Everything But The Kitchen Sink: Honey Barbecued Salmon

I’m in the middle of another busy week and am still recovering from my baking mishap last week. While my newest batch of chocolate crunch granola bakes in the oven, I’m going to take a few minutes to type up a lengthy recipe that I tried a few weeks ago.

The Main Street Ventures restaurants have their own cookbook on display in a number of restaurants we’ve been frequenting for many years. It is a collection of gourmet recipes from their prized restaurants across the country. I’ve been eyeing the cookbook for quite sometime, but for some reason I never purchased it.

In December my husband and I joined our very good friends (and their darling baby girl) for a fabulous birthday dinner where they generously gave me this cookbook (along and a lovely bottle of wine). Some of our favorite dishes from the restaurants are in this cookbook, and the photographs of the food are beautiful. I’ve already attempted a couple recipes from the book, and the first one that I tried was their Honey Barbecued Salmon.

The ingredient list is lengthy and the recipe has you throwing everything but the kitchen sink into the barbecue sauce. At first it seems like overkill, but all of these ingredients meld into a deliciously sweet and spicy glaze. Mine was particularly spicy, as I used the entire jalapeño. (I recommend only using the jalapeño flesh and discarding the membrane and seeds if you don’t want it too spicy. If you are sensitive to hot peppers, you should also use rubber gloves when handling them). Since it is the middle of winter and our ground outside is still white, I followed their instructions to bake then broil the salmon. As soon as it warms up we’re going to try this on the grill! If you don’t like salmon, try the sauce with with chicken!

Honey Barbecued Salmon
(From Mainstreet Ventures Distinctive Recipes)
For Salmon:
Ingredients
1 ½ lb. Salmon filet, boneless and skinless
1 ½ cup Honey Barbeque Sauce (recipe follows)
Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions
Preheat oven to 450°F.

Cut salmon filet into 4 equal pieces. Place parchment paper on a 9x12 inch baking sheet pan. Brush both sides of each salmon piece with barbecue sauce. Season with salt and pepper. Bake in oven for 6 minutes, then switch oven dial to broil and cook salmon for 3 more minutes until salmon just flakes.

Brush lightly with sauce prior to serving. Transfer the salmon onto plates and serve with more sauce, if desire.

For Honey Barbecue Sauce:
Ingredients
1 cup ketchup
1 cup honey
¼ cup coarse-grained mustard
¼ cup Jalapeño pepper, minced
2/ Tbs. rice vinegar
½ tsp. Tabasco
3 Tbs. light brown sugar
1 Tbs. curry powder
1 tsp. sweet paprika
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbs. vegetable oil
½ tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. lemon juice
½ tsp. ground black pepper

Directions
In a heavy saucepan, stir together sauce and dry ingredients. Bring to a boil and simmer, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes. Strain the sauce through a fine sieve. Sauce will keep for one week covered and chilled.

San Fran Stew: Cioppino

A couple of years ago my husband and I were watching a Food Network special that spoke about the history of Cioppino (pronounced “chuh-pee-noh”). This fish stew has an interesting origin, as it was developed by Italian fishermen in San Francisco in the late 1800's. The fishermen would all “chip in” their catch of the day to a collective soup pot to create seafood stew, similar to a French bouillabaisse (less the saffron).

My husband orders Cioppino occasionally when we dine at seafood restaurants. Most recently, we shared some with our friend Sarah while dining at Beretta in San Francisco.


I had been intending to make Cioppino at home, but had not taken the time to sort through different recipes. I was delighted to find a Cioppino recipe while I was flipping through my new copy of Ellie Krieger’s So Easy. I flagged the page, bought my seafood (and for such a steal at Trader Joe’s! ), and made this over the weekend to get us through a few dinners this week.

It smelled delicious while it was cooking, it was ridiculously easy to make, and my husband loved it. It wasn’t even mealtime when I finished it (we were somewhere between lunch and dinner), and I had to stop him from eating a whole bowl. He actually said to me, “Kate, I love everything that you cook. But I haven’t been this surprised by something you’ve made since you made Chicken Scallopine with Saffron Cream Sauce for the first time.” (And that was two years ago!) Needless to say, this Cioppino is making it into the regular rotation! I actually can’t wait until we’ve eaten it all up so that I can make it again!

