June 30, 2010

Salmon with Whiskey and Cream

I bought a fish and shellfish recipe book from Costco a couple years ago because I'm a big fan of seafood. Unfortunately, my husband doesn't like it as much :( I finally got around to making a dish out of it and it was one that he liked! What's even better is my dad (who really doesn't care for fish at all) liked it as well! Both of them requested I make it again in the future!!! The best part is this dish is really fast and easy.

The recipe calls for salmon fillets, but my husband prefers white fish so I went ahead and prepared it with both halibut and salmon.

4 salmon fillets, about 6 oz each
1 tsp chopped fresh thyme leaves
1/4 butter
5 Tbsp whiskey
2/3 cup heavy cream
Juice if 1/2 lemon
Salt and ground black pepper
Dill sprigs, to garnish

  • Season fillets with the salt, pepper and thyme. Melt half the butter in a frying pan large enough to hold two fillets side by side. When the butter is foaming, fry the first two fillets on each side until they are golden on the outside and just cooked through.
  • Pour in 2 tablespoons of the whiskey and light it on fire. When the flames have died down, transfer the fillets to a plate and keep hot.
  • Repeat above steps with the other two fillets.
  • Pour the cream into the pan and bring to a boil, stirring constantly and scraping up the cooking juices from the bottom of the pan. Let bubble until reduced and slightly thickened. Season and add the last of the whiskey and a squeeze of lemon.
  • Place the salmon on individual plates, pour on the sauce, and serve garnished with dill.



June 04, 2010

Caramel Nut Rolls

This is my all time favorite "cinnamon roll" recipe. Great for breakfast or dessert. They do take a little bit of work but are also totally worth it!!! I like to double the topping part of the recipe because if you don't it never seems like enough. If you want to try it out, make one batch of the filling and spread in the pan. If you think it's enough, move on. If not, make another batch and add it to what's already in the pan... after all, the topping is the best part!

Dough
1 cup warm milk (105-115 degrees)
1 package dry yeast
1/2 cup sugar
5 to 5.5 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 eggs

Filling
1/4 cup sugar
2 - 3 tsp ground cinnamon

Topping
1/2 cup butter
2/3 cup brown sugar (packed)
2 tbsp light corn syrup
1.5 cups pecan halves
  • Pour warm milk into a large bowl. Stir in yeast and sugar, let stand for 5 minutes (See my butter roll recipe tips for details about this part).
  • Beat in 2 cups flour, salt, softened butter, and eggs until blended. Gradually stir in enough flour to make soft dough.
  • Transfer dough to lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic (about ten minutes).
  • Place dough in buttered bowl, turning to coat top. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let dough rise until doubled (about one hour).
  • Punch down dough, and on lightly floured surface roll in to large rectangle (about 1/3 inch thick). Brush with melted butter and sprinkle filling evenly over dough. Press in to dough with a rolling pin.
  • Starting at long edge, roll up dough as tightly as possible, jellyroll fashion. Cut dough crosswise in to slices about 1.5 inches thick.
  • Filling - Bring butter, brown sugar, and corn syrup to a boil. Add pecan halves.
  • Lightly butter sides of 9 x 13 pan, pour topping over bottom and arrange rolls over topping, leaving space for them to rise. Cover and let rise until doubled (about 1 hour).
  • Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for about 10 minutes. Invert on to large platter and serve.

Chicken with Lemon Sauce

I got this recipe from a chicken cookbook I got at Costco. Chicken is one of Michael's favorites so I had to buy it! This wasn't one of our favorite recipes, but I think with a few tweaks it could be really good. I'm going to go ahead and share it anyway (with ideas to make it better) because I'm sure a lot of other people would love it! Plus it's pretty :)

Chicken
4 small chicken breasts or thighs, skinned
1 tsp sesame oil
1 Tbsp dry sherry
1 egg white, lightly beaten
2 Tbsp cornflour (cornstarch)
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
Salt and ground white pepper
Chopped coriander (cilantro) leaves, spring onions (scallions), and lemon wedges to garnish

Sauce
3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 Tbsp lime cordial
3 Tbsp caster sugar (superfine sugar)
2 tsp cornflour
6 Tbsp cold water
  • Place the chicken in a shallow bowl. Mix the sesame oil with the sherry and add 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 pepper. Pour over the chicken. Cover and marinate for 15 minutes.
  • Mix together the egg white and cornflour. Add the mixture to the chicken and turn to coat.
  • Heat the vegetable oil in a non-stick frying pan or wok and fry the chicken for about 15 minutes, or until the chicken is cook through and golden brown on both sides.
  • Meanwhile, make the sauce. Combine all the ingredients in a small pan. Add 1/4 tsp salt. Bring to boil over low heat, stirring constantly until the sauce is smooth and has thickened slightly.
  • Place the chicken on a serving plate. Pour sauce over chicken and garnish with the coriander leaves, spring onions, and lemon wedges. Serve!
Notes:
I wasn't very pleased with the sauce, it was too sweet and limey (I'm not a fan of sweet sauces on my meat). I was thinking if the lime cordial was taken out it should take care of both of those problems. Replace it with more lemon juice. I wasn't sure what lime cordial was when I went shopping, so I looked it up. It's sweetened lime juice basically. There was nothing in our store that was actually called "cordial" but on the aisle with mixes for drinks I found a bottle of sweetened lime juice, so I assume this is what I was supposed to use.

Skillet Rosemary Chicken

I got this recipe out of my first Food Network magazine. I'm really please with the layout as well as the recipes in the magazine, I definitely recommend it to everyone! This is by far one of my favorite new recipes. Lemon, rosemary, and baby red potatoes are three of my favorite things to eat, so it made it that much better!! The entire house smelled wonderful the rest of the evening (and a little the next morning)!

3/4 lb red-skinned potatoes, halved (quartered if large)
Kosher salt
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
1 Tbsp rosemary leaves
1 clove of garlic, smashed
Pinch of red pepper flakes
Juice of 2 lemons (reserve squeezed halves)
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 skin-on bone-in chicken breasts, 6-8 oz each (or 24-32 oz of thighs)
10 oz cremini mushrooms, halved
  • Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Cover potatoes with cold water in a saucepan, salt the water, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cook until tender, about 8 minutes. Drain and set aside.
  • Pile rosemary leaves, garlic, 2 tsp salt, and the red pepper flakes on a cutting board. Mince and mash in to a paste using a large knife. Transfer to a bowl, stir in the juice of one lemon and the olive oil. Add chicken and turn to coat.
  • Heat a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken, skin side down, cover and cook until the skin browns, about five minutes.
  • Turn chicken, add mushrooms and potatoes, drizzle with the juice of the remaining lemon. Add rosemary sprigs and squeeze lemon halves to the skillet, transfer to the oven and roast uncovered, until the chicken is cooked through and the skin is crisp.
A couple notes:
I misread the recipe and ended up using three lemons (two in the first step involving lemons, one in the next). I love lemon, so it still tasted good to me! The mushrooms do not come in a 10 oz package so I probably ended up using about 13 oz. I also used an excessive amount of baby reds, mainly because I love them and I wanted a lot for myself :) There was about 2.5 lbs of those. I don't like crispy skin on my chicken, so to fix this, I cooked it with the skillet lid still on. It kept everything very moist.