Directions

Find the flat side of each chestnut and cut a large X with a sharp paring knife all the way through the skin. Be very careful, it's easy to slip on the surface of the chestnut. I wear a silicon glove. Place chestnuts on a shallow baking pan and place in the oven to roast for about 30 to 40 minutes, depending on size of nuts. Shake pan several times to rotate chestnuts so they will cook evenly. Peel roasted chestnuts as soon as they are cool enough to handle. Once they cool completely, they are difficult to peel. Roughly chop the peeled nuts. Set aside. Bring 6 cups of water to a boil in a large stock pot. Add 1 tablespoon salt. Add the chopped cabbage and cook about 15 minutes. Turn the heat off and cover the pot to keep warm. Warm the olive oil in a very large skillet set over medium heat. Add the pancetta, and cook stirring often, until it just begins to brown, about 5 minutes. Add the onion and garlic. Cook, stirring often about 3 more minutes, until the onion softens. Add the rosemary and garlic, cooking another 2 or 3 minutes. Using tongs move about half of the cabbage to the skillet with the onion mixture. Add the wine to the skillet and cook, stirring often, until most of the liquid is evaporated. Turn off the heat and set aside. Using an immersion blender puree the remaining cabbage and its cooking liquid in the stock pot. Add the reserved onion mixture, stirring to incorporate. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Using the immersion blender, blend the soup just a little bit to get a variable texture. It can be as rough or smooth as you prefer. Add half the reserved chestnuts and bring the soup to a boil, then lower the heat to a simmer. Serve the soup hot with an garnish of remaining chestnuts and a drizzle of olive oil.

Directions

Make the sunchoke puree: Fill large saucepan with water. Peel sunchokes and potatoes. Cut them into 2-inch chunks and put them in a saucepan with just enough milk to cover, then add about 1-inch more of water. Add a generous pinch of salt and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium and cook until sunchokes and potatoes are very tender, about 12 minutes. Drain well. Transfer sunchokes and potatoes to processor; add butter and puree until smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper. May be made 2 hours ahead. Let stand uncovered at room temperature. Rewarm over medium-low heat before serving. Prepare the spice rub: Add black peppercorns, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, mustard seeds 1 1/2 teaspoon sugar and 1 1/2 teaspoon salt to the bowl of a mortar and pestle. Grind the mixture well, but not completely to a fine powder. Pour it into a wide shallow bowl and set aside. Braise the shallots: Heat 1 tablespoon of butter in a 10-inch saute pan set over medium-low heat. When the butter melts add 1/2 teaspoon sugar and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Add the shallot slices and stir to coat well. Cook about 3 minutes until the shallots begin to soften. Add the wine, and continue cooking, stirring often, until the wine has evaporated and the shallots are deeply red and jammy looking. About 45 minutes. Cover and keep warm until serving. If the edamame are frozen, briefly blanch them in boiling water. Drain. In a 1 1/2 quart saucepan set over medium heat, warm the edamame 1/2 cup chicken stock with a pinch of salt and black pepper. About 2 minutes total. Just before serving stir in 1 teaspoon olive oil and 1 teaspoon minced mint leaves. Preheat oven to 250 degrees F. Roll each salmon fillet in the ground spice mixture until well coated on all sides. Place each fillet onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Place the sheet onto the middle rack of the oven and bake 20 to 25 minutes, until barely cooked through and still a bit jiggly or rare. A few moment longer if you prefer the fish cooked through. Do not overcook however. To serve: Place a cup or so of the sunchoke puree on each plate. Nestle a fillet up against the puree and drape some of the shallots across the top. Spoon 2 heaping tablespoons of edamame onto each fillet with a drizzle of olive oil and serve immediately.

Directions

Make the sauce: Heat all the ingredients in a heavy bottomed sauce pan set over medium heat. When the mixture comes to a low boil, lower the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the liquid reduces to a syrupy consistency, about 1 hour. This recipe makes more sauce than you will need. You may store leftover sauce in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator. Prep the filets: Prehreat oven to 400 degrees F. Wilt the arugula in a scant amount of vegetable oil, season with salt and pepper. Transfer the arugula to a colander, pressing on it to squeeze out as much moisture as possible. Roughly chop and set aside. Peel the potatoes. Using a mandoline with a julienne blade, slice the potatoes crosswise into 2" matchsticks. Then very roughly chop them to get a nice variety of sizes from 1/2" to about 1 1/2" long. Bring a medium-sized pot of salted water to a boil. Blanch the potatoes about 20 seconds. Drain them well. Transfer them to a paper towel lined plate and pat dry with more paper towels. You want them as dry as possible. Lay out a section of plastic wrap on the work surface. Make a circle of potatoes about twice the size of your filets and about 3/4" thick. Season one of the filets on both sides with more salt and pepper. Be generous. Place the meat onto the center of the potatoes. Top it with half the wilted arugula and another 1/2" of potatoes. Then use the plastic wrap to assist you in fully encasing the meat with potatoes by carefully pulling it up and around the meat sealing the plastic wrap tightly on the top. Repeat this process with the other filet and place them in the freezer about 10 minutes before proceeding. Heat about 1/4" vegetable oil in a 10-12" cast iron or heavy bottomed oven safe skillet. Heat the oil to shimmering and test the temperature with a few stray shards of potato. They should get golden brown in about 1 minute. Adjust temperature if necessary. Remove the filets from the freezer and carefully unwrap them. Then invert each one onto a large spatula and carefully peel off the plastic wrap. Not all of the potatoes will stick, and that is fine. But you may need to press a few shards into place to assure an even, fairly thick coating. Gently slide the filet into the hot oil. Then immediately repeat the process with the second fillet. Let the filets cook two or three minutes with out moving them. Once the potatoes are golden brown very carefully flip each filet, and transfer the skillet to the preheated oven. Cook the meat until the interior temperature reads 120 degrees on an instant read thermometer for rare, 125 degrees for medium rare. About 5-7 minutes. Transferring them to a cutting board to rest about 7 minutes. They will continue to cook a bit as they rest. To serve: Gently reheat the pomegranate sauce. Adding the butter and stirring constantly as it melts. Once it has fully emulsified, cut each fillet in half, taking care to keep the potato crust intact. Transfer both halves of each fillet to a warmed dinner plates. Spoon a couple of tablespoons onto the plate and serve immediately.