Simmer Down

Wouldn't it be amazing if I could find titles for my blogs that all had cooking words in them, but didn't mean them to be about cooking. Simmer Down - by, Bob Marley. Or the song that has been in my head lately, "Sim Simma who's got the keys to my beemer..." Remember that song? Early 90's I think.

Anyway, it's been quite a long while. I think my last post was from the end of March - over two months ago. I just have not been in the mood to write a blog. I have still been cooking dinner - many fantastic meals in fact, but when I finish them I have been knitting not writing. I keep thinking that I'll write a post and then I just don't feel like it. Sorry to people who came to enjoy this, but I only want to do it if I actually feel like doing it.

So some things I have worked on while not blogging have been random knitting projects. I began again probably somewhere around February or so. I started on a project with teeny size two double pointed needles. My friend who I teach with was convinced I would be totally fine with them. Gotta love her confidence. I was completely confused, because all I had ever knitted until that point was a scarf for Tom (sooooo bad) and I dunno maybe a hat? But I think my mom really did the hat. So basically I had knit nothing. I knew how to cast on and bind off and knit and purl and that was it. So this size two double pointed needle project of a small stuffed toy cat was ridiculously out of my realm. But I attacked it.

At first I had no clue which way to hold the needles and I couldn't "read" the yarn and I kept twisting it all and screwing it up. But after a while I actually got the hang of it. I mean there are mistakes in it for sure, and my mom did the super hard part (she made the miniscule hands that actually had freaking thumbs), but all in all I put it together. I learned that I can knit with double pointed needles, and I also learned that I suck at sewing.

Here's the finished cat:

Pretty cute right? Not evenly sewed arms, but will a baby ever know? No they will just suck on it.

Ok so while I was floundering with the cat I began doing finger puppets. I started with ones where I had to sew the seam, but since I suck at sewing I changed to doing them on double pointed needles (yeah me!) and I gained confidence in using those darn needles. Here are some of my finger puppets in action as modeled by my dad:                                

I passed these out to my brother and to my friends from Davis (girls I miss you every goddamn day!) who are all having or have recently had babies.

After being home in CT my mom gave me Itty Bitty Toys by Susan B. Anderson.

I started with the snake. That was a fun one. I don't know if I actually have any pictures of the snake because I mailed it to New Haven a few weeks ago as a baby present, but let me assure you, it was darn cute. I do know that I did not use the almost $20 or maybe it was more then $20 a skein brand yarn that it called for. I used Bamboo and Ewe in a funky pattern. The snake only took half of the skein, and with the other half I made the bear. Here's a picture of the finished bear. It kind of looks like a cat because I could have placed the ears a bit better, but hey you live and you learn!

That is the bear with the elephant that I made sitting on a lamp at my friends' house with their amazing plant collection waiting for their baby to arrive this July! I finished the bear while on ski vacation in Whistler and then I sped through the elephant. The elephant is ridiculously cute and quite easy! About the quickest thing I have ever knit. They come from this website:  

When and if I finally download the pictures from my camera I will show you my elephant. I did not do any embroidery or a bow. As I said earlier, me and sewing don't go well together. Here is the picture of my elephant - a little better view than the other picture.

And finally, after all of the toys I decided I was ready to try something bigger. A sweater. Not for a regular person mind you, but for a baby. I mean let's be realistic I don't need to spend the next 12 months knitting Tom a giant lopsided sweater. But a teeny baby, they'll never know. So I knit a cardigan. It was coming out so well and then at some point it wasn't. I was basically done and I had to add an edge to it. I added it, but then the whole thing was only going to fit on someone with a neck the diameter of a drinking straw. So I tore out the edging and just fudged it a bit. The sleeves also were not "set in" all that well, but overall I am proud of it.

And that is where I'm at. I am currently working on a different baby sweater right now for someone's baby...not a clue who yet - maybe if you comment first you will win a baby sweater although I can't guarantee on its quality. This time I don't have to "set in" the sleeves because it's a totally different pattern. We'll see if that works out better or worse for me - I do not know.

Other than all of this knitting there is still fabulous cooking happening, and I will elaborate with some new recipes in the near future.

The most amazing way to eat fish EVER!

This summer upon moving to Seattle I got a library card. This does not sound that out of the ordinary...but it took me over a year to get a library card in New Haven and I NEVER got one in Chicago. I did pretend to be Tom's sister Jess and I signed up for an Evanston card in her name. I think there might be a few fines on there from student teaching. Oops. So beyond having to convince the library dude that even though I was not officially Amy Hodgman yet (I am now!!) he should let me use that as my name...it was remarkably easy. In my excitement, I took out a few cookbooks so I could copy down some new recipes. I can't remember what book this recipe came from, but I can tell you that the recipe is unbelievable. Here is a picture just to get you salivating.

