Food Fridays: Salmon with asparagus & rice pilaf

Ever since I got Matt a grill for Christmas, the boy's been a regular grilling machine. Snow on the ground? Doesn't phase him. He's still out there, grillin' butter burgers, or steaks, or kabobs, or salmon. I'm just glad he likes his present so much :)

A week or two ago, we were going to do some cedar-plank salmon. But a lack of foresight on our part meant that when 7 pm rolled around, we realized we hadn't soaked the cedar planks. To prevent them from, you know, bursting into flame. So that idea had to be modified.

Instead, Matt seasoned the salmon with a Singapore signature blend from Penzey's Spices (part of a set his mom gave me for Christmas, actually) and some lemon, then wrapped them in foil and threw them on the grill. We could've done the same thing in the oven, really, but he just loves any excuse to use that grill. So I stayed inside, where it was warm and there was a bottle of wine with my name on it, and made the sides.



The asparagus really doesn't require a recipe at all; I just drizzle it in some really amazing olive oil (Giant Eagle Market District's "Arbequina" style) and some kosher salt, then roast it in the oven at 350 degrees for about 10-15 minutes.

The rice pilaf, however, is a recipe I got from Food Network Magazine. It's pretty simple, but it takes a while to cook because that's just how rice is.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup spaghetti, broken into small pieces
2 tbsp butter
1 cup rice
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup water
2 garlic cloves, smashed
1 tsp salt

Toast the spaghetti pieces in a pot over medium-high heat with the butter for about a minute or two. Stir in the rice, then add the chicken broth, water, garlic and salt. Bring to a boil and boil for three minutes. Give everything a good stir, then cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let sit for about five minutes (note: I always skip this step and it tastes just fine, haha), then fluff with a fork. Remove the garlic because ew, giant chunks of garlic, and stir in some more butter because everything tastes better with more butter. You can stir in some cilantro too, if you want, but I'm not a fan so I usually skip that.

OH AND P.S.!! Don't forget to link up to Bloggers Take the Town THIS SUNDAY. Get your super-cute-but-never-blogged-going-out-evening-clothes photos ready and show us what you got :)

Pool days

I'm so excited to stop by our apartment complex's pool after lunch today! It opened this weekend of course, and the high for today is supposed to hit the lower 90s, so it couldn't be more perfect. I still have a bit of work to do, but that can wait till this evening. It's a pool day!

For dinner, I think I might do this recipe from a few weeks ago. I adapted it from one of Rachael Ray's cookbooks, and it's just fantastic. I season it with some applewood-smoked sea salt from a shop in the North Market here in Columbus. It really adds some depth to the dish!

Tilapia with Balsamic Brown Butter and Creamy Tomato Farfalle

Ingredients:
- extra virgin olive oil
- 5 slices bacon (I like to use applewood smoked), chopped
- 2 shallots or 1 small onion, chopped
- 2 6-oz cans plain tomato sauce
- 4 tilapia filets
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1 box farfalle bow-tie pasta
- about 1 1/2 cups frozen peas
- 1/4 cup cream
- 3 tbsp butter
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
- fresh basil (optional)

Start by bringing a large pot of water to a boil. While that's heating, heat about a tablespoon of oil in a large, deep skillet over medium high heat. Add the chopped bacon and cook until crisp. Add the onions and season with salt and pepper, cooking until tender but not quite browned, about 5 minutes. Add the tomato sauce and simmer for about 10 minutes so all the flavors mix together.

Season the fish with salt and pepper, dust with the flour and shake off any excess. Heat about 2 tablespoons oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook for about 4 minutes on each side, until it flakes easily with a fork. Remove to a separate plate and cover with foil to keep warm.

While the fish is cooking, salt the pasta water (here's where I use the applewood smoked salt) and add the pasta, cooking to al dente. Also, stir the frozen peas into the tomato sauce. Bring it back up to a low simmer and add the cream. Season with salt and pepper if needed. (Again, I throw in some of the applewood smoked salt if I think the dish needs a bit more smokey flavor. I use regular salt if the bacon has done its job.)

Add the 3 tablespoons butter to the pan the fish cooked in. Brown over medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes, then stir in the balsamic vinegar and simmer until it reduces by half, about a minute or two. Pour over the fish.

Drain the pasta, toss with the sauce and wilt the basil into the sauce if using. Serve together.

Cheesy Tuna N Noodles

You guys. When I opened my cupboards to start dinner last night, they were bare. Well, not really...there were plenty of pantry staples and miscellaneous cans of soup and baked beans, but nothing I could make a meal of. Or so I thought.

Then I noticed I had some basic ingredients to make a dish my mom used to make a lot. She told me once that she loves casseroles because you just mix them together, throw them in the oven and move on to another task while it cooks. Can you say perfect? I'm swamped right now, so I decided to riff on her recipe to save myself some time.

