Whitney and I eat salmon fairly often, both for its deliciousness and supposed health benefits. Although our honey-soy preparation is a frequent choice, I decided to try this tasty-looking recipe, which is one of the four pictured on the back of the enormous New Best Recipe. The original recipe calls for dill, but we substituted some of our home-grown fresh basil. It was good! Here's the recipe as we prepared it.
Sandwich bread, crusts removed
Plain potato chips, crushed
Basil
Salmon fillets
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Dijon mustard
Adjust oven racks to uppermost and upper-middle positions and heat to 400 degrees. Cut (or process) bread into crumbs and toast crumbs on the lower rack. Toss with potato chips and basil. Increase oven to broil. Rub fillets with oil and salt and pepper and broil on top rack until outer 1/2 inch of thick end is opaque when flaked with a knife, about 9 minutes. Remove from oven, spread with mustard, and press bread crumb mixture onto fish. Return to lower rack and broil until crust is brown, about 1 minute longer.
The French Feast (from the bottom of the photo up): Quiche, Panini, Whipped Potatoes, Baguette, French Onion Tartlets, Mushroom Bourguignon, and Moules Marinieres.
Moules Marinieres by Richard
"Scrub and de-beard 2 lbs of mussels making sure that they are alive and healthy (no opened shells)!
Melt 3 tbsp butter and add 1 chopped shallot and 3 cloves of chopped garlic.
Add 1 c white wine (I used Sauvignon Blanc, but I think that there may be better choices?).
Add the mussels and cover until the mussels open.
Add some fresh chopped parsley and stir."
Mushroom Bourguignon by Natalie
Another wonderful recipe from smittenkitchen; we should let the author know she's inspiring quite a few of our potluck dishes! This was quite the French dish. :-) And vegetarian friendly.
French Onion Tartlets by Patrick & Whitney
A yummy hands on French appetizer by Rachael Ray. Ingredients: olive oil cooking spray, 12 slices Pepperidge Farm white bread, 2 tbsp butter, 1 tsbp evoo, 2 onions, 1 bay leaf, 2 tsp ground thyme, salt and pepper, 1/2 lb swiss cheese Directions: Preheat oven to 350F. Spray both sides of bread and press bread into small 12 cup muffin tin.
Place bread in oven and toast until golden, 7 or 8 minutes. Remove and reserve.
Meanwhile in a skillet, melt butter into oil. Add onions and bay leaf, season with thyme, salt and pepper. Cook onions until caramel colored, 15 to 18 minutes.
Turn broiler on. Place spoonfuls of cooked onions in toasted bread cups. Discard bay leaf. Cover onions with cheese and set tarts under hot broiler to bubble and brown cheese. Serve hot.
Asparagus, Broccoli, Ham Quiche by Holly
"I don't quite remember the exact amounts of stuff I used because I changed the recipe a bit but i think this is close.
Ingredients (makes 2 quiches)
2 9" deep dish pie crusts
1 cup small broccoli florets
1 cup chopped asparagus
1 small onion, chopped
~ 1/4 to 1/2 cup of chopped up ham
2 cups of shredded cheese (gruyere and swiss mix)
4 eggs
5 cups of whipping cream
salt and pepper
herbs du provence (or nutmeg or other herbs)
Prick the crusts with a fork and bake them at 400 until just golden.
Turn oven down to 375.
Mix broccoli and aspargus in bowl and steam in microwave for 3 minutes until they are just
barely tender. Heat the olive oil in a small skillet over med. heat. add the onion, stirring occasionally until soft
spread the veggies, ham, and onions evenly on the bottom of the cooled crusts. sprinkle the cheese on top of this (1 cup for each pie).
In med. bowl, whisk the eggs, whipping cream, herbs and a pinch of salt and pepper together. Pour this on top of the veggies and cheese. Bake in the oven for about 40 minutes."
Tada!
French Panini by David
A yummy sandwich on French bread with spinach, tomato, and cheese. Finished off on (what else?!) the George Foreman!!
Whipped Potatoes by Tim and Ryan
They're holding the recipe hostage... But I know it had feta and lemon zest and was whipped to perfection.
