Recipe: Salmon Fillet, Seattle Style

I know there are as many seasonings for salmon as there are chefs... not that I consider myself a chef, or anything... whatever. My POINT here, is that I am not claiming this is the only way, or even the best way to season salmon. This is just how we do it. So don't go making fun of me, kay? You know who you are.

The sauce recipe comes from Tom's parents, who live near Seattle. Hi Norm and Marge! :waves madly:

1 part each (I usually use 1/3 cup each for a single salmon fillet):

Honey
Soy Sauce
Lemon Juice
Olive Oil


If you pour them carefully, you can make a fun layered effect in the measuring cup.

This is not desirable for the recipe, however, so when you're done goofing around, heat the stratified mixture in the microwave for 30 seconds to melt the honey, and whisk well just before adding to the salmon.

I like to line the baking pan with heavy duty aluminum foil. Otherwise I have a caramelized mess to scrub off later. However, if scrubbing baked on salmon sauce floats your boat, or you are feeling particularly contrary today, feel free to leave the pan unlined. Place salmon fillet, skin side down if yours has skin, in the pan. If you're silly like I am, you can use a fork to perforate the salmon fillet to facilitate sauce penetration. Or not. Pour half the sauce over salmon fillet, reserving the remainder for use at the table.



Bake salmon at 450 degrees for 4-6 minutes per half inch thickness.


Salmon is done when it is no longer flaming pink and flakes easily with a fork.

Serve with rice and remaining sauce.

Make These Cookies NOW.

I discovered this recipe while living in San Jose, California. A woman in my ward (Hi Denise!) ran a little business out of her home; she was an amazing cook. One of those people who just has the gift, you know? She shared this recipe with me, and it has been my mainstay cookie recipe for a good 10 years now.

You want to try this recipe. You MUST try this recipe. Try this recipe and you will jettison all other chocolate chip cookie recipes. Nay, you will forget you ever used any other chocolate chip cookie recipe. Revisionist history comes in handy sometimes.

Denise's Chocolate Chip Cookies
(aka "Evil, Wicked, I'll-Start-My-Diet-Tomorrow Chocolate Chip Cookies")

• 1 Cup Butter (equal to two sticks. I know it's a ridiculous amount. Put it in anyway. And DO NOT under any circumstances even THINK about substituting margarine or shortening. The gods will strike you dead if you even try. Plus your cookies will be ruined. So there.)
• 2 oz. Cream Cheese
• 2 Cups Brown Sugar, packed
• 2 Cups Granulated Sugar
• 1 Cup Vegetable Oil (yes, a whole cup. I told you these were evil.)
• 3 Eggs
• 2 Tbsp. Vanilla (that's not a typo. Two Tablespoons.)
  
• 5 1/4 Cups All Purpose Flour
• 2 tsp. Baking Soda
• 2 tsp. Salt
• 1 tsp Cinnamon
• 2 Cups Rolled Oats (quick or regular)
• 2 Cups Nuts, chopped (optional if you have not yet ascended the holy mountain of nut worship. Keep this failure to yourself if you want to be my friend.)
• 18 oz Chocolate Chips, either semi-sweet or milk chocolate as preferred

Soften butter and cream cheese. Add sugars and blend well. Add oil, eggs, and vanilla and mix. In another bowl combine flour, salt, soda, and cinnamon, and stir well. Add to wet ingredients and mix just until uniform. Add oatmeal, nuts, and chocolate chips.

I make this recipe in my 5 qt Kitchen Aid Stand mixer. After adding the oatmeal, I detach the stainless steel bowl from the stand and use a heavy duty long handled spoon to mix in the chocolate chips by hand.



If mixed with the mixer, they just cluster at the bottom and cause seven kinds of trouble. And I don't like trouble. Not even one kind.

I personally don't add nuts because I have several anti-nutty-lehis in my household. I'm working on converting them, but moral and spiritual mentoring is a tricky and long term project. They'll come around eventually.

I love this little cookie scooper.


It makes the cookies just the right size and they come out perfectly round and uniform. And then when you take them to your neighbors, they gasp and exclaim "How did you make them all the same size?!" (Name that movie.) But what they're really thinking is that you are far superior to them and what would be the best way to worship this divine creature?



Space them 3 inches apart on the greased cookie sheet.

Many thanks to Karianne acting as my hand model in these pictures.

Bake in a 375 degree oven just until cookies begin to brown. In my oven, that takes 8-9 minutes on the top rack. I use Air-Bake brand pans for cookies to avoid burning the bottoms, but if you use only the top rack you should be fine with a single layer cookie sheet. When cookies are done, remove cookie sheet from oven and let sit for a minute before transferring them to the cooling rack. They should be somewhat crispy on the top and bottom, yet still chewy on the inside. If they're not chewy inside, you cooked them too long.

