Serves 4

This is a Venetian-inspired dish of salmon with sweet and sour onions, raisins and pine nuts. While traditionally done with sole that has been marinated overnight, then fried, we like the sweet and sour flavors with the rich taste of the salmon. It is a perfect foil for Pinot Gris. The spinach and polenta round out this dish for an elegant meal. Make the polenta the night before and this dish is put together in less than an hour.

Ingredients:

• 4 6-ounce salmon filets
• Olive oil for coating salmon and sautéing polenta and spinach
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 pound cleaned spinach leaves
• Sweet and Sour Onion Confit (recipe follows)
• Polenta Croutons (recipe follows)

Sweet and Sour Onion Confit :

• 2 large yellow onions
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1-1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1/2 cup white wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 3 bay leaves
• 12 or so black peppercorns
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup toasted pine nuts (for garnish)

Sauté onions in butter and oil over medium heat until wilted, soft and slightly golden, about 15 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients except the pine nuts and simmer for 15 minutes. Turn off heat and keep warm. Taste again for salt and pepper.

Polenta Croutons:

• 4 cups cold water
• 1 cup polenta or coarse cornmeal
• Salt to taste
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated

In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, stir the cold water and polenta together. Cook over medium low heat, stirring every few minutes to prevent sticking, until it is thick, smooth and no longer tastes raw or grainy. This will take 25 to 30 minutes. Stir in butter and Parmesan and taste for seasoning. Spoon the hot mixture into a well buttered loaf pan and chill in the refrigerator overnight.

To make croutons, unmold polenta, cut into 1″ slices, then cut each slice into squares.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Lightly oil, salt and pepper the salmon and roast until done, approximately 7 to 10 minutes. Meanwhile fry the polenta croutons in olive oil until golden brown and crispy. Drain on paper towels. Sauté the spinach in olive oil with a little salt and pepper until just wilted. Set aside covered until ready to use. When the salmon is done, remove from oven.

To assemble:

Divide the spinach among four dinner plates, placing it in the center. Put a salmon filet on top of the spinach and spoon some Sweet and Sour Onion Confit over the fish. Place 3 polenta croutons on each plate and garnish the dish with a sprinkling of toasted pine nuts on top of the onion mixture.

Suggestions for starting this meal are chilled oysters on the half shell, chilled asparagus with lemon aïoli and capers, prosciutto with figs or melon, or a simple salad of arugula and radicchio with balsamic vinaigrette. For dessert Christopher recommends a chocolate-hazelnut semifreddo or a pear tart with vanilla ice cream.

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The biography below is exactly as it appeared in our Pinot Gris cookbook in 1995. Christopher Israel now operates a restaurant called Gruner in SW Portland.

Christopher Israel

of Zefiro in Portland, OR

Like many of our contributing chefs, Christopher Israel’s interest in food began at home. He grew up in a large family in San Diego and was inspired by his mother’s passion for cooking. During and after his studies toward a B.A. in art history at Berkeley, he worked in various Bay Area restaurants, usually as a host or server. It was as the host at Square One in San Francisco that he met Joyce Goldstein, who was to become a friend and important mentor. In the four years he worked there he learned to appreciate her pan-Mediterranean approach to food, which includes the flavors of North Africa, the Middle East, Greece, and Turkey, as well those of the European coast. Christopher drew on this influence, plus his belief in simple but meticulous preparation, when he opened Zefiro in 1990 with partner Bruce Carey.

Zefiro is a stylish restaurant–a combination of Mediterranean simplicity and high design. The amber stucco walls are adorned with just a few black and white photographs. Heavy gold velvet drapes hang by the entry and behind the banquettes, reminding one of a Venetian palazzo but functioning as baffles for the lively ambiance. A copper-covered bar, flower arrangements perched on columns and ledges, and large wire urns filled with seasonal fruit add color and light.

In its first year of operation, Zefiro was named Restaurant of the Year by The Oregonian and given four stars in Northwest Best Places. It has also been featured in Gourmet, The New York Times and The Atlantic and received the top ranking in the Zagat Survey and the 1995 DiRoNa award.

Recent ventures include Zero, a tiny space dedicated to exquisite ice creams and sorbets, breakfast pastries and rustic breads and Sauce Box, a hip downtown spot for contemporary music and tasty bar food.

