Salmon Fish Tacos

So Chris NEVER asks me to cook anything, he always just says whatever I want to cook is good enough for him since I get bored too easily. I planned last week to make salmon of some sort, probably salmon teriyaki, and maybe make fish tacos since I had ingredients for it. When I told Chris though he got really excited about fish tacos, and at that point I had to make them. I went to the freezer though to find only one piece of catfish left, meaning I'd need more first. Thus, salmon fist tacos. They turned out super good and are really fast to make. It's really just making your crema and grilling (stove top for me) your fish.

Serves: Two

Ingredients:

1 salmon fillet (whatever size really)

1/2 cup sour cream

1/4 cup to 1/2 cup of your favorite salsa

2 limes

1 small bunch of cilantro chopped (to the base of the stems)

1/4 onion chopped

1 jalapeno chopped

1/2-1 bag of cabbage or a head of it sliced (depends on how many people you want to serve/how many veggies you like on your tacos)

6-8 corn tortillas

salt and pepper to taste

1. Take your salmon fillet and generously salt and pepper it on both sides. You can also add some cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, whatever you want to season it. Then heat a skillet to medium heat and add the salmon once hot. It should cook about 2-3 minutes per side.

2. While the salmon is cooking chop your veggies and combine with the sour cream and salsa. Take one lime and add the juice of half first, then taste and add more if desired. Season to taste with salt or more sour cream/salsa.

3. Also take your tortillas and put them between two paper towels or two plates and warm them in the microwave for like 30 seconds (or a minute if frozen).

4. Once your salmon has cooked for about 5-6 minutes chop it up with a spatula and turn off the burner. Let the salmon finish cooking and prep an assembly line for people to make tacos. I usually like to add some crema then salmon then crema and cabbage to top it off.

5. Serve with limes and enjoy!

Salmon with Lentils and Chive Butter

Waiting to go home this week seems to have some-what zapped my cooking inspiration. I am really excited to cook but not so invigorated about thinking about what to cook. Kind of a catch-22 there. Yesterday I sat down determined to figure out what I wanted to get at the store before I went to sleep and this was one of the recipes that came from it. I got it from epicurious.com, I believe from an old Bon App. magazine. Speaking of which I hear their revamped style is interesting...it's something I'll have to check out later this summer.

As a heads up this recipe calls for French lentils which I know can be hard to find. At least it always takes my mom about 3-4 stores back home to find them...maybe they are more common over here in St. Louis since Katie and I found them in bulk at Whole Foods. Super exciting and super cheap! Lien, if you can find these when you get back to the states it is a super easy recipe. You should still make the salmon part though since you can do that without fancy stuff.

Ingredients:

Salmon:
two Salmon fillets (enough for two people to eat)
2 tbl butter

Chive Butter:
4 tbs butter
1 tbs chopped chives
2 tsp mustard (preferably whole grain)
1 tsp lemon juice

Lentils:
1 cup French lentils
4 cups water
2 medium size leeks, chopped white and pale green part only
1 tbs butter
1 tbs lemon juice

Preparation:

1. Make the chive butter. Combine all the ingredients. If you did not take out your butter to come to room temp. beforehand you can just zap it in the microwave for about 10 seconds. Season to taste.

2. Start the lentils. Add them in a pot with the water. Bring them to a boil and then lower it to a simmer and cook for 20-25 minutes until the lentils are tender. Take off the stove and let them sit for about 5 minutes. Then reserve 1/2 cup of cooking liquid and drain the rest of the lentils.

3. Towards the middle of the lentil's cooking time, slice the leeks, thinly and then wash them. Its easier this way since leeks some times have dirt one-two layers down. In a skillet melt 1 tbs of butter, and then saute the leeks for 6-8 minutes until soft.

4. At the same time, melt the 2 tbs of butter for the salmon. Pat the salmon dry and then season with salt and pepper on both sides. Cook the salmon until done. About 6-8 minutes depending on the thickness.

5. While the salmon is cooking, add the lentils to the leeks when they are soft. Add three tbs of the chive butter and season with lemon juice and salt and pepper. Cook until lentils are warm through.

6. Once the salmon is done serve on top of the lentils with chive butter.

Yum, yum.

Honey and Oven-Dried Tomato Bruschettas

Hello again! Rachel is back thanks to not having student teaching any more and being unable to look for a summer job as yet.

