Feeding My Passion

Although I’ve been doing a few of the 98.3 The Coast “Cooking with the Diva” radio/video podcast shows recently, it’s really Watty’s (that’s what most everyone calls Chef Tom Watson) show, and he’s been nice enough to let me do it. Last Tuesday, he was feeling very poorly, so he asked me to do it. Not exactly expecting it and I froze for a second before stammering out “Sssure!” Fortunately the recipe was very simple, a delicious tomato gratin with toasted hazelnuts, thyme and fresh mozzarella. It turned out pretty well, I even had time to go back to the Port to do some research on the best wine for this dish and grab a couple bottles of what we had at the restaurant. During one of the commercial breaks, I looked up the origin of the word “gratin” (on my super cool new Samsung m800) and was able to talk about that before the end of the show. Excellent!

The story about the gratin is interesting, so I’ll tell it soon.

Video after the jump.

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For the latest Cooking with the Diva segment, I did my all-time favorite dish, Vietnamese catfish with caramel sauce. Here’s my written introduction to it on 98.3 The Coast’s site:

While name of the dish is intriguing, that’s nothing compared to how it tastes! Vietnamese caramel sauce feels barely related to what you put on your ice cream. It’s much, much darker, almost black, and because it’s so dark, it’s actually bittersweet. When you simmer catfish in it with a few other ingredients, you create a rich and seductive dish that almost everyone falls in love with. With a few minor variations, you can also use the same sauce and technique with chicken, shrimp, and pork with equally impressive results. The flavors are intense, and you’ll want something to soak up every drop of the finished sauce, so serve it with rice.

Ingredients
Caramel sauce (sugar, water, shallots, garlic, fish sauce, vegetable oil)
Catfish fillets
Scallions
Ground black pepper

Given that little list of ingredients, the complexity you get from that little list is stunning, definitely worth a try, whether you make it or order it! The best method for making caramel sauce base (sugar/water caramel) I’ve found so far is in Into the Vietnamese Kitchen by Andrea Nguyen. It’s worth the price of the book just for that alone since the caramel sauce can be tricky. And the rest of the book is outstanding as well, I’ve cooked from it many times and have always been happy with the results.

Video after the jump.
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I’m doing another radio/video cooking thing today, this time I’m making Vietnamese catfish with caramel sauce, probably my all-time favorite food. The recipe is very simple, so I’ll be explaining the ingredients again, just like with the pad thai. There aren’t too many exotic ingredients, just the fish and caramel sauces. I’ll also be talking about the catfish a bit, especially since many people still think of it as a dirty fish that tastes gamey.

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Holy smokes people, it feels so weird when I watch myself doing the pad thai demonstration (after the jump) on Tuesday. As for my awkwardness, my only defense is that it was my first time doing something like this on camera.

I’m sure I’ll be twice as awkward the second time.

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