Asian Inspired Salmon with Quinoa

So, I was on my way back from work with Row the other day, it was late, and we knew we were going to need dinner as soon as we got home.  Though it was the end of the week in terms of our groceries, there was still some salmon in the freezer.  A lack of vegetables though, only 1 yellow onion.  But ooh!  There's still quinoa.

Quinoa.  Recently people have been going ga-ga over this "superfood".  It's a grain that also has lots of protein and is generally good for you.  So a few months ago, I tried it.  I figured since everyone (including my roommate) raves about it, it's bound to be tasty.  And you know what?  I wasn't overly impressed.  It's kind of nutty, but other than that, it's super bland.  But it's good for you so I figured I should give it a try.  The good thing about food with not much flavor of its own is that you can use it like the proverbial blank canvas and put your own flavors there.  And so, the other night, based on Pinterest and Tastespotting inspiration, Row and I assembled this dish:  An Asian inspired salmon on a bed of quinoa with caramelized onions.

Things to Note:  Marinades are very taste specific.  I suggest using what we did as a guideline and adjusting it based on what flavors you feel might be missing.

-We made extra quinoa so we could have it for lunch.  I would suggest using about 1 cup of dry quinoa for 2-3 people.

-I would also suggest replacing the water with vegetable broth for more flavor, but I didn't have any in the house.

Asian Inspired Salmon with Quinoa
Ingredients:
Salmon:
4-6oz piece of Salmon (skin on)
(3) Tbs Teriyaki Sauce
(2) Tbs Sesame Oil
(1/2) Tbs Dijon Mustard
Juice from (1/2) Lemon
(1) Clove Garlic (minced)
Salt

Quinoa
(1-1/2) Cups Dry Quinoa (if yours isn't prewashed, you should wash it)
(2-1/2) Cups Water
(2) Tbs Unsalted Butter
(1) Medium Yellow Onion (sliced)
(2) Cloves Garlic (minced)
Salt and Pepper to taste
(3) Tbs Soy Saucse (approx.  adjust according to taste)

To Do:
- Mix the Teriyaki, Sesame Oil, Mustard, Garlic and Lemon Juice together in a container large enough to fit your salmon.  I use a rectangular Pyrex storage container.  Place the salmon in the marinade, cover with plastic wrap and let sit.  Ideally you would marinate it for an hour or more, but since I was short on time I just marinated it while the quinoa cooked.
- Place the butter, quinoa and water in a pot and bring to a boil.  Once it hits a boil, reduce to a simmer and simmer for about 15 minutes, until the liquid is all absorbed.  I keep the pot covered and just check on it.
- While the quinoa cooks, grab a large pan and heat some oil.  Place all your onions in the pan and lower the heat.  Keep the onions moving by stirring them so they don't burn.  After about 10 minutes add the garlic.  Let the onions cook down until they are soft. The quinoa should be about done by now.
- Splash some soy sauce over the onions and add (2) tablespoons of soy sauce to the quinoa.  Stir it together, and then add the onions to the quinoa pot.
-Heat a skillet and add a dash of sesame oil.  When the pan is hot, place the salmon in it skin side down.  Resist the urge to move it.  As the FoodNetwork keeps telling me, the fish will tell you when it's done by unsticking itself. Flip the salmon over and cook on the other side.  (About 5 minutes total)
- If you like your salmon rare, it should be good now.  If not, put it in the oven at 350 degrees f for about 5-7 minutes to cook it a bit more.
- Put the onion quinoa mixture on a plate, and sit the salmon on top.  And enjoy!!!!!

Let me know how yours turns out!

Pesto Stuffed Chicken Breast

Tonight's dinner was one I didn't plan.  The afternoon was flying by, and I realized I should defrost something.  Right now the fridge is kind of bare, since I'm due for a shopping run in the next 2 days, but there was a boneless skinless chicken breast in the freezer, and a bunch of basil in the fridge.

While the chicken defrosted, I decided that clearly this situation leant itself to making pesto.  I love pesto, but I've actually only made it once before.  I'm not really a nut person, and don't have any pine nuts in the house, so I modified a recipe from a family friend and made it without.  

