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