Chicken of the Sea

Hello, hello, hello. I have heard through the grape vine that you guys are getting bored of looking at my fennel blog.  I decided that finally I should update you on the food that I have been eating as of recent.  To begin this story at the beginning you should know that I really don't like fish.  Amazingly enough I actually somewhat enjoyed this recipe all things considered.  If you are interested you can find this recipe on the bon appetit website. Without further ado I bring the recipe to you.

Spice Encrusted Salmon With Yogurt Sauce

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup plain yogurt
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• 3 teaspoons fresh lime juice, divided
• 3 teaspoons olive oil, divided
• 1 teaspoon minced peeled fresh ginger
• 1 garlic clove, pressed
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
• 4 6-ounce salmon fillets with skin
• Lime wedges
• 
  

Preparation

• Mix yogurt, cilantro, 1 teaspoon lime juice, 1 teaspoon oil, ginger, and garlic in small bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Place fennel seeds and coriander seeds in heavy-duty plastic bag. Using mallet, crush seeds. Sprinkle fillets with salt, pepper, and seeds.
• Heat 2 teaspoons oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add fillets, seed side down. Cook until brown, about 3 minutes. Turn over. Cook until just opaque in center, about 3 minutes. Drizzle with 2 teaspoons lime juice. Place fillets on plates. Top with sauce; serve with lime wedges.

I am so sorry i forgot to take a picture of this dish as it wasn't my intent to put this recipe up. I will try for next time. :)

Uno Problemo

Ok, here is my problem.  I bought this fennel/anise bulb at superstore today and I'm not sure what to do with it.  In case you're wondering superstore calls this anise and bonappetit calls this fennel, who is right we are not sure.  My real problem is not that I don't know what to make with this, it is that I went into a grocery store without a clearly defined list.  When I do that I always make impulse buys on things that we don't actually need but I think look cool or might taste good.  I went in to superstore to get one thing, evaporated milk for pumpkin pie and came out with swiss chard and a fennel bulb.  The swiss chard was because it tastes fantastic and the fennel because I have never used it in cooking before but I think it should taste good.  Anyways, I have three recipes that I have to decide between for the fate of this fennel bulb they are; braised fennel, fennel and green beans or pork marinated in fennel.  If you want you please leave a comment on what I should do below.  

An Interesting Taste to a Traditional Accompaniment

Hello again world.  I got buns on my brain, actually it's more like bread but when I read that line from a Stephanie Plum book today I knew I had to incorporate it into my post.  I am so sorry Janet Evanovich, I give you full credit for that line, it suits Lula to a t by the way.  I should probably carry on and quit holding you back from today's recipe... I know the suspense is probably killing you.  This recipe only came into my repertoire because of the best social teacher I ever had in grade 10.  He assigned a project to make a cookbook of the common social studies terms and explain the recipes and certain procedures that would make that recipe describe that word.  Anyways the end result of this long and probably boring story to you guys is that I couldn't find a recipe that would fit the word, melting pot.  That being said I hit the high road and went to the favourite homework hub of an average teenager, google and found this recipe.  Today I give it to you because I think it would accent the curry carrot soup of the previous blog quite nicely.  Without further adieu I give you, curried wheat bread.

Curried Wheat Bread

Ingredients

- 1 Tbsp                   Active dry yeast

- 2 1/2 Tsp               Curry Powder
- Pinch                     Tumeric
- 1/2 cup                  Warm water
- 3/4 cup                  Warm whole milk
- 1 Tbsp                   Honey


- 2 Tbsp                  Vegetable oil
- 2 tsp                      Salt
- 1 cup                    Whole wheat flour
- 2 - 2 1/4 cups        Bread flour

Preparation

In a large bowl combine the yeast, curry, tumeric, water, milk and honey.  Let stand for five minutes, until the mixture is foamy to ensure the yeast is active.  Stir in the vegetable oil, salt, whole wheat and bread flour, enough until it pulls nicely away from the sides.  Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead until elastic.  Cover and let stand until double its size approx. an hour and a half.   Knock the dough back and shape into an oblong loaf.  Dust with flour and bake in a 375 degree F oven for 30-35 minutes, or when you knock on the top of the loaf and it sounds hollow.

