Alaskan Cooking Video: Baked Alaska and More

           

               I do not own the rights to any songs used in this video.  They belong to the respective artists.

Miso Soup

Steaming Miso soup with floating garnishes of thinly sliced shallots and carrots is my current favourite lunch.  It warms one through to the deepest parts on these cold winter days.  Also low in calories so a great way to go light between over indulging in the lead up to Christmas.  You will find the few needed ingredients in a Japanese shop.






Makes 4 servings

Miso  (Soy Bean Paste Soup)

75g/3 oz white or red miso
1 litre/1 quart soup stock (below)
2 shallots, thinly sliced for garnish
1/4 carrot, peeled and thinly sliced for garnish

First, make the stock:

4-inch square kombu, cut across a few times, not quite through
1 litre/1 quart  water in a pot
5g/1/4 oz dried bonita fish

Wipe the kelp with wet paper towel; put in the pan of water.  Bring to the boil over a low heat; add the bonito fish and turn off the heat.  Leave for 30 minutes; strain through a sieve.

Second, to make the Miso:

Mix a small amount of the sauce with the miso in a small bowl.  Add the blended mixture to the pan of sieved stock.  Bring up to the boil and then immediately turn off the heat.  Serve with prepared garnishes of shallots and carrot.

Thanksgiving celebrations 2013

2013 Thanksgiving celebrations were with our kids, Adam and Suzanne and many of their friends and ours around two tables. The Tennessee cornbread is what I choose to share with you. It is one of my favourite recipes from living in that wonderful state for many of my adult years.  Suzanne's friend, and mine, Sarah, made 3 times this recipe for our 20 sit down guests.







Heat oven to 200C/400F   Makes 12 servings

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups cornmeal
1/2 cup plain flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon soda
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup buttermilk
3 tablespoons olive oil

Sift dry ingredients into a bowl. Add eggs and buttermilk; stir just enough to blend. Heat the oil in a 9" pan. Pour batter into hot pan and bake for 25 minutes.

Nibbles of Spiced Roasted Cauliflower and Broccoli

We plan to welcome our guests with a glass of steaming mulled wine and these tempting savoury spiced nibbles on a toothpick this Thanksgiving. Everyone eats hot roasted veggies. The oven does most of the work.








Oven temperature: 200C/400F Serves 4-6 as nibbles before your meal.

Ingredients:

1 head broccoli, broken into florets, (cut into half florets for the large ones)
1 small head cauliflower, broken into florets (cut into half florets for the large ones)
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon dry coriander
Salt
Black pepper
3-4 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced

Toothpicks on a platter to serve

On a large baking sheet drizzle the oil and add the spices and garlic. Rub the florets in the spiced oil and roast in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes. The vegetables are best enjoyed with a slight crunchiness left so don't allow to over cook.

Serve hot on a platter with toothpicks. Enjoy along with your chosen beverage.

Roasted Stuffed Pumpkin

Isn't this just the perfect meal to add to your Autumn favourites?! The whole family will love it. This easy to follow recipe makes light work of preparation because most is done in the oven. Beautiful aromatic flavours of cinnamon, cumin, coriander and lamb fill your kitchen as the stuffed pumpkin is roasting. Also roast the removed seeds for extra fun if you so desire.






Ingredients:

One 10-inch pumpkin, top sliced off and saved; seeds and fibers scraped out using a tablespoon
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 medium yellow onions, peeled and roughly chopped
1 pound//500g minced lamb or turkey
1 400g tin chopped tomatoes
1 400g empty tin filled with tap water
1 cup dry white rice
2 teaspoons dry cumin
1 teaspoon dry coriander
1 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Small bunch of fresh curly parsley, snipped with kitchen shears, for garnish

Heat oven to 160C/325F

Put all ingredients in a large wok, except pumpkin and parsley. Mix together thoroughly and bring up to the simmering point and cook for a couple of minutes.

Place the prepared pumpkin in the centre of your roasting pan, lined with foil. Fill with the hot meat mixture from the wok. Place pumpkin top back on. Move roasting pan to the bottom oven rack and roast for two hours, or until the rice is soft.

