Hmmm, yet another one of those weeks where the time speeds by even though at some times - especially at work - the hands of the clock seem to move at a crawl. Then, suddenly, it's the weekend, time to cook salmon, but you've also committed to a trip to another city to see a play and ... well you get the picture.
Still and all, I have done yet another recipe because I'm determined to actually do this every week and no excuses. Well, no feeble excuses anyhow.
I didn't end up doing the mango salmon I've been pondering for the past couple of weeks, and not the stuffed with mascarpone and crab one I almost tried after seeing it Saturday night on a menu at a Victoria pub. (But do expect both of those in coming weeks ... I really thing they will be delish.)
We've spent the last couple of days under gray skies with chilly winds, so, I decided there was only one solution: a nice, big, hot bowl of chowder.
After looking up all kinds of ideas on sites like Recipezaar, Cookstr and the Food Network site, I put together something that fits my tastes ... and didn't require buying a lot of extra things I didn't have on hand.
So here it is:
Creamy Salmon Chowder
1 1/2 tbs. butter
1 largish onion, diced
1 small bulb of fennel, chopped medium fine
1 stick of celery, sliced
1/4 c. flour (whole wheat as that's what we have, but white is actually probably better)
1.5 litres stock. (recipes called for fish, I used vegetable as that's what was in the pantry and there was no way I had time to make stock)
4 medium potatoes, peeled and diced into 1/2 in cubes
1 lb, 450 gms of boneless, skinless salmon
1/4 lb., 100 grams, smoked salmon, wet or dry variety, cut small or shredded if dry type
1 roasted red pepper, chopped into 1 inch pieces
3/4 cup milk (whole might be creamier, we use 1% so that's what I used)
1/2 c. whipping cream
salt and pepper
generous pinch of cayenne or chili flakes
2 tbs. herbs (Most recipes call for dill, I used a blend of oregano, thyme and marjoram from my garden as I'm not a huge dill fan and didn't have any on hand)
Melt butter in a large, heavy-bottomed sauce pan. Add onion, fennel and celery and cook over medium heat until softened, about 6 minutes, stirring from time to time.
Stir in flour, reduce heat to low and cook for three or four minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add fish stock and potatoes plus seasonings, bring to a boil then reduce to simmer, covered until potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes.
Add salmon and and simmer until cooked, about four minutes.
Stir in milk, cream and herbs and smoked salmon bits and cook just until warmed through. Don't boil or the milk may curdle.
Taste to check for seasoning level.
Serve decorated with fennel frond (or dill if you used that for herbs) and enjoy with a big piece of crusty bread and butter.
I really enjoyed this ... wound up having two bowls through the evening and it warmed my cockles and other bits just fine, though I admit I added a little more chili flakes in the second bowl as I was craving the extra zip.
Papi Alvaro is not a big soup fan (I know! How is that possible?) But it means I have lunch for work today and maybe tomorrow too. Yep, it's good enough to eat three days in a row, but maybe that's just me...
I want to try this basic recipe again but plan to change out the fennel for cauliflower, leave out the smoky elements of smoked salmon and roasted red pepper and go with some curry spices instead of the herbs. Not sure, but I think that might be lovely variation.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Monday, April 19, 2010
Sesame salmon stir-fry
All week I had been looking at recipes and I had originally planned something with phyllo and mango salsa and such but Alvaro and I were both feeling like we'd eaten too much heavy stuff in the past couple of days and I was craving lots of veggies so my inspiration was just to create something terribly light and simple this week. A stir-fry seemed the obvious answer.
So I started to root around in the pantry and fridge to see what I had lying around and - boom - sesame paste leaped out at me ... yumm ... what's not to like about sesame?
After a quick jaunt to the shops for some extra veg to stretch out what was in the fridge (a couple of onions and a red and green pepper), I whipped this up.
It's really fast and so delicious. The sweet of sesame with the heat of chili works beautifully together. And with keeping some of the less healthy parts of it in line (like low-salt soya sauce), I think even my cardiologist would approve.
Obviously almost any veggies will do ... total of about 3 cups of veg.
