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Here are the tastingspoons players. I’m in the middle (Carolyn). Daughter Sara on the right, and daughter-in-law Karen on the left. I started the blog in 2007, as a way to share recipes with my family. I’m still doing 99% of the blogging and holding out hope that these two lovely and excellent cooks will participate. They both lead very busy lives, so we’ll see.

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BOOK READING (from Carolyn):

Music of Bees, Eileen Garvin. Absolutely charming book about a woman in midlife, lonely, who raises bees, also makes unlikely friends. Heart-warming and very interesting about beekeeping.

A Postcard from Paris, Alex Brown. Really cute story. Dual time line, 1940s and present day about renovating an old apartment in Paris, things discovered.

Time of the Child, Niall Williams. Oh such a good book. Very small village in Ireland, 1960s. A baby is left on the doorstep. The town all whispers and helps. I listened to an interview of the author, which made me like him and his books even more.

Sipsworth, Simon Van Booy. If you like animals you’ll swoon. An old woman who really wants to die finds a tiny mouse in her house and befriends it and finds a reason to live. Utterly charming book.

The Forger’s Spell, Edward Dolnick. True story. For seven years a no-account painter named Han van Meegeren managed to pass off his paintings as those of Johannes Vermeer.

If You Lived Here, You’d be Home by Now, Christopher Ingraham. Could hardly put it down – about a journalist who takes on a challenge to move to small town in Minnesota and write about it. He expects to hate it and the people and place, but he doesn’t. Absolutely wonderful true story.

The River We Remember, William Kent Kreuger. 1950s, Minnesota. A murder and the aftermath. Could hardly put it down. Kreuger has such a vivid imagination and writing style.

How the Lights Gets In, Joyce Maynard. An older woman returns to New Hampshire to help care for her brain-injured son. Siblings and family, lots of angst and resentments.

The Filling Station, Vanessa Miller. Every American should read this book. A novelized retelling of the Tulsa massacre in 1921. Absolutely riveting.

The Story She Left Behind, Patti Callahan Henry. Love this author. Based on a true story. A famous author simply vanishes, leaving her husband and daughter behind. She had invented a mystical language no one could translate. Present day, someone thinks he’s solved the riddle, contacts the family. Really interesting read.

The Girl from Berlin, Ronald Balson. Love anything about Tuscany. An elderly woman is being evicted from a villa there, with odd deed provenance. Two young folks go there to help unravel the mystery. Loved it.

The Island of the Colorblind, Oliver Sacks, M.D. Nonfiction. The dr is intrigued by a remote Pacific island where most of the inhabitants are colorblind. He also unravels a mystery on Guam of people born with a strange neurological problem. Medical mysteries unveiled. Very interesting.

The Bookbinder, Pip Williams. Post 1914 London. Two sisters work at a bookbindery. They’re told to not read the books. One does and one doesn’t. One has visions beyond her narrow world; the other does not. Eventually the one gets into Oxford. Lovely story.

The Paris Express, Emma Donoghue. 1895 on a train to Paris, a disaster happens. You’ll delve into the lives of many people who survived and died in the crash.

A Race to the Bottom of Crazy, Richard Grant. This is about Arizona. Author, wife and child move back to Arizona where they once lived. Part memoir, research, and reporting in a quest to understand what makes Arizona such a confounding and irresistible place.

The Scarlet Thread, Francine Rivers. A woman’s life turned upside down when she discovers the handcrafted quilt and journal of her ancestor Mary Kathryn McMurray, a young woman who was uprooted from her home only to endure harsh frontier conditions on the Oregon Trail.

A Place to Hide, Ronald Balson. 1939 Amsterdam, an ambassador has the ability to save the lives of many Jewish children. Heartwarming.

Homeseeking, Karissa Chen. Two young Chinese teens are deeply in love, but in China. Then their families are separated. Jump to current day and the two meet again in Los Angeles.

North River, Pete Hammill. He always writes such a good story. A doctor works diligently healing people from all walks of life. His wife and daughter left him years before. One day his 3-yr old grandson arrives on his doorstep.

A Very Typical Family, Sierra Godfrey. A very messed-up family. Three adult children are given a home in Santa Cruz, Calif, but only if the siblings meet up and live in the house together. A very untypical scenario but makes for lots of messes.

Three Days in June, Anne Tyler. The usual Anne Tyler grit. Family angst. This wasn’t one of my favorites, but it was entertaining and very short.

Saved, Benjamin Hall. Author is a veteran war reporter. Ukraine, 2022, he nearly loses his life to a Russian strike. Riveting story – he survives, barely.

Grey Wolf, Louise Penny. Another Inspector Gamache mystery in Quebec. She is such an incredible mystery writer.

All the Colors of the Dark, Chris Whitaker. A missing person mystery, a serial killer thriller, a love story, a unique twist on each. Could hardly put it down.

Orbital, Samantha Harvey. Winner of 2024 Booker Prize. I don’t usually like those, but I heard the author interviewed and she hooked me. This is not a normal book with a beginning, a story and an end. It’s several chapters of the day in the life of various astronauts at the ISS (Int’l Space Station). All fictional. She’s been praised by several real astronauts for “getting it” about space station everyday life.

The Blue Hour, Paula Hawkins. An island off Scotland. Inaccessible except when the tide is out. Weird goings on. An artist. A present day mystery too.

Iron Lake, William Kent Krueger. A judge is murdered and a boy is missing. Riveting mystery.

Tell the Wolves I’m Home, Carol Ricks Brunt. 1980s. A 14-yr old girl loses her beloved uncle. Yet a new friendship arises, someone she never knew about.

Four Treasures of the Sky, Jenny Zhang. 1880s, a young girl is kidnapped in China and brought to the United States. She survives with many hurdles in the path.

The Boy Who Fell out of the Sky, Ken Dornstein. Memoir, 1988. The author’s brother died in the PanAm flight that went down in Lockerbie, Scotland. A decade later he tries to solve “the riddle of his older brother’s life.”

Worse Care Scenario, T.J. Newman. Oh my. Interesting analysis of what could/might happen if a jet crashed into a nuclear plant. Un-put-downable.

Song of the Lark, Willa Cather. Complicated weave of a story about a young woman in about 1900, who has a gifted voice (singing) and about her journey to success, not without its ups and downs.

Crow Talk, Eileen Garvin. Charming story which takes place at a remote lake in Washington State, about a few people who inhabit it, the friendships made, but also revolving around the rescue of a baby crow.

The Story Collector, Evie Woods. Sweet story about some dark secrets from an area in Ireland, a bit magical, faerie life, but solving a mystery too.

A Sea of Unspoken Things, Adrienne Young. A woman investigates her twin brother’s mysterious death. She goes to a small town in California to figure it out, to figure HIM out.

The King’s Messenger, Susanna Kearsley. 1600s England, King James. About one of his trusted “messengers,” and his relationship with a young woman also of “the court.” Lots of intrigue.

In the Shadow of the Greenbrier, Emily Matchar. Interesting mystery in/around the area of the famous resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.

Isola, Allegra Goodman. Hard to describe, survival story on an island in the 1600s.

Save the Date, Allison Raskin. Rom-com, witty, LOL funny. Clever.

The Sirens, Emilia Hart. Numerous time-lines, Australia. Mysteries abound, nightmares, abandoned baby, weird allergies.

