Crispy Skin Salmon with Fiery Asian Slaw

I have to apologize again for being somewhat MIA this past week, but a business trip took me to Chicago for several days and away from our kitchen.  Something kinda amusing happened, though. This seafood place near the hotel where I was staying was featuring catfish from my hometown, Hickory, North Carolina one night.  Since I've moved to the coast, I rarely eat seafood away from home except for the occasional trip to a one of the local fish camps when I head inland to visit my parents in Hickory.  Anyway, I had to laugh a little bit to myself when I saw that they were featuring catfish from Hickory, and I immediately emailed my mom to let her know and ask her about it.  Where did these catfish come from?  Lake Hickory?  Umm, yuck.  She said that she thought they were probably farm raised which would make sense (and sound much more appealing to me).  

Anyway, when I returned from Chicago, Rick and I planned our meals for the weekend.  I headed to Publix to get the groceries while he headed to his place to clean up the mess that the people who had come to view his place earlier that day.  One of the meals that we planned on doing was from a recipe on myrecipes.com from the September 2009 issue of Cooking Light.  It was another one featuring and Asian style slaw, and this one added a little heat to it.  Once again, myrecipes.com didn't let us down, and the meal turned out great!  Rick wants to add it to our repertoire because it was delicious and good for us, too!  I really liked the orange juice with the fish.  I can't wait to make it.  Now, just gotta figure out what to go with the extra cole slaw!  I did up the vinegars and chili sauce in the slaw, and I added a little bit of sesame oil to it. The piece of salmon that I used was smaller than the original recipe required, and it turned out to be perfect for the two of us!  All in all, a very yummy and super quick meal...perfect for the week nights!

Here's what we did...

Crispy Skin Salmon with Fiery Asian Slaw

Ingredients

1 piece 12 oz of salmon

Cooking spray

1/4  cup  fresh orange juice

2  tablespoons  rice vinegar

2  tablespoons  balsamic vinegar

1  tablespoon  olive oil

1 teaspoon sesame oil

2  teaspoons  Sriracha (hot chile sauce)

1  teaspoon  ground ginger

1/2  teaspoon  honey

1/2  cup  chopped fresh cilantro

1  16 oz package cole slaw

1  tablespoon  toasted sesame seeds

Salt and pepper

Directions

Combine rice vinegar and next 6 ingredients (through honey) in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add  1/2 teaspoon salt, cilantro, and coleslaw; toss well to coat. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon sesame seeds. Place in the refrigerator while cooking the fish.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle salmon fillets evenly with 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add salmon to pan, skin side down; cook 4 minutes. Turn salmon over; cook 3 minutes. Add orange juice to pan; cook until liquid almost evaporates and fish flakes easily when tested with a fork.

Enjoy!

Crab Wontons

In honor of the season premiere of Deadliest Catch, we are having crab night.  This season is the last one that Captain Phil of the Cornelia Marie will be on since he passed away in February.  My heart goes out to his family, and I hope that they know how special he was to those of us loved the show.  When Rick and I first started dating, he introduced me to the show, and I fell in love with it (much like him!).  Tonight, it's crab legs and crab wontons!  I kinda made it up as I went as far as the wontons go, but here is what I did for them!  I used the sauce that we used for the shrimp on Thai Night the other night.

The wontons themselves were really tasty, but I did run into a small problem....as they got hot, some of them busted!  I don't know if I put too much crab-cream cheese mixture or what, but quite a few of them blew up!  I have to admit that I was rather distraught when this happened, and I apologized to Rick several times for ruining dinner.  Rick came up with the great idea to put holes in them before we fried them, and that seemed to work (most of the time...a few still busted).  So if anyone out there has any suggestions on how to do this successfully, I'd LOVE to hear from you!

Crab Wontons

Ingredients

3/4 cup crab meat

3/4 cup light cream cheese

1 tablespoon basil, chopped

1 tablespoon green onion, chopped

1 glove of garlic, pressed
20 wonton skins
1 egg

Directions

Mix first 6 ingredients in a small bowl. In another small bowl, beat the egg.

Take one wonton skin and brush the edges the egg.  Scoop 1 over-sized teaspoon on mixture into wonton skin.  Fold the wonton over to form a triangle and fold the edges over to seal it.  Repeat with the remaining wonton skins and crab mixture.

Heat oil to 350F in a large, heavy bottomed pan (I used my deep cast iron skillet), with enough oil to cover the wontons.

Fry wontons until golden about 2-3 minutes per side. To avoid lowering the temperature of the oil, do not attempt to fry too many at once. Remove them with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.

Enjoy!

Thai Night....the main dish!

Before I get to last night's main dish, I wanted to share a giveaway that a friend of mine is having on her blog!  Please be sure to stop by The Nest and check it out!  She's giving away a set of Rachel Ray bakeware...how cool is that????   Regardless of the giveaway, you gotta check her site out. She makes the most amazing bake goods, and I aspire to be half as creative as she is with them!