Sesame Salmon Stir-fry
Makes two generous servings
400 grams (nearly a pound) of sockeye salmon, cut into 1-inch squares
1 pkg. (200 grams) fresh udon noodles (or rice, or other noodles to suit your taste)
1/2 large red pepper, diced small
1/2 large green pepper, cut into strips and then each strip in half
1 cup snow peas, rinsed
1 medium sized carrot, scrape, then slice into thin ovals
1 stalk of celery, chopped
1 medium red onion, peeled then sliced into half rounds or diced
1/2 inch fresh ginger grated or chopped fine, or tsp. ginger paste
4 garlic gloves (we love garlic) peeled and sliced
sesame oil
scant tbsp sesame paste
cooking oil
1 tbsp. low-salt soya sauce
1/2-1 tsp. chili flakes
sesame seeds
Mix together sesame paste with tbsp. soya sauce, chili flakes and ginger and set aside. (If you want a bit more sauce, add a tsp. of lemon juice or even just water)
Put a small pan of water on to boil. When boiling, add udon noodles and drain after cooking for about 4 minutes.
Heat 1 tsp. each of sesame oil and cooking oil in sauce pan and lightly sear salmon pieces on each side; about 1 minute per side. (In retrospect, it might have been easier to sear the whole piece and then cut it into chunks, but live and learn). Set aside.
Into hot pan (maybe drizzle in a touch more sesame oil at this time), lightly stir-fry your onion, garlic and carrot. After about 30 seconds, add the other veggies, stir around a few times then add your soya-sesame liquid, stir well. After a minute, add the salmon back in to reheat.
Plate your noodles (bowl is better than plate really) and mound up the salmon and veggies on top. Sprinkle with a few sesame seeds and maybe a pinch for chili flakes if you're in the mood for a little fire (I was).
This satisfied all my cravings for crunchy veg that wasn't a salad (It was gloomy out and I needed something warm) and included the aromatics of garlic, ginger and onion with the heat of chilies that for me is just the best flavour around. Very satisfying.
Salmon was the perfect fish for this. Sockeye, particularly can hold its own with strong flavours.
It all turned out colourful, tasty and fast and also quite healthy. Add to that the alliteration of the name of the recipe and I was a happy camper.
So I started to root around in the pantry and fridge to see what I had lying around and - boom - sesame paste leaped out at me ... yumm ... what's not to like about sesame?
After a quick jaunt to the shops for some extra veg to stretch out what was in the fridge (a couple of onions and a red and green pepper), I whipped this up.
It's really fast and so delicious. The sweet of sesame with the heat of chili works beautifully together. And with keeping some of the less healthy parts of it in line (like low-salt soya sauce), I think even my cardiologist would approve.
Obviously almost any veggies will do ... total of about 3 cups of veg.
Sesame Salmon Stir-fry
Makes two generous servings
400 grams (nearly a pound) of sockeye salmon, cut into 1-inch squares
1 pkg. (200 grams) fresh udon noodles (or rice, or other noodles to suit your taste)
1/2 large red pepper, diced small
1/2 large green pepper, cut into strips and then each strip in half
1 cup snow peas, rinsed
1 medium sized carrot, scrape, then slice into thin ovals
1 stalk of celery, chopped
1 medium red onion, peeled then sliced into half rounds or diced
1/2 inch fresh ginger grated or chopped fine, or tsp. ginger paste
4 garlic gloves (we love garlic) peeled and sliced
sesame oil
scant tbsp sesame paste
cooking oil
1 tbsp. low-salt soya sauce
1/2-1 tsp. chili flakes
sesame seeds
Mix together sesame paste with tbsp. soya sauce, chili flakes and ginger and set aside. (If you want a bit more sauce, add a tsp. of lemon juice or even just water)
Put a small pan of water on to boil. When boiling, add udon noodles and drain after cooking for about 4 minutes.
Heat 1 tsp. each of sesame oil and cooking oil in sauce pan and lightly sear salmon pieces on each side; about 1 minute per side. (In retrospect, it might have been easier to sear the whole piece and then cut it into chunks, but live and learn). Set aside.
Into hot pan (maybe drizzle in a touch more sesame oil at this time), lightly stir-fry your onion, garlic and carrot. After about 30 seconds, add the other veggies, stir around a few times then add your soya-sesame liquid, stir well. After a minute, add the salmon back in to reheat.
Plate your noodles (bowl is better than plate really) and mound up the salmon and veggies on top. Sprinkle with a few sesame seeds and maybe a pinch for chili flakes if you're in the mood for a little fire (I was).
This satisfied all my cravings for crunchy veg that wasn't a salad (It was gloomy out and I needed something warm) and included the aromatics of garlic, ginger and onion with the heat of chilies that for me is just the best flavour around. Very satisfying.
Salmon was the perfect fish for this. Sockeye, particularly can hold its own with strong flavours.