Remove from oven and place roasted stuffed pumpkin on serving tray. Garnish with parsley as shown in the picture. Enjoy!

Richard's Plum Tart

We were recently invited for wine followed by this magnificent dessert served with vanilla ice cream and  coffee at our friends, Richard and Marie. The deep red and yellow plums were dripping with the light sweet syrup as we savoured every bite. What a treat! Richard shares the recipe, handed down from his mother, Helga, below.

Here is a magic formula that is the answer to Life, the Universe & everything.

"TWO, FOUR, SIX".

...it's the family secret that my mother passed on to me and basically that's all you need to know to live an ecstatically happy (if rather short) and contented life, living only on earth-shattering good Viennese Apple or plum tart.

-----------------------------------------
Oh yes - you want to ask the same complicating but unnecessary questions that I did all those years ago.  "Yes, but of what.. for how long etc?....."

Here is the accompanying idiot's guide to achieving easy success and the admiration of friends and neighbours:

Ingredients,
2 Granulated sugar
4 Stork margarine
6 Flour (4 wholemeal: 2 Plain white)
3 or 4 Bramley Cooking apples

A spinkling of Sultanas

Mixture of granulated sugar and cinnamon (use plenty)

I think we are talking old money ounces, but it's the proportion that's important.

Mix it all together in a processor or my hand and form into a ball.  You can press it out into a slightly greased baking tin immediately (it makes one 12inch cake or two 9 and 7 inch ones - or you can keep the pastry in the fridge or freezer indefinitely.

Peel quarter and thinly slice three or four Bramley cooking apples, place in bowl and liberally sprinkle / coat with premixed (use a jam jar and shake it) granulated sugar and cinnamon.

Press out pastry in baking tin, add some sultanas and cover liberally with apple slices, shake over some more gran sugar/cinnamon mixture and place in preheated oven at 180C for about 45 minutes, until edges are slightly burnt.  Place on rack to cool. Separate from base and sprinkle with icing sugar to serve.

There - now you know everything there is to know.  Or nearly, ‘cos the Apple cake recipe can and should be tried using plums.  Unfortunately Svitzen (don’t know how it should be spelt) plums have long been extinct in the UK, but this year I tried President plums, which make a brief appearance in late September.  I blind baked the pastry, (covering the base with baking roll) for 20 or so minutes before adding the halved (lengthwise) stoned plums, coated in the gran sugar/cinnamon mixture, and returning to the oven.  Be careful that the oven is not too hot or the plums will shrink. The result was blissful.

Bon appetite.

Richard    

Salmon Starters

These colourful starters, using Red Alaskan salmon, hard boiled egg, and mixed vegetables, are so easy! The preparation is done ahead of time. They can also be used on a larger plate of vegetable salad as a lunch or light supper.

This recipe was inspired by the lovely meal we recently enjoyed with our friends, Margaret and Adrian in Bournemouth. We could eat plenty because our afternoon was spent biking along the beautiful seafront. What a day!!








Two servings (very generous).

Line to ramekins with plastic wrap, leaving some to hang over the sides.

Ingredients:

200g Smoked (preferably Alaskan) salmon
150 raw salmon
1 lemon, squeezed
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3-4 sprigs snipped fresh dill
Coarsely ground black pepper, good shaking
100g Cream cheese or creme fraiche

Line the plastic wrap covered ramekins with half of the smoked salmon. Cut the rest of the smoked salmon and all of the raw salmon into very small pieces; place in a small mixing bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients and thoroughly blend. Spoon mixture evenly into the ramekins on top of the sheets of salmon. Cover with the overlapping salmon and plastic wrap. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Remove salmon starters from the ramekins by pulling up on the plastic wrap. Plate onto  small plates of mixed vegetable salad, garnished with hard boiled egg quarters. See earlier post on Salmon Nicoise. Enjoy.

Tomato Carrot Soup

This orangish red hot steaming soup is a welcome lunch and slimming if you use only a touch of grated parmesan to garnish. Cooler weather now lends to bringing back these body and soul warming meals.