So last night, I made Pad Thai for this first time for Rick and I.  I was a little surprised that I hadn't made it for us before, but it is a lot of work...especially in the chopping of cilantro leaves department.  It's worth the effort, though.  We really enjoyed it.

The first time that I ever tried Thai food was here in Charleston at Basil, and the first dish that I tried was Pad Thai.  Not too long after that, I went searching the internet for a Pad Thai recipe.  I came across this one, and I made it for the first time in August 2003 (according to the date at the bottom of the page in my old internet recipe notebook).  I was really apprehensive since it had ketchup and Worcestershire as ingredients, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that it actually did taste similar to Pad Thai from Basil!

Here's what I did.

Pad Thai

Ingredients

• 1 (6 oz) package rice noodles
• 3 tablespoons fish sauce
• 2 tablespoons ketchup
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 teaspoons chili-garlic sauce (sambal oelek)
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons peanut oil
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 lb thinly sliced chicken breast
• 1/2 lb large shrimp, peeled and deveined (21-25 count)
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 cup bean sprouts
  
• 4 green onions
  
• 1 cup chopped cilantro leaves
• 2 limes, cut into wedges
• 1/4 cup coarsely chopped roasted peanuts (unsalted)

Directions

Place noodles in large bowl and cover with boiling water for about 10 minutes.  Drain and set aside.

Mix together fish sauce, ketchup, Worcestershire, chili-garlic sauce and sugar in a medium size bowl and set aside.

Cut chicken into 1 inch pieces.  Cut shrimp into thirds.

Heat peanut oil in large frying pan or wok.  Add garlic and chicken to the wok and cook until the meat starts to turn white.  Add shrimp and continue to cook until they start to turn pink.  Add sauce and stir for 3 minutes.  Add the beaten eggs and stir constantly for 1 minute.

Add drained noodles and stir to coat the noodles.  Stir in bean sprouts, onions and 1/2 cup cilantro.

Place on a plate and top with cilantro and chopped peanuts.  Serve with lime wedges (squeeze lime juice on the Pad Thai prior to eating).

Enjoy!

Thai Night!

About a month ago, Rick brought over a Thai cookbook called Greatest Ever Thai, and I've been wanting to do something out of it ever since.  Rick came over earlier this evening, and we were talking about what to make for dinner. He was flipping through the latest Cooking Light and Food + Wine, but nothing seemed appealing.  I mentioned doing something out that cookbook as an appetizer and then making Pad Thai.  Apparently, I had never made Pad Thai for us before, and I was looking forward to it. I will post that recipe tomorrow.

The appetizer that we picked out was for shrimp wrapped in won ton skins.  It sounded similar to one of my favorite appetizers Basil, a Thai restaurant in downtown Charleston.  Basil is another one of those must-go-to places here.  The food is excellent, and the prices aren't too bad for a downtown restaurant.  We decided tonight that it has been too long since we went, but luckily, we had tonight's dinner to hit the spot.  I've never worked with won ton skins before, and while my shrimp rolls didn't look as good as the ones in the cookbook, they turned out great! Rick was on frying duty, and he opted not to deep fry them but he flipped them after about a minute or so.  I made some other changes from the original recipe (omitted red curry paste and subbed garlic-chili sauce for 1 small fresh red Thai chili). 

Here's what we did.

Jumbo Shrimp Rolls with Sweet Soy Sauce

Ingredients
Dip
2 tablespoons of Garlic-Chili Sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons honey
4 tablespoons of low-sodium soy sauce


Shrimp Rolls
2 tablespoons of cilantro leaves
2 cloves of garlic, minced
16 won ton skins
1 egg white, lightly beaten
16 jumbo shrimp, shelled with tails left intact
Corn oil for frying


Directions
To make the dip, mix the ingredients together in a small bowl and set aside.

For the shrimp rolls, brush the won ton skins with egg white and place a few cilantro leaves and a little bit of garlic in the center of the won ton skin. Place shrimp on top.  Fold the won ton skin over the shrimp and leave the tail exposed.  Roll the shrimp in the won ton.  Repeat with the remaining shrimp.

Heat oil for frying in a large, heavy bottom pan to 350-375F.  Fry the shrimp in small batched until golden brown (around 1-2 minutes).  Drain on paper towels and serve with the dip.

Enjoy! 

Crab and Shrimp Cakes!!!!

Even though it turned out to be a not-so-great night for UNC basketball last night, Rick and I did have a wonderful dinner. As tempting as it is to expound on how poorly my Heels played, I will concede that they are young and confine all my complaining to messageboards.  

