Driving to work today, the sparkle of the ocean caught my eye and brought me back to warm (~60 degrees F) days on the ocean fishing. Thinking about sitting in a boat with a pole in my hand waiting for a halibut/salmon to bite the line while staring at the glittering sea with a range of snow capped mountains as a border always makes me a bit calm inside. Fish isn't just food for me, it is a part of where I come from and who I am. So, I thought that the blog could do with some fish recipes. Fish is best fresh, and plain with a bit of salt and pepper, but that wouldn't make an exciting blog recipe. So, I decided to put down my top three go to recipes for fish of different kinds; halibut, king salmon, and the other salmons :)
April 24, 2012
April 18, 2012
Roasted Broccoli with Lemon and Parm = Delicious
In my quest to develop the perfect menu for my mother's birthday, I came across the following recipe. The other cook was ecstatic about it and it piqued my interest just enough to try. That and I was running out of time to find another recipe!
1st half Ingredients:
1 large bunch of broccoli
3 tbs of olive oil
1 tsp salt of your choice (I used course ground sea salt)
1/4 to 1/2 tsp ground pepper
2-4 crushed/minced garlic
2nd half of recipe Ingredients:
1/2 lemon (or 2 tbs lemon from the bottle) and zest from that half lemon
1/8 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 1/2 tbs olive oil
Optional (this means I didn't, but you certainly can!):
2 tbs toasted pine nut (or nut of your choice really)
Fresh basil to your liking
What I did:
1) Preheat the oven to 425 degrees
2) Cut broccoli into florettes [tip! broccoli must be very dry before you roast, so, either do not wash (I assume that everything will be killed in a 425 degree oven) OR dry very thoroughly before coating]
3) Put florettes into a pan (I used a pyrex glass pan, but I doubt it matters) and coat with the "1st half Ingredients"
4) Bake for 20-25 minutes. The broccoli should have a lot of crispy, brown, crunchy bits on them
5) Pull out of oven, put broccoli into your serving dish and then mix the broccoli with the "2nd Half Ingredients"
6) Eat up!
1st half Ingredients:
1 large bunch of broccoli
3 tbs of olive oil
1 tsp salt of your choice (I used course ground sea salt)
1/4 to 1/2 tsp ground pepper
2-4 crushed/minced garlic
2nd half of recipe Ingredients:
1/2 lemon (or 2 tbs lemon from the bottle) and zest from that half lemon
1/8 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 1/2 tbs olive oil
Optional (this means I didn't, but you certainly can!):
2 tbs toasted pine nut (or nut of your choice really)
Fresh basil to your liking
What I did:
1) Preheat the oven to 425 degrees
2) Cut broccoli into florettes [tip! broccoli must be very dry before you roast, so, either do not wash (I assume that everything will be killed in a 425 degree oven) OR dry very thoroughly before coating]
3) Put florettes into a pan (I used a pyrex glass pan, but I doubt it matters) and coat with the "1st half Ingredients"
4) Bake for 20-25 minutes. The broccoli should have a lot of crispy, brown, crunchy bits on them
5) Pull out of oven, put broccoli into your serving dish and then mix the broccoli with the "2nd Half Ingredients"
6) Eat up!
Roasted Brown Butter Cauliflower
I am going to try this recipe out soon. I am REALLY liking roasted vegetables these days and just discovered recently that root veggies aren't the only veggies that taste ultra delicious baked/roasted in the oven. I just found a roasted broccoli (that's right, broccoli) recipe for my mom's birthday dinner that was so yummy, we had it again within a few days. That recipe is to follow this one :)
1 tbs + 1tsp olive oil
1/12 (1 tbs + 1 tsp) cup fresh sage leaf , loosely packed (or 1/4-1/2 tsp dried sage)
1 tablespoon + 1 tspcoarse salt , more for tossing
1 heads cauliflower , cut into florets
1/3 teaspoon table salt
2-3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 lemon , zested and juiced (separated)
Directions:
1) In a small pan, heat oil until rippling; add sage and cook, while stirring, until crisped, about 2 minutes.
2) Drain on paper toweling and transfer oil to a large bowl.
3) Let sage cool, then crumble into a small bowl; stir in coarse salt and set aside.
4) Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375 degrees F; place a roasting pan, with about an inch of water on bottom of oven.
5) Add cauliflower to bowl of oil and season with table salt; toss to coat.
6) Spread cauliflower out on 2 baking sheets and bake until lightly browned, about 20 to 30 minutes.
7) In the meantime, melt butter in a small pan over medium heat until foamy.