Serves about 5 to 6

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 red onion, peeled and quartered
1, 400g tin chopped tomatoes
5 carrots, peeled and cut into large chunks
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 heaping teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 1/2 litres/1 1/2 quarts, water
2-3 vegetable bullion cubes

Put all the ingredients into a large pot. Bring to the boil over medium heat and simmer, covered for 30 minutes or until the carrots are tender. Turn off heat. With a hand blender, puree. Serve in bowls garnished with a teaspoon of coarsely grated parmesan.

Apple Strudel

There were plenty from our last Braeburn apple harvest to stew and also make apple strudel, our favourite apple dessert. It takes more time than crumble but is worth the extra effort if you have the time. With any recipe, faster and easier with each repeat.







Makes about 12 servings:

First of all, cover one end of your kitchen table with a cloth and dust lightly with flour. If you have a 3 foot square table, that is ideal. I found the one I have which is longer, worked fine with me just using half of it (3 feet).

Ingredients:

8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and set aside

6oz/200g/1 1/2 cups, plain flour
1/2 teaspoon salt

1 egg
5 1/3 tablespoons/1/3 cup, water, room-temperature
1 teaspoon cider vinegar

Sift the flour and salt together into a large bowl; mix the egg, water, vinegar, and 1 tablespoon of the melted butter, in a separate bowl; add the liquids all at once to the flour and salt and mix thoroughly. Knead the dough for 10 minutes on a lightly floured surface. Cover lightly with some of the melted butter and cover and leave at room temperature for 45 minutes. While dough is setting, proceed to the next step.

Peel, core and slice enough apples to make 6 cups. Set aside

3/4 cup coarsely torn fresh breadcrumbs, toasted in a 180C/350F oven for 5 minutes

6 oz/150g/1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
1/3 cup currants or raisins
grated zest of one lemon
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

In a large size bowl, mix together one-half the toasted breadcrumbs, sugar, walnuts, currants/raisins, lemon zest, and cinnamon; add the sliced apples and thoroughly blend together.

Increase oven temperature to 200C/400F.

Roll the dough as thinly as possible on a floured surface before transferring it to the floured cloth on the table. Stretch the dough with hands underneath, palms down. Work around going along the sides of the table until the dough is stretched into about a 30 inch square. Butter lightly with some of the melted butter. Place the remaining breadcrumbs on one side of the stretched square; cover with the sliced apple mixture over the crumbs up to about 3 inches from the edge of the dough. Then, with hands, under the cloth, roll the from the apple end over onto dough and keep rolling until the strudel is at the end of the dough. Place onto a lightly buttered baking sheet, curving into a crescent. Lightly butter the top; place into the oven for 20 minutes. Bring the strudel out and lightly butter again and then replace (rotating the tray) for 25 minutes more.

Remove the strudel on the baking sheet and place on a wire rack to cool. Dust lightly with confectioner's sugar (icing sugar). Place on a platter and cut diagonally with a serrated knife. Serve with cream or ice cream.

Salmon Nicoise

This recipe makes a great light lunch or supper. The red onion is roasted to bring out its sweet flavour. The green beans, new potatoes, and eggs are simmered to the "just done" stage. Because of the protein contributed by the hard cooked eggs, very small pieces of grilled salmon are needed to complete the meal.






For two servings you will need:       Have two dinner plates ready

Two bunches of mixed salad leaves
Small bunch of fresh tarragon, sniped into small pieces (about one tablespoon)
100g green beans, halved and simmered about 5 minutes; drain and cool
4 new potatoes, simmered about 15 minutes until an inserted paring knife slides in
1 red onion, roasted in its peel, for 50 minutes at 220C; cool, peel and slice into quarters or smaller
1/2 cucumber, sliced in half lengthwise and then sliced horizontally
6 baby plum tomatoes, halved lengthwise
Handful of black pitted olives
1 Tablespoon vinaigrette
1/2 lime, squeezed of juice

2 hard cooked eggs, peeled and quartered lengthwise
2 small fillets of salmon (preferably Alaskan), grilled
Seasoning (salt, black pepper, garlic salt)

In a large bowl mix together all the ingredients except the eggs and salmon; divide evenly onto two dinner plates.

Grill salmon fillets for about 3 minutes on each side, skin side up first. Season as desired after turning. When cooking is completed, remove skin with a small fish knife and place salmon on top of the mixed greens and vegetables on each plate. Add quartered eggs to each and  serve.

