The Food We Eat

Black Bean Chilaquile

Chilaquile is a Mexican dish, sort of like a Mexican lasagna. Traditionally, chilaquiles are a quick dish, typically a way to use up leftover meat, beans, and corn tortillas from the day before. So, this is certainly a comfort dish, but let it not fool you, it is absolutely delicious. This dish is very simple, so it all comes down to the quality of what you put in it.

The version I have here is vegetarian, but I see endless ways to add in some meat -- ground beef/turkey prepared for tacos, shredded chicken/pork/beef prepared for enchiladas or burritos, etc.

I have had the good fortune of dining at THE Moosewood Restaurant in Ithaca, NY. There was a time in my life when I was completely smitten by Mollie Katzen and her creations. Don't get me wrong, I still love the food  Moosewood puts out, but I find some of the food a bit too rustic and collegiate sometimes. I guess age and fine-dining habits have taken a stronger hold of me....That said, there are some things that I really really love from Moosewood, and this Chilaquile dish is right at the top. I have made this many many times for feeding a crowd, and it has always been a huge hit! Try this for your next potluck, picnic, or casual gathering. And be sure to let me know what you think..

We had friends over for dinner, and since the majority were vegetarian, I decided we'd all go that route. I will also say that I did not mind the absence of meat one bit. I think you won't either. We served the chilaquiles along with a nice fresh green salad with ripe nectarines and a chili-lime salad dressing. Muy delicioso...

Let's talk about the ingredients. You can make your own tortilla chips by frying up some corn tortillas at home, but since I've given up deep-frying at home, that is not an option for me. You can easily use good-quality stoneground tortilla chips that come in a bag. I decided to shave a few extra calories off and used stoneground baked tortilla chips from Guiltless Gourmet. I *do not* like these to eat as a snack (they are a bit like cardboard), but this is a prefectly decent application for them. So save the greasy stuff for munching on. The key though is that you will want to use sturdy homestyle tortilla chips. That nasty tostitos/doritos/whatever stuff is plain nasty and will turn into a soggy mush.

And please take the extra 10 minutes to make the quick blender hot sauce (recipe below). Store-bought bottled salsa will just not give you the same taste and texture.

Also, I love the flavor and heat of roasted green chile. I get an annual supply from New Mexico. I really like the New Mexico Big Jims. They are picked in the heat of summer and roasted on site. They come frozen and keep beautifully in the freezer. I use these to make giant batches of green chile, I use them in stew, huevos, etc. They are fantastic! If you don't want to roast green chili's, you can just leave these out. If you really really want to, you can use the canned roasted stuff, but why bother? I would much rather substitute a chipotle chile. 

Black Bean Chilaquile

Adapted from Moosewood Restaurant

Serves 6 - 8

2 cups chopped onions

2 tbsp olive oil

2 cups chopped tomatoes

3 cups fresh corn kernels (frozen will do)

3 cups cooked black beans (or 2 - 15oz cans, drained)

4 tbsp fresh lime juice

2 tsp salt

1 tsp fresh black pepper

4 cups rinsed, stemmed and choppped Swiss chard (spinach works well too)

4 cups lightly crushed baked tortilla chips

1 cup grated monterey jack cheese

1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese

2 roasted green chiles, skinned, and membranes removed, then chopped

4 cups prepared Blender Hot Sauce (see recipe below)

Method:

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Saute the onions in olive oil till translucent, about 10 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, corn, black beans, lime juice, salt, and pepper and continue to saute another 10 minutes or so, just until everything is heated through.

Meanwhile, in another pan, blanch the greens in boiling water for 2 minutes, until just wilted but still bright green. Drain immediately, spread on a baking sheet lined with a kitchen towel, and set aside.

Prepare a rectangular baking dish (approx 9 x 13 inches) with a light coating of olive oil or cooking spray. Spread half of the crushed tortilla chips on the bottom. Spoon the saute'ed vegetables over the tortilla chips and sprinkle on the cheddar cheese. Arrange the greens evenly over the cheese and pour in half of the blender hot sauce. Finish with the rest of the tortilla chips and top with the remaining hot sauce and the monterey jack cheese.

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until the cheese is bubbling and golden brown. I like to finish the casserole off under the broiler for a few minutes, so the cheese forms a beautiful brown crust.

Let cool 15 to 20 minutes, slice and serve. Leftovers keep really well.

