Main Dishes

Cedar Plank Wild Salmon with Mango Salsa

June 9, 2015

SalmonMangoSalsa(PS)

Tonight, we are having dinner with our friends Bobbii and Steve across the street.  As you frequent my blog, you will hear of them often, we usually get together once a week for dinner, drinks and relaxation! I volunteered to bring the main course, and took the opportunity to utilize their Traeger smoker and make a Cedar Plank Wild Salmon with a Mango Salsa. A salmon on the smoker is amazingly easy and perfect for a quick weeknight dinner or an elegant dinner party.  I soaked the cedar planks all day ensure the salmon picked up all the flavors from the cedar. I opted not to season the salmon since I was making a Mango Salsa topping, just a little olive oil and lemon.

For instructions on how to smoke your salmon visit Traeger.com.

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Cedar Plank Wild Salmon with Mango Salsa
Author: 
Recipe type: Quick
Cuisine: Salsa, Topping
 
I love a fresh, sweet, spicy salsa on top of fish. The acidic flavors complement the fish and bring out all the fresh flavors!
Ingredients
  • 2 medium mangoes, peeled, pitted and diced
  • 1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced
  • ½ - 1 medium red onion diced
  • 1 jalapeno, seeded and diced
  • 1 bunch of cilantro, stems removed and finely chopped
  • juice from 3-4 limes
Instructions
  1. Combine all ingredients, cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

SalmonMango(PS)

Salads and Dressings

No Lettuce Greek Salad

June 7, 2015

GreekSalad

Most of the recipes I post are from magazines, Pintrest, cookbooks, etc.  I have been collecting recipes for years.  I recently picked up Fine Cooking Cook Fresh magazine Summer 2015 addition.  Paging through, I found lots of amazing recipes to try.  One that immediately stood out was Village-Style Greek Salad with Chicken and Lemon Mint Vinaigrette.  What I loved about this was it had no lettuce.  Today, a freak June hail storm wiped out my lettuce bed.  Just that morning, I was admiring the how amazing the spinach, lettuce and kale was looking.  By the time, I got home it was decimated.  Not only was the lettuce gone, the storm took out most of my herbs, with the exception of my mint plant.  Inspired by my recent loss, this was the perfect day to try, a fresh salad with no lettuce and the lone surviving herb, mint!

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No Lettuce Greek Salad
Author: 
Recipe type: Quick
Cuisine: Greek
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: Serves 4
 
Rating: Excellent. Quick and Easy. I posted the recipe as it appeared in the magazine, however, I made several modifications. I did not soak onions, not sure why you would do this. I used about ½ the olive oil for the dressing, was plenty to coat and cut out calories. I grilled the chicken breasts and added 2 cucumbers. I would recommend cooking the chicken the night before and serving it cold.
Ingredients
  • One-half medium red onion, thinly sliced (about 1 cup)
  • 1-1/2 lb. chicken tenders
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • ⅓ cup plus 2 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil
  • ⅓ cup chopped fresh mint
  • 2 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
  • 1 medium clove garlic, minced
  • ½ tsp. finely grated lemon zest
  • 12 oz. feta, cut into ½-inch cubes (2-3/4 cups)
  • 2 cups cherry tomatoes, washed and halved
  • 1 large cucumber, peeled, seeded, and cut into ½-inch chunks
  • ⅔ cup pitted Kalamata olives, halved
Instructions
  1. Put the sliced onion in a small bowl and add enough cold water to cover.
  2. Trim off any exposed tendon ends from the wide tips of the tenders, if necessary. Season the tenders with ¾ tsp. salt and ½ tsp. pepper. Heat 2 tsp. of the oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Cook the tenders until well browned on both sides and just cooked through, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and let rest while you make the dressing.
  3. In a large bowl, combine the mint, lemon juice, garlic, lemon zest, and ¼ tsp. each salt and pepper. Slowly whisk in the remaining ⅓ cup oil. Set aside 2 Tbs. of the vinaigrette in a small bowl.
  4. Drain the onions and press them gently to remove any excess water. Add the onions to the large bowl of vinaigrette, along with the feta, tomatoes, cucumber, and olives. Slice the chicken crosswise into ½-inch pieces and add it to the salad. Toss everything to coat. Divide the salad among four serving plates, drizzle with the reserved vinaigrette, and serve immediately.