Serves 6

Ingredients:

• 4 live lobsters, about 1-1/2 pounds each
• 1/2 teaspoon yellow curry paste (available in the Asian section of supermarkets)
• 1/2 teaspoon red curry paste
• 1/2 teaspoon green curry paste
• 2 teaspoons unsalted butter, plus a little butter for warming up the lobster meat
• 1 piece lemon grass, cut into batonnets about an inch long
• 2 lime leaves (available in Asian grocery stores)
• 1/2 medium carrot, shredded
• 1 tablespoon turmeric
• 1 cup white Port, Sauternes, or other similar dessert wine
• 1 golden delicious apple, peeled, cored and cut in fine julienne
• 1/2 cup heavy cream, whipped
• 1 teaspoon peanut oil
• 2 medium bok choy, cut in 1/2″ pieces
• 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro leaves

To prepare lobsters:

Put the lobster into a large pot of salted boiling water and cook for 4 minutes. Plunge into a bowl of ice water to cool, then drain. Using a cleaver, cut through the lobster at the point where the head and tail meet. Separate the legs where they connect to the body. Using a small sharp knife, cut away any connective tissue and clean out the inside of the head leaving the shell intact. Return the cleaned head to boiling water and blanch for 30 seconds. Set aside to use as garnish. With a pair of small, sharp scissors, cut through the center of the underside of the tail, being careful not to cut into the meat. Trim down each side of the underside of the tail. Slipping your hand under the tail meat, gently release it from the shell, trying to maintain it in one piece. Remove the intestinal tract. Crack the claws and carefully remove the meat in the largest pieces possible. Place in a small bowl, cover tightly and refrigerate until ready to assemble dish. This can be done up to 4 hours ahead.

For the sauce base, mix the 3 curry pastes. In a sauté pan, melt the butter, add the curry mixture and sweat it for a minute. Add lemon grass, lime leaves, carrots and turmeric and continue to sweat for a few minutes. Add white Port and reduce by half. Add apples and simmer for 3 minutes. Cool and reserve.

Just before serving, heat the sauce base and stir in the whipped cream. Season with salt to taste and keep warm. Cut the lobster into 1/2″ medallions. In a sauté pan, melt a little butter and heat the lobster slowly for about 4 minutes, taking care not to overcook. Sauté the bok choy with the peanut oil until tender. Heat the lobster head in oven for a few minutes.

To assemble:

Arrange bok choy in the center of each plate. Place the head shell on top and fill with lobster meat. Nap with sauce and garnish with a scattering of chopped cilantro.

Jean-Georges Vongerichten

of Vong in New York City/London
Jean-Georges Vongerichten is considered one of the front runners of multi-cultural cuisine in New York. Born and raised in Alsace, France, Jean-Georges started cooking at the age of 15 as an apprentice under Paul Haeberlin of the Auberge de l’Ill. He then went on to work with Paul Bocuse and, finally, Louis Outhier at L’Oasis in the South of France; all three restaurants have three Michelin stars. With this experience, he participated in opening ten restaurants around the world, including those in the Oriental Hotel in Bangkok, the Meridien in Singapore and the Mandarin Hotel in Hong Kong.

Jean-Georges arrived in New York in 1986, immediately wowing diners and critics as chef at Lafayette in the Drake Swissôtel. While there, he earned a four-star review from The New York Times, and helped boost the reputation of the restaurant to one of the best in the city. After this success, he went on to open JoJo, his own Manhattan bistro, which was named Esquire’s Best New Restaurant of the Year. In 1994, he was nominated for the James Beard Best American Chef: New York City award, in recognition of his accomplishments at JoJo.

Two years after the phenomenal success of JoJo, Jean-Georges dazzled New Yorkers with his Asian fantasy, Vong, which imaginatively merged the ingredients and seasonings of Thailand with the refinement of classical French technique. In November of 1995 he opened a second Vongin London.

Jean-Georges was a leader in the movement toward the use of vegetable juices, vinaigrettes, broths and flavored oils with their clear colors and bright flavors. The recipe he created for our cookbook–Lobster with Thai Spices–is a symphony of succulence, sweetness and spiciness, with a slight citrus tang from the lemon grass. Jean-Georges and Christophe Michaud, Vong’s general manager, feel that “Pinot Gris is a great wine to go with the lobster due to its richness in exotic fruit, but with some nice acidity and the honey and spice tones that you need to support this quite spicy dish.”

