Oh my – this is so gosh-darned delicious. No leftovers, so will have to make it again really soon.

Love those sheetpan dinners. This one is no exception. This one came from America’s Test Kitchen. First, the sweet potatoes are cut in 3/4″ chunks (rounds) and roasted at a high oven temp for about 20 minutes with oil, salt and pepper. Meanwhile,  gather all the other ingredients (fish sauce, red curry paste, coconut milk, lime juice and sugar – if using). Do buy thick salmon if at all possible. I used Costco’s farm raised here – the piece I bought was $48 (wow) but I cut it into a lot of servings and vacuum sealed more than half of it and froze it. The salmon is coated with a little slurry of red curry paste and coconut milk. Once the potatoes are mostly cooked, you move them to one side of the sheetpan and place the salmon fillets on the pan. Back into that hot oven to finish cooking.

The sauce is made in a skillet by mixing more of that red curry paste and a little oil, cooking that just a little, then adding in fish sauce and the remainder of the can of coconut milk. The original recipe calls for adding a tablespoon of sugar. I tasted the sauce and didn’t think it needed it, but it might have something to do with the sweetness of the coconut milk (what I used was quite sweet already). Let it simmer a bit to reduce down and get thick. This can be made ahead – the sauce – and let sit. Just reheat when you’re finishing up the pan roasting. At right is the red curry paste I use – it’s on amazon. It does need refrigeration after opening. I’ve had that container for at least 2 years or more and it’s still fine. Tasted great, even though it was past the expiration date.

Use an instant read thermometer to verify the temp, then remove the salmon when it reaches that magic 125°F number. Let the pan rest a couple of minutes, then plate and pour the red curry sauce over the top of each serving of salmon.

What’s GOOD: Oh my goodness! So amazing. This recipe is going into my regular rotation of salmon. It’s not hard to make, although there are a couple of steps to making it all come together. The sweet potatoes are a nice complement. I served it with a watermelon salad (with feta cheese and fresh mint). The sauce is mildly spicy and hot, just so you know. Not into burning lips territory, however. And serve with some naan if you’d like (and not forget it in the oven like I did until we smelled something burning).

What’s NOT: only that there are a few sous cheffy duties, cutting and mixing. But really, it’s easy. So worth it.

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Oh my goodness, is this salmon the best thing you’ll ever put in your mouth! Well, let’s qualify that .. . maybe you could say the same for chocolate  . . . but we’re talking salmon here.

This is a Mark Bittman recipe (New York Times). That I just happened to see one day last week as I perused the recipes at the newspaper. I’ve subscribed – mostly to be able to do the puzzles there (I’m a fan of the daily Spelling Bee), but with my subscription I also got the food section. This past weekend my good friend Linda joined me in the desert, and whenever we get together, we cook a lot. We made this salmon on Friday night with some fabulous thick salmon fillets she bought at a good fish market where she lives in San Diego. She brought enough that we had it again the next night. No, we didn’t want to do a different preparation. We wanted to repeat the same recipe it was SO, SO good.

MAKE THIS RECIPE!! It’s amazing, and I don’t say that about a lot of recipes here on TastingSpoons. I have a few thousand recipes here, and you should know that my favorites are listed on the right end tab (on my main home screen), called Carolyn’s Favs. This recipe is going on there, just so you know.

It’s such a simple recipe – really, there is nothing but salmon, butter, salt, pepper, herbs and some lemon wedges to serve. How easy is that? But it’s how you combine them and how you roast the fish that makes it special. First you make a little foil “tray” a bit larger than the piece(s) of salmon you have. Linda brought decadent, thick fillets, with skin. And Mark Bittman assumes you also have skin-on salmon fillets. The cold butter and some of the herbs (we used dill) go in that foil tray (put the foil tray in a small roasting pan) and that goes into a preheated 475°F oven. That’s one very screaming-hot oven. Watch it carefully as the butter melts. Then you place the salmon on that foil tray, on top of the butter and herbs, skin side up. Into the oven it goes for a few minutes  – he recommends 4 minutes at this point. Then you remove it, use a very sharp thin knife to pull off the skin (discard). Then you salt and pepper that side, turn it over very gently in the pan, salt and pepper that side, and back into the oven it goes for a few more minutes. We used an instant read thermometer (IMPORTANT) and roasted it until the fish was 125°F with the probe inserted into the side. That took about 7 more minutes because the salmon Linda had was really thick. Remove it, spoon some of that flavorful browned butter over the top, sprinkle on the remaining herbs, then garnish with lemon wedges and serve.

