Seasons by the Sea: Recipes 01:31:13
Sweet and Spicy Salmon
You can toss together just about any combination of sweet chili sauce, garlic, and ginger and throw it on some salmon before grilling, baking, or broiling and it will be good. Serve with brown rice and a salad topped with nuts and dried cranberries.
Serves four.
11/2 lbs. salmon, cut into 4 servings
1/2 cup sweet chili sauce
1 Tbsp. hot chili sauce, any kind will do
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp. chopped garlic
2 Tbsp. grated fresh ginger
Combine chili sauces with oil, garlic, and ginger, and set aside.
Preheat oven to 425.
Let salmon sit out of refrigerator for about 15 minutes before cooking.
Grease a small casserole or gratin dish with a little bit of olive oil. Lay salmon pieces in dish, then slather with the chili sauce. Bake for about 10 minutes per inch if you like it medium to well done. I prefer a bit of pink in the center so I cook a two-inch thick piece of salmon for about 10 to 15 minutes.
Spinach Stuffed Shells With Tomato Concasse
This recipe is easy, but requires a little bit of finesse, filling the pasta shells.
Serves four.
Filling:
2 slices bread
4 large cloves garlic
1 10-oz. package frozen leaf spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
3 Tbsp. olive oil
1/4 cup pine nuts
6 large green onions, trimmed and coarsely chopped
1 tsp. balsamic or red wine vinegar
1/4 tsp. salt
Pepper to taste
Pinch freshly grated nutmeg
6 oz. fontina cheese, chilled
12 large pasta shells, whole wheat if you can find them, freshly cooked
Tomato concasse:
1 lb. cherry tomatoes
4 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. fresh basil, chopped
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
For filling:
Break bread into pieces, then process in food processor until fine crumbs. Set aside. Add garlic and process until garlic is minced.
Heat olive oil in heavy medium skillet over medium heat. Add pine nuts and cook until golden. Drain and set aside. Next add garlic and green onions, reduce heat and cook until soft, about five minutes. Add spinach, vinegar, quarter teaspoon salt, pepper, and nutmeg and cook until hot, about two minutes. Remove from heat.
Shred fontina cheese, then add this to spinach mixture along with pine nuts and bread crumbs. Season to taste with salt. Fill each shell with spinach mixture, be careful, you may tear a few.
For tomato concasse, cut cherry tomatoes in halves or quarters, depending on size. Toss with two tablespoons olive oil, sugar, salt, and basil. Spread this in a nine-inch square glass baking dish.
Preheat oven to 350. Layer shells over tomato concasse. Brush remaining olive oil over shells. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and baste with the tomato mixture. Bake another 10 minutes. Serve hot.
Ginger Fried Rice
Here is a good use for leftover brown rice. This recipe is from Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s “Kimchi Chronicles.”
Serves four
8 Tbsp. vegetable oil
3 Tbsp. minced garlic
3 Tbsp. minced ginger
Coarse salt
2 cups diced leeks
4 cups day-old cooked brown rice
Mild chili powder
4 large eggs
2 tsp. sesame oil
2 tsp. soy sauce
Heat four tablespoons oil in small nonstick skillet over high heat. Add one tablespoon each ginger and garlic. Cook until crisp, about two minutes. Transfer to paper towel to drain. Sprinkle with salt.
Heat three tablespoons vegetable oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add remaining garlic and ginger and cook for 30 seconds. Add leeks and cook until they begin to soften, about two minutes. Add rice and cook, stirring often, until it begins to brown, about five minutes. Season with salt to taste and between a half to a teaspoon of mild chili powder.
Heat one tablespoon vegetable oil in nonstick skillet. Add eggs and cook according to each person’s preference. Sprinkle each egg with a pinch of chili powder. Put rice on platter, top with eggs, sprinkle with fried garlic and ginger, then drizzle with sesame oil and soy sauce.