A beautiful French baguette by Tilden.
Every French meal needs a baguette, no?!
Far Breton by Richard
Mix the dry ingredients: 1 c flour, 1/2 c sugar, 1 pinch salt
Add 4 eggs.
Add wet ingredients: 2 c whole milk, 1 tbsp melted butter, 2 tbsp rum (I used vanilla extract)
Place 1 c prunes on the bottom of a baking dish.
Pour batter over the prunes.
Bake for about 35 min at 350 degrees.
Last year Granny and Poppa gave me quite a few different church cookbooks from our local area. I love church cookbooks! In my opinion they're the best of the best recipes from home cooks. This particular recipe comes from the Murfreesboro Baptist Church cookbook "Feeding the Flock."
When I received this as a gift it came with a note from Granny: "You will know people in this book and I think you will enjoy some of these recipes." And she's right! I was flipping through the chicken section and found a recipe that had puff pastry in it and was by Mrs. Mary Etta Flowers. I knew right away this was a win-win recipe! First because Patrick loves puff pastry and secondly because Mrs. Mary Etta's yummy cooking reputation precedes her and I knew this would be delicious (I was probably subconsciously browsing for her recipes).
While preparing dinner I was talking to Mom on the phone and told her what we were making because I was excited. We hung up and then Patrick and I continued making dinner. Mom calls me back and says, "Whitney this looks hard." And my initial response was "no way Mom" but then I realized we just skipped over the hard parts in the recipe. So if you're looking to making a meal to impress someone follow Mrs. Mary Etta's recipe as written below. If you're having a more casual meal my notes are at the bottom.
Ingredients
1 (17.5 oz) package frozen puff pastry sheets, thawed
1 (4 oz) container garlic and spice flavored Allouette cheese or 1/2 cup chives and onion flavored cream cheese
6 skinned and boned chicken breast halves
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1 egg, beaten
1 tbsp water
Directions
Unfold pastry sheets, and roll each sheet into a 14x12" rectangle on a lightly floured surface. Cut one sheet into four 7x6" rectangles; cut second sheet into two 7x6" rectangles and one 12x6" rectangle. Set large rectangle aside. Shape each small rectangle into an oval by trimming off corners. Spread pastry ovals evenly with cheese. Sprinkle chicken breasts with salt and pepper, and place in center of each pastry oval. Lightly moisten pastry edges with water. Fold ends over chicken, fold sides over, and press to seal. Place bundle, seam side down, on a lightly greased baking sheet. Cut remaining large pastry rectangle into long thin strips. Braid 2 strips together, and place crosswise over chicken bundle trimming and tucking ends under. Repeat procedure with remaining strips to make chicken bundles resemble wrapped packages. Cover and refrigerate up to 2 hours, if desired. Combine egg and 1 tbsp water; brush over pastry bundles. Bake at 400F on lower oven rack for 25 minutes or until golden brown. Garnish with kale leaves, if desired.
Patrick and I started with only one puff pastry sheet. (The other was used in this pot pie.) And with only one puff pastry sheet this recipe was quickly halved. I used a container of the new Philadelphia Cooking Cheese spread. I meant to buy a flavored one like Garlic or Italian herb but when I got home the Original flavor was in my bag. So I added 2 cloves of minced garlic to the cheese spread and freshly chopped chives! Another note to the ingredients: we used 2 large chicken breasts cut into 3-inch little slabs.
Here's our prep station. We cut the pastry sheet into six rectangles. Then placed a dollop of the garlic and chives cream cheese spread on the pastry. Topped the cheese spread with a chicken breast and then salt and pepper.
Like so... and now they're ready to be rolled and washed in egg!
Shameless self promotion of some of our new kitchen toys! We now have some mini prep cups to feel "chef-y" and cool. And also a silicone brush for brushing liquid on things, ya know.
We brushed the chicken pastry bundles with the egg wash and baked them in the oven pretty much according to the recipe. We put the timer a little shorter than the recipe since these were smaller and checked for doneness.
Here they are! With some steam-in-a-bag garlic peas and mushrooms!