The first night we had it with steamed and buttered broccoli. The 2nd night I made a Hasselback Sweet Potato (recipe up soon) and a green salad. It was just magnificent. And so simple and easy. The recipe indicated 1 1/2-2 pounds of salmon serves 4-6. Linda bought 1 1/2 pounds, and we ate every morsel over 2 dinners (so it serves 4 people – that beautiful fillet you see in the above picture we split in half. If you’re serving 6 people, you might want more than 2 pounds. Just sayin’.

What’s GOOD: the flavor, the moistness, is just superb. Loved the fresh dill, but it’s the browned butter that gives this salmon the ultimate in umami flavors. For sure don’t forget to spoon that browned butter all over the top after it’s finished roasting. And for sure take it out of the oven when the salmon temp reaches 125°F. I think I could eat this fish twice a week for the rest of my life.

What’s NOT: there isn’t one single thing I can say negatively about this dish. I’ll be making this again, and again, and again.

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Oh so delicious – salmon with a fresh grapefruit sauce with shallots.

My friend Linda visited me for a weekend out at the desert, and we usually share the cooking responsibilities. She made this. It’s a little hard to SEE the grapefruit, but it’s on top of the salmon. She used ruby red grapefruit (segments) which were added at the end after the shallots were cooked. The sauce also contains fresh ginger, honey, cayenne and freshly squeezed lemon juice. The recipe comes from Ellie Krieger (Food Network), from her book, The Food You Crave. Linda had made this before and knew how much she liked it. I loved it. Neither of us are supposed to eat grapefruit (when you’re taking cholesterol meds you’re supposed to avoid grapefruit) but we both agreed, it was just for this one meal. I absolutely LOVED the fresh basil on top. Basil seems to have a natural affinity with grapefruit. Who knew?

The salmon was baked in the oven at 350°F. Linda told me that a friend of hers (I think he’s a chef?) told her that salmon should be served when it reaches 125°F internal temp. Usually fish is cooked to 140°F. I’ll just tell you – this salmon was spot-on cooked to perfection – and I’ll never cook any salmon past 125°F again!

While the salmon baked we made the sauce – which was so simple to do. I cut the supremes from one of the grapefruits and then we made the sauce with the juice we squeezed from the second one and from the rinds, some ginger, honey and a pinch of cayenne. Reduce it by about half, then add lemon juice and season with salt. Just before serving add in the grapefruit segments and pour over the salmon. Then garnish with the chopped basil.

What’s GOOD: everything about this dish was delicious. I’d definitely make this again, and it’s certainly nice enough for guests too. The tiny bit of honey adds a lovely sweetness. Of course, the grapefruit has some sugar too. When the sauce reduces, it makes a lovely thicker (not really thick) sauce. Altogether wonderful.

What’s NOT: nothing, really, except making sure you can find ruby red grapefruit. I suppose you could make it with regular grapefruit but it wouldn’t be quite so pretty.

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Ooooh, lovely shrimp in a tasty herb butter. Divine.

One day a couple of months ago I was going to my daughter Sara’s home in San Diego. I had a couple of hours to kill before they got home, so Sara suggested their local library. Great idea. Went immediately to the cookbook section and found 2-3 newer cookbooks I wanted to peruse. I took several photos from pages in the books. This was one of them, from Melissa Clark’s newest book, Dinner in French.

