Salmon Turnovers

I am obsessed with fish at the moment. By "at the moment" I mean for the past few months. Needless to say, when I saw this recipe from Alton Brown for Salmon Turnovers, I knew they were going down in my kitchen toute de suite.

They turned out delicious, but lets be serious here, anything you wrap in puff pastry dough is bound to be yummy. Now, if you want to get really funky with your bad self, try making your own puff pastry, which I have yet to do (but don't worry, its on the list!). I loved how this was pretty much an entire meal  in itself and how easy it was!  This will definitely be on my make again list!



Salmon Turnovers
Alton Brown

1 sheet puff pastry

Flour, for dusting

1 can boneless, skinless, salmon

1/2 cup Sauteed mushrooms

1 to 2 tablespoons sour pickle relish

1 cup cooked white, brown or fried rice

2 to 3 chopped scallions

1 tablespoon parsley leaves, chopped

Salt and pepper

1 egg beaten with 2 tablespoons water

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Lightly flour the countertop. Roll puff pastry so there are no seams. Cut into 4 squares.

In a bowl, combine salmon, mushrooms, pickle relish, rice, scallions, parsley, salt, and pepper. Place 1 tablespoon of filling in the center of each square. Brush inside edges of puff pastry with egg wash and fold over to make a triangle. Using a fork, seal the edges. Poke a slit or two in the top of each turnover. Brush tops with egg wash. Bake in oven for 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Grilled Swordfish Kabobs

As a kid, I was the epitome of a picky eater. And it didn't end there. My picky eating carried itself all the way through my college years. Thankfully, common sense prevailed and I have since become quite an adventurous eater!

I called my family while we were making these swordfish kabobs and they thought it was the funniest thing that I was eating swordfish! And I have to say, I have been begging Spice for months to help me make it!

Luckily, last weekend, after a lovely day at the beach, we went to the seafood store and picked out some perfect swordfish steaks to help us usher in Shark Week on The Discovery Channel.



These were very easy to make. I made the dip in about 3 minutes, and the only prep for the swordfish was to cut it into cubs and stick it on a skewer with a little salt and pepper. Spice used her grill pan and these were on there for about 10 or 15 minutes until they were perfectly cooked.

I can't wait to make this again. Next time, to make it even easier, I think I'll just stick the steaks themselves on the grill and then top it with the sauce when they come off!



Swordfish Kebabs with Orange Basil Sauce
Cooking Light June 2010

 1 orange
2 cups basil leaves
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves
1 ½ pounds swordfish, cut into 1-inch pieces

Prepare grill (or grill pan) or medium-high heat. Squeeze orange juice to extract ¼ cup juice. Combine orange juice, basil leaves, olive oil and garlic cloves in a mini chopper; add ¼ teaspoon salt. Process basil leaf mixture until finely chopped. Sprinkle ¼ teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper evenly over fish; thread fish onto 4 (12-inch) skewers leaving a little space between the swordfish pieces for even cooking. Grill fish 10 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork or until desired degree of doneness, turning occasionally. Drizzle fish with sauce, or serve sauce separately.

Salmon Croquettes

So weekend mornings at our apartment consist of Spice, myself, two large cups of coffee and Food Network. We sit there as long as possible and more often than not, make a list of things we want to make that day. Last Saturday was no exception and after a toxically wonderful Paula Deen show, we decided to make her Salmon Croquettes.

I can't begin to tell you how easy to make these were and how delicious they tasted! We ate them as an afternoon snack with a mayo sauce Spice came up with and devoured every last one! Neither of us had used canned salmon, but we just ended up with a large can of alaskan salmon that we used all of.

We enjoyed these with green tea lemonade (copy cat of the Starbuck's version) that was to die for on a hot day! I'll post the recipe soon!



Salmon Croquettes
Paula Deen

• 2 fillets canned salmon, flaked


• 1 egg, beaten


• 2 tablespoons green onions, diced


• 1/2 cup bread crumbs


• Vegetable oil, for frying

Over medium heat, heat oil in a medium skillet. Combine canned salmon, beaten egg, green onions and 1/4 cup bread crumbs. Form into patties and dust with additional bread crumbs. Fry until golden brown, about 2 minutes on each side.

