Maine lobsters and began editing a favorite jerk paste recipe of mine to suit their delicate nature.

Jerked Lobster

Servings: 4 pairs of split lobsters (photos are of a multiplied recipe)

Ingredients:
1/3 bunch         Fresh Thyme Leaves (or 4 teaspoons dried)
4 teaspoons    Kosher Salt
2 teaspoons    Allspice, ground
½ teaspoon     Nutmeg, freshly grated
½ teaspoon     Cinnamon, freshly grated
4 teaspoons   Granulated Sugar
2 teaspoons   Black Pepper, freshly ground
1 teaspoon     Cayenne Pepper (more or less to taste)
2 cloves           Garlic, minced
¼ cup               Medium Red Onion, roughly chopped
¼ bunch          Cilantro, finely chopped
4 each              “Chick” or “Quarter” Lobsters (about 1¼ lbs each), alive and kicking
1 each              Lime, cut into wedges
As needed      Salted Butter

Preparation:
Begin by combining the thyme, salt, allspice, nutmeg, cinnamon, sugar, black and cayenne peppers, garlic, and onion together in a spice grinder or mortar and pestle. Pulse or crush until all is incorporated into a paste. Next, mix the paste and cilantro together until well incorporated. This is your jerk paste.

Preheat your grill to medium-high.

Next, heat up some basting butter and mix in some of the jerk paste, adjusting quantities to taste.

Then, split each lobster with a chef’s (French) knife right down the middle.** Leave or remove the tamale based on your preference. Take a dime sized portion of your jerk paste and rub it into the exposed meat inside the tail, body and head. Be stingy, a lot of paste will go a long way.

Begin cooking by placing your jerked lobsters on the grill, cut side down. Lower the temperature to medium and close the lid. Cook the lobsters for 3-4 minutes, or until some coloring occurs. Next, flip them and baste with some of the jerk-infused butter. Close the lid again and continue cooking (and basting) until the tail meat is no longer translucent and the shell is a bright red (5-6 minutes). Serve immediately.

While eating, be sure to use the jerk-infused butter to dip and baste your lobsters and claws further.

Chef’s Notes:
If the lobster’s claws do not come in direct contact with the grill, you may need to break them off in order to cook them completely.

This recipe makes a lot of jerk paste. Be sure to save it for chicken or sword fish steaks—yum!

**This is the most humane way to kill a lobster in your kitchen—far superior to steaming or boiling.

When choosing, you’ll need to pick based on your menu for the evening. With young rabbits between 2-2½ pounds you’ll want to prepare them using roasting, frying or sautéing techniques which we chefs term “dry” cooking methods since they use oil and fats rather than liquids like water, stock, spirits or wine. Older rabbits range from 3-5 pounds and benefit greatly from moist cooking methods, such stewing or braising which breakdown tough muscle and draw out deep, rich and wonderful flavors. The recipe below relies on the braising technique to create a delicious rabbit dish you can enjoy for Easter or anytime of year.

Braised Rabbit with Cherries

Servings: 4-6

Ingredients:
1 each          3 lb Rabbit, cut into eights**
To taste       Salt & Pepper
1 cup            Flour
5 each          Large Garlic Cloves, crushed but left whole
6 tbsp          Olive Oil
2 each          Large Spanish Onions
1½ cups      Sweet Potato, diced
1½  cups     Dried Sweet Cherries, split and soaked in
                        port wine or 2¼ cups fresh (when in season)
1 cup            Sweet Sherry Wine
4 cups          Chicken or Rabbit Stock
2 each          Cinnamon Sticks
¼ bunch      Thyme
¼ bunch      Rosemary
¼ bunch      Sage

Preparation:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

Season the rabbit with salt & pepper and then dust with most of the flour. Heat a 4-6 quart braising pan with the olive oil to a med-high heat. When the oil begins to smoke, brown the rabbit pieces a few at a time and set them aside.

Next, lower the heat to medium and add the garlic, browning it slightly before adding the onions, sweet potato and cherries (if using fresh, save half for later). Lower the heat slightly and sweat the mix until the onions are translucent and sweet. Add the sherry and simmer on high until it is nearly evaporated. Mix in the remaining flour.

Place the rabbit back into the pan, spreading the pieces evenly across the bottom. Season with additional salt & pepper. Add the stock, cinnamon sticks and herbs (bundled together with butcher’s twine). Bring the mixture to a quick boil then cover tightly with foil and a lid and place in the oven.

Braise for 1½ hours or until the rabbit is fork tender. When finished, remove the dish from the oven and pick out the rabbit pieces, plating them as you’d like. Then, bring the braising pan back to a simmer on the stove and adjust seasonings and thickness using flour if desired. If using fresh cherries, add the other half now. Ladle the mixture over the rabbit pieces and enjoy!

Chef’s note:
If you don’t own a braising pan, you can alternatively prepare all the ingredients in a sauté pan and then transfer them to an oven-proof casserole. Be sure to add an additional 15 minutes of baking time to make up for a cold casserole dish.

Also, this recipe can be adjusted to cook hare, which can range from 6-12 pounds at market. If doing so, use a small hare or half a big one and adjust the recipe as needed to produce desired results (especially increase the braising time).

**One way to cut a rabbit into eights can be found here. Though I prefer to cut between the bones horizontally rather than completely through them with a butcher knife.