If you don’t have access to fig leaves, you may substitute grape leaves. You won’t get the subtle and delicious tropical scent, but you will get an even, moist texture from steaming the fish in the leaves. This technique works admirably with other firm-fleshed fish, such as halibut or sea bass. Fish wrapped in leaves can also be cooked on a grill.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 4 5- to 6-ounce salmon filets
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• Pinot Gris Beurre Blanc (recipe below)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Wash the fig leaves and put them on your work surface, shiny side up. In a bowl, gently turn the salmon filets with the olive oil, salt and pepper to coat. Put a salmon filet in the middle of each leaf.

Fold the fig leaf over the fish to make a package. Place folded side down on a baking sheet and pour about 1/2 cup water around. Put the baking sheet in the oven for about 10 minutes. Remember, it will continue to cook a bit after you take it from the oven, so be careful not to overcook.

Place each package in the middle of a dinner plate and open the leaves out. Drizzle with Pinot Gris Beurre Blanc.

Pinot Gris Beurre Blanc

• 1 to 1/2 tablespoon white wine vinegar
• 1 to 1/2 tablespoon Pinot Gris
• 2 teaspoons shallots, finely minced
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Freshly ground white pepper
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter for the reduction, plus 4 ounces chilled unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces

Combine the vinegar, wine, shallots, salt, pepper and 1 tablespoon butter in a small, heavy, non-reactive saucepan and boil over medium heat until reduced to about 1 tablespoon.

Remove the saucepan from the heat and whisk in a few pieces of the chilled butter until they have melted creamily into the reduction. Return the saucepan to a burner and, over very low heat, add the remaining pieces of butter one at a time, whisking constantly. The sauce should be creamy in texture and pale in color. Season with additional salt, pepper and/or lemon juice. Hold the sauce in a warm spot until serving time.

Alice suggests beginning a summer meal with a salad of green beans and beets dressed with a chervil vinaigrette, serving the salmon with roasted or steamed new potatoes, and ending with a peach or nectarine tart.

Alice Waters

Chez Panisse in Berkeley
Alice Waters was born April 28, 1944, in Chatham, New Jersey. She graduated from the University of California at Berkeley in 1967 with a degree in French cultural studies. She then trained at Montessori School in London, followed by a seminal year traveling in France.

Alice opened Chez Panisse in August 1971, serving a five-course fixed-price menu that changed daily. The set-menu format remains to this day at the heart of her philosophy: to serve the highest quality products according to the season. A network of farmers and ranchers, sought out and encouraged over two decades, assures Chez Panisse a steady supply of pure, fresh and interesting ingredients. An upstairs café at Chez Panisse opened in 1980 and features an à la carte menu, with an open kitchen and a wood-burning pizza oven. In 1984, Café Fanny, a stand-up café serving breakfast and lunch, opened a few miles from the restaurant

Alice’s vision and dedication have made her the most recognized and influential woman chef working in America. Among her many awards are Best Chef in America and Best Restaurant in America from The James Beard Foundation; the Cook’s Magazine Who’s Who in American Cooking; Les Meilleurs Chefs du Monde in Cuisine et Vins de France; Restaurant and Business Leadership Award from Restaurants & Institutions; and, from the International Women’s Forum, The Woman Who Made a Difference Award. Her board affiliations reflect her passions: the Land Institute, the National Committee of Mothers and Others for Pesticide Limits, Advisors for Public Voice on Food Safety and Health, Advisory Board for the University of California, and many more.

Her publications include: Chez Panisse Menu Cookbook (1982), Chez Panisse Pasta, Pizza and Calzone Cookbook (1984), Chez Panisse Desserts (1988), Chez Panisse Cooking by Paul Bertolli, with Alice Waters (1988) and the charming Fanny at Chez Panisse (1992). A new book, Chez Panisse Vegetables, was published by HarperCollins in the spring of 1996.

Our cookbooks include recipes from these chefs:
Charlie Trotter, Jean-George Vongerichten, Rick Bayless, Charlie Palmer, Alice Waters, Roy Yamaguchi, Daniel Boulud, Todd English, Dean Fearing, Emeril Lagasse, Bradley Ogden, Wolfgang Puck, Mark Miller, Stephen Pyles, and many more.

In the mid 1990’s King Estate published two innovative cookbooks featuring recipes from Chefs who were rising stars at the time. Many of the Chefs who contributed recipes to our New American Cuisine Pinot Gris & Pinot Noir Cookbooks went on to become household names. We will be publishing these recipes online so stay tuned to the New America Cuisine tag on our blog, we will be posting a few a week until they are all online.