Honey-Soy Glazed Black Cod with Jasmine Rice and Baby Bok Choy

Ingredients:
4 filets of black cod, 6-8oz each
2 cups soy sauce
2 cups honey
¼ cup cornstarch
1 cup jasmine rice
12 baby bok choy, washed and cut into halves if they are large
1 clove garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. fresh ginger, minced
2 Tbsp. scallions, minced
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil

Preparation:
Combine the soy sauce and honey in a saucepan over medium heat and cook until just simmering. Add in the cornstarch and stir to make a slurry. Whisk the slurry mixture until it reaches a glaze consistency. Remove from the heat and pour into non-stick container. Reserve at room temperature.

Line the cod filets on a sheet pan and coat the top and both sides well with the honey soy glaze being careful to cover the entire filet. In a 350 degree oven, bake the cod for about 12 minutes.  Meanwhile, in a pot combine the rice and 1.5 cups of water.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover and simmer for 2 minutes. Turn off the heat and let the rice stand for 10 minutes. Uncover and fluff rice gently.

In a medium skillet, add the vegetable oil, garlic, ginger and scallions.  Heat until fragrant, then add bok choy and cook until just tender.

Place some rice on each plate and top with a fliet of cod.  Surround with the baby bok choy.

Serves 4

Honey Lemon Baba with Warm Apricot Preserve and Whipped Cream

Honey Babas are yeast-risen cakes studded with dried fruit and soaked in honey syrup. This recipe features the delicate flavor of citrus, imparted by just a hint of orange and lemon zest. The result is a honey baba full of complex layers of flavor, while still holding to the traditional French recipe.

Ingredients:
Cake

1 tablespoon dry yeast
3 tablespoons warm water    
3 eggs, beaten  
2 cups all-purpose flour   
2 tablespoons granulated sugar 
1 teaspoon freshly grated orange zest
1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest
1 teaspoon salt 
1/2 cup butter, softened    
3/4 cup golden raisins or dried currants
3 Tbsp. rum
3 tablespoons honey 
12 baba molds

Honey  syrup
3 cups water   
2 cups granulated sugar  
2 cups honey  
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract   
2/3 cup apricot preserves, heated  
Sweetened whipped cream, for garnish

Preparation:
Stir the yeast and the warm water together in a large bowl and allow the yeast to dissolve for 5 minutes. Lightly beat the eggs into the yeast and water. Mix the flour, sugar, citrus zest, and salt together in a separate bowl, then pour the mixture into the yeast and eggs and stir to combine. Knead the dough with the softened butter for about 5 minutes, until it becomes soft and elastic. Cover the dough and allow it to rise for 1 hour, until it doubles in size.

While the dough is rising, soak the raisins or currants in the rum. Once the dough has doubled, beat the rum-soaked fruit into it. Grease the baba molds and divide the dough among them.

Preheat an oven to 400F. Cover the molds and bake for 30 to 45 minutes, until the dough has just started to rise above the molds’ edges. Uncover the babas and bake them for 20 to 25 more minutes, until they turn golden brown and begin to pull away from the sides of the molds. Check on them periodically to avoid over-cooking. Immediately remove the babas from the molds and allow them to cool on a wire rack.

While the babas are cooling, make the honey soaking syrup. In a medium saucepan set over medium heat, bring the honey, water and sugar to a boil for 5 to 10 minutes, until the syrup has thickened. Remove the syrup from the heat and stir the vanilla extract into the mixture.

Place the babas into the hot honey syrup and turn them several times, allowing them to soak up the syrup. They will swell and absorb most of the syrup. Carefully transfer each baba onto a dessert plate and brush with a generous amount of heated apricot preserves. Garnish the honey babas with cinnamon sugar and whipped cream serve immediately.

Serves 12