I’ve said it before, “the Food Network is the MTV of cooking.” MTV used to play music, now they’re entertainment about music. Food Network is entertainment about food. They don’t teach anyone to cook.
Last week, I was listening to my favorite band, Gin Blossoms on my iPod while cooking with steam when someone reminded me of my cynical quote about MTV and Food TV. “Huh”? I said as I removed one ear-bud.
I must have missed the entire comment, but it gave me a great idea. If neither Food TV nor MTV are really doing their jobs, perhaps I should just combine the two. My “Food iPod” was born along with a new recipe for Steamed Tilapia and Shrimp Pinwheels.
While the music blares in my ears, I prepare two Tilapia filets by pounding them to a consistent thickness between two sheets of plastic wrap. It’s important not to tear the fish as you’re pounding it because it will become the outer-layer of a rolled pinwheel. Tears in the fish mean holes in your finished product.
Once I’ve achieved a consistent ¼ inch thickness of the fish, I’ll prepare some peeled and deveined shrimp by cutting them in half lengthwise. Placing a sharp boning knife at the back vein cavity and pushing through the tail, I get two half-moon shaped pieces of shrimp.
Gin Blossoms sing “Don’t Change For Me” between my ears as I prepare a filling for the Tilapia pinwheels that we’ll be cooking with steam. I choose goat cheese, dill, salt, and white pepper for a filling, but any soft, spread able cheese is acceptable. I pat the cheese mixture onto the pounded filets and then add the shrimp halves.
The pinwheels are created by rolling the fish into a tube using the leverage of the plastic wrap to guide and create a tight roll. Refrigerate the fish for at least two hours, unwrap and cut into ½ inch slices to be added to our steamer.
I decide to add an extra layer of flavor by steaming the Tilapia and Shrimp Pinwheels in a shrimp stock. Once the flavorful liquid has reached a soft simmer and is creating steam, I place the fish log slices onto a rack suspended above the hot liquid. Close the lid to allow a convection of the steam, and remove when your thermometer reaches 160F/71C.
Cooking with steam is one of the safest, cleanest, and healthiest ways to cook. It’s especially useful with delicate products like fish and vegetables that will toughen and lose nutritional value if over cooked. This is a great basic cooking method to master, whether you use Tilapia or Flounder, and listen to opera or Gin Blossoms, you can invent many healthy recipes inspired by the music and flavors in your head.
Do you have any requests for the “Food iPod”? Leave your comment below with a song and a dish and perhaps it’s the next feature!
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Cooking with steam and Gin Blossoms is fun. Cooking DVDs are great!
Food iPod . . . brilliant! Don’t get me wrong, listening to you go through the steps on your videos is still an awesome experience and I learn a bunch, but every now and then you want to have that extra push – here it is! Keep it up Chef, no limits!
I’m just trying to keep it fresh, Nicolas.
Something a bit different. I’ve got some great new content coming after my iPod battery runs out!
Thanks for checking in.
Chef Todd, My opinion — not that I’m not with it, hip, or like music (I love music [hip-hop, jazz, R&B], contemporary, oldies), I did not like the “Cooking with Steam and Gin Blossoms”. I’d prefer to listen to you than the music. I believe your videos are entertaining enough without the music. mag
Thanks for the input, Mary. I thought I’d try something different to keep it “fresh”.
I’m not sure the Food iPod will last more than a few episodes before I return to the other format.
Sounds good to me. I will have to try one night at my sisters huse since my husband can’t ea shrimp and doesn’ like Tilapia.
The idea of WebCookingClasses and my entire approach to cooking is that I show you a method and you substitute the ingredients. So, if your husband doesn’t like shrimp and tilapia, try crayfish and flounder, or even sausage and chicken. It’s up to your imagination and desires.
I am a very new cooking method member. I am really impressed by your creativity and contagious enthusiasm so far. I am looking foward to learning from a passionate teacher. Keep it up.
Hey John!
Welcome to WebCookingClasses and thank you for your kind comment. You ain’t seen nothin’ yet! You’re about to embark on hundreds of cooking videos that will change the way you think about food and cooking forever. There will be homework assignments and surprise bonus items, all designed to have you build one cooking skill upon the next to have you cooking like a chef at home in no time.
As you go through the lessons, if you have any questions, post them as comments below the class week. I’ll see it and respond ASAP.
Thanks again for your confidence in me and WebCookingClasses.com
It may not mean anything to anyone that doesn’t watch the Discovery Channel series, but what came to mind while watching this was:
Crab cocktail (or crab salad) while the theme from “The Deadliest Catch”, by Bon Jovi , plays in the background.
ha ha ha ha, I can hear it!
I like your idea about using crab in a fish pinwheel like this.
I have seen this video before… It is more helpful to talk your viewers through the procedure.
Best of luck in 2011
Thanks for the comment, Jeff.
I thought I’d try something a bit different for the New Year.
This one was for the people who say I talk too much.