Sun Dried Tomato Salmon

My wife and I celebrated our 29th anniversary this week, by taking a trip to the beach. She is a big fan of lighthouses, so we went to the Bald Head Island and Oak Island lighthouses on the North Carolina coast. We have been to most of the other North Carolina lighthouses. The day turned out to be gorgeous 70's and sunny. We got to have seafood for lunch and dinner, if you follow me on Twitter or Facebook you saw the food pictures.

Here is a salmon dish I made last weekend. I hope you enjoy it, as much as we did.

Sun Dried Tomato Salmon
1 salmon filet, about 8 oz

1 tbs sun dried tomato oil
3 tbs sun dried tomatoes, chopped
4 oz mushrooms, finely chopped
6 oz spinach leaves
Brown rice, 1/2 cup per person

Cook the brown rice according to directions. About 10 minutes before done start salmon.

Add oil to pan and heat to medium high. Add salmon. Cook for 3 or 4 minutes then add the mushrooms. Cook for 4 more minutes. Add the sun dried tomatoes and then spread the spinach over top of the whole thing. Cook until spinach is wilted.

To plate put the rice on the plate and spread out on the plate. Then add a layer of the spinach. Top with 1/2 of the salmon. Pour the sun dried tomatoes, mushrooms and any oil left over the whole thing.

Irish Dinner Party

Over the holidays I invited a few friends over that went to Ireland with us. I served food that we had eaten  while we were in Ireland or at least my version of the food. We started by serving mead, a fermented honey drink that is served at room temperature or in cool weather you can heated it and add cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. Along with the mead we had various Irish cheeses.

For the first course I served a salad with pears, goat cheese and pecans. Mixed greens with pears, goat cheese and pecans is no big deal and I was trying to think of a way to jazz it up. I realized that with the appetizers we served the mead, the main course was Guinness Stew and the dessert course had Jameson's Irish Whiskey. Could I add an Irish alcohol to the salad? Of course I can. The women with us frequently drank Bulmers Irish Cider at the pubs. Bulmers is a sweet tasting hard cider made from apples. I opted to replace the acid in dressing with Bulmers. By adding honey and Dijon mustard I had created an amazing dressing and added an Irish alcohol to each course. Seriously this salad dressing was one of the best things  I made that night. Bulmers is available in the US as Magners Irish Cider.

Magners Salad Dressing
1/4 cup honey
1/4 Dijon Mustard
1 Magners Irish Cider, you will only use a little bit so you will have to drink most of a bottle :-)

In a small bowl mix the honey and Dijon mustard. Slowly drizzle the Magners Irish Cider into the bowl until the dressing is the consistency you want. Taste it and adjust as needed.

Along with the Guinness Stew I made Potato Cakes. One of the people on the trip with us tries to eat a vegetarian diet and she liked the Potato Cakes we frequently found in the pubs. This is an estimate as I totally winged this recipe. There is no milk in the mashed potatoes as you want to keep them dry when you fry them.

Potato Cake
1 lb Yukon Gold potatoes
2 tbs butter
1/2 cup spinach, cut into fine ribbons
4 green onions, chopped finely
1/2 cup flour
2 tbs olive oil

Peel and cut potatoes into small pieces. Add to pot and bring to boil. Cook until potatoes are soft, but do not over cook. Drain the potatoes. Add butter, spinach and onions to potatoes in pan. Mash the potatoes. Take the potatoes and form into a flat round shape. These can be thin like a cookie or thick like a hockey puck. Sprinkle flour on each side. In a frying pan heat heat Olive oil. Add potato cakes but do not overcrowd in the pan. Cook until potato cakes are browned and then flip over and brown the other side. Remove and sit them on paper towel until all of the cakes are cooked. Serve immediately.

Spicy Chickpeas with Poached Egg

 The day after my daughters and I ran the 10K in April we went out for brunch. I ordered spicy chickpeas with an egg on top. The dish consisted of chickpeas, spinach and mushrooms in a spicy tomato sauce. It was topped with an egg. I am not sure what kind of an egg it was supposed to be. It consisted of mainly a yoke. My guess is it was fried egg where the white part got overcooked so they cut it off. Here is my version, I poached the egg but it over cooked while I was photographing it, so thats why the yolk is chunky in the picture above.

This is another recipe where you can use the leftover vegetables in your refrigerator. If you don't have one of the vegetables I mention substitute another or add more of another one.

