Baked Salmon ala Mayonnaise

Steven first introduced me to this salmon dish many years ago during the teenage period when I hated mayo. I definitely raised my eyebrow when I heard mayo and salmon in the same sentence. In my mind, why ruin a perfectly good piece of fish by slathering it with something like mayonnaise? Well after I reluctantly tried a bite of the salmon, it wasn’t bad. When I recently bought some Copper River salmon, this was the first dish Steven asked me to make. Go figure. I'm not sure how common this particular salmon preparation is but I'm guessing this recipe probably isn’t everyone’s cup of tea since lots of people dislike mayonnaise. The main purpose of the mayo is to keep the salmon moist so I don’t use too much. After baking, the mayo is no longer goopy and mayo-like, instead it forms a light and tasty crust on top of the salmon. The original recipe used only salt, pepper, and mayo to top the salmon. I had to make it more interesting so I added some sun-dried tomatoes, lemon zest, and Dijon mustard.

Baked Salmon ala Sun-dried Tomato and Lemon Mayonnaise

1 lb salmon fillet
2 Tbsp mayonnaise
1 Tbsp sun-dried tomatoes, rinsed of oil and minced
Zest from half a lemon, about 1 tsp
1 tsp of Dijon mustard
Salt and pepper
Olive oil

Take the salmon out of the fridge 30 minutes to an hour before cooking to let it warm up a bit.

Adjust an oven rack to the upper middle position. Line a baking pan with a sheet of foil, coat the foil with some olive oil, and lay the fillet on the pan skin side down. Salt and pepper the top of the salmon.

In a small bowl, mix together the mayo, mustard, sun-dried tomatoes, and lemon zest. Using the back of a spoon or a spatula, coat the top and sides of the fillet with an even layer of the mayo mixture.

Broil on the upper middle rack until the top is golden brown, a few minutes. Rotate the pan 180 degrees halfway through so the crust browns evenly. After broiling, if a paring knife cannot be inserted cleanly into the fish, or if it does not flake, then turn off the broiler, and return the fish to a 400ºF oven and finish baking the salmon for a few more minutes.

Pizza

Once upon a time, I tried to make pizza... on a cookie sheet... in a 350 degree oven. To put it bluntly, the end result was bad. The "crust" ended up being about an inch thick, soggy where it touched the sauce, soft and flabby on the bottom like it was steamed rather than baked. It barely qualified as a crust, I probably can't even use that word to describe this monstrosity. I think I found on the recipe, which seemed fairly legitimate at the time, on the Food Network being pass off as making a decent pizza. It was completely ridiculous! Now I know better; now I know that high heat is critical for a crisp crust and a baking stone really helps. I'm not crazy passionate enough to tamper with my oven to get it to go all the way up to 800 degrees. I don't want to burn my house down thank you very much. So Mr. Varasano might disagree with me, but I think 500 degrees is perfectly fine for a decent homemade pizza, plus I don't like my pizzas "charred."

Steven always hangs out with me in the kitchen when I make pizza. Whether he's there to keep me company or to steal little bits of cheese or Italian sausage when I'm not looking, I'm not really sure, though I suspect it's a bit of both. Homemade pizza is always really rewarding. We can choose what toppings and just how much of them we want to put on and how thin or thick we want the crust so our pizzas are always just the way we like them. And the pizza bakes really quickly so it's really entertaining to see it transform in the oven in a matter of minutes.

Notes:
- I included 2 dough recipes. The first is the regular pizza dough from Cook's Illustrated. The second is also from Cook's Illustrated but it's the pissaladiere dough recipe. You'll notice that the first recipe uses 4 cups of flour and 1 3/4 cups of water while the second uses 4 cups of flour and 2 cups of water. Since the second recipe has more water it makes a crispier crust. I experimented with both and personally liked the pissaladiere dough more. I recommend trying both out and seeing which you prefer. You can always opt to make a half recipe to test it out.
- I usually divide the dough in half, freeze one portion and make 2 medium pizzas out of the second portion (smaller pieces of dough are easier to work with). This is plenty for both Steven, a voracious pizza eater, and I, with a bit leftover.

Pizza Dough (Yields 3 - 4 medium pizzas or 2 larges, serves 4 - 6)
Adapted from Cook's Illustrated

4 C bread flour (plus more for dusting)
1 3/4 C warm water, about 110ºF
1 package instant yeast, about 2 1/4 tsp
2 Tbsp olive oil (and more for hands)
2 tsp salt

If you are using instant yeast you can skip the proofing, but if you are using active dry yeast, proof the yeast in the warm water for 10 minutes then proceed with making the dough.

