Soy Ginger Salmon w Blood Orange / Mango Side Salad

Yes, this is a repeat of the salmon I already posted from the past year, but I just made this one for the family tonight so I couldn't resist posting my first freshly made meal since starting the blog. Due to some missing ingredients this time, I replaced the apple cider vinegar with 1/2 pomegranate red wine vinegar and 1/2 ginger rice vinegar (though I don't imagine most people keep either of these around!), replaced the fresh ginger with about 1 teaspoon of powdered ginger, and added about 1/2 a teaspoon garlic powder. After about 3 hours of thorough marinating, I grilled it on the stove for about 5 minutes a side until pink throughout. As for the salad:

Blood Orange / Mango Side Salad

1 bunch fresh baby spinach
3 slices dried mango
2 tablespoons sliced almonds
2-3 tablespoons blood orange or other fruit flavored balsamic vinegar

1. Rinse spinach with cold water.
2. Slice dried mango into slivers roughly the size of the sliced almonds
3. Mix mango and almonds. Douse spinach in vinegar, mix well, and top with mango-almond mix.

Bavarian Apple Torte

Alright, gonna switch it up a little and throw in some baking... During apple season, THIS is what to make if you're going for something a little fancier than a simple apple pie. It has the same delicious apple-cinnamon-sugar mix, but the real surprise is the sweet cheesecake filling in the middle!

Bavarian Apple Torte

For Crust:
3/4 cups butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
For Filling:
16oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
For Topping:
3 cups thinly sliced peeled tart apples (4-5 apples)
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon allspice

1. Combine crust incredients in medium mixing bowl. Press evenly onto bottom of a greased 9-inch springform pan.
2. In mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla; mix well. Pour this mixture over crust and spread evenly.
3. Combine topping ingredients and mix thoroughly. Arrange sliced apple mixture as desired for presentation, and pour remaining liquid over top.
4. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until center is set. Cool on wire rack, then refrigerate. Serve chilled.

Mustard-Rubbed Pork Tenderloin w Cherry-Mushroom Compote

This is among the more intensive dishes I make, but also among the most delicious. It combines wonderful mustard and herb flavors in the pork with the rich, yet savory flavors of the fruit compote. The toughest part of this dish is cooking the pork thoroughly enough, as it is often difficult to gauge the inside temperature of the pork, even with a meat thermometer. Nonetheless, if there's a little time, this one is an instant winner. In this picture, I have served it with a side of fried eggplant with a dill mustard sauce.

Mustard Rubbed Pork Tenderloin w Cherry-Mushroom Compote (serves 6)

1 (2 lb) pork tenderloin
6 sprigs fresh rosemary for garnish
For Mustard Rub:
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 clove garlic
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 teaspoons dried thyme
2 teaspoons dried rosemary, crushed
1 teaspoon dried sage
For Cherry Compote:
1/2 small red onion, finely sliced
1/4 cup shiitake mushrooms, coarsely chopped
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 cup beef broth
~15oz cherry preserves (preferably with whole cherries)
2 teaspoons dried thyme
3 tbsp chilled butter, in thin slices

1. Mustard Rub: Whisk together all ingredients in medium bowl. Marinate pork tenderloin in refrigerator for at least 4 hours.
2. Broil tenderloin on high heat in minimal sauce until cooked medium. Periodically baste with small quantities of additional marinade until nearly complete. This may take anywhere from 10-25 minutes, depending on oven quality. (I like to check when I think it is near done by slicing the thickest part of in half and gauging pinkness).
3. Remove tenderloin from heat. Allow no more than 5 minutes to cool, then slice into roughly 1/3-inch slices to serve.
4. Cherry Compote: Saute chopped onion in vegetable oil until lightly browned.
5. Add beef broth to sauteed onion and continue to cook on medium-high heat for ~20-25 until mixture has reduced by about half.
6. Reduce heat and add cherry preserves and thyme. Bring mixture to low boil and cook until mixture is slightly syrupy.
7. Remove from heat, and slowly whisk in chilled butter until combined. Pour compote over pork and garnish with rosemary sprig.


Fried Eggplant w Dill Mustard Sauce

1 medium purple eggplant, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch slices
1/2 cup flour
2/3 cup dry bread crumbs
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
3 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
small pinch hot hungarian paprika
2 eggs
vegetable oil for frying
For Dill Mustard Sauce:
4 tbsp dijon mustard
1 1/2 tbsp mayonnaise
1 squirt lemon juice
1 teaspoon agave nectar (or honey)
1 heaping teaspoon dry dill
pinch hot hungarian paprika

1. Fill frying pan with thin layer of vegetable oil (~1/4 inch) for frying. Turn to medium heat.
2. Place flour in small bowl. Combine bread crumbs, black pepper, parmesan, and paprika in separate small bowl. Lightly beat eggs and place in third bowl.
3. Dip eggplant slices in flour then brush off any excess flour. Next, dip floured eggplant slices into eggs on both sides, allowing excess egg to drip off. Lastly, dip into bread crumb mixture, firmly pressing eggplant into mixture on both sides.
4. Place slices in frying pan and fry on both sides until lightly browned, then remove onto dry paper towel.
5. Dill Mustard Sauce: Thoroughly mix all ingredients in small bowl. Adjust to taste.

Cream Cheese and Raspberry Stuffed French Toast

Because breakfast food is clearly the best, and I have an eerie passion for french toast, I can't resist throwing on another similar french toast recipe. This is virtually the same as any other, but the cream cheese and raspberry stuffing is an added pleasure!