We're part of a community supporting agriculture from Brinkley Farms!! Patrick and I "bought" into this farm for shares of their goodies throughout the spring and summer season. Each week the farm sends us an email with everything they have harvested and we get to select what we want. They have three different sizes of boxes and we get the medium one.
This picture was our very first box. In the beginning of the season there are lots of green things to pick from. There are of course items we have eaten before and cooked with (spring onions, spinach, arugula) and some we have not (green garlic, buttercrunch lettuce). Each week we have committed ourselves to at least try one new thing we haven't had before.
Do you know what these are? We didn't really at first! Both are recognizable as spring onions but only one is... the one on the left! The one on the right is green garlic which is basically immature garlic. It has a milder flavor than garlic but a little stronger than the green onion. We've had fun experimenting with both. Keep reading the blog to find out how we're using all the fresh, local goodies from our CSA box.
Ideally with the CSA box we are provided with fresh vegetables for the week. And believe me there is plenty of stuff in that box. But I just could not resist heading out to the Durham Farmers Market. (This week was the first Wednesday market of the season and I usually have Wednesday's off rather than Saturday's.) Here's my wonderful addition to the box: a quart of strawberries, tomatoes, and farmers cheese from Chapel Hill Creamery. We'll use the strawberries in smoothies and quick snacks but I've also got a fun dessert idea so be sure to check that out on the blog later. We'll try the tomatoes and cheese out with our basil that's constantly growing. Basil is beating all the other herbs in our "which herb grows the fastest" race!
If you're trying new recipes with all the fresh produce coming in let us know! We love trying new recipes.
Asian night is finally here! Our feast keeps getting a little bigger... maybe because more fun people are joining in on the fun. :-) This Asian potluck is a bit of a tour over the southeastern part of the continent.
Asian Feast! Since there's so many things you'll have to match up the photo dishes below with the feast buffet line here.
Veggie Lo Mein by Chef Holly
"Boil Udon noodles. For veggies, I used a a frozen bag of Asian seasoned veggies, cook these in a skillet. You could also do fresh veggies. For the sauce, I bought some "general tsao" sauce in a little packet and then mix everything in the skillet!"
Make your own sushi by Chef Romin
"Mine was simple enough. Cooked 2 cups of brown rice in salted water. Then mixed an 8 oz. package (fat-free again) of cream cheese with 2 spoonfuls of light mayo and about 5 or 6 squirts of sriracha. Chopped up an 8 oz. package of imitation crab meat into mini-bite size portions. Then layered each ingredient, with the rice on the bottom, followed by the cream cheese and then the crab on top. Last step is a generous sprinkle of whatever that asian dried seaweed-sesame mix is." And serve with seaweed paper.
Lettuce Wraps by Chef Richard
"Fry some rice noodles for some crunch.
For the filling, saute some diced onion, bell peppers, garlic, and shiitake mushrooms. Then, add some ground chicken meat. Add some hoisin sauce, rice wine vinegar, and soy sauce. Finish by adding some sesame seeds. Layer the chicken filling over the bed of fried rice noodles.
For the sauce, mix soy sauce, hoisin sauce, chinese yellow mustard, chili sauce, rice wine vinegar, lemon juice, and sesame seeds.
Serve with your favorite type of hydroponic lettuce!"
Here's Chef Richard explaining the dish with his hydroponic lettuce.
Korean Pork Dish by Chef Mimi
This authentic recipe was from this youtube video which I have attempted to embed in the blog!
And here's Mimi's dish
Chana Masala and Naan by Chef David
An Indian dish complements of Trader Joe's :-)
Thai Chicken Soup by Chef Natalie
Recipe courtesy of the Food Network. Here's a condensed version: Ingredients: 1 tbsp vegetable oil, 1 onion, 2 cloves garlic, 2 tbsp green curry paste, 6 cups low-sodium chicken broth, 1 15-ounce can coconut milk, 1 tablespoon fish sauce (plus more to taste), 2 red bell peppers, 4 oz thin rice noodles, 2 small skinless, boneless chicken breasts, 1 tbsp fresh lime juice (plus more to taste), 1 cup roughly chopped fresh cilantro, 1 small can of bamboo shoots Directions
Heat the vegetable oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and lightly browned, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic and curry paste and cook, stirring, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the chicken broth, coconut milk and fish sauce; cover and bring to a boil.
