Salmon Chowder

July 16, 2022 in Main Dish, Soup | Tags: , , | 1 comment

  • Ingredients
  • 4 slices thick-cut bacon, chopped
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 2 ribs celery, chopped
  • 2 carrots, chopped
  • 2 Tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped (or dried parsley flakes)
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • 4 cups salmon stock, or water, or chicken broth
  • 2-3 potatoes, chopped (peel or don’t, however you like it)
  • 2 cups boneless, skinless salmon, cut into chunks
  • 1-1/2 cups milk or half-n-half

In a large pan, fry the bacon until nearly crispy. Stir in onion, celery, and carrots, Stir fry until onion is translucent. Stir in parsley. Sprinkle flour, salt, and pepper over the vegetables and bacon. Stir until the flour has absorbed the bacon fat. Add salmon stock. Bring to a boil and then simmer, covered, until the vegetables are nearly cooked. Stir in the potatoes and continue to simmer, covered, until they are fork tender. Don’t overcook them. Stir in the salmon and stir gently. Gently stir in milk and continue stirring occasionally until the salmon is cooked through. Taste for salt. Serve warm with crusty bread.

NOTES: I don’t usually measure any of this. If you get to the part where you’re adding the milk and it just doesn’t seem thick enough, go ahead and whisk a couple tablespoons of flour into the milk before stirring it gently into the pan. Optional ingredients to stir in are corn or shredded cheddar cheese or fresh jalapenos. I don’t usually peel my potatoes, but a lot of people do. Today I used chunks of salmon filet and also some ragged pieces, boneless and skinless, scraped from beside the backbone. I’ll go out on a limb and say that you could probably skip the bacon and use olive oil if you wanted to make this vegetarian. It would be a much lighter dish. I suppose you could compensate by using smoked salmon for a portion of the fish called for in the recipe. Be careful at the end while stirring so as to maintain the salmon chunks as much as possible. You’ll have a rather unappetizing mess if you break down the salmon too much. Yes, experience is the best teacher.

I made my own salmon stock by simmering bones and fins in water for a few hours. Then I strained everything out, leaving the broth. I should have added salt, pepper, onion, celery, carrots with the salmon pieces to make the stock REALLY good, but I was out of time and in a hurry. Next time.

Smoked Top Sirloin Steaks

June 30, 2022 in Main Dish | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

  • Ingredients
  • Top sirloin beef steaks
  • Kosher salt
  • Favorite rub

Sprinkle the steaks with kosher salt. Place under refrigeration for two hours or overnight. After refrigeration, do not rinse, just pat them dry. Bring a cast iron or other heavy skillet to a high heat. Rub the fat of the steak against the skillet until a little bit has rendered. Set the 1st steak onto the fat and sear on all sides. Set aside onto a plate. Sear the steaks one at a time so that they get a nice brown color on all sides.

Let the steaks cool a little bit and then coat all over with your favorite spice rub. Preheat the smoker to 225 degrees F. Place the steaks on the grate inside the smoker. Let them smoke for about 45 minutes and check the temperature. When the thermometer reads 130 degrees F (should be another 15-30 minutes or more), remove from smoker. Cover loosely with foil and let stand for ten minutes or so. Slice and serve or serve whole steaks. ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS!

NOTES: I’m using a Traeger pellet smoker, so the temperature is pretty consistent. These steaks are typically lean and a large cut. Dare I say, a bit tough, but smoking like this really softens them up. They were so, so good. I used Tom Douglas’ Rub with Love Salmon Rub. It’s what happens when you have a pound of it and are trying to use it up. Good thing it tastes good on everything, not just salmon!

Tahini Sauce

June 18, 2022 in Miscellaneous | Tags: , , , , , | 2 comments

  • Ingredients
  • 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
  • 3/4 tsp. salt
  • Dash of pepper
  • 1/2 cup Tahini
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice
  • Hot water (apx. 1/4-1/3 cup)

In a bowl (I use my mini food-processor), mix together garlic, salt, pepper, tahini, and lemon juice. Stir in hot water to make it the consistency you like. Check for salt. Serve.

