Sunday, February 22, 2009

Possible menu for round 2 of NYU Master Chef

Tomorrow at noon is when I must submit my ingredient list and recipe for the second round of Master Chef NYU, which will be held Friday morning. The recipe must be for a lunch menu, and the meal must be capable of being made by me, with only 20 minutes of prep time, and one hour of cooking time. I thought a fair amount about this yesterday and today I did some recipe experimenting. I am proud to say that I am pretty much settled on the menu which I'll be explaining briefly.
I should note some of the basic ideas on which I am judged:
1. Seasonality of ingredient. There is a lot of focus on using winter ingredients (which works in well with my winter diet).
2. Healthy ingredients. Read: no butter or cream sauces...
3. Presentation and flavor / complexity.

The theme which I am looking for in my lunch menu is a healthy, non-meat take on a NY street lunch. The flavors I focus on can generally be associated with Moroccan cuisine. Cilantro, green onion and parsley figure in as the main greens, and cumin and coriander, as well as cinnamon are the main spices. Lemon provides a tangy acidity to complement and freshen the flavors, while brown sugar adds a mild sweetness. The main dish is marinaded (in a dilute lemon, herb and brown sugar mixture) tuna medallions seared with a Moroccan spice rub and diced greens (cilantro, green onion and parsley). Depending on the quality of the tuna (I'm not sure if its sushi grade) the centers will either be left raw or cooked just enough --- also the amount of marinading time will vary. The spice rub and greens will also serve as the base for a light sauce, which will be mixed with just a little greek yogurt, and served on top of the plated tuna medallions. Under the tuna will go a simple couscous, likely prepared with a vegetable bouillon cube and maybe some raisins and parsley. This will be plated on the right side of a long oval shaped plate. In the middle I will place two lines of pan roasted chickpeas, prepared with ample cumin and a little kosher salt. To the left of this will go a coleslaw of carrot, cabbage and finely sliced onion. The carrot and onion will marinade in the same type of marinade as the tuna (in a different bowl though). With a little time left I'll mix this in with the cabbage and toss with some olive oil. To this I'll add some roasted sliced almonds, and serve.
The portion size will be six tuna medallions (roughly 5 ounces of tuna), about 20 chickpeas, a few spoons of couscous and a few spoons of the coleslaw (after all this is supposed to be lunch). What makes this a lunch menu? To me, this is a healthier, more seasonal take on NY push-cart lunches. I think that using the same types of flavors throughout helps bring out different elements of each spice and herb --- in the tuna you get the highly heated, moist version of cumin and the herbs, while in the sauce things are much lighter and more refreshing. In the chickpeas the flavors are dry and the texture is crunchy, while the coleslaw is again lighter and tangier....(yea, this is a bunch of bs.. but it does still taste good).

Here are the exact recipes.

Marinade (for tuna, for sauce and for coleslaw)
Finely dice cilantro, parsley and green onion. Mix equal parts of lemon juice and water and add enough to cover the greens. Add in a few small lumps of brown sugar plus a little red chili powder.

Spice rub (for tuna, for sauce)
1 part cumin powder and brown sugar
.5 part coriander powder, cinnamon powder, sweet paprika, kosher salt
.25 par onion powder, red chili powder
.1 part (or less) nutmeg
Mix together!

Tuna medallions
This depends on the quality of the tuna (I'm not sure what quality the competition has... in fact I have a vague fear that when they write tuna, they mean canned tuna fish...). If sushi tuna, do not marinade as long and do not cook as long. If not sushi tuna, marinade longer and cook until mostly done.
Slice half inch thick medallions (2" by 1.5" rectangle in the other dimensions) and add to a portion of the marinade. When ready to sear, remove from marinade and brush off the greens. Roll in the spice rub until mostly coated. Then take some of the greens and push onto the top. Heat a cast iron skillet with a little vegetable oil until just about smoking. Sear the greens side down first, cooking variable amounts of time for the grade of the fish. Flip when half cooked and sear the other side, cooking for only a little while. Remove and plate. Serve 6 medallions (about 5 ounces) with the greens side up.

Sauce
Dice green onion bottoms and cook in a little oil until browned. Add in a portion of the spice rub, and then deglaze with some of the marinade. When cooked down, take off heat and add in a little greek yogurt. Mix and let relax. When tuna is plated, place a small dollop on each piece of the fish.

Couscous
Here I assume they are using the fast cooking (pre-steamed) couscous. Dice half and onion and cook until translucent with a little olive oil and a few chopped raisins. Add in a cup of couscous and saute for just a moment before adding in some already hot (but not boiling) vegetable bouillon base. Cook tightly covered on very low heat for 7 minutes and when done, pour into a bowl and mix it with some diced parsley. Plate as the base for the tuna.

Chickpeas
In a cast iron skillet heat some olive oil. Meanwhile drain, wash and dry some chickpeas. Add ample cumin and some kosher salt to the oil when hot, and then add the chickpeas. Cook, every few minutes shaking the pan, until the chickpeas are browned and crisp. Remove from heat and plate two lines of these.

Coleslaw.
Add a fair amount more lemon to a portion of the marinade. Add a few thinly sliced pieces of onion, plus a carrot or two, peeled and coined. Chop a cabbage and add a little kosher salt to draw some water out. Add the carrot, onion and marinade to the cabbage and toss with olive oil. Add some roasted and cooled almond slivers or slices.

Plating
The plate is long oval. The coleslaw goes on the left, with the chickpeas between it the couscous. On the couscous goes the tuna and sauce. Cut a few sprigs of cilantro and parsley and arrange near the chickpeas and in the middle of the couscous.

Thoughts?

2 comments:

Chowspecial said...

I'm drooling..... :P

If time isn't on your side I'd recommend using a blender for the marinade.

BTW I might be at NYC on March 13th. What's the best corned beef in town? :P

SP31415 said...

I'm partial to the second avenue deli (now located on 33rd and 3rd). Though undoubtedly Katz's and Carnegie have good corned beef too. I would accompany you to get some corned beef, but I'm going to be in Utah skiing on the 13th (which happens to be another Friday the 13th -- in fact, there are three of them this year. It is a fact that in any year there may be between one and three Friday the 13ths, no more and no less).