 

Wine

Impromptu Wine Tasting – Booker Wines

June 7, 2015

Bookerwine1(PS)P

Bill sent me an email Friday, asking if I’d be up for an impromptu wine tasting on the new Spring ’13 release of Booker Wines. Yes, please…do you even have to ask?  I was first introduced to Booker Wines several years ago during a trip to Paso Robles. We planned a week long Valentine’s getaway starting in San Diego and ending in wine country, having never been to Paso Robles before, I was immediately drawn to the quiet, farm community, significantly different from Napa Valley. Paso Robles is located in California’s Central Coast, and is known for their warm days and cool nights, perfect climate to grow grapes. According to pasowine.com, 16% of the grapes grown in this region are classified as “other red”. This category of grapes is what intrigues me the most, whether it is a 100% Syrah or a GSM blend. Unique grapes, unique blends. Of course, the opportunity to taste some amazing wine with my fabulous husband, I’m in.

First tasting was Oublie, french for “forgotten”, and is a blend of Granche, Counoise, and Mourvedre. Counsoise is a dark skinned grape grown in Rhone Valley and California.   This was my first experience with the grape. This grape is said to have a peppery flavor, I can’t say tasted that. Bold and fruity. Solid way to start the evening.

We moved on to Ripper, made with 100% Grenache, I had high expectations.  I love tasting wines that are made with one varietal. To me, that is the best way to appreciate the full flavor of the grape. I noted the almost cloudy color and light color.  I liked the aroma, probably the spice, overall not a heavy wine, balance of fruity spice.

Next up, Fulldraw, a new wine this year according to winemaker, Eric Jensen, this wine comes from his Assistant Winemaker’s vineyard and was my opinion the best wine of the evening. It was the darkest boldest wine of the evening.  We received limited raffle tickets to purchase the remaining bottles from the tasting for our wine lockers.  Between my husband and I we had 12 tickets.  All wines were amazing, but I put 8 of my 12 in this drawing and was fortunate to win twice!  Those will be staying in the locker for a special occasion.

The evening finished off with the Tempranillo.  Strong alcohol aroma, overall great wine, certainly will be more amazing after laying down for a while.

Now, when is my next trip to Paso Robles?

BookerWine2(PS)

Main Dishes

Panko Chicken Honey Sriracha Dipping Sauce

June 6, 2015

chickennuggets

It was Sunday night and I forgot to take chicken out of the freezer.  Weekend nights are supposed to an opportunity to be creative and to make meals that take more time and effort to expand my cooking knowledge.  Tonight, I partially thawed some boneless skinless chicken breasts and use a sharp knife to thinly slice them, thinking I would do a stir fry.  After slicing up the chicken, I did a 360 and decided to do a Baked Chicken Nugget with a Panko Crust, a version I saw on Pintrest a few weeks back.  The chicken at this point was sliced versus a nugget, but should still work.

I dunk the chicken in beaten eggs and coat in panko crumbs  – super easy and ready for the oven.  I lined a cookie sheet with parchment paper and baked at 450 degrees for about 20 minutes.

While the chicken was cooking, I made the sauce.  Again, super easy.  Organic Blue Agave, Lite Soy Sauce, minced garlic and some Sriracha Sauce, bring to a boil stir until thickened.

I served the sauce on the side and dipped the nuggets.  In the future, I would love to double the sauce and coat the nuggets and serve boneless wing style.

Rating: Excellent.  Tasted like TGIFriday’s Sesame Jack Chicken Strips – could be an opportunity to be a knock off recipe.

 

 

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Panko Crusted Chicken Nuggets with Honey Sriracha Dipping Sauce
Author: 
Recipe type: Quick
Cuisine: Chicken
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: Serves 4
 
Great weekday meal with ready available ingredients.
Ingredients
  • 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts. cut into 2 inch nuggets
  • 2 beaten eggs
  • 1 cup panko crumbs
  • salt and pepper
  • ½ cup of blue agave
  • ½ cup soy sauce
  • 2-3 tablespoons of sirrahca (to taste)
  • 2-3 garlic cloves - minced
Instructions
  1. Dip chicken pieces in beaten eggs (salt and pepper if desired) and lightly coat with panko crumbs. Place chicken on aluminum foil lined baking sheet and place in a pre-heated 450 degree oven. Bake 20 minutes or until done.
  2. While chicken is cooking, mix soy sauce, agave, garlic, stir until heavy boil. Turn down heat medium low and continue cooking until slightly thickened. 5 minutes.
  3. Remove from heat and set aside until chicken is done. Dip chicken in sauce or coat entirely.

HoneySirachaPreBaking