Slow Cooked King Salmon

Slow Cooked King Salmon

This salmon melts in your mouth.  Slow cooking anything makes the dish more juicy and tender.  Add a pan of water to your oven, and you create a humid environment that will keep the fish very moist.

Ingredients:

• 1 King salmon fillet, 2-3 pounds
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Gray salt
• Half cracked peppercorns
• Freshly ground pepper

Method:

Preheat your oven to 200 degrees.

Place a baking pan with a few cups of water on the bottom rack of the oven.

Lightly brush the bottom of a baking pan with the olive oil.

Brush olive oil on the salmon (all sides.)  Season generously with gray salt, half cracked pepper and ground pepper.

Place salmon in oiled baking dish and bake in oven for approximately an hour. . . When juices begin to form on top and the salmon is a little firm – it is done.

Serve with freshly made Meyer Lemon Relish

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Duarte’s Crab Cioppino

Duarte’s Crab Cioppino

www.duartestavern.com

source:  NPR.org

• 2 1/2 pounds fresh cracked Dungeness crab (your fishmonger/butcher will crack the crab for you)
• 12 cherrystone clams
• 12 jumbo white prawns
• 8 oz. cod
• 1 cup clam juice
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• Cioppino sauce (recipe follows)

To assemble: Place half the sauce in a 5 quart roaster or Dutch oven. Place crab in next, then clams and prawns, clam juice, and wine. Pour rest of sauce over crab. Place the cod on top last. Place lid on pan and turn heat to medium-high until it starts to boil. After it reaches a boil, turn heat down to medium. When the fish is cooked and the clams are open, the cioppino is ready. Serve immediately with a good crusty sourdough bread.

Sauce

• 2 medium yellow onions, chopped fine
• 6 stalks celery, chopped fine
• 1/4 cup parsley, chopped fine
• 4 tbsp. olive oil
• 2-14.5 oz. cans diced tomato
• 15 oz. can tomato sauce
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 tsp. fresh garlic, chopped fine
• 1 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. thyme
• 1 1/2 tsp. oregano
• 1 1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning
• 3/4 tsp. cumin
• 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes

Saute onion, celery and parsley in olive oil until translucent. Add spices, saute for one minute. Add diced tomato and tomato sauce. Simmer for 30 minutes. Adjust seasonings to taste.

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Shrimp & Seabass Ceviche

• 2 pounds of shrimp (butterflied – either leave whole or chop)
• 1 pound of sea bass (½ inch cubes)
• Juice from 4 limes
• Juice from one lemon
• 2 medium tomatoes, diced
• 1 small white onion, finely chopped
• 2 small yellow and red sweet peppers, chopped
• 2-3 jalapeños or serrano peppers (more if you like it spicy), chopped
• 3/4 cup cilantro, washed and chopped
• 1 teaspoon of olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste
• lettuce leaves

In a large bowl, gently mix the shrimp and fish with the lime juice and lemon juice and put it in the fridge for 1 hour or until shrimp and fish are opaque in color.  This process actually “cooks” the raw fish.

In another bowl combine the tomato, onion, red pepper, jalapeño or serrano, cilantro, olive oil, salt and pepper.

Take “cooked” fish and combine with remaining ingredients; cover the bowl and chill Ceviche in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Serve the ceviche on top of lettuce leaves, garnish with avocado slices.  Serve with plantain or corn chips

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Seafood Salad w/Lemon Grass, Mint, Chili-Lime Dressing

Seafood Salad w/Lemon Grass, Mint, Chili-Lime Dressing

I never know where I’m going to find a wonderful new recipe to add to this collection.  This one was discovered on a Facebook page for a Foodie group in Chicago.  They have a group that meets and prepares dinner together.  This recipe was made for their April event that focused on Thai cuisine.  A member named Kin Lui prepared this dish for their group and it received rave reviews.  I don’t know Kin Lui and will post more credit information when I receive it.

Now that the temperatures are heating up, this is a perfect and refreshing dish to serve on a hot afternoon.

By the way… this photo doesn’t do this dish justice… it’s very colorful and fresh looking.  My flash wasn’t cooperating when I took this photo.  Will try again next time I make it – which will be VERY soon!