Stewed Apples

We are still harvesting apples from our tree just a few feet from the kitchen door. Thus, stewed apples are my current breakfast with a heaping tablespoon of low fat plain yogurt stirred in. Yummm!









Ingredients:

3 pounds apples, cored, peeled, and sliced
Ground cinnamon, good sprinkling
Ground ginger, good sprinkling
Ground nutmeg, good sprinkling
Honey, about 2 tablespoons
One lemon, squeezed
1/2 cup flaked almonds (optional)
1/2 cup raisins or dried cranberries (optional)

Put all the above ingredients into a large pan. Simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add a small amount of apple juice or water if apples become dry.

Store in a covered container in the refrigerator.

Apple Crumble

Our apple tree is full of red/green fruit ready for harvest. My husband picked a basket full this morning and helped me prepare several pans of crumble for the freezer. It is so handy to have as a ready dessert when friends are coming for dinner.

Husband Bob's contribution this morning was putting the fruit through our hand cranked apple master. It miraculously peels, cores and slices each apple in seconds. A big thank you again to my sister-in-law, Judy, who brought it as a gift a few years ago.


You will need one baking dish large enough to hold one pound/500g apples for this recipe. I used the aluminium ones pictured as I was freezing.

Ingredients:

One pound/500g peeled, cored, sliced tart apples
1 tablespoon brown sugar
Cinnamon, light sprinkling
Cloves, very light sprinkling
flaked almonds, optional, light sprinkling
1 tablespoon raisins, optional
1 tablespoon water

Put all the above ingredients straight into the baking pan and mix to evenly coat the apples.

Combine thoroughly and evenly cover the top of the prepared apples in the baking pan with:

4 oz/1/2 cup plain flour
1tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon brown sugar

Bake for 40 minutes in a 350F/180C oven. Serve with vanilla ice cream or custard. Cover pan securely if freezing.

Beautiful Suffolk

My husband and I spent last weekend with our friends Pat and Alan enjoying some of the sights and foods around the coast of Suffolk. This hog roast set up on the Ipswich harbour was so popular that it was carved right down to the carcass that you see remaining.The Moot house in Aldeburgh dates back to the 1600s.You can enjoy the beauty of the ancient architecture in the picture above.  We found a welcoming pub nearby with outdoor seating and tucked into good fish and chips, The sun was out and the sound and smell of the sea just a few feet away. Seagulls swooped around giving off their special call. Lots of fisherman sold the morning catch in huts beside their boats. Especially memorable to me were the jumbo prawns.

© Judy Labi 2013

Grilled Alaskan Salmon with Tarragon Lemon Sauce

This is another easy one to do with salmon. The fish fillet is grilled either inside or out on the barbecue. Have a look at previous posts. While the salmon is cooking, quickly whisk up the sauce in the same pot you plan to serve it in; steam broccoli, green beans, and asparagus together. Place a large flat mushroom, drizzled with a tiny bit of oil and lightly sprinkled with garlic salt, on the grill along side the salmon. My husband also likes couscous with this meal.




Ingredients for Tarragon Lemon Sauce:  (Serves 6 to 8)

5 tablespoons/1/3 cup mayonnaise
2 heaping teaspoons wholegrain Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic, chopped
Grated zest from one lemon
Juice from 2 lemons
Small bunch of fresh tarragon, snipped into small pieces with kitchen scissors
Good shake of coarse ground black pepper

Whisk all the above ingredients together. Serve over freshly grilled salmon.

© Judy Labi 2013

Grilled Salmon with Spice Rub

I bet you thought after looking at my blog recently that I had exhausted salmon recipes for the summer. With fresh Alaskan salmon still available, no way. Here is an easy one to make for the family in just minutes. Although chilli powder is one of the spices used, it is not hot and actually cumin predominates. My husband from North Africa loves that and this recipe.

Serves around 4




Ingredients:

2 Tablespoons sweet paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons chilli powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon coriander
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper

One salmon fillet, 1 lb. 4 oz, 600g or larger
One Tablespoon oil
Samphire, limes, lemons (optional)

Mix the spices in a small bowl.