Blender Hot Sauce

Makes approx. 6 cups

2 cups chopped onions

1 large green bell pepper, chopped

1 - 2 jalapeno peppers

5 garlic cloves, minced

2 - 28oz cans whole plum tomatoes with juice (I like Muir Glen)

2 tsp ground cumin

2 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp dried oregano

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Salt to taste

Add all the ingredients into a blender jar (you might need to work in 2 batches) and puree until smooth.

Transfer the sauce to a heavy saucepan, and simmer, uncovered for 30 - 45 minutes. Stir often to prevent scorching at the bottom. Add salt to taste.

You can make this ahead. The sauce will keep for a week easily, covered in the refrigerator.

 

Popovers

I'm sure you are not surprised when I tell you that I have been itching to put my new popover pan to use. The perfect opportunity presented itself on Saturday morning. We actually had a committment-free morning. You see, we are getting ready to go on vacation (to India, for 5 weeks!!), so our social life has been a bit out of control recently. We want to make sure we see all our friends before we leave, so we have hosted and have been hosted by lots of friends recently. Result = Not packed for trip. However, I told J that we were going to lay off all social committments this past weekend, and just hunker down and pack. Don't ask me what I did all weekend. Result = I still have not packed for trip. Oh Well!

But the good news is that I woke up dreaming of popovers for breakfast. You see, that is the beauty of quick-breads and non-yeasty baked goods. You don't have to plan ahead. And they are such a welcome treat on a weekend morning. I just love the smell of something baking in the oven -- sets me in a great mood. My waistline? That's a whole another story.....

I must admit -- I have not had popovers in a very long time. I think the last time I had some was over 5 years ago. What set it off, you ask? Well, you can blame this craving on Alton Brown. My dear friend TIVO recorded an episode of Good Eats called 'Popover Sometime' - get it? It rekindled my fondness for these uber-light, eggy, delicious creations. I know there are many ways to eat popovers, but I like mine straight out of the oven with a good pat of butter and some jam. A cuppa Joe alongside is all that I need to send me into breakfast nirvana.

I can already see my next creation having to do something with the British Yorkshire puddding stuff -- meat and popovers...lamb would be great...oh I must stop. Back to reality..

Popovers

Makes 6

2 large eggs

1 cup whole milk

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

1 tbsp vegetable oil

Method:

1. Add milk, butter, salt, and flour in a blender. Blend on high till mixture is smooth and well incorporated, about 10 - 15 seconds. Let the batter rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.

2. While the batter is resting, adjust the oven rack to the lowest level and preheat the oven to 450F. Measure 1/2 tsp oil into each cup of the popover pan. Preheat the popover pan during the last 10 minutes of batter resting period (Preheating the pan plays a huge role in improving the rise achieved).

3. Working quickly, take the popover pan out of the oven and distribute the batter evenly among all 6 cups. Return the pan to the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Popovers need steam to rise, so please do not open the oven door.

4. Lower the oven heat to 350F (while popovers are still in the oven), and bake for approx. 10 - 15 minutes longer, just until the popovers are golden brown all over.

5. Invert the pan to release popovers and cool on a wire rack 2 - 3 minutes. The popovers are best when served immediately.

Note: You might be wondering "Do I really need a popover pan?".  Well, the answer is Yes and No. If you want, you can use a muffin pan. Caveat being that your popovers will not rise as high (thus won't be as airy and magnificent), but they will still be good. If you really want to get great results, a popover pan is great, simply because the cups are taller.

Plum Almond Galette

Oh! Plums! These delicious garnet-colored jewels are here and they are absolutely delicious! This is what I look forward to all year -- the arrival of stone fruit season. I love them all, but plums, cherries, and nectarines are my personal all-stars.

We were invited to one of our friends' place for dinner and I volunteered to bring dessert. Interestingly enough, I really agonized about what to bring. Matters were further complicated by the fact that whatever I made had to come together quickly, as R had reading camp in the afternoon, and we were going to have an early dinner (the hosts were catching a 6:30am flight to the East coast). Well that put  a kink in many of my first choices. I then was able to narrow the range down to something where 'fruit' would be the star. I mean, why bother with chocolate desserts now when we have all this glorious fruit bounty in front of us? There will be many a dreary, gray, cold, winter day when chocolate desserts will have their turn (and suddenly the world is a better place :-)).