On Thursday, we had snow crab legs, but because we didn't eat them all, I decided to make one of Rick's favorite recipes:  Crab and Shrimp Cakes!  The recipe is from epicurious.com and called Asian-Style Crab and Shrimp Cakes.  Interestingly enough, for an Asian recipe, it calls for using French bread crumbs when using panko is so much better.  This recipe is another one that is perfect for two!  I paired the crab cakes with the cole slaw that I posted a couple of months ago.  I love this meal because not only is it easy, but it is lightening fast!  You can bake them in the oven or fry them in peanut oil.  Last night, I opted for frying.  I've also been known to add green onions if I have them handy.


I served the cakes with a horseradish sauce that I made Thursday night to go with the crab legs.  I was hoping to replicate the crab sauce that Harris Teeter sells (which they have been out of for WAY too long). Usually, I serve the crab and shrimp cakes with a wasabi sauce.  I am going to include that recipe because I like it better than the horseradish sauce!


Here's the recipe that I use:

Asian Style Crab and Shrimp Cakes

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup light mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  
• 2 teaspoons fish sauce (nam pla) or soy sauce
• 1 cup crab meat (or 6 oz canned crab meat)
  
• 4 oz chopped shrimp (peeled and deveined)
  
• 1 1/2 cups panko
• 1 1/2 tablespoons peanut oil

Directions

Mix first 4 ingredients in medium bowl. Add crabmeat, shrimp and 3/4 cup panko and mix well. Season with pepper. Place remaining panko to a  plate. Drop 1/4 of crab mixture into panko and turn to coat. Shape into 2 1/2-inch-diameter cake. Repeat coating and shaping with remaining crab mixture and panko to 4 cakes.

Heat peanut oil in heavy medium skillet over medium heat. Add cakes and sauté until crisp, about 5 minutes per side. 

Another option instead of frying is to bake them in the oven at 350 for 20 minutes and flipping half way through.


Wasabi Dipping Sauce
1 cup light mayo
2 tablespoons wasabi paste (water and wasabi paste mixed together)

2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1 small pinch of salt


Mix ingredients together and chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour before serving.

While the Rick's away, the mushrooms will play!

Well, sort of anyway!!!

As I've lamented here before, Rick is not a fan of mushrooms, and since he is out of town this weekend, I decided that my meal tonight would include mushrooms. For some reason, I was craving Korean Beef. Maybe it was the fact that I was in West Ashley yesterday but wasn't there around dinner time so that I could swing by Red Orchid. Ever since Rick and I went there with Nick and his girlfriend, Haley, I have occasional longings for their Korean Beef. Unfortunately for me, that is quite a drive for food so I've been trying my best to duplicate their dish! This version is somewhat similar to bulgogi. Honestly, I pretty much just use it for the sauce/marinade.

Tonight, I had to do something that I've never done before: I had to toast sesame seeds. Unfortunately for me, Publix does not sell toasted ones. It was actually pretty simple to do. I just preheated my oven to 325F, put them in a small cast iron skillet, and toasted them until they were a golden brown. The total time was around 18 minutes. In the picture of the meal that I posted, I think I got a little bit carried away with them, though!

Of course, I had to tinker with the sauce a bit. On its own, it is a wee-bit salty (even when I use low sodium soy sauce). To cut that a bit, I added 2 tablespoons of Mirin (which can be purchased at the grocery store near the soy sauce). Since I didn't have any fresh ginger, I used ground (and 1/4 tsp = 1 tsp fresh). I also doubled the amount of garlic.

In order to save some time, I purchased a little over a pound of pre-sliced, stir-fry beef and marinated that for around 30 minutes or so while the rice cooked. I doubled the marinade so that I could also marinate one chopped green pepper, 1/2 of a sweet onion (also chopped) and 4 oz of sliced mushrooms. I actually halved the marinade and marinated the veggies and the meat separate. I like doing the veggies instead of bothering with the lettuce boats. Use whatever vegetables you'd like!

I stir-fried the veggies in my wok and then added the beef. They would've been good on the grill, but it was damp out after the evening rain. Before serving it, I made another batch of my doctored marinade to serve over the food when I plated it. Delicious!!!


Here is the original recipe:

Korean-Styled Grilled Flank Steak

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar (not seasoned)
• 1 tablespoon grated peeled ginger
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2 teaspoons Sriracha (Southeast Asian chile sauce)
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Asian sesame oil
• 1 to 1 1/4 pound flank steak
• 2 scallions, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds

• Accompaniments: white rice; soft leaf lettuce

Directions

Stir together soy sauce, vinegar, ginger, garlic, Sriracha, sugar, and sesame oil.

Prepare a gas grill for direct-heat cooking over medium-high heat.

Oil grill rack, then grill steak, covered, turning over once, 6 to 8 minutes for medium-rare.

