We had some friends over tonight, a neighbor and his daughter, and I made the same soup again, but cut back ( a bit too much!) on the saltiness. I added a cup of water AND left out the salt. Too much. We just added a bit more salt or soy sauce at the table and it was great. I also used rehydrated shitake mushrooms this time, since I’d picked some up at the store. They were good and chewy, very different than using the sliced button mushrooms.  Need to try this a third time to find the perfect balance!

To go with the soup, rice and a simple green salad I made some Teriyaki Salmon, from the same cookbook, with some frozen Alaskan salmon. I thawed the salmon by putting it in the sink full of cold water for a bit while I made the rice and salad. When it was thawed, I marinated it for 10 minutes or so while I made the soup. When everything else was ready, I cooked the salmon.

Salmon Marinade:

• 2 Tbs sake
• 4 tsp soy sauce (reduced sodium is fine)

Teriyaki Sauce

• 1/4 cup mirin (available even at my local Safeway in the Asian food section)
• 2 Tbs soy sauce (reduced sodium is fine)
• 1 tsp sugar

Each salmon filet should be about 1/2″ thick and about 4 ounces. You could also use farmed striped bass or Pacific halibut she says.

Blend the sake and soy sauce in a shallow dish and place the filets skin side down (if there is skin) and marinate for 10 minutes.

Make the teriyaki sauce by blending together the mirin, soy sauce and sugar.

Heat 1 Tbs of canola oil in a saucepan large enough  large enough to hold all the fish (or cook in two batches). Take the fish out of the marinade and blot with a paper towel to remove the excess. Cook skin side down for 5 minutes, then turn and cook another 1 minute. Remove to a plate and peel off the skin. (I fed this to the dogs and they loved it!)

Drain the excess oil from the pan and add the teriyaki sauce and cook for a minute until thickened slightly. Return the salmon to the pan and spoon some of the sauce over the fish. Cook another minute or so, until done. (Note: I overcooked mine a tad. I’m not used to cooking fish and thought a minute wasn’t enough! It was still good and moist but I think it would have been better with a minute less of cooking.)

Place one piece of fish on each plate and spoon the sauce over it.

• 1 quart (4 cups) chicken broth
• 1 15 oz can diced tomatoes with juice
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1 onion, peeled and diced
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 3 small sausages (6 ounces), sliced thinly
• 6 oz shrimp (I used frozen)
• 1 yellow bell pepper, stemmed, seeded and diced
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 6 oz frozen okra
• 1/4 cup raw white rice
• hot sauce (Tabasco) served at the table

If your broth is frozen, as mine was, microwave until warmed. Throw in the tomatoes and warm them too.

Heat the oil in a Dutch oven or soup pot and cook the onion about 5 minutes, stirring. Add the thyme and cayenne and stir, cooking another minute or two. Add the sliced sausage (I used a smoked beef but almost anything would be good), yellow pepper, celery, okra, rice, broth and tomatoes and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat, cover partially, and simmer about 20 minutes, stirring now and then. Turn off the heat and stir in the shrimp. Cover and let stand 5 minutes until the shrimp is cooked through.  I allowed about 7 minutes since my shrimp was frozen but if I’d thought ahead I would have run it under cold water to defrost first.

Stir and serve with the hot sauce at the table so everyone can make it as hot (or not) as they like.  This was really, really good!  It’s like a thick soup. I’ve never had gumbo anywhere so have no idea how “authentic” it is, but can say it’s good!  And was just as good for lunch today. I just microwaved a bowl for a few minutes to warm it up. Mmm!

Tuna Noodle Casserole

My youngest asked for tuna casserole tonight!  It’s been a long time since I made this so I browsed a few cookbooks and ended up with following the basic recipe in Joy of Cooking: 75th Anniversary Edition – 2006, which is really a great source of all kinds of great recipes, even old fashioned casseroles! (I was surprised to see our favorite King Ranch Chicken in here as well!). I used to make this with crushed potato chips on top, but we had some crackers about to go stale so I crushed them up instead and mixed with some Parmesan cheese and melted butter. Yum. This recipe called for a smaller tuna to noodle ratio than I was used to, but it’s quite good. If you need to stretch it out though you could easily add more noodles.

First, cook 4 oz of egg noodles to make 2 cups cooked noodles, and drain.   While they’re cooking you can mix together the rest of the casserole.