2 eggs

1 can Chickpeas, rinsed and drained

1 14 oz can of crushed tomatoes

1/2 yellow squash or zucchini

4 mushrooms, sliced

small handful of spinach, chopped

1 tsp olive oil

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper

Add the olive oil to a pan on medium heat. When it shimmers add the squash, mushrooms. Cook until the squash starts to softens. Add the chickpeas and cook for a minute. Then add the tomatoes, red pepper and spinach. 

For the poached egg put 1 cup of water in a 2 cup microwavable measuring cup. Crack 1 egg into the water.  The egg should sink, but not settle to the bottom. Microwave for 1 minute to 1 1/2 minutes. The egg should take on a white color all over. Take egg out with slotted spoon and drain. Place egg on top of plated chickpeas. If the eggs are going to sit for a few minutes you may want to dip them in cold water to stop the cooking.  Repeat with other egg.

Salmon with Bacon and Maple Glaze

EatingWell magazine published a recipe for a Spinach Salad with a warm Maple Dressing. I stumbled across this recipe for trying to come up with a new salmon recipe. My version is listed below, as I thought theirs needed a little work. The maple got me thinking and I decided to do a maple glaze on the salmon. Now what would I add to bring it all together? Obviously bacon, but I think bacon is the answer to a lot of things.

Salmon with Maple Glaze and Bacon
1 salmon steak for each person
1 slice of bacon for each salmon steak
1 tsp of maple syrup for each salmon steak

Spinach Salad with Maple Dressing
2 tbs chopped walnuts
2 oz chopped spinach per person
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 tbs cider vinegar
1/4 cup maple syrup
salt and pepper to taste

Salmon Instructions
Preheat grill to medium high.
While grill is heating up place bacon in microwave on paper towels and cover with a paper towel and cook for 1 minute. This will make bacon partially cooked but not crisp. Pat excess grease off bacon and set aside. When Salmon is almost cooked to desired doneness, drizzle syrup over the salmon and place bacon on top. Remove when salmon is cooked to desired doneness.

Spinach Salad
Put spinach in bowl, if frozen defrost and drain first.
Heat nuts in a dry skillet, over medium heat, until they are fragrant about 2 -3 minutes. Put nuts in bowl with spinach.
Add oil and shallot to pan and cook until soft, about 4 minutes. Add vinegar and syrup heat until boiling. Add the salt and pepper. Poor mixture over the spinach.

Put spinach mixture on plate and top with salmon steak.

Ravioli on a Bed of Spinach

I saw a recipe for Ravioli Florentine somewhere a while back and it has been rattling around in my brain every since. Now my head is pretty empty so when something is rattling around I have have to do something about it. I had my plan all formulated, when my wife decided to make cookies. This kept me out of the kitchen for the next hour. Now I had to come up with some short cuts to get dinner on the table on time, because the person who was hogging the kitchen was now hungry. I won't mention any names though, but my wife knows who she is. I know a lady that makes and sells pastas including raviolis, so usually keep some in the freezer. I used frozen for this, but feel free to use home made.

Ravioli on a Bed of Spinach (Ravioli Florentine)
Sauce
1 cup cottage cheese
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 5 oz can evaporated milk
1/8 tsp grated nutmeg

Spinach
10 oz spinach, I used frozen and let it thaw in the pan
1/2 pint cherry tomatoes
2 oz mushrooms, sliced
2 tsp olive oil

Ravioli
1 package of frozen or your own home made ravioli

Put a pot of water on to boil, for the ravioli.

Combine all of the sauce ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth.

Put the oil in a pan and heat over medium heat. Add the tomato and mushrooms. Cook until mushrooms start getting color, then add the spinach. When the spinach is cooked, keep warm until ready to plate. If you like you can add some of the sauce to the spinach.

While the spinach is cooking add the ravioli and cook until it is done.

Plate the spinach, drizzle with some sauce. Add the ravioli and drizzle a little more sauce over the ravioli.



The reason I made this recipe.

Seared Salmon With White Beans & Spinach Topped With Olive-Lemon Relish

Last week I received 4 cookbooks in the mail and then went away for the weekend. So this weekend I had to put the first one to the test. This week's book is Stir Mixing It Up In the Italian Tradition by Barbra Lynch. Since Annette wanted salmon for dinner I had to select from 3 recipes. Two of the three recipes called for ingredients that I did not have on hand. I had to make a few changes to put my own spin on this recipe because I thought it was kind of bland and there was a lot of fat where none was needed. Also Annette is not a big olive fan so I adjusted the Olive-Lemon Relish so the olives flavor wasn't so strong.

