Top Chef Recipes: Beet Salad, Milk-Poached Cod, & Squid Spaetzle

During the San Diego Bay Wine and Food Festival in November, we took a class sponsored by Alaska Seafood featuring former Top Chef contestants sharing some of their favorite seafood recipes. Some recipes had several components, and I pulled out my favorites to share with you here.

Beet Salad (by Chef Eli Kirshtein)

1 large red beet
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons sliced chives
salt
pepper

1) Lightly salt the beet and wrap in foil.
2) Roast at 425 degrees until tender (let cook in the foil).
3) Peel the beets and cut into 1/8 inch slices
4) Combine remaining ingredients and lightly coat the beets in the dressing.

Chef Eli served this as part of a larger dish of Cured Alaskan Salmon, Beet Salad, and Tahini Cream. It's such a simple and delicious side, it would go nicely with any number of things.

Milk Poached Alaskan Black Cod (by Chef Kenneth J. Gilbert)

8 oz. Alaskan Black Cod
1 quart half and half
2 bay leaves
1/8 tsp. kosher salt
2 tsp. pink peppercorns

1) Place half and half into a pot along with bay leaves, salt, and pink peppercorns.
2) Place fish into simmering milk mixture until fully cooked.

Squid Spaetzle (by Chef Kenneth J. Gilbert)

1 pound squid (cleaned)
6 egg whites
1 cup flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
pinch of kosher salt

1) Bring salted water to a boil.
2) Place squid and egg whites in a blender; puree until smooth
3) Pass mixture through a strainer or tammycloth
4) Slowly add flour, cornstarch, and salt. Mix until smooth.
5) Place mixture into piping bag and cut tip.
6) Pipe mixture into boiling water.
7) Cook until spaetzle begin to float, then about 2 minutes.


Chef Kenny had these as part of a larger dish of Milk Poached Black Cod, Dukkah Tomato Broth, Squid Spaetzle, Rapini, Ricotta Salata Cheese, and Hazelnuts. The tomato broth and rapini didn't really work for me when I tasted it, so I'm only sharing the pieces of the recipe I liked. The spaetzle would be great with a light cream, butter, or lemon sauce. The poached cod can be served flaked on top (as it was in his original recipe, pictured above), or as a main dish....it was delicious.