Around 2 pounds of salmon deboned Eight or so scallions finely chopped About a cup of parsley finely chopped Two tablespoons of butter Half cup white wine Maldon sea salt Piece of parchment paper big enough to fold over salmon Baking pan
Preheat oven to 325º
Sauté scallions and parsley in butter until soft. Add wine and burn off. Lay salmon on parchment. Sprinkle salmon with salt. Spoon scallion and parsley mixture over salmon and fold over the parchment paper. Bake at 325º until it reaches 145º. I usually start checking at 20 minutes.
Four tomatoes, diced Two cucumbers, diced One red pepper, diced Half red onion if it’s big, diced Half cup chopped parsley Three lemons juiced Third of a cup of olive oil Maldon sea salt
Cut the tomatoes up first and sprinkle the salt on them to marinate while you do everything else.
Sushi rice (I just make short grain rice with some salt) cooled Carrot and cucumber strips marinated in seasoned rice vinegar Avocado slices Tuna in mayo (could use Kewpie mayo) Toasted Nori sheets cut in half Water to seal
Layer ingredients in a pile on a diagonal and roll, seal with water
Serve with wasabi, soy sauce, pickled ginger, rice, yuzu drink
Bake rice: Oven 375º. Square, lidded Pyrex dish. 2 cups short grain brown rice. 3 cups boiling water. Salt. Around a tablespoon of oil. Combine and bake for 50 minutes.
Bake chicken: Square, lidded Pyrex dish. 4 chicken breast halves. Salt and pepper. Cover and bake for 25 minutes in oven with rice.
Make sauce: Around a 1/2 cup of soy sauce, a heaping spoon of cornstarch. Combine. Then add around a 1/3 cup rice cooking wine, a good splash of sesame oil and a few pressed garlic cloves. Stir together.
Cut vegetables: 1 onion sliced into stripes. 3 carrots sliced on the diagonal. 1 red and 1 yellow pepper sliced into stripes. Small head of cauliflower cut into florets. 2 small heads of broccoli cut into florets.
Chicken: Remove from oven when ready and cut into cubes.
Make stir-fry: Heat lidded pan/wok with a little oil. Add onions and maybe a little salt. Sautee for a few minutes. Add carrots and a little water. Cover for a few minutes. Add cauliflower and a little water. Cover for a few minutes. Add peppers and a little water. Cover for a few minutes. Add broccoli and a little water. Cover for a few minutes. Uncover and add chicken, add sauce, add more water if needed, turn up heat and stir until sauce thickens. Serve over rice and sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds.
The first time I had stuffed eggplant was near Cappadocia in Turkey. We were having a cultural immersion dinner. It was a much oilier version, but still it was progress for me on the eggplant front. Our host lived on a hill; her ‘house’ was a collection of little stone buildings and outdoor spaces. There was an outdoor eating area under grape vines, but it was too chilly. We ate in a little one room building with big windows and sitting pillows. She served us with her well-worn (probably unwashed) hands. Afterwards, she plied us with some knitted gloves we were told she made. I believe it since they looked like something my great aunt Ruthie would make at the senior center. Of course we bought some. They’re down in the basement somewhere. I was going to take a picture of her with my daughters before we left and she went about covering her face. Our guide explained that she can’t have her face photographed and suddenly I felt intrusive and said, “no worries I will just take pictures of the house.” As I think back, maybe she did want her picture taken with her face covered. I hadn’t asked.
Moonstruck. That’s the restaurant in New Jersey where I first had this. My mother went out of her way to support the owners when they first opened, telling everyone to go there, but Howard and Luke always seemed unhappy to see her. We would end up there because it was better than anything else in Ocean Grove. I wasn’t sure if I liked this at first because it was so, so tart, but cool and creamy. I didn’t know it was a southern specialty or anything about the key lime destruction story. I didn’t know anything about key limes until I bought something called Key West Lime Juice and yuck. I’ve ordered real key limes a few times. At first they were great, but then I started getting batches with a lot of bad ones so I gave up. Now I spend $24 bucks a year for a bottle of real key lime juice—Florribean.
Oven 375º with rack in middle Butter and parchment line bottom and sides of 10” spring form 1 1/2 packets graham crackers crushed Stir in 4 tablespoons of melted butter and 1/4 cup sugar Press mixture gently into bottom of pan Bake 8 minutes Let cool Reduce oven to 350º Beat 6 egg yolks and add one can of sweetened condensed milk Save whites for pavlova Mix in thoroughly 3/4 cup Florribean Key Lime Juice Pour mixture through sieve over crust and tap to release bubbles Bake 15 minutes Let cool, cover pan with foil and refrigerate
Core green cabbage and put in large stockpot of boiling water. Peel off leaves with tongs as they become loose and pliable. Put on plate to wait. Empty water when finished and use same stockpot for making rolls.
In stock pot, make sauce. 1 large onion finely diced and half stick of butter, salt, pepper, saute until onion translucent. Add 1 16oz. can of tomato sauce/pureé/crushed. Add two heaping tablespoons of brown sugar. Bring to a boil and simmer. You can also add 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar and/or a teaspoon of smoked paprika.
Make filling. 1 1/2 pounds of ground beef, 1 cup or so of already cooked rice, 2 or 3 garlic cloves pressed, salt, pepper, egg, Worcestershire sauce. Mix. Put 1/3 cup in each leaf, roll like a burrito, place seam side down in sauce and simmer for 45 minutes.
Heat olive oil, add salt, add onion, cook until turning translucent, add garlic, wait a minute or two, add chili powder, stir around for a minute, add tomato paste, stir around for a couple minutes, add chicken broth, add water, add hominy, add chicken. Bring to a boil and simmer for awhile.
Top with cilantro sprigs, thinly sliced radishes, avocado slices, squeeze over some lime, then crushed blue chips.
If I feel like it. Sometimes I’m tired of cooking and I just throw the turkey carcass away.
Cooking equipment I used:
8 quart stock pot
8 cup Pyrex measuring cup
Strainer
For the broth:
Turkey carcass
1 large carrot roughly broken
2 celery stalks roughly broken
2 bay leaves
1 yellow onion quartered with skin on
1 teaspoon peppercorns
1 teaspoon salt
2 sprigs of parsley
Put all ingredients in large stockpot add enough water to cover or just about cover the turkey. Bring to a boil then simmer for two hours or so skimming off any foamy stuff around the edge. Take out the big pieces and then strain into another pot or bowl big enough to hold the broth.
For the soup:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 yellow onion medium dice
3 carrots sliced thinish
3 celery stalks sliced thinish
3 cups turkey meat pulled apart
1 tablespoon poultry seasoning (or half teaspoon each of sage, thyme, marjoram rosemary, pepper— I leave out the nutmeg due to allergies)
1 teaspoon salt—taste to adjust after a little while
3/4 cup Madeira wine
1/2 pound wild rice or mixed wild rice like Lundberg wild blend
All the broth plus water if needed
In a stockpot/soup pot add one tablespoon olive oil, teaspoon of salt and add onion, celery and carrot and cook on medium-high until softened. Add poultry season stir for a minute so it can bloom. Add 3/4 cup Madiera wine and turn heat to high and reduce about half. Add broth, turkey, rice and water if needed (I add water if needed to bring level up to about 4/5 of stockpot) bring to a boil, simmer for a few hours. Spoon off any foamy stuff around edge.
