April 26, 2015 by Liz @ spades, spatulas, and spoons

April in the Kitchen – Teriyaki Salmon with Spring Vegetables

Did you ever think there could be a “healthy” teriyaki sauce? Certainly one without MSG is making progress. But, what about one without granulated sugar? Impossible! Well, I’m going to give you an alternative…dates, yes dates. This sauce consists of medjool dates as the sweetener. What a brilliant idea, don’t you think? Simply soak them in warm water for a few minutes, then dump them with some garlic, ginger, soy sauce and rice vinegar into the jar of your blender. Puree all of them together with some of the soaking water from the dates until smooth. That’s all there is to it. It goes together very quickly.

I’m sorry to say I didn’t invent the sauce. I saw it in a post on the blog “A Pinch of Yum” for 30-Minute Sesame Mango Chicken. It was too good to pass up. If you are not familiar with that blog, it’s worth a visit as she posts some great recipes, many of them healthy and vegetarian.

This is a thicker sauce than my own “old” favorite using maple syrup. You’ll find that recipe here from an earlier post in February of this year.

I marinated some wild caught salmon steaks (the first of the season) in the sauce, then sautéed them quickly. They were still slightly pink in the middle, just the way we like them. Served with a quick stir fry of asparagus and snap peas with a spoonful of roast garlic lemon butter it was a quick and delicious mid-week dinner. You’ll find the recipe for the roast garlic and lemon butter here.

Salmon Steaks in Teriyaki Sauce

Teriyaki Sauce

15 Medjool dates, pitted and soaked in 1/2 cup of very warm water for 30 minutes
3/4 cup soy sauce, regular or low sodium
1/4 cup rice vinegar
3 cloves of garlic, peeled
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced or grated
Optional – pinch of red pepper flakes
Optional – 1/4 cup sesame oil

Medjool Dates

Soak the pitted dates in the hot water
Dump the dates and rest of the ingredients (including the soaking water) into your blender and blend until very smooth.
Pour into a container until ready to use.

Teriyaki Sauce with Dates

This will keep in the fridge for at least a week, we found it got “hotter” and spicier the longer it sat.

Teriyaki Sauce

Grilled or Sautéed Salmon with Teriyaki Sauce

I sautéed the salmon steaks but they would be equally wonderful on the BBQ.

Marinate salmon steaks or fillets in the sauce for at least 30 minutes or up to an hour in the fridge.
Heat 3 tablespoons of peanut or other vegetable oil in your skillet on medium high heat.
Add the salmon, skin side down.
Saute on medium high heat for about approximately 10 minutes total for every inch of thickness. We like our salmon on the rare side and they weren’t quite so thick, so I started the steaks skin side down and turned them after 4 minutes.

Wild Caught Salmon

Asparagus and Snap Peas with Roast Garlic and Lemon Butter

1 bunch of asparagus, ends snapped and cut into pieces about the length of the snap peas. I used a spiral diagonal cut, turning the stalk a half way round after each diagonal slice. That exposed more of the inner part of the stalk to the heat, cooking is a bit faster.
Asparagus
About 3-4 cups of snap peas, stringed if necessary and cut in half lengthwise
Snap peas
4 scallions, cleaned and cut in half lengthwise, then into pieces the same size as the asparagus and peas.
Snap peas and scallions
2 tablespoons of roast garlic and lemon butter, (or 2 garlic cloves, finally minced, plus the zest and juice of one lemon, and 1 tablespoon of butter)
Roast Garlic and Lemon Butter
2 tablespoons of olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet on medium low heat.
If not using the roast garlic butter, add the minced garlic to the pan and saute until softened but not brown.
Add the asparagus to the pan and turn up the heat to medium high. Saute for about 4 to 5 minutes until bright green and beginning to soften.
Add the snap peas to the pan and saute for an additional 3 to 4 minutes until everything is bright spring green and slightly softened but still crisp.
Asparagus with Snap Peas
Finish with the roast garlic butter or add the lemon zest and juice plus the tablespoon of butter. Continue to heat until everything is coated with sauce.
Add salt and pepper to taste and serve.

Asparagus with Snap Peas and Roast Garlic/Lemon Butter

Salmon, asparagus, and fresh peas…this meal is the essence of spring. What are you serving to celebrate the season?

I’m taking this to share on Fiesta Friday #66 hosted by Angie. If you would like to see what is on the menu, come pay a visit to the party.

