Corn flakes. Sliced bread. Cold cuts. Baked beans.
The staples of life! At least, they seem to be on many a camping trip or houseboat.But, as the Gershwins once suggested, "It ain't necessarily so."
After a busy day of sightseeing, a group of journalists settling down for a quiet night on houseboats under the protection of Lake Powell's Gunsight Butte might have been willing to settle for something out of a can. But "Chef Dan" - Dan Noonan - was aboard, so a certain degree of informal pampering was in order. As were attempts to figure out the chef's secrets.
"Are these pine nuts in the rice?" one young woman wondered aloud, as all relished the side dish.
"Is that cilantro?" said another.
And as the dinner wound down, one guest slowly, carefully savored each bite, protecting her plate as if it were covered with jewels. "I don't usually clean my plate," she confided, "but I'm going to clean this plate!"
For a dinner on a lovely evening, Noonan served a spring green salad mixture, with a raspberry vinaigrette of his own; an entree of orange roughy, with a spectacular fruit salsa; Nepalese rice (yes, with roasted pine nuts) and vegetables; and a rich pecan pie for dessert.
"I could have done it quick and simple," said Noonan, who occasionally works as a chef-for-hire on the Colorado River-fed lake winding through the colorful country behind Glen Canyon Dam, "but the amount of pride I put into my work is a reflection of how I feel about myself."
The tasty presentations were almost too tasteful to eat.
"They have to be," Noonan exclaimed with some bemusement. "It costs between $55 and $75 per plate per person."
The salad, he said, is a triple-washed mix most anyone can buy packaged. He does. The greens - some of them more "assertive" than your average ingredients - include red oak-leaf lettuce, baby frisee, mache' (also known as lamb's ear), dandelion and arugula.
"I was going for a combination of flavors," Noonan said. "You get much more flavor from a mixture of greens than you'd get from any one lettuce in a salad." His vinaigrette, too, encompassed a world of tastes, including balsamic vinegar, olive oil, pureed raspberries, fresh-chopped basil, fresh dill, chives, raspberries, and salt and pepper.
For his Lake Powell expeditions, Noonan selects foods based upon what he's learned about people's preferences. Men, he said, lean toward rack of lamb or pork or steak. Women seem to prefer chicken or fish.
"I try to cater to the clientele," the chef said, "to the tastes of the people I'm serving. I chose orange roughy because I love it - because it's a mild white fish," one that can become a blank canvas upon which to lay a variety of palate-pleasing flavors.
In this case, Noonan provided a rainbow of tastes to go with the fish via a fruit salsa. The flavors included strawberries, kiwi, papaya, tomatoes, red onions and cilantro.
Experimenting with combinations, he said, "is something I learned from Paul Prudhomme's books."
On the side were servings of basmati rice from Nepal, cooked in chicken stock and flavored with roasted pine nuts. "Basmati rice" may sound exotic and hard to get; it is and it isn't, Noonan said. The Himalayan rice is hung to age in burlap sacks, exported and sold in a variety of ethnic groceries and supermarkets. The name, according to "The Food Lovers Companion," means "queen of fragrance." Its nutty taste was augmented by the locally available pine nuts.
To all that, Noonan added a colorful medley of sauteed vegetables, including yellow squash, zucchini, red onions, red bell peppers and carrots.
"Something on that plate had to be simple," he said.
For dessert there was pecan pie with vanilla sauce. "I can't take credit for that," the chef said. "I got it from the pastry chef" at Wahweap Resort's Rainbow Room.
*****
RECIPES
ORANGE ROUGHY WITH KIWI & PAPAYA SALSA
6 10-ounce filets of boneless, skinless orange roughy
butter; salt and pepper
For Fruit Salsa:
2 kiwis, skinned and diced
1 papaya, peeled, pitted and diced
12 strawberries, hulled and diced
1 bunch of fresh cilantro, chopped
1 small red onion, peeled and fine diced
2 small tomatoes, cored and diced
2 tablespoons raspberry champagne vinegar or white vinegar
Brush orange roughy filets with melted butter and season with salt and pepper. Bake at 450 degrees Fahrenheit until the fish flakes easily (about 10 to 12 minutes). Combine all ingredients for Fruit Salsa just before serving and moisten with 2 tablespoons of fine raspberry champagne vinegar or any fine-grade white vinegar. Topping is enough for 6 filets.