Anyway, after quite some time perusing my cookbooks, reading blogs, googling, etc, I decided on something - a Plum Galette! Are you surprised? Well, I was too. You would think that after all the time I spent thinking obsessing about what to make for dessert, I'd at least pick something more complicated. Well, sorry to have let you down. Please don't go away. I promise, it was simple, but oh so delicious!

Well, my dilemma did not end there. There are a gazillion recipes for galettes, so I was actually quite at a loss as to which recipe I should pick. They all have their pros and cons. Well, suffice it to say that I finally picked a hybrid recipe. The galette crust recipe was from Cooks Illustrated (have I told you I love these guys?) and the filling recipe was borrowed from Jacques Pepin via a post on the Daily Green.

Why the hybrid recipe? I loved the idea of adding cornmeal to the galette crust (and I was not dissappointed. It provided a really nice texture and earthiness to the crust). I liked the addition of ground almonds to the filling. It really helped absorb any liquid the plums put out upon baking, and did a great job alleviating the soggy crust problem. This isn't such a big deal if you plan on serving the galette immediately after baking, but I needed it to keep for a few hours.

I hope you enjoy it!

Plum Almond Galette

CRUST

2 tbsp sour cream

2 tbsp ice water

1 cup all purpose flour

1/4 cup fine stoneground cornmeal

2 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

7 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

2 tbsp cream (for brushing pastry)

FILLING

3 cups plums, ripe but firm, cut into 1/4 inch slices

5 tsp sugar, plus upto 2 tsp more if needed

2 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into slivers

2 tbsp finely ground almonds

2 tbsp sugar

2 tbsp all purpose flour

For the Pastry:

1. Stir together the sour cream and water in a small cup and set aside in the refrigerator.

2. In a food processor, pulse together the flour, cornmeal, salt, and sugar. Scatter half of the butter pieces over the flour mixture, and pulse until the butter is the size of small peas, about 4 one-second pulses. Scatter the remaining butter over the flour mixture, and pulse till most of the butter is incorporated, and a few pea-size pieces of butter remain. While processing, add the sour cream and water mixture, and process just until the dough comes together around the blade. Please do not overprocess, or you will sacrifice flakiness of the crust.

3. Turn the dough onto a piece of plastic wrap. Flatten into a 6-inch disk, wrap well, and refrigerate at least 2 hours and up to 2 days ahead.

4. When ready to roll and bake the galette, adjust oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 400F.

5. Remove the dough from the refrigerator. Unwrap the dough between 2 large sheets of parchment papper and roll roll into a 13-inch round, still between the sheets of parchment. Slide the dough (still with parchement on each side) onto a large baking sheet and chill 20 minutes.

Assembling the galette:

1. Combine the almonds, 2 tbsp flour, and 2 tbsp sugar. Set aside.

2. Remove the rolled dough from the refrigerator. Carefully peel top sheet of parchment paper off. Sprinkle the almond mixture on the dough.

3. Pile the sliced plums in the center of the dough, leaving a 2 1/2 inch border of dough. Sprinkle 3 tsp sugar (you can use 5 tsp if your plums are underripe or sour) on top of the fruit. Dot with slivers of butter.

4. Pry the dough off the bottom layer of parchment a bit at a time and fold the edges of the dough over the fruit. Don't worry too much about making it pretty. If you gather the dough a bit at a time, you should have it pleat quite easily. Either way, fret not. It will look great once it bakes. If your dough is sticking to the parchment paper, use a thin spatula to loosen it from the paper.

5. Using a pastry brush, brush the edges of the dough with the cream and sprinke with remaining 2 tsp of sugar.

6. Bake at 400F until the crust is golden brown and crisp, and the fruit is bubbling, about 40 minutes. Place the baking sheet on a wire rack and allow the galette to cool about 10 minutes. Using a large spatula, carefully transfer the galette directly onto the wire rack to cool an additional 10 minutes. Serve the galette warm or at room temperature. Good vanilla ice-cream served alongside would be divine and a sure way to please your guests.

 

Summer Elixir: Watermelon Mojito

Finally! Seattle Summer is here in all its glory. It is just perfect! Not too hot, not humid, just perfect. We had some friends over for dinner last weekend, and I just felt the urge to make a drink. Something different from our usual wine, beer, port, sherry thing. I knew fresh fruit had to be the star, and had some ripe watermelon around, so I thought I'd whip up something light yet boozy. A little bit of this, a little bit of that and the next thing you know, we had a damn good drink on our hands. One of my friends crowned this "Watermelon Mojito". A loose interpretation thereof, nontheless quite delicious.