Add the bell peppers and noodles and simmer, uncovered, until the noodles are al dente, about 3 minutes. Add the chicken and simmer until just cooked through, about 3 more minutes. Stir in the lime juice and cilantro. Add more fish sauce and lime juice, if desired.
Potstickers by Chef Tim, Sous Chef Frozen Aisle
Potstickers and Thai Chicken Soup
Beef and Noodle Stir Fry by Chef Patrick
Cook beef ramen noodles according to package directions, except drain the noodles and reserve the seasoning packet. Meanwhile trim fay from 1/2 lb sirloin steak. Cut the steak into bite-size strips; set aside. Pour 1 tbsp cooking oil into a wok or large skillet. (Add more oil as necessary during cooking.) Preheat over medium-high heat. Add 1 thinly-sliced medium carrot and 1 bias-sliced stalk celery. Stir-fry for 2 to 3 minutes or until crisp-tender. Remove the vegetables from the skillet. Add the steak strips to the hot skillet. Stir-fry for 2 to 3 minutes or to desired doneness. Return vegetables to the skillet. Stir in the noddles, reserved seasoning packet, 1 6-oz frozen pea pod packet (thawed), 1/4 c water, 1 tbsp snipped parsley, 2 tsp teriyaki sauce, 1/2 tsp ground ginger, and crushed red pepper. Cook over medium heat until heated through, stirring occasionally.
Recipe courtesy of BH&G Big Book of 30-Minute Dinners
Thai Ribs by me!
Preheat broiler. Season ribs (recipe calls for beef short ribs but I couldn't find those) with salt and pepper and set bone-side down on a broiler tray. Spray with oil and broil until the meaty parts are browned, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a slow cooker.
Mix together 4 minced garlic cloves, 2 tbsp ginger, 3 tbsp hoisin sauce, 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar, 1 1/2 tbsp fish sauce, 1 tbsp honey, 1 tbsp soy sauce, and juice and zest of 1 lime in a small bowl and pour over short ribs. Cover the cooker and cook until ribs are tender (3-4 hours on high; 6-8 hours on low).
Transfer the ribs to a platter (you can remove the bones and discard). Skim the fat from the liquid and discard. Add 1 chopped jalapeno, 3 thinly sliced scallions, and 2 tbsp cilantro and cook on high for 5 minutes. Spoon the sauce over the meat and serve.
Recipe courtesy of Art of the Slow Cooker by Andrew Schloss
Here's a quick dish perfect for a light lunch or a tasty dinner side with some marinated chicken. Recently I've been wanting to try orzo so here's my experiment! I googled around a bit and found several orzo dishes but this is the one I decided to try. I halved the recipe and it was a perfect lunch for two. Here's the original recipe though.
Veggie Orzo
2 cups orzo
1/4 cup evoo
4 cloves garlic, minced (I sliced)
1 red onion, chopped
2 cups carrots, chopped (I omitted)
2 small zucchini, sliced and quartered
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
2 lemons, juiced
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add orzo, and cook until al dente, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain, and set aside.
Meanwhile, warm olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in onion, garlic, and carrots; cook for 2 minutes. Stir in zucchini and cook for 2 minutes more. Pour in 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar and deglaze the pan. Reduce heat to medium low and season with salt and pepper. Add orzo to skillet, then stir in remaining 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar and lemon juice.
Just after adding zucchini to the skillet.
Don't forget to sprinkle on some freshly shaved parmesan!
We're branching out here on Wipeout Potluck nights and trying new things! Southern, Breakfast, Italian, and Mexican are somewhat part of our eating and cooking repertoire. But not Greek! (Or at least mine.) In my opinion we had a very successful potluck. Surprisingly no olives were present in the potluck. Browse the post and let me know what you think!
