In the interest of the good health that seems to be abounding around the Red Brick Ranchero, I’ve been concentrating my culinary efforts on things that are good for you.
Checking the ingredients of this particular effort, we find :
Salmon. Good for you.
Edamame. Good for you.
Garlic. Good for you.
Ginger. Good for you
Soba noodles. Surely they are good for you.
Throw in sautéed red bell peppers, green onions, toasted sesame oil and you’ve got something here.
A meal that‘s, well, good for you. And is too easy.
And tastes divine. For supper and lunch the next day.
Asian Grilled Salmon with Warm Soba Noodle Salad
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 inch piece of ginger, peeled, chopped
Extra virgin olive oil
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 cup cooked edamame, ( I used the ones from Costco that are seasoned)
3-4 green onions, trimmed and chopped
2 nice pieces wild salmon, seasoned with a bit of tamari and black pepper
Fresh cilantro for garnish
Toasted sesame oil
Fresh lime
6 ounces dry soba noodles, cooked and drained
Grill the salmon til just done. Heat large skillet with a couple of good swirls of extra virgin olive oil and add the green onions and red bell peppers. Cook about five minutes. Add garlic and ginger and cook about five minutes, don’t let it burn. Add edamame and stir til the edamame is hot. Remove from heat then add the cooked noodles and toss well, drizzle with the toasted sesame oil to your taste. Cut the salmon into nice chunks. Put the noodle mix on the plate and top with the chunks of salmon, drizzle with toasted sesame oil and a squeeze of fresh lime and a touch of fresh cilantro.
Dinner for 3!
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Asian Grilled Salmon with Warm Soba Noodle Salad
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Ancho Chile-Brown Sugar Rubbed Wild Salmon with Grilled Silver Queen Corn Relish
Silver Queen corn is coming into the markets here in Middle Tennessee.
If you haven’t tried this particular kind of corn, put it on your list of things to eat.
Boiled, steamed, grilled it is a flavorful corn that lends itself to all preparations.
Which, of course, leads me to Grilled Silver Queen Corn Relish.
Just a few ears of corn, boiled for 5 minutes, then thrown on the grill for a couple of minutes to slightly brown, then mixed with a bit of wild honey, fresh cilantro , a roasted jalapeno and a bit of olive oil and lime juice.
It’s the perfect accompaniment to a couple of gorgeous Ancho Chile-Brown Sugar rubbed grilled wild salmon fillets.
Long live the Queen.
Ancho Chile-Brown Sugar Rubbed Wild Salmon with Grilled Silver Queen Corn Relish
Adapted from several recipes by Bobby Flay
Grilled Silver Queen Corn Relish
3 ears of corn, shucked and boiled for five minutes
Juice of 1 lime
1 tsp wild honey
1 jalapeno, roasted, seeded and chopped
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
4 green onions, grilled for about three minutes and chopped
¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro*
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
Heat the grill to medium high. Place corn on the grill and cook on all sides for about two minutes. You just want it to color a bit. Remove and scrape corn off cob into bowl. Should be about 1-½ cups.
Put lime juice, honey and roasted jalapeno in blender. Blend to mix.
Turn blender on and add the extra virgin olive oil in steady stream til it emulsifies.
Add the green onions to the corn and add the jalapeno mix. Add cilantro and season with salt and pepper.
Serves 2 very generously.
Ancho Chile-Brown Sugar Rub
2 nice sized fillets wild salmon, skin left on one side
2 tbsp ancho chile powder
1-1/2 tsp ground cumin
1-½ tsp brown sugar
A really good pinch ground cinnamon
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper.
A couple of good swirls of extra virgin olive oil
Combine the rub mixture, careful with the olive oil, you just want this to come together, not be too thick or thin., remember you want it to stick to the salmon and not run off.
Coat the salmon on the skinless side with the rub. Let sit for 15 minutes.
On medium hot grill, put salmon skin side down and cook for about five minutes. Then turn the fillets and cook for a couple of minutes til the sugar caramelizes.
Serves 2.
* I didn't have a lot of cilantro, so I threw in some Italian parsley to augment what I had. Stick with the cilantro!
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
The Salmon Salad
What to do with salmon?The usual?
Grill it and put a sauce on top?
Saute some veggies and put the salmon on top of that?
Not just any salad.
The Salmon Salad.
The origin of this recipe is Bon Appetit magazine of several summers ago..I think, or maybe it was last summer. In that recipe, the salmon is cooked on top of the stove, the ingredients are heated together and thrown together. That worked ok.
But this method works better.
Grill the salmon to perfection.
Should take about seven minutes total on the grill if salmon is skin on. Don’t turn it.
In the meantime, you’ve got fresh squeezed orange and lemon juice, grated orange and lemon peel, Nicoise olives, artichoke hearts, capers, garbanzo beans, pine nuts and a blast of spicy fresh basil and Italian parsley coming together in a large bowl with the secret Feeding Groom ingredient, “O” Meyer Lemon Olive Oil.
Just a good swirl on top with a smidge of salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Wow.
Summer in a bowl.