It all turned out colourful, tasty and fast and also quite healthy. Add to that the alliteration of the name of the recipe and I was a happy camper.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
The first recipe comes together
Well, my aim is to prepare and write about a new salmon recipe every Sunday. It's a laudable aim but then my aim has never been too good.
This week the Sunday was also my birthday - the launch day. But on the Saturday night my lovely husband and I went to a friend's house where a group of us who regularly do special dinners together were treated to a many course French-inspired meal which, when accompanied by way too much wine, laughter and fun that went until the wee small hours ... well let's just say I think I'm now officially too old for all that fun. Sunday, I was not hungover but we didn't stir from our beds until after noon and the rest of the day was pretty quiet. Never mind, I thought as I tucked myself into bed that night. I'll do it all Monday.
Alas, Papi Alvaro is in the midst of a creative burst and spent all Monday in our home office drawing and painting and since that's where the computer is, while I did cook my salmon meal, there was no blogging.
So here we are...
This week my inspiration was a trip a couple of days ago to the Markt Artisan Deli (and no, I did not spell Market wrong... that's how they spell it) here in Nanaimo. As always, it's a sensory delight and, among other things (like their homemade truffle pate.....OMG... so delicious), I bought some of their Serrano ham and some of their roasted red peppers. Plus this time, the owner, Ryan, offered me a small container of some, well, I'll call it roasted red pepper essence to try (delicious, intense flavour... yummmm and I have to find out how they make it).
I didn't know what I'd do with those things, but I felt that particularly the roasted red peppers would go well with salmon because of the lovely smokey taste.
So, after some deep thought (never comes easy that!) I decided to create panko crusted herb salmon en papillote with sauteed spinach, rice and roasted red pepper sauce.
Apart from being a lovely colourful dish, this is very healthy (unless you count the ham) and, I thought, very tasty. Here's how I made it. I have tried to get measurements and times correct although that's not really how I cook, so you will have to forgive a little vagueness. (Also, I'm going to assume you don't need instructions for cooking rice).
I made the items in this order: Put on the rice, made the red pepper sauce, then the salmon and lastly the spinach, reheating the pepper sauce at the same time.
Herbed Salmon in Papillote
About a pound/450 grams of salmon (I used some previously frozen Sockeye that happened to be on sale
3/4 cup of panko bread crumbs
Half an onion, sliced into rings
Sprigs of fresh or dried herbs, chopped. I used fresh thyme, oregano, marjoram and chives as that happens to be what I have growing at the moment. I am sure a lot of different combinations would work well. About a half cup of fresh, quarter cup of dried.
Parchment paper or tin foil
Olive oil
Preheat your oven to 375 F.
Take a sheet of the paper, about twice the size of the salmon piece, fold in half and lay on a tray, opened up to make a bottom and lid.
Lightly brush with oil and lay down your onion slices. Sprinkle about a third of your herbs over that and lay the salmon, skin down, on the herb bed. Sprinkle another third on top and mix the third portion of herbs with your panko and mound that over the top of the salmon, pressing in firmly.
Close the parchment or foil by crimping around the edges to make a fairly air-tight package that leaves a little air space around the fish for steam to collect in to moist cook the fish.
Cook it for about 15 minutes. Our fish was a little thick, so I checked it at 15 and popped it back in for a couple more minutes.
Easy roasted red pepper sauce
Two large pre-roasted red peppers from your local deli if they make their own or from a bottle
1/2 cup liquid - I used a mix of white wine and the roasted red pepper essence, but I think wine alone, water with a splash of lemon or other variations could all taste good.
Add a sprinkle of herbs (whatever echoes what you have used with the salmon)
Whiz up in the blender and pour into a saucepan to heat just before serving.
Sauteed spinach with posh bacon bits
2 paper thin slices of Serrano ham (or Parma or Prosciutto)
4 huge handfuls of fresh spinach (I know, I should have measured more carefully)
Olive oil
Roll your slices of ham lengthwise into tight little rolls and cut into quart-inch pieces
Put into a frying pan (you might want to lightly oil it depending on just how lean or fatty the ham is). Start on a low heat to get some of the fat out of the ham, then turn it up and stir from time to time until the little balls of ham are all crunchy and brown. (Takes about five minutes)
Set aside, and put the spinach into the pan, turning frequently until it's all wilty, then stir the ham bits back in.
To serve, on each plate lay a small bed of rice out and cover with the spinach and bacon. Spread a puddle of your heated up red pepper sauce and lay the salmon in the middle of the sauce. Garnish with a sprig of herbs.