Mix the flour with yeast and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer. Pour in the warm water and olive oil and use the paddle attachment to bring the dough together at low speed. Then switch to the dough hook and knead for 5 minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic. The dough will be a little sticky but if it's too sticky add some more flour, about a tablespoon at a time. The dough can also be made in a food processor (in a matter of seconds) or by hand.

Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let it rise until doubled, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

Gently turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. I find it's easiest to work with medium sized pizzas so either divide the dough into 3 or 4 pieces (or alternatively you can make 2 large pizzas).

One trick I learned when making pissaladiere, is to oil your hands instead of flour them. First stretch out the dough into the desired shape then use your palms and press out the dough to stretch and flatten it more, at the same time you press olive oil into the dough for a crispy crust. It also saves you the step of having to brush olive oil on the dough.

I don't like to roll out pizza dough because it squeezes out all the bubbles, I like the bubbles. Instead I stretch out the dough with my hands or hang it over my fists and gently stretch out the dough while gravity helps out. If the dough resists, let it rest for about 10 minutes, then stretch it some more. Then I coat my palms in some olive oil and press the dough outwards to get it even thinner.

Remember to preheat your pizza stone to 500ºF or the highest temp your oven will go 30 minutes before you want to bake your pizza.

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Pissaladiere Dough - Extra Crispy Pizza Dough (Yields 3 - 4 medium pizzas, serves 4 - 6)

4 C bread flour
2 tsp instant yeast, you can probably just use a packet since that's 2 1/4 tsp
2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 C warm water, about 110ºF

If you are using instant yeast you can skip the proofing, but if you are using active dry yeast, proof the yeast in the warm water for 10 minutes then proceed with making the dough.

The dough is easiest made in the food processor because it is very wet and sticky but you can also use a stand mixer or mix it by hand.

Add the flour, yeast, and salt to the food processor and pulse a few times to combine. With the motor running, add the oil then steadily pour in the water and process until the dough comes together in a ball, about 15 seconds. The plastic dough blade works best for the dough, but I only have a mini food processor and a metal blade so I have to make the dough in batches then combine the pieces together.

Flour your hands and dust a work surface and knead the dough a bit. But since this is a very wet dough, it's more of a slap/push than a gutsy knead. Shape the dough into a ball. The dough will be wet, sticky. It will be pretty sticky and stick to your hands a bit, but not a lot, and very slack.

Place the dough in a lightly oil a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let it rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour to 1 1/2 hours.

When the dough has doubled, gently turn it out of the container. Cut it into 3 or 4 even pieces and form each piece into a ball by gently picking the edges of the dough together into a pouch and pinch to close. Roll the dough ball over, seam side down. Cup the dough with both hands and push the dough around to form a taut ball. Repeat for the remaining pieces. Brush each piece lightly with olive oil, cover with plastic wrap, and set aside for 10 minutes for the second rise.

Coat your hand in oil instead of flour. Pick up the dough and stretch the dough into a rough circle. Place the dough on a sheet of parchment then using the palm of your hand, push the dough out into an circle. The surface should be evenly flat but leave a small lip around the dough for the crust.

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Quick Tomato Sauce (makes about 3 cups of sauce, enough for the full dough recipe)

1 28 oz. can diced or whole tomatoes, pureed in a FP or blender or put through a food mill
2 tbsp olive oil
2 - 4 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
salt and pepper
a few pinches of Italian herb mix, crushed between your fingers
About 1/2 C fresh basil leaves, chopped or chiffonade

Add garlic and olive oil to a (unheated) saucepan or skillet and heat them up together over medium heat. When the garlic starts sizzling and smells fragrant (don't burn it), add the tomatoes, pepper, and some italian herb mix. Simmer uncovered until the sauce is thickened.

Season to taste with salt and stir in the basil off heat.

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Italian Sausage and Pepper Pizza (makes 2 medium pizzas)
Half a pizza dough recipe
Half the quick tomato sauce recipe, about 1 1/2 C
1/2 red onion, sliced
3 Italian sausages, removed from casing
1 medium red, orange, or yellow bell pepper, sliced
About 1 C shredded mozzarella

Preheat the pizza stone and oven to 500ºF or the highest your oven will go. Remember to place the stone into a cold oven and heat them up together.

Brown the Italian sausages in a skillet over medium heat until cooked through (important), breaking into bite size pieces.

Divide the dough in half. Stretch out and flatten the crust. Crack some pepper on the dough and spread about 3/4 C of tomato sauce onto it.

I like to put the sausage pieces and onion slices on first and hide these toppings under the cheese so they don't burn. Then put the peppers on top so they can roast in the oven.

