Sweet Salmon

Spring has arrived.  And Stud is home from being a Danville doctor.  So the grill has been getting quite the workout.  Last weekend, he had a new recipe for salmon he wanted to try out, courtesy of his Danville host mom.  She prepared it in the oven but with the beautiful weather outside, he thought he'd give it a whirl on the grill. We used the same grilling method from the previous salmon recipe, but added a little sweetness. 

Sweet Salmon

2 T. butter

¼ c. brown sugar

Salt

Olive oil

Melt the butter and sugar in the microwave so it forms molten deliciousness.  Season the salmon with the salt and olive oil and place flesh side down over medium heat.  Cook, covered, for seven minutes and then flip so it’s skin side down.  Brush on the sugar/butter mixture.  The flames may shoot up from the butter, so be careful, but it’s burning all the skin off!  Cook for an additional four minutes and then remove.  The skin should peel right off the fish. 

The butter and brown sugar adds such a delicious candy crust to the fish.  The glaze combines well with the flavor and texture of the salmon for a savory sweet dish.  You know what would be really good if you like spicy??  Add in ¼ t. cayenne to the mixture for a little spicey savory sweetness.  That is on the menu next time we have salmon.  It’s like the butter and brown sugar are good for you since they are on salmon…logical, right??

Arugula Pesto

I hate to throw food away.  I hate the throw leftovers away.  I hate to throw produce away.  It irks me.  I feel like I am being wasteful.  So I try my hardest to avoid it, hence my addiction to our deep freeze.  But there are some things you just can’t freeze and that’s when I start scouring the interwebs for recipes involving random ingredients.  Last week, I ton of arugula leftover and I knew there had to be another option out there besides just a salad.  Healthy.  Bleh.  And what did I find out there in web space??  Arugula PESTO with cream – from one of my favorite food blogs no less!!  Win win win.  I actually had all the ingredients already in my fridge and it was a piece of cake to make. 

Arugula Pesto

6 oz. arugula (or whatever you have leftover)

1/3 c. Parmesan cheese (she calls for Asiago, but I was working with what I had in the fridge)

2 cloves garlic

¼ c. olive oil

¼ c. heavy cream

Salt and Pepper to taste

In a food processor, give the garlic a rough chop.  Then add in the arugula and drizzle in the olive oil while the processor is running.  Once it’s a nice sauce, add in the cream and cheese.  Taste and add salt and pepper as needed.  Serve over your pasta of choice!

This pesto, with no red pepper flakes added, had some major kick.  I underestimated the flavor impact arugula would have in pesto compared to basil.  But the cream was a nice way to cut that spice a little bit.  You could probably even omit the cream entirely.  It did make the pesto an almost unnatural shade of very bright green.   It was a great use of leftover arugula and yet another pesto recipe to add to my ever growing list.

Mediterranean Orzo Pasta Salad

The other "salad" I brought on our picnic was an orzo pasta salad that came from one of those murder mysteries with recipes along with the book.  Leave it to my mom to read one and realize it's going to be awesome.  I hope none of you thought I was going to pack real salads for our wine tasting/picnic.  No way.  This pasta salad has such a weird combo of ingrediens and together, the result is addiciting.

Mediterranean Orzo Pasta Salad 
1 c. uncooked orzo
3 T. finely chopped red onion
1 c. halved cherry tomatoes
2 T.chopped  fresh basil
2 T. capers
1 T. dijon mustard
1/4 t. sugar
1 T. balsamic vinegar
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
3.5 oz goat cheese
Salt
Pepper

Cook the orzo according to package instructions.  When it is done, drain it and rinse under cold water to prevent the grains from sticking.  Combine the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl (I like to give the capers a rough chop) and combine.  The recipe instructions actually say to add everything but the mustard, sugar, and vinegar and to form a vinaigrette in a separate bowl and then add it which would probably make it better, but I am lazy and I like one bowl recipes.

So good.  But that would not be a hard conclusion to reach since it has orzo, goat cheese, tomatoes, and balsamic vinegar involved, all some of my favorite things.  We had our potato salad and pasta salad with pork tenderloin on buns and cookies, and of course, lots of wine.  I am a new fan of picnics.  There could be many more in my future this summer!

Summer "Salads"

Last weekend, I had my first outside-amazing-weather weekend.  On Saturday Stud and I cashed in on our Christmas present from his sister and husband.  We spent the day at Talon Winery, one of sixty (I am shocked there are so many) vineyards in Kentucky with a wine tasting and a picnic outside.  It was so.much.fun.  Like I want to do it every weekend.  There are sixty to hit!  We did our tasting first and then sat outside for who knows how long talking, getting sunburned and enjoying our picnic.  Since I knew we would be sitting outside, I jumped on the chance to bring some summer "salads" that I have missed over the past winter months.  The first up was potato salad from my go-to source, Cooks Illustrated.  And please ignore the tupperware, it was all packed for the picnic!  Aaaaand I tried as many times as my patience allowed to get that picture right side up.  It refused.  Gah, technology.

Classic Potato Salad
2 lbs yukon gold potatoes, cut into small cubes
2 T. white vinegar
2 T. grated red onion
3 T. sweet pickle relish
1/2 c mayonnaise
3/4 t. powdered mustard
3/4 t. celery seed
2 T. minced fresh parsley
3 hard boiled eggs

Cook the potatoes until they are slightly tender.  I also left the skins on mine, but they can be removed.  Once they are finished, drain the potatoes and immediately toss with the vinegar and set aside to cool, about 20 minutes.  Dice the hard boiled eggs and add to the potatoes with the rest of the ingredients and toss gently until it's all combined.

Yeah, so the eggs are amazing.  You can also dice the red onion instead of grating it.  I just didn't want to bite into pieces of red onion.  All these weird ingredients make so many layers of flavor, I kept snacking on it before it even made it into the to go container.  And we did use light mayonnaise in the name of health.  The one issue we encountered was the consistency, which was all our fault.  I cooked the potatoes for too long (I am used to mashed potatoes) and then Stud was a little over-enthusiastic with the stirring (his favorite sous chef activity) and the combination of the two made our potato salad a little more like chunky mashed potatoes.  So make sure you cook them just until tender and not so a fork slides through.

Daily Fluff

This is Beau giving you the stink eye.

Time for Salsa

Last week, I had these grand plans to make homemade nachos starting with making some corn chips, refried beans, salsa, guacamole, and yum!  Well, I made the salsa and that is as far as that dinner ever made it.  But now I am enjoying the salsa, and for whatever reason, this salsa is amazing with eggs.  Fried eggs, scrambled eggs, all delicious.  I actually used it on a Mexican Pizza and it was divine.

Salsa
6 roma tomatoes
1 jalapeno
1/2 red onion
3 cloves of garlic
2 T. lime juice
1 T. chilies in adobo sauce (I have some pureed in the freezer)
2 T. Cholula
1/2 c. cilantro
Salt to taste (it takes a lot)

Throw all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until it reaches the desired consistency.  I removed the seeds from my jalapeno just to take some of the heat out.  I then proceeded to taste the salsa using the same spoon and burned my lips off.  I suggest putting the seed-removing jalapeno spoon out of reach.

I love the freshness that comes with homemade salsa.  It has been so nice to snack on throughout the week.  The only issue is it makes quite a bit and without a huge batch of nachos, it has been hard to get through it all before it goes bad.  I would suggest cutting the recipe in half if it's just for snacks.  And it can also be adapted to your taste.  Like really spicy?  Add some more chilies and another jalapeno.  Not spicy?  Leave it all out.

Daily Fluff

The weather has cooled back off around here and you know what that means...someone is VERY snuggly again.