Taiga Salmon

This is not identical to the Russian dish of the same name, but it's a close recreation that's both tasty and easy.

*note... I used a baking stone because this salmon dish was always served on a hot stone in the restaurants we visited, and it does seem to make a difference in how well everything bakes. But I'm certain this recipe would work with a regular baking dish or jelly roll pan (that's a cookie sheet with sides, just to be clear).

What you need:

Large salmon fillet

Potatoes Au Gratin, boxed instant (I think we used "Idahoan")

---ingredients necessary for boxed potatoes (typically water, milk, butter)

Tomatoes, sliced

Fresh dill, chopped

How to do it:

1. With a baking stone already in oven, preheat oven according to box instructions. Our box indicated 450°.

2. As oven heats, prepare potatoes. When ready, grease stone with light spray of olive oil. Rinse salmon, place on stone and lightly spray salmon with olive oil. Place potato dish on middle rack and salmon stone on rack directly under potatoes.

3. Bake 20 minutes or as indicated by box instructions.

4. When potatoes are finished (ours had five additional minutes after sprinkling parmesan), remove from oven along with salmon stone. Pat up any excess oil from stone with paper towel if necessary. Spoon potatoes onto salmon and garnish with tomatoes and dill. Serve.

Spaghetti Squash

This is spaghetti squash.

It is super good for you (very low-carb), and it is super yummy. 

It isn't really meant to be a replacement for spaghetti as far as taste goes, but you can eat it the same way.

Spaghetti squashes are round and yellow. A 2-lb. squash can easily feed a family of four, depending on how big you like your spaghetti servings. 

They can be cooked in the oven, but it's so fast and easy to do it in the microwave! 

Poke holes with a knife or fork all around the squash (this will allow steam to escape while it cooks-- very important for avoiding explosions). Poke deep. 

Place squash in a bowl or on a plate in the microwave and cook for 4-6 minutes per pound. You may want to turn the squash halfway through. 

When it is done, check the skin for softness. It will still feel like a tough shell, but you will be able to easily push and dent it. 

Let it cool enough for handling, then slice the squash in half. Pick out any seeds you can find (or leave that for last, when you've pulled out all the strands). 

Using a fork, scrape the sides of the squash. The "meat" will come away in strands, much like spaghetti. 

You can scrape all the way to the shell. 

If you only need to use half of the squash, place the other half in a large Ziploc in the fridge. Stores well.

Butternut Squash Soup

This soup is incredible. It's more like a bisque with its creamy, rich texture. It's restaurant quality (if we're talking about the best restaurants out there). The first time I had it was years ago when we were invited to the home of a woman who was hosting a Russian pianist. Michael speaks Russian and loves music, so she wanted us there to help welcome him. The entire evening was perfect, but I have especially remembered that soup with great fondness. :)

Butternut Squash Soup
printable version

3 cups peeled, diced butternut squash (about 1 small)
2 cups thinly sliced carrot (4 medium)
3/4 cup chopped onion (I used 3/4 tsp onion powder as an emergency sub)
1 TBS butter
2 14-oz cans (that's 3 1/2 cups) reduced-sodium chicken broth (my favorite is Swanson's)
1/4 tsp ground white pepper (black will work)
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 cup half-n-half or light cream (while making pumpkin pie for Christmas, I learned from my niece Autumn that evaporated milk can be a substitute for this)
toasted pumpkin seeds as garnish (optional)

I peeled and diced the squash and carrots the night before. It's not hard, just a little time-consuming. Make sure you peel the squash past the "rind." (If you slice the ends first, it will be easier to see how deep you need to go).
All of these substitutions I've noted on here are what I did. The soup was amazing even so...but I have to say, following the recipe exactly will give you the very best version of this soup. Especially when it comes to white pepper. 

In a large covered saucepan cook squash, carrot and leek in hot butter over medium heat about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add broth. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 25 to 35 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Cool slightly.

Place one-third of the squash mixture in a food processor or blender. Cover and process or blend until almost smooth. Repeat with remaining squash mixture. Return all of mixture to the saucepan.
Add white pepper and nutmeg; bring just to boiling.
Add half-n-half; heat through.

Serve hot! 

(Optional: garnish with toasted pumpkin seeds).

Cheesy Pasta

This is an easy emergency dinner or a comforting snack when you need something warm.

Cheesy Pasta

printable version

Cook some noodles (any kind--I used egg noodles). 