Turn on the grill or light the barbecue.

Line the kitchen grill pan with foil or thoroughly rub the barbecue wire rack with oil before grilling.

Rub the flesh side of the salmon fillet with the spice mixture; drizzle with a Tablespoon of oil.
Either way of cooking, grill for about 6 minutes spice side up; turn and grill for another 5-6 minutes. Grilling time depends on the thickness of the fillet. If possible, cover when using the barbecue.
Use of Samphire makes a lovely tasty garnish as you can see. Lime or lemon wedges are also nice.

© Judy Labi 2013

Mixed Vegetable Summer Salad

This is one of those tasty summer salads when you need to replenish but prefer to go light. Nice one when you are watching the caloric intake after over indulging on the weekend.









Ingredients:                                                Makes one large bowl, about 4 servings

1 sweet potato, roasted for 45 minutes at 200C, then sliced
1 red onion, roasted for 45 minutes at 200C, then sliced
1 slice of red cabbage, chopped
1 carrot, sliced thin
1/3 cucumber, sliced thin
1 celery stalk, sliced thin
Baby Plum Tomatoes, handful, halved
Baby Spinach leaves, handful
Mixed Salad Leaves, handful
Red chilli, halved lengthwise and sliced (optional)
Dijon vinaigrette, 2 Tablespoons
Lime, one half, squeezed
Mixed seeds, light sprinkling

Toss all the above ingredients in a large salad bowl and enjoy. Tuna, salmon, or chicken mouth size pieces can be added if desired.

© Judy Labi 2013

Great Alaskan King Crab Legs

This is a great taste when you are in the position to splurge on cost. High end of the market food halls will have them cooked, ready to take out and put on the table. In Alaska I found them easily on the daily shop at the larger grocer.  All you do is melt butter and make lemon wedges. The shell cracks open similar to lobster. You will find the King Crab meat to be rich and coated with an inviting deep red colour. My suggestion is to serve it with your favourite sparkling wine. This is one to treat yourselves!



© Judy Labi 2013

BBQ Red (Sockeye) Salmon

Here is my brother Brent and son Adam out in one of the boats picking salmon from a gill net on Brent's Clam Gulch beach site.

 We like these fish fresh, filleted, and grilled on the BBQ. The seasoning my nephew Chris used this summer was simply salt, pepper, and a touch of olive oil. Be careful not to over-cook the fish.  Three minutes on each side, covered is usually about right. I got the fillets off onto a ready tray for our 4th of July feast.

© Judy Labi 2013

Rhubarb Cream Pie

My sister-in-law, Judy, and I have been out in her lovely rhubarb patch which is like a forest of leaves as big as umbrellas, beside her house.  With sharp knives we selected both red and green stalks and soon filled a cardboard box with plenty for a few pies.  I made cream pies as the eggs cut the tartness to a moorish mellow that is truly irresistible. Using butter as the fat in the pie crust adds to a most welcoming flavour. This rhubarb in Alaska grows quickly into a mini-forest but most grocery stores have supplies for you to purchase throughout the U.S. and Europe at this time of year.  Use the pie crust recipe given for banana cream pie in one of my earlier posts.

Ingredients:

3 eggs
1 cup granulated white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
Dash of salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon dried ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
5 cups, 1/2-inch pieces of rhubarb
1/2 lemon, squeezed
2 tablespoons butter, diced
piecrust for a two crust pie (double that given for banana cream pie in earlier post, using butter for fat)

Preheat oven to 375F

1.  Whip eggs and add to other ingredients in a bowl (except that for piecrust and diced butter).
2.  Pour mixture into piecrust in pan.  Top with butter and and second rolled piecrust.
3.  Flute piecrust edges together and make a pattern of slashes in top crust.
4.  Bake for about one hour or until top crust is golden brown.
Serve warm or cold with vanilla ice cream.
© Judy Labi 2013

Busy Day Alaska Salmon Salad

This is an easy lunch or light supper.  I made it in minutes with canned Alaskan salmon that my sister-in-law put up a few years ago by the hot water bath method using jars.