The Greek Feast! (L>R) Hummus, Pita Sammies, Moussaka, Lamb Meatballs with Feta, Eggplant Salad, Shrimp Saganaki, Greek Couscous
Lamb Meatballs with Feta prepared by Chef Romin
"Soaked a couple slices of wheat bread in water, then broke up into pieces and placed in large mixing bowl. Half a large onion, 4 cloves of garlic, salt, pepper, cayenne, a few dabs of hot sauce, and extra virgin olive oil were added to the bowl and mixed. Then added 1 lb of ground lamb + 1 lb of 93% lean ground beef. Cracked 2 eggs over the top and mixed in, along with a little more oil until it looked semi-moist. After thorough mixing, formed into balls, and stuffed with a generous amount of feta (fat-free!). Placed on a baking sheet and cooked in the oven for about 20 minutes on 400 degrees."
Eggplant Salad prepared by Chef Mimi
The recipe was found here. Mimi put her own twist on the salad by adding red onions!
Also enjoying browsing that food blog. I just found a couple of things I want to try.
Moussaka prepared by Chefs Richard & Natalie
"I will just highlight the general recipe for the moussaka because it could get complicated to explain... Meat Layer:
1 lb ground lamb with spices (cinnamon, ginger, allspice, pepper) seared and put aside.
chopped onion, bell pepper, and garlic cooked until soft.
return lamb into the same pan as the vegetables.
add 2 cups of wine and 28 oz crushed tomatoes.
add dried parsley and oregano.
let reduce for about 30 minutes. Eggplant Layer:
sliced eggplant roasted in oven with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Bechamel Sauce (ours turned out a little thick, but was according to the recipe!)
6 tbsp butter melted in pan.
add 1/2 c flour for roux, let cook.
add 2.5 c milk, nutmeg, bay leaf and continue stirring.
add 1/2 c goat cheese
Assemble in Casserole Dish (in this order):
Eggplant Layer, Meat Layer, Eggplant Layer, Bechamel Sauce
Cook in oven at 400F for about 45 min.
Think that was just about it. Tried to follow Bobby Flay's Moussaka recipe, which you can find on the Food Network website."
Editor's Note: Here's the link to Bobby Flay's recipe. If you're reading this and want more information I can put you in touch with Richard! Also Richard and Natalie's dish looks exactly like the picture from the website... and I'm sure tasted just as good!
Greek Couscous prepared by Chef Patrick
One box of wholewheat couscous tossed with spring onions and sun-dried tomatoes.
Pita Sammies prepared by Chef Holly
"Cut the pita bread into fourths, spread tzatziki sauce in the pita, then put crumbled feta cheese in the pita, then sliced tomato and sliced cucumber. Serve extra tzatziki or hummus on the side for dipping. Would also be good to add herbs, spices, or fresh basil to the pita."
Pita with Hummus provided by Chef Tim
Toasted pita wedges served with classic hummus and garlic hummus!
Shrimp Saganaki prepared by me
Adapted from the EatingWell website; the recipe can be found here
Saute fennel (1 medium bulb), scallions (5), and chile pepper (1 jalapeno) for 3 to 5 minutes, until soft and beginning to brown. Pour in wine (1/2 cup Chardonnay). Cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add lemon juice, feta (1/2 cup crumbled), and pepper to the pan and stir until the cheese begins to melt, about 1 minute. Place warmed shrimp (I used frozen, recipe uses raw and cooks it on the fennel) on top of the fennel mixture. Serve.
I mentioned in an earlier post that Patrick and I were starting some herb seedlings. We're very excited about them. As of now they have sprouted, been repotted in our creatively painted terra cotta pots, and growing like weeds (joke). They are probably growing just as expected but alas I am impatient. Patrick has discovered his inner botanist; I am eagerly awaiting cooking with these herbs. But I couldn't wait and I cheated. I bought a mature rosemary plant! Finally I can harvest! But now the plant grows and I have to harvest.