The Salmon Salad
One good swirl “O” Meyer Lemon Olive Oil*
2 -5ounce salmon fillets, seasoned with a bit of freshly ground black pepper and lemon juice
1 14 ounce can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup grape tomatoes
1 14 ounce can quartered artichoke hearts, rinsed and drained
¼ cup Nicoise olives
3 tbsp chopped fresh Italian parsley
2 tbsp fresh orange juice
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp capers, drained
1 tbsp grated orange peel
1 tsp grated lemon peel
3 tbsp fresh basil leaves chopped
2 tbsp pine nuts
Grill salmon about 7 minutes…don’t turn if skin on. Let cool about five minutes and flake.
Combine all ingredients in large bowl and let sit about 15 minutes for flavors to blend.
Serves 3 generously.
*If you haven’t tried this line of olive oils, give it a shot. The Meyer Lemon and the Ruby Grapefruit Oils are very special treats for salads just like this one.
Monday, April 7, 2008
Artichoke Heart and Toasted Pine Nut Salsa on the Perfect Salmon Fillet
I’ve branched out.
I managed to prepare a seafood dish without the pig.
It was difficult. Prosciutto would be absolutely divine in this salsa , but I didn’t do it.
Howsomuchever… this artichoke heart, red bell pepper, Nicoise olive, toasted pine nut salsa for salmon ROCKS!!! It's an old recipe heartily adapted from the Food Network.
Seriously.
It’s amazing stuff. It’s good in a spoon, on a Tostito..it is divine.
Throw in some tuna canned in olive oil (truly the only kind of canned tuna to eat) and call it lunch.
Make it your own.
It is a portent of things to come this summer and I, for one, cannot wait.
Artichoke Hearts and Toasted Pine Nut Salsa
1 6 ounce jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained
1 fat garlic clove, minced
1 tbsp capers
2 tbsp chopped sun dried tomatoes in olive oil
1 small red bell pepper, seeded and diced
¼ cup pine nuts, toasted
1/3 cup Nicoise olives, pitted and chopped coarsely
Freshly ground black pepper
About ¼ cup coarsely chopped fresh Italian parsley
Combine all of this , mix well and season.
Makes about 1-½ cups.
Perfectly Seared Salmon
Heat a cast iron skillet on top of the stove. Add a good swirl of extra virgin olive oil.
Put two nice sized fillets of wild salmon in the pan skin side down.
Cook until skin is crispy, takes about three minutes or so.
Put the pan in the oven for 5-7 minutes til salmon is done.
Top with salsa and wait for applause.
Serves 2.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Grilled Salmon Catalan
Spanish food.
How wonderful and uncomplicated it is. Straightforward flavors of smoked paprika, saffron, oranges, sherry. Almonds playing an important role in every aspect of a meal. Toasted bread crumbs, extra fruity olive oil.
How good is that!
I wanted to use those flavors last night. We had some beautiful wild salmon fillets just begging to be eaten. I also had some avocados that wanted a little more respect in a meal than just being thrown in a salad or smashed up as guacamole.
A little riff on a recipe of Joyce Goldstein’s and we’re off..grilling the salmon, toasting almonds til golden, smashing innocent anchovies into a paste and sautéing at the last minute, a perfect avocado in that extra fruity Spanish olive oil ..all joining together into something that is at once impressive for company and special for a weeknight supper.
Grilled Salmon Catalan
Adapted from Back to Square One by Joyce Goldstein
1/2 cup sliced almonds
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
1/8 cup sherry vinegar
1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1 tbsp capers, drained
1-½ tbsp orange zest
1 tbsp finely chopped anchovies
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 wild salmon fillets, about 6 ounces each
1 small perfectly ripe avocado, sliced
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread the almonds on a baking sheet and toast until fragrant and golden about 7 minutes.
Let almonds cool and coarsely chop them. Whisk together, olive oil, vinegar, orange juice, capers, orange zest and anchovies. Add the almonds and stir.
Fire up the grill. Brush the salmon with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Grill 3-4 minutes per side
.
Spoon sauce over the fish and serve hot. If using avocados, halve, pit and then slice them. Warm the slices in a skillet in a little extra virgin olive oil over low heat. Place the avocado around the salmon and drizzle the sauce over all.
Serves 2. (You will have extra sauce and extra avocado left over. It’s wonderful the next day combined on a little crunchy romaine lettuce for lunch!)
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Wild Salmon Cakes with Fresh Ginger
Life is a funny thing. Out of the blue, a person will enter your life and make changes that you could not expect. Out of the goodness of their heart and NOT because you promised an evening of fun and wine in exchange, they do something so kind and helpful that you are amazed. Witness the new look to Feeding Groom. Thanks goes to my new best friend.
So in the midst of change, which is a wonderful thing, Groom had planned to do dinner tonight. Crab cakes were on the menu…and let me tell you, he has command of that recipe. But, alas, the crabmeat had decided to take a turn that would have had us on the ten o’clock news, so we readjusted our thinking.