Red Clay, Charles Fancher. LOVED this book. Mostly post-Civil War story about the lives of slaves in Alabama during Reconstruction.

Stars in an Italian Sky, Jill Santopolo. Dual time line, 1946 and recent time. Love stories and a mystery.

Battle Mountain, C.J. Box. Another one of Box’s riveting mysteries. Love his descriptions of the land.

Something Beautiful Happened, Yvette Corporon. A memoir of sorts in Greece, tiny island of Erikousa, where the locals hid Jews during WWII. All elusive stories told by the author’s grandmother.

The Jackal’s Mistress, Chris Bohjalian. 1860s Virginia, about a woman who saves the life of a Union soldier. Really good story.

Song of the Magpie, Louise Mayberry. Really interesting story about Australia back in the days when it was mostly a penal colony. Gritty strength of a woman trying to thrive with her farm.

The Boomerang, Robert Bailey. A thriller that will have you gripping the book. About a lot of secrets surrounding the president (fictional novel, remember) and his chief of staff and about cancer. A cure. Such a good story.

Care and Feeding, Laurie Woolever. Really interesting memoir of a woman driven to succeed in the restaurant business. She worked for Mario Batali and then Anthony Bourdain. Gritty stories.

Everything is Tuberculosis, John Green. Maybe not a book for everyone. A real deep dive into the deadly tuberculosis infection, its history. I heard the author interviewed and found the book very interesting.

The Book Lovers Library, Madeline Martin. Fascinating read about Boots’ drug stores’ lending library. And the people who worked in them.

The Arrivals, Meg Mitchell Moore. LOL funny, about a middle-aged couple whose children (and their various family members) return to the family home and the chaos that ensues.

My Life as a Silent Movie, Jesse Lee Kercheval. About grief. A big move to Paris, finding herself a new life with a new set of real blood family.

Escape, Carolyn Jessop. Another memoir about a woman really in bondage in Utah, Mormon plural marriage.

 

Tasting Spoons

My blog's namesake - small, old and some very dented engraved silver plated tea spoons that belonged to my mother-in-law, and I use them to taste my food as I'm cooking.

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Posted in easy, Fish, on February 19th, 2010.

salmon salad

A couple of nights ago when I made this, I’d been working on our income taxes all day long. I mean all – day – long. We needed to eat dinner in a big fat hurry because it was Ash Wednesday and we were singing in the choir at services that night, with a 6:20 call time. Whew. At 5:10 I entered the kitchen.  Five minutes were used up finding a recipe. I started prep at 5:15 and I had dinner ON the table by 5:35 and we were out the door at 5:55. So, does that tell you that this recipe is FAST and EASY?

salmon salad cut The second part is that the taste was sensational. I mean, absolutely fabulous. I think I’m going to create a new category here on my blog for EASY. Not that I have all that many recipes that would qualify, since normally I don’t mind spending time chopping, dicing, mixing, etc. The marinade came from a Steven Raichlen recipe. He’s the barbecue king, multi-cookbook author and has his own TV series, Primal Grill which will show again sometime this year. This recipe, though, came from Food and Wine, in June of ‘07. Other than the marinade, I altered all the rest of the recipe. I had no time to make a vegetable, or a carb, but I did have the makings of a salad. His recipe called for grilling the steaks. I didn’t have time to heat the barbecue. His recipe called for marinating the salmon. Oops, no time for that either except for the 5 minutes or so I took gathering and chopping all the salad ingredients. But I thought, what the heck, at least the marinade will provide some flavor. And indeed it did!

So if you’d like to grill the dish Raichlen’s way, just click over to the Food and Wine version. In the headnotes to the recipe Steven said each year he works on “one embarrassingly simple recipe, but incredibly versatile.” This was the one from ‘07. It will become a regular on my menu. AND, it would be a great company meal. Really! I had some beautiful Norwegian wild salmon (from that same home delivery meat company). And oh yes, indeed, the salmon was so flavorful. Meaty. And the sauce, although it’s a marinade, I added in at the end of cooking and it became a drizzle on the salad too. Serve the salmon with a non-tannic Pinot Noir, if you’re serving wine. If you work at it, you might be able to beat my time of start-to-finish dinner on the table in less than 20 minutes. That even beats Rachel Ray’s timing!
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Arugula Salad with Salmon Steaks and Soy-Maple Glaze

Recipe By: Adapted from a Steven Raichlen recipe, Food & Wine, 6/07
Serving Size: 4
NOTES: Use your own choice of salad ingredients. No arugula? Use all Romaine. Just don’t use a real soft butter lettuce type or the hot salmon will wilt it to nothing. Add just enough salad dressing so the salad is barely slick – you’ll pour the marinade over the top as well.

SALMON and MARINADE:
1/4 cup soy sauce
3 tablespoons maple syrup
3 tablespoons Asian sesame oil
24 ounces salmon steaks — 4 steaks – 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch thick
One 2-inch piece of fresh ginger—peeled — thinly sliced and smashed
2 whole garlic cloves — peeled, smashed
SALAD:
4 cups arugula
2 cups Romaine lettuce — chopped
1/2 cup fennel — very thinly sliced
2/3 cup sugar snap peas — trimmed, sliced
1/4 cup vinaigrette
GARNISH:
16 whole cherry tomatoes — halved
2 whole scallions — thinly sliced

1. In a large, shallow dish, whisk the soy sauce with the maple syrup and sesame oil. Add the salmon steaks and turn to coat. Press the ginger and garlic onto both sides of the steaks. If time permits, cover and refrigerate for 2 hours, turning the salmon a few times.
2. Prepare the salad ingredients (and dressing) and set aside. Chop and set aside the garnishes.
3. Heat to medium-high a nonstick skillet (large enough to hold all 4 salmon steaks) and add a light coating of olive oil. Remove the salmon from the marinade (reserving the marinade) and saute them to sear both sides, about 2 minutes total. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and cook the salmon until just barely done to your liking (about 3-5 minutes depending on thickness). Add the reserved marinade, cover and simmer for one minute.
3. Lightly dress the salad with your choice of vinaigrette dressing, pour out onto serving plates and place the salmon on top of the salad. Garnish with tomatoes and green onions and serve.
Per Serving: 446 Calories; 24g Fat (49.1% calories from fat); 37g Protein; 20g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 88mg Cholesterol; 1166mg Sodium.

A year ago:  Chocolate Sponge Roll (decadent chocolate and whipped cream)
Two years ago: Almond Bar Cookies

Posted in Fish, on February 11th, 2010.

sole with almond sauce My DH requested some fish for dinner the other night. We had some in our freezer, some we’d purchased recently from a home-delivery meat company. I’m usually skeptical about frozen fish, always preferring to buy fresh, but this fish looked so good and everything else we’ve had from this company has been exceptionally good (premium price, too, of course). We were not disappointed.

I needed to prepare the sole in some special way, so I looked through oodles of recipes before deciding to try a Julia Child French method. From her book From Julia Child’s Kitchen. What I will tell you first off is that this requires more than a moderate amount of food prep – more than usual – and I don’t usually shirk from kitchen detail. It also dirties a whole bunch of dishes. And I decided to get everything in place first (that’s called mis en place) since I could tell by reading the recipe that everything kind of comes together at the end and I needed to be ready, not off at the chopping board mincing something. So here’s what I did:

sole collageOn the left is the ALMOND FLAVORING/SAUCE: clockwise from the left at 8:00, minced shallots, butter, almond meal, flake salt, ground white pepper and fresh lemon. On the right the FINISHING SAUCE from 8:00, minced shallot, all-purpose flour, heavy cream, fish stock, white wine, butter, toasted sliced almonds, and minced parsley.