Serving suggestion: Cut julienne strips of at least three different colored vegetables, such as zucchini, yellow squash and red bell peppers. Saute slightly with shallots of fresh thyme. Salt and pepper to taste.
- Each serving contains 444 calories, 8g fat, 19g carb, 390mg sodium, 159mg cholesterol.
- Courtesy of Dan Noonan
BASMATI RICE WITH TOASTED PINE NUTS
1 small white onion, diced
2 cups of boiling chicken broth
1 tablespoon of butter
1 cup of aged basmati rice
1 cup of shelled toasted pine nuts
butter
Saute diced onion in butter until translucent. Add rice and stir lightly to coat rice kernels. Add boiling chicken stock. Simmer until rice is tender. Add toasted pine nuts and salt and pepper. Serve immediately.
Note: Basmati rice does not hold well. Serve promptly or hold in warm oven no longer than 15 minutes.
Each serving contains 245 calories, 8g fat, 35g carb, 565mg sodium, 8mg cholesterol.
Courtesy of Dan Noonan
RASPBERRY & HERB VINAIGRETTE
1 tablespoon chopped shallots
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 tablespoon chopped chives
1 tablespoon chopped taragon
1/2 cup fresh raspberries
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup canola oil
salt and pepper
Combine all ingredients 24 hours before serving time. Salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate until use. Serve over mixed greens with vegetable garnishes and croutons. Serves 4.
Each serving contains 54 cal, 4g fat, 6g carb, 3 mg sodium, 0mg cholesterol.
Courtesy of Dan Noonan
ROASTED-PECAN BUTTER PECAN PIE
For dough:
1 cup plus 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 tablespoon salt
7 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/4 cup ice water
For Pecan Filling:
1/2 cup pecan pieces or halves, dry roasted until dark
3 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup dark corn syrup
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
11/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup pecan halves
For the dough: Sift 1 cup of the flour and the salt into a large mixing bowl. Add the butter and, working quickly and with a light touch, cut butter into the flour with a spoon and fingertips (or use a pastry cutter) until mixture is the texture of course cornmeal. Add the ice water and stir until well blended. Form the dough into a ball and place on a flat surface floured with the remaining 3 tablespoons of flour.
With a floured rolling pin, roll out dough to a thickness of 1/4 to 1/8 inch. Place an ungreased 81/2-inch round pie pan face down on top of the dough and cut around the pan, leaving a 3/4-inch border. Lightly flour the top of the dough and fold it in quarters. Carefully place dough in the pie pan, with the points of the golded dough centered. Unfold dough and line the pan bottom and sides, gently pressing dough into place and draping a little over the rim. Flute the edges or trim the edges. Refrigerate prepared pie shell until ready to use.
For the filling: Process the roasted pecans in a food processor until they become a relatively smooth butter, 2 to 3 minutes, scrapping sides down as needed with a rubber spatula.
Place the eggs in a medium size bowl of an electric mixer and beat on high speed a few seconds until frothy. Add the sugar, corn syrup, butter, vanilla, salt and the pecan butter. Beat on medium speed a few seconds until well mixed, pushing sides down as needed. Stir in the unroasted pecans.
Pour mixture into the prepared pie shell. Place on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 40 minutes. Reduce heat to 325 degrees and cook until filled is browned on top and crust on edges is lightly browned, about 40 minutes more. Remove from oven and let cool at least 30 minutes before serving.
Serves 8.
Each serving contains 547 calories, 27g fat, 76g carb, 613mg sodium, 34mg cholesterol.
"Malcolm and Versie's Recipe for Tarte de Pacanes Grillees Faite en Beurre" is from "The Prudhomme Family Cookbook."