Once I had the pesto, the next trick was to figure out how I wanted to cook the chicken, and how to apply the pesto. Yeah, I said apply.  It happens.  Thanks to the wonders of facebook, I was talking to a friend about what to make for dinner and she suggested stuffed chicken breast.  Well, that caught my attention because I have never made a stuffed chicken breast before.  I did a quick google search, saw some pictures of how to roll and tie one, and I was off!

Please excuse the poor cell phone picture - the photography on this blog will improve when I grab my DSLR and start using that.  Also seen in the picture...potatoes cooked alongside the chicken, and a Parker House dinner roll (I'll post that recipe soon)

Recipe time! Note: This recipe makes enough for 2 people

Basil Pesto Stuffed Chicken Breast 

Ingredients:

(1) Cup Fresh Basil Leaves

(1/2) Cup Grated Parmesan

(1/2) Cup Olive Oil

(1) Large Garlic Clove

Pinch of Salt and Pepper

(1) Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast (or one half breast if you buy the full breasts in pairs)

To Do:

- Add the basil, garlic and half the oil and parmesan to the bowl of a food processor with the metal blade.  Pulse until combined, then add the rest of the cheese and slowly dribble in the oil.  Keep pulsing until a creamy consistency is reached.

- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F

- On a cutting board, butterfly the chicken breast (slice in half the long ways) so you have to thin even pieces.  Working one at a time, place the chicken between 2 pieces of plastic wrap and pound it flatter.

- Add salt and pepper to the chicken, and then coat one side with the pesto.  Cut (2) pieces of string/twine.  Roll up the piece of chicken so the pesto is facing inside.  Use the string to keep it rolled - I tied a knot with a bow.

- Repeat with the other chicken breast and place both in a greased casserole dish.  At this point I also diced some potatoes for the side dish and put them around the chicken in the pan, seasoned with salt and pepper.

-Spread the remaining pesto over the top of the chicken, then place in the middle of the oven.

-Cook for 35-45 minutes or until done.  Check doneness with either probe thermometer or slicing into it - chicken shouldn't be pink

I was pretty happy with how this turned out!  I think I might also like to try it by stuffing some greens in along with the pesto, but given what I had on hand this was very tasty, and quick.  I also think I'm a convert to making my own pesto - it's so simple and you really can then tailor it to your tastebuds.  I really like a good parmesan cheese, so it features prominently in mine.

What variations on this would you try?  Any other good suggestions for stuffing a chicken breast?

Rosemary Garlic Loaf (aka first bread I ever made)

Homemade bread.  It's one of those things that I've always associated with history, or people with too much time on their hands, or Little House on the Prairie.  People talk about it being tricky, and yeast being scary and a billion other things that end up equating to "Why the heck would you ever make your own bread?  Haven't you heard of a bakery?  Or a grocery store?"  And yet, one weekend last year, I thought that as a prime example of me trying to do more cooking, I should attempt bread.

So, being me, I scoured the bajillion cooking blogs that I follow, and searched out recipes that claimed to be easy.  And didn't require traditional kneading.  And I even found tips on cooking with yeast!  And lo and behold, I found this recipe.  A Rustic Rosemary Garlic Loaf (found on the Good Life Eats blog) that looked both easy and tasty.  I tried it.  The roommate and I both loved it.  And Rosemary Garlic bread (with a few changes from the original recipe) became a staple every few weeks.

Now, I'm not going to lie, this is not one of those fast breads that you can prepare after work before dinner.  This is a bread that's perfect for a day when you're doing laundry, or need to run out a bit for errands. I also (yesterday) bought Peter Reinhart's The Bread Baker's Apprentice and I think that might change my approach to bread and give me lots of new ideas for the future.  I've seen it raved about other places.  So once I've gotten to absorb it a bit I'm thinking of a more detail filled bread post, talking about yeast and good tips for bread making.  But today, I shall leave you with the Rosemary Garlic bread and a few quick things that might help make trying bread a little easier.

Things to Note:

In December my awesome parents got me the super amazing gift of a Kitchen Aid stand mixer, and since then I've been using that to mix and knead my dough.  However, for the first year I made this bread and others I did it by hand, with a whisk and my hands and that worked perfectly well so don't be intimidated if you don't have a mixer.

I also commandeered my mother's old pizza/baking stone and have started using that for the past few weeks, but it also is totally possible to use a cookie sheet.