 

The recipe is for salmon cakes with an orange-miso dipping sauce.

What you need for the Orange-Miso sauce:

1 T orange juice

1 T orange zest

1 T lemon juice (I didn't have any this time...and I just did double orange juice and it was GREAT, so I don't think it's a big deal)

1 T lemon zest

1/2 cup mayonaise

2/3 cup sour cream

1 T white miso paste (the past two or three times I have made this recipe I did not have this miso paste and I just used soy sauce and I swear there was little to no difference in taste. I finally found it in the refrigerated section of our PCC. Also I know Whole Foods has it because I saw it in West Hartford. Also my mom has it in her fridge if you live near her!)

How to make the Orange-Miso sauce

Mix all ingredients together and then chill. Sooooooo difficult I know.

What you need for the Salmon Cakes:

1 lb skinless salmon fillet cut into 1/4 inch dice. (This time I used 1.3 pounds because I wanted more than enough left overs. I think probably 1.5 pounds is the most before you need to change the proportions a bit)

1/2 cup FINELY chopped red pepper (the smaller you chop it, the easier your life will be making the cakes)

1/4 chopped scallion (white and green parts)

1/4 cups minced cilantro (YUM)

1/2 T ginger (minced) - This time we were out and I chopped up some pickled ginger...like the kind you put on sushi. It tasted fine!

1 1/3 cup of panko flakes (1/3 cup is for the cakes....1 cup is for breading)

1 large egg beaten (before you add it to the stuff)

1 T sesame oil

1 T soy sauce

Lemon and lime wedges (for spraying on top of the cooked cakes)

1/3 cup (I swear you will need more) canola oil - for frying.

 

How to make the Salmon Cakes

1. Chop up all of the salmon. My fillets came with the skin on so I also had to take off the skin. When Tom did this he butchered the entire thing. I gently cut a bit of the skin off (with the skin side UP on the cutting board) and then I just sort of pulled and the skin peels right off.

2. In a bowl mix the chopped salmon, red pepper, scallion, cilantro, ginger, 1/3 cup panko flakes, beaten egg, sesame oil and soy sauce. Mix it all around. Use a spoon or else the cilantro will stick to your hands and be annoying.

 

3. In a frying pan heat the canola oil over medium/high heat until it's sizzling.

4. Dump about 1 cup of panko flakes onto a plate (you will dip the cakes in there). You might need more.

5. With your hands (or some magic contraption if you have one), grab a small palm full of salmon mixture and make it into a ball. Plop the ball into the plate of panko flakes and flatten a bit to coat. Then flip over (it gets messy...just deal with it) and coat the other side. Put the cake into the frying pan. Fry about 3 minutes and then flip and do about 3 minutes on the other side. You want a golden brown. At this point I'd turn your heat down a little bit or else you might burn the cakes.

 

6. Put finished cakes onto a plate with a paper towel.

7. Squeeze a lime wedge over cake. Smother with dipping sauce and enjoy.

We ate ours with cous-cous this time, but that was only because it was leftover. I'd say a light salad would go best.

Kale and White Bean Soup

I was not that excited for this recipe, but it looked so simple and healthy that I had to try it. I was pleasantly surprised. I did change one thing to add some flavor....but other than that I stayed true to Real Simple's recipe. I give it a B and Tom gives it a B also.

What you need to make this:
One big bunch of kale (with stems removed and chopped coarsely should be roughly 8 cups)
1/2 a biggish onion (1 cup chopped)
2-3 stalks of celery chopped
a few garlic cloves (minced)
2 cans of cannelini beans (rinsed)
4 ounces of orzo (or other small pasta for soup)
Water and broth
Salt and pepper
a bit of oil
Parmesan cheese for garnish
Parmesan cheese rind (if possible)

What to do:
1. Chop up kale, onion and celery.
2. Heat a pot and add a tablespoon or two of oil. Add the onion, garlic and celery. Cook for about 5 minutes on medium heat stirring often.
3. Add the beans, orzo, kale, salt and pepper, and 8 cups of liquid. The original recipe just called for 8 cups of water, but I found that tasteless so I added some chicken broth. I think maybe 4 cups water and 4 cups chicken or veggie broth would be perfect.
If you have a parmesan rind...dump it in - it will add flavor.
4. Bring to a boil with the top on. Then simmer for about 5 minutes (until the orzo is done)
5. Take out the rind if you used it. Taste and add salt and pepper to your preference. Grate some parmesan over the soup when it's in your bowl.