NOTES: This is easy-peasy. Tahini is simply ground sesame seeds. It has the consistency of peanut butter and can be used as a substitute for that, especially for people who are allergic to peanuts. Tahini is gluten-free, nut-free, dairy-free, and vegan. Use it on meats like lamb, or eggplant, or as a sandwich spread with meat or vegetables. Really, a lot of uses. Tonight I’m making lamb meatballs and I’m going to use the tahini sauce for dipping. I can’t wait! Oh, and I have memories of Jonkoping, Sweden and kebab pizza. The tahini sauce is is your final component drizzled over the top. Yes!

Rhubarb-Apple Jam

June 10, 2022 in Miscellaneous | Tags: | Leave a comment

  • Ingredients (Yield is 3 cups)
  • 400g chopped rhubarb
  • 2 apples, cored and peeled
  • 1-1/2 cups sugar
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice

Stir all the ingredients together in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to simmer for 45 minutes to an hour, stirring occasionally. The apples should soften enough to mash with the spoon. Leaving a few lumps is okay. Test for jelling by putting a spoonful on a small dish. Once cool, run your finger or the spoon through it. The track should stay. This is very forgiving, so a little longer than necessary shouldn’t hurt anything. Ladle into sterilized jars, wipe the rims, tighten lids onto the tops, and tip the jars over for a half hour. Turn right side up and let cool. Lids should be not bounce when pressed.

NOTES: Props to hintofhealthy.com for this one. I was afraid it would turn out more like applesauce than jam, but it didn’t. It’s very jam-like. And tasty. I think you could add spices or ginger, but I really like the flavor of the rhubarb and apples. Sorry if you do not have a scale for the grams. Google says it’s .8 lbs. I think if you simply picked about a pound of rhubarb and trimmed it, this would be the right amount. I weighed mine to 400 grams exactly, however. The pectin comes from the apples, so that’s the part you really should be careful about.

Zucchini Favorite

June 3, 2022 in Side Dish | Tags: , , , , , | 1 comment

  • Ingredients
  • Zucchini
  • Olive oil
  • Seasoned Salt (any kind)
  • Pepper
  • Balsamic vinegar

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Yes, very hot.

Cut each zucchini lengthwise in half. Cut in half lengthwise again. Now cut in half cross-wise. Each zucchini should yield eight long pieces. If your zucchini are ginormous, you’ll have to make extra cuts, but you can figure it out.

Prepare a baking sheet by covering with foil. Swazz some olive oil around on it. Using your hands, dredge the zucchini through the olive oil so that the zukes are well coated. Place the zucchini skin-side down on the baking sheet in a single layer. Keep the zukes well-spaced from each other. Sprinkle with your favorite seasoning salt and pepper. I like to use Angelo’s Gourmet Seasoning.

Roast for 8-15 minutes. This usually takes about 10 minutes. Don’t touch them. Remove from oven and sprinkle with balsamic vinegar. Serve hot. Oh, yum! So good!

Smoked Chicken Quarters

May 28, 2022 in Main Dish, Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , | 1 comment

  • Ingredients
  • Chicken legs (thigh and drumstick)
  • Olive oil
  • Favorite seasoning salt

Rub the chicken with olive oil and sprinkle liberally with your favorite seasoning salt. I used Tom Douglas’ Rub with Love Salmon Rub. Cover with cling wrap. Put the chicken under refrigeration for a couple hours. Remove from refrigerator and set aside at room temperature. Preheat your smoker to 250 degrees F. Add the chicken to the smoker and let it smoke for about an hour and a half. Once the chicken has reached an internal temperature of 165 degrees, remove from smoker and cover loosely with foil. Let stand thirty minutes. Serve! Yum.

NOTES: I’m getting the hang of my Traeger pellet smoker. This was way easy and tasted great. I only make two chicken pieces, so if you have more pieces serving more than two people, it’s going to take longer than an hour and a half. Just sayin’.

Sausages with Potatoes

May 26, 2022 in Main Dish | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

  • Ingredients
  • 4-6 oz. bacon, diced
  • 1 lb. fresh sausage links
  • 1 large onion, sliced
  • 6 oz. mushrooms, quartered or halved
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 8 oz. baby carrots
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1 cup dark beer
  • 3 or 4 potatoes, halved or quartered
  • Parsley

In a Dutch oven, fry bacon until crisp. Remove from pan. Add sausage links to the pan and brown on all sides. Remove from pan. Add onion and mushrooms to the pan and stir-fry until onion is translucent and mushrooms are browned a little. Stir in garlic and stir-fry until fragrant. Stir in the carrots and salt and pepper. Let it cook until the carrots are heated through. Stir in the beer. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat to simmer and add potatoes. Let it return to simmer. Stir in the bacon. Once it is has returned to a nice little simmer, nestle the sausages into the dish. Sprinkle with parsley. Bake, covered, at 300 degrees for 2 hours. Check that the carrots and potatoes are tender. Serve warm.

