Orange & Dill Salmon

TUESDAY, MAY 11TH, 2010

4 stars (out of 5 - an easy salmon dish, with an interesting blend of flavours)

1 serving = ~209 calories.

I am really trying to get SB to eat more fish, less red meat which means that I am now trying to conquer my fear/disgust of cooking fish. I have a Company's Coming cookbook that has a lot of really good, yet really simple fish recipes, and this is another one of them. I decided to try it out today because I needed to make the marinade in the afternoon.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (125 mL) orange juice
1/3 cup (75 mL) maple syrup
1/4 cup (60 mL) dry white wine
1/4 cup chopped fresh dill*
1 tbsp (15 mL) soy sauce
Up to 4 salmon steaks, ~2cm/1" thick, 113 g each**

{*Note. You can also use 1 tbsp of dill weed if you prefer. I used fresh dill and then sprinkled some dill weed over top for good measure}.

{**Note. I only cooked 1 salmon steak, but the recipe is for up to four}.

1. First, I combined the first 5 ingredients in the small bowl, and mixed well.

2. I then placed the salmon in the bowl, covered it, and stuck it in the fridge for up to 4 hours.

3. When I was ready to cook, I removed the salmon from the marinade (and discarded the leftover marinade), and fried it with some olive oil on medium heat in a non-stick pan for about 3-4 minutes per side (until it flaked away easily). The original recipe said to use an electric grill (or gas bbq to medium), and to cook it 5 minutes per side. I think I will have to get one of those!).

4. I served it with some baked asparagus (and a avocado-orange salad on the side - post to come!).

Overall, this was really easy to prepare ahead (the most time-consuming process was chopping up the dill, and it still only took about 5 minutes) and then just fry up when I was ready. SB said it was a really interesting mix of flavours with the maple, and that they blended together well. It was nice and moist and flaky inside. I might try this again with a grill. One note, SB kept adding the dill to the frying fish, which is why it blackened so much. I think that (presentation-wise) it might have looked better if we hadn't done that, or had used a grill instead.

Tarragon-Poached Fish (Haddock or Cod)

WEDNESDAY, MAY 5TH, 2010

4 stars (out of 5 - an easy, succulent fish dish - and super low calorie!)

I again wanted to try out another fish dish, and this one looked appealing. It was also described as super quick and easy (which I love!), and only has ~170 calories per portion (how fantastic is that?!). It turned out to be a really great tasting dish as well (which is always nice!) (Original recipe: http://www.companyscoming.com/index.php?par=free_recipes&fy=2007&fm=3&recipeid=705)

Ingredients*:

2 tbsp (30 mL) butter
2 tbsp (30 mL) flour
1 cup vegetable broth
1 tsp dried tarragon
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 1 lb (454g) of haddock or cod(de-boned) fillets (I used haddock and it was good)*

{*Note. These ingredients are for 4 portions. I only used one smaller fish fillet for SB, and it worked really well (with lots of sauce). The original recipe called for 1 lb of fish (454g), about 1/2 an inch thick each}.

1. First, I added the butter to a large frying pan, and melted over medium heat.

2. Once it was melted, I stirred in most of the flour for about one minute...

3. ... and slowly stirred in the broth, stirring constantly until it is boiling and thickened.

4. I then added the lemon juice and tarragon, and stirred well.

5. Lowering the heat to low-medium, I added the fish fillet to the pan, coating with sauce.

6. I then covered it with a lid and simmered it for 5-7 minutes (until the fish was nice and flaky).

7. I served it with all of the sauce and a side of rice (but feel free to be more creative with the accompaniments... I was burnt out after back to back patients today, so was a bit lazy!).

Overall, this was so so easy and very quick, but very tasty and "succulent" (direct quote from SB!). It also looked quite impressive, especially if you did a nice side with it (not instant rice - yikes!). It will definitely be added to my growing list of good fish recipes.

Sweet Potatoes

TUESDAY, MAY 4TH, 2010

4 stars (out of 5 - the simplest, yet delicious, sweet potatoes!)

I don't usually like sweet potatoes, but I was inspired by my new cast-iron frying pan to purchase one and try it out. I wasn't disappointed! With the guidance of PTL, these turned out so well, and were incredibly easy.

Ingredients:

Sweet potatoes (I used 1 which = 3 (very) small side dishes)
Olive oil

1. First, I peeled the sweet potatoes, and cut it into cubes.

2. I added them to a microwaveable bowl, and zapped them for 3 minutes. I had originally added these to the oven, but they weren't baking quickly enough, so I only needed to microwave them for 3 minutes. I would recommend microwaving them at 2 minute intervals, stirring after every 2 minutes. They cook very quickly, though. You want them to be just a tiny bit undercooked at this point.

3. I then heated my (new!) cast-iron frying pan, added a bit of oil, and added the sweet potatoes when it was hot.

4. I cooked over medium heat, until they were slightly burnt on some of the sides. This didn't take long with my new pan.

5. I then served them with my pork recipe: http://etryingtocook.blogspot.com/2010/05/pork-tenderloin-w-sage-parsley-crust.html

Overall, I loved these! I like the flavour my cast-iron pan added to them and the texture was great. This was a fantastic way to mix things up and I will definitely be making them again.

