Wilted Watercress Food

WILTED WATERCRESS SALAD

Steps:

• In a large bowl, toss watercress and onions; set aside. In a skillet, cook bacon until crisp. Remove bacon; crumble and add to watercress mixture. To the drippings, add brown sugar, vinegar, lemon juice and Worcestershire sauce; bring to a boil. Pour over salad and toss to coat; serve immediately.

CRISPY TROUT WITH WILTED WATERCRESS

Steps:

• Combine first 4 ingredients in shallow dish. Moisten trout with cold water and dip in cornmeal mixture, turning to coat.
• Melt butter with 1 tablespoon oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add trout, skin side down, and pan-fry until coating is brown, about 3 minutes. Turn trout over; pan-fry until opaque in center, about 2 minutes. Transfer trout to platter.
• Add 1 tablespoon oil and lemon juice to skillet, stirring to scrape up browned bits. Add watercress and cook until barely wilted, tossing with pan drippings, about 30 seconds. Season with salt and pepper. Top trout with watercress, garnish with lemon wedges, and serve.

SAUTEED MOI, GRATED TURNIPS, CILANTRO, TOMATO, WILTED WATERCRESS, AND MANOA LETTUCE, DRIED SHRIMP NAGE

Steps:

• In a stock pot, heat oil to medium high temperature then add dried shrimp into pot stir until oil coats shrimp, about 2 to 3 minutes. Then, add onion, celery, and carrots to mixture and saute for another 5 minutes, or until slightly translucent. Add water and bring to a boil. Lower heat to a simmer, and cook for 20 to 25 minutes. Strain. Place strained mixture over low heat in a saucepan. Add daikon, cilantro and tomato and cook just until ingredients are heated through. Reserve.
• Method for moi: Place a nonstick pan over low heat and coat with olive oil. Place fillet, skin side down, in the pan and cook until golden brown. Turn fish over and cook until cooked through and golden brown.
• On medium high heat saute watercress and Manoa lettuce in olive oil for 5 to 10 seconds, just to wilt. Place greens in the middle of a plate and top with sauteed moi. Pour the shrimp nage around fish and greens.

WILTED WATERCRESS WITH GARLIC

Steps:

• Heat a dry 12-inch heavy skillet or wok (not nonstick) over medium heat until hot. Add oil, then garlic, and cook, tossing constantly, until garlic is deep golden. Add watercress and salt, then reduce heat to medium-low and cook, tossing constantly, 45 seconds. Add stock and toss again, then cook, covered, until stems are crisp-tender and leaves are just wilted, about 20 seconds.
• Serve with garlic cloves arranged on top.

GRILLED SKIRT STEAK WITH WATERCRESS AND SALSA

Steps:

• For the salsa: Prepare a grill for high heat. Lightly oil the grill grates. Cut 6 of the tomatoes in half and place them on the grill with the jalapenos. Char, turning regularly to promote even cooking, until the skins are blackened, about 20 minutes. Remove the vegetables from the grill and set aside to cool.
• Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cut the top off the bulb of garlic. Place the garlic bulb on a sheet pan and roast until the garlic is tender and can be squeezed out of the bulb, 30 to 45 minutes. While hot, turn the bulb upside down and squeeze the bulb from the root end to the top, pushing the roasted garlic cloves out of the bulb. Crush and chop 4 cloves of the roasted garlic and stir together with the red onions and cilantro in a bowl. (Save the remaining roasted garlic for another use.)
• Quarter and seed the remaining 6 tomatoes and dice the flesh. Add to the bowl with the garlic and onions. Remove some of the charred skin from the roasted tomatoes, then dice the tomatoes with the seeds. Put them into the bowl with the rest of the salsa ingredients.
• Remove some of the charred skin from the jalapenos and cut in half. Remove the seeds and dice the jalapeno. Add to the bowl with rest of the salsa.
• Add the lime juice and mix the salsa. Season to taste with salt and pepper and let the salsa sit for at least 30 minutes before serving.
• For the smoked tomatillo rice: Heat a smoker to 350 degrees F. Drain 1 cup hickory wood chips that have been soaked for 1 hour and add them to the smoking pan of a smoker.
• Put the tomatillos and red onions in a perforated pan and place in the smoker. Smoke the vegetables for 10 minutes, then remove from the smoker and transfer to a blender. Add the cilantro and honey and puree until slightly chunky. Season with salt and pepper. (If it is still tart, add more honey).
• Bring 2 1/4 cups water to a boil in a pot. Stir in the rice and cover. Reduce the heat to low and cook the rice until all of the liquid has been absorbed, 12 to 15 minutes. Fluff the rice with a fork, then stir in 1 cup of the tomatillo salsa (save the remainder for another use). Cover again and hold warm for plating.
• For the guacamole: Combine the cilantro and yellow onion in a blender and blend until almost pureed but still a little chunky.
• Scoop the flesh out of the avocados and put them in a bowl. Add the onion-cilantro puree and mash the avocados with a fork. Add the tomato, red onion and lime juice and mix well. Season with the salt and cover with plastic wrap directly touching the guacamole.
• For the vinaigrette: Combine the lime juice, cilantro and honey in a bowl, then slowly whisk in the vegetable oil and olive oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
• For the skirt steak: Combine the vegetable oil, olive oil, cilantro and garlic. Pour over the steaks and marinate the steaks for at least 1 hour and up to 24 hours.
• Prepare the grill for high heat. Lightly oil the grill grates. Remove the steak from the marinade. Season with salt and pepper and cook until grill marks appear, 1 to 2 minutes per side. Heat a skillet or saute pan over medium heat on the stovetop. Transfer the marked steak to the skillet and finish cooking on the stovetop over medium heat, flipping once, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Allow the steak to rest 5 to 10 minutes before slicing against the grain and on a bias.
• For plating: Divide the rice among 6 plates. Lay the sliced steak over the top of the rice. Top each plate with a large tablespoon of the guacamole.
• Combine the watercress and red onions in a bowl and dress them with 2 to 3 tablespoons of the vinaigrette. Toss the watercress salad and divide among the plates, piling it on top of the steak. Spoon 2 to 3 ounces of salsa over the top of each salad. Sprinkle the plate with a pinch of freshly ground black pepper.

GNOCCHI WITH TOMATOES, PANCETTA & WILTED WATERCRESS

Steps:

• Put a large pan of water on to boil.
• Cook pancetta in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until it begins to brown, 4 to 5 minutes.
• Add garlic and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds.
• Add tomatoes, sugar and crushed red pepper and cook, stirring, until the tomatoes are almost completely broken down, about 5 minutes.
• Stir in vinegar and salt.
• Remove from the heat.
• Cook gnocchi in the boiling water until they float, 3 to 5 minutes or according to package directions.
• Place watercress in a colander and drain the gnocchi over the watercress, wilting it slightly.
• Add the gnocchi and watercress to the sauce in the pan; toss to combine.
• Serve immediately, with Parmesan.

WILTED WATERCRESS SALAD WITH TROUT-POTATO FRITTERS

Steps:

• To make the fritters, boil the potato whole until almost tender, about 25 minutes; peel and grate. Flake the trout and combine with the potato in a medium bowl. Mix in the egg, parsley, salt and pepper. Using a well-rounded tablespoon as measure, form the mixture into 12 balls. Flatten them slightly and coat with the bread crumbs.
• Heat the olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the fritters and cook until well browned on both sides, about 5 minutes. Keep warm.
• To make the salad, heat a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the watercress and stir just until wilted, about 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat and toss with the lemon juice, salt and pepper. Divide among 4 plates and place 3 of the fritters on each plate. Serve immediately.

SPICY SOBA NOODLES WITH WILTED WATERCRESS

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of water to boil on high heat. Add the soba noodles and cook until done, about 8 minutes (or cook according to package directions).
• In the meantime, prepare the dressing by mixing together the soy sauce, chile-garlic sauce and sesame oil. Set aside. (I made half the recipe and used maybe 1 1/2 tsp soy sauce for the dressing - that was enough for me).
• Drain the soba in a colander.
• Put the greens into the hot pot, then return the soba noodles to the pot along with the neutral oil. The residual heat will wilt the greens.
• Add the dressing and toss. Serve warm or at room temperature.

WILTED WATERCRESS

Steps:

• Trim large stems from watercress and discard. Wash and leave slightly wet.
• In a saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Add watercress and saute until wilted, about 5 minutes. Serve immediately.