So, you get my drift – there’s a bit of food prep here. I should have added more lemon juice over on the right combination, too. I suggest you get out the dish you want to use, have the waxed paper buttered and sized to fit the pan, have the oven preheated (and your second oven – if you have one – heated at 200 to keep the fish and serving plates warm later on), and get all of the above ready. AND, I’ll also suggest you have all the rest of your dinner ready to go too, as you’ll have no time to do that once the fish comes out of the oven. I asked Dave to help me at the end because our vegetable needed reheating in the microwave (cauliflower prepared like mashed potatoes that I had made half an hour before), and I had an avocado ready to slice for our salad. He did those things while I whisked, stirred, poured, thinned and garnished.

So, how was it? Fabulous. Dave mmmm-d all through dinner. A good sign. I savored every bite, but then with all the butter in it, how could it not be good? (Actually, I have reduced the amount of butter in this recipe because the sauce could not hold the amount called for.) The only thing I’d change is to pulse the almonds myself next time, rather than use almond meal. I think the almond meal is too finely ground for this. Once I made the finishing sauce it was too thick. I really didn’t want to add more cream (it already had enough fat in the sauce already – so I added  bit more lemon juice). But in the big picture, it didn’t matter – it was good even if it was too thick! Will I make it again? I might. Perhaps not for guests only because it’s such concentrated cooking at the end. I think it’s hard to make this kind of dish for guests when you need to be on top of everything at the last minute.
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Filet of Sole with White Wine and Almond Butter

Recipe By: Adapted from the cookbook: From Julia Child’s Kitchen
Serving Size: 4

ALMOND FLAVORING:
1/2 cup sliced almonds — (reserve a few for garnish)
2 tablespoons shallots — peeled, minced
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup ground almonds — (I used almond meal)
salt and white pepper to taste
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice — (an approximation)
FISH & SAUCE:
1 3/4 pounds sole fillets
1 tablespoon shallots — minced
1/2 cup white wine — dry rather than sweet, if possible
1/2 cup fish stock — (or clam juice)
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoons butter — softened
1/2 cup heavy cream — or more if needed
4 sprigs Italian parsley

1. ALMOND SAUCE: Preheat oven to 350. Spread almonds on a cookie sheet and bake the almonds for about 8-10 minutes until they’re toasty brown. Watch carefully so they don’t burn. Cool and set aside.
2. Using 2 tablespoons of the butter, melt it in a medium saucepan and saute the shallots for just a couple of minutes. (Note: remove 2 T. of raw shallots to use on top of the fish). Remove the shallots from the heat and add the almond meal (ground almonds – you can whiz whole or sliced almonds in a blender or food processor) and the remaining butter. Season to taste with salt, white pepper and lemon juice. Pour this mixture into a small bowl and set aside. You may use this pan later.
3. FISH: Season the milky side (whiter side) of the fish fillets with salt and pepper. Spread about a teaspoon of the almond flavoring/sauce mixture on top of each fillet (the remaining almond sauce goes into the finishing sauce). If you have extra-thin (real) sole fillets, fold the fillets end to end (to make a thicker piece of fish).
4. Arrange the fish fillets in an ovenproof casserole, slightly overlapping the thinner edges. Sprinkle with the reserved raw shallots, and dust lightly with salt and pepper.
5. In a small saucepan bring the wine and fish stock to a boil. Pour the liquid around the fish fillets and cover the dish with a heavily buttered piece of waxed paper.
6. Bake the fish for 8-10 minutes until the fish is just squishy to the touch (i.e., not overcooked). Remove fish from oven and using a spatula to hold the fish in place, pour the juices into the medium saucepan (used in step 2 above). Place the fish in a warm place still covered with the waxed paper (do not put back in the hot oven.) Bring the liquid to a boil and reduce liquid to about 1/2 cup (about half of the total liquid you start with).
7. In a small bowl mix the soft butter and flour together (this makes a beurre manie). Stirring constantly with a whisk, add this butter mixture in small pieces to the boiling liquid. It will thicken rapidly. Reduce heat as necessary. When it’s thoroughly blended in, add the cream – the sauce should be thin enough to coat a spoon. If it’s thicker than that, add more cream and/or fish stock to thin it out. Season with salt and pepper if needed (taste it!) and more drops of lemon juice. Add the almond slices. If there is any additional liquid in the fish baking dish add it to the sauce. Fold in the almond flavoring sauce and heat until it’s hot. Place fish fillets on a pre-heated plate and pour over the fish and garnish with parsley and the reserved sliced, toasted almonds. Serve immediately. Fish cools quickly so do serve it immediately.
Per Serving: 699 Calories; 48g Fat (62.5% calories from fat); 49g Protein; 16g Carbohydrate; 5g Dietary Fiber; 181mg Cholesterol; 287mg Sodium.

A year ago: About Penzey’s, the herb store (also online)
Two years ago: Crunchy Shrimp on Couscous with Sauce (a real winner, a favorite)

Posted in Fish, on November 19th, 2009.

shrimp khichdi

Can you see those luscious pink-edged, big shrimp curled in the middle of this dish? I should have done a bit more primping and fussing with the food, moving rice kernels over, positioning the cashews and the cilantro, moving the long strand of caramelized onion to be more visible for the photos. But I didn’t. It was hot and ready to be whisked to the table before the food got cold.

kundaThe credit for this recipe goes to my friend, Kunda S., a native of India. Among other accomplishments, she’s also a PhD microbiologist that I met in one of my art classes some years ago. We’ve become friends, sharing lunches occasionally. Kunda and her husband Sunat (he’s a PhD physicist) came over for dinner recently, to share some travel information with friends of ours who are venturing to India and Bhutan in January and welcomed any helpful hints about travel in northern India. We had a wonderful evening with them.

It was earlier this year I was at Kunda’s house and she gave me a little container of this rice dish she’d made. Knowing how much I enjoy cooking (and that we enjoy Indian food) she thought I should taste this dish. Oh yes! She also gave me a little bit of her garam masala, from her mother’s prized recipe. Kunda’s sister (who lives in India) makes it from their local spices, and each time Kunda visits home, she brings a new stash of garam masala.

So how was it? It was scrumptious. Kunda gave me the recipe, but she was hesitant for me to post it without trying it myself. So I finally got around to it the other night. I made enough to feed an army, so we had a couple of nights of leftovers too. Every bit as good as the first time around.

As Kunda explained to me, in the Indian culture, they take their rice very seriously. If you’ve ever been to a market with plenty of Indian products, you’ll notice lots of different rice types and brands. Most of them basmati, but from different areas. Some more expensive than others. And this dish, combined with an onion-coconut paste that you make, a marinade for the shrimp, soaked basmati rice and coconut milk. Oh my. Absolutely wonderful. My DH said “this is stupendous.” His words. It contains garam masala and turmeric, similar ingredients to the Bal’s No-Butter Chicken I made a couple of weeks ago. But this dish is altogether different.