Cioppino
(Adapted from Ellie Krieger’s So Easy)
Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 bay leaf
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 (6 oz.) jar tomato paste
1 cup dry white wine
2 (14.5 oz.) cans no-salt-added diced tomatoes
1 cup fish stock or water
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
¾ teaspoon salt
½ - 1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined (you may want to remove the tails, too)
½ - 1 pound scallops
½ - 1 pound skinless halibut fillet, cut into 1-inch chunks
2 teaspoons fresh Italian parsley, chopped
Fresh bread for serving

Directions
Heat the olive oil over medium-high heat in a large soup pot. Add the onion and celery and cook, stirring, until slightly softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, thyme, bay leaf, and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring, an additional 1 minute. Stir in the tomato paste. Add the wine, bring to a boil, and cook over medium-high heat for 3 minutes.

Add the tomatoes and their juices and the fish stock (or water) and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, for 10 minutes. Stir in the vinegar, salt, and pepper. (This base may be made ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.)

Heat the soup base to a boil. Add the shrimp, scallops, and halibut. Reduce the heat and simmer, until everything is just cooked, about 5 minutes. Divide among 4 bowls and garnish with the parsley. Serve with bread.

Still Summer - Fish Tacos with Chipotle Cream

I’ve hardly been “live” for a week, I’ve only told about 3 people that this little blog exists, and I’ve already received my first request! My husband’s friend and colleague (we’ll call him “Triple T”), has requested that I make and post a dish that is near and dear to his heart and home (and one that I have yet to conquer). I am up for the challenge, Triple T, and your request is in the queue! While this is no Chuy's fish taco, I hope that it will tide you over...

The weather where I live has been unseasonably cool as of late. The air is brisk, the sky is grey, and the breeze is crisp. If the calendar didn’t say August, one might think it was October. I had to hold myself back from delving into my fall favorites (think root vegetables), and embrace the fact that it is still summer and I must capitalize on the opportunity to make the rounds through my summer recipe rotation while I still can. So instead of peeling and seeding a butternut squash, we fired up the outdoor grill and blended some margaritas.

My husband and I are both fans of fish tacos. They offer a lighter way to enjoy Mexican food than some other traditional dishes that consist of heavy sauces and lots of cheese. I have tried several different fish taco recipes without much satisfaction. We tried Ellie Krieger’s a few weeks ago, and it was a home run. The spiciness of the chipotle is balanced by the sweetness of the corn. The lime and olive oil are a simple, yet tasty marinade for the fish. We grilled mahi-mahi, and I used non-fat Greek yogurt (a new obsession of mine) for the chipotle sauce (with extra chipotle because I love spicy food). We also used flour tortillas instead of corn tortillas, as I typically have them on hand.

The different components of the recipe come together pretty quickly, but it does take a bit of time to assemble all of the tacos. If you’re serving to a crowd, you could make this an activity where everyone can assemble their own. Otherwise put out some chips and salsa to keep them happy and occupied!

Fish Tacos with Chipotle Cream
Ingredients
Fish:
* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* Freshly ground black pepper
* 1 pound white flaky fish fillet, like tilapia, mahi-mahi, or halibut

Chipotle cream:
* 1/2 cup plain nonfat yogurt or 1/3 cup Greek-style nonfat yogurt
* 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
* 2 teaspoons chipotle pepper, in adobo sauce

* 8 (6-inch) corn tortillas
* 1 1/2 cups shredded green cabbage or lettuce
* 1/2 cup corn kernels (thawed if frozen)
* 1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves
* Lime wedges

Directions
In a small bowl, whisk together the oil, lime juice, salt and pepper. Pour over the fish fillets and let marinate for 20 minutes. Put the yogurt into a strainer lined with apaper towel and place over a bowl to drain and thicken for 20 minutes.

Remove the fish from the marinade and grill on a preheated grill or nonstick grill pan over a medium-high heat until cooked thorough, about 3 minutes per side. Set the fish aside on a plate for 5 minutes.

In a small bowl combine the thickened yogurt, mayonnaise, and chipotle pepper.

Heat the tortillas on the grill or grill pan for 30 seconds on each side.

Flake the fish with a fork. Top each tortilla with 1 tablespoon of the chipotle cream. Top with fish, cabbage, corn and cilantro and serve with lime wedges.