Hmmmm I guess there is a mixologist lurking somewhere deep inside me. Maybe, just maybe. Or this could be my one hit wonder. In any case, if you're in the mood for a fruity, refreshing drink, with just a hint of booze, give it a go. You can leave out the vodka for the non-alcoholics in your crowd, and it tastes just great too.

Watermelon Mojito

Serves 4-6

1 small seedless watermelon

2 tbsp agave nectar

1 inch piece fresh ginger

6 mint leaves

Juice of 1/2 lemon

10 ice cubes

1 cup vodka

lime (for garnish)

Place all the ingredients in a powerful blender (oh, I love my Vitamix) and liquefy to a nice smooth consistency.

Add more agave nectar, or vodka to taste.

Note: I am all for strong cocktails, but I think this one would do well with just a hint of alcohol. A cup is a hint, you say? Well, I dunno what to say. I'll leave the exact alcohol proportions to you and your relationship with your liver. Cheers!

Chilled Melon Soup

If you have not had a chilled fruit soup before, please do! How do I describe this? Let me try. It's like a foamy, light, delicious smoothie, but you eat it with a spoon. Nah! That doesn't do it justice - just go ahead and make some. It takes a melon, a blender, and 5 minutes. It is Summer after all....

You can use any sweet melon, but I particularly like Cantaloupe in this soup. The light peachy color is just beautiful! And it makes an extremely refreshing first course for a light lunch or dinner. I served this as the starter for lunch with friends on Sunday, followed by Curried Chicken Salad sandwiches.

One more thing. You need a nice powerful blender to get the nice, light, frothy mixture. If your blender is a bit sluggish, you might want to start with crushed ice. I have a Vita-mix and it can liquefy anything.

Chilled Melon Soup

Adapted from Cooks Illustrated

Serves 4

1 medium cantaloupe

2 tsp honey

1 tsp lemon juice

4 large sprigs fresh mint

1 cup ice cubes

1. Seed and peel the cantaloupe. Cut into 2-inch chunks. You should have approx. 6 cups of fruit.

2. Pick the mint leaves off the stems. Use a mortar and pestle (or a rolling pin) to gently pound the mint till it is bruised and aromatic.

3. Place the melon, honey, lemon juice, mint, and ice cubes in a blender and blend until the mixture is liquefied and smooth, 1 to 2 minutes.

4. Ladle into individual bowls and serve immediately.

Curried Chicken Salad with Raisins and Almonds

This is so ridiculously simple -- do I actually need a recipe for this? If this is what you're thinking, I do not blame you one bit. However, let me ask you this? How often have you eaten a chicken salad that you have really liked? In my experience, they either tend to be too mayo-ey, or too sweet, or way too crunchy, or not crunchy at all. It all comes down to one simple thing -- Balance! Simple word, but not so simple to acheive. Be it in food, our life, work, social committments, we are always striving to achieve that perfect balance. Oh sorry -- forgot this is a food blog. Lets just keep the subject simple --- Chicken Salad.

Now why did I think of making this? Well, it was a hot hot weekend, and we'd eaten a lot already - July 4th BBQ, friends over on July 5th, and we were now having some neighborhood friends over for brunch. I thought I'd keep it relatively light, simple, and summery. My first thought were something to do with eggs, but just didn't feel like that brunchy type stuff. Given that our friends were coming over around 12:30, I thought I'd do something lunch-y instead. So here goes......

Oh another thing! With all due respect to Luisa on Wednesday Chef, I actually think raisins work quite well with chicken salad. And that is funny coming from me, as it is only in the last few years or so that I have developed a liking for fruits in my food. I used to have a big issue with sweet in my savory food. That included fruit-based salsas with grilled seafood or chicken, apricots and prunes in stews, pineapple on pizza (wait! I still hate that stuff). Over the years, I have grown to tolerate, and sometimes even appreciate the balance of sweet-salty one achieves by artfully using fruit to complement flavors. But this is an art - you use the right kind of sweet and Genius! Use the wrong kind or amount, and you have a mess! Something akin to too much grape jelly in the crockpot meatball sauce (what is up with that?).

Anyway, back to brunch/lunch. We had curried chicken salad sandwiches alongside a tossed green salad with fresh strawberries. Oh! We started with a Chilled Melon Soup. Civilized, huh?

