Teriyaki Salmon

Marinade:

• 1 cup soy sauce (use wheat-free soy or tamari sauce for gluten-free)
• ½ cup dry sherry
• ¼ cup toasted sesame oil
• 3 tablespoons peeled and chopped fresh ginger
• 2 green onions, chopped
• ¼ cup light brown sugar
• 4 (6-ounces each) salmon fillets, skin on

Directions

• 1. Mix the marinade ingredients at least 24 hours before you plan to use it. Refrigerate.
• 2. Remove the pin bones from the salmon fillets with tweezers or pliers, if desired.
• 3. Put the salmon fillets in a glass baking dish and pour the marinade over them.
• I cut the defrosted 15-ounce fillet into two 6-ounce and one 3-ounce fillets.

4. Turn the fillets so they’re skin-side up. Cover, refrigerate and marinate for 4 – 24 hours. (The longer they marinate, the stronger the teriyaki flavor will be. I marinated mine for about 8 hours.)
5. Preheat the oven to 400˚.
6. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil and place the salmon, skin-side down, on the foil.



7. Roast for 8 – 10 minutes, until firm to the touch.

Slow Cooker Marinara Sauce

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 2 (28 oz) cans crushed tomatoes
• 1 (6 oz) can tomato paste
• 6 cloves garlic, minced or pressed into the sauce in the slow cooker
• 2 whole bay leaves
• 1 tablespoon dried basil
• ½ tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar (or maple sugar or mild honey)
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
• ½ cup water
• A few grinds of black pepper
• 1 tablespoon tamari sauce (or 1 teaspoon kosher salt)

Directions

1. Heat the oil over low heat in a skillet. Add the onion. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion has softened but has not yet started to brown. This will take about 10 minutes.

Onion just starting to cook

Onion softened and ready to go into the slow cooker



2. Put the onion with the oil into the slow cooker. Add all of the other ingredients except the tamari sauce.
3. Stir all of the ingredients together; cover and cook on low for 8 hours.

Cooking away



4. Stir, remove the bay leaves and taste for seasoning. Add the tamari sauce (or Kosher salt) if desired.

After using some of the sauce on the first night, I refrigerated the leftover sauce. The next day I put it in wide-mouth pint size jars to freeze it. 

The jars I used have lines that shows how much to fill  them for freezing. Below, you can see where I marked the line with black so it would be more visible in the photo.



Each pint jar holds about 1 1/2 cups, about 13.3 ounces. I put the 3/4 cup of sauce that was leftover in a Ziploc bag.

Curry House Cauliflower (Aloo Gobhi)

Ingredients

• 1 small head of cauliflower (about 1 pound)
• 2 slices fresh ginger (each about the size of a quarter; no need to peel)
• 2 fresh green serrano chiles
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon Kosher or sea salt
• ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
• 2 medium Yukon Gold potatoes (10 – 12 ounces total weight)
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 1 teaspoon black or yellow mustard seeds
• ½ cup water
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves and tender stems (optional)

Yellow mustard seeds





1. Separate the cauliflower into florets. Put the florets in a large bowl. Cut the core and ribs into thin slices and set aside.
2. Slice the ginger into thin slices.
3. Cut the stems off of the chiles and slice them into thin strips. Do not discard the seeds.


Chile strips, ginger, and sliced cauliflower core ready to go





4. Measure the cumin, salt, and turmeric into a small bowl so they’re all set to go when you need them.
5. Peel the potatoes and cut them into 1-inch cubes. Add the potatoes to the cauliflower florets in the bowl.
6. Using a large skillet that has a lid, heat the oil over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot and shimmering, add the mustard seeds and put the lid on the skillet. The seeds will start popping like popcorn.
7. After the mustard seeds stop popping (in about 30 seconds), add the reserved cauliflower slices, the ginger and the chiles. Reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring, for 3 – 4 minutes.
8. Add the potatoes, cauliflower florets, cumin, salt, and turmeric to the skillet. Cook, stirring, for 2 – 3 minutes.
9. Stir in the half cup of water. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and cook for another 10 – 12 minutes, or until the potatoes and cauliflower is tender.
10. Serve, garnished with the cilantro, if desired.

Corned Beef Hash with Yukon Gold Potatoes

Ingredients

• About 3 cups cooked, shredded, and chopped corned beef (see above)
• ½ pound Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into ½-inch dice
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2/3 cup diced onions
• 1 poblano chile, seeded and minced (about 2/3 cup)
• 1 carrot, diced (about 1/3 cup)
• 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon chili sauce (like Heinz)
• Kosher salt
• 8 large eggs

Directions

• 1. Preheat the oven to 200˚

At 8.15 ounces, this one Yukon Gold potato was just the right size

• 2. Put the potatoes in a pot. Cover with water and stir in about 1 tablespoon salt. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce heat to a simmer. Cook for about 15 minutes or until just tender. Drain and set aside.
• 3. Put 3 of the tablespoons of butter in a large oven-proof skillet and heat over medium high heat. When the butter stops bubbling, add the potatoes, onions, poblano chile and the carrot. Toss them with the butter and cook, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are just starting to brown.