So for class this week we were asked to bring in food for a potluck. Katie (Missouri one...yes, Bordo there is another Katie in my life :-P) and I were super excited to get to make food. She wants to start a pastry shop too. Anyways, I immediately decided on the Bruschettas in this post because well, they are like crack for me, and, wait for it...they get me to eat tomatoes! Katie made this wonderful smoked salmon dip, even though we ate it tonight instead of last night at class. Still delicious! And super easy...so Lien, I will reiterate how to make that at the end of this post too.

For the Bruschettas though, here we go. (Lien you can improvise this if you want with pre-bought sun-dried tomatoes.)

1 lb of grape or cherry tomatoes
2 tablespoons of honey plus more for drizzling
2 tablespoons of olive oil (I always eyeball this...so maybe a little more?)
1 teaspoon of thyme
a few dashes of salt

Fresh chopped basil
Fresh sliced mozzarella cheese (the baby kind in the milky-looking liquid)
Fresh Baguette, sliced

Olive oil for brushing

Honey for drizzling
Balsamic Vinegar for Drizzling

1. Pre-heat oven to 300 degrees.

2. Cut the tomatoes in half, length wise and stick in to a large bowl. Add the next ingredients, through the salt and mix. I always like my tomatoes to be really coated, mostly because when you cook the tomatoes the liquid gets all syrupy and caramelized on the bottom and is delicious! Anyways, add more honey and olive oil as you see fit. Lien, this does not mean add A LOT, but add another teaspoon if you think it is needed.

3. On a parchment lined baking pan pour your tomatoes. The parchment isn't THAT necessary, it just mostly makes clean up a heck of a lot easier. Line all your tomatoes up, so they are cut side facing up. Put them in the oven and let them cook for about 1 hour and a half. I usually do an hour an 40 minutes but it depends on your oven. The tomatoes should be just starting to brown. Take them out and let them cool to room temperature. They can be kept in a container in the fridge for a few days as well. Bring them back to room temperature to serve.

4. Turn your oven up to 450 degrees for the bread. Cut the bread into thin slices for the bruschettas. They should be about 1/2 thick. Then put them on a baking sheet and brush them with olive oil on both sides. Put them in the oven and cook for about 3 minutes, until they are just starting to brown as well and get crispy.

5. Meanwhile take out your mozzarella and begin to slice thinly. Once the bread is done place three to four mozzarella slices on top. Then add the tomatoes, chopped basil, and drizzle all of them with honey and balsamic vinegar. Then enjoy!

And then for Katie's fabulous salmon dip. She said, if I remember correctly:  get one container of sour cream, a block of cream cheese, a pallet (one thing of Trader Joe's size) lox (so the smoked salmon you put on BAGELS, not the flaky cured stuff), some sprigs of fresh dill, and the juice of one lemon. Put that all together in a food processor/Cuisinart and blend it all together. Then serve with crackers.

Now I want to have an appetizer party. I'll keep you posted on that one...

Miso Salmon and Lemony Green Beans

I'm trying to recreate dishes that I've had from restaurants. I went to a place called Garlic Joe's in Newport Beach with friends once, and we all liked the miso salmon. I also like green beans from Bucca di Beppo because it's super lemony and perfectly cooked.

Miso Salmon:
1 pound salmon (that's an estimate, I had four good-sized pieces)
1/8 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon hot water
1 tablespoon miso
splash of vinegar

Lemony Green Beans:
Juice from half a lemon
Zest from said lemon
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon butter
half an onion
1 pound green beans

1. OMG my dad cooked my salmon that I was defrosting when I wasn't home! Noooo. Well anyway, take your salmon and lay if on a piece of foil. Set your oven to 450 to broil, as the original recipe said. Today, I used my toaster oven.


2. Mix the rest of the ingredients for the miso sauce. Lay some of the sauce on the bottoms of the fish, and spread some on the top. Reserve some sauce for basting later.

3. Broil for about 12 minutes or until the fish is flaky. Halfway through the broiling, put more miso sauce on top of the fish.


4. For the green beans, start off by microwaving your green beans for about 90 seconds, so that the beans are halfway cooked.

5. Zest your lemon. Combine the juice, sugar, and salt in a bowl. The green beans from Bucca are really lemony, so if the mixture is too sour, add more sugar.

6. Cook the onions in some oil on medium or medium-high until browned. Add the lemon juice mixture and the green beans.


7. When your green beans are almost fully cooked, add the butter. It's ready to serve when the butter melts in.

Taa-daa! Serve with some rice.