Cook Like Mad

My second- and hopefully last- post without a picture. This one is on Salmon, again, as promised, but this time with a Thai flair, courtesy of Jamie Oliver and his new book, Cook With Jamie: My Guide To Making You A Better Cook. Let me first say that this new cookbook is not only Jamie’s best, but one of the best cookbooks to come out in the past ten years. It is organized perfectly, the photos are vibrant without looking overly styled (signature J.O.), the dessert section is treated as a legitimate chapter rather than an afterthought (rare in the cookbook world these days), and most of all, the recipes are to die for and they work! What more could a cook, any cook, ask for? Whether its your first day in the kitchen or your thousandth, you will find many new recipes in this book that enlighten your preexisting notions of good food. Without giving away too many goodies, let me entice you with the names of a few of my favorite recipes from this book: Oozy Egg Ravioli, The Nicest Clam Chowder (Essex Girl Style), Sticky Saucepan Carrots, and A Rather Pleasing Carrot Cake with Lime Mascarpone Icing. Wow, yum. If the recipes don’t get you, the fact that he’s donating every penny to his charity, the Fifteen Foundation (named for his four restaurants that bear the same name) should. The foundation’s focus is on teaching young kids from tough backgrounds how to cook, and judging by the number of glowing, smiling faces inside the book’s covers, it’s improving their lives.

So here is a recipe I’ve adapted from this book. Originally the recipe features sea bass, but since I had salmon in the fridge, that’s what I chose as the star of this dish. The marinade for the salmon is great for meat and poultry too, and it keeps very well in the fridge, so you can use any extra you have throughout the rest of the week on steamed rice, tossed with pasta, heck, I’d pour this stuff on my eggs in the morning it tastes so good. Anyway, enjoy!

Seared Salmon with Thai Coconut Rice (adapted from Jamie Oliver’s Cook With Jamie)

Makes 4 Servings

For Marinade:

1 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

1 1-inch piece fresh ginger, chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 small hot pepper, such as jalapeno, serano, or bird, depending on how hot you want it.

2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil

6 tablespoons soy sauce

1 lemon, juiced and zested

1 12 oz can coconut milk

Method:

1. Blitz all ingredients listed above (including both the juice and the zest fo the lemon) in a food processor until smooth. Transfer 1 cup of the mixture to a shallow dish and set aside. Place the rest of the mixture in a storage container and set in the fridge.

For Salmon:

4 Salmon fillets, (skinned if you prefer)

1 cup reserved marinade

Method:

1. Place salmon fillets in the shallow dish you reserved the cup of marinade in and set in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

For Assembly:

1 1/2 cups long grain rice

3 cups water

the rest of the reserved marinade

1 lb green beans, steamed, to serve

2 tbsp vegetable oil, such as canola

salt, to taste

Method :

1. Place the 3 cups of water in a medium size pot, cover, and bring to a boil. Add 1 tsp salt and add 1 1/2 cups rice. Cover and cook over medium heat for 15 minutes. Turn the heat off, pour in 1 cup reserved marinade, place the lid back on, and steam for 3 minutes to finish cooking. After 3 minutes is up, fluff the rice gently with a fork and pour another 1/2 cup of marinade over the rice. Since the marinade is cold, it will stop the rice from cooking. Taste the rice for salt, and adjust seasoning if necessary. Leave the rice in the pot, with the lid ajar, until serving time.

2. Heat the oil in a large saute pan (or in two smaller saute pans) over medium high heat. Remove the salmon from the marinade, season each side with salt, and place fillets in the hot pan, facing down the side of the fillet that looks more attractive (i.e. the “presentation side” goes down in the pan first). Cook for 3 minutes on the first side, flip, then cook for 2 minutes on the other side, until medium rare in the center. If you prefer your fish cooked more thoroughly, cook another minute on each side.

3. Spoon 1 portion of rice in the center of each of the four plates, and lay 1 cooked fillet over the top. Place a portion of steamed green beans alonside the salmon, then serve. Enjoy!

-M : )

So I was pretty upset when I realized I accidentally deleted the pictures that correspond with my next two posts, but then I thought about the importance of pictures in the first place. Sure I realize that aesthetics are important and appealing photos are meant to convey tastiness, but don’t you already know what Salmon tastes like? Don’t you already have a pretty good idea of what flavors the Strawberry Shortcake, Braised Short Ribs, and Chicken Piccata recipes will yield, without staring at their accompanying pictures? Can’t you trust a recipe without food porn staring you in the face? Why are we taught to think that the quality of a person’s camera is directly related to the quality of his/her food?