This recipe does have several steps to its preparation. I managed to make it all in one pot, by removing the different sections as I made them, like the onion-coconut mixture. Same with the shrimp and onions later, also removed to another bowl to set aside. Finally I made the rice and at the end you combine everything so the flavors of the individual parts are still there without becoming a homogenous blend. The rice is rinsed 3 times, then left to soak in warm water for awhile (I did that while I made the other two parts of the recipe). So when you finally begin cooking the rice, it doesn’t take all that long – less time than usual if you were to start out with dry, unrinsed rice.

The dish also requires raw cashews. I’m sure I could find them, but didn’t have them on hand, so I used roasted cashews, and rinsed off the salt. I also didn’t have a fresh coconut, but I did have unsweetened grated dry coconut in the freezer, so used that instead. The coconut is browned, so it should have been very similar. Don’t, however, use sweetened flaked coconut in this – it would make it way too sweet. If you’re absolutely desperate, though, wash the sweetened coconut type. This is not a sweet dish, except for the natural sweetness from the coconut milk.

Similar to an Indian curry, you can serve this with condiments. I didn’t have the ingredients to make them (a coconut raita, chopped peanuts, minced cucumbers and more jalapeno), for one, didn’t want to make a trip to the market, so we made do without. But, I was perfectly content with the dish as is with just cashews and fresh cilantro on top. So, thanks Kunda, for this great recipe. I’ll be making it again. Maybe even for guests. It’s not all that hot, just mildly so. Kunda makes hers much hotter than the recipe below – she adds more cayenne. And if you want to make your own garam masala, click here for the recipe I posted recently.
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Shrimp Khichdi

Recipe By: From my friend Kunda S.
Serving Size: 8
Serving Ideas: Kunda sometimes serves this with sauteed vegetables, like cauliflower or peas. She also may serve it with a coconut raita (yogurt, grated coconut, chopped peanuts, cucumber and finely minced jalapeno). Such meals might also include pappadums (a thin wafer/bread that is quickly cooked in hot oil just before serving). Monisha, Kunda’s daughter, prefers the khichdi with a large spoon of yogurt mixed in (to temper the heat, since her mother makes it more spicy than this recipe – she uses double the amount of cayenne).

ONION COCONUT PASTE:
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 whole onion — thinly sliced
1/4 cup coconut — grated Water to make a paste
SHRIMP MARINADE:
4 cloves garlic — peeled
1/2 inch knob fresh ginger — cut in chunks
1 whole jalapeno pepper — optional
1 tablespoon fresh cilantro — chopped
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
SHRIMP:
1 pound small shrimp — peeled, deveined
1 medium onion — minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/4 teaspoon cayenne — or up to 1/2 tsp.
2 teaspoons garam masala — (or more to taste)
RICE:
2 cups basmati rice
1/2 cup canola oil — [I used about 3 T.]
1/2 stick cinnamon
3 whole cloves
3 whole cardamom — pods, not ground cardamom
3/4 cup light coconut milk
2 teaspoons garam masala
1/3 cup raw cashews
3 tablespoons cilantro — for garnish
ghee (clarified butter), drizzled on top, if desired

1. RICE: Rinse the dry rice at least 3 times in water. Pour into a bowl and add warm water to cover. Allow to soak while preparing other parts of the dish.
2. ONION COCONUT PASTE: In a medium skillet bring 1 T. of canola oil to a shimmer and add the sliced onion. Saute over medium to low heat until onion is caramelized. Add grated coconut and continue cooking until the coconut is golden brown. Cool mixture and add water: add just enough to make a fine paste. Pour out into a bowl and set aside.
3. SHRIMP: Rinse and dry the shrimp. Combine the shrimp with the salt, turmeric and cayenne. Combine the marinade ingredients in a blender and puree. Add the marinade to the shrimp and allow to sit at room temp for about 30 minutes.
4. In another skillet, heat 2 T. of the canola oil, then add HALF of the minced onion. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is soft and translucent. Add the shrimp with the marinade and cook for about 5 minutes, turning the shrimp once. Add the garam masala and set aside.
5. CASHEWS: Soak the cashews in water, to cover, for about 30 minutes. Drain, then separate the cashews into halves, if possible before adding them to the rice (below).
6. RICE: In a 3-quart heavy saucepan heat the remaining canola oil. When hot, add cinnamon, cloves and cardamom. Immediately add the remaining HALF minced onion. Stir until the onion is soft and translucent. Add the turmeric and salt to taste. Stir, then add rice (drained of its soaking water) and drained cashews. Bring to a simmer and stir for about 3 minutes. Add about 2 1/2 cups of water, bring to a boil, then lower heat to a simmer and cook until almost all the water is absorbed (about 10-15 minutes at most). Stir in the caramelized onion paste/coconut mixture, shrimp and coconut milk, plus the additional garam masala. Cover and cook until rice is just tender. You may need to add additional water.
7. Serve immediately garnished with chopped cilantro. If you’re making an authentic khichdi, drizzle about a teaspoon of ghee on top of each serving.
8. Garnish with chopped cucumbers, chopped peanuts, minced jalapeno and a coconut raita (generally it’s made with cucumber – use coconut instead).
Per Serving: 440 Calories; 24g Fat (48.4% calories from fat); 18g Protein; 39g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 86mg Cholesterol; 257mg Sodium.

A year ago: Unstuffed Sweet & Sour Cabbage (stay tuned, I made this again, and will be posting it)
Two years ago: Ina Garten’s Lemon Cake

Posted in Fish, on October 28th, 2009.

amber halibut steaks

This sort of looks like a sirloin steak, doesn’t it? Nope. It’s a huge, thick, tender, fresh halibut steak that was just falling apart. Good kind of falling apart. Full of flavor. I forgot to put some more green onions on top for garnish. They’re in the sauce, but hardly visible in the photo.

This recipe came via our daughter-in-law Karen’s mother, Barbara. She got it from a cookbook:  Elena’s Favorite Foods: California Style by Elena Zelayeta. Barbara served this one night when we were all together for a dinner. So, I asked her for the recipe! And when I tell you this is EASY, please believe me. It’s truly easy and comes together in less than 10 minutes. I served it with pan-sautéed zucchini and a veggie-laden green salad.

So what’s in the amber sauce? Nothing but soy sauce, sherry, lemon juice (I used lime) and green onions. How cinchy is that? The halibut is dipped in seasoned flour (seasoned only with pepper since the soy sauce provides plenty of sodium) and pan fried in a little oil. After browning both sides the sauce is added and you steam it until it’s just done. I removed the center bone afterwards, which is why it began to fall apart. Our steak was large enough for two people, so I probably should have cut it in half before cooking. Once cooked the bone didn’t cut apart with any ease. So, whack that steak in half first. Our neighborhood Costco had these fresh Alaskan halibut steaks for $6.99/lb.
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Amber Halibut Steaks

Recipe By: From Barbara D, our daughter-in-law Karen’s
mother, from a cookbook by Elena Zelayeta
Serving Size: 4

40 ounces halibut steaks (8-10 ounces each)
1/3 cup flour
Pepper to taste
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup soy sauce — (use lower sodium if desired)
1/4 cup sherry
1 tablespoon lemon juice — (or lime juice)
2 tablespoons green onion — chopped
1 tablespoon green onion — for garnish

1. Rinse halibut under running water and blot on paper towels.
2. In a shallow plate sprinkle the flour and pepper. Mix, then dip the halibut in the flour mixture.
3. Meanwhile, heat a skillet (just a bit bigger than the halibut pieces) and add the oil and heat until the oil is shimmering.
4. Carefully place halibut in the hot oil and brown on both sides until they’re a golden color.
5. If pan is very hot, remove from the heat, then pour in the soy, sherry, lemon juice and green onions. Simmer until halibut is just cooked through.
6. Place on a heated plate and garnish with the sauce and some more raw green onions.
Per Serving: 412 Calories; 10g Fat (23.7% calories from fat); 61g Protein; 11g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 91mg Cholesterol; 1184mg Sodium.