I don’t eat much shrimp – it’s a shellfish, like scallops, crab, lobster, etc. and I’m supposed to be careful how much of those critters I eat. I’m not allergic to them like my grandson is. Thank goodness! Anyway, I had a big bag of lovely shrimp in the freezer and was happy to make the whole batch.  My  friend  Linda T and I enjoyed this over Easter  weekend.

The shrimp need to be shelled and deveined, though very little debris was contained in them.

But first, you need to make the herb butter. It contains parsley, fresh tarragon, garlic, pepper and lemon zest, along with the butter. That was done in the food processor and set aside until I needed it. Have everything ready to go (table set, water poured, wine glasses ready) before you begin cooking as it comes together quite quickly.

Into a big pan you add some of the herb butter, then the mushrooms. Leave the mushrooms fairly large. I don’t know that I would have jumped to mixing shrimp and mushrooms, but they were good, and the mushrooms swimming in the herb butter was awfully good too. Anyway, once the mushrooms are mostly cooked you add the shrimp, along with more herb butter. I used it all because I made a bigger batch. Shallots are added and some dry white wine. The recipe calls for Pernod. I’m not a fan of it (a licorice liqueur), so didn’t use it. I didn’t have any, anyway! Pernod is very (veddy) French, which is why Melissa Clark added it to this recipe. Substitute more white wine if you choose not to use Pernod. At the end garnish with parsley, tarragon, chives and lemon juice.

I didn’t end up with much juice at the bottom, so there wasn’t much in which to swipe the little torn bread pieces she recommends you serve with it. But there is some, which is also flavored with the herb butter.

What’s GOOD: Linda and I both enjoyed it. There is lots of garlic in it – which is good in my book! Loved the flavors with the fresh herbs, both in the herb-butter and the garnish.

What’s NOT: nothing really – easy meal to fix once you get the herb butter done. Make that a day ahead if you prefer.

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Really simple preparation – make the glaze ahead if you have time, then brush on top. 

Found an old-old recipe from the 1990s, from Cooking Light that I’d never made. So good. Pretty easy, although you do have to boil down the sauce to make a glaze. You start with a can of Kern’s apricot nectar. Add in some freshly grated ginger, 2 cinnamon sticks, a jot of soy sauce (I used low sodium). Simmer that for about 20 minutes at a fairly rapid bubble and it reduces way down. The recipe indicated you’d end up with 3/4 cup. I think I ended up with more like 1/2 cup, but it was relatively thick. Kind of like thinned out jam. Once it’s done you strain out the cinnamon sticks and the ginger pulp and it’s ready to use. Then I added about a teaspoon of toasted sesame oil.

I used a silicone brush to slather the glaze on the salmon (placed on a parchment lined sheetpan). I roasted the salmon in a 400°F oven (I also added some oiled broccoli and cauliflower florets to the sheet pan – see in the rear of the photo). It took about 13-14 minutes, I’d say. Using an instant read thermometer was crucial here. I swear once salmon reaches 110° internal temperature it zooms to 125° in no time at all. My friend Linda told me recently that salmon should never be cooked to more than 125° which is lower than for most fish. Oh gosh, it was perfect. So moist.

Once out of the oven I brushed on some more of the glaze. Then I added some fresh herbs I had on hand and served it immediately. Definitely a keeper of a recipe.

What’s GOOD: so tender, delicious with the apricot flavored glaze on top. You could easily make more of this sauce to have it on hand in the freezer. Or it would be good on chicken too. The 12-ounce can of apricot nectar make enough for 4 servings. I had a guest, so made enough for two, and the rest of the sauce went into the freezer for another day.

What’s NOT: only that you need to have some Kern’s apricot nectar on hand. And fresh ginger.

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Having made shrimp and grits before . . . well, these are the best ever.

It’s taken me awhile to catch up with all of the recipes I’ve made or had, and this was one that got lost. Phillis Carey made these at the class in early December, and they are just the bomb. What’s there not to like about bacon, mushrooms, lovely succulent shrimp and a bunch of cheese mixed in and around the pile of creamy grits?

