Thursday, September 23, 2010

Brussel Sprouts


While we grilled the salmon, we also threw some brussel sprouts that had been halved on the grill. I had a few left over and have been meaning to try other ways to cook them.

When grilling: half brussel sprouts, sprinkle with olive oil and sprinkle a little sugar on top

Another way (adapted from Cooking Lite)
-4 or 5 brussel sprouts, sliced into quarters
-olive oil
-salt n pepper
-1/2 a shallot, thinly sliced
-1 clove garlic, minced
-balsamic to taste

1. Heat pan, add oil and shallot, cook until shallot gets soft
2. Add brussel sprouts.
3. Add garlic.
4. Cook until brussel sprouts soften, but still have a crunch.
5. Remove from heat, drizzle with balsamic. Enjoy with a glass of chardonnay.

Things To Do WIth Extra Salmon


The other day I got a 12 lb salmon. Yes, 12 pounds. My friend lives near a bunch of Russian immigrants and I guess one of them goes out and catches salmon and then sells it for $1/lb. Unfortunately for me (or fortunately for my friends) you have to buy a whole fish. My friend took a few lbs off for herself (it was originally 14 lbs I guess), and gave me the rest. It came gutted but not scaled or filleted so that was an interesting and messy experience that I'm not eager to relive...I ended up grilling the salmon with a bunch of people. We went through a lot of it but 12 lbs is quite a lot of fish so we had leftovers. We did rosemary, garlic, and lemon, an asiany marinade with pineapple on skewers, and a maple syrup glaze too.

Salmon-Potato Salad (note: we had the most of the rosemary, lemon, garlic marinaded salmon left over, so that helped me come up with this idea)
-about 5 little potatoes (fingerling or whichever kind you prefer)
-1 T mayo*
-1 T spicy mustard*
-juice of 1/2 a lemon
-1 T german mustard*
-salt n pepper
-1 large stalk celery, finely diced
-1/3 small onion, finely diced
-1 T or so of canola oil
-salmon to taste*

1. Cook the potatoes in boiling water until tender, cool completely (or they'll get mushy when you try to cut them).
2. Dice celery, cut onion, place in large bowl.
3. Mix mustards, mayo, oil, salt n pepper, lemon juice in a small bowl.
4. Chop potatoes, add to larger bowl.
5. Add dressing to everything else.
6. Add salmon in and mix all together!

*No idea how much of all of these things I actually added, so my proportions might be kind of off...feel free to adapt as needed, with more mustard than mayo, and as much salmon as you like.

Baked Eggs



This is a 2-for-1 post. So a while ago at this point (yes, I'm delayed at keeping up with this) I came across a recipe for eggs baked with asparagus here . I love both eggs and asparagus so I was instantly intrigued. The other day I was in the mood for brunch but since it was just me, I didn't wanna go too crazy cooking up a lot of food. I remembered that asparagus-egg dish but then realized I didn't have any asparagus. Fail! Luckily I did happen to have some spinach on hand so i figured I could play around with the baked egg thing and use my cute little ramekins that I got for my birthday: win-win! This was a good idea on my part. I ended up making the asparagus one too later, so I'm including both.

Eggs Baked In Spinach
-1 egg
-3/4 c chopped spinach or more (I think that's about all I had, so more wouldn't hurt)
-1 T finely chopped onion
-1/2 garlic clove, smashed and finely chopped
-salt n pepper to taste
-olive oil
-1 T milk
-grated cheese to taste (any kind works, I would suggest cheddar or jack though)--maybe 1 T or so
-baguette, sliced on the diagonal, toasted and buttered (to eat with the egg)

1. Heat a heavy pan, add oil and onion and cook until onion becomes soft and translucent.
2. Add spinach and garlic and cook until spinach is done to your liking.
3. Remove from heat and put into a buttered ramekin
4. Grate cheese, preheat oven to about 450.
5. Carefully crack egg onto the spinach in the ramekin, add milk around it and salt n pepper.
6. Bake until whites begin to set (I still haven't mastered this step, I tend to overcook my eggs a bit), according to Shutter Bean, 5-7 min. Toast the toast.
7. Top with cheese and cook until cheese is bubbly.
8. Eat with the toast.

Egg Baked With Asparagus
1. Roast asparagus with olive oil, salt n lemon pepper (or however you like)
2. Follow steps 3-8.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Cocktails


I was at the Vern, my neighborhood bar, the other night and was in the mood for something other than beer or whiskey-ginger (my go-to well drink). I asked the bartender if she had any suggestions and she told me that lately after work she's been having raspberry kamikazes. For some reason I never think of kamikazes as a drink to get, not because I don't like them, but more because I always forget about them. A few days later I remembered that I had raspberry vodka, regular vodka, and limes lying around, so I figured I'd make one myself. If you're really feeling fancy, top with champagne and garnish with a lime wheel (I did).

Raspberry Kamikaze, but better:

-1 1/2 oz raspberry vodka or liqueur
-1 oz vodka
-1 oz lime juice
-1/2 oz triple sec
-champagne to taste

-Shake first 4 ingredients with ice, strain into a martini glass, top with champagne and a lime wheel.

*Note: for a less potent drink, leave out the regular vodka, I like both types because it cuts the sweetness of the raspberry liqueur a bit.