Bake until the crust is golden brown and the cheese is spotty and melted, about 5 to 10 minutes depending on your oven. Keep an eye on it and remove it when you think it looks good.

Pork Picadillo

A year’s worth of Everyday Food has been piling up on my bookcase. When I received my first issue, most of the recipes in the magazine didn't suit my tastes. So every subsequent month, I would simply stick the latest issue on a shelf not bothering to look inside. But over the last year my tastes have definitely changed and the range of foods and dishes that appeal to me have widened greatly. Recently I needed something to read on the bus so I I brought the June issue with me. I was casually flipping through the pages expecting nothing to interest me but to my surprise I liked quite a few recipe and dog eared a few pages. Now I'm slowly working my way back, reading all the magazines that I had previously ignored. In this latest edition, I saw a recipe for pork picadillo that looked pretty good. It was really tasty over rice and I used the fillings in some empanadas that I made for Meeta's Birthday Bash Monthly Mingle.

Notes:
- Since I didn’t have ancho chili powder, I used 1 tsp of regular chili powder + 1/2 tsp of smoked paprika
- I made a few changes to the recipe but in the end I felt like it could use a bit more spice. Next time I will up the chili powder to 2 teaspoons. In retrospect, a teaspoon of chili powder hardly seems enough to flavor 3 pounds of meat. But perhaps high quality ancho chili powder would have done the job.
- The recipe makes a lot, about 6 - 8 cups, but it freezes well.
- Other uses include: in burritos, nachos, tacos, on baked potatoes, and empanadas

Pork (or Beef) Picadillo
Adapted from Everyday Food

3 lb ground pork (or lean ground beef)
1 medium onion, diced
1 28 oz. can of diced tomatoes
2 chiptole chilies (in adobo sauce), minced
1 tsp of the adobo sauce from the chiptole peppers
3 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1 tsp ancho chili power (or regular chili powder + smoked paprika)
1/2 tsp ground cumin (I used 1 tsp whole cumin and ground it)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 - 2 bay leaves (depending on the size and potency)
1/2 tsp black pepper (or more to taste)
1/2 C raisins
Olive oil
Salt to taste

Optional: chopped green olives
Toppings: chopped cilantro and/or toasted almonds

Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a dutch oven and brown half of the ground meat, remove, add more oil to the pan, and brown the second half. Drain the fat if you’re using ground beef, pork is pretty lean so draining is unnecessary.

Pour out any accumulated fat if using beef. Add another tbsp of olive oil and add the chili powder and cumin. Bloom the spices in the oil for a few seconds then add the onions and cook until softened. Then add the garlic, and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Add the browned meat, tomatoes, chopped chilies, bay leaf, cinnamon, and ground black pepper to the pan. Add some salt but leave it a little on undersalted because the flavors will concentrate as it reduces, salt to taste after it finishes cooking.

Simmer partly covered for about 45 minutes. At the halfway point if it's still looking too liquidy, simmer uncovered for the rest of the time. 10 minutes before the dish is done, soak the raisins in some hot water. I did this to leech out some of the sugar, otherwise they're too sweet for me, and to get rid of the gross sticky coating on the outside. Soak them for about 5 minutes, drain, and squeeze the excess water out. Off heat, stir in the raisins and fish out the bay leaves.

Serve over rice with some chopped cilantro and/or chopped toasted almonds on top.

Chicken Provencal - WHB

The other day I was perusing the potted herbs selection looking for a thyme plant for my (future) herb garden but there were so many varieties, it was very confusing. Lemon thyme, lime thyme, caraway thyme, wooly thyme, garden thyme? For someone like me who knows nothing about plants or gardening, having so many options is just too overwhelming. I later found out that there are over 300 different species! Thyme originated in the Mediterranean and because it's indigenous to warmer climates, the major flavor components remain stable in heat and can stand up to the drying process. This allows dried thyme to retain much of its original flavor. Thyme is heavily used in French cooking and is also the main component of herbes de Provence.

Provence is a region in southeast France that borders Italy and the Mediterranean sea. The area is best known for culinary specialties that include bouillabaisse, ratatouille, and pissaladiere, and the herb mix, herbes de Provence. The cuisine is heavily influenced by Spanish, Mediterranean, and Italian flavors and features a prominent use of olive oil, herbs, and tomatoes. Chicken provencal is a French country dish of roasted (or braised in this case) chicken with garlic, tomatoes, and olives. Cook's Illustrated suggests cooking this in the oven, but I didn't feel like heating up the oven so I simmered it on the stovetop. If you wish to cook it in the oven, preheat it to 300ºF and adjust the oven rack to the lower-middle position.

