Tag: salmon

Zucchini Salmon Pasta and Raspberry Parfait

zucchini salmon pasta

How do I decide on what to cook for supper today? The answer for us is straightforward. Just step out the door and see what’s ripened in the front and backyard. As summer rolls in a full swing, this is how we eat. But hey, as much as I love cooking and eating good fresh food, there are times I don’t want to bother (yes, I said it) in the heat. Today’s post is a solution for my dilemma. Keep it simple, fresh, nutritious and yet exciting! You can still entertain your guests with the following easy recipes. This is also the perfect time for us to appreciate the artistry of the local artisans after a weekend farmer’s market visit.

zucchini planttoasted baguette slices with Brie cheese and Strawberry Balsamic Black Pepper JamStrawberry Balsamic Black Pepper Jamzucchini salmon pastaraspberry plantraspberriesraspberry lemon yogurt parfait

Zucchini Salmon Pasta

Serves 3-4

A piece of wild salmon fillet (about 1lb)

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons grain mustard

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon dry white wine

1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped finely

2 tablespoons garlic cloves, finely chopped

Salt and freshly ground pepper

2 cups fusilli or rotini pasta

2 green onions, finely chopped

4 baby zucchinis, thinly sliced

2 lb fresh broad beans in the pod, shelled

Good handful of shelling peas, shelled

5 turnips, thinly sliced

In a small bowl, combine the mustard, oil, wine, rosemary, garlic, salt and pepper. Stir well, set aside.

Preheat the broiler. Line a baking sheet with a piece of aluminum foil. Place the salmon on the sheet, sprinkle with the salt and pepper, then broil for 2 minutes.

Spoon the mustard mixture over the fillet and continue to broil for about 5 minutes until the fillet becomes flaky when tested and the top golden brown. Let cool and set aside.

Cook the pasta in well-salted boiling water till al dente. In the meantime, prepare the vegetables. Boil water in a small pan and cook shelled broad beans and peas for 2 minutes. Plunge in cold water and remove thin films from the broad beans. Drain well. Chop the green onions, and slice the zucchinis and turnips.

Rinse the pasta in cold water and drain well. In a large bowl combine the salmon, vegetables and pasta. Transfer to a large platter. Serve immediately.

 

Brie and Strawberry Balsamic Black Pepper Jam with Baguette Slices

I could not help but serve the Strawberry Balsamic Black Pepper Jam that I picked up last weekend from my farmer’s market friend Kathy of de la Bouche Specialty Foods. So here is what I did with it.

Serves 4

Half of regular baguette, thinly sliced and lightly toasted

A wheel of Brie cheese, wedged

Kathy’s Strawberry Balsamic Black Pepper Jam

Assemble all together, using generous portions. Indulge yourself with a glass of well chilled Chardonnay!

 

Raspberry Parfait

I like taking a stroll in the garden in order to forage for a dessert after eating a main dish. Summer enables me to pick food right off plants and turn it into beautiful dishes in a matter of minutes. Bake the dough ahead of time so you can assemble the parfaits together with your guests (forage if you have a raspberry patch)!

Serves 4

Spelt rhubarb squares dough, broken into fine pieces (recipe here)

A container of Liberté Méditerrantée Lemon Yogurt, well stirred

A big bowl of freshly picked raspberries, rinsed and drained well

Chill tall parfait glasses in the freezer for 15 minutes or so. Layer the spelt rhubarb squares dough, yogurt and raspberries in a tall chilled glass. Serve immediately.

raspberry lemon yogurt parfait

Broiled salmon, adapted from giada’s family dinners.

 

Lovage Salmon Chowder

Lovage salmon chowder

To tell you the truth, I’m not sure why I kept the lovage plant in my small, semi-shady backyard vegetable garden where every square inch is very precious and utilized for carefully selected vegetables (usually spinach, carrots, bok choy, arugula, etc. make the cut). Although the plant is located in an isolated area in a functionally designed garden, because it reaches 7 or so feet in height, it still cascades some shade on other plants and sprays its seed heads to the surrounding area at the end of the season, making my weeding chore painful during the following year… When it comes to the taste department, after sprinkling thin slices of leaves on salads or stirring into omelettes, I was still not too crazy about the overwhelmingly strong taste. The little plant that I received as a gift had now become a monster! I probably kept the plant just because I continued to believe that I would  find a good use for it later…and three years went by.

lovage plant

However, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, a British celebrity chef, known for being the lead personality in the River Cottage series, came to rescue this indecisive gardener. He extolled the virtues of the lovage plant, suggesting that one of its best uses is in soup recipes. He even tantalized us by introducing the use of a hollow lovage plant stem as a stirrer for Bloody Marys! Needless to say, Hugh quickly won me over and I began thinking about which recipes would go best with lovage.

Bloody MaryBloody Mary

As a side note: lovage self sows at the end of season, scattering seeds all over the place, making it difficult to manage weeding if you plant with other perennials (just like fennel plants do!). I would strongly suggest that you isolate lovage in the back of garden if you don’t intend to harvest the seeds from the plant in time. The upside is that a lovage plant doesn’t seem to mind my half shady garden.

lovage stemsFameuse apple blossomthymebleeding heart

I thought something creamy would tame the lovage’s strong flavour and give body to a subtle fish dish. So I came up with this salmon chowder recipe. I used a wild Sockeye salmon that we froze after purchasing from a local fisherman last September, and of course my garden chives, which have been screaming to be eaten. It was, to my mind, surprisingly one of the best soups I have ever made! It was even better the next day, since the lovage lost its distinctive strong flavour but still lent richness and backbone to the soup. We ate with slices of sourdough country bread and, at the end of the meal, mopped the soup bowls!

Lovage salmon chowder

Lovage Salmon Chowder

If you use potatoes instead of chickpeas, it’ll thicken the soup and will sure be good. But my potato plants haven’t sprouted from the ground yet…

Serves 4-6

2 tablespoons butter

2 strips bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper

1/2 cup chives, chopped

2 medium carrots, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

A few young stalks of lovage plant, thinly chopped

2/3 cup tightly packed lovage leaves, chopped

A handful of lovage leaves, thinly sliced for garnish

1 L chicken stock or vegetable stock

1 cup mushrooms, sliced into 1/4 inch pieces

1 bay leaf

2 sprigs fresh thyme

2 cups organic whole milk

400g wild sockeye salmon, pin-boned, cut into 1 inch pieces

2 cups freshly cooked or canned chickpeas

1/2 cup organic heavy cream

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Wash the vegetables, rinse, pat dry and cut according to the instructions above. Place a large heavy bottomed pot over medium high heat and melt the butter. Stir fry the bacon until almost crisp, then add garlic and crushed red pepper and continue cooking until nicely coloured. Add the chives, carrots and lovage and continue stir-frying until the vegetables become nicely coloured.

Add the stock to the pot and bring to a simmer. Skim and let simmer for 10 minutes. Add the mushrooms, bay leaf and thyme, skim if necessary, and let simmer for another 5 minutes or so.

Add the milk and the salmon, bring to a gentle boil and turn the heat down. Simmer for about 10 minutes or until the salmon is cooked. Add the chickpeas when the salmon is halfway cooked.

Add the cream, simmer for a few more minutes and adjust the taste with the salt and pepper. Serve in a bowl and sprinkle the lovage leaves on top. Serve with a loaf of good rustic bread.