 Ingredients:

1, 14.5oz (411g) canned salmon, flaked

1, 14.5oz (411g) canned green beans

1, 5 oz (142g) canned water chestnuts, sliced

1/2 cup halved, black olives

1/4 red onion, chopped

1 celery stalk, chopped

1/4 cup, fennel, chopped

1/4 sweet pepper, any color, chopped

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 lemon, squeezed of juice

Freshly ground black pepper

Mix all the ingredients in a serving bowl and garnish with chopped parsley.  Serve with toast.

© Judy Labi 2013

Alaskan Halibut with Tomato & Mushroom Sauce

Back home in Alaska, I am inspired with the beautiful wild ocean fish we have readily available to make healthy tasty dishes like this one.  First I baked the halibut, with seasonings, in foil and then topped it with the thick, chunky, red tomato and mushroom sauce.  Thirty minutes start to finish. The brown rice cooked up at the same time in Mom's rice steamer and the broccoli in five minutes in the microwave.





Ingredients:  To Serve four    Preheat Oven:  180C/350F

Two large halibut loins (no bones)
1/2 lemon
2 cloves garlic, sliced
Freshly ground black pepper

Lay the halibut on foil; sprinkle with pepper, garlic, and squeeze of the lemon half.  Place the lemon on top and fold the foil to make a loose envelope around the halibut.  Secure.  Place in a preheated oven to bake for 30 minutes. Serve with the Tomato and Mushroom Sauce given below.

Tomato and Mushroom Sauce Ingredients:

2 Tablespoons olive oil
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, sliced
1, 14.5 oz (411G) can chopped tomatoes
2 Tablespoons tomato paste
3/4 teaspoon salt
Sprinkle of freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano (Or use fresh if you have it.  About two/three chopped springs.)
1/2 teaspoon white sugar
1, 4 oz (113G) can sliced mushrooms (Or use fresh, sliced. About one cup heaping.)

Place all the ingredients in a saucepan and simmer for about 20 minutes.  Serve on top of the halibut as pictured.  A bit of chopped parsley is the perfect garnish.

© Judy Labi 2013

Haraimi Salmon

This is where my Alaskan heritage teams up again with my husband's Libyan one.  I choose the 49th state's famous fish to simmer in this warm spicy North African sauce.  I've adapted the recipe, omitting the flouring/frying the fish before briefly plunging it into the gently just boiling sauce.
The resultant beautiful, even more red coloured salmon is most appetising.  From start to finish it takes less than 30 minutes.  This dish is great served with bread, to soak up the sauce, and salad or steamed vegetables.  Traditionally it was served with coucous.


Ingredients:

6 tablespoons olive oil
one salmon fillet, cut into quarters
salt and ground black pepper
5 large garlic cloves
one red chilli
1 teaspoon caraway seeds (optional)
2 teaspoons paprika
2 teaspoons cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons tomato paste
lemon juice, squeezed from 1/2 lemon
2 teaspoons sugar
Garnish:  chopped flat leaf parsley and lemon wedges

Puree' garlic, chile, caraway, paprika, cumin, cayenne pepper, cinnamon, and 4 Tbsp. olive oil in a food processor or blender.

Heat remaining 2 Tsp. olive oil in heavy pot with lid, over medium heat.  Add pureed paste and simmer for just a few seconds.  Add tomato paste and 1/2 cup water and bring up to simmer.  Stir in lemon juice, sugar, and just a little salt and pepper.

Plunge salmon pieces into simmering sauce and cover.  Cook for 12 minutes or until fish is just cooked through.

Place cooked salmon and sauce onto plates and garnish.  Serve hot.

© Judy Labi 2013

Pandas and Noodles in Szechuan

After touring China for over three weeks, I must say that my husband and I were thoroughly impressed with the country.  We enjoyed so many places but one of the highlights was seeing the pandas up close at the Panda Research Breeding Centre at Chengdu, Szechuan.  You can see from the picture that they like a diet of bamboo.  The babies are only around 100 grams when born but look what the bamboo does for them!  