Birthday Paella

Hello Friends! It has been a long time. I bet you are all feeling lonely, what with Sugar's absence (due to her surgery) and my laziness/ crazy schedule.

In truth, for the past two months I have been busy persuing my new career as a professional bridesmaid. With two weddings only 29 days apart, I have been a busy bee. During the past two months in between showers, bachelorette parties, and wedding weekends I have been doing a lot of cooking. I have mastered Lady JayPee's amazing Braised BBQ chicken , I have treated my boyfriend and roomies to homemade sausage and onion ravoli, and a bevy of delicious risottos.  However nothing struck me as post worthy, that is until one special day...

April 26th was my boyfriend's 24th birthday and this year I promised to make him his favorite dish ever, paella.



Paella
Serves 6-8


4 bone-in chicken thighs, or 1 large chicken cut into 10 pieces (cut the breast in half, so everything cooks evenly)
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
10 large shrimp, peeled and deveined (I used 1/5 lb.)
1 lb of mussels, cleaned and de-bearded


1 lb. calamari - cut into 1/2 inch rings
6 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed, plus 2 tsp. minced
5-6 cups low-sodium chicken broth (I use Swanson’s Organic)
1/2 cup dry white wine

2 small bay leaves
1 tsp. saffron threads
1 chopped red bell pepper
1 chopped yellow onion
2 (3-oz.) chorizos, cut into slices
1 tsp. sweet paprika
1 (14 1/2 oz.) can diced tomatoes with the juices
1 1/2 cups Aborio rice
1 cup frozen peas, thawed

 

1. Generously sprinkle the chicken and shrimp with salt and pepper and place in a large bowl. Add 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and some crushed garlic. Cover the bowl, or seal the bag, and refrigerate an hour or up to overnight.

2. In a large saucepan, bring the chicken broth to a boil. Decrease the heat to low and add the wine and bay leaves then cover to keep hot.

3. Crush the saffron with your fingers and transfer to a small bowl and add a ladle of the simmering broth. Cover and let stand until ready to use.

 

4. When ready to cook the paella, remove the chicken pieces from the marinade and place them on a plate. Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a 12-14 inch paella pan or an extra-large skillet over medium heat until hot enough to sizzle the chicken. Add the chicken, skin side down, and cook the other side for 5 to 8 minutes, or until browned. Return the chicken to a clean plate.

5. Add the bell pepper, onion, chorizos, calamari  and the remaining 1 teaspoon of garlic to the pan and cook over medium heat, stirring with a wooden spoon or spatula, for 5 minutes, or until the vegetables are browned. Add the paprika and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the tomatoes and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes, or until the juices boil off and the tomato is dry. Add the rice and cook, stirring for 2 minutes. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of salt. and 4 cups of broth and wine mixture over the rice. Add the reserved broth (with saffron) and stir into the other ingredients. Arrange the chicken pieces around the outer edges of the pan.


6. Cook uncovered over medium heat, without stirring, for 15 minutes, or until most of the broth has been absorbed by the rice. Taste the rice and add more spice (salt or paprika) if needed.

7. Tuck the shrimp down into the partially cooked rice, concentrating them in the center area of the pan. Ladle 1 cup of the simmering broth over the rice and cook 5 minutes more. As the rice cooks, it will continue to absorb the broth. Add more broth as needed, tasting the rice each time. It should be tender, but firm.


8. Sprinkle the peas on top. Tuck the cleaned and debearded mussels into the rice and the broth. Lay a piece of extra-wide aluminum foil over the paella for the last 5 minutes of cooking, or until the mussels have opened. Remove from the heat and let the paella stand covered for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.


When you serve your paella, you should have a browned bottom. Unfortunately when I made mine I actually burned the bottom, as I was a little over zealous with the chicken broth. But it still looked and tasted great! And the boy was pretty impressed with all my amazing skill.

Although this recipe looks a bit intimidating, it was really fun and easy cook. So flippers up, and get to cooking!

Sean's Asian Sauce and Marinade

You know those people who don't really have to follow a recipe? They just make stuff out of what they find in their kitchens and it turns out fabulous? My friend Sean is one of THOSE!