• 2 7-oz cans of tuna, drained
• 1 1.5 oz can cream of mushroom soup
• 3/4 cup of milk
• 2 cups cooked egg noodles (4 oz uncooked)
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1/4 cup canned pimentos
• 2 Tbs chopped green onions
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 cup cracker crumbs (or bread crumbs)
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan
• 2-3 Tbs melted butter

Drain the tuna and put it in a large bowl. Use a fork to break it up into small chunks. Mix in the soup, milk, cooked noodles, peas, pimentos (or substitute minced red bell pepper), onions, and Worcestershire sauce.

Put the casserole mix into a shallow 1 1/2 or 2 qt baking dish, greased.

Mix together the bread or cracker crumbs, cheese and butter. (Or use crushed potato chips!). Spread the crumb mixture on top, then bake uncovered at 375 F for 25 -35 minutes.

serves 4-5.

For each head of garlic, cut the tips off to open up the cloves.  So if you don’t grow garlic, you may wonder “What are the tips?”  The opposite of the root end!  Basically, the cloves grow up into a point and the green shoots rise up out of the ground from the pointy end. So the tips you want to cut off come to a point. (And if you haven’t grown garlic, try it!  it’s so easy! Where I live, in the SF bay area, we plant towards the end of October and harvest towards the end of June. Each year, I set aside my largest heads to replant so I basically haven’t bought garlic in however many years I’ve grown it. I’ve yet to run out before the next crop is ready.)

So preheat the oven to 375 and cut enough off the tips of the bulbs to expose most of the heads. Find a baking dish just large enough to fit all the heads you want to bake. Rub a bit of olive oil along the bottom of the dish and place the heads cut side up in there. Pour just a bit of olive oil across the top of each head.  Bake 20-30 minutes, testing that the cloves are done by poking a toothpick into the exposed side. They should be soft.

Use in dishes like Potato Soup with Roast Garlic, use for a softer garlic bread, make a fantastic baked Brie appetizer by spreading some roast garlic, olive oil and pine nuts across the Brie, barbecue some fish with roast garlic and butter and lemon juice in a foil pan, mix in with some mashed potatoes, …  The options are nearly endless!

What’s your favorite way to use roast garlic?

• Tilapia fillets
• Italian salad dressing of your choice
• salt
• pepper
• Old Bay Seasoning
• ground cumin

Pour enough dressing to lightly cover the bottom into a pan large enough to fit your fish.  Place the fillets on top of the dressing then flip once so both sides have a light coating. Sprinkle each fillet with a generous amount of salt, pepper, Old Bay, and cumin. Turn the heat up to medium and lightly saute the fish about 4 -5 minutes on each side, until the fish flakes easily.

Simple and good. I might want to marinate the fish for 15-20 minutes in the dressing next time.

Creamy Leeks with Bacon

The leeks were easy and good. The best tip was on cleaning them. Prior to this, I’d cut the root end off, then cut the dark green tops off, then cut the leeks lengthwise down the middle, but not all the way through the end. Then I’d hold them fanned out a bit under running water. RR said cut the ends as before, cut in half all the way through, then slice thinly and put in a bowl of water. Swish them around to rinse them, then let them sit for a few minutes. The grit will settle to the bottom of the bowl. Carefully lift the sliced leeks out without disturbing the water and let them drain.

• 3 leeks, trimmed, cleaned, and sliced
• 5-6 slices of bacon, chopped
• 1-2 cloves garlic, chopped
• salt and pepper to taste
• 3/4 cup white wine
• 3/4 cup chicken broth
• 1/4 cup half and half

Chop up some bacon and cook in a skillet until crispy, then remove to dry a bit on some paper towels. If there’s LOTS of grease, drain some off, but leave a bit in the pan to cook the leeks in. Cook the leeks with some chopped garlic 3-5 minutes, and add salt and pepper. Add the wine and simmer a few minutes, then add the broth and half and half. Simmer 10-15 minutes while you’re cooking the salmon. Top with the bacon and serve.

Simple Salmon

• 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
• zest from a lemon
• 2-3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 3 salmon fillets
• salt and pepper to taste
• a bit of olive oil

The salmon was simple. Chop up some fresh parsley and garlic and lemon zest. Salt and pepper the salmon, then press into the herb mixture, then cook in a bit of olive oil until done, turning once after a few minutes. As I said, we found this a bit boring but it was easy and fast.  I like  a bit of a sauce though. Next time, I think I’ll stick with my simple version, which is to season with something (it varies) and then barbecue rather than saute.

