Salmon Fra Diavolo

Salmon is great - there are a lot of great ways to cook it up, some simple and some more elaborate and impressive.  Here's the latest version:

Recipe

2 salmon fillets
1 onion, finely diced
1 tbsp anchovy paste (or 1 anchovy)
2 garlic cloves
1 tbsp oregano
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 c white wine
1 14 oz can diced tomatoes
1/2 c minced peperoncinis
olive oil
salt & pepper

Rub the salmon with olive oil and season with salt & pepper, and start cooking in the oven at 400 degrees until just cooked through (15 minutes?).  Meanwhile, start some olive oil on high heat and caramelize the onions.  Add the anchovy, garlic, oregano, and red pepper, and cook a few minutes.  Add the white wine and reduce by at least half, then add tomatoes.  Simmer for a while until you're ready to serve.  Stir in the peperoncini and scoop over the salmon.

Notes

Although this one looks/sounds a little more upscale, it's not particularly difficult.  There's not a whole lot of prep, and even the lesser-used ingredients (anchovy, peperoncini) aren't too out there.  The timing is also a little strange - the stew should actually take significantly longer than the salmon.  You don't need to worry too much, though, since things don't need to be too finely-timed.  If the stew is done first, it can simmer longer, and the salmon can cool slightly if it's done first.  Tons of flavor!

I did my version over instant mashed potatoes (lazy/guilty pleasure); pasta should go nicely too!  Got distracted and no picture :(

Roasted Flounder & Bell Peppers

While I wasn't thrilled with the New York Times' recent reporting around the gun control debate, that's a topic for a separate blog.  This week's Food section had this appetizing concept:

Recipe

1 1/2 lbs mild fish fillets: hake, flounder, cod, etc.
3 bell peppers, mix of colors, sliced thin
1 small bunch thyme
1/4 c olives, black/green/mixed, pitted and sliced
1 tsp sherry vinegar
1 garlic clove, minced
1 c parsley, chopped
olive oil
salt & pepper

Season fish with salt, pepper, and a tablespoon of chopped thyme.  Let rest at room temperature while you slice the peppers, spread them on a baking sheet, and toss with 1 1/2 tbsp of oil and some salt and pepper.  Sprinkle some thyme sprigs and pop in the oven at 400 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes, tossing a couple times.  Increase the temperature to 500, push the peppers to the edge, add your fish, sprinkle on your olives, drizzle with oil, and back in for about 10 minutes.  Meanwhile whisk together the vinegar, garlic, 3 tbsp olive oil, parsley, and a sprinkle of salt.  Sprinkle sauce over cooked fish and peppers as you serve.

Notes

The Gray Lady knows her food!  And for once, it actually looked a lot like the picture:

Concord Grape & Thyme Bars

I emerged from a mountain retreat bearing its bounteous fruits: a pitcher of cool apple cider (too simple a concept to be included here?) and a heaping bowl of concord grapes (no turkeys - this time...).  What to do with the grapes?  It took a little more research than usual, but as always, the internet came through with an intriguing recipe.

Recipe

1 lb concord grapes, stemmed

1 tbsp fresh lemon juice (about 1 lemon)

2 c sugar

2 tsp fresh thyme, chopped

3 c all-purpose flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg

16 tbsp butter, chilled and cut into 1/4" pieces

Squeeze the grapes to separate skins from pulp.  Process the skins until roughly chopped.  Boil the pulp in a saucepan, then simmer until they lose their shape.  Pour the pulp through a sieve, pushing through as much as you can minus the seeds.

Combine the pulp, skins, lemon juice, and 1 cup sugar in the saucepan.  Bring to a boil, then simmer about 30 minutes.  Add the thyme and simmer until reduced and jam-like.

Combine the flour, baking powder, 1 c sugar, and salt; add the egg and butter and get into a crumbly dough.  Press 2/3 into the bottom of a baking dish (13x9 or similar), spread the jam over, and crumble the rest of the dough on top.  Bake at 375 for about 45 minutes.

Notes

The grape preparation sounds elaborate, but it does seem to make sense (as we discovered by trying to cut corners).  So stick to that.  Otherwise, it's straightforward baking, with all the butter and sugar that apparently entails.  Great stuff, good use of our concords!

Unballed Chicken with Lemon & Kale

Earmarked this recipe for allergy-friendly Boston cookings:

Recipe

2 shallots, minced
1 scallion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
1 lb ground chicken
1 lemon, thinly sliced, seeds removed
2 c chicken broth
olive oil
salt & pepper

Heat a tbsp of oil in a pot or large, deep skillet.  Add one shallot, plus the scallion, garlic, and red pepper. Cook until soft and fragrant.  Next, add about a third of the chicken and cook through, breaking up and mixing in.  Transfer to a bowl, and mix in the remaining chicken with some salt and pepper.  Clump into about 8 (soft, loose) meatballs, 2+ inches each.  Wipe out your pot/skillet and heat another tbsp oil, brown your meatballs on all sides, and set them aside.  Cook the lemon with the remaining shallot a couple minutes, then add broth and meatballs back in.  Cover and simmer until meatballs cook through, then add kale and braise about 5 minutes until tender and bright green.  Season, divide, and serve.