Soul Soother on a Winter Night

Last week it was so cold that it almost felt like winter was upon us.  When the days get short and cold there is nothing that I like better than a good homemade bowl of soup.  I remember when I was little I would love to come home and smell the scrumptious aroma that would waft out of the kitchen and tempt me to go to the kitchen and see if I could snag a biscuit before supper.  Fall and winter are the perfect time for me to hone in on my soup making skills and with that a need to make biscuits.  No table set with soup is complete without a nice bowl of hot out of the oven biscuits.  Now that I have talked this meal up so much I will share it with you.  If you have the company's coming soups and sandwiches cookbook both the recipes are in there, the biscuits are page 7 and the soup is page 30.

Creamy Carrot Soup

Ingredients

- 4 cups       Peeled and cut up carrot
- 2 cups       Chicken stock
- 1 cup        Chopped Onion


- 3 Tbsp       Butter
- 3 Tbsp       Flour
- 1 tsp        Salt
- 1/8 tsp      Pepper
- 1/4 tsp      Seasoning salt
(optional) -1 tsp curry powder -
- 4 cups       Milk

Preparation

Combine the carrot, chicken stock and onion in a pan.  Cook until the vegetables are tender.  Don't drain the vegetables, cool a bit then run through the blender to puree them.


Melt the butter in a pot, stir in flour, salts, pepper and optional curry.  Add the milk heat and stir until it boils and thickens.  Add the carrot puree bring it back up to heat and serve.
*In the original carrot soup recipe there is no curry in it, it is something my mom always added and it adds a certain flavour that I think makes the soup better.  If curry is not one of your favourite spices then maybe you shouldn't add it but I recommend it for a better soup.*

Biscuits

Ingredients

- 2 cups       All purpose flour
- 4 tsp        Baking powder
- 2 Tbsp       White sugar
- 1 tsp        Salt
- 1/3 cup      Butter


- 3/4 cup      Milk

Preparation

Mix the first 4 ingredients in a bowl.  Cut in the butter until crumbly.


Add the milk.  Stir with a fork or your hands until it forms a ball.  Add a bit more milk id necessary to make a soft dough.  Knead 10 times on a lightly floured surface. Pinch off pieces of dough and form into relatively even balls.  Bake at 425 degrees F for 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly golden.  Serve hot out of the oven with soup for a fantastic meal, then save the rest for tomorrow's breakfast. :)

Homemade Pop Tarts

Hi there all those who may be looking for a homemade treat of a childhood favourite.  Recently, when I was cruising the bon appetit website I found this scrumptious recipe.  I made them for a breakfast I recently had and they turned out amazing.  The only alteration I would suggest is to use raspberry jam instead of strawberry since it isn't quite as sweet if you aren't one for something that is overly sweet.

Strawberry Pop Tarts

Ingredients

• 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour plus additional for shaping and rolling
• 1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 cup (2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 4 tablespoons ice water
• 12 tablespoons strawberry preserves (preferably organic homemade)
• Powdered sugar
• Fresh strawberries

Preparation

• Whisk 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons flour, coarse salt, and sugar in large bowl. Add butter. Using fingertips or back of fork, blend in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add ice water by tablespoonfuls, tossing until moist clumps form. Gather dough into ball. Divide in half; shape each half into disk. Wrap in plastic. Chill at least 1 hour.
• Line 2 large rimmed baking sheets with parchment. Working with 1 disk at a time, roll out dough on floured surface to about 13x11 inches. Trim to 12x10-inch rectangle, then cut into eight 5x3-inch rectangles.
• Arrange 4 rectangles, spaced apart, on each sheet. Spoon 1 1/2 tablespoons preserves in row down center of each rectangle. Top preserves with second dough rectangle. Using fingertips, gently press all edges of each tart to seal; press all edges with tines of fork to double-seal. Using toothpick, poke a few holes in center of top dough rectangle. Cover; freeze tarts on sheets at least 2 hours and up to 1 week.
• Position 1 rack in top third and 1 rack in bottom third of oven and preheat to 375°F. Bake frozen tarts uncovered until golden, reversing sheets after 15 minutes, 25 to 30 minutes total (some preserves may leak out). Immediately transfer tarts to rack. Sift powdered sugar lightly over. Serve warm or at room temperature with fresh berries.