Wow!  A few days ago Lisa pointed out that we haven’t updated the food blog in over two months — now, lest you think we’ve been dying of hunger, don’t despair.  We’ve just been rotating through a few old favorites while we’ve been preparing for our new arrival (We [Heart] Baby Food, anyone?)… so we’re still here!  I adapted this recipe from one found in The Fishes & Dishes Cookbook: Seafood Recipes and Salty Stories from Alaska’s Commercial Fisherwomen — I got to meet one of the authors when we picked this up at our local Whole Foods.  The book is filled with easy recipes that highlight fresh seafood — so far, every one we’ve tried has been delicious.  Here, coho is pan-seared, then finished in the oven, and placed atop a bed of sauteed leeks and chanterelle mushrooms.  We served it alongside some roasted fingerling potatoes — yum!

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Lisa says:

I don’t remember what we discussed when we had this, other than it was delicious.

Chris says:

…and that you loved the potatoes.

Lisa says:

Well, obviously. They were covered with crispy garlic.

Chris says:

I did like the how the outside of the salmon was crispy from the pan-sear — and still moist inside. And anytime you add mushrooms to a dish, I’m there.

Lisa says:

You and me both, sucka.

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Oven-Roasted Coho Salmon with Leeks and Chanterelle Mushrooms
1 cup leeks, white and pale green parts only
2 6-oz skinless coho salmon fillets, deboned
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
1 tbsp butter
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup sliced chanterelle mushrooms
1/3 cup chicken sotck
1/3 cup white wine
1 tsp herbes de provence
1 tbsp olive oil

Clean the leeks of all dirt and grit, rinse, and cut into 1/4″ rings. Season the salmon on both sides with salt and pepper.
Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat, melt the butter, then add the leeks and garlic, cooking for 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms, stock, wine, and herbes de provence, and lower the heat to medium. Simmer until the leeks are very soft and most of the liquid has been absorbed, about 15 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste, and keep warm over low heat.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 475.
Heat an ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat for several minutes, then add the oil and heat until it shimmers. Place the salmon fillets in the pan flesh-side down, and cook, without moving, for about 4 minutes. Flip the salmon over, place the pan in the oven, and let bake for 3 minutes.
Spoon the leek/mushroom mixture onto serving plates, and top each with a salmon fillet.

2 Servings

This recipe is an adaptation of an all-veggie version in Super Natural Cooking. We wanted to bump up the protein so we added shrimp; we also cut the amount rice in half to make the toppings-to-base ratio more to our liking. The dish has the ingredients and taste of a sushi roll, without the need for a bamboo rolling mat.

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Lisa says:

Wahoo! This does taste like a sushi roll when you get a little bit of everything in one mouthful.

Chris says:

Totally — and I like the citrusy rice seasoning. It’s obvioulsy a bit stronger than what you’d find in your usual sushi roll, but adds just a bit of sweet and tart.

Lisa says:

I’d order this in a restaurant.

Chris says:

Well if we were in a sushi restaurant, I’d be ordering … sushi.

Lisa says:

Smartass.

Chris says:

Just sayin’.

Lisa says:

Well I’m just sayin’ I love this dinner.

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Sushi Bowl with Grilled Shrimp, Tofu, and Avocado
1 cup brown rice (short-grain, if on hand)
1 1/2 cups water
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 lb shrimp
6 oz extra-firm tofu
zest and juice of 1 orange
zest and juice of 1/2 lemon
2 tbsp cane sugar
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp rice vinegar
2 4″ squares of toasted nori, chopped coarsely
2 green onions, choped
1 avocado, peeled and sliced into thin wedges
toasted sesame seeds

Rinse and drain the rice, then combine the rice, water, and salt in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Lower the heat, cover, and simmer for about 45 minutes, or until all the water is absorbed.
Meanwhile, clean and peel the shrimp, then grill or saute until opaque and cooked through. Set aside.
Drain the tofu and pat dry. Cut the tofu into 1/2″ wide slices. Cook two at a time in a dry nonstick skillet over medium-high heat for a few minutes until browned. Flip, then continue cooking until browned on the other side and firm. Remove and set aside. When cool, cut crosswise into matchsticks.
To make the dressing for the rice, combine the orange juice, lemon juice, and sugar in a small saucepan and bring to a slow boil. Cook for a couple of minutes, then add the soy sauce and vinegar. Return to a boil and cook for another minute or so until slightly thickened. Remove from the heat and stir in the lemon and orange zests.
When the rice is done, stir in 3 tbsp of the dressing and add more to taste. Divide the rice into separate bowls and top with the nori, green onions, tofu, avocado, and shrimp. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.

2-3 Servings

One of the fun perks of doing a food blog is the occasional opportunity to try out new products, be they food samples, spices, or even kitchen tools. So I was very excited when I was asked by New West KnifeWorks if I’d be interested in trying out one of their knives from the Fusionwood line: the Petty. I’d seen these same knives featured in a recent issue of Saveur magazine, and thought they looked pretty cool, and from the writeup, they sounded perfectly functional as well.