Over hot noodles, sprinkle: 

grated mozzarella

parmesan cheese 

garlic salt

Microwave 30 seconds if necessary to melt cheese. 

Quick Cooking Chili

This is very easy, and it is very quick. It is perfectly satisfying and makes great leftovers, too, since the flavors just blend even more (as with most soups or chilis). I have a more complicated chili recipe, and there's a reason it's so deluxe, but this one is a great recipe to go to for the regular shortcut.

Quick Cooking Chili
printable version

1 lb. ground beef
1 medium onion, diced
1 fresh green pepper, diced (optional)
2 cans (10.75 oz each) tomato soup
1 can water
2 cups cooked red beans, rinsed and drained (close to 2 cans, 15 oz. each)
1 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp Tabasco sauce (or taco seasoning)
1 TBS molasses OR brown sugar
salt and pepper to taste

Brown the ground beef in pan. Drain.
Add diced onion and cook until tender.
Add green pepper, soup, water, and cooked red beans.
Add spices to taste.
Cook for 20 minutes on low heat on stovetop, stirring occasionally.

Chicken Broccoli Casserole

Doesn't everyone have a recipe for this dish? Seems like it's one of those meals. This is my own compilation, adapted from other versions of the recipe. It is quite good, and it has a little more flavor to it than some of the simpler versions.

Chicken Broccoli Casserole

printable version

4 skinned boneless chicken breast halves
1 lb. broccoli florets, cooked/steamed
* * *
1 (10.75 oz.) can cream of mushroom soup
1 (10.75 oz.) can cream of chicken soup
3/4 cup milk
* * *
1 minced garlic clove
1/8 tsp onion powder
1/8 tsp italian seasoning
tiny pinch of powdered ginger
* * *
1 cup dry stuffing mix (or crushed Chex)
1 cup cheddar cheese, grated

Boil chicken and cut or shred.
Layer in 9x13 pan: chicken, steamed broccoli.
In separate bowl, mix soups, milk and spices. Spread over broccoli.
Sprinkle cheese over mixture.
Sprinkle stuffing mix or cereal over cheese.

Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.

Salmon Again!

I felt very enouraged by how easy my Salmon Pesto Mayo recipe is, so I did some experimenting and came up with another keeper. It's amazing.

With our very large salmon fillet, I used about 1/3 cup mayo.

Then I added (without measuring, sorry):
a drizzle of olive oil
a few big drips of lemon juice
generous dashings of salmon seasoning (yeah, totally cheating there)
thin sprinkling layer of smoked paprika (smoked is very different from regular, trust me).

Stir well! Broil salmon, spread sauce on it, broil again till sauce is bubbly. :) Follow pesto mayo recipe for cooking directions.

It is really good. I ate it during a week that I thought salmon sounded kind of gross, with all my pregnancy food-yuckiness, but Michael brought salmon home...and well, it was amazing. SO good.

Rice

Well, I've learned that some people have never made rice without a rice cooker. I've been told some of the advantages of using one, but they were so unimportant to me that I've already forgotten what they were. Not to be snooty, I'm just saying. Learn this way too.

1. Usually 2 parts water to 1 part rice, but read the instructions (and that right there sums up this post, I guess).
2. Put in pan together, bring to boil (as in, DON'T bring the water to a boil and then add rice)
3. Turn heat to low/simmer. 
4. Set timer for 20 minutes. 
5. Stir a couple times if you want, not really necessary.
6.  Makes about 4 cups cooked rice. 
7. With brown rice*, just let it cook for 45 minutes instead of 20, but the rules are the same.  

*Brown rice will never get as soft as white rice does--it just has a different texture. As for wild rice, I don't know how different that stuff is, I've never cooked with it yet (I hated it as a kid but now I think it's cool).

That's it.
Now here's what I always do in addition to that basic recipe:

With 2 cups of water and 1 cup of rice, I add 1 TBS butter and a few dashes of salt (like I shake the shaker over it all a few times). And sometimes I add the littlest bit of extra water and let the rice sit just a few minutes longer than 20 so that it will be soft for sure. I really like soft rice--it can be eaten "al dente" like some noodles, but...yeah, it's up to you.
Then I consider the rice PERFECT.

Here are some fun things you can try in your cooking!

Cook the rice with coconut milk instead of water. (This also makes a great dish when you add sliced sausage and black beans, yum!)

Add a sprinkle of cinnamon! Be generous if you want, it's a very subtle hint of flavor.

Add sugar! 