Yeast likes the temperature to be around 70 degrees Fahrenheit for it's initial rise.  I don't know about you, but in winter my apartment isn't generally that warm, so to help create a warmer place for the dough to rise I have tried and used all of the following: Turn the oven on the lowest it will go and then putting the bowl on top of the stove.  Take a shower and put the covered bowl in the bathroom sink while you shower and leave it there afterwards so the humidity can work on it.  Leave in in the laundry room while the washer/dryer are going.

And now....onwards to the recipe!!!

Rustic Rosemary Garlic Loaf

 Ingredients:

(2) Cups Warm Tap Water (110 degrees)

(1/4) Cup Olive Oil

(2-1/2) Tsps Active Dry Yeast

(5-1/4) Cups All Purpose Flour

(6) Cloves of Garlic - Minced

(3) Sprigs of Fresh Rosemary - Chopped

(4) Tsps Salt

(1/4) Cup Flour for Dusting Loaves

Cornmeal to Dust Pans

Time:

Prep (including rise) - Approximately 3.5 hours total

Cook - 40-50 minutes

To Do:

- Chop Rosemary and Garlic

- Fill a 2-cup measuring cup with the warm water, and sprinkle the yeast on top.  Let it sit there for 3 minutes and then whisk to dissolve yeast.

-Whisk the oil into the water yeast mixture.

- In the bowl of your mixer, or another large bowl, mix together the flour, salt, garlic, and rosemary.  Add the water-yeast-oil mixture and whisk together.  If using a mixer, use the dough hook and knead until everything is just combined.  If the mixture seems really sticky, add additional flour 1 tablespoon at a time.

- Oil another large bowl (at least double the amount of the dough) and put the dough into it.  Flip the dough over so the top is oiled and cover the bowl with plastic wrap.  Let the dough rise (ferment) until it is doubled, which should be approximately 2 hours at room temperature (70 degrees).

- When the dough has risen, scrape out onto a floured surface and press it to deflate.  

- Split dough into (2) equal pieces and work on them one at a time.  Starting with the first, press it into a rough square.  Starting from the side facing you, tightly roll the dough away from you.  Rotate the cylinder 90 degrees, and roll it up again.  You want the roll to be tight so there is some surface tension (it should feel taught).  Turn it seam side down, and repeat with the other dough piece. 

- Cover the cylinders with a kitchen towel, and let them rest for 5-10 minutes.  This helps make the dough more elastic so you can roll it into its final shape

- Uncover the loaves, and roll them to make them longer, taking care to point the ends (it should look like a torpedo)

- Dust (2) pans with cornmeal and put one loaf on each.  Dust the tops with flour, and cover them with a towel or plastic wrap.  Let them rise until doubled, approx 1 hour.

-About half hour before you are planning to bake the bread (or longer depending on how your oven heats), preheat the oven to 500 degrees.  You want 1 rack in the middle of the oven, and the other at the lowest level.  Place another pan or pizza stone on the low shelf to absorb excess heat.

- Right before you put the bread in the oven, take a sharp knife and cut 3-4 diagonal slashes on the top of the load.  Place the loaves on the middle rack of the oven, and lower the heat to 450 degrees.

- After 20 minutes, lower the heat to 350 degrees and bake for another 20-30 minutes.  You want the internal temperature (using your probe thermometer) to be around 200 degrees.  You also can lift the loaf (using oven mitts of course) and tap the bottom of it.  If it sounds hollow it's done.  I had never tried this until yesterday, and it actually works!!

-Take loaves out of the oven and set to cool.  Do your best to be patient and not eat it right out of the oven since a) it's 200 degrees, and b) while still hot bread can taste kind of gummy, and then you'll feel like you didn't do it right even though you did.  So wait about 20 minutes/ half hour and then enjoy!

Let me know how your turns out!

Also, upon request from my friend Di...here's a page from a notebook I'm trying to keep with recipes I make often (yes that actually is my handwriting)

Fried Rice with Leftovers. And no Wok.

Since this is going to be a mostly food/cooking blog, I figure I should start this off with a recipe.  I'm a huge fan of fried rice, but until this morning have never made it.  And by a fan, I really mean that when I order Chinese foods it's one of the only things I order, and t is my sole purpose for going to a good Hibachi restaurant.  I guess it's that mostly I don't have day old rice, and if I do, there aren't eggs around, or a myriad of other reasons.  This morning though, I had all of those things, plus some meat, so the amazing Row and I teamed up for a fried rice lunch.