I wasn't going to blog this, but I took my first bite and decided I probably should (hence the missing chunk of cheesy goodness that I tried so artfully to hide).


Ingredients:
- 1/2 box macaroni noodles (or something similar; macaroni was what I happened to have)
- 1 can tuna
- 1 can cream of chicken or cream of mushroom soup (mushrooms...ew)
- Parmesan cheese
- shredded Colby-jack or cheddar cheese (I used the former, my fave!)

This is seriously the easiest meal ever. Other than Ramen, I suppose, but I hardly count that as a meal. More of a snack, really. Anyway, this is the first dish I've made in ages--maybe ever--that didn't have any leftovers. None. That's how good this is.

Start by cooking your macaroni according to package directions. Making sure to salt the water liberally after it starts boiling, before you add the noodles. I like to overcook them a bit, because the baking tends to dry them out.

When that's done, drain and return to the pot. Drain the tuna and throw it in, along with the can of cream of chicken soup. Mix it all together. Pour in a liberal amount of Parmesan cheese. I never measure these things, but let's say about a quarter of a cup. Mix well and spread into a nonstick or greased casserole pan. Top with as much shredded cheese as your little cheesy heart desires.

Bake at 375 for about 15 minutes, or if you want more time to do whatever miscellaneous tasks, cover with foil and bake at 350 for about 30-40 minutes. Voila! Told you it was easy. Serve with more Parm. Because you can never have enough Parm.

Asian-Inspired Rice Bowl

There’s one thing you should know about me, if you’re going to read my food posts. I. Love. Carbs. I have yet to meet a carb that I don’t like, except maybe barley, which doesn’t count because apparently your body doesn’t process it like a carb. It’s kind of weird to admit this, but I’ve been known to eat just a bowl of rice (with some butter and salt) as a snack.

So it’s no surprise that I love Italian- and Asian-inspired dishes. When I was watching Iron Chef a few weeks ago, I saw Morimoto (my favorite, of course) make this delicious-looking rice bowl. He topped it with fish and a fried egg. It looked so simple, I just had to try it!



Ingredients:
If you read the “Food” tab above, you’ll note that I rarely measure ingredients when cooking. Don’t get tied to your measuring cups and teaspoons! Experiment with me :)
- 1 cup uncooked rice (I used Minute Rice, but the real stuff works great too)
- 2 eggs
- 1 package frozen snap peas (you will have leftovers!)
- 4 filets of a firm fish, like tilapia
- flour
- sesame oil (can substitute butter or canola oil)
- garlic powder
- salt and pepper
- soy sauce

Start by cooking the rice. If you’re using the real stuff, it’ll take about 20 minutes. If you’re using Minute Rice like me, it’ll only take about five minutes. Once the rice is ready, spread it out onto a plate and pop it in the freezer for about 10 minutes—just enough to cool it down, but not long enough to freeze it.

While that’s going on, dredge the fish in flour. You can use a little egg or milk to help the flour stick, but I usually go without on this dish for a lighter finish. Plus, I usually use fish that has just come out of my freezer and is still a little damp from the defrosting process, so extra moisture isn’t as necessary.

Heat the sesame oil (or substitute fat) in a skillet. Actually, heat it in two skillets. One for the fish (medium-high heat), and one for the eggs (medium heat). These will take about the same time to cook, unless you have a really thick cut of fish. Start cooking the fish, seasoning with a tiny bit of salt, some pepper and a dash of garlic powder. When you crack the eggs in the other pan, be careful to not break the yolks. Season those with salt and pepper too. In the meantime, start cooking the snap peas. I buy the kind that you can microwave right in the bag; it usually takes about five minutes.

Flip the fish after about three or four minutes. Just before you flip it, pour some soy sauce over the whole thing. Don’t go overboard or you’ll have a salty mess. I usually use about a tablespoon, maybe two. Ish. After you flip the fish, drizzle a little more soy sauce over the cooked side that is now facing up—just a couple drops.

As for the eggs. I prefer to flip mine to make an over-easy/over-medium yolk, which I still find a little difficult sometimes. In the pictures, you might notice that I did in fact break a yolk. If you want to play it safe, just cook them sunny-side up.

Now, the rice. Morimoto re-fried it in a pan, but I think it’s so much easier to nuke it. Grab two bowls and make two rounded little hills of rice in each one, making a medium-sized indent in the top (this is where the egg will go). When the snap peas are done cooking, set them aside and nuke the rice for 30 seconds to a minute, until it’s good and hot.

Time to assemble! Carefully slide an egg into the indent in each mound of rice. Make a small little pile of snap peas on one side of the mound, and arrange the fish on the other side. You’ll notice in my photos that my fish isn’t a filet; it’s a mess. I used cod, which is too flaky for this dish and fell apart while I was cooking it. Tasted good though.

This dish is particularly fun to eat. Break open the egg yolk and let it drizzle down over the rice. I like to dip my snap peas in it, too!