This dinner stemmed from that need. The inception of each recipe featured on the blog is varied. Sometimes I go to the store and work from what looks yummy/on sale, sometimes I just flip through a cookbook until something catches my eye, sometimes I crave something, and sometimes I start with something that needs to be used and build a dish around that... This is what happened for this recipe. I needed to use rosemary. Patrick pretty much told me I had to. I browsed around quite a bit. Cookbooks aren't much help with this. Indexes rarely feature herbs. So I turned to my trusty companion, Google. It produced a Balsamic-Rosemary Marinade from Wiliams-Sonoma (adapted from their Essentials of Grilling). Here's the recipe from the website. And here on the blog for your convenience.
Balsamic-Rosemary Marinade
Ingredients
2/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup olive oil
2 Tbs. soy sauce
4 1/2 tsp. firmly packed golden brown sugar
3/4 tsp. freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh rosemary
5 garlic cloves, chopped I halved the recipe for 3 chicken breasts and marinated for 2 1/2 hours. The website didn't provide much direction for time of marinating or amount to marinate.
In a food processor, combine the vinegar, olive oil, soy sauce, brown sugar and pepper and pulse until blended. With the motor running, drop the rosemary and garlic through the feed tube and continue to process until fairly smooth. I used my immersion blender!
Marinating chicken!!
I cut up the chicken breasts into 3 inch chunks and place them with the marinade in a ziplock bag. This was in the fridge for about 2 1/2 hours. Every 30-45 minutes or so I would squish the chicken around and toss the bag over.
Patrick made the executive decision to cook the chicken in a nonstick skillet with a little olive oil. Feel free to also roast the chicken. We served it with sauteed green beans and couscous. The marinade was very flavorful! And the bits of fresh rosemary throughout the chicken was delightful.
One night we decided to just have burgers with some of my favorite toppings - mushrooms and caramelized onions. We also roasted some sweet potato wedges in spices and olive oil to make fries. Things went ok; the burger could have been cooked less, and the fries were a bit charred, but the biggest success for me was my first time making caramelized onions.
Requires patience, but worth it!
Mushrooms and onions and cheddar!
Whitney bought four buns, so on a subsequent night we used the leftover buns to make these tuna hoagies. They were delicious!
Hot Tuna Hoagies (BH&G Big Book of 30-Minute Dinners)
1 1/2 cups packaged shredded cabbage with carrot (coleslaw mix)
1-9 1/4 oz can tuna (water pack), drained and broken into chunks
2 tbsp mayonnaise or salad dressing
2 tbsp buttermilk ranch, creamy cucumber, or creamy Parmesan salad dressing
2 hoagie buns, split and toasted
2 oz cheddar cheese or Swiss cheese, thinly sliced
1. In a medium mixing bowl toss together shredded cabbage with carrot and tuna. In a small mixing bowl stir together mayonnaise or salad dressing and ranch, cucumber, or Parmesan salad dressing. Toss salad dressing mixture with tuna mixture.
2. Spread tuna mixture evenly on the 4 bun halves. Place on the unheated rack of a broiler pan. Broil 4 to 5 minutes from the heat for 2 to 3 minutes or until heated through. Top with cheese. Broil 30 to 60 seconds more or until cheese is melted.
It's Easter time! On my last day off I decorated a little. I'm validating this as a post because one is a centerpiece for the table where we eat yummy things. And both of these decorations could've potentially been centerpieces but Patrick wanted to put his on the coffee table. Let the eggs inspire you!
You might recognize this as my punch bowl from Christmas! It was also previously housing the glorious cupcakes Patrick and his mom made but I flipped it over for the punch bowl for this decoration. I placed it on a lovely pastel colored place mat, put some green grass in the bottom, and then piled it with as many pastel Easter eggs as I could! The wonderful flowers are an addition from Tim.
And here's Patrick's decoration. I stumbled across these wonderful glittery eggs on a stick at the Dollar Store! I was so excited. I walked around with them a bit trying to figure out what I could do with them. Then I found one of those green foam blocks you stick artificial flowers in. Perfect! So I put the foam block in this bowl from Cole's Pottery covered it with more green grass and poked in the glittery eggs. Finally I topped the green grass with a little treat... Easter Kisses! mwah!
Be on the lookout for a little Easter fun at some point. Hopefully there will be some Easter egg coloring.
How are your Easter decorations coming?? Have you pulled out the pastel eggs yet?!