Curried Chicken Salad with Rasins and Almonds

Adapted from Cooks Illustrated, Best Recipe

Serves 6 as a main course

CHICKEN

4 large bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts (approx 3 lbs total)

1 tbsp canola oil

Salt

SALAD

3 medium celery ribs, cut into small dice

2 medium scallions, white and green parts, minced

3/4 cup mayonnaise ( I used canola mayonnaise)

2 tbsp juice from 1 lemon

2 tsp curry powder

2 tbsp minced fresh cilantro

6 tbsp golden raisins

3 tbsp roasted slivered almonds

Salt and fresh ground black pepper

For the chicken:

Adjust an oven rack to the middle position. Preheat to 400F. Set the chicken breasts on a foil-lined jelly roll pan. Brush with the oil and sprinkle generously with salt. Roast until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the breast registers 160 degrees, about 40 minutes. Cool the chicken to room temperature. Remove skin and bones and discard.

Gently pry the chicken breast meat off the bone. Cut each breast onto 3 pieces so you don't end up with very long and unmanageable shreds. Use your hands to pull apart each piece. Shred into small chunks. Don't over-shred into long strings or the salad tastes stringy instead of creamy.

Note: The chicken can be prepared a day ahead. Once the chicken breasts have cooled, remove the skin. Store the chicken in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Best to shred the meat right before making the salad.

For the Salad:

Mix the shredded chicken and all the salad ingredients together in a large bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve. The salad can be refrigerated for a day.

I served the chicken salad on toasted ciabatta rolls. You could use any bread of your choice, or a wrap, or even serve on greens.

Now look what I did...

A couple weeks back, in my Cherry Clafoutis post I told you why I didn't yet own a cherry pitter. Well, guess what! After I wrote that post, I felt the desperate need to own a cherry pitter? Why you ask? Well, the same way Carrie Bradshaw (Sex and the City) *needs* another pair of Manolo Blahnik's. C'mon don't roll your eyes at me. I'm sure you too have somethings you absolutely *need*. Admit it. And why the sudden urge you ask? Well, its kinda the same way you tell someone how you haven't had candy in a while, and then you just need some? Or, you say, I haven't had a doughnut in a while, and then all of a sudden you crave a doughnut? I hope its not just me.....please tell me its not just me. I'm sure the power of suggestion had trapped many in its snare....

Well, I was going to meet one of my dear girlfriends for lunch last week, and happened to beat the traffic and get to University Village early (I promise, I did not plan the early part). I *happened* to park right in front of Williams Sonoma and of course just *had* to go in. C'mon - $12 for the cherry pitter was going to be way cheaper than my lunch. And then, I needed a few more things. And a couple more. I exerted an inordinate amount of self control and put many things back (sorry my sweet things). Maybe next time!

Not a bad little loot eh? Cherry pitter, garlic press (I love anything Rosle makes), a popover pan, new tartlet pans, cute kuhn rikon peeler(s) (ok, I could have bought one, but the singleton only came in a boring white), and lazy smoker bags (see, they were on Sale)...$114 for all this. Oh what did I put back you ask? I can't remember --- there was a lot.

Well, my surprise factor? ZERO! I knew this would happen. Because, my dear friends, unlike Wall Street, past performance is a future indicator when it comes to my cooking-related shopaholic behavior. Oh well! I could have a lot worse addictions, I guess.

Here's to pitting some nice local Bings!!

Fourth of July Flag Cake

Hope you all had a great 4th! Let me begin by saying that I have been wanting to make this cake for a *long* time. But I resisted. Why? Because I always felt it was just too cutesy, cheesy, kitchy. Don't get me wrong - I love the US of A. But let me also say that I am not one of those people who celebrate July 4th very overtly -- no red/white/blue flag-themed clothing, earrings, brooches, rings, etc for me. Also no flag or patriotic yard decorations in my house. Just not my style. That said, I do pull together a red/white/blue somewhere in my outfit. Last night it was a white and blue stone necklace, with a coral pendant. Not bad, huh?

But I finally did it yesterday! I made a Flag cake for a July 4th BBQ! It was all that I hoped it would be -- a foolproof chocolate sheet cake recipe, whipped cream frosting, and fresh berries. And it looked spectacularly cheesy. I was proud of my creation.

