Monday, February 14, 2011

The Marketplace Restaurant: Recreated

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!  Remember a couple weeks ago when I said I wanted to go out and recreate restaurant meals as well as review them?  I'm a little late on delivering on that, aren't I?

Instead of making excuses, I'm going to get right into it.  I had a lot of fun with this one, and can't wait to do many, many more!

The Review
Source
 Marketplace Restaurant is in downtown Louisville, in Theater Square.  It's a cozy little place that had a fun little jazz band playing on a Friday night.  It wasn't too busy, maybe only 4 or 5 parties in the whole place, but you could tell everyone was having a good time.

The service was very friendly and the server was very informative on many of the dishes.  It was definitely hard to choose, because everything sounded so delicious.

We tend to judge a place by their calamari, so of course, we had to order theirs.  It was a buttermilk fried calamari and it was crispy and delicious.  The calamari itself was perfectly cooked, just the right texture.  The sauce they paired with it was a Sweet Chili-Lime sauce.  While I love sweet chili sauce with calamari, I wasn't too too crazy about the lime, but then again, it was a different twist and I like that.

For our mains, Andy chose to go with a Curry Seared Scallop.  He enjoyed it for the most part, but said that it didn't offer much contrast in the dish as a whole.  After a few bites, it just got boring.  I thought it was a good idea in concept, but execution was just so-so.

I'm still not used to the whole, "taking pictures in restaurants" kind of thing =)
 I chose to go with the Market Fish of the Day, which was a Swordfish steak w/ risotto cakes and braised vegetables with a cherry reduction.  Now this was pretty tasty.  I don't normally like swordfish, but this was great.  Perfectly cooked and the risotto cakes were absolutely delicious.  The dish as a whole was beautiful in presentation and taste.

Of course, we always have to go for dessert.  In this case, it was a brownie with some fresh vanilla bean ice cream.  Sometimes the simple things are just right.  This was a perfect end to the meal.

All in all, I'd say our experience here was great.  Lovely atmosphere, attentive service, and pretty good food!
Theater Square Marketplace on Urbanspoon
And now... what did I recreate?

Well, I decided to do my dish, but instead of hunting around for some swordfish, I would use the bounty of salmon that we had just acquired.

At first, I was hesitant with choosing the salmon, because the Flavor Bible had no record of salmon and cherries going together, and because I trust the Flavor Bible almost more than I trust the actual Bible, I was a little scared.  But I said "to hell with it" and pressed on anyway.  And boy, am I glad I did.

So without further ado... my recreation of The Marketplace Restaurant's Market Fish of the Day (with the use of salmon instead of swordfish)


Ingredients:

Risotto Cakes:

salt and pepper, to taste
1 box Risotto mix (yeah, I took a shortcut here - I used a Parmesan/Garlic blend)
2 large eggs
small handful of chives, minced    

3/4 to 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
olive oil


Make risotto according to package directions.  Let cool to room temperature.

Mix risotto with eggs and chives.  Season with salt and pepper.  Cover mixture with plastic wrap and let sit in fridge for about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 250 F.
Spread the panko in a shallow dish. Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium to medium high heat. 
Form patties out of the cooled risotto mixture. 

Place patties in panko and turn to coat.
Working in batches, add patties to skillet and cook for about 3 to 4 minutes on each side until the risotto cakes are crisp and nicely browned.  Place finished cakes on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper and keep warm in the oven for up to 30 minutes. Continue cooking in batches, adding oil as necessary, until all the cakes are fried. Serve hot.

Cherry Reduction:
1 tablespoon olive oil 
1 large shallot, minced
1/2 cup red wine
1 & 1/2 cups frozen cherries
1 tablespoon honey
salt, to taste
pinch of sugar
2 tablespoons unsalted butter 
In a medium saucepan, melt 1 tablespoon of butter.  Add shallot and saute for about 2-3 minutes, or until starting to soften.  Season with a pinch of salt and sugar.

Add cherries, wine, and honey.  Simmer for about 20-25 minutes, or until mixture is thickened.
Whisk in remaining tablespoon of butter until incorporated.  Set sauce aside, until needed.