Omit butter/salt and drop a bouillon cube or ~1 tsp granules. 

Experiment!




Here are some simple and cheap rice dishes (with finished, cooked rice):

The sausage one mentioned above-- use hot-dog-like sausages, not ground. I don't remember which kind is best, but usually something spicy. I want to say German. Even though this is a southern dish. Add black beans and sausage to cooked rice, continue to cook till everything's hot. Very good.

Put some cream of chicken soup over the rice. Serve with biscuits, too, if you want.

Add a generous sprinkle of sugar and pour a little bit of milk over the rice. Hot or cold, your preference. Kind of an old people cereal, but it's kind of tasty! :)

Add scrambled eggs, diced ham, teensy-chopped chives, and perhaps peas... and stick it in a frying pan to stir fry till everything's hot. Fried rice!

GOURMET

You have to try my salmon recipe. And then even better, you have to try it with a layer of thin-sliced raw almonds under the pesto mayo. WOW! WOW! It was perfect, it was amazing. How can I convince you?
I do not like weird crunchy things with dishes when the crunch seems to interrupt. I don't like M&Ms in my ice cream...I don't really even like sprinkles in it. I don't like fruit blobs in my yogurt. I've only recently come to not mind celery in my soup. Maybe you don't care, but that's why it's important to use thin-sliced almonds. They're not quite slivers, don't get almond splinters or anything. When they roasted under the sauce on the salmon, they softened enough that they simply added a deluxe chew to the dish, and the flavor was incredible.

*NOTE: since this is such a forgiving dish, you could technically mix the almonds into the sauce before spreading it on the salmon. The reason I wouldn't is I think the almonds wouldn't soften QUITE as much, and their flavor wouldn't seep into the salmon QUITE as well. But I'm absolutely certain it would still be really delicious. (Just don't put the almonds on TOP of the sauce because they will turn black within seconds. In which case, you scrape it all off and try again...like I said, it's a forgiving dish! I know. I've learned).*

That's what we made for my birthday dinner, a repeat of Michael's birthday dinner (differences: didn't blend side dishes, had pre-made rice so didn't add cinnamon, used a little more sauce, bla bla, I just went with it). It's just so good...a favorite for both of us! Here's the full menu:

• Salmon Pesto Mayo with Almonds (just pack them on the salmon in a somewhat generous layer, then spoon the sauce over; it will probably spill on the sides a bit, doesn't matter)
• Rice (make sure you use butter and salt when you cook it-- you can even add a sprinkle of cinnamon for a subtle, mysterious hint of luxury)
• Freshly sliced avacado (when it's cold it's an even awesomer blend with the salmon flavor. You can eat it separate, or you can dish the slices onto your rice, or you can take a bite of it with the salmon-- it's all good)
• Sauteed mushrooms
• Some kind of romantically sparkling drink (we used pear this time-- yum!)

Maybe a professional chef would tell me that these foods don't go together. But that chef would probably change their mind after tasting it all, because all these foods have a sultry, buttery taste that's contrasting enough between them all to add variety but close enough to keep the meal as one delicious experience from taste to taste. It's amazing, I'm serious. The avacado smooths into the salmon flavors and just...ahhh...and the rice butters it up with a warm new texture, and the sauteed mushrooms are the perfect touch for romance. Of course, the salmon tops it all. It is so, so, sooooo fantastic.

Also? This is all really fast and easy. Especially if you made the rice ahead of time (if not, rice cooks in about 20 minutes) (for all you rice-cooker-addicts, I will do a post of how to make rice...yeah, I'm not kidding).
The salmon, depending on its thickness, broils in about ten minutes, usually less.
The avacado? You slice it.
The sauteed mushrooms take something like...I don't know, less than ten minutes.
Ding! That's it!

The only thing not on the menu this time around was the glazed pineapple. That's okay. But it's a really wonderful dessert to top it all off.
But...and please don't get tired of me for saying this, I can hardly help myself...I didn't even feel like I needed dessert because the flavors were so delicious and perfect that I wanted them to sit in my mouth all evening. Mmmm.

Salmon Pesto Mayo

Before you gasp in disgust, let me inform you: that salmon is supposed to be green. I'm sorry--I tried to take a flattering picture, but the lighting just disagreed with my camera. And...heh heh, the avacado got away from me when I tried to place it artistically to the side...(and trust me, the avacado did fit in with the meal--it went with a side dish).