Pork Tenderloin w/ Sage-Parsley Crust

TUESDAY, MAY 4TH, 2010

4.5 stars (out of 5 - a super-easy, yet impressive pork dish!)

It was yet another Hockey Night in Canada, and we were invited over to PTL's place for dinner. Unfortunately (for me), I had already purchased my groceries for this dinner (a new recipe attempt). Soo, I decided to be brave and try it out on both SB and PTL (usually, I like to try things out at least once before making them for guests). Luckily for me, it turned out really well, and my fears (of a dried out roast) were unfounded: it was a great combo of flavours and the meat was very tender.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (125 mL) orange juice
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 tbsp (30 mL)liquid honey
2 garlic cloves, minced
~1 lb (~450g) pork tenderloin, trimmed of fat
1.5 tbsp whole grained mustard
1/4-1/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped*
2 tbsp fresh sage, chopped**
1 tbsp course ground pepper

{*Note. I didn't have fresh parsley, so I substituted this with 2 tbsp of dried parsley and it worked well}.

{**Note. I used a bit more than this. Basically, for the parsley and sage, you want a nice layer around the meat (see pics below)}.

1. First, I mixed the first four ingredients into a medium-sized bowl.

2. I then added the tenderloin, coating all sides, marinating it in the fridge for at least 4 hours (turning once and a while), or overnight. You can see from the picture that I didn't have the courage to trim the fat myself, so I just marinated it all and had SB trim it when he came home!

3. {Preheat oven to 375F} After it had marinated, I then coated the roast with the whole grained Dijon mustard (all sides)...

4. ... mixed up the sage, parsley, and pepper mixture...

5. ...and rolled the roast around until it was coated on all sides. Unless you have really coarse pepper (I didn't), be careful with the pepper mixture. I found it stuck in big patches, so had to rub quite a bit off. I would instead recommend just sprinkling the roast with the pepper by hand (still be generous with it). I placed it on a cooking rack (greased) in a baking pan with sides.

5. I then placed it in the oven, with a meat thermometer in it, and cooked it until it reached 155F (about 45 minutes).

6. After I took the roast out of the oven, I covered it in tinfoil for 10 minutes to let the juices mix, and the temperature to rise a few more degrees.

7. As the juices were mixing, I poured the leftover marinade in a frying pan on medium-high heat for 5-7 minutes until it reduced and thickened slightly (second pic).

8. I then unwrapped it from the foil...

9. ...and sliced it in ~2cm/1" slices.

10. I then drizzled the sauce over top (to each person's liking), and served it with a simple salad and sweet potatoes (recipe entry to come!).

Overall, even though I was nervous making this, the meat thermometer made it a stress-free experience. I didn't have to guess whether it was cooked well enough or not, and it definitely was not overcooked or dried out in any way. In fact, I was surprised by how moist/tender the meat was (well, looked since I didn't taste!), and the sauce makes it even more so. SB and PTL both thought it tasted really delicious, so I was pleased! Will do again - easy and stress free, yet impressive!

Lamb Chops

FRIDAY, APRIL 30th, 2010

4.5 stars (out of 5 - yay! Incredibly easy, incredibly good)

I had planned (and purchased) all of the ingredients for my couscous recipe (for the recipe see http://etryingtocook.blogspot.com/2009/04/classic-beef-dinner-with-couscous.html) at the beginning of this week, but hadn't had the opportunity to make it. PTL was coming over for the hockey game, so I decided we would have couscous and pair it with something new: lamb chops (awww.. baaaaa). I also had zucchinis that I needed to use, so I made my previous post's zucchini recipe for a starter. It all was really easy, stress free, and delicious.

Ingredients (for 6-8 lamb chops):

Lamb chops*
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tbsp fresh thyme**, chopped up
1 tbsp rosemary
2 cloves of garlic, minced
Zest of 1 lemon
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

{*Note. I bought "cruelty free" lamb. For some reason, this seemed really important with lamb. Maybe because they're so cute? Ok, that's awful to say! I should always purchase this type of meat.}

{**Note. You may also want to add a tbsp of chopped basil, but I did it without and it was delicious. If anyone tries it, let me know!}

1. First, I combined all of the ingredients in a bowl, and stirred well.

2. I let this sit for about 1 hour (to let the flavours mix), but if you're in a hurry, this isn't necessary.

3. I then dipped each lamb chop into the bowl, coating each side well, then placed in a plate (with edges... it will be slightly liquidy). I spooned all of the remaining liquid over top. I then let it marinate in the fridge for 1 hour (you just need about 30 minutes, minimum), and watched the hockey game.

4. At intermission, we heated a skillet over medium heat, and (when hot) added the lamb chops. You don't want to overcook them, so I would suggest starting with 4 minutes per side, but this depends on the thickness of your chops.

5. Once done (still red in the middle), we set them aside for 5 minutes, to let the juices mix.

6. And served it with asparagus and Mediterranean couscous.

Overall, this was soooo simple, but delicious. It was also fun to mix it up a bit, and the marinade was easy but added a great flavour to the meat. It's a great dish to make for company, because you will only need to fry them up (no other cooking) while they are there (and this basically just takes a few minutes, flipping the meat once). Will definitely do it again!