Seared Salmon With White Beans & Spinach Topped With Olive-Lemon Salad

White Bean and Spinach
1/4 cup chicken/vegetable broth (the original recipe called for 1/4 cup olive oil)
8 oz fresh spinach, tough stems removed cleaned and dried (I used frozen)
1 15 oz can white beans, rinsed and drained
1 clove of garlic, thinly sliced
1/8 tsp crushed red pepper, add more if you like heat

Salmon
2 tbs olive oil or Canola oil

Olive-Lemon Relish
1/4 cup Picholine olives, pitted and chopped (I only had Kalamata so I used those)
1/2 Lemon juiced, cut the other 1/2 into segments and finely dice
1/2 Lemon peeled and pith removed fruit cut into small pieces the size of the olive pieces
1 tbs parsley, finely chopped, original called for 2 tbs
1 small shallot, finely chopped
1 tsp honey, more if needed original called for 1/2 tsp
splash of white wine vinegar, original called for 1/2 tsp
1/4 tsp kosher salt, I left this out brined olives took care of the salt
fresh ground pepper to taste

White Bean & Spinach
In a frying pan, over medium heat, add 1/2 the broth, the pepper and the garlic, bring to a simmer. Toss in the spinach and cook until it cooks down (if all of the spinach doesn't fit cook 1/2 then add the rest once the first batch cooks down). After the spinach is cooked down add the beans and the rest of the broth. Cook until the beans are heated though. This will be the the base the salmon sits on.

Salmon
In a frying pan , over medium high heat, add the oil. When the oil is hot add the salmon and cook until the salmon is golden, then flip over and cook until the second side takes on some color. Sit on the spinach and beans.

Olive-Lemon Relish
Mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl. Taste and add pepper, honey, vinegar or whatever is needed to make this taste how you like it. Spoon over the top of the salmon.

Roll with it...

After 6 weeks I finally have my camera back, so now I can post recipes again. It was a strange making food, plating it and eating it while it was still hot. You guys missed a bunch of delicious recipes I made with pesto like shrimp pasta, Caprese salad and an awesome vegetable soup with eggplant. Maybe I'll make another batch of pesto and take pictures this time. I did sneak a little pesto into todays recipe so you wouldn't miss out completely. I was thinking of turning my culinary adventures to tomatoes as we seem to be heading for a bumper crop. I already picked about a pint and a half of cherry tomatoes and we had 2 Romas ready but something got to them before I did.

I wanted to do something fun today so I made a savory pinwheel, Prosciutto and Mozzarella. They are based on a recipe by Giada de Laurentiis, but I had to make my modifications. I thought her recipe seemed a little lack luster and dry so here is my version of Giada's

Prosciutto and Mozzarella Pinwheels

1 pound pizza dough
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
7 ounces Prosciutto
1 cup spinach coarsely chopped
1 tbs pesto
1 tbs olive oil
Kosher Salt and freshly ground Pepper to taste
Marinara for dipping

Preheat oven to 425˚ degrees fahrenheit.
Roll the pizza dough out to a 12 to 14 inch rectangle about 1/4 inch thick (a circle will work but dough won't be as even when cutting.
Sprinkle 1 cup of mozzarella on the dough. leaving a little space on all 4 sides. Dot the cheese with the pesto, more is not better you don't want it to get runny or to moisten the dough. Then cover with the prosciutto. Now sprinkle chopped spinach. Finally spread the rest of the mozzarella on the spinach.
Roll the dough into a cylinder and tuck the ends under to prevent leaking. Place on a foil lined cookie sheet that has been sprayed with no stick spray seam side down, if you have parchment or a Silpat these will work as well. Lightly cover the roll with olive oil, then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake until the top is golden brown, about 25 minutes.
Let it cool for 5 minutes then cut in 3/4 inch segments. Cutting will be easier if you use a serrated knife. I served with marinara sauce for dipping. Good enough for adults but kids love the dipping bread or "Pizza Pinwheels".