Ideally, have everything out, ready, measured before you begin. The grits take less than 10 minutes to cook, and the shrimp even less than that, so be prepared. Chicken broth and cream are added to a pot, then once it’s up to a boil you slowly – ever so slowly – drizzle in the grits, stirring constantly with a whisk (not a spoon, a whisk). Once mixed, turn down the heat, cover and let it simmer for 5-7 minutes. Then you add in the salt, butter, and cheeses, plus some white pepper, cayenne and nutmeg (yes, nutmeg).

Phillis used 6 slices of bacon in this dish – – – I use 4 slices, as the bacon flavor was very prominent. You don’t want it to overpower the delicacy of the shrimp. The shrimp are cooked in the residual bacon fat (plus oil if needed), until it just begins to get opaque (pink), then you add green onions, the bacon and garlic. It’s then seasoned with lemon juice, some hot sauce plus salt and pepper to taste.

Meanwhile, the grits are done, they’re spooned into a nice big wide soup bowls and the shrimp mixture is piled on top. Sprinkle with Italian parsley for color. Serve immediately so it doesn’t cool off.

What’s GOOD: every little morsel of this was delicious. I mean, really  . . . shrimp, mushrooms, bacon, grits with cheese and cream? Oh yum.

What’s NOT: well, there’s not much that’s healthy about this, lots of calories. A decadent splurge, let’s put it that way.

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A fabulous recipe from my friend Linda. It’s a favorite of hers.

My friend Linda is a great cook. My guess is she cooks more than I do, and she’s also a single person. She had told me about this recipe some time back and she recently made it again for guests and took a photo and sent me the recipe, asking if I’d like to post it on the blog. I said yes, sure would! Originally the recipe came from Ina Garten, but as Linda has made it over and over, she’s adapted it some. For one thing, Linda felt there was too much shrimp in it (Ina called for 2 pounds). And she altered the amount of veggies in it too.

There are a four steps to this recipe: (1) cook the orzo; (2) make the dressing; (3) roast the shrimp; (4) combine the orzo, the dressing, the shrimp and add dill, parsley, cucumber, red onion and feta cheese. The dish is served at room temperature. You can make it a day ahead and bring it out to warm a bit before serving. Just taste it for salt and pepper before serving. Linda says everyone who has had this loves it.

What’s GOOD: the nice big shrimp and orzo combination. The lemon juice-based dressing adds a nice acidity to the dish. Great for hot weather.

What’s NOT: nothing that Linda mentioned.

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You are going to love these. I mean it.

In my last post I told you about Vivian Howard’s latest cookbook, This Will Make It Taste Good, and about the various “flavor heroes,” she calls them, that she relies upon in her restaurant and home cooking. To make this recipe above, however, you have to make one of her flavor heroes, the one she calls the “Little Green Dress.” Hereon referred to as LGD! I suppose that’s a take on every woman’s need for a “little black dress,” except that here, the color is decidedly green, not black.

The flavor hero recipe has a preponderance of Castelvetrano olives in it, plus shallots, garlic, vinegar, capers, some anchovies (which you don’t taste at all – but you know – anchovies are one of the umami flavors), fresh parsley, fresh mint, EVOO, hot sauce and salt. You pour this into a clean glass jar, and if you haven’t used it within a few days, pour a little layer of EVOO on top so it doesn’t spoil. It will keep for several weeks that way.

If you’re not familiar with Castelvetrano olives . . . well, they’re a more ripe olive than the traditional green olives – not in color, just in how they pickle them, I guess. They have a milder flavor and they’re not as piquant (sour).

Once you make this flavor hero, then you add some of it to – – in this case it’s canned tuna, a little bit of mayo, and some minced celery and you’ve got a fantastic lunch. Vivian slices avocado and puts that on the cracker first, then piles it with the tuna salad. I forgot the avocado that day, but I made it again the following day, and used some avocado on one, and a sliced egg on the other.

