Salmon Wrapped in Bacon, Oven Poached in White Wine

Photo 2013©Katherine Brownell

  This is the salmon before poaching in the oven.

Now, see below to see what it looks like after cooking and plating.

 

 Recipe coming soon!  Please check back!

Best Tip Ever For Opening Jars and Cloudberry Jam

SBBrownell 2013

 Keep reading to find out why this jar has duct tape all around!

Several years ago thanks to Gordon Prestoungrange, Scottish Baron of Prestoungrange, I had the opportunity to visit Helsinki.  On that working trip, I attended banquets/local restaurants and sampled the local foods. Among the local delicacies, I tasted was something called a cloudberry.

Cloudberries are not native to Florida and in fact, you must be high up in the mountains especially, the arctic in order to find or pick cloudberries.  They are usually hand picked and when you do find them, you will also find mosquitoes in packs.  According to http://mylittlenorway.com/2011/07/guide-to-cloudberries/," it takes about 7 years for a seed to grow to blossom and they will only do that in the perfect situation. Mostly cloudberries are also highly prized as part of the Norwegian culture. Cloudberries are also part of Norwegian traditional cooking.  Cloudberry bløtkaker, cloudberry cream/yoghurt and cloudberry sauce wouldn’t be the same without cloudberries. Traditionally they would keep their berries in reindeer milk as it is so full of fat that it can preserve the berries."

For those of us that have had no previous exposure to cloudberries, I can tell you that they have seeds like raspberries and the texture is a bit similar as you can feel their juice explode (like blackberries) in your mouth when you eat them.  The taste is a bit like a Chinese sweet and sour although some say it is more like a Riesling wine taste.

This week my husband and daughter had reason to drive several hours to go shopping at IKEA.  They brought back much loved favorites for me: Swedish pancakes and a jar of cloudberry jam!


Here is the traditional way to serve:

SBBrownell 2013

• Open the pancake 
• Add the fruit (cloudberry jam here)
• Roll and top with whipped cream

So what's with the duct tape??

Yesterday, I had my pancakes without the cloudberries because I could not get the jar open by myself.  I mentioned it to my daughter and she had an absolutely brilliant solution:

**Simply wrap a strip of duct tape around the lid. I could have even torn the strip lengthwise so it was a narrow strip around the lid, grip as usual and it opens easily.

In Norway, where cloudberries grow they would say, "God jobb Katherine!"

Please try this at home!

 Recipe for Swedish Pancakes:

2 cups instant flour (Wondra Flour)
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups half-and-half (Room temperature)
1 1/2 cups seltzer                                                                                                                                      9 tablespoons sweet butter, melted and cooled                                                                                     1 teaspoon salt                                                                                                                                           2 large eggs plus 2 yolks, lightly beaten (Room Temperature)                                                          1 can of whipped cream or powdered sugar

 1. To make the batter first

•  Combine flour, sugar, and salt in large bowl.
• Now, carefully and slowly, I add half-and-half, seltzer, 4 tablespoons butter, eggs, and yolks into flour mixture until I have whisked so that the batter is smooth with no lumps.

2. I melt a teaspoon of butter in a 10-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat. Tilt pan to coat sides also.

• When butter stops hissing, pour a ladle of batter into the pan and again tilt pan so that the batter is evenly distributed. 
• Cook until golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes on each side. 
• Transfer to plate and put parchment paper between pancakes if you aren't going to serve immediately. 

3. Place a pancake on the plate.  Spoon about 1 1/2 teaspoons of preferred filling ( cloudberry jam, lingonberry jam, any canned pie filling) onto top quarter of pancake--spread evenly and roll pancake over until in a loosely wrapped tube.  Fill 2-3 pancakes and place on plate alongside each other.  Add whipped cream or powdered sugar (or both) and enjoy!

Summer Thanksgiving Leftovers and a Cranberry Twist

Photo by Katherine Brownell

This was the original dinner where I substituted a tomato for the cranberry and the sweet potato fries for the traditional sweet potato casserole.