Now, while I have read a bunch of recipes for fried rice and gleaned a bunch of tips, I wasn't sure how this would turn out since I'm missing that crucial bit of hardware for Asian cuisine - a WOK.  Figured it was worth a shot however, using a conglomeration of other pots/pans (ok, 3. but still).

As we took stock of our kitchen this morning, we realized that we had perfect leftovers for this dish, and that the recipe could be really flexible.  Which means, you can make it with whatever you have lying around and whatever vegetables/meat you like.  We really enjoyed this combination and I can see it being a good way for me to use up food, having something to bring for lunch, and also fit in vegetables.  And thus, onto the recipe, as it was cooked this morning.

Chicken and Meatball Fried Rice
Ingredients:
(2) Eggs
(2) Cups (cooked) Day old Brown Rice
(3) Carrots - Peeled and Diced
(1) Small Yellow Onion - Diced
(4) Large Broccoli Floretts - Chopped into small pieces
(2) Cloves of Garlic - Minced
(1/2) Small Breast of Chicken (cooked) - Diced
(3) Leftover Italian Meatballs - Diced
Sesame Oil for Sautéing
Soy Sauce and Teriyaki Sauce for Finishing
Pinch of Black Pepper

To Do:

-Begin by prepping all the ingredients.  In one bowl place the carrots, onion, broccoli.  In a separate bowl place the chicken and meatball pieces (or leave them on their cutting board until you need them.  Which is what I did this morning)

-Heat a large nonstick skillet with some sesame oil over med-high heat.  Add the carrots, onion, broccoli and keep them moving around the pan so they don't sit in place and burn.  Once the vegetables begin to soften (about 5 minutes) add the minced garlic.  Lower the heat and push the vegetables around the pan occasionally while you work on the eggs.

-Beat the (2) eggs together and add a pinch of pepper to the bowl.  Heat a small pan and add a tablespoon of sesame oil.  When the pan is giving off heat, pour the eggs in.  The goal here is for the small bits of scrambled eggs that you get when you order fried rice in a restaurant, so keep the eggs moving and use your rubber scraper/spatula to break the scrambled eggs into small pieces.  Remove the pan from the heat and place to the side.

-Most things are cooked now, so it's time to warm up the rest and ultimately mix it together!  Add the chicken and meatball pieces to the vegetable pan and mix it all around.  You want the meat interspersed with the vegetables and for everything to be getting warm.  You also can add the eggs to this pan at this time and mix those in as well.

-Next, find a pot that can fit all this food, and put it in a pot on medium heat.  Add a splash of the sesame oil and pour in the (2) cups of rice.  Mix it all through so the rice warms up.  When the rice is warm (I test this by dipping in a wooden spoon and tasting a few grains), add the contents of your skillet.  Almost done!  Now take your soy sauce and teriyaki sauce and add a splash of each to the pot.  Mix everything around and taste to see if more sauce is needed.  Remove from heat, spoon into bowls, and enjoy.

And that's my first recipe - I welcome feedback and any suggestions people might have for me to take into account as I post future ones.  Happy Eating!

And So it Begins...

Hey there.  Welcome to the blog, my name is Daria, I will be your host for the duration.

I read a lot of blogs (too many, most likely), so I know this is the part where I'm supposed to tell you about myself, and what you might be finding in this here blog.  Well, to start, I'm one of those 20 something year old people trying to figure out post college life - living in an apartment, having a job, trying to be healthy. I've been cooking a lot over the past year and a half, and I've been looking for a place to track what I've been making, what I've learned from various attempts, and to be able to gain feedback and share with others.  I'm not going to make any promises about posting frequency - as it says in the about me section, I live an unpredictable life as a freelance theatre technician.  But my goal is to try - to post recipes I come up with myself, photos of food, recipes I find in the blogosphere, and whatever else comes my way.  I also like crafty things and there may be some posts in that regard, we shall see where this takes me.

Other things to know:  I tend to make simple foods, not things smothered in sauces or overpowering in heat.  If you're looking for fancy foods or spicy concoctions, this is not your place.  There will likely be breads, chicken, the occasional dessert, and lots of potatoes.   I hope you like what you see, and you find things you might like to cook (or eat).  Enjoy!