We made dinner a few weekends ago (by "we" I mean "he") and Sean used this Asian sauce he had whipped up a few nights earlier. I was so impressed with the sauce that I asked for the recipe. That led to him giving me a list of ingredients with no idea how much of each he put in. Thanks, that helps a lot, Sean!

Have no fear! I experimented and came up with an almost identical sauce, I think. When Sean made dinner, he used it as a chicken marinade and a vegetable and rice sauce. I used it last night with some salmon and mixed vegetables on top of a bed of spinach. Yum!


Sean's Asian Sauce and Marinade

2 tablespoons sesame oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
4 tablespoons honey

Whisk all ingredients together. Easy as pie. =)

Cilantro Salmon

I leave bright eyed and bushy-tailed tomorrow morning for Butthead's wedding! Wish me luck on all the baking! And of course CONGRATS to Butthead and Mike =)

I was craving some real protein earlier this week and remembered a recipe LadyJayPee had for salmon that I LOVED. It is really super easy and very delicious. I only tweaked it a little. I was lucky enough to have leftovers the next day for lunch. The only seafood I have tried making is salmon. Maybe next time I will try halibut. Ah! Look at me being all adventurous!

Cilantro Salmon
Eating, Etc.

1 tablespoons olive oil
1 garlic clove
Wild Salmon
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon dried dill weed
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1 container cherry tomatoes
large bunch asparagus, cut to 1 1/2 inches
Juice of 1 lemon
1/4 cup fresh cilantro

Saute garlic in olive oil over medium heat.

Season salmon with salt, pepper, dill weed and paprika. Place salmon skin side down in skillet and cook about 3 minutes. Turn salmon with spatula and cook another 3 minutes, then break into chunks.

Add garlic, tomatoes and asparagus. Cook until salmon flakes easily. Stir in cilantro. Mix well and cook for another 2 minutes.

I Actually Cooked Something!

When my Dad cooks, he never uses a recipe. I grew up enjoying delicious creations that I believe he just made up. How crazy is that?! He just throws things together and they turn out yummy! *Insert pang of jealousy here.

Last weekend, I got a hankering for salmon and decided to try to make some on my own (WHAT?!). I had watched Spice make salmon before, so I almost just copied what she did. I really don't have a recipe to post, but I marinated the salmon in a mix of lemon juice, olive oil, and whatever spices jumped out at me from our spice cabinet. Then I just threw it on my George Foreman grill. I also cooked some asparagus and just for kicks added some blackberries to them. This was SO much easier than I expected and I was so immensely proud of myself. Spice came home to see me eating it on the couch with a huge grin on my face.

Hope you have a GREAT weekend!

Rosemary Salmon and Pan Seared Veggies

As you know, Sugar is on a baking binge. It is all she ever wants to do! The result of this are now showing on my waistline, something that I will now be trying to battle in my side of the blog.

Rosemary Salmon is a dish inspired by a recipe I found a popular diet book (some beach or another). I have made some changes and added a veggie side dish to help complete the meal.

Rosemary Oil
1/4 cup Olive Oil*
2 Tbsp. copped fresh Rosemary
1.5 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 clove of garlic, crushed
salt

Mix all ingredients and let seep in an airtight container as long as possible (I'm talking overnight, or longer)

Let Salmon come to room temperature. Rub 2/3 of Rosemary Oil over both sides of fish and let sit. Heat your grill pan, and oil it (there should be enough oil on the fish but we don't want to take chances).

In a separate skillet heat heat the remaining Rosemary Oil and a Tbsp. of butter. Once melted, Get your Veggie On! Chop any and all of your favorite veggies into similar sized pieces (I used Asparagus, Yellow Pepper, Red Onion, Garlic, and Shallots), and sautee uncovered until soft with a slight bite.

Once your grill pan is nice and hot get your Salmon on there but pay close attention. My fillets were about 3/4 of an inch and took about 3-4 minutes on each side. (For those of you who don't have a grill pan, you can achieve the same outcome by broiling for the same amount of time, just keep an eye on it!)

The end result was simply delicious, and just the meal needed after a sugar binge.