I had some wild salmon in the freezer for just such an emergency as this. Springing in to action, we did a great take on a salmon cake. This one is chocked full of fresh ginger, shallots, a bit of garlic and crushed red pepper and egg. Pass a lovely mayo based sauce lightened with a bit of Greek yogurt and flavored with toasted sesame oil, orange zest, chopped green onions and lemon and you have dinner. Fast, excellent and celebratory all in one.
Wild Salmon Cakes with Fresh Ginger
2 good sized (for lack of a better description because I forgot to weigh them) wild sockeye salmon fillets, skinned and coarsely chopped by hand
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 small shallot, minced
1 fat garlic clove, minced
1 small knob of fresh ginger..peeled and grated (I keep my fresh ginger in the freezer..it never turns blue and green, always fresh ..cut off a knob, peel and grate.)
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
½ tsp crushed red pepper flakes
Combine above ingredients in a bowl and make four good sized salmon cakes.
Put on a plate and place in freezer for 20 minutes. Put a large nonstick skillet on medium high heat and swirl a bit of extra virgin olive oil in. When skillet is hot, add the salmon cakes and cook about three minutes per side.
Plate with a good sprinkle of chopped fresh cilantro.
Pass this sauce…
¼ cup Hellmann’s mayonnaise
¼ cup Greek yogurt
2 thinly sliced green onions, green part only
1 tbsp fresh orange juice
Grated zest of one orange
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1-½ tsp toasted sesame oil
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Combine and let sit til time to serve.
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Oven Braised Salmon with Lemon Creme Fraiche
Okay, this was one of those days that just did not turn out as planned.
And because of that, dinner turned out to be something absolutely spectacular. And easy and fast. I could spend a whole lot of time telling you why but instead I’ll just post this recipe and suggest you try it. As soon as possible. And watch what could have been a day not worth remembering turn into something you’ll think about again and again.
1 lemon, juiced
1 cup crème fraiche
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp finely minced shallots
¼ cup dry vermouth
4 wild sockeye salmon fillets, skinless about 5 oz each
Preheat oven to 350’.
Mix the crème fraiche and lemon juice in bowl and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Melt 1 tbsp butter and olive oil in flameproof baking dish over low heat. Add the shallots and vermouth and reduce to glaze. Remove from heat.
Season the salmon with salt and pepper and place in single layer in the baking dish. Pour the crème fraiche mixture over the salmon, cover with buttered foil and bake for 12-15 minutes or until done.
Put fish on plate and tent with foil. Put baking dish over medium high heat and add a bit of vermouth and the other tbsp of butter and swish around til sauce thickens a bit. Season to taste and be sure to leave a bit to put on the salmon. Serve on top of steamed asparagus with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice. Serves 2 if small fillets 4 if large. The way today went, the recipe served 2.
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Smoke from a Distant Fire
You know, there are times that only one thing will do for dinner.
Only one kind of fish. Only one preparation of same. That happens with salmon around this house. It has to be Wild Sockeye Salmon. And it has to be Bobby Flay’s Sherry Vinegar Glazed Salmon with Fresh Tomato Relish and Arugula (my touch). It doesn’t matter who is here for dinner, it doesn’t matter if they hate salmon. They eat this and fall out. Seriously. Facial expressions change. Silence descends on the island (otherwise known as the dining room table because we don’t have one because Groom gave it away during the kitchen renovation, which is another story). Actually he gave away the sofa, the chairs, hutch, table and sideboard. The Sideboard. My claim to fame. I have danced on that sideboard so many times, I can’t tell you. I think I’ve gotten over it. But this subject may resurface in another blog post. Maybe not. Then again there are people who read this blog that can tell you things I can’t remember. But smile and say, “wasn’t that fun” when they bring it up.
Anyhoo…silence and then it’s “what the hell did you do to this salmon?"
Can’t lose with this recipe, people. Can’t lose at all. Plus the fact that ITUNES has one of the
(thanks Bobby!)
Spicy Tomato Relish:
2 medium ripe tomatoes, coarsely chopped
Small slice off side of red onion, finely diced
Fresh Italian parsley, chopped.. Eyeball it
Good shake or two of red pepper flakes
Big splash of red wine vinegar
Several good turns of extra virgin olive oil
Salmon:
1 cup good Sherry vinegar
Two big tablespoons Dijon Mustard
1 tbsp honey
2 tbsp ancho chile powder
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
2-4 good sized fillets of wild Sockeye salmon, skin on
Put the Sherry vinegar in small saucepan and reduce it down to about a quarter cup. In small bowl, put honey, mustard, vinegar chile powder, salt and pepper and whisk together. When cool, pour over salmon fillets.
Combine all ingredients for the tomato relish and let sit for about half an hour.
Get the grill going and cook till skin on salmon is crisp; don’t turn and salmon is firm to touch. You can heat a cast iron pan with a bit of oil in it and do the same thing. People have their own way they like to do salmon or any fish, so when it’s done for you, rock on.
Put a “paw full“, my mother’s expression, of Arugula on your dinner plate. Top with salmon and the tomato relish. Remember one of your favorite songs and light a candle with dinner. Enjoy!