8) Once foam subsides, stir often, and once solids are browned, turn off heat and squeeze all the lemon juice into pan and stir well.
9) Transfer cauliflower to a bowl, pour butter on top, add lemon zest, season with about half the sage salt, toss; taste and add more sage salt as needed.
1 tbs + 1tsp olive oil
1/12 (1 tbs + 1 tsp) cup fresh sage leaf , loosely packed (or 1/4-1/2 tsp dried sage)
1 tablespoon + 1 tspcoarse salt , more for tossing
1 heads cauliflower , cut into florets
1/3 teaspoon table salt
2-3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 lemon , zested and juiced (separated)
Directions:
1) In a small pan, heat oil until rippling; add sage and cook, while stirring, until crisped, about 2 minutes.
2) Drain on paper toweling and transfer oil to a large bowl.
3) Let sage cool, then crumble into a small bowl; stir in coarse salt and set aside.
4) Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375 degrees F; place a roasting pan, with about an inch of water on bottom of oven.
5) Add cauliflower to bowl of oil and season with table salt; toss to coat.
6) Spread cauliflower out on 2 baking sheets and bake until lightly browned, about 20 to 30 minutes.
7) In the meantime, melt butter in a small pan over medium heat until foamy.
8) Once foam subsides, stir often, and once solids are browned, turn off heat and squeeze all the lemon juice into pan and stir well.
9) Transfer cauliflower to a bowl, pour butter on top, add lemon zest, season with about half the sage salt, toss; taste and add more sage salt as needed.
A new Fav Cookie: Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip
I was attracted to these cookies looking on foodgawker, which, by the way, is also my new favorite website to go to when I am bored or need inspiration. Foodgawker is great as it displays the food by picture without any pesky words to distract you. I made these after a long break from any baking. I quit baking as it was turning out to be the only hobby I had and I wanted to get back into reading and exercising, not just baking and eating the goods! My bake break worked and I have since expanded my repetoire of hobbies and can now return to baking without feeling guilty about ignoring other fun activities I also enjoy. I didn't just want to return to making the same old cookies I made every holiday and found these cookies surfing the internet and tried them out. I was a bit intrigued by the bananas and was unsure how they would turn out, but, they turned out delicious. Only, unlike a lot of cookies, these cookies taste better when cooled or even the next day. They become very moist and banana-like.
Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup oatmeal (not quick-cooking)
2 cups (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
2 bananas, cut into 1/4 to1/3 inch pieces
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup oatmeal (not quick-cooking)
2 cups (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
2 bananas, cut into 1/4 to1/3 inch pieces
What I did Next:
1) Preheat oven to 350 Degrees F have the rack in the middle of the oven for best results
2) You can line your pans with parchment paper, silpat or nothing if you feel brave
3) Mix together the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon
4) In another bowl (or mixer) beat together the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until smooth and blended. This will take about a minute
5) Add egg and vanilla and mix until blended; around 1 minute. At this point, the mix might look a bit curdled
6) Slowly add the flour mixture to the butter/sugar mixture until just incorporated. Mix in oatmeal, mix in chocolate chips. Mix in banana pieces until just incorporated and some are mashed, but some are still pieces
7) I use an ice cream scoop (about 3 tbs) to scoop out dough onto the pans making sure to leave a lot of space!
8) Bake about 18 minutes. Avoid my constant mistake of overbaking cookies. Bake until the edges are lightly browned and tops look dry.
9) Let cookie cool on pan for 10 min before transferring to wire rack to cool further
Cookie tips:
Let cookies rest on pans for the best baked cookie and to avoid breaking cookies when taking them off the pan, it really does make a difference.
Bake cookies one sheet at a time, or, if you must do 2, rotate halfway through baking time
Do not overbake! Cookies will, for the most part, look a little udnercooked/barely brown when it is time to take them out of the oven.
Cool cookie sheets for the most part before putting cookie dough on the cookie sheets
A bit of my food background
Born and raised in Alaska, my food journey started with subsistence foods: salmon, deer, seaweed and a lot of beef and pork to round out the meat we ate. My diet didn't change much until I went to college in Oregon, where I discovered Thai, Vietnamese, Indian cuisine and was introduced to people who didn't eat meat! Moving to the Midwest, my primary hobby became baking, cooking and different types of diets and how those different diets would change the make up of one's kitchen as well as their effects on the way I feel physically and mentally. I have posed as a vegan, vegetarian and low-carb dieter at various points in my life and found that I like my food like I like my life: Varied and flavorful.
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