This recipe makes 4-5 dozen cookies, depending on the size you make them. If you don't need that kind of temptation around, you can freeze a portion of the cookie dough in balls on the cookie sheet, and then transfer to a ziploc freezer bag for later snacking... er, baking.

Now go make these cookies and take some to your favorite neighbor. You know, the one with the boat you'd like to borrow.

Recipe: Spanish Rice

No pictures today. Sorry. But I made this yummy dish last night and thought y'all might like to try it. It is another one of those big bang for your effort buck pleasers. I serve it with chicken enchiladas, chicken tacos, or burritos.

Ingredients:

1/4 Cup Cooking Oil
2 Tbsp. Butter or margarine
2 Cups Long grain rice
1 medium Onion, finely chopped
2 cloves Garlic, minced or pressed

1-15 ozCan Tomatoes, diced
1 Cup Frozen peas (sometimes I use frozen veggie combo with peas, carrots, and corn)
4 Cups Chicken broth, unsalted
1/4 Cup Packed fresh Cilantro -OR- 2 Tbsp dried cilantro
2 tsp Salt

Heat oil and butter in a 4 qt or larger saucepan over medium-high heat. When butter is melted, add rice and cook, stirring, until very lightly browned. Add onions and garlic and continue to cook for 5 minutes (although I never go this long for fear of burning the rice). Add tomatoes, frozen peas, chicken broth, cilantro, and salt. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low, cover, and simmer until liquid is absorbed and rice is tender (25-30 minutes).

Note: if you use canned chicken broth that has salt added, you must cut down on or eliminate the extra salt at the end of the recipe.

Make this wonderful side dish this week.

You won't regret it. I promise.

Recipe: Crock Pot Chicken Tacos

I love my Crock Pot slow cooker. During cooler months, I use it on insane afternoons - you know the ones, where one kid has ballet lessons and this other kid needs a ride to the horse training barn and I have Cub Scouts and the husband has Some Important Meeting.

This recipe is amazingly simple, deceptively easy, and wonderfully yummy and goes really well with Spanish Rice.

Ingredients:

• 4 boneless, skinless Chicken Breasts (but I have used leg quarters and pulled the bones out after cooking--they're cheaper!)
• 1 16 oz can mexican style Stewed Tomatoes (or if you're lazy like me, plain stewed tomatoes)
• 1 8 oz can Tomato Sauce
• 1/2 Onion, diced
• 1/2 Green pepper, diced
• 1 4 oz can Diced Green Chili Peppers
• 1 package Schilling Taco Seasoning (about 2 Tablespoons if you buy bulk)

Place all ingredients in crock pot (how easy is that!?). Cook on low temperature for 6 hours or more. Shred chicken with 2 forks before serving. Serve with flour tortillas, refried beans, shredded cheese, lettuce, sour cream, guacamole, etc.

You'll be glad you did. Very, very glad.

Recipe: Goulash (aka Pseudo Lasagna)

I know that there are blogs and websites that publish fancy recipes. This is not one of those blogs. Check the name at the top of the page, folks; this is a Farm. We eat simple foods here. So if you are one of those namby pamby nose-in-the-air gourmet types, you'll want to stop reading now and go check out this recipe. If you are a down to earth, practical type who likes simple, down home foods that make your family smile, you're in the right place. Read on.

I make this dish regularly. It's easy, yummy, and a bit "dressier" than plain ole spaghetti, even though it has similar ingredients. This recipe will feed a hungry family of six, with leftovers for lunch the next day. Adjust according to your family's needs.

• 1 Pound of Ground Beef or Turkey
• 2-3 tsp. of Armadillo Willy's Rib Rub or your favorite Seasoned Salt
• 1/2 Onion, chopped
• 1-2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 28-44 ounces of your favorite Spaghetti Sauce
• 1 15 oz Can of Diced Tomatoes
• 2 Cups Mozzarella Cheese (I don't know if this is part-skim or not. It's just cheese, folks!)
• 1 Tbsp Salt (yes I know it's not in the picture. Get over it.)
• 1 pound Pasta Noodles - Rotini and Penne pasta work really well for this dish, but I also use macaroni noodles and shells. I've never actually used spaghetti for this recipe, but I'm sure it would work. Just use whatever you have on hand.

Brown ground beef with onion and garlic in a large saute pan with a lid. I got this nice 5.5 qt covered nonstick saute pan at Sam's Club for $20. I may go get another for a backup because I like it so well and the price is right, baby!

Add Rib Rub to taste (I put in three ample four fingered pinches here, approximately 2 tsp, maybe more).

Here is the ground beef/onion mixture partway through browning. There's no pink left, so it's probably safe to eat, but DO NOT STOP HERE. The meat is not yet brown. It's kinda tan, is all.