Sauteed Zucchini & Spinach

1 large zucchini, sliced
1 cup spinach
salt and pepper
splash or two of balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon olive oil
squeeze of half a lemon


Heat a large skillet until medium high heat.  Add olive oil.  
Once oil is shimmering, add zucchini and saute for about 2-3 minutes.  Then add spinach and cook until just wilted.  
Season with salt and pepper.  Add a splash of balsamic, if you'd like.  Finish off by squeezing some fresh lemon juice on top.

Salmon:


2 6 oz. salmon fillets
salt and pepper, to taste

Season both sides of salmon with salt and pepper.


Heat a large skillet under medium high heat and add salmon, skin side down.  Cook for about 3 to 5 minutes.  Flip over and cook for an additional 1-2 minutes, or until opaque throughout.
Phew.  That was one long winded post.  What's my verdict?  Well, there were pros and cons to both dishes, mine and the actual restaurant's.  
I definitely now believe I can add the pairing of salmon and cherries in my Flavor Bible notes.  I loved the salmon a tad bit more than the swordfish.  However, my little addition of the balsamic to my veggies, it sort of overpowered or "felt out of place" in the whole composition of the dish.  I would have been great as a side all by itself, but along with the salmon and cakes, it just didn't quite "fit".  

I definitely feel that if your looking for a restaurant quality meal (I know it's sort of late to do it for Valentine's Day), this would be it.  Who knows... maybe it'll be on my restaurant menu one day? =) 

Hope you all have a great rest of your day, and I promise tomorrow's post will be much much shorter!

19 comments:

  1. That looks good!!! You did a fabulous job! Loving the cherry reduction and how perfect the salmon looks! Looking forward to your next restaurant recreated post.

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  2. So great when you're actually capable of recreating a dish you love at a restaurant-kudos to you!!!!

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  3. I like your restaurant dish recreation, I will try the risotto cakes. Love it.

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  4. This beats the restaurant meal! That cherry reduction is stunning!

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  5. Terrific combination! Beautiful restaurant dish recreation :)

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  6. Beautiful pictures! What a good job you did.
    My husband was actually there last week!! Funny, I wonder if you guys were there at the same time! He had a good meal and I actually had a text photo to make me jealous!

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  7. Never too late to have delicious food even after Valentine's day...very beautiful restaurant and good food. Wish that I can be there...

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  8. Beautiful pictures and dishes so nicely recreated.

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  9. There are so many meals I would love to recreate, but they seem so hard! You did an awesome job :)

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  10. What a wonderful review, Peggy! The Risotto Cakes look good. Can you send some over pls??

    Happy Valentine's Day to u too & do check out what I'd prepared for my V-day Dinner @
    Flirting With Food On Valentine’s Day

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  11. It all looks really good but I especially like the Sauteed Zucchini & Spinach, I am a big spinach fan. Diane

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  12. This looks incredible!! Salmon and cherries, what a combination :-)
    The risotto cakes sounds delish, I'll definitely have to try them....

    My best
    Birthe

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  13. That restaurant looks so nice and your re-creation is over the top! What a beautiful plate. It looks better than the original. I love the combo of the risotto and cherry reduction. Yum!

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  14. What a great idea! I've had many a meal at a restaurant that I've wanted to recreate but just haven't. Your interpretation looks scrumptious!

    Thanks for the review of this restaurant as well. I'm in Lexington and we're always looking for new places to try. We go to L'ville an Cincy a lot because Lexington lacks in local fare.

    Keep up the good work.

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  15. Not gonna lie, your recreation of this looks BETTER than the restaurant meal! Maybe I'll just dine out at your place from now on...

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  16. That cherry reduction sounds absolutely INSANE! Your dish looks amazing, as usual!

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  17. One of my favorite things to do try to recreate good restaurant meals. Yours looks relish!

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  18. it is gorgeous! i love the colors and use of cherry reduction!

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  19. You use the Flavor Bible too? Man, I got it for my birthday last year and it's AMAZING. I laughed at your "trust" comment because it's so realistic :P

    This dish looks stunning as well as tasty, so props!

    I've been meaning to get more into working with fish because it is capable of so many different flavor profiles, but it's so expensive around my house...maybe I'll get some for a date night dinner and try this!

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