Jacques Pepin says you can cook it right on your serving platter but I didn’t have one as large as the salmon I cooked last night, so just cooked it on an oiled jelly roll pan. I forgot the herbs this time and it still came out great.

1 slice bread
1/4 cup hazelnuts
1 tsp oil
2-3 pound salmon fillet (skinless, boneless)
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 cup coarsely chopped fresh herbs (a mix of parsley, tarragon, chives, and chervil)

Combine the bread and hazelnuts in a food processor and process until ground together.

Heat the oven to 200 degrees.

Oil your platter or pan with 1 tsp oil and put the salmon on it. Sprinkle with half the salt and pepper, then turn over and sprinkle the other side with salt and pepper. (Mine had skin on it last night so I just cooked it skin side down.) Sprinkle the hazelnut breadcrumbs over the top. Bake for 45 minutes to an hour. He likes it slightly rare so says 45 minutes. I like mine done so do an hour.

Pepin has a salsa mayonnaise recipe to go with it (sun dried tomatoes, salsa, mayonnaise, and chives) but I served my favorite mango salsa with it.

Notes: I used apple juice rather than cider and didn’t have a shallot so just chopped up a bit more red onion instead. They say it serves 4. I made it with just enough scallops for the 3 of us and had just a bit of spinach left over so if you’ve got hearty eaters, I’m not sure about the “serves 4.”

1 cup apple cider
2 tsp sugar
4 slices bacon
1/4 cup finely chopped onion or shallots
1 Tbs cider vinegar
3/4 tsp salt, divided
1/3 tsp black pepper
1 Granny Smith apple, sliced thinly (about 1 1/2 cups)
1/3 cup red onion, sliced thinly
6 ounces raw spinach leaves
1/4 tsp curry powder
1 1/2 pounds sea scallops
2 tsp olive oil

Pour the apple cider or juice in a small saucepan with the sugar. Bring to a boil and then simmer, uncovered, until it’s reduced to 1/4 cup or so. Remove from heat and set aside.

Cook the bacon in a skillet until crisp, then lay on paper towels. Pour off the fat but leave about 1 tsp in the pan to cook the 1/4 cup chopped onion in. Cook until soft, just a minute or two. Pour the reserved cider mix from above into the pan. Add the cider vinegar, 1/4 tsp salt, and pepper. Stir. This is your dressing.

Chop or crumble the cooked bacon. In a large bowl, put the spinach, bacon, apple slices, and red onion slices. Toss together. Pour the dressing over the salad and mix well.

In a small bowl, mix the last 1/2 tsp salt and the curry powder. Sprinkle this over the scallops. Heat the 2 tsp oil in the skillet and cook the scallops over medium high heat until done. (3 minutes per side for the larger ones; less than that for the small ones.)

Divide the salad among 4 plates and top each with 1/4 of the scallops.

I had already picked out a magnificent piece of salmon and decided to cook it a la Jacque Pepin again, topped with a hazelnut breadcrumb mix and cooked in a very slow oven. I often serve salmon topped with mango salsa but since we had the kumquats my mom cooked them up. Mmmm….

She sliced the kumquats in half and then just simmered them a few minute in a bit of white wine. They really didn’t need anything else!

I see Elise at Simply Recipes has a kumquat salsa recipe posted. I may try that next!

8 slices bacon
1 onion, diced
4 stalks celery, diced
4 carrots, peeled and diced
4 potatoes, peeled and diced
3 cups chicken or turkey broth
1/4 tsp dried dill
8 ounces tilapia, cut in 1/2″ chunks
5 Tbs flour
2 cups milk
salt and pepper to taste

Fry the bacon in a Dutch oven or large heavy pan. Remove the bacon and drain on paper towels, the crumble or chop. Saute the onion in the bacon fat about 5 minutes, until soft. Add the celery and carrots and cook 5 more minutes, stirring periodically. Drain excess bacon grease off, if any.

Add potatoes, broth, and dill. Bring to a simmer, stirring now and then, cover partially, and cook half an hour or so, until the potatoes are soft.

Add the fish and cook 4-5 minutes, until done. Meanwhile, combine the flour and milk in a jar and shake. When the fish is done, slowly pour the milk and flour mix into the chowder, stirring. Keep simmering, stirring gently, until the soup thickens.

Stir in the bacon. Taste and season with salt and pepper as desired.

I often fix sandwiches or biscuits if I’m serving soup for dinner, but this was hearty enough to be a main course all in one for us. And it was popular for lunch the next day! An all-around winner.