Notes

As expected, with no binding agent (egg, bread crumbs, etc.), the meatballs ended up more as loose clumps that either fell apart as we put them in the skillet or would have as soon as we tried to pick them up and turn them.  So, we broke them up and ended up with more of a chili or soup.  And no regrets!  It simplified the process a bit - once the meat is browning, add the lemon, then broth, then kale.  And in the end it was still delicious!  The lemon tang goes great with the meat, and kale is always a nice element.

Chicken Paprikash

I've got a lot of great cookbooks, but a lot of their contents require ingredients I'll never use otherwise or a cooking setup that you just can't get in a simplistic NYC rental kitchen.  In the middle of Cook's Illustrated's selection of awesome-looking but totally impractical (for a single dude apartment-dweller) braised pork, chicken, and beef recipes, though, there's chicken paprikash:

Recipe

4 bone-in chicken thighs
1 tsp vegetable oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 bell pepper, halved widthwise and cut into thin strips
2 tbsp paprika
1/2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp dried marjoram
1/3 c white wine
1 14 oz can tomatoes, drained
1/4 c sour cream
parsley
salt & pepper

Preheat your oven to 300 and heat the oil in a dutch oven over medium-high.  Season the chicken with salt and pepper, and place skin-side down to brown, 5 minutes or so.  Flip and brown the other side, then remove and set aside.  Start browning the onions; when they're most of the way there, add the peppers.  Once browned/softened, add a tbsp and a half of the paprika, flour, and marjoram (if you have it) and stir up for a minute.  Add the wine and scrape up the browned bits; add the tomatoes, a sprinkle of salt, and the chicken.  Cover and cook for about an hour and fifteen minutes.  Lastly, mix up the sour cream and 1/2 tbsp paprika, stir in some warm sauce, and add to the sauce in the dutch oven.  Serve over egg noodles, rice, or mashed potatoes.

Notes

The cookbook did its best to make this recipe look complicated with a lot of different ingredients, but there's not really too much crazy in there.  I don't generally keep marjoram on hand, but otherwise...  the finished product was pretty good!  A lot like a stroganoff, if you like that...  It's nice to crisp the chicken up before braising it.  The recipe tells you to remove the skin once you've done all that work to brown it - but who really minds a little extra grease in the sauce?  Not me!

Snickerdoodles!

I vaguely remember making snickerdoodles for a colonial fair in elementary school.  So I've always had a soft spot for that lesser-known cookie - or maybe it was just because they're delicious.  So when I happened across an easy recipe online (one in a cookbook I have required tartar sauce? (correction: cream of tartar, but still, what is that and who has it lying around?)), I was excited to give it a go:

Recipe

3 tbsp room-temperature butter
3 tbsp granulated sugar
1 egg yolk
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 c flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder

cinnamon sugar: 1 tsp granulated sugar, 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Whisk together the butter and sugar, then the egg yolk and vanilla.  Stir in the flour, salt, and baking powder, then refrigerate for 15 minutes.  Heat oven to 350 and mix your cinnamon sugar.  When the dough has hardened a bit, divide it into two cookies (this is a very small-batch recipe), roll them in the cinnamon sugar, and place on a parchment paper-covered baking sheet.  Bake 16-18 minutes.

Notes

Keeping things in the ADKs theme, I used maple sugar instead of the first batch of sugar.  Either because of that or because of a weak/too short refrigeration period, the dough was still super gooey when I tried to roll it and ready it to bake.  The end product was still delicious!  If not picture-worthy...

Gravad Lax

Homemade gravlax!  As per the classic Scandinavian cookbook.

Recipe

1 lb salmon, cut into two fillets
2 tbsp salt
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp crushed peppercorns
1 bunch fresh dill, chopped

Mix the salt, sugar, and pepper.  Lay the salmon out on a big piece of heavy-duty aluminum foil.  Top with dill and sprinkle generously with salt mixture.  Put one fillet on top of the other and wrap up securely.  (You might also want to put it in a plastic bag in case moisture leaks out.)  Place on a dish and weigh it down, for instance with a few cans of food.  Refrigerate for at least 48 hours, turning it a few times.  Once it's done, unwrap, scrape off the seasonings, slice thinly and serve!

The cookbook recommends "gravlaxsas" (sound it out!) as an accompaniment - essentially a mustard vinaigrette with more salt, sugar and dill.

Notes

A week-plus since by first trials of this (non-)cooking concept, and all test subjects (i.e., me) seem to have suffered no ill effects...  A bit of a relief, since I convinced myself in the meantime that it was a mistake to trust the Lake Placid Price Chopper's seafood counter, and my salmon had to sit in the car for the ride back plus another errand or two...  Maybe next time I'll make sure to hit a more upscale grocer and specify "sushi-grade"...

In any case, I used two six-ounce skinless fillets.  Rather than just season the top and press together, I made sure all sides were well-coated in salt mixture and dill.

I also did some outside research to make sure copy editors didn't leave out an important step like "cook for 30 minutes"...  There were actually some similar, more modern recipes online that are essentially the same in concept but explore variations in the ratio of salt to sugar or other seasonings like coriander, caraway, or fennel seed, or citrus zest, or aquavit.  But the key takeaway was that, yes, you can make your own gravlax for not-too-expensive!  (Pictures of what it should look like also helped reassure me.)  So full speed ahead with taste tests.

The results: it was really, really good.  The smooth salmon taste, with a healthy dose of salt and pepper.  So good.