Joanna Brady Schmida's - "Keys Cuisine"
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Trying to Lose Weight? A Lesson from the Golden Door Spa

By Joanna Brady Schmida

If I ever win a lottery, I'm going to book a week at the Golden Door Spa in Escondido, Calif. It's fun to entertain the idea of being pampered with delicious, healthy food for a week or so, discovering the secrets of mind-body renewal, working out with personal trainers and coming home refreshed and 10 pounds lighter.

Since I don't buy Lotto tickets, none of this is likely to happen any time soon.

So I'll have to be content with reading "Golden Door Cooks at Home, Favorite Recipes from the Celebrated Spa" by Chef Dean Rucker with Marah Stets (Clarkson/Potter, New York).

Besides being, in their words, "the epitome of the luxury spa experience" and "the quintessential holistic retreat," Golden Door is well-known for its celebrated kitchen. I have another of the spa's books, written by Chef Michel Stroot, which came out a few years ago.

Looking over the recipe offerings of this book, the emphasis is on lean proteins, whole grains, fresh vegetables and other wholesome foods. No fad diets, no unhealthy deprivation. And no substitution of real food with protein drinks or bars. It's just good food cooked in healthy ways with ingredients that are good for you, served in moderate portions. The recipes aren't complicated. In fact, they're easy enough for any home cook to try.

Some of their yummy recipes are for delicacies like "spiny lobster and mango gazpacho shooters," "soft rosemary-lemon polenta with sweet corn, oyster mushrooms and rainbow chard," "adobo-marinated grass-fed flank steak with spinach salad and roasted poblano dressing," "grilled lamb chops with rosemary roasted new potatoes and apple-mint salad" and "blackberry nectarine crisp." This gourmet fare is the stuff that has made their chef, Dean Rucker, famous with movie stars and other rich people who patronize this famous spa.

The Golden Door, which opened in 1959, has architectural elements modeled after 17th and 18th century Japanese inns, and features programs incorporating Zen philosophies of balancing physical and spiritual health. Since it was established it has spread its wings and there are now Golden Door spas operating in luxury hotels in Carefree, Ariz., Telluride, Colo., Naples, Fla., Park City, Utah, and in Puerto Rico. In case you're interested, the one in Naples is in the Naples Grande Beach Resort.

This is the time of year when a lot of us look at the scales in the morning and, with a shudder, wonder what happened. We do know what happened, of course; we just ate too much, too often, and with less discrimination than we usually do. It's the time of year when gyms and weight loss self-help groups get most of their business. It's also a time of year when many start to set goals for eating more healthy foods and serving good food to our families.

I enjoyed reading some of the gourmet recipes in this book. Looking at the beautiful food pictures, I'm happy to see that healthy food can still be a treat to the eye as well as the palate. Nutritional information is supplied, but rather than cluttering up the recipes, it's all given in a separate section at the back of the book. There's a section on fitness, and helpful tips and sidebars sprinkled throughout. In keeping with the spa's holistic approach, there's also a section on meditation. (For more information about the spa, go to www.goldendoor.com.)

By getting the book instead of going to the spa, you might miss out on meeting George Clooney or Brangelina but the book is a lot easier to come by. And definitely cheaper. Here are a few sample recipes from Chef Rucker.

Good luck with staying slim in 2010!

Creamy Cauliflower

Soup

(Half of the cauliflower is caramelized, the other half is cooked and puréed for a creamy effect, but there's no cream in it)

2 lbs cauliflower, trimmed

olive oil spray

1 tsp sugar

kosher salt and freshly ground white pepper

1/2 small leek, cleaned well and sliced (1 cup)

2 cups skim milk

2 cups chicken stock or store-bought low-sodium broth

1 tsp dry mustard

1/8 tsp freshly ground nutmeg

2 oz Gruyere cheese, finely grated (about 1 cup loosely packed)

parsley oil for serving (recipe follows) optional

Preheat oven to 400°. Chop cauliflower into enough small florets and stems to equal two cups. Coarsely chop remaining cauliflower and set it aside in a separate bowl. Spray the first two cups of cauliflower a couple of times with olive oil. Add the sugar and a pinch of the salt and pepper. Toss with a fork to coat with the oil and seasonings. Transfer to a baking dish and spread in a single layer. Bake for about 25 minutes, stirring once or twice until cauliflower is a light golden brown.