The BBQ was delish! We ate the better part of a cow and salmon, yummy salad, corn, mushrooms, and then shlepped over to J's work building to watch the Lake Union fireworks. Couldn't have been better. We sat on a private viewing deck with a few other work folks and got to witness some of the best fireworks in Seattle, in my humble opinion.

Well, in case you're inspired to bake this case on the next 4th, or if you are simply feeling patriotic, here is the recipe for the cake.

Chocolate Sheet Cake

From Cooks Illustrated

This is a very intense, cocoa-ey, dense chocolate cake. If you are expecting a fully, light, box-mix kinda cake, this is not it. I love it as it packs in a great chocolate flavor, and it is not too sweet.

3/4 cup Dutch-processed cocoa

1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

8 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped

12 tbsp (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter

4 large eggs

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup buttermilk

1. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position. Preheat oven to 325F. Grease the bottom and sides of a 13 X 9 inch baking pan.

2. Sift together the cocoa, flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.

3. Heat the chocolate and butter in a microwave-safe bowl covered with plastic wrap for 2 minutes at 50% power. Alternatively, you can use a double boiler method on the stove top. Either way, the chocolate should be completely melted, and the mixture smooth and shiny.

4. Whisk together the eggs, sugar, and vanilla in a medium bowl. Whisk in the buttermilk until smooth.

5. Whisk the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture just until combined. Whisk in the dry ingredients until the batter is smooth and glossy.

6. Pour the batter into the greased pan. Bake until firm in the center when pressed with finger and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, approx. 40 minutes.

7. Cool on a wire rack until room temperature, approx. 1 hour.

Now this is where my common-sense deserted me. I actually turned the cake out onto the wire rack. But why? This is a sheet cake, correct? Isn't it meant to stay put in the pan? Well I took the cake out anyway, and some of the cake got stuck in the pan. Not to worry -- the frosting wil cover up the blemish.

Whipped Cream Frosting

From the Cake Bible

2 cups heavy whipping cream (organic please)

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp sugar

This frosting keeps in the refrigerator for several hours without separating. The key is to thoroughly chill the mixing bowl and whisk. The freezer is ideal, but you can also chill in the refrigerator for a few hours.

Add cream, vanilla, and sugar to the chilled mixing bowl. Whisk until stiff peaks form.

Store the whipped cream in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Decorating the Cake

The picture describes it all. You could use raspberries instead of the strawberries. This is one instance where the mass produced strawberries would probably have worked better, since they are larger and more uniform in size. But I just could not buy those when we have fresh local organic strawberries available in plenty. In the taste department, it was a no-brainer. The local ones rule!

Miso Glazed Salmon

So, have I told you about my crazy $212.80 seafood experience? Read on..it's not as crazy as you might think. A month or so ago, I happened to be at one of my favorite grocery stores in Seattle, Central Market. All I really wanted was some milk and cheese. Before I even laid my foot in the store, a sign beckoned me - "Fresh Wild Alaskan King Salmon". Let me begin by saying that I am a HUGE salmon lover, and snob too. I only want the wild stuff. This farmed crap just will not do. I better be careful though, because we all might be forced to eat the farmed stuff if we keep consuming like we do. In any case, I'll enjoy the good stuff while it lasts (I hope I am offsetting my bad karma by all the good things I am doing for Mother Earth).

There are many varieties of Salmon in the Northwest - Sockeye, King, Coho, Chum. Of all these, King (aka Chinook) Salmon is my favorite. I love the deep orange flesh, the meatiness, the texture, and the flavor. It also happens to be the most expensive (you know, beer budget, champagne taste). Well, lets just say -- I had to get some. It was flown in just that morning from Alaska - it looked really really good. But I promise, I wasn't quite planning on buying the 'whole' fish. All 18 pounds of it. But it was such a good deal. And it was way cheaper to buy the whole thing instead of fillets. Lets do the math: $212.80/18, so that is approx. $12 per lb. Awesome! The friendly seafood guy did a beautiful job filleting the fish, and I carried my bounty home *very* carefully. Don't laugh but I actually strapped the huge package in A's car seat (uh oh!). Gosh, I'd love to have seen the look on the cop's face If I had been pulled over :-). In any case, I spent a good few hours that day cutting, wrapping, vaccuum sealing the fish, but all that had paid off. We have been eating lots of that yummy Salmon recently. Lucky us!