Chicken Provencal - Poulet Provencal
Adapted from Cook's Illustrated

6 - 8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
1 tsp of olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
6 cloves of garlic, minced
1 anchovy fillet, minced
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1 C dry white wine
1 C chicken stock/broth
1 14 oz can of diced tomatoes, drained
2 1/2 Tbsp tomato paste
1 1/2 Tbsp fresh thyme leaves, chopped
1 bay leaf
1 tsp herbes de Provence (optional)
1/3 C nicoise olives, pitted and roughly chopped
Zest from 1 lemon
2 Tbsp fresh parsley

Heat 1 tsp of olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium high heat. Cook the chicken thighs in batches (4 at a time if you’re cooking 8, since I was cooking 6 small thighs, I squeezed them all in there). Add the thighs skin side down and cook until the skin is crisp and golden brown, about 5 minutes. At first the skin will stick to the pot but when they start to brown, they'll release easier from the pan. Turn the thighs over and brown the second side until golden brown, another 5 minutes. Remove the chicken thighs and set aside. Drain all but 2 tsp of fat from the pot.

Add the onions to the pot and cook over medium heat until browned, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic, anchovy, tomato paste, and cayenne and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds to 1 minute.

Add the wine and scrape up the brown bits and then add the chicken broth, tomatoes, thyme, bay leaf, and herbes de Provence (if using).

Remove the skins from the chicken thighs and nestle them into the pot with any accumulated juices. Bring to a simmer then either cook in the oven at 300ºF for about 1 hour or barely simmering over low heat for an hour.

Remove the chicken and set aside and discard the bay leaf. Cook the contents in the pot over high heat until thickened and reduced, about 5 minutes. Stir in olives and cook for 1 minute. Then off heat stir in the parsley and lemon zest and spoon the sauce over the chicken. Serve with crusty bread.

Serves 4

This will be my entry for Weekend Herb Blogging, hosted this week by Rinku from Cooking in Westchester. Weekend Herb Blogging is an event created by Kalyn of Kalyn’s Kitchen that encourages bloggers to share recipes and information about herbs and plants.

Hainanese Chicken Rice

Hainanese chicken rice is a dish that originated in Hainan, a tropical island off the southern coast of China. (It was there that I got picked up by an elephant and ate mangoes the size of footballs on the beach, but I digress...) Soon the dish made its way to Malaysia and Singapore. In fact, it is so popular in Singapore, some would consider it to be the national dish. Singaporeans take chicken rice very seriously and will heatedly debate about which stall has the best chicken rice.

A whole chicken is slowly poached in chicken stock and the rice is cooked in rendered chicken fat and stock. Finally, the chicken is chopped up and served cold with cucumber slices, chicken rice, a bowl of stock, and dipping sauces.

*this is the first time I made this recipe so if you have any special tips, let me know :)

Hainanese Chicken Rice
For the chicken:
1 whole chicken, around 3 1/2 lbs
3 1/4in slices of fresh ginger
3 green onions
Salt
Lots of chicken stock (making chicken stock)

For the rice:
3 C long grain rice, washed and drained
3 cloves of garlic, minced or pressed
2 tsp of freshly grated ginger
1 green onion, white part only, thinly sliced (save the green top for garnish later)
3 1/2 C chicken stock from boiling the chicken

*I made the sauces to taste so the quantities are estimations
Chili Ginger Dipping Sauce
8 red chilis, or hot sauce like Sambal Oelek
2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1 tsp freshly grated ginger
2 tsp freshly squeezed lime juice
2 Tbsp chicken stock
Salt

Soy Dipping Sauce
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp Sesame oil
2 Tbsp chicken stock

Other:
1 cucumber

For this recipe, you’ll need lots of chicken stock and a deep, thick walled (to retain heat) pot that can fit a whole chicken.

I can't say for sure how much stock you’ll need. It depends on the size of the pot you use and the size of your chicken but you need enough stock to fully submerge the chicken.

One way to tell how much stock you'll need is to add the chicken to the empty pot then add enough tap water to cover the chicken by an inch or two. Then remove the chicken. Make a mental note of the water level without the chicken. Dump out the water and add your chicken stock to the appropriate level. If you don’t have enough stock, you can add more water so you have enough. You don’t want to boil the chicken in only water because it will leech out too much flavor from the chicken.

Cooking the chicken:
Wash chicken, remove and save the excess fat, you’ll need it for the rice. Rub the entire chicken with salt. Set aside at room temp for about 30 minutes. Stuff the cavity with 3 green onions and ginger slices.