Transfer steak to a cutting board and drizzle with 2 tablespoons sauce, then let stand, uncovered, 5 minutes. Thinly slice steak across the grain. Serve with remaining sauce, scallions, and sesame seeds.

Changes that I made to the marinade

• added 2 tablespoons of Mirin
  
• used low sodium soy sauce
• used two cloves of garlic
• substituted ground ginger for fresh
• doubled it in order to use with vegetables

Other changes:

• Stir-fried 1/2 onion, green pepper (both chopped), and 4 oz of sliced mushrooms
• Also stir-fried meat due to weather
• Used stir-fry meat instead of flank steak
• Made another batch of the sauce/marinade to put over meat

Recipe for toasted sesame seeds:
Preheat oven to 325F.

Place untoasted sesame seeds in a small cast iron skillet, and toasted them in the oven until they were a golden brown. The total time was around 15-20 minutes.

Wasabi Chicken?

I love making Asian-inspired meals because they are not only easy but also delicious. I don't try to do anything extremely complicated--just yummy! Rick has told me several times how much he enjoys when I make this particular type of cuisine. Recently, I jokingly told him that these dinners were so good because I was part Asian. Those who know me know that I'm blonde-haired and blue-eyed and very far from such.

On Saturday, I decided to dig out a recipe from my epicurious.com recipe box for wasabi crusted chicken. I haven't made it since 2004. I was really surprised that I haven't made it in so long because I'm such a big fan of panko and wasabi. My fear of chicken may have been keeping me from doing it. Yep, cooking chicken has always scared me. It's too dry if you over cook it, and there's that whole salmonella thing if you under cook it. Lately, I've gotten better with it, though so I decided to take a chance and try this recipe again.

When I got home from clinical, I was a little tired, but luckily, Rick had gone to the grocery store while I was busy in the nursery. He picked up chicken broth, teriyaki sauce, eggs, and the cilantro and chow mein noodles for the slaw. I decided to pair the chicken with Rick's favorite slaw. He, unfortunately, left the bag of cole slaw at his place so we ran over there to get it before starting. We contemplated grilling out because I was so tired but decided to go ahead with our planned meal.

I don't know if my tiredness or what kept me from following the instructions that I had written on the side of the recipe that said "make wasabi paste and coat chicken before dipping in eggs," but I opted to ignore this simple step. The result? Not a bit of wasabi kick! I had even added the wasabi powder to the sauce and egg wash! Grrrr.... They still turned out yummy, but if you want the wasabi kick, you gotta add the wasabi to water to "activate" it! I also failed to flatten my chicken breasts before cooking so I ended up baking them for a little bit (covered in foil) after cooking them in the peanut oil to avoid burning the panko. They turned out great, though (minus the kick of course)! I used leftovers today to make a chicken sandwich with wasabi mayo. I finally got that wasabi kick I was looking for!

The slaw, as always, was delicious!!! The only changes I make to it is using a bag of cole slaw and adding sesame seeds and chow mein noddles on top!


Here is the untouched Chicken Recipe

Wasabi-Crusted Chicken Breasts
Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups panko (Japanese breadcrumbs) or fresh breadcrumbs made from crustless French bread
• 4 teaspoons wasabi powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 2 eggs, beaten to blend
• 4 skinless boneless chicken breast halves, flattened to 1/3-inch thickness between plastic wrap

• 4 tablespoons peanut oil

• 3 tablespoons teriyaki sauce
• 3 tablespoons sake
• 3 tablespoons low-salt chicken broth
• 3 green onions, thinly sliced

Preparation

Combine panko, wasabi powder, salt, and pepper in a large shallow dish. Place eggs in pie dish. Dip chicken, 1 breast at a time, in egg, and then in panko mixture. Turn to coat completely.
Heat 2 tablespoons peanut oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Sauté 2 chicken breasts until golden and cooked through, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer to platter. Repeat with remaining oil and chicken.

Add teriyaki sauce, sake, and chicken broth to skillet; bring to boil, scraping up browned bits. Drizzle sauce over chicken. Sprinkle with sliced green onions and serve.

My changes:

• ALWAYS make wasabi paste (wasabi + water) and coat chicken before dipping in the egg
• I use mirin instead of sake
• Repeat after me again...ALWAYS make wasabi paste and coat chicken before dipping in the eggs

The slaw recipe:

Ingredients

• 2 1 1/2-pound heads green cabbage, very thinly sliced (about 25 cups)
• 1 cup seasoned rice vinegar*
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 tablespoons oriental sesame oil

Preparation

Place cabbage in very large bowl. Add vinegar, cilantro and oil; toss. Season with salt and pepper. Cover; chill at least 1 hour and up to 3 hours, tossing often.
*Also known as sushi vinegar; available at Asian markets and in the Asian foods section of some supermarkets.

My changes:

• Use bag of cole slow
• Add sesame seeds before tossing
• Top with Chow Mein Noodles