Rosemary Lemon Salmon

I've been trying to make more salmon around my house lately because it's just so healthy for you and I love the taste! I was never big on fish as a child, and I still don't like shell fish at all, but when I was growing up my father made the best cedar plank salmon you will ever have, so I've always been fond of salmon. To make things a little easier on the purse strings and get to eat salmon more often we've started buying whole fish salmon fillets from Costco and then cutting them up in meal size portions and freezing them. In the end it usually averages out to about 4-5 bucks a meal for two people. YUM!

So heres and easy oven recipe for salmon-

Rosemary Lemon Salmon

Recipe:

(Dinner for 2)

Your portion of salmon

half a lemon for juice

salt & pepper(lemon pepper is good too!)

2+ tbsp butter

lots of fresh rosemary

Tin Foil and a cookie sheet

Preheat oven to 350

Spread out your tin foil on the cookie sheet and spread about half your butter all across the tinfoil, squeeze part of the lemon juice over the butter and lay half your rosemary sprigs down. Next place the salmon on top of that(skin side down if its skin on) juice the rest of the lemon on top of the salmon then salt and pepper generously. Divide your butter into smaller chunks and place on the salmon and finally top it all of with your remaining rosemary.

 Tent the foil around it all and place the cookie sheet with tent on top in the oven for 20 minutes(for fresh unfrozen salmon it should be done after this but if your using frozen depending on how thawed it was going in, it may take up to 30 minutes.)  

I like to serve it with white or wild rice and either green beans a salad or steamed and seasoned broccoli. 

Chicken Spring Rolls with Sweet and Spicy Chili Sauce

So Last night I made Spring Rolls and a sweet and spicy chili sauce.

Now these are not 'traditional' spring rolls, they're my take on spring rolls, but in a lot of ways taste very similar to the ones you get in a restaurant.

I make my spring rolls with chicken instead of pork because I'm not a big fan of pork(but if you like pork you can totally sub it into this recipe in place of chicken!) I also use shredded zucchini along with the carrots because its a nice simple add in to fill out the roll nicely.

Recipe:

Makes 5-6 rolls-can easily be multiplied!

1 lbs Chicken(or Pork) ground/minced(done easiest when partially frozen)

1 oz chopped ginger

1-2 minced garlic cloves

1/3 c chopped onion

2 tbls vegetable oil

Cook all these ingredients in a frying pan until the chicken is cooked through, then take the pan off the heat and add in:

1/2 c shredded carrot

1/2 c shredded zucchini

4 tbls soy sauce

1 tbls rice vinegar

Let all of this sit together in the pan to soak up the juices and cool a little while you make the sauce!

After the sauce is made, put the filling mix into a strainer to let the excess juices drain away, and then wrap the rolls up with the filling inside.

I like Blue Dragon spring roll wrappers personally but feel free to use whichever type you like-follow the instructions on the package for wrapping(usually involving some soaking of the wrappers in water to make them flexible.)  I highly suggest wrapping each roll in 2 wrappers for sturdiness AND make sure to wrap the rolls tightly so that they are easier to eat!

Sauce Recipe:

1/4 c rice vinegar

1/2 c sugar

3/4 c water

1 tsp salt

1 tbls cornstarch

3 tbls chili garlic sauce

put all the ingredients in a small pot  over medium heat. Whisk it together and let it come to a boil(maybe whisking a little bit here and there) Let the sauce boil for about a minute before pulling it off the heat and let it sit for a few minutes so it will thicken up a little.

Serve all the yummies up together individually or family style as a meal or as an appetizer.

I love my garden!

This isn't a recipe post really! It's just a yay! Fresh veggies! Post ;) I planted a rather large vegetable garden this past spring. It was my first serious attempt at a vegetable garden and its gone swimmingly! I seem to have a bit of a green thumb, if I do say so myself, which is funny because I've never had any interest in gardening. Flowers are pretty and many of then smell delicious but I've never felt a need to spend time cultivating them. Vegetables however are different because their useful! And I want them to survive and thrive so that I can eat them! 

I planted:

5 types of lettuce

Bush beans(sheesh these babies never quit!)

Carrots(so sweet!)

Dino kale(so many smoothies)

Tomatoes(heirloom and cherry) 

Cucumbers(sooooo many cucumbers!)

Orange bell peppers(still not ready)

Artichoke(so pretty!)

Dill

Cilantro

Chives

Thyme

Basil 

All of these things have been very successful for me with the exception of the cilantro, but I think that's because it's been far to hot and humid here! All of these veggies and herbs have been awesome to have around all summer for my cooking needs! The only thing I really regret not planting is zucchini because I love zucchini and it would have been really nice to have on hand whenever I wanted!