Bring enough stock to cover the chicken to a boil. Add the chicken breast side down and turn the heat down to the lowest setting so it’s barely (only a few bubbles) simmering. You don’t want to boil the chicken but you don’t want the stock to cool down too much either. After 25 minutes, gently lift the chicken out of the pot, let the stock from the cavity drain back into the pot, and set aside temporarily.

Quickly bring the stock back up to a boil, add the chicken, this time breast-side up, then turn back down to low heat, barely simmering, and cook for another 20 – 25 minutes.

Meanwhile in a wok or skillet, heat the reserved chicken fat over medium low heat to render out the oil. You’ll want about 2 tbsp for the rice.

Have a big bowl of ice water ready for the chicken. The chicken is done when juices from the thigh runs clear. When it’s done, submerge it in the bowl of ice water to stop the cooking. This helps tighten the skin and makes it jelly-like and taste really, really good. Let it cool in the ice bath for 10 - 15 minutes, then take it out and cool to room temperature.

Bring the chicken stock up to a boil and skim off the excess fat and scum. Continue to boil and reduce the stock for a more flavorful soup.

Cooking the rice:
Heat the chicken fat in a skillet over medium heat and add the chopped white part of the green onion and rice. Toast the rice until each grain is evenly coated with fat and looks golden.

Stir in the ginger and minced garlic and cook for 30 seconds until fragrant.

Add 3 1/2 cups of chicken stock and transfer this mixture to a rice cooker. I have to admit I always let my rice cooker do all the work and consequently, I don’t know how to cook rice on the stovetop. But Chubby Hubby has some stovetop chicken rice instructions. After some research it seems like the gist is you bring the rice and stock up to a boil in a saucepan over medium or medium-high heat, let it boil until the water level gets down to the level of the rice. Decrease the heat to low, cover the rice and let it cook for 30 - 40 minutes.

While the rice cooks, chop the chicken into bite size pieces and slice the cucumber. Whisk together the dipping sauces. Ladle the stock into bowls and garnish with some sliced green part of the reserved green onion.

Serve the chicken with cucumbers, chicken rice, soup, and the 2 dipping sauces.

Pasta Puttanesca

There aren’t many foods that I dislike but I recently discovered one: capers. The little buds are painstakingly harvested by hand so they seemed like something really special and delicious. I made some spaghetti puttanesca as my first caper dish and surprisingly, I couldn’t stand the taste of them. I can’t explain why I don’t like them, they just taste very alien to me. So if you’re like me and don’t like capers (but I may be alone in this), you can easily omit them from the recipe. But don't let me put you off capers, since many if not most people love them. One day I will give capers another chance, perhaps it's an acquired taste.

Puttanesca is a simple and very flavorful dish with plenty of healthy ingredients so it’s perfect for this month’s "Heart of the Matter" theme, pasta. Tomatoes are a great source of lycopene, a powerful antioxidant, and other compounds that help prevent cancer and heart disease. Studies have shown that the volatile oils in parsley inhibit tumor growth in animals and also neutralize harmful carcinogens. Olives are also a good source of monosaturated fats, omega-3 fatty acids, and vitamins A, C, and E. There is no meat, cream, butter, or cheese in this dish. Another way to make pasta even healthier is to sneak in some whole wheat pasta (Ronzoni is the best brand). I can get away with about 1 part whole wheat to 3 parts regular pasta before Steven notices a difference but I'm slowly trying to add more and more.

Spaghetti Puttanesca
Adapted from Cook’s Illustrated

2 garlic cloves
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes or substitute cayenne but use less (1/8 to 1/4 tsp)
2 tsp minced anchovies, about 4 – 5 fillets (or you can press the fillets through a garlic press)
1 14 oz. can of diced tomatoes, drained and reserve 1/4 C of the juice
1 Tbsp capers or more to taste, rinsed
1/4 C Kalamata olives, chopped
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp minced parsley
8 oz. pasta of your choice
salt

Start by boiling water for the pasta. Start cooking the sauce when you add the pasta and salt to the boiling water.

Mix the minced garlic with a scant tablespoon of water. Add the garlic, anchovies, red pepper flakes to olive oil in a skillet and heat the mixture over medium heat. Cook until the garlic is fragrant and slightly blond but not brown, about 2 minutes. Add the drained tomatoes and simmer until it slightly thickens, about 8 minutes.

Drain the pasta when cooked.

Stir the olives, capers, and parsley into the sauce and toss with the pasta. If the mixture looks too dry, add in some of the reserved tomato juice. This dish is already salty enough from the olives and anchovies. Parmesan is not used to garnish this pasta.

Serves 2

Be sure to check the round up later this month at Ilva’s blog Lucullian Delights for more heart healthy pasta dishes.
Previous Heart of the Matter rounds for other great recipes.