A year ago: Thai Pumpkin Shrimp Soup (oh, that was so delish – I need to make that one again)

Posted in Fish, on October 22nd, 2009.

tuna la scala You can count on one hand the number of recipes on this blog using canned tuna. And I don’t know about you, but mostly I use canned tuna for sandwiches, or salad, but not much else. The other day I ran across a recipe from w-a-a-ay long ago. Back to the 1950’s when my best friend Linda C. and I used to spend hours and hours every day together. We were young teens then, too young for boyfriends. So we played Parcheesi, and Monopoly, and watched Linda’s older sister get ready for dates. Linda’s mother would fix lunch for us sometimes, and occasionally I’d spend the night at her house too, and usually I was invited for dinner, or Sunday breakfast. Or both.

The Sunday breakfast was almost always waffles and homemade sausage gravy that was served on top of the waffles. Linda’s dad was the Sunday breakfast cook, and he was really proud of his waffle spread. Brings back lots of nostalgic memories thinking about that. Linda’s mother, Van, was a good cook. I have one other recipe of hers – a Lamb Curry, with about 21 condiments. It’s been years since I made that. Linda’s parents used to entertain with some regularity and the 21 curry was a favorite. Sometimes Linda and I would help in the kitchen mincing and chopping.

But one of their family favorites was this tuna dish. And I used to fix it every so often, although I’d lost track of the recipe until I found it in MY mother’s recipe box a few weeks ago. As you can imagine, it’s an inexpensive meal, what with just a can of tuna and some English muffins. The other things usually were readily available too. This does contain the ubiquitous cream of mushroom soup, which I keep in my pantry – you just never know when you’re going to need it. Like I did the other night when we returned home from a weekend away. We weren’t overly hungry, so as I stood in the pantry I spotted the tuna. Aha moment.

This recipe is WAY EASY. Probably takes about 10 minutes to make if you’re slow. Toast the English muffins (I used some seeded baguette thick slices that I toasted in the oven) and the tuna comes together in about 7-8 minutes, I’d say. Van’s original recipe didn’t call for peas, but somewhere along the line I added them, and have continued to use them. Her recipe also called for a huge amount of sliced black olives. They aren’t my favorite thing, so I reduce the quantity a lot and add Kalamata instead, but you can use whatever you want to. The fresh lemon juice is key – it gives the sauce a nice tang, although it really isn’t noticeable. So this recipe is a salute to my friend Linda, and her Mom, Van.
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Tuna La Scala on Toasted English Muffins

Recipe By: From the mother of an old friend of mine, Linda C.
Serving Size: 3
NOTES: The original recipe called for 3/4 cup of sliced black olives. I don’t use that much, and prefer the Kalamata instead. I also like more lemon juice (noted in the recipe). The peas are also my addition. Back in the 1950’s when my friend’s mother would fix this, she used the dry canned Parmesan. I never – ever- use that stuff, so the recipe should be better for using the real stuff. If you prefer, use the canned. A serving was one English muffin, split in half (so, 2 halves). For very hearty appetites, this might serve just two.

1/2 small red onion — diced
1 tablespoon olive oil
7 ounces tuna — drained
10 1/2 ounces cream of mushroom soup, condensed
1/2 cup 2% low-fat milk — (or may need more, up to 1/4 cup)
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese — or Pecorino, grated
1/2 cup olives — sliced (or may use Kalamata)
2 tablespoons Italian parsley
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 cup frozen peas
2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese — or Pecorino, for garnish
1 1/2 tablespoons Italian parsley — for garnish English muffins or thick bread, toasted

1. Heat a medium skillet and add olive oil. Add onions and saute until onions are translucent.
2. In a small bowl mix the soup and milk until it’s smooth. Add to the onions, turn down the heat and allow to hear through.
3. Drain the tuna and flake it apart with a fork. To the cream sauce add the tuna, cheese, olives, lemon juice, thyme, parsley and peas. Continue to heat through on a very low, gentle heat.
4. Meanwhile, toast whatever bread you’re using and prepare the garnishes.
5. Place bread on plate and spoon the sauce over them. Garnish with Parmesan and parsley, then serve immediately.
Per Serving: 361 Calories; 22g Fat (53.6% calories from fat); 24g Protein; 18g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 37mg Cholesterol; 1263mg Sodium.

A year ago: Soup Season

Posted in Fish, Veggies/sides, on October 20th, 2009.

shrimp and grits

Surely over the years I’d read about shrimp and grits, but for whatever reason, it never appealed to me much. Or let’s say it didn’t appeal enough to make it; nor had I ever ordered it on the rare occasions when it might have been on a menu. But looking at what I had in the refrigerator to serve alongside some shrimp for dinner the other night, I decided I’d adapt an internet recipe from Bobby Flay. Not only was it easy, but it was downright delicious. Fabulous, actually. We both sat in contented silence relishing each bite. Until the two bowls were slicked clean.

So what exactly was it that made it so good? Well, there’s no question the butter, milk and grated sharp Cheddar cheese helped the grits (aka polenta) along the path to outstanding flavor. That served as the bed for the quickly-made shrimp with bacon, lemon juice, garlic, Italian parsley and green onions. There’s really not much else to it. I made creamy grits/polenta (using half milk, half water), and I added more lemon juice and parsley than Flay’s recipe. Actually I used fat-free half and half for the milk, but 2% milk is just fine.

I also made some sautéed Swiss chard too, thanks to Karen, our daughter-in-law who shared bounty from her garden and her sister’s veggie patch. To serve, I scooped the grits into the bottom of a wide deep bowl (a pasta bowl), then placed the shrimp on one side and the Swiss chard on the other. You can’t quite see the chard in the background of the picture, but that dark unfocused blob is it.

It helps to get all the ingredients ready before you begin – or at least while the polenta is simmering, gather up everything else since once you start cooking the shrimp it’s quick. I needed to add some water to keep the polenta creamy during the last 8 or so minutes of the 20 minutes of cooking time. The Swiss chard takes but a few minutes – we like it with some texture still remaining, so cooking it for only 4-5 minutes is max. I’ve included that recipe below – it’s ever so simple.
printer-friendly PDF for the shrimp and grits

printer-friendly PDF for the Swiss chard

Shrimp & Creamy Grits

Recipe: Adapted from a Bobby Flay recipe on the Food Network
Servings: 4
NOTES: You can mix up the grits and shrimp (together), but if you want it to look pretty, just spoon the grits in the bowl and put the shrimp mixture on top with some added chopped Italian parsley.