You may THINK this is not worth the trouble, but I’m tellin’ you, it is. I don’t think I’ve ever had canned tuna taste this great. I’m serious. When my friend Cherrie and I got together to make three of the flavor heroes, we made this tuna salad cracker for our lunch. Cherrie and I were both blown away by how flavorful it is. FYI: I buy the line-caught Wild Planet albacore tuna from Costco (blue can, in a stack of about 5).

But, I do need to tell you about Wasa crispbread crackers. I remember them vaguely from my youth – my mother used to buy them. I have no recollection what we ate them with. They come in various grain flavors – I bought the whole grain. They’re not a good cracker to eat by themselves – even Vivian Howard says they taste kind of like cardboard. But they have a very unique characteristic (not mentioned in the book) that once you pick up that little slate of cracker, piled with goodies, you can bite into it without risking cracking the whole cracker and making a big mess. It stays intact as you munch on down. I suppose you could make the tuna salad and use other crackers, but I’m certainly a fan now, of Wasa crackers. I don’t know whether all grocery stores have them – I finally found them at my small, independent market near me.

It’s been two days since I had this for my lunch, and as I write, I’m craving another serving of those tuna crackers.

What’s GOOD: (the flavor hero, the LGD): so unique, and I hope to find more ways to use it. The cookbook includes many recipes using small amounts of it. (The tuna cracker): it’s sensational. I’m craving it. So delicious. Once you have the LGD made, it’s so very easy to make the tuna salad and you’ve got a simple but flavor-packed lunch.

What’s NOT: well, if you’re not willing to put in the effort to make the LGD, then you won’t be able to enjoy the flavor of the tuna snack crackers. I’m telling you, you don’t want to miss this flavor puch. FOMO!

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Oh-so-delicious salmon with a piquant glaze that just hits all the right spots.

A post from Carolyn. A couple of weeks ago, over Easter weekend, my friend Linda joined me in Palm Desert and we had a cook-fest, of sorts. I did dinner Friday night (big green salad with chicken and freshly made popovers); we went out to lunch on Saturday (La Quinta Baking Co. had quiche – it’s a French inspired menu); I made coq au vin on Saturday night, served on a bed of delicious mashed cauliflower; Sunday morning Linda made a potato frittata, and we worked together on a lovely Easter dinner with this salmon plus a carrot salad and a tomato salad. Then I made a blueberry cobbler for dessert. All those recipes coming up soon. We had great fun. Cooked our little hearts out! Realized I don’t have a potato masher at that house, for one thing. Also have no ramekins. Not a one. So we punted. I think a stick blender is in order for that place too.

I’ve taken a lot of extra things from my Orange County home out there and we’re well-enough equipped, (the home was furnished when we bought it in 2020, my daughter Sara and her husband John and I), and came with a moderately outfitted kitchen, just not everything to my/our liking for quality or quantity). Most of the knives went into the donation bag. So did lots of the dishes and pots and pans and utensils. It was obvious the previous owners weren’t cooks, or they didn’t value good quality kitchen equipment, for sure. We joke that the wife (we guess) bought most of her kitchen stuff at the 99¢ store or perhaps at the Goodwill store. Maybe some at Marshall’s or Home Goods. Over the years I’d gathered duplicates of many things, so nearly every time I drive out, I take something else to use there.

So, this salmon. It was first published in Cook’s Illustrated last fall (2022) and it’s been on America’s Test Kitchen also. In any case, this recipe is a blue-ribbon, first class winner. I just loved it.

The salmon (Linda bought it at an upscale fish market in Carlsbad before she drove to the desert) was briefly brined in a salt and sugar mixture. Only for 15 minutes, then they were dried carefully with paper towels before proceeding. She made the glaze: apple cider (she used apple juice), cider vinegar, sugar, soy sauce, ginger, oil and cornstarch. The glaze is Asian inspired – since it has soy and ginger in it, but it’s not an overwhelming flavor. The recipe was developed by Lan Lam, if you’ve watched her on any of the episodes on tv. The salmon was briefly sauteed to get it golden brown on top, then flipped over, and the first glazing happened just before it went into a warm oven (300°F) to finish cooking. Once removed, some of the set-aside glaze was brushed all over the salmon, top and sides. A garnish of chives went on top and we sat down to eat it. The only mistake we made was to wait until after baking to slice it into serving portions, so we didn’t have neatly sliced sides. Have the rest of your dinner fully prepared so you can sit down to eat it as soon as it comes out of the oven.

