It’s not quite the same as jazzing up your love life, but there is a way to make things steamy in your kitchen.
It’s steam cooking, naturally. If this brings to mind only steamed vegetables, you may want to give this cooking method another look.
Fish, poultry and meat can all be prepared by steaming, with fine results. And there are imaginative ways to make steamed vegetables even tastier than usual.
Steaming preserves more nutrients than other cooking methods such as boiling, and does not require oil to prevent burning or sticking.
But the moistness and delicate flavor of steamed foods may impress you more than their vitamins and minerals.
A helpful and interesting new book, “Cuisine a la Vapeur, The Art of Cooking with Steam,” by Jacques Maniere (Morrow, $25), explores steaming’s many possibilities, including desserts.
Translated and interpreted by Stephanie Lyness, the book reveals the kitchen secrets of the late Maniere, the French chef who refined and expanded steaming over 20 years.
Maniere’s French twist on steaming was preceded by centuries of steam cooking in Asia, where it remains a staple kitchen technique.
East or West, the basic method is simple: Food is placed on a perforated rack in a pan over, but not touching, a low-boiling liquid and covered with a lid, so steam cooks the food.
Fish takes swimmingly to steaming, emerging moist and with its subtle flavors intact. Poultry and meat fare well too. The flavors of all three can be enhanced in several ways:
– Marinate before steaming, as in the recipe for steamed anise chicken. Here, the chicken is marinated in lime juice, soy sauce, brown sugar and star anise.
– Steam food on a bed of aromatic herbs. To flavor a fish fillet, try placing it on a bed of lemon slices and dill sprigs in the steamer basket. Enhance chicken breasts by steaming them on a bed of basil, rosemary or tarragon and orange slices. With turkey breasts, try mint leaves and sliced fresh ginger. Experiment with different herbs.
– Wrap food in greens, then steam. Salmon or other fish can be steamed in romaine.
-Add seasonings to the steaming water. Possibilities: herbs; spices such as cinnamon or curry; slices of citrus fruits or fresh ginger; whole cloves of garlic or chopped green onions. These infusions will lend just a hint of flavor to the steamed food.
-Use a soup base as the steaming liquid. The meat or fish is steamed over the soup liquid, then cut into chunks and put into soup bowls, with the soup ladled over.
Steamed vegetables also can get special treatment, such as marinating, as in marinated steamed sweet peppers. The marinade includes balsamic vinegar, mustard, sugar, thyme, steamed garlic and crushed peppercorns.
You don’t need fancy equipment to steam food. You could use any metal baking or roasting pan partly filled with water and placed over two burners on a stove. Set a wire rack in the pan for the food, and make a foil tent over the top to hold in the steam. The foil should not touch the food and it should be crimped around the pan’s edge for a seal.
Inexpensive collapsible steaming racks are widely available and adjust to fit saucepans of different sizes. They are serviceable, although a little unwieldy when filled with food. Also, their short legs allow only a small amount of water in the pan for steaming.
Stackable metal steamers, which include a pot and a perforated basket, are available in a wide range of sizes and prices. Also available are separate metal insert baskets made to fit into different-sized pots.
The classic bamboo steamer found in Asian markets gets high marks on several counts. Besides being attractive, it’s tiered, so you could place fish or other food on the bottom rack and vegetables on the top rack and steam them all at once. Also, the bamboo lid absorbs liquid that would otherwise fall back onto the food.
STEAMED ANISE CHICKEN
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Marinating time: 1 to 24 hours
Cooking time: 35 minutes
Yield: 4 servings
Star anise is a dried spice with a pungent, licorice flavor. It can be purchased at Asian groceries. You can substitute 1/2 teaspoon lightly crushed anise seed for the 2 star anise called for here, although the flavor will not be as distinctive.
2 limes
1 tablespoon brown sugar
4 star anise, divided
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/3 cup water
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1. Squeeze 3 tablespoons juice from limes. Reserve the peels.
2. Mix the 3 tablespoons lime juice, brown sugar, 2 of the star anise, crushed red pepper, soy sauce and water in a small saucepan. Heat to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 4 minutes. Cool.
3. Put the chicken in a glass dish and spoon half of the soy mixture over, turning to coat. Marinate at room temperature 1 hour, or cover and refrigerate for up to 24 hours.
4. When ready to steam the chicken, put the lime peels, remaining 2 star anise and about 8 cups water into a large pot and heat to a boil. Reduce the heat slightly so that the liquid remains at a low boil. Fit a steamer basket or rack over the top. Remove the chicken from the marinade, discarding the leftover marinade, and place in the steamer. Cover tightly and steam until the chicken is no longer pink in the center, about 20 minutes.
5. Cook the remaining soy mixture in a small saucepan until reduced to about 2 tablespoons. Spoon over the steamed chicken.
Nutrition information per serving:
Calories…..160 Fat……………3 g Cholesterol…..75 mg
Sodium….685 mg Carbohydrates…..4 g Protein……….27 g
MARINATED STEAMED SWEET PEPPERS
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Marinating time: Overnight
Yield: 5 servings
Adapted from “Cuisine a la Vapeur: The Art of Cooking with Steam” by Jacques Maniere, translated and interpreted by Stephanie Lyness.
2 each: red, yellow bell peppers, halved, cored
2 medium cloves garlic, minced
2 1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 teaspoon whole black peppercorns, coarsely crushed
1. Place pepper halves on steamer rack and put over water at a low boil, cover and steam 10 minutes.
2. Place the garlic on a square of foil and put on top of the peppers. Steam 10 minutes.
3. Remove the peppers and garlic from the steamer. Remove the skins of the peppers if loose enough to peel easily. Cut into thin strips and place in a bowl.
4. Whisk together the balsamic vinegar, mustard, sugar, thyme and salt. Whisk in the olive oil until thickened. Stir in the steamed garlic and crushed peppercorns. Pour over the peppers, cover and refrigerate overnight.
5. Remove the peppers from refrigerator 1 hour before serving. The marinated peppers can be used as a side dish, on sandwiches or burgers, or as a topping for crostini (thin toasted baguette slices).
Nutrition information per serving:
Calories…..115 Fat……………9 g Cholesterol…..0 mg
Sodium….115 mg Carbohydrates…..8 g Protein……….1 g