2 cups water
2 cups 2% low-fat milk — [I used fat-free half and half]
Salt and pepper
1 cup grits — stone-ground
3 tablespoons butter
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 pound shrimp — peeled and deveined
6 slices bacon — chopped
2 tablespoons lemon juice
4 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 cup scallions — thinly sliced
2 large cloves garlic — minced
1 tablespoon Italian parsley — for garnish

1. Bring water and milk to a boil. Add salt and pepper. Add grits and simmer until fluid is absorbed but it’s still creamy and soft, about 20 to 25 minutes. Add water if it thickens too quickly, as you do want to cook it for at least 20 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in butter and cheese. Cover and set aside.
2. Rinse shrimp and pat dry. Fry the bacon in a large skillet until browned; drain well. In grease, add shrimp. Cook until shrimp turn pink. Add lemon juice, chopped bacon, parsley, scallions and garlic. Saute for 3 minutes just until shrimp is cooked through – no longer.
3. Spoon grits into a serving bowl. Add shrimp mixture. Serve immediately.
Per Serving: 698 Calories; 37g Fat (48.0% calories from fat); 48g Protein; 42g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 272mg Cholesterol; 831mg Sodium.

 

Sauteed Swiss Chard with Bacon

Servings: 4
NOTES: Do NOT pour the vinegar (alone) into the chard without mixing it with the water – you don’t want to pour it onto just one part, as the mixture needs to be drizzled all over the leaves. If you have a half of an onion, you can add that along with the bacon.

2 slices bacon — or 1 thick slice
1 pound Swiss chard leaves — center rib removed, washed well
1 1/2 teaspoons sherry vinegar
3 tablespoons water
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Slice and dice the bacon into small pieces. Saute in a very large skillet until the bacon is light brown and crisp.
2. The Swiss chard can be damp from washing – it will provide some fluid for cooking. Add the Swiss chard to the bacon, stirring and moving the chard around in the pan until it’s wilted. Mix the vinegar and water and when the water has all evaporated, add the vinegar water. Cover and simmer for 2-3 minutes or until cooked through to your taste. Season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately, when it’s piping hot.
Per Serving: 40 Calories; 2g Fat (35.1% calories from fat); 3g Protein; 4g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 3mg Cholesterol; 254mg Sodium.

A year ago: Baked Eggs with chorizo & cannellini beans
Two years ago: Chicken with Lemon and Garlic Crust

Posted in Fish, on October 13th, 2009.

slow roasted chipotle salmon

The salmon didn’t take all that long to make. And it was really scrumptious. It has a sweet side, but often salmon can handle some sweet. Remember when salmon on a plank was so popular? Often

Slow Roasting Fish:

Unlike baking fish at a more normal (350) temp – with slow roasting, you bake it 20-25 minutes per inch of thickness. Broil it briefly at the end to give it some crispy edges.

served with a fruit based sauce like blueberries or lingonberries. This is similar. The recipe was from a Tyler Florence program on the Food Network (from 2005, recipe no longer available online).

He explained that slow roasting salmon retains more of its moisture – and all the good oils. It makes the salmon more succulent. This was baked at 225 F for about 20-23 minutes. And that’s not a typo, it really is baked at TWO TWENTY FIVE.  The rule of thumb at that temperature is 20-25 minutes per inch of thickness rather than the normal 10 minutes per inch. These wild Coho salmon fillets were just under an inch thick, so the timing was just perfect.

chipotle salmon raw Here you see the salmon fillets just out of the oven. I determine whether salmon is cooked through by the amount of the white stuff – whatever it is – that bubbles up through the fish. This was JUST cooked through. The dark spots are the chipotle chile pieces. Note that I used some of the chiles too, not just the sauce (because when I froze the contents of the canned chipotle in adobo sauce into individual pepper pieces, most of the sauce was dissipated. I didn’t keep the sauce – now I’ll need to save it with future cans since I’ll be making this again). But we didn’t dislike the little pieces of chipotle – maybe didn’t look so attractive, is all.

chipotle salmon ginger sauce

Above is the sauce – it’s VERY simple to make – white wine, fresh grated ginger, sugar and lime juice, reduced about a third, then butter and cornstarch added in, with green onion tops added just before serving. The sauce took about 10 minutes to make, max. The recipe indicated to broil the fish just at the end with some of the reserved chipotle sauce just until it browns. I forgot that step – I probably would have liked that, as the fish was truly soft cooked. So if you want an easy and very good salmon preparation (and appropriate for guests), try this one.
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Slow Roasted Chipotle Salmon

Recipe: From a 2005 Tyler Florence program on the Food Network
Servings: 4
NOTES: Roast the fillets for 15 to 20 minutes for every inch of thickness — that’s twice as long as it would take if you were broiling or sauteing over high heat. At lower temperatures, fats in the salmon melt into, rather than out of, the flesh, keeping it sublimely moist. Slow roasting also allows the sweet spicy chipotle glaze to really permeate the fish.

SALMON:
3 tablespoons chipotle chile canned in adobo — (really, you want just the SAUCE, not the chile)
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 pounds salmon fillets — skinless
SAUCE:
1 cup white wine
2 tablespoons sugar — or Splenda
2 tablespoons ginger — grated
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons unsalted butter — unsalted
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon green onions — green parts only — thinly sliced

1. Preheat oven to 225°. Line a baking sheet with foil and coat with cooking spray. Stir adobo sauce, sugar, and salt together for the salmon. Place the fillets on the prepared pan and brush half the adobo mixture evenly over the tops; reserve remainder. Roast salmon 20-25 minutes per inch of thickness of the fillets.
2. Combine the wine, sugar, ginger, and lime juice in a saucepan for the sauce; boil until reduced to 3/4 cup, about 7 minutes. Blend butter and cornstarch together, whisk it, into the sauce, and simmer for 1 minute, or until thickened; keep warm. If it gets too thick, thin with a teaspoon or two of water.
3. Adjust oven heat to broil. Baste fish with remaining adobo mixture, then broil 3″ from heat source for 3 to 5 minutes, or until beginning to brown. Stir scallions into sauce; serve over salmon.
Per Serving: 353 Calories; 12g Fat (34.0% calories from fat); 35g Protein; 17g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 104mg Cholesterol; 627mg Sodium.

A year ago: Chorizo & Eggs (breakfast or brunch)
Two years ago: Pizza with Chicken, Red Onion, Olives & Pesto

Posted in Fish, Veggies/sides, on September 30th, 2009.

crispy salmon lentils herb salad

Back in 2001, Joanne Weir published a cookbook, Joanne Weir’s More Cooking in the Wine Country. I bought the book back then, attended a cooking class where Joanne was a guest chef, and at the end of the evening she happily autographed copies of the cookbook to one and all. This recipe, I believe, came from that cooking class. And I’d written notes about it back then, saying it was a stunner. It’s abundant with flavors. It has a myriad of textures too. Refreshing with the arugula and herb salad on top. If you’re a Joanne Weir fan, she just got married about 2 weeks ago and actually blogged about it and their Greek honeymoon, in case you’re interested.

Back to the recipe at hand . . . at the headpiece of the recipe, Joanne wrote about some of the Moroccan ingredients:

  • “In the  Moroccan marketplace, it is not unusual to find spices piled high by their vendors, who appreciate the role these intense colors and flavors have in the cooking of their country. In this dish, lentils cooked with an assortment of Moroccan spices set off a salmon fillet that’s crisped by rapid cooking in olive oil.”