Back to dinner. I had some delicious Gai-Lan (aka Chinese Broccoli) in the CSA bin, so I really wanted to use that up when it was still so fresh. J cut out the Food and Drink section of the WSJ on June 8 for me - it had a feature on Summer Foods recipes courtesy of my absolute favorite local chef, Tom Douglas. This guy rocks!! I have never been dissappointed with any dish in any of his (now 5? ) Seattle restaurants. That is a great record considering I have eaten at his restaurants a lot. Tom had featured Sake poached Salmon, but alas, no Sake in the house (but fear not. I have saved this recipe for later). He paired it with Aromatic rice which sounded so so yummy, I had to make that. See here for the Aromatic rice recipe. Seeing the Asian turn dinner was taking, I decided to treat the salmon with a Miso Glaze. Oh so good. And a perfectly respectable way to treat a delicious (no make that 4 delicious) hunks of King salmon.

Miso Glazed Salmon

Serves 4 to 6

4 Salmon fillets, skin on (6 to 8 oz each)

3/4 cup Shiro Miso

1 tbsp soy sauce

4 tbsp Mirin

2 tbsp honey

2 tbsp brown sugar

2 tbsp finely grated ginger

2 tsp olive oil

Method:

1. In a small glass bowl, combine all the ingredients above (except the salmon). Whisk to incorporate.

2. Smear the glaze over the salmon and refrigerate 1 hour (you could probably get away with another hour, but I would not go beyond that. You want to be able to taste the salmon, not just the marinade).

3. When ready to cook, turn the broiler on to high. With your fingers, scrape some of the excess marinade off the salmon fillets. Reserve the excess marinade.

4. Add the marinade to a small saucepan and thin with a bit of water. Cook 5 to 10 minutes to ensure that the raw marinade is cooked well (and safe to eat). You are looking for a sauce-like consistency. Thin with water if it is too thick.

5. Place the oven rack 4 to 5 inches from the heat elements. Place the salmon skin side up on a broiler pan lined with heavy-duty aluminum foil (will greatly assist in clean-up). Cook 5 minutes. If the skin begins to burn, lower the rack by an inch or so.

4. Gently flip the salmon and cook 3 - 4 minutes longer (depending on the thickness of your fillets and how you like your salmon cooked). We like ours a little pink on the inside. Be careful not to overcook the fish.

4. Top the salmon with a tablespoon or so of the sauce. Serve with your favorite vegetable and grains. We had ours with Aromatic Rice and stir-fried Gai-Lan.

Note: This would also work well with other meaty fish like Halibut, Sea Bass, Black Cod.

Tom Douglas' Aromatic Rice

Do we really need a recipe to make steamed rice 'aromatic'? Well, I wasn't so sure myself, but the reason I paused to consider was because this recipe is from Tom Douglas. If you haven't had the opportunity to eat his food, please please come to Seattle and do so. He owns many restaurants here, but my favorites are Dahlia Lounge and Lola.

Well, all I can say  is that he has done it again. The aroma from this 'aromatic' rice is just unbelievable. It takes steamed white rice to a whole another level. This might just be my favorite recipe for rice to accompany something delicate like fish and maybe chicken poached with Asian flavors. We had this with Miso Glazed Wild King Salmon and a simply stir-fried Gai-Lan.Try this the next time you want to waken up your olfactory senses. And it tastes just sublime.

Aromatic Rice

Serves 4

2 cups japanese short-grain rice

1 stalk lemongrass

2 cups cold water

3 coins of unpeeled fresh ginger, skin-on

3 star anise

zest from one orange, organic please (large, wide strips with a vegetable peeler)

Method:

1. Place raw rice in a fine-mesh strainer. Rinse well under cold running water until water runs clear. Drain well.

2. Smash the lemongrass stalk with the back of knife to release essence. Slice thinly lengthwise (you can wrap this in a cheesecloth if you like, but I didn't. It was easy enough to pick the stalks out after the rice cooked)

3. In a 3-4 quart saucepan, combine the rice and water. Add ginger, lemongrass, star anise and zest and bring to boil over high heat. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer gently until all the water is absorbed, about 20 minutes (Please do not open the cover and peek before 20 minutes). Take pot off heat and let sit, covered for 10 more minutes. This gives the grains a chance to set and prevents mushy rice.

4. Remove the lemongrass and other aromatics. Fluff the rice gently with a fork and serve while hot.

Note: Leftover rice is delicious. To reheat, simply place in a microwave-safe glass bowl, cover with paper towel or plastic wrap and heat in microwave.