Okay, Alvaro and I ate pretty much all of this food with not a lot left over, but it could certainly serve three less hungry folks or even four if it was one of several courses. It was pretty tasty but here is what I will do differently next time around.
You may have noticed no mention of salt. I'm trying to cut down, but next time I think a tiny sprinkle on the salmon would be a good idea (there's really no point being fanatical about this stuff). Also, for the roasted red pepper sauce, I will add a pinch of brown sugar to enhance the roasted flavour and I might also experiment with a pinch of cayenne or other heat source as I think that would create a slightly bolder flavour. I found with this meal, all the tastes (except the salty ham bits) were subtle. I wanted this so that the salmon would shine, but I think I might have overdone subtle a tad.
So now, I have to start thinking about next week... if nothing else, perusing the web and cookbooks and such for lots of salmon ideas is proving a lot of fun.
If anyone tries this recipe, I'd love to hear how it worked out. Plus ideas for future salmon recipes are always appreciated.
Until next week then ...
Salmon Diva signing off
This week the Sunday was also my birthday - the launch day. But on the Saturday night my lovely husband and I went to a friend's house where a group of us who regularly do special dinners together were treated to a many course French-inspired meal which, when accompanied by way too much wine, laughter and fun that went until the wee small hours ... well let's just say I think I'm now officially too old for all that fun. Sunday, I was not hungover but we didn't stir from our beds until after noon and the rest of the day was pretty quiet. Never mind, I thought as I tucked myself into bed that night. I'll do it all Monday.
Alas, Papi Alvaro is in the midst of a creative burst and spent all Monday in our home office drawing and painting and since that's where the computer is, while I did cook my salmon meal, there was no blogging.
So here we are...
This week my inspiration was a trip a couple of days ago to the Markt Artisan Deli (and no, I did not spell Market wrong... that's how they spell it) here in Nanaimo. As always, it's a sensory delight and, among other things (like their homemade truffle pate.....OMG... so delicious), I bought some of their Serrano ham and some of their roasted red peppers. Plus this time, the owner, Ryan, offered me a small container of some, well, I'll call it roasted red pepper essence to try (delicious, intense flavour... yummmm and I have to find out how they make it).
I didn't know what I'd do with those things, but I felt that particularly the roasted red peppers would go well with salmon because of the lovely smokey taste.
So, after some deep thought (never comes easy that!) I decided to create panko crusted herb salmon en papillote with sauteed spinach, rice and roasted red pepper sauce.
Apart from being a lovely colourful dish, this is very healthy (unless you count the ham) and, I thought, very tasty. Here's how I made it. I have tried to get measurements and times correct although that's not really how I cook, so you will have to forgive a little vagueness. (Also, I'm going to assume you don't need instructions for cooking rice).
I made the items in this order: Put on the rice, made the red pepper sauce, then the salmon and lastly the spinach, reheating the pepper sauce at the same time.
Herbed Salmon in Papillote
About a pound/450 grams of salmon (I used some previously frozen Sockeye that happened to be on sale
3/4 cup of panko bread crumbs
Half an onion, sliced into rings
Sprigs of fresh or dried herbs, chopped. I used fresh thyme, oregano, marjoram and chives as that happens to be what I have growing at the moment. I am sure a lot of different combinations would work well. About a half cup of fresh, quarter cup of dried.
Parchment paper or tin foil
Olive oil
Preheat your oven to 375 F.
Take a sheet of the paper, about twice the size of the salmon piece, fold in half and lay on a tray, opened up to make a bottom and lid.
Lightly brush with oil and lay down your onion slices. Sprinkle about a third of your herbs over that and lay the salmon, skin down, on the herb bed. Sprinkle another third on top and mix the third portion of herbs with your panko and mound that over the top of the salmon, pressing in firmly.
Close the parchment or foil by crimping around the edges to make a fairly air-tight package that leaves a little air space around the fish for steam to collect in to moist cook the fish.
Cook it for about 15 minutes. Our fish was a little thick, so I checked it at 15 and popped it back in for a couple more minutes.
Easy roasted red pepper sauce
Two large pre-roasted red peppers from your local deli if they make their own or from a bottle
1/2 cup liquid - I used a mix of white wine and the roasted red pepper essence, but I think wine alone, water with a splash of lemon or other variations could all taste good.
Add a sprinkle of herbs (whatever echoes what you have used with the salmon)
Whiz up in the blender and pour into a saucepan to heat just before serving.