I started the dish the day before by cooking the lentils. You use the tiny, French ones, the de puy type, if you can find them. If not, use what you have available. They’re simply cooked, but with a modicum of whole cloves. They provide a very interesting fleeting flavor in the dish. When it’s all finished, you can’t really discern the cloves, maybe just a distant hint. Then you make a soupy kind of mixture with onions, garlic, cumin, ground ginger, turmeric, paprika, cayenne, canned diced tomatoes, fish stock (or bottled clam juice), parsley, cilantro and lemon juice.  All that gives the lentil mixture a scrumptious taste. You can eat them by themselves. Or add more broth and eat it as soup. I used some half-sharp paprika I bought in Budapest on our last trip, and I had diced tomatoes with green chiles, so perhaps the lentils were hotter than the original recipe intended. But I really like it. If you’re sensitive to heat, just don’t use any hot sauce at all.

Joanne had used gorgeous, thick salmon when we sampled it at the cooking class. I had small, thin wild salmon, so it’s maybe not as spectacular looking as she might have made it. I don’t buy farm-raised salmon anymore except on very rare occasions. If you have thicker salmon, by all means pile the top with more herb salad than I did. The salmon is very simply pan sautéed in olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper. The hot lentil mixture goes onto a hot plate first, then the sizzling-hot salmon fillet, and an herb salad – arugula, parsley, basil and mint (more like a generous pile strategically placed right in the center) goes on top. Serve immediately! Joanne recommends serving it with Sauvignon Blanc, although my cooking class notes say Pinot Noir. We had the latter since we’re red wine drinkers.

This dish has lots of character – meaning that there are plenty of layers of flavor. The spicy lentils are one thing – and as long as you don’t overcook them, they have lots of tender chewiness to them. Then there’s the salmon. And the herby salad on top with a lemon-centric dressing, adds another layer of flavor and texture too. So if you have big salmon fillets, do make more salad and its accompanying dressing.
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Crispy Salmon with Spiced Lentils and Herb Salad

Recipe: From “More Cooking in the Wine Country” by Joanne Weir
Servings: 6

LENTILS:
1 1/2 cups lentils — French – De Puy
8 whole cloves — tied in cheesecloth
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 large red onion — minced
3 cloves garlic — minced
2 cups diced tomatoes — Muir Glen fire-roasted, if available
1 1/2 cups clam juice — or seafood broth
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
3/4 teaspoon turmeric
3/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon cayenne — or less, to taste
1/3 cup parsley — chopped
1/3 cup cilantro — chopped
2 tablespoons lemon juice
SALMON:
2 pounds salmon fillet — cut into 6 pieces
1 tablespoon olive oil Salt and pepper to taste
6 lemon wedges for garnish
HERB SALAD:
1 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 clove garlic — minced
3/4 cup Italian parsley — fresh, whole, washed, dried
1/2 cup basil leaves — fresh, washed, dried
1/4 cup mint leaves — washed, dried
2 cups arugula leaves — long stems removed, washed, dried
Salt & pepper to taste

1. Brush the salmon fillets with 1 T. of the oil, cover and reserve in the refrigerator.
2. Sort the lentils and discard any stones or debris. Place the lentils and cloves in a large saucepan and cover with water by at least 2 inches. Over high heat, bring to a boil, turn the heat to medium low and simmer uncovered until the lentils are almost tender, about 15-20 minutes. Drain the lentils and discard the clove packet.
3. In a large skillet heat the remaining 3 T. oil and cook the red onions until soft, about 7 minutes. Add the garlic, cumin, ginger, turmeric, paprika and cayenne. Cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, for one minute. Add the tomatoes, clam juice (or fish stock) and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the parsley, cilantro and lentils, and cook, stirring occasionally, about 2 more minutes. Season with lemon juice, salt and pepper. Add more lemon juice if desired.
4. Heat a large nonstick frying pan over medium heat. Cook the salmon on one side only, until golden brown, about 4-5 minutes. Turn the salmon, season with salt and pepper, and continue to cook until done, 3-4 more minutes.
5. Add chicken stock or water to the lentils if they are too dry. You want to have just a little fluid. Spoon a large scoop of lentils onto a heated plate, top it with the sizzling hot salmon fillet, and top with a portion of the Herb Salad.
Per Serving: 521 Calories; 20g Fat (34.2% calories from fat); 46g Protein; 42g Carbohydrate; 20g Dietary Fiber; 79mg Cholesterol; 148mg Sodium.

A year ago: Bouillabaise
Two years ago: Fennel Fritters (oh these were tasty morsels, mellow, delicious)

Posted in Fish, on September 5th, 2009.

salmon cakes

I’m hoping that you’ve been recording Melissa d’Arabian on her new Food Network show, $10 Dinners. Melissa has just really gotten into the whole TV stuff, with her easy conversation and helpful hints. She makes one dinner for four people for under $10. She relies on us being able to buy most meat on sale. Or produce in season when it’s at its cheapest (like asparagus). But reasonably-priced dinners, nevertheless.

This last weekend she did a dinner of salmon cakes, a creamy orzo risotto, and the asparagus with a lemon vinaigrette. Now, it’s been years since I’ve cooked with canned salmon, but I just happened to have some in my pantry that I’d purchased recently at Costco. They have a stack of 6-ounce cans (6 of them,  I think it was). This recipe requires you to use two of them. These cans are wild salmon to boot, which makes me a happy camper, with my Omega-3’s.

Recipe Tip:

The bacon is the secret to this recipe – it gives max flavor with minimal effort.

The SECRET to this recipe is the bacon. Oh yes, bacon, bacon, bacon, as the commercial goes. What a difference a bit of bacon goes. I’d never have thought to use it with canned salmon. So that’s why Melissa’s on TV and I’m not!

These salmon cakes aren’t exactly quick – considering that you start with already-cooked salmon. But, it probably doesn’t take more than about 15-20 minutes to get the salmon cakes ready to cook. I made the orzo (also from the show) at the same time, and learned that I needed to have everything all ready to go because once you’re cooking, I felt like a one-armed paper hangar. Also trying to slice a big red tomato and make a caprese salad at the same time.

First you need to cook the onion and bake the potato. I cooked a potato in the microwave oven for about 3 minutes, drained it, then mashed it. Then you start adding the other things. The cooked bacon, the cooked and cooled onion, the egg, mayo, lemon zest, Dijon, and a dusting of sugar (I used Splenda). Then you add the crumbled salmon. It’s a very wet mixture at that point. Meanwhile, you salmon cakes raw mix up some bread crumbs (I used panko) and grated fresh Parmesan. I probably used more than 2 tablespoons. Very carefully you make small mounds of the salmon mixture into patties and coat them with the panko mixture. They’re quite fragile, so you must be gentle with them. Actually I used less potato than the recipe called for, so that’s likely part of the reason.

I think you can use less vegetable oil to fry these little puppies (the recipe indicated 1/2 cup, or at least 1/4 cup), adding more when you do the 2nd batch. Supposedly the concoction makes 12 small patties. I thought mine were small, and I got 8 out of them. But no matter, two patties was plenty for us as a serving.