 Now follow me to the leftovers meal,

 where I have updated the heavy winter cranberry jelly with  a cranberry Merlot reduction using Merlot wine, orange zest, and an orange-pineapple concentrate to balance the tartness of the dried cranberries.  I also added a sweet potato puree with a bit of added brown sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, orange - pineapple concentrate, and a bit of creme freche to add smoothness.

 Recipe

Ingredients:
To be added 6/26 - Please come check it out.

Thanksgiving and the Full Moon

Photograph by Katherine Brownell©2013

Mindful of the beauty of nature all around us, and with all the talk of the full moon, I felt a Thanksgiving Dinner with a twist would be appropriate.

I wanted the intense  flavors of Thanksgiving with the lightness of summer so I did a bit of a twist.





Recipe:

Ingredient list:

1 box of Stove Top stuffing
4 tablespoons of butter
Water per stuffing directions
4 boneless turkey breasts
Olive oil
1 package of prociutto
 tomatoes on the vine
frozen sweet potato fries
1 3 oz jar of pesto
Aluminum Foil

Directions:

1. I used the microwave to make the Stove Top according to the directions adding the 4 tablespoons of butter on top.  When it finished, I stirred once or twice and let it cool uncovered while I worked with the chicken.
2. Pre-heat the oven to 375 F and cover a low baking dish with foil.
3. Tear off two sheets of foil about 24 inches long and fold the long sides together a couple of times so your foil is twice as wide as it usually is and set aside.
4. Cover cutting board with plastic wrap lay out boneless turkey breasts one at a time, cover with more wrap and beat with a kitchen mallet until about 1/2 inch thick and set aside.
5. Lay out your prepared foil and spray with olive oil cooking spray to prevent sticking.
6. Put down strips of prosciutto so that you have a rectangle in the center with no foil showing.  Then, take chicken out of plastic wrap and lay on top of the prosciutto in one single layer.  The chicken should make a rectangle just slightly smaller than the prosciutto.
7. Now, drop spoonfuls of the pesto randomly onto the pesto and spread with separate knife continuing until you have a thin layer of pesto covering the entire chicken rectangle.
8. Add 1/2-3/4 of the stuffing spreading and flattening until you now see only the stuffing and no pesto.
9. Finally, pick up the closest edge of foil and carefully, pulling the prosciutto from the foil roll the meat until you have a loaf where you can see only prosciutto.
10. Make sure top of loaf has no seam, then seal foil, place on baking pan and cook for about 40-45 minutes.  Use meat themometer to ensure turkey is cooked (Juices run clear.)
11. Increase oven temp to 450 F, open foil wrap carefully and slide loaf off onto baking tray.  Cook for another 10 minutes, turning once, then turn oven temp up to broil and broil until prosciutto is golden brown. (Watch carefully)

While meat is cooking:

1. Heat skillet until just short of smoking, add olive oil, tomatoes still on vine, and frozen sweet potato fries.  Sprinkle both with coarse salt.  As tomatoes cook, rest in pan on all sides.  Cook fries as directed on package (about 3 minutes each side).

Photograph by Katherine Brownell©2013

To serve:

 When meat is finished, remove from oven and allow to rest about 10 minutes, then wrap loaf in parchment paper and cut into slices.  As you can see in the picture below, I served the end piece covered in the prosciutto; it was a lovely color.  Each inside slice shows the turkey stuffing spiral beautifully.  The tomato's color is enhanced by the stove top cooking method and the sweet potato fries were a fun summer twist.

Reflections: I forgot the cranberry so when I use the leftovers tonight, I expect to make a cranberry-merlot reduction and possibly a sweet potato puree. 

Photograph by Katherine Brownell©2013

Pan Seared Trout with Parmesan Risotto

Photo taken by Katherine Brownell ©2013

For a refreshing but satisfying summer meal, on one of those 94 degree (F) days, I wanted the refreshing flavors of the wild caught trout.
Infused with rosemary, I paired it with a simple Parmesan Risotto.  Sitting down to enjoy with a glass of Pinot Noir wine, it was the perfect summer meal.

I had one small section of fish that was simply too thin to cook alongside everything else without becoming overdone.  I separated it and cooked as a crispy fish skin "chip" and it went very well with the rest of the meal.

Photo taken by Katherine Brownell ©2013

 Recipes will be added shortly right here!  Check back soon please.