Monthly Recipes

Each month, the staff at Cassandra Crossing will pick a few recipes and post them here.  The recipes will be archived according to type for easy locating at a later date.  Recipes can be submitted to recipes@cassandracrossing.net or posted on the forum.

October 2008

Halibut Breaded in Macadamia Nuts with Coconut Curry Mango Sauce

submitted by: alaskacooks

Serves 6

This recipe is an adaptation of a similar recipe from The Marx Brothers restaurant in Anchorage. Because of our large halibuts we are able to cut it into 6 rather large fillets, however smaller ones will work fine for this, just adjust the spices.
We like it very spicy and I will usually use more than the recommended portions of the Thai Green Curry Paste. The amount of cayenne and chili paste can be adjusted to your liking.



Halibut, cut into 6 fillets (About 3 lbs.)
1 lb. macadamia nuts
2 tbsp. flour plus 1/2 cup or so for dredging fish
2 eggs beaten with 2 Ttablespoons water
1 tspn. cayenne
5 tbsp. butter
One 14-ounce can coconut milk
2 tbsp. peanut oil
3 tbsp. Taste of Thai Green Curry Paste
1/2 cup Major Grey Chutney
3 tbsp. peanut butter
Fresh lime, cut into wedges

Combine nuts and 2 Tbsp. flour in food processor, pulsing so as not to over- chop and become sticky. Beat cayenne into egg with a fork. Dredge fillet first in flour, then egg, then nuts, pressing nuts onto fish. Refrigerate breaded fish while starting sauce.
Heat 2 Tbsp. peanut oil in a heavy saucepan. Add curry paste and cook one minute, whisking. Add coconut milk, peanut butter and chutney; bring to a boil. Boil lightly until milk is reduced to 1/2 its original volume or to desired thickness. Turn heat off and cover to keep warm.

Melt butter in large saute pan over medium heat. Add halibut and fry until deep golden brown, then turn to brown other side. If fillets are very thick, place in 400-degree oven for 8 minutes after browning to finish cooking.
Squeeze fresh lime over fish then add sauce. Serve over jasmine rice.

Easy Italian Wedding Soup

1lb. ground sirloin
1 medium vidalia onion, chopped
1 lb cut up carrot, sliced
4-5 stalks of celery, thinly sliced
2 32 oz. boxes of BJ's Organic Beef stock, low sodium
1/2 cup of red wine
1/2 lb. of orzo, cooked (toss w/2 tbsp. olive oil and set aside)
3 tbsp. olive oil
Red pepper flakes
1 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. ground pepper
Freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano

In a medium heated saucepan, put in olive oil, add onion, salt and black pepper and cook for about five minutes, stirring so it doesn't brown, just translucent.

Add ground sirloin, and break up, using a wooden spoon, as you want it to crumble. Cook for about five minutes, not making it too brown. After 5 minutes or so, add wine, and bring to a simmer. Add beef broth, and bring up to a simmer. If there is anything to skim, do so with slotted spoon. Add carrot and celery, and a pinch of red pepper flakes. Let simmer until the veggies are tender, about 20 minutes. At this point add the cooled, cooked orzo into the pan, but we aware it tends to "eat" up alot of the soup. Check seasonings.

Serve with cheese, and a crusty bread.

German Pretzels

Submitted by jwolf

Bread Flour 1lb, 1oz (about 4 cups)
Water 10 oz (about 1 ¼ cups)
Salt .3 oz (½ tablespoon)
Yeast .08 oz instant dry (3/4 teaspoon)
Butter (softened) 3 tablespoons
Sugar 2 teaspoons
Pate Fermentee 7 oz (1 cup bread flour, ½ cup water, ¾ teaspoon salt, pinch of yeast. Mix together just until smooth, cover and let stand for 12-16 hours)

Add all ingredients to the mixing bowl, except for the pate fermentee. Mix on low until ingredients are incorporated. Add pate fermentee in chunks. Mix dough on second speed for about 5 minutes. Place dough in greased bowl, cover and place in draft free area for one hour. Do a stretch and fold, cover and let rest for another hour.

Divide dough into 3 ounce pieces. Roll into cylinders, cover and rest for about 5 minutes. Roll each cylinder into 16 inch lengths, tapering the ends. Twist the ends twice and press the ends into the dough on each side to form the pretzels.

Let the pretzels proof for about 30 minutes and then place them, uncovered, in the refrigerator for 40 minutes (this allows them to form a skin, which will help them stand up to the dipping process).

Wearing gloves and eye protection, carefully pick up the pretzels and dip them into the lye solution* (keep them in the solution for about 5 seconds). Place pretzels on a very well-greased, parchment-lined baking sheet (if you think you’ve greased it enough, go back and do it again…the lye makes the pretzels stick). Slash the pretzels with a lame or razor, sprinkle with salt and bake in a 450 degree oven for 15 minutes or until a deep, rich brown.

*Lye Solution for dipping; lye = 5% of the water weight. For example, 1 gallon water (at 100 degrees) should be mixed with 6 ½ oz lye.