NOTES: Back when my husband was flying to the Aleutian Islands, we did a lot of food trades. It was hard for the residents there to get fresh produce, so we would make a run to Costco and send a cooler of vegis or grapefruit down the chain. Then we would get back halibut or cod on the return. It’s a deeply instilled tradition. Our friend Micheala lives in Anchorage and regularly blesses us with homemade sausages that her Polish-heritage family make every fall. They are delicious all by themselves, but I like to play around with them in recipes. I don’t normally write down what I’m doing, but this one took several tries to perfect. It is based upon a Dublin Coddle recipe that I tried and didn’t like. But the idea of it appealed to me, so I made changes and, voila, this is very flavorful. I like it. It’s gluten-free and dairy-free.

Herb Garlic Carrots

April 26, 2022 in Side Dish | Tags: , , , , , , | 1 comment

  • Ingredients
  • Olive oil
  • 1 small shallot, chopped
  • 1 large garlic clove, minced
  • 3/4 tsp. dill weed, or 1 Tbsp. fresh dill, chopped
  • 1 Tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped
  • 1# package of “baby” carrots
  • 1-1/2 tsp. white wine vinegar

In a medium skillet, pour a bit of olive oil and stir-fry shallot and garlic until soft. Stir in dill weed and parsley. Stir in carrots until they are well coated with the oil and herb mixture. Cover the skillet and cook over medium heat until the carrots are tender, stirring only occasionally. It’s tasty-good if the carrots turn brown along the bottom. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and a splash of white-wine vinegar before serving. Serves 4 as a side dish.

NOTES: This also works well if you prepare it ahead of time and reheat in the oven until warm. I doubled this recipe and it worked out great, just make sure you use a larger skillet. Herb Garlic Carrots were the hit of our Easter 2022 dinner. As recipes do, this morphed from the awesome Chungah at Damn Delicious. Check it out.

Smoked Cornish Game Hens

April 23, 2022 in Main Dish | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

  • Ingredients
  • Cornish game hens, patted dry
  • Olive oil
  • Favorite seasoning or dry rub

Rub hens with olive oil. Sprinkle or rub with seasoning, inside and out. Let stand for one hour. Preheat the smoker to 275 degrees F. Place the hens into the smoker at 275 degrees F until they reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees F. Remove from heat, cover loosely with foil, and let stand for about thirty minutes. It should take about three hours from sprinkling with seasoning until ready to serve. The smoking part itself takes approximately an hour and a half. These are totally moist and delicious.

Notes: I’m using a pellet smoker (Traeger). This is so simple to do. If the hens are chilled when you place into the smoker, it’s going to take longer. I did this with two hens. If there are more in the smoker, it’s going to take longer.

BW’s Bean Dip

April 19, 2022 in Miscellaneous | Tags: , , , , , | Leave a comment

  • Ingredients
  • 1-2 cloves garlic
  • 1 15-oz. can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped
  • 2 Tbsp. lemon juice
  • 1/3 cup olive oil
  • 1/2 tsp. salt, or to taste
  • Pepper to taste

Place all the ingredients in a small food processor. Process until the mixture is a a dip-like paste. If it seems too dry, add more olive oil. Make sure to taste for salt. Serve with your favorite gluten-free chips or crackers or pita wedges or as a condiment for sandwiches. It’s all good.

NOTES: This keeps well under refrigeration for a day or two if you need to make it ahead. Be careful not to overdo the garlic. I used three large cloves last time and, wow, that was really strong! I like this dip because it’s made from ingredients I usually have on-hand, like fresh parsley. Its lack of wheat, rye, dairy, fish, and seafood makes it so everyone in the family can enjoy it. You could try any kind of white bean, instead of cannellini. I happen to like the flavor of the cannellini.

What kind?