Now maybe I'm telling y'all something you already know, but a thorough browning of meat (whether it be ground, roasts, steak, or chops) is necessary - no - crucial to bring out all the yummy flavor in the meat. If you stop when it looks like the picture above, your dish will turn out just "ok". Keep browning over medium-high heat until all the water has cooked out and the sound of the cooking meat increases to a higher pitch. It may even pop a bit if your ground beef has a higher fat content.

This is what properly browned ground beef looks like. The smaller pieces, especially, are a dark brown. You may think they look burned. That's the tricky part - to brown them up to just before the point of burning, but not to burn them. You don't want your stove on high for this part, or you most certainly will burn the meat. I have an electric stove with a range of Low, 2-9, and High heat. I brown meat on 9 to start, and as the water cooks off, I lower the temp to 8 1/2 or 8, to keep browning without burning.

You may wish to brown the meat to the just barely tan stage before adding the onion and garlic to ensure that they do not burn during the final browning of the meat.

Drain mean if necessary, and add spaghetti sauce and canned tomatoes. Turn down heat, cover, and simmer for 10-15 minutes.

Add 1 Tbsp. salt to 2-3 quarts of water in a large pot; bring to a rolling boil. Add pasta and cook according to package directions. Do not overcook pasta; you want it to have a little firmness when you bite it. That's called "al dente". It's Italian for "to the tooth". When you say it people will think you are really smart because you know an Italian word. It's great for the personal pride cycle.

Drain pasta and add it to the tomato/meat mixture in the saute pan. Remove from heat and add mozzarella cheese, then serve it to your hungry hordes.

Oh yeah....

Recipe: Peasant Pasta

One of my most favorite summer recipes - especially once the tomatoes come on - is this wonderfully simple Italian dish. Tom's sister Jennifer served her mission in Italy, and came home with an amazing assortment of yummy dishes that I haven't tried very hard to learn to make. So instead we just use her as slave labor in the kitchen when she comes to visit, and watch while she does it.

Yo Jennifer! You should post some of these recipes on your blog and then I could just copy and/or link to your blog. That would save me a lot of effort and also ensure that I get it right.

But THIS dish, I know how to make, thanks to Jen's capable tutelage.

Ingredients:



6-8 medium tomatoes (or more, if you really really like tomatoes)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil (the dark green stuff)
Salt
1-2 cloves of Garlic
Basil leaves, dried or fresh chopped
1 pound angel hair pasta

This recipe makes a LOT of pasta. The first time or so, until you're confident with it, I'd suggest cutting the quantities in half.

In a very large bowl, combine diced tomatoes, 1/2 cup olive oil, minced garlic, salt, and basil. Add enough basil so that it looks pretty. How's that for exact instructions!! It is possible to add too much basil, but I've never done it. Let your heart be your guide. It will look like this:


Set bowl aside and let the flavors flow together for at least 10 minutes. The longer the better.

I must warn you that the garlic flavor will intensify over time, especially the day after you make it. So unless you really love a lot of garlic, you may want to add just one glove the first time, until you know what works best for you.

Bring 2-3 quarts of water to a rolling boil. Add 1 Tbsp of salt. This is very important. If you don't add salt to the water, your pasta will taste bland and just wrong. Cook angel hair according to package directions... usually 3-4 minutes. Do not overcook.

Drain, then pour hot pasta over the tomato mixture. Using a pasta scooper-claw thingy, toss the pasta to mix the oil and tomatoes throughout. Add more oil if it seems dry. Gravity being what it is, most of the oily slippery slidey tomatoes will tend to want to hang out at the bottom. You'll have to go hunting for them when serving to plates.

Now I know it doesn't look fancy. But it isn't supposed to be fancy. It's Peasant Pasta after all!

This dish can be eaten warm or cold, but I prefer it warm. It is easily made ahead, and is one of those dishes that actually tastes better the second day. So make it up today, and feel the love, baby!

Recipe: Armadillo Willy's Rib Rub

In an attempt to liken the scriptures unto us, I offer an answer to this age-0ld question:

Matthew 5:13 ¶ Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted?

The answer: With this rib rub, baby!

This rib rub is a basic ingredient in most of my cooking; it is very literally a staple at my house when it comes to seasoning meat. And now I will share the hidden knowledge with you. When you use this mixture on your beef, pork, and chicken, heads will turn. Your family will rave. Your spouse will grin mischievously. And you alone will have the secret knowledge, which you may choose to impart to your chosen few, if you wish.

Armadillo Willy's Rib Rub

1/4 Cup Brown Sugar
1/4 Cup Salt
1/4 Cup Paprika
1 Tbsp. Black Pepper
1 Tbsp. Garlic Powder
1 Tbsp. Onion Powder
1/2 tsp Cayenne pepper (optional)
1/2 tsp Fennel Seed, crushed
1/2 tsp Coriander Seed, ground

Combine all ingredients thoroughly. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Sprinkle rub on ribs, chicken, brisket or pork, and rub in with fingers up to 24 hours before cooking. Store rubbed meat in an airtight container in the refrigerator.