Sauteed spinach with posh bacon bits
2 paper thin slices of Serrano ham (or Parma or Prosciutto)
4 huge handfuls of fresh spinach (I know, I should have measured more carefully)
Olive oil
Roll your slices of ham lengthwise into tight little rolls and cut into quart-inch pieces
Put into a frying pan (you might want to lightly oil it depending on just how lean or fatty the ham is). Start on a low heat to get some of the fat out of the ham, then turn it up and stir from time to time until the little balls of ham are all crunchy and brown. (Takes about five minutes)
Set aside, and put the spinach into the pan, turning frequently until it's all wilty, then stir the ham bits back in.
To serve, on each plate lay a small bed of rice out and cover with the spinach and bacon. Spread a puddle of your heated up red pepper sauce and lay the salmon in the middle of the sauce. Garnish with a sprig of herbs.
Okay, Alvaro and I ate pretty much all of this food with not a lot left over, but it could certainly serve three less hungry folks or even four if it was one of several courses. It was pretty tasty but here is what I will do differently next time around.
You may have noticed no mention of salt. I'm trying to cut down, but next time I think a tiny sprinkle on the salmon would be a good idea (there's really no point being fanatical about this stuff). Also, for the roasted red pepper sauce, I will add a pinch of brown sugar to enhance the roasted flavour and I might also experiment with a pinch of cayenne or other heat source as I think that would create a slightly bolder flavour. I found with this meal, all the tastes (except the salty ham bits) were subtle. I wanted this so that the salmon would shine, but I think I might have overdone subtle a tad.
So now, I have to start thinking about next week... if nothing else, perusing the web and cookbooks and such for lots of salmon ideas is proving a lot of fun.
If anyone tries this recipe, I'd love to hear how it worked out. Plus ideas for future salmon recipes are always appreciated.
Until next week then ...
Salmon Diva signing off
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
In the beginning
In a few days I'm hitting a birthday (56 if you must know) and a few months ago I suffered a what the doctors call a "cardiac event" (if there's no champagne or glitter, that is NOT an event).
Of course I'm making changes in lifestyle and one of those is to eat more fish.
It's not an easy thing to cut down on meat in a household of two raging carnivores (well, three if we count Don Pepe the cat), but we're making the effort.
The other night I re-watched Julie and Julia and thought, I should do something like that to focus my cooking energies since, after the first few sacred-to-death weeks after the Event, my zest for all the healthier cooking started to wear down. So I thought I'd maybe experiment by cooking salmon a different way each week which would stretch my boundaries a little rather than just plopping a fillet on the grille or in the oven. Tasty those may be, but variety would be more interesting and getting my lazy ass in gear every Sunday to make a new salmon dish would be - for me - a good culinary exercise.
Of course I mentioned this thought on Facebook and immediately got a bunch of suggestions from FB friends including that I blog this, share the recipes and the experiences.
Well I must be a glutton for punishment (as well as chocolate) because I figured why not?
For the next few days I will look at recipes - those online, in books, sent by friends, whatever - and I'll start this very Sunday (Happy Birthday) by making my first new salmon dish.
52 weeks, 52 new dishes ... should be fun. Julie & Julia it ain't but ... any book or movie deals will be gratefully accepted anyway.
Of course, I'm not really a Salmon Diva, but maybe a year from now, who knows?
Of course I'm making changes in lifestyle and one of those is to eat more fish.
It's not an easy thing to cut down on meat in a household of two raging carnivores (well, three if we count Don Pepe the cat), but we're making the effort.
The other night I re-watched Julie and Julia and thought, I should do something like that to focus my cooking energies since, after the first few sacred-to-death weeks after the Event, my zest for all the healthier cooking started to wear down. So I thought I'd maybe experiment by cooking salmon a different way each week which would stretch my boundaries a little rather than just plopping a fillet on the grille or in the oven. Tasty those may be, but variety would be more interesting and getting my lazy ass in gear every Sunday to make a new salmon dish would be - for me - a good culinary exercise.
Of course I mentioned this thought on Facebook and immediately got a bunch of suggestions from FB friends including that I blog this, share the recipes and the experiences.
Well I must be a glutton for punishment (as well as chocolate) because I figured why not?
For the next few days I will look at recipes - those online, in books, sent by friends, whatever - and I'll start this very Sunday (Happy Birthday) by making my first new salmon dish.
52 weeks, 52 new dishes ... should be fun. Julie & Julia it ain't but ... any book or movie deals will be gratefully accepted anyway.
Of course, I'm not really a Salmon Diva, but maybe a year from now, who knows?
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