8 servings

• 2 stalks lemon grass trimmed, top one-third pf stalks discarded, remaining stalk thinly sliced
• 1 piece fresh galangal or fresh ginger, minced
• 2 shallots halved lengthwise, sliced thinly crosswise
• 1/2 cup fresh sprigs of cilantro, washed and coarsely chopped
• 1/2 cup fresh mint, washed and coarsely chopped
• 3/4 pounds squid skinned, tentacles left whole, body cut into 1 inch rings (optional)
• 2/3 pounds fresh medium shrimp shelled, deveined, butterflied
• 2/3 pounds sea scallops (optional)
• 2/3 pounds sea bass fillet cut into 1 inch chunks
• 3-4 large lettuce leaves

Hot and Sour Chili-Lime Dressing:

• 10 fresh thai chilies chopped
• 6-8 cloves garlic chopped
• Juice of 2 limes
• 3 tablespoons fish sauce
• 2 teaspoons sugar

Directions for dressing:
1) Pound the chilies and garlic into a paste in a mortar with a pestle, transfer to a medium bowl.
2) Whisk in the lime juice, fish sauce and sugar

Directions for salad:
1) Place lemon grass, galangal, shallots, cilantro, and mint in a large bowl; toss. Set aside.
2)Heat water in a large saucepan to boil.
3) Blanch the seafood, one variety at a time, until just cooked through: 20-30 seconds for the squid; 30 -40 seconds for the shrimp and scallops; 1-2 minutes for the sea bass. Drain well.
4) Add the warm seafood to the herb mixture; add the dressing.
5) Toss to distribute; transfer to a lettuce-lined serving platter.

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Maryland Crab Cake

My husband’s family can be traced back in Maryland to Lord Baltimore.  There is so much history and tradition in that area and crab cakes play a big part in their culinary heritage.  I would be disowned if I didn’t put a crab cake recipe on this blog!

Being from California, it is fair to say I didn’t know what a ‘real’ crab cake was until I traveled to Maryland.  I stopped ordering them in restaurants on the west coast because they usually resembled over-fried hockey pucks with lots of filler and very little crab.

Then, my husband and I went to Maryland and I am now spoiled!  Crab cakes should be 95% fresh jumbo lump crab with very little filler.

This recipe was inspired by those crab cakes in Maryland.  Using Old Bay spice is optional.  It will taste great without it.  But if you want that Maryland flavor, don’t leave out the Old Bay… but make sure it is fresh and hasn’t been sitting in your cupboard for years!  You can use either Saltines or bread crumbs.  If you use bread, please make your own fresh crumbs from 4 or 5 slices of white bread.  The store bought variety tastes like cardboard.  This recipe will feed 4-6 people whether you choose to make the small appetizer size cakes or larger cakes for the main course.

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• Olive oil
• 2 pounds jumbo lump crab meat
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/4 cup freshly chopped Parsley (I prefer Italian flat leaf)
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 teaspoons Old Bay seasoning
• 2 teaspoons wet mustard
• 2 teaspoons dry mustard
• 2 tablespoons worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon  of your favorite hot sauce
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly cracked pepper
• 4 tablespoons good quality mayonnaise
• 8 Saltine (or whatever your preference) cracker crumbs – or 1.5 cups freshly made white bread crumbs

Beat eggs. Add parsley, Old Bay seasoning, mustards, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco, lemon juice, salt and pepper.  Lightly saute garlic in olive oil for 1 minute.  Add to egg mixture.  Check crab meat for shells.  Fold crab meat into egg mixture and add mayo and crackers.  Gently shape into 4 – 8 oz balls (larger size may be served as an entree.)  Make sure you don’t over shape or handle the balls.   Gently place crab cakes on a plate, cover and place in the refrigerator so the mixture sets before frying.

Fry quickly in about 3 tbsp of olive oil for about 4-5 minutes a side until lightly golden…. or bake in a 375-degree oven on a baking sheet for approximately 20 minutes (watch closely until lightly golden brown). Dust with Old Bay before serving.

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