Cream Cheese and Raspberry Stuffed French Toast

4 slices bread (medium-cut challah is good for this one)
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
dash vanilla
2 pinches cinnamon
1 pinch nutmeg
1 pinch allspice
4oz cream cheese
3 tbsp sugar
Wegman's raspberry jam (or other brand)

1. Lightly beat eggs, milk, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice in wide bowl.
2. Dip bread in egg mixture so that bread is lightly soaked through.
3. Mix together cream cheese and sugar in side bowl.
4. Grill bread on range top until medium brown on both sides. While grilling, spread cream cheese mixture on already-grilled side of one slice. Spread raspberry jam on opposite slice, and place jam slice on top of cream cheese slice. Continue to cook ~1 minute.
5. Serve and top with syrup, powdered sugar, or alternate toppings.

Rama Chicken (Swimming Angel)

This is one of my favorite Thai dishes to make. Its very simple, and so delicious that I would never dare edit the recipe myself. From "Quick & Easy Thai Cuisine: Lemongrass Cookbook":

Swimming Angel (serves 2)

1 package/large bunch spinach
2 small chicken breasts, sliced thin against the grain
7oz (light) coconut milk
peanut sauce (recipe below)

1. In frying pan, cook sliced chicken at medium heat in coconut milk until just cooked through, roughly 10 minutes. Drain remaining coconut milk just before serving.
2. Boil water with a drop of oil. Blanch spinach, using strainer to dip spinach in boiling water then quickly remove. Drain excess water, then spread on serving plate.
3. Place drained chicken on spinach. Top generously with peanut sauce.


Peanut Sauce

7oz coconut milk
1 tbsp red curry paste
1/8 cup fish sauce
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 cup finely ground roast peanuts

1. Combine all ingredients in saucepan and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring constantly. Serve warm over chicken.

Soy Ginger Salmon w Raspberry-Walnut Salad

Here's one of my favorites! It's kind of a mixture of a couple salmon recipes I've stumbled upon in the past.

Soy Ginger Salmon (serves 4)

4 salmon filets (~6oz each)
2/3 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup agave nectar (or honey)
1/3 cup brown sugar
3 heaping tbsp fresh ginger, finely minced
1-2 tsp wasabi (optional)

1. Mix together soy, apple cider vinegar, agave nectar, brown sugar, ginger, and wasabi in small bowl. Separate out ~1/4 of mixture for later.
2. Marinate salmon filets in soy mixture in plastic bag for minimum of 1-2 hours.
3. Remove salmon from marinade and grill in aluminum foil on gas or electric outdoor grill at ~325 degrees, or on stovetop skillet at medium heat.. Grill until slightly pink throughout (10-15 minutes total, generally), turning half-way through if using stove-top, and basting periodically with remaining marinade. With ~3 minutes remaining, add unused soy mixture. Pour some of warm soy mixture from pan or aluminum foil over salmon when serving.


Raspberry-Walnut Salad

Spinach
Raspberries
Walnuts, quartered
Wegman's organic raspberry jam (or any other thin, syrupy variety)
Apple cider vinegar
Olive oil
Agave nectar

1. Mix together washed spinach and walnuts. Top with fresh raspberries.
2. For vinaigrette, mix jam and apple cider vinegar and olive oil in roughly 2:2:1 portions. Add a small amount of agave or honey for sweetness. Adjust to taste. Pour over salad.

Amaretto French Toast w Blueberries and Powdered Sugar

So this is a super simple one, but because it's the first of the food pictures I found, may as well start with a classic!

Amaretto French Toast w Blueberries and Powdered Sugar

6-8 slices of bread (I prefer Honey Oat or Sourdough)
3 eggs
~3/4 cups milk
~1 oz amaretto
3 pinches cinnamon
pinch nutmeg
pinch allspice
blueberries
powdered sugar

1. Lightly beat together eggs, milk, amaretto, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice in medium, flat mixing bowl.
2. Dip sliced bread in egg mixture for 5+ seconds per side until soaked through. Allow extra mixture to drip off. Grill on stovetop until lightly browned on both sides, generally 3-4 minutes per side. Repeat until remainder of egg mixture has been used.
3. Top with berries, powdered sugar, and syrup as desired

Pro logos

So rather than taking this super slowly, I'm gonna start by throwing together a number of older dishes/recipes I've made that have just been waiting for something like this blog...

Welcome!

I am not a big internet person, and have never blogged before, but I have gotten very into cooking over the past few years, and with a little encouragement have finally decided to start this blog about some of the things I have (or will in the future have) cooked.

Many of the recipes have been slightly tailored to my liking, but very few are actually my original recipes. I believe that for the casual chef - someone like myself who knows their way around the kitchen, but still prefers to have some sort of template to work from - cooking is 10% skill and 90% the ability to pick out the best recipes. Thus, it is my hope that I have accomplished the latter.

Lastly, strange as it may sound, this blog is primarily for my own sake - a compendium of the things that I have cooked, or somewhat of a personal recipe book that I can return to in the future, if you will. But if friends, family, and random people from the internet stumble on it and like it or want to try some of the recipes, I hope that you will! None of these dishes are particularly complex to make, and the gustatory rewards tend to be well worth the time...

Anyway, on with the blog, I guess...

Welcome...!