The people here are just as crazy for noodles.  There are many different kinds and they eat them even for breakfast.  The favourite mixture is putting noodles in a bowl, and then adding stir fried strips of egg, a few greens (like spinach), cooked ground pork, vegetable broth, and last, a small spoon of chilli from the hot pot (shown below).  The hot pot is made from chopped chillies, garlic, peppercorns and oil.  It is always presented in this region separately from other dishes.  Each person seasons their food with as much of the hot spice as desired.  It warms one up with tasty chilli zest.

© Judy Labi 2013

Barbecued Half Leg of Lamb

With inviting warmer temperatures here in London although it is only early May, I decided to delight the family with barbecued lamb tonight.

This is a super easy one.  Start with removing the outer layer of fat and skin from the half leg of lamb.  This is done with a sharp meat knife in a minute.  Next, cut straight through the meat to the bone and then along the bone to free it from the muscle.  Discard the bone.  Massage 2 tablespoons of honey and about the same amount of dark soy sauce into the meat.  Let rest.

Light the charcoals in the barbecue and wait until they are white before cooking.  When ready, place the prepared meat on the side of the barbecue (not over the very hot centre) and cover with the dome lid if your barbecue grill has one.  Turn over about every 5 minutes, replacing the dome lid each time.  Roast in this manner for 20 minutes for rare-medium and 30 minutes for well done.  Remove to serving platter for carving at the table.

Tonight I served this delicious honey barbecued lamb with rice, grilled portobello mushrooms, broccoli, green beans, and asparagus.  What a family treat!  Serves 4.

© Judy Labi 2013

Mexican Tomato Salsa

This is the perfect accompaniment for any grilled white fish.  I usually team it up with sea bass fillets as they cook in minutes under the grill/broiler and the skins are easily lifted off before eating.

The salsa is invitingly hot with the red chilli, and full of flavour with the addition of snipped fresh coriander and chopped red onion.

The tomatoes for the salsa are quartered, deseeded and then chopped.  The seed centres can be saved and used for a tomato sauce as given in the Potato Gnocchi post earlier.

Ingredients:

10 ripe medium tomatoes,  quartered and deseeded, then chopped.
1 medium red onion, peeled and chopped.
1 red chilli, halved, deseeded, and finely sliced
a handful of coriander, snipped with scissors into small pieces
1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Juice from one lime
1 Tablespoon salt
sprinkling of mixed seeds (optional)

Mix all the ingredients in a large salad bowl.  Cover and allow flavours to permeate throughout all ingredients for about 30 minutes at room temperature.  Serve.

© Judy Labi 2013

Teriyaki Wild Alaskan Salmon

Want something tasty, nutritious, and easy to cook?  Try this recipe.

There are five species of Alaskan salmon:  Kings, Reds, Silvers, Humpies, and Chums.  It is the Red, also known as Sockeye salmon, that we have available on our fish counters here in London.  I buy a whole side fillet of it, often on sale, and prepare this family favourite.  The beautiful red colour, as you see in the picture, comes from the natural diet available in the cold ocean waters.  Each wild salmon is hatched in a fresh water stream and then travels thousands of miles out to sea but eventually returns to the birth stream to lay eggs for more salmon to hatch from and thus perpetuate the species.  The exercise of all this swimming results in the firm, yet flaky meat true fish lovers prefer.

Teriyaki marinade:         (One Teriyaki salmon half, filleted, serves 4)

1/3 cup/5 Tablespoons sake
1/3 cup/5 Tablespoons Mirin
1/3 cup/5 Tablespoons soy sauce

Place the fresh salmon fillet in a large plastic bag; pour half of the above mixture into the bag and close securely.  Refrigerate 2-3 hours or even better, over night.  Turn over once or twice.

Line your grill/broiler pan with aluminium foil.  Remove the salmon from the plastic bag and place skin side down on the lined pan.  In a pre-heated grill/broiler, cook for 6 minutes; turn over and cook for about  4-5 minutes more or until the skin is well blackened.  Cooking times vary with the thickness of fillets.

Place cooked salmon skin side up on serving platter.  Peel off skin and discard.  I then scrape the grey thin fat layer off and also discard it.  Turn the fillet over to the other side (more eye appealing) and garnish with chopped parsley.  Serve hot or cold.