Tilapia Topped with Shrimp, Asparagus and Spinach

Have you ever seen a recipe and just knew you could do it better? A while back I saw a recipe where the person fried fish, shrimp and asparagus and then stacked them on top of each other. This weekend I decided to see what I could do to improve this dish and here is my results.

Tilapia Topped with Shrimp, Asparagus and Spinach

2 tilapia fillets
12 shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/4 cup baby spinach leaves
4 to 6 asparagus spears, cut into 2 inch pieces
2 tsp butter, cut into 4 pieces
1 lemon, juice and zest
2 tsp parsley finely chopped
Non Stick Spray
1 cup cooked brown rice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Spray 2 individual baking dishes with non-stick spray. Place 1 tilapia fillet in each dish. Top fillet with 1/2 of the spinach, then place the 1/2 the asparagus on top of that. Top the whole thing with the 1/2 the shrimp. Then sprinkle with 1/2 the lemon juice and dot with the butter. Bake for about 20 minutes, until shrimp and fish are done.

Remove from oven then remove fish from dish. Add rice to the dish and mix with the butter and lemon left in the dish. Place the fish on top of the rice and garnish with the parsley and zest.

Shrimp Alfredo Pizza

When I come up with ideas for new recipes one of 2 things usually happens. I make it and it fails miserably and you never read about it, I do have to threaten Annette never to mention it or I will make it for her again. Or I make it and it turns out good enough for me to publish and I don't have to hide behind things the next time I see you. Shrimp Alfredo Pizza was one of those recipes that I thought you may never see in print, but it actually turned out to be very good. My main concern was making an Alfredo sauce that would not be thin and run off the pizza and all over the stove. I used shrimp, asparagus and spinach on this pizza. You could use all veggies (any combination that you want) or chicken instead of shrimp.

Shrimp Alfredo Pizza

Alfredo Sauce:
1 5oz can of 2 % evaporated milk
3 oz low fat, low sodium chicken broth
3 large cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 tbs butter
3 tbs all-purpose flour
1/4 c Parmesan cheese
Salt and Pepper to taste

Pizza Crust:
Make your favorite crust or buy one

Toppings:
2 tsp olive oil
12 oz shrimp
1 oz frozen spinach, finely chopped (you can use fresh)
6 small stalks asparagus, cut into 1" pieces
I cut some basil into ribbons and sprinkled on top for a garnish.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. If you have a pizza stone make sure that is on the center shelf, so it heats up.

Sauce: put milk, broth and garlic in a microwave safe bowl and heat until steaming, about 3 to minutes. Remove and let this cool for a minute or 2 before using. In a large sauce pan over low heat add butter. When butter melts add flour and whisk until mixed with butter. Then add the milk mixture slowly and whisk it while adding. Whisk this mixture until it thickens, about 2 minutes. Add the parmesan and whisk until Parmesan is melted and incorporated into milk mixture. Poor this back into bowl and set aside.

Toppings: in the sauce pan heat olive oil. Add asparagus and cook for 2 minutes, add the shrimp and spinach and cook for 1 more minute. Remove from heat.

Spread the sauce over the pizza crust. Then spread the toppings over the sauce. Then place the shrimp over the other toppings. Cook for about 10 minutes. When it comes out sprinkle with basil if using.

White Bean Soup

This is a recipe I decided to make today so I could use up some spinach, so don't look to closely and notice I forgot the spinach. It is only coincidence that my brother Bob asked that I post a bean recipe on the day I make bean soup. Everybody knows if he would have asked for it before I decided to make it I never would have made it, that's what brothers are for. I am submitting this soup to Souper Sundays at Kahakai Kitchen. Watch for it there along with many other delicious soups.

White Bean Soup

1 tbs olive oil
1 cup carrots, cut into coins
1 cup celery, cut into 1/2 moons
1/2 cup onion, diced
1 15 oz can white beans
1 14 oz can diced tomatoes
1 clove garlic, minced
2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
2 oz spinach, chopped
Optional
2 turkey sausages, removed from cases and broken up into small pieces
1 zucchini or yellow squash, diced

Add olive oil to a dutch oven or other deep heavy pot heated to medium high. Then add carrots, celery, zucchini or squash if using and onion heat until onions are transparent. Add sausage if using and cook until browned. Now add beans, tomatoes and garlic let this cook for 2 or 3 minutes. Add the chicken or vegetable broth and bring to boil. Turn down to low and add spinach. Let soup simmer until ready to serve.