Right now I'm replanting fall/cool weather crops so I'm doing:

Kale

Lettuce

Cilantro

Carrots

And maybe some other goodies, haven't decided yet! 

My basic gardening wisdom is that steer manure is awesome for planting in, I mixed mine with a rich garden fertilizer and made sure to till it up really well before planting, and then I just made sure to weed and water daily while the little seeds grew and became giants!

Personal Chocolate Lava Cakes

Recently I made and then ate these delicious little cakes! I'm a huge fan of chocolate lava cakes, the best I ever had was in Savannah Georgia at a restaurant who's name I don't remember now but it was super expensive and a total splurge but the lave cake there was melt your socks off to die for good! This wasn't quite THAT good but it was pretty excellent especially with the coffee ice cream you see here! though serving it with vanilla ice cream or fresh berries would I'm sure be equally as good! I found the recipe Here. It looked so good that I had my boyfriend over for french food and these little yummies.

Ginger Garlic Green Beans

This green bean side is the perfect side or add on dish to go with the asian grilled salmon recipe I posted earlier. I've been very into coconut oil lately because it's so tasty and simple, and healthy. This recipe can totally be made with butter if you'd like but the coconut oil is a little mellower which is perfect with the garlic and ginger providing all the flavor.

Ginger Green Beans

2+ servings of green beans 

a minced knuckle of ginger 

2-3 cloves of minced garlic

~ 2 tsp coconut oil or butter

Just steam the green beans til their almost done then drain the pot, put the pot back on the burner and add the coconut oil, garlic, and the ginger. Stir the additions in til the beans are all nicely coated and then let sauté for about 5-7 minutes occasionally stirring until the beans begin to brown and even blacken a little. Easy peasy, the perfect extra to lots of meals!

Flourless Espresso Chocolate Cake

 This cake was mostly for my mom because it's naturally gluten-free but then thee whole family ended up loving it! It's a flourless espresso chocolate cake with a chocolate espresso frosting/sauce. I poured the sauce all over the cake then arranged all the strawberries on top and around the edges before pouring over another layer of sauce, then topped it all off with a good sprinkling on powdered sugar.

Cake-
3tbls butter
6oz bittersweet baking chocolate chopped
6 large eggs separated
1 cup sugar
3tbls instant espresso powder
1/4 tsp coarse salt
1tbls vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 butter a 9inch springform pan
Melt chocolate and butter in a medium size bowl
beat egg yolks with 1/2 cup sugar until thick and pale~3 minutes
Add espresso powder and salt mix well then add vanilla and chocolate til all included.
In a clean bowl beat egg whites until foamy, then slowly add remaining 1/2 cup sugar and beat until stiff peaks form( I beat mine for forever and no peaks ever formed so after awhile I gave up and it worked out fine so dont be to worried if yours isn't working either)
Fold whites into the chocolate mixture in 3 additions-pour into pan and bake until set 40-45 minutes. 
Let cool in pan on a rack-can be placed in the fridge for up to a day. Remove pan sides and lift cake off the bottom with a spatula.

Sauce/Frosting
3 oz bittersweet chocolate chopped
1 1/2 tbls butter
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup heavy cream(half and half works too)
1/3 cup sugar
1 tbls instant espresso powder
1/4 tsp coarse salt

Bring Cream, sugar, espresso powder, and salt to a boil. Pour hot mixture over the chocolate, butter, and vanilla. Whisk until smooth and serve in a bowl with the cake or poured over the top like I did here.

Hazelnut Crusted Salmon with Brown Butter and Balsamic Vinegar

This Hazelnut Crusted Salmon is the most fabulous dinner party meal! It's so easy to make, its done in the oven so you have plenty of time to socialize, and it tastes fabulous! Win, win, win! This recipe has enough going on to make it interesting and a viable meal idea when you're trying to impress friends and family. The beauty of this recipe is that it allows the fish to maintain all its flavor and body while also have a rich nuttiness from the hazelnuts and browned butter.


Recipe
Salmon Filets-however much you need for your guests
salt and pepper
Finely chopped Hazelnuts- enough to crust your desired amount of salmon

Bake at 375f for 15 minutes for 2-3 servings and up to 25 minutes depending on how much salmon your cooking.

Crazy easy right?

NOW the part that really gives the recipe deliciousness is that while you cook your salmon in the oven- brown a tablespoon per serving of butter in a small skillet. 

Make sure to brown the butter, and NOT burn it! So just be sure you pull the skillet off the heat when the butter has all just turned brown.

When the Salmon is done cooking, lay it out on your serving plate and drizzle the browned butter over the top, followed up with balsamic vinegar sprinkled on the fish. Now I know this may sound a bit odd, but trust me this recipe is rich, flavorful and, simple.