While I think we all realize (or at least those of us who actually cook), that photos of food in magazines and on the Food Network rarely resemble the food we turn out for our loved one’s dinners every night, there is a value to these images. We are supposed to think, big budget = nice cameras + well trained staff + many hours of recipe testing = good recipe = tasty food. However, on a cooking show such as PBS, it lends humility to chef, as most programs are clearly not shot with super high end HD cameras. This brings the chef down to earth a bit in the viewers eyes, and shows us that their food looks surprisingly just like ours. I think it makes their recipes seem more accessible and honest.

In terms of food advertisements and magazine photography, it’s another story. I can’t get my food to look like the food shown next to it’s recipe in Gourmet magazine if my life depended on it. I’m not exaggerating. I don’t make my plate up with inedible components, and part of the trickery involved in making food photography look tasty, is using non-food products in pictures. For example, that milk on the cereal box is made to look super white and glossy by substituting the real thing with thinned glue. Sorry readers, I’m not buying and thinning glue for your your drooling pleasure. For most of us food bloggers, photography is meant to add a bit of temptation, a pinch of humility (my pictures are far from professional looking), and in my mind, most importantly, a heaping dose of honesty (proof that we actually made the recipe!).

So, forgive my error in erasing the photos of the recipes that illustrate the tastiness of my next two posts, and try them based on my word alone. I dare you. I don’t have hours to test recipes, nor a great camera, but I can assure you both of these recipes are as delicious as any you’ll find within the pages of Gourmet, Bon Appetit, or Saveur. Both are based on Salmon (great for raising HDL cholesterol, softening skin, and increasing blood circulation), with the first less refined, but equally as delicious as the second. If you trust me and cook one or both of these recipes, and they turn out well, as always, please let me know. Inevitably, if you like a recipe, mine or anyone’s, you’re going to make it again because it tasted good, not because it looked good on the plate. The latter is an added bonus, but not the be all and end all of good food. To you bloggers, who like me, can’t afford a fancy camera (or simply don’t care about buying one), don’t be intimidated by those who can. Let your food speak for itself. Enjoy : )

Salmon Burgers with Orange and Beet Salad

For Salmon Burgers:

2 small cans Pink Salmon (or 1 large one, if you wish), drained (skin removed, if included; bones mashed, if included)

2 tbsp dijon mustard

1 tsp dried dill

dash Worcestershire sauce

salt and pepper to taste

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 tbsp vegetable oil, like canola

2 burger buns, or 4 slices of bread, your choice

1/4 lb smoked gouda, sliced

lettuce, tomato, red onion, and/or cooked bacon, to top your burgers with (optional)

Method:

1. Mash together the salmon, mustard, dill, worchestershire, salt, and pepper, in a small bowl. Taste for seasoning, readjust, then incorporate the egg into the mixture. Chill for 30 minutes.

2. Form two patties out of the salmon mixture and heat the oil in a saute pan over medium high heat. Place salmon patties into the pan, and cook for 3 minutes on the first side to get a nice dark brown sear on them. Flip, then cook for 1 minute on the second side.

3. Meanwhile, toast your burger buns or bread, and slice your burger garnishes.

4. Once the salmon burgers have been flipped, top them with 2-3 slices of smoked gouda and place the pan under the broiler in your oven until the cheese is melted. Alternatively, you can place a lid on your pan and steam the cheese until it melts. Place the Salmon Burgers on the buns/toast and serve with garnishes and the Orange and Beet Salad.

For Orange and Beet Salad:

2 beets, golden or red

1 seedless orange, like Cara Cara, peeled and sliced into segments

1 tbsp pomegranate molasses (found in the baking aisle of certain grocery stores, like Whole Foods)

1 tsp honey

1 lime, juiced

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

salt, to taste

Method:

1. Place beets in a small pot and cover with cold water, bring to a boil over high heat and boil covered, until you can poke the tip of a paring knife into the center and it comes out without resistance, about 45 minutes.

2. Cool beets by submerging them in cold water and peel the skin off with a paring knife, or by pushing the skin off with your fingers. It will be very easy to remove the skin if the beets are cooked through.

3. Slice beets in segments similar to the size of your orange segments, at most about 1/2 inch thick. Toss beet segments with oranges, and the rest of the ingredients in a small bowl, and let marinate, covered, in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

4. Serve alongside Salmon Burgers, in a separate dish, since the salad will be very moist. Keeps for up to 3 days in the fridge.

Enjoy!

-M