What’s GOOD: oh my goodness, this was off-the-charts delicious. SO tender, so flavorful, and the glaze just makes it. Succulent, cooked to perfection to 125°F internal temperature. Do use an instant read thermometer. Have a heated platter or plates ready. Dig in.

What’s NOT: nothing really. This is a keeper.

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This may be my new favorite way to fix fish.

A post from Carolyn. A few weeks ago I was watching Ina Garten’s new TV show, Be My Guest (I think that’s what it’s called), and she had Julianna Margulies visit her, in Ina’s lovely Long Island kitchen. I’ve been such a fan of Julianna Margulies since she was on The Good Wife. So sorry that show ended. I didn’t know that Julianna loves to cook, and she prepared halibut for Ina.

Julianna explained that this is her signature company dinner entrée. With that kind of a recommendation, I knew before she started that it would be something I’d prepare. They had the most beautiful 1-inch thick halibut steaks, probably the kind you can’t get unless you go to a fish market or caught the fish yourself and asked for 1-inch thick slices. My Costco has fresh halibut right now, so that was the impetus for making it. And let me tell you, this preparation is so very EASY! The down side is that halibut is ferociously expensive. I bought a small piece (that I was able to get 4 small servings out of) and after making this, I vacuum-sealed the other three portions – with a little plastic wrap packet of the herb butter stuck on top of the halibut.

First you make up an herb butter. What I had (fresh) was sage and chives (both survived last winter and continue to provide this summer) and Italian parsley. You also add garlic to the mix.

There at left you can see the various components. Sage leaves have such a different texture to them.

The butter needs to be at room temp and you carefully chop up the herbs and garlic and add it to the butter. With a bit of lemon zest too. Mix it well and set it aside. If time permits, do this an hour or so before you’re ready to begin cooking the halibut.

The halibut is salted and peppered before starting. And a note of caution – the rest of your meal needs to be completely ready to go and serve. You’ll have no time for other kitchen prep once you start the halibut. The stovetop grill pan is heated to high/medium-high and you drizzle a bit of EVOO on it before laying on the halibut steaks. At that point set a timer. My halibut steaks were about 3/4″ thick (not the 1-inch called for) so I knew they would cook in less time. Do set a timer – I know I said this before – but it’s worth repeating. The recipe indicates you melt the herb butter at this point – I didn’t, as the herb butter was so soft it was almost melted in the bowl! Once the fish is turned over (it should have a beautiful golden glow on it) you turn OFF the heat and slather on, or pour most of the herb butter on top of the halibut. If you used the soft butter, it melts in seconds. Cover the pan with a lid or a piece of foil and set a timer again. This time you set it for 3 minutes (if your steaks are 1″ thick). I set mine for 2 minutes. Everything else was ready to plate, so I slid the halibut off onto a plate (or heated platter if you’re doing several) and poured what little herb butter was in the pan itself (my grill pan does have a handle) and the remainder I had set aside. It melted immediately. Sprinkle with lemon zest, the little curl-type. Serve.

What’s GOOD: oh my, so good. But then, I love the lovely big flakes of fish that come from halibut. The fish was beautiful to look at and serve, (the lemon zest on top adds a lot – that happened to be something Ina added to the recipe) and so tender and moist. This cooking method is genius. I’d serve this to guests anytime. Just know you’ll be making a big dent in your wallet to buy several hunks of 1″ halibut steaks.

What’s NOT: only that you want to make this with halibut (or maybe sea bass). All expensive. I’ll try it with cod too – it might be nice.

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