The result? Just delicious. I liked them, and so did my DH. I topped them with a cucumber raita (yogurt and chopped cucumber) and we gobbled them right up. And now we have enough for a second dinner. Yes, I’ll be making these again. Maybe not for guests, but certainly for a weeknight dinner!
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Salmon Cakes (with Bacon)

Recipe: Melissa d’Arabian, Food Network, 8/09
Servings: 4
NOTES: It’s the BACON that makes this dish, so don’t eliminate it. The potato helps to bind the cakes together, but they’re very fragile as you mix and mold them. They’re still very fragile until after you’ve turned them over to brown the 2nd side.

2 pieces thick-sliced bacon — chopped, cooked until crispy
1/4 cup onion — chopped
1 whole egg
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest — (I used lime zest)
14 ounces canned salmon — drained, crumbled (check for large bones)
1 small potato — baked, peeled, fluffed with a fork
CRUMB CRUST:
1/4 cup panko — or bread crumbs
2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese — grated (or more)
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup vegetable oil, for frying the patties (up to 1/2 cup)

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of the reserved bacon fat in a small saute pan over low heat. Add the onions and cook until translucent. Cool the onions for a bit.
2. Mix the crumbled cooked bacon, onion, egg, mayonnaise, mustard, sugar, and lemon zest in a bowl. Add the salmon and potato, mixing gently after each addition. Form the mixture into 12 small patties.
3. In a shallow dish, combine the bread crumbs, Parmesan, and pepper, to taste. Coat the patties in the bread crumb topping. Heat 1/4 cup of the oil in a large saute pan over medium heat, and cook the salmon cakes in batches until golden, about 3 to 4 minutes per side. Add more oil, as necessary. Arrange on a serving platter and serve. Serving Ideas: Serve with a yogurt and cucumber mixture, if available.
Per Serving: 447 Calories; 35g Fat (68.6% calories from fat); 26g Protein; 10g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 125mg Cholesterol; 915mg Sodium.

A year ago: South Seas Salsa (a Caribbean-type salsa)
Two years ago: BLT Salad (one of our favorites – like the sandwich, but in a salad instead)

Posted in Fish, Salads, on May 28th, 2009.

sicilian tuna salad

I don’t get very many comments left on my blog. To those of you who do leave them occasionally, a thank you is in order. But when I read other people’s blogs, and write a comment there, some people have 30-80 comments on each one. Some of the comments don’t say a whole lot (like “looks good,” or “great photo,” or perhaps the most common . . . “can’t wait to make this.” But I get the feeling that those people aren’t really going to make the recipe, whatever it is. They’re just saying something nice.

Some people, I assume, are scared to leave comments – they’re not very savvy about blogging, and want to protect their anonymity. Comments left here on my blog go nowhere but here on my blog. No one tracks them, sells email addresses or anything like that. It’s just little-old-me. And you can leave a comment without your name appearing, although your email address is required to submit a comment. But it doesn’t get published with the comment. Lots of people have screen names they use like “cookiebaker,” “grillerman,” “sadiesmom,” etc. That’s fine. Some bloggers and commenters use their real names, others don’t.  I guess it’s up to you. I do approve/screen all the comments, so I won’t get any crackpot messages. Spam is something you don’t see on my blog – I get somewhere between 60-100 a day left on various posts on my blog. Fortunately some free software called akismet runs in the blog background and captures those, which I delete every few days. I don’t even look at them anymore, just do a global delete.

So all that rhetoric is a preface to say that last week I was absolutely thrilled to receive a comment from Joanne Weir. She’d read my write-up about one of her recipes (stewed eggplant & tomatoes) from one of her cookbooks. Although I’ve attended numerous cooking classes with her, she doesn’t know me at all. Her classes were always very full, and I was just another face in the crowds. I’d drive miles and miles to go to a Joanne Weir cooking class, if she’d ever have any here in Southern California. She lives in San Francisco, and you can see her PBS TV series (filmed in her own kitchen) if you hunt for it in the listings. She has her own website – and does offer culinary tours in Italy and France, but they’re very pricey. Two or three of my friends and I keep up with anything-Joanne-Weir. We tell one another if we’ve made another Joanne recipe from one of her books (I don’t own her newest book Tequila).

So, I was very presumptuous and sent her a private email. Thanked her for leaving a comment, told her I was a huge fan of hers, owned most of her cookbooks, and that my all-time favorite recipe of hers (and expected her to laugh) is Sicilian Tuna Salad. I also asked about her fiancé (she’s recently engaged). I follow her own blog too.sicilian tuna salad closeup She was kind enough to respond back, and said “Sicilian Tuna Salad?” What cookbook of mine is that from, she asked? Well, it’s not in any of her cookbooks that I can find. But it was at one of her classes. Or perhaps it was one of the Sur la Table’s group recipe classes – where the staff combed through and demonstrated their favorites from all the cooking classes that year from various chefs. But the recipe was credited to Joanne. Unless the folks at Sur la Table made a mistake. Well, it’s still a favorite anyway.

I do have some other favorite Joanne Weir recipes – some of them I haven’t posted here on my blog – note to self – make the warm chocolate cinnamon and coffee tart sometime soon. Also the white peach belllinis. Check out the fiery Feta & pita bread appetizer. Maybe the escarole salad too. Nevertheless, it’s still the tuna pasta salad that trumps them all. It’s just so simple, really. I decided to fix the salad, because I haven’t made it in a long time. I posted about it in 2007, but I’m going to repeat it here since I know I have new readers who likely haven’t read through my ancient posts.

If you like tuna and pasta, but don’t like the usual mayonnaise-based gunk that goes on it, you’ll enjoy this salad. It’s full of herbs (basil, cilantro and Italian parsley) and a bit of capers too. And lemon juice. All those kinds of things that make it Sicilian. It’s a relatively dry pasta salad, so if you prefer a wetter one,  add some more olive oil just before serving it. I make it with pennette (little penne) as my first choice of pasta.
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Sicilian Tuna Salad

Recipe: Joanne Weir, author and instructor
Servings: 4
COOK’S NOTES: Buy the oil-packed tuna, since the flavor is significantly better. The salad is really good and can be made up ahead. It keeps for 4-5 days with little or no deterioration. It is a fairly dry pasta salad – you can add more oil if you want to. If it’s summer and you can find good tomatoes, they are a wonderful addition to the top of the salad or on the plate with it.You can use different pasta if you would prefer.

6 ounces tuna in oil — drained
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 pound penne pasta [preferably pennette – baby penne]
2 tablespoons lemon juice — must be fresh
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons capers — rinsed and drained
1/4 cup Italian parsley — chopped
1/4 cup fresh basil — chopped
1/4 cup fresh cilantro — chopped

1. Drain the tuna as much as possible. Place tuna in a large bowl and using a fork break it into flakes. Set aside.
2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add a teaspoon of salt, then add the penne, stir well, and cook ONLY until pasta is “al dente,” firm to the tooth. This will be about 10-12 minutes depending on the brand. Drain well.
3. Meanwhile, into the bowl add the lemon juice, olive oil, remaining salt, and the pepper. Then add the hot, drained pasta and stir well.
4. Add the capers, parsley, basil, and cilantro and mix gently. Taste and adjust for seasonings. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.
5. Transfer the salad to a serving bowl or divide amount individual plates. It is better if it is served at near room temperature. Garnish with additional Italian parsley sprigs or basil leaves.
Per Serving: 359 Calories; 11g Fat (28.4% calories from fat); 20g Protein; 44g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 8mg Cholesterol; 970mg Sodium.

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