Remaining marinade from the above mixture can be stored, covered, in the refrigerator up to a month.

© Judy Labi 2013

Family Celebration at Heron Tower's Duck & Waffle

The four of us had a memorable brunch last Sunday to celebrate our kids successfully launching their careers.  We selected the Duck & Waffle on the 40th floor of the Heron Tower in the city of London for the occasion.  The signature dish, duck and waffle, got our vote for the best on the menu over several other mouth watering dishes offered.  The flavours of the sweet maple syrup drizzled on the Belgium waffle complimented the perfectly roasted duck's dark meat richness.  We all had a sample.

It was a clear, sunny morning to really enjoy the view. Here in the picture, the famous Gerkin is evident over Suzanne's shoulder and the Shard, over mine.  Adam towers over us windswept ladies. Needless to say, we dined inside.

© Judy Labi 2013

Japanese Tempura with Halibut and Vegetables

           Tempura is probably my family’s favorite meal.  I don’t make it that often because I find frying the chunks of battered fish and vegetables in the deep fat fryer rather time consuming.  Presenting it does make a really big hit though. 

            Halibut is my preferred fish to use because its firm white meat easily cuts into large bite size chunks for coating with the beer batter and frying.  Other white fish do not hold up in this process as nicely.

            Alaska is a source of beautiful specimens of halibut. They are fished in blue ocean waters surrounded with spectacular snow capped mountains.  My nephew, Carey Johnson, in the colored photo, is holding a good sized one he caught a few years ago in Iniskin Bay, across Cook Inlet from Homer.  As you see this is small in comparison to the one caught in Chignik in the 1920s shown in the black and white photo.  Oh well, Carey’s still made great tempura.

Ingredients:

Halibut, cut into large bite size chunks; allow 5-6/person

Sweet potato, peeled and sliced thinly

Cauliflower, divided into florets

Broccoli, divided into florets

Sweet red pepper, cut into julienne strips

Button mushrooms

Onion, any color, peeled, sliced thickly and freed into rings

(Other fresh vegetables can be used as in season that appeal to you)

Batter (Enough to coat about 4 cups of fish and vegetables):

2  2/3 cups/350g/12 oz, plain flour or rice flour

1 ½ teaspoon salt

¾ teaspoon white pepper

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

4 egg yolks

Add, whisking lightly,

            1 ½ cups/350 ml/12 oz flat beer

Refrigerate the batter at least 3 hours (covered) and then add:

            4 stiffly beaten egg whites

Dip halibut chunks and prepared vegetables into batter and fry in small batches in deep fat fryer until golden brown.  Drain on paper towels and keep cooked pieces warm in low oven until all cut fish and vegetables are cooked.  Serve Japanese style using chop sticks and lemon/soy sauce for dipping.

© Judy Labi 2013

            

Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Icing

Children can get on with this recipe but will need assistance removing the hot baked rolls from the oven.  The smell of any cinnamon bread baking is mouth watering!

Ingredients
450g/l lb/4 cups plain flour
100g/4 oz/1/2 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon salt

1 package fast action yeast

225 ml./8 fl. oz./1 cup skim milk, warm

75g/3 oz./1/3 cup melted butter or margarine

2 eggs

1. In a large mixing bowl, stir together flour, sugar and salt.  Add yeast and stir until blended.  Add milk, butter and eggs, stirring until mixed.
2. Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic.
3. Roll dough to a 1/4 inch/1/2cm thick rectangle.  Cover evenly with filling, below.

Filling:

225g/7 oz./l cup brown sugar

2 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon

75g/3 oz./1/3 cup softened margarine or butter
100g/4 oz/1/2 cup chopped pecans, optional

1. Roll up in jelly roll fashion and cut 2 1/2 cm./1 inch slices for cinnamon rolls.  Place cut side down next to each other in baking pan.  Cover with tea towel and place each baking tray over a bowl of boiling water.  Let rise about 30 minutes until double.    Bake approximately 20 minutes in 180C/350F preheated oven or until done.
2. Ice while still warm with mixture below:

Icing:

175g/6 oz./1 1/2 cups icing sugar

75g/3 oz./1/4 cup cream cheese

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

pinch salt

© Judy Labi 2013