Salmon with a brown sugar & mustard glaze

At the end of the season of our share purchasing of Alaskan salmon, all the purchasers were invited to a very nice local restaurant, En Season, where the chef demonstrated a few different ways of cooking salmon and then we all got to eat it--a fun evening.  We also got a few recipes, one of which I tried  tonight and really liked.  I thought the sauce might overpower the taste of the salmon, but not at all.  Here's my slightly adapted version:

SALMON WITH BROWN SUGAR AND MUSTARD GLAZE

(scale the amount of sauce up or down for more or less fish)

1-1/2 lb. salmon fillets
1 T. brown sugar
1/2 T. honey
1 T. butter
2 T. Dijon mustard
1 T. soy sauce
1 T. olive oil
2 t. grated fresh ginger

Preheat oven to 375.  Melt the sugar, honey, and butter in a small sauté pan over medium heat.  Remove from the heat and whisk in the mustard, soy sauce, oil, and ginger.  Let cool a bit.  Put salmon on baking tray skin side down.  Spoon the glaze over the salmon and bake (skin side down) until done, between 10 and 20 minutes or so, depending on thickness of the fillet.  Salmon can also be grilled, if you prefer.

Oven-fried Fish & Chips

This is a simple and tasty recipe that I found when looking on the web for something to make with haddock.  (The recipe also suggests cod.)  I often make roasted potatoes, but I don't slice them this thin--was a nice change.  This is a "homey" dish, best suited for a family meal, or to share with good friends who are over for supper.

oven-fried fish & chips

adapted from http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes

4 servings

olive oil cooking spray

1-1/2 lbs. potatoes, washed, patted dry, and cut into 1/4" thick wedges

2 t. olive oil

1-1/2 t. Cajun or Creole seasoning, divided

2 c. cornflakes, crushed

1/4 cup flour

1/4 t. salt

2 large egg whites, beaten

1 lb. cod or haddock, cut into 4 portions

1.     Position oven racks in upper and lower third of oven.  Preheat oven to 425.

2.     Coat one large baking sheet with cooking spray (or cover with foil and spray the foil).

3.     Set a wire rack in a second baking sheet, and coat the rack well with olive oil spray.

4.     Put the potato wedges in a large bowl and toss with the 2 t. oil and half of the seasoning (3/4 t.)  Spread in one layer on the baking sheet without the rack.  Bake on the lower oven rack for 20 minutes, turning them half-way through (just toss around—no need to turn individual pieces).

5.     While potatoes are cooking, coarsely grind cornflakes in a food processor or crush in a plastic bag. 

6.     Mix up the flour with the rest of the seasoning (3/4 t.) and the salt

7.     Line up three flat dishes.  In the first one put the flour, in the next one the beaten egg whites, and in the third the crushed cornflakes

8.     Dredge the fish in the flour mixture, then dip in the egg white, and then coat all sides with the cornflakes.  Place on the oiled wire rack.  Spray top of fish with olive oil spray.

9.     Put the fish on the top oven rack (leaving potatoes in the oven) and cook for about 20 minutes—until fish is opaque in the center an the breading is golden brown and crisp.  (This gives the potatoes 40 minutes altogether in the oven.)

I halved the olive oil on the potatoes.  The nutrition info for the original recipe is:  325 calories, 5 g fat, 45 g Carbohydrates, 3 g fiber

Bulgur with Dried Cranberries

This recipe is similar to tabbouleh, but with cranberries instead of tomatoes.  Even though similar, it has a quite different taste, and much as I love tabbouleh, I think I prefer this--delicious!!  Really easy, too.  (By the way, I ended up making a huge batch of green enchilada sauce with the green tomatoes--enough to last all winter.  I still have a lot of tomatoes left, but they are ripening nicely, left in a brown paper grocery sack.  Let me know if you'd like me to post the sauce recipe.)

Bulgur with Dried Cranberries

adapted from Cooking Light, November 2009

about 6-7 servings

1 cup coarse-ground bulgur

half of an English cucumber, cut in 1/4" dice

1 c. dried cranberries or dried cherries

3 scallions, thinly sliced (about 1/3 cup)

1 cup finely chopped parsley

1 t. grated lemon rind

1/3 c. fresh lemon juice

ca. 3 T. olive oil [original recipe called for 1/3 c., but this amount was fine—I measured 1/3 cup of lemon juice into a glass measuring cup, and then filled to 1/2 c. with oil, which is a little less than 3 T. olive oil]

salt and pepper to taste

Put bulgur in a large bowl.  Cover with 2 cups boiling water.  Cover the bowl and let stand 30 minutes.  If not all liquid is absorbed, drain off any that's not.  Fluff with a fork.  Add remaining ingredients and toss to combine.

Stats for a 1 cup serving, if using 1/3 c. olive oil:

Calories: 197

Fat 9.6

Fiber 4.7 g

Calc 27 mg

Last tomatoes from the garden

I was away from home for a week, and when I got back this evening the forecast was for the temperature to go below freezing.  So, I took a flashlight out to the garden and picked all the Brandywine and Roma tomatoes I could see, and also picked cherry tomatoes that were ripe.  Now I have to look for some recipes for green tomatoes.  I have a recipe for enchilada sauce that's good, but maybe I'll find something else.  By the way, if you're looking for a good tomato for your own garden, I highly recommend Brandywine, an heirloom variety.  They taste great, and they are not prone to bugs or other damage.

And in another day or two, I'll post on StudioNotes about what I was doing during the week away. . .