Meanwhile, spray a large saucepan with olive oil and heat over medium. Add the leek and cook, stirring until softened but not brown, about 4 to 5 minutes. Add remaining coarsely chopped cauliflower, milk, stock, dry mustard, nutmeg and 1/2 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp pepper and stir to combine. Bring to simmer and cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until cauliflower is tender, about 20 minutes.

Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. Transfer it to a food processor and blend until smooth and creamy. Return soup to a clean saucepan and reheat, stirring frequently until it simmers. Add gruyere and stir until just melted. Remove from heat. Ladle soup into warm bowls. Top each with the caramelized cauliflower and drizzle with a little parsley oil. Serve hot.

Parsley Oil

1/2 cups packed fresh parsley (or you could use any fresh herbs)

1/2 cup grapeseed oil

pinch of kosher salt

Bring a saucepan of water to a boil. Prepare a bowl of ice water. Plunge herbs (in this case, parsley) into the boiling water for 10 seconds, then into the ice water.

Drain them on a clean kitchen towel, squeezing out the moisture. Coarsely chop herbs and place them in a blender. Add the oil and salt and blend on high for one minute. Strain the oil, discard the herbs.

Wild Salmon with

Mashed Potatoes

(Serve this with sautéed spinach, roasted asparagus or herbed peas if desired)

For the mashed potatoes:

1 tbsp plus 1/2 tsp kosher salt

1 tbsp sugar

1 cup 2% milk

1/8 tsp freshly ground white pepper

3 lemons

1 1/4 pounds russet or Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and diced (3 cups)

For the salmon:

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/4 tsp freshly ground white pepper

olive oil spray

asparagus vinaigrette (recipe follows)

6 (4 oz) skinless wild salmon fillets, each 1 inch thick

Put potatoes in cold water and bring to a boil. Simmer until fork-tender. Drain. Over medium heat, shake and toss potatoes until excess moisture has evaporated. Using a vegetable peeler, remove zest from lemons. Put zest in a saucepan with 1 tbsp salt, the sugar and 2 cups cold water. Bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes. Drain. Put back in saucepan with 2 cups fresh cold water. Bring to a boil, and cook 5 more minutes.

Transfer peels to a blender. Pour milk in a small saucepan and set over medium-low heat. Bring to a simmer and add to the blender with the lemon peel and blend until smooth. Pour lemony milk into the hot potatoes. Use a potato masher to mash the potatoes while slowly pouring the hot milk. Season with 1/2 tsp of salt and the pepper. Cover and keep warm.

Preheat oven to 400°. Season each salmon fillet with salt and pepper. Spray an ovenproof sauté pan with olive oil and heat over medium-high heat until high but not smoking. Place the salmon in the pan flesh side down.

Cook until golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Turn salmon over and place the pan in the oven.

For medium-rare, cook until the salmon is opaque on the outside and dark pin and slightly raw in the very center, 4 to 6 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven. To serve, place a spoonful of potatoes on each of six plates. Arrange salmon fillet next to potatoes and drizzle the asparagus vinaigrette over and around the fish. Serve.

Asparagus vinaigrette

6 oz fresh asparagus

1/4 cup plus 1 tbsp ice water

1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 tsp chopped garlic

1/4 tsp kosher salt

1/8 tsp freshly ground white pepper

Cut off woody ends of the asparagus and slice the vegetables to give you one cup and cook in boiling water until crisp-tender. Plunge into an ice-water bath for 2 minutes to cool. Drain and transfer asparagus to a blender. Add the 1/4 cup plus 1 tbsp ice water, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper. Blend on high until creamy, about 30 seconds. If dressing separates, shake it up to blend.

Blueberry Lime Ice

3 pints fresh or frozen blueberries plus more for serving

1/2 cup fresh orange juice (from 2 oranges)

3 tbsps thawed frozen apple juice concentrate

3 tbsps fresh lime juice (from 2 limes)

6 to 12 orange slices for serving

6 sprigs fresh mint for serving

In a shallow dish, combine berries and juices and stir well to combine. Cover and place in the freezer until frozen solid (3 to 6 hours).

When mixture is frozen, remove it from the freezer and let stand at room temperature for 10 minutes. With a large metal spoon, break the frozen fruit up into smaller pieces. Place in a food processor. Process until smooth and creamy, 5 to 8 minutes, scraping down sides and stirring mixture occasionally.

Serve immediately or place back into freezer for up to 1 hour before serving. To serve, place a scoop or two in each of eight martini glasses and garnish with reserved blueberries, orange slices and mint, if desired.