• 4. Add the corned beef and the chili sauce. Stir and taste for seasoning. Add a bit of salt, if it needs it. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until it’s starting to get crispy. Put the pan in the oven to keep warm while you cook the eggs.
• 5. Cook the eggs the way you like them (poached, fried, scrambled). Serve the hash topping each serving with two eggs.

These are not my best looking fried eggs, but they tasted good!  ;)




Optional Habanero Ketchup

• ½ cup ketchup
• 1/3 cup orange juice
• 1 dried habanero chile (or 1 fresh one cut in half)
• 1 tablespoon molasses
• ½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 cloves

Put all of the ingredients in a saucepan. Simmer for 5 minutes. Strain and discard the chile and the cloves. Let it cool and serve.

Turkey lamp, Zucchini Burgers with Green Onion lam, Cumin

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground turkey
• 1 large (about 7 – 7.5 ounces) zucchini
• 3 green onions, thinly sliced
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 2 tablespoons chopped mint
• 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon freshly ground black peppe
• ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• About 6½ tablespoons oil for frying

Sour Cream & Sumac Sauce

• Scant ½ cup (100g) sour cream
• Scant 2/3 cup (150g) Greek yogurt (not nonfat)
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 small clove garlic, crushed
• 1½ tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon sumac
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions

• 1. Coarsely grate the zucchini, put it into a strainer and set aside.
• 2. Make the Sour Cream & Sumac Sauce. Whisk the sauce ingredients together in a bowl and set aside.
• 3. Preheat the oven to 425˚.
• 4. Press the zucchini with paper towels to remove any surface water. (There won’t be much because it wasn’t salted.)
• 5. Mix all of the burger ingredients together with your hands. Put a large sheet of wax paper or parchment paper on a cutting board. Form into small (about 1½ ounces each) burgers. Place the burgers 2 – 3 inches apart on the wax paper or parchment paper. When they are all formed, cut the paper between the burgers so each one is on its own little piece of paper. (Trust me on this; it makes it much easier to transfer the soft burgers from the board to the pan.)
• 6. Place a sheet of parchment paper on a large rimmed baking sheet. (Ottolenghi says to use wax paper, but I wouldn’t use that in a 425˚ oven.)
• 7. Heat enough oil in a large frying pan so you have about 1/16 inch of oil. When the oil is hot, lift a burger with the paper under it and carefully flip the burger into the oil. (You have to be careful not to splatter oil on your hand.) Continue adding burgers to the pan until it’s full but not crowded. (I cooked them in 3 batches.) Cook for about 2 minutes, then turn and cook for an additional 2 minutes. Remove the burgers to the parchment-lined baking sheet. Add more oil to the pan, if necessary. Cook the remaining burgers in 1 or 2 more batches and add them to the baking sheet.
• 8. Bake the burgers for 5 – 7 minutes, or until just cooked (165˚ with an instant-read thermometer).
• 9. Serve with the sauce over them or on the side.

Creamy Yukon Gold Potato Gratin

Your favorite Creole seasoning salt (I used Tony Chacheres) or make a blend of ½ teaspoon salt, a pinch of cayenne pepper and some freshly ground pepper

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 – 3 Yukon gold potatoes (about 16 – 18 ounces total)
• 4 oz ham, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 ½ cups half and half
• 4 oz Gruyère cheese, shredded

Directions

• 1. Preheat the oven to 375˚.
• 2. Scrub the potatoes; you don’t have to peel them. Slice them in half lengthwise. Slice each half into very thin slices. I used a mandoline but it could be done with a sharp, thin knife.

Use the guard on your mandoline to protect your fingers!

• 3. Melt the butter in a 10- or 12-inch ovenproof skillet on the stovetop. Remove from the heat.
• 4. Make a layer of 1/3 of the potato slices over the bottom of the skillet. Sprinkle with a bit of the seasoned salt. (With the ham, you don’t want to use too much salt.) Add a layer of half of the diced ham and half of the garlic.
• 5. Make another layer with another third of the potato slices. Sprinkle with a bit more salt and add the rest of the ham and the garlic.

Second layer of potatoes, salt, ham, and garlic added

• 6. Pour 3/4 cup of the half and half over the potatoes.
• 7. Layer the rest of the potatoes over the top. Gently press the potatoes down a bit with your hand.
• 8. Pour the remaining 3/4 cup of half and half over the potatoes.

• 9. Put the pan back on the burner over medium heat; heat until the half and half is bubbling.
• 10. Put the pan in the oven and bake for 30 minutes.
• 11. Remove from the oven and sprinkle the grated Gruyère cheese over the potatoes.

• 12. Return the pan to the oven and bake for another 15 minutes. Check the potatoes by piercing the casserole with a sharp knife to see if they’re done.