A few days after our initial correspondence, our knife arrived in the mail. (Isn’t it always exciting when a package arrives at your doorstep? It’s a little like Christmas.) There was a bit of reading material sent along with the knife, including a history of the company, their philosophy, etc., and I liked the fact that they encourage knife owners to send in the knives once in a while for a free “tune up” — resharpening and repolishing.  But enough reading — I wanted to play with the new knife!

The Petty is shipped with a leather sheath to protect the blade, and obviously your fingers — this thing is extremely sharp!  After a few minutes of handling the knife, and using it to cut some veggies (Is there anything better than using a new sharp knife to cut a tomato?) I unfortunately came to the conclusion that it was a bit small for my hands — perhaps I’m just used to the grip I use on my chef knife, but I was continually hitting my knuckles on the cutting board.  I asked Lisa to come in and give it a try, and lo and behold, she loved it.  It was a perfect fit for her smaller hands, and she pretty much immediately declared the knife as “hers”.  Now whenever Lisa is cooking in the kitchen, she’s using the Petty — she even brought it with her on a weekend trip to a mountain cabin a few weeks ago.

For me, I’ll be sticking with my beat-up chef’s knife (and one day checking out one of New West’s chef knives), but the Petty has become Lisa’s everyday knife. The cutting performance is great, and it just. looks. cool.  Check them out here.

This recipe was a nice little find that popped up when I was searching for something that included a bunch of items in this week’s CSA box. I modified it a bit to make it a bit lighter and to use what we had on hand — it is super-simple and easily adaptable. This soup/bisque has a really nice sweet flavor from the corn, and is a great base for a nice pile of delicious Dungeness crab — though you’ll probably want to wait for it to go on sale. That stuff is expensive!

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Chris says:

I’ve got just one question for you.

Lisa says:

What’s that?

Chris says:

Do you like crab?

Lisa says:

I love crab, why?

Chris says:

Do you like sweet corn?

Lisa says:

You know I do… that’s two questions, by the way.

Chris says:

Doh — whatever. I just think you’re going to love this — have a spoonful.

Lisa says:

Whoa, that’s awesome! The flavor of the corn in the soup is great, and then getting to crunch on those kernels… delicious!

Chris says:

Yeah — all that, and — piled with crab!

Lisa says:

I heart crab! Hey — I’ve got just one question for you.

Chris says:

What’s that?

Lisa says:

Do we have to share this?

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Summer Corn and Dungeness Crab Bisque
4 cloves garlic, peeled
3 tbsp butter
18-20 baby carrots
1 large yellow onion
3-4 Swiss chard stems
2 stalks celery
2 medium zucchini
2 tbsp Herbes de Provence
3 cups chicken broth (or vegetable, or a little of each)
2 ears of sweet corn, husked
1 cup fat-free Half and Half
1 pound of Dungeness Crab meat, diced

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Place the garlic in an aluminum foil pocket, drizzle with olive oil, and seal.
Roast for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a dutch oven, melt the butter over medium heat.
Start dicing the vegetables and add them to the pot, starting with the carrots and working your way through to the zucchini.
Saute for about five minutes, and add in the herbs. Once vegetables have softened, add in the broth, reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook for about 30 minutes.
While the vegetables are simmering, bring a large pot of water to boil and boil the corn for about three minutes.
Remove and let cool a bit, slice the kernels from the cob, and set aside.
“Milk” the cob (run the back of your knife down the length of the cob after the kernels are removed to collect the delicious milky corn squeezin’s) and add this to the pot.
Once the garlic is roasted and the vegetables have been simmering for 30 minutes, add the garlic and Half-and-Half.
Use a stick-blender to puree the vegetables and stock into a smooth consistency — you’ll get texture in a bit.
Add the reserved corn and half of the crab meat to the pot, mix well, and simmer for another five minutes.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Divide among bowls, and garnish with remaining crab meat.

4-6 generous servings

I’m surprised that it took almost two years for these to show up on the blog, since we make them so often. It’s a great way to use up the bunch of kale that showed up in your CSA that you forgot about, or when trying to convince someone that he’d actually like the stuff. These end up as crispy, dissolve-in-your-mouth treats that you can season to your liking. Lately we’ve been using Penzey’s Northwoods Fire seasoning blend, which gives it a nice kick.

Tips…

• Wash and dry the kale really well before mixing with the oil and vinegar
• If the kale is too crowded on the baking sheet, it tends to steam rather than crisp — split among two baking sheets
• The kale will shrink a bit when it bakes, so don’t worry if your “bite size” pieces start out bigger than a bite!
• Start making bets with friends that you could get them to eat an entire bunch of kale, willingly, in one sitting.  You will win.

Kale Chips
1 bunch kale
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp cider vinegar
salt, pepper, or whatever spices you like!

Preheat the oven to 350.
Tear the kale off the thick stems and into bite-sized pieces. Rinse and spin-dry the kale, then toss with the olive oil, cider vinegar, and spices of choice until well coated. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes or until crispy and just starting to brown. Watch carefully because they can go from done to burned in no time.
Remove from oven, put in a bowl, and inhale.