For those of you that love rosemary (I HATE IT!!) this recipe originally wanted a bunch of rosemary added to the broth. Do it if you like it. I find it disgusting.

Pizza Pizza Pizza

I adore pizza. I worked at a Sicilian restaurant for 3 of my 4 years of college and I just love pizza. When I was a kid we used to go to Pizza West (closed recently) every Friday night. This was the only time I would get to have root beer and I'd also get to play Pac-Man (although I could also do that at the dentist's office - man we had a great dentist). I love that you can eat pizza for any meal of the day, and it is a carb - another one of my favorite food groups.

So for a while I was buying dough from the Italian market down the street or next door to my house in New Haven. Alas now we live in Seattle. I'm not sure if there are Italians here! I found dough at the super market in the freezer but I was not in love with it. Then I found Trader Joe's dough and that was acceptable. But then I looked at the little booklet that came with my bread machine and saw that it had two recipes. I decided to make the Neopolitan recipe because olive oil sounds nice - as does pizza from Naples. I poured some ingredients into the machine - flour, olive oil, yeast, salt.... and pressed start. 55 minutes later I had enough dough for two pizzas. I even made this for Tom before I went away and then I froze them for him.

We like to make the snowball version that I think I posted a while ago - spinach, ricotta and chopped up tomatoes. Now we are on a salami kick. The little market down the street from us (I swear we must live near a small market or else we will fall apart or something) carries Salumi salami - Mario Batali's grandfather runs the place. So we have taken to now making salami pizza with sliced peppers and whatever else we feel like. It is HEAVENLY.

Mexican Tortilla Soup

From the same blog that gave me the recipe for the sticky ribs comes the unbelievably delicious mexican tortilla soup. It was easy and fabulous!!!

So from her recipe I changed a few things. We had gigantic chicken breasts, so I used three instead of four. It was way more than enough. I also used boxed organic chicken broth rather than making my own. I know I know...I need to just make my own. Our chicken had previously been cooked...so we just added it in for about 5 minutes or so to heat it up.

This soup is incredible. Seriously. A+. Even Tom agreed that it is aptly named for the magic that it brings to a marriage.

Simple and Super Salmon

Last night we had the best salmon we have eaten in a long time. I don't know if it's because we now are yuppies and shop at the PCC for organic salmon (I tend not to think that this makes a difference), or if it was just the recipe.

It was a recipe from Real Simple that I tore out when I was back in CT. It was also so good that I ate it so fast that I couldn't take a picture!

What you need to make this:
- At least on pound of salmon (we made 1.5 pounds) - Ideally already with the skin removed, but I'm not sure it truly matters. I was able to remove the skin QUITE well if I do say so myself.
- Cilantro (big bunch - enough for 1/2 a cup chopped)
- One lemon (ok here Tom and I do agree that the organic ones are just so much juicier than the non-organic ones that we feel we have been missing out for years.)
- Scallions (3-4) chopped
- A few tablespoons of olive oil
- Cous-cous (and by default....broth to cook the cous-cous with)

How to make this:
1. Chop up the scallions and the cilantro.
2. In a bowl mix the juice of one lemon with the scallions and cilantro and two tablespoons of olive oil. Stir it all up and set aside.
3. Remove the skin from your salmon (I did this with a combination of cutting and pulling)
4. Make your cous-cous (I made the whole box and I made it with chicken broth for flavor)
5. In a frying pan add 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil. On both sides of your salmon (Unless one side has skin) sprinkle a little bit of salt, pepper, and paprika. When the pan is hot add the salmon. Cook about 3-4 minutes per side. This obviously depends on how fat your salmon is. Our skinnier pieces were done in about 8 minutes and our giant ones took 10-12 minutes.
6. Put the cous-cous and salmon the plate. Drizzle with the lemon/oil/cilantro/scallion sauce.

One last plug for lemons...I almost wrote an entire post about how much I adore organic lemons. Seriously they juice amazingly and have less seeds and are all around worth the money. I squeezed the heck out of mine and then I proceeded to eat what was left (yep mom...I still eat lemons! So much for my tooth enamel).

Sticky Delicious Ribs

One of the blogs I follow has some delicious recipes! This is the first one I have made....but I just made another awesome one tonight. Check it out. She's a really good writer (and cook!)

I made her recipe for Sticky Asian Spareribs and they were great.
Our PCC (think mini Whole Foods) didn't have spareribs...so we got pork ribs of some other sort, but I don't think it mattered one bit. They were good to the last drop.

I actually did follow her recipe completely (aside from not using spareribs), so no changes to make here. Eat up and lick your fingers - it really is sticky and yummy.