This was the most delicious salmon I have ever tasted in my life. In my life. And I made it! Me! Ha, I call myself a chef for fun with this blog, but whoa, this was some magic gourmet coming from my kitchen. Oh yeah, and guess what, it was easy. But don't tell everybody that because I'm still impressed with myself.

Salmon Pesto Mayo

printable version of this deluxeness

4 5-6 oz. fresh or frozen skinless salmon fillets (or one gigantic fillet, it doesn't matter especially)

1/4 cup mayonnaise or salad dressing (use mayo--and I'll admit, when I first read the title, I thought it was something fancier than mayo and pronounced it "My-o" and thought "ooooh")

3 TBS purchased basil pesto (I bought a little package of dry mix)

Shaved Parmesan cheese (optional--I totally forgot about it)

1. Thaw fish, if frozen. Rinse fish; pat dry with paper towels. Measure thickness of fish.

2. Place fish fillets on the GREASED unheated rack of a broiler pan, tucking under thin edges.

Broil 4 inches from the heat for 4 to 6 minutes per 1/2 inch thickness or until fish begins to flake when tested with a fork. (If fillets are 1 inch or more thick, carefully turn once half-way through broiling).

3. Meanwhile, for topping, in a small bowl stir together mayonnaise and pesto. Spoon mayonnaise mixture over fillets. Broil about 1 minute more or until topping is bubbly. If desired, garnish with shaved Parmesan cheese.

It was quick (SUPER quick--under 10 minutes, I'm sure) and easy and SOOOOO good!!!!!

Special thanks to my fabulous cookbook, Better Homes and Gardens. At least I think that's the cookbook I used.

I served rice with the salmon. It's not really worth a recipe spot, but I'll tell you how it was special: Brown rice cooked traditionally with a sprinkling of cinnamon & sugar. Topped with fresh avacado and sauteed mushrooms. Isn't that weird? It was extremely delicious. The flavors blended into a sultry, divine dish. I don't even know how I got the idea--it kind of worries me sometimes what recipe ideas I get, so I'm just glad this worked. I don't know why I felt so sure about going on with it, but I'm just glad.

Easy Meatballs

It's always an insult when a recipe calls itself Easy Something-or-other and it really isn't easy.

Thankfully, this isn't one of those recipes. It's just easy. And yummy.

Easy Meatballs

printable version

1 lb. ground beef (ground turkey makes really nice meatballs, too--almost like Swedish meatballs!)

1 egg

2 TBS water

1/2 cup bread crumbs (about 1 slice--I liked it with my dense homemade wheat bread, too)

1/4 cup minced onion (or in a pinch, 1/4 tsp onion powder)

1/2 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

I like to add a generous sprinkling of Pizza Seasoning or Italian Seasoning...or any other favorite spice, depending on the mood and meal.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In large bowl combine egg, water, bread crumbs, onion, salt and pepper. Add ground beef, broken into chunks, and mush with your hands to combine. Call me preppy, but EW. I just use the hand mixer, it doesn't matter. Form into meatballs about 1" in diameter and place on a broiler pan (spray with PAM first).

I used a TBS measurer to scoop out uniform meatballs. They can be little or big, this recipe works either way.

Bake for 25-30 minutes (I prefer 30) until meatballs are no longer pink in center.

Serve fresh and hot -or- cool the meatballs and freeze them for later use.

This is a broiler pan:

Just in case you were wondering...because sometimes I don't know as much as my recipes presume! ;) I have often found this kind of pan abandoned in the drawer under the oven whenever we've moved. I would suppose the previous tenants didn't know what to do with it?

The only downside of these meatballs: if you use too much onion, you could maybe get yucky onion burps...at least, I do...the onion powder is a little gentler. On me. Just saying.

Cornbread

I have always loved cornbread. That's all.

HAH! It would be all, but I have to say--because I'm quite proud actually--that now Michael loves cornbread, too. He raved over it the last time I baked it. :) Aw, it made my little chef heart blossom with pleasure.

Cornbread

printable version

1 cup flour

3/4 cup cornmeal

2 to 3 TBS sugar (I had used 3 the night Michael was so enamored with it--it just makes it a tad sweeter)

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

1 TBS butter

2 eggs, beaten

1 cup milk

1/4 cup cooking oil or melted butter (I generally use oil)

Preheat oven to 400*. In a medium bowl stir together flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

Add the 1 TBS butter to a 9x1 1/2-inch round baking pan (all my life my mom used a 9x13 casserole dish for cornbread; it's handy for feeding a crowd, but I like the cakelike result of using a round pan). Place in oven about 3 minutes or until butter melts. Remove pan from oven; swirl butter in pan to coat bottom and sides of pan.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl combine eggs, milk and oil. Add mixture all at once to flour mixture. Stir just until moistened. Pour batter into hot pan.

Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near center comes out clean (that same night that Michael fell in love with this cornbread, I actually baked it 20-25 minutes till it was golden and crusty on the edges). Cut into wedges and serve warm.

We love buttering ours and drizzling honey over it. Mmmmm.

Variation:

Corn Muffins - Prepare as above, except omit the TBS butter. Spoon batter into 12 greased 2 1/2-inch muffin cups, filling cups two-thirds full. Bake in a 400* oven about 15 minutes or until light brown (and pass toothpick test).

Homemade Macaroni and Cheese

I LOVE this.

I have ALWAYS loved this.

Homemade Macaroni and Cheese

printable version

(Optional) Bake: 350* for 20 to 25 minutes

2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni (7 oz.)

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp ground mustard

1/4 tsp Worcestershire sauce (can do without if necessary)

2 cups milk

2 cups shredded or cubed Cheddar cheese (8 oz.)

If baking, heat oven to 350*. My sister Liz likes to leave the dish creamy and saves herself the baking time. It's good both ways; I prefer it baked just because it feels like proof that it's homemade (and it's how my mom always made it).

Cook macaroni as directed on package. While macaroni is cooking, melt butter in 3-quart saucepan over low heat. Stir in flour, salt, pepper, mustard and Worcestershire sauce. Those first 4 ingredients are your basic white sauce. Cook over medium low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is smooth and bubbly; remove from heat.

Stir in milk. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute.

Stir in cheese. Cook, stirring occasionally, until cheese is melted.

Drain macaroni. Gently stir macaroni into cheese sauce. Pour into non-greased 2-quart casserole dish. Here's where you'd stop if you prefer it creamy.

Bake uncovered 20 to 25 minutes.

Easily doubled; pour drained noodles into serving dish, then pour cheese sauce over noodles and stir gently.

Deluxe version: add different varieties of cheese, such as velveeta, either as a blend with the original or in place of the original. Same with noodles! Try other kinds, either blended with or replacing original noodles.

Nice topped with sprinkling of pepper and sliced tomatoes.

Ranch Pork Roast

I love recipes you can memorize! This meal made me proud the first time I made it--Michael declared it an instant favorite! It's been my go-to recipe for a long time.

Ranch Pork Roast

printable version

a 2.5 lb boneless pork shoulder roast

Nonstick Cooking Spray (important)

1 lb new red-skinned potatoes, halved

10.75 oz can condensed cream of chicken soup

8 oz. package cream cheese, softened and cut up

0.4 oz envelope ranch dry salad dressing mix

First, I want to point out how many ways you can divert from the original recipe.

- You can dice regular red potatoes instead of new.

- I've used other pork parts, and it works fine.

- Regular ranch dressing makes it more creamy! I don't have a preference, honestly.

- It's okay if you don't have exact amounts; this recipe is so forgiving.

1. Trim fat from meat. Lightly coat a large skillet with cooking spray; heat skillet over medium heat. In hot skillet brown meat on all sides. Remove from heat.

2. Place potatoes in a 3.5- or 4.5-quart slow cooker (it's helpful to spray the slow cooker first with cooking spray, but even if you don't, and your food sticks to the sides, it's still yummy). Place meat on potatoes. In a bowl whisk together soup, cream cheese and dressing mix. Spoon over meat and potatoes in cooker.

3. Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 9 to 10 hours or on high-heat setting for 4.5 to 5 hours. Again, this recipe is forgiving! If you brown the meat more thoroughly, 4 hours can be sufficient on high and 6 to 8 on low, depending on your slow cooker.

Stirring is optional (as in, if you're like me and you like to check on your food and stir it for fun, go for it--but it's okay if you totally ignore the slow cooker till your food is ready).

ABOUT 6 MAIN-DISH SERVINGS

[Formal] Variation: Creamy Ranch Potatoes

Prepare as above, except omit pork roast, use 2.5 lbs potatoes, and substitute one 8 oz. carton dairy sour cream for cream cheese. Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 7 to 8 hours or on high-heat setting for 3.5 to 4 hours. Stir before serving. Makes 6 side-dish servings.