Fiesta Friday

April 8, 2015 by Liz @ spades, spatulas, and spoons

April in the Kitchen – Grilled Asparagus with Pickled Asparagus and Prosciutto

Juxtaposing grilled and pickled asparagus highlights two sides of this wonderful spring vegetable. On the grill, the asparagus is smoky and meaty. In vinegar, it’s grassy and green with just enough tartness to counter the richness of a slice pf prosciutto. If you topped this with a fried or poached egg, it would make a tasty savory brunch dish.

This recipe is adapted from “The Preservation Kitchen” by Paul Virant.

Grilled Asparagus with Pickled Asparagus

Grilled and Pickled Asparagus with Prosciutto

6 spears pickled asparagus – commercial or home made (recipe below), thinly sliced
2 tablespoons pickled asparagus pickling liquid
1/4 cup of sliced spring onions, or finely minced shallots, or red onion
1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard
Either 1/4 cup olive oil or 1/4 cup of sour cream
1 pound fresh asparagus
4 generous slices prosciutto
1 cup of loosely packed and chopped fresh herbs such as parsley, chives and tarragon (optional)

Grilled Asparagus

Prepare a fire in your grill, preheat a stove top grill pan, or preheat you oven to 450 degrees F.
In a small bowl stir together the pickled asparagus, pickling liquid, onion, and mustard. Whisk in the olive oil or sour cream, add a pinch of salt and pepper to taste.
Rub the asparagus with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Grill or roast the asparagus until it is charred at the tips, about 10 minutes.
Spread the slices of prosciutto on either individual plates or a platter.
Arrange the warm asparagus on the prosciutto and top with the vinaigrette. Sprinkle the herbs on top.
Serve each person a slice of proscuitto, some asparagus and sauce.

Grilled Asparagus with Proscuitto and Pickled Asparagus

Substituting sour cream for olive oil also makes a delicious variation.

Grilled Asparagus with Pickled Asparagus Sauce

Pickled Asparagus – makes 4 quarts

6 1/2 cups champagne vinegar
3 1/2 cups water
3 tablespoons Kosher salt
2 tablespoons of sugar
4 teaspoons of cumin seeds
8 sprigs of tarragon or fennel or dill
4 whole cloves of garlic, peeled and halved
16 cups of asparagus, trimmed

In a pot, bring the vinegar, water, salt and sugar to a boil. Keep hot. In a dry skillet toast the cumin seeds until fragrant, about a min.
Scald 4 quart jars in a large pot of simmering water fitted with a rack for processing the jars. Right before filling, put the jars on the counter. In each jar, place a teaspoon of cumin seeds, 2 sprigs of thyme, and 2 garlic clove halves. Meanwhile, soak the lids in a pan of hot water.
In a large pot of boiling and salted water, blanch the asparagus for 1 minute. Drain the asparagus and pack the stalks into the jars, tips up.
Pour the hot brine over the asparagus, leaving about a 1-inch space from the rim. Check for air pockets and add more brine if necessary. Seal with the lids and screw on the bands.
Place the jars in the pot with the rack and add enough hot water to cover by at least an inch. Bring the water to a boil and process for 20 minutes. Turn off the heat and let the jars sit in the water for a few minutes. Remove the jars from the water to a dish cloth on the counter and cool completely.

Please consult a canning book for more details.

I am taking this to Fiesta Friday to party with Angie and friends.

Fiesta Friday

Pickled Asparagus

February 4, 2015 by Liz @ spades, spatulas, and spoons

February in the Kitchen – Roast Asparagus

Asparagus season in Northern California hasn’t started yet, although it will be soon. With unseasonably warm weather in January everything is a few weeks ahead. The asparagus below came from Argentinia and buying it is totally against my politics. But, I was craving it. It looked amazing, not like the asparagus you usually see this time of year in the grocery store. At first, I thought it came from a local grower. The ends were fresh looking, the stalks were snappy and of a good size, the heads sere still closed…my barriers came down.

Asparagus

In my book the two best ways to cook asparagus are roasting in a hot oven. and grilling them. For grilling either a BBQ or stove top grill pan works well. Of course you can also stir fry them with other ingredients (also excellent), but I am writing today about the way to bring out the very best asparagus flavor which is uncluttered by other ingredients.

Roast Asparagus

1 – 2 bunches of fresh asparagus, tops closed, snappy and medium thickness
Extra virgin olive oil
Kosher or sea salt
1 lemon (to grate the rind)
freshly grated parmesan

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F
Wash the asparagus by swishing the stalks in a pan of water
Snap off the bottom woody part, this should happen naturally if you bend the stalk
Line a baking pan with parchment paper
Lay the asparagus in the pan in one layer, drizzle with olive oil and turn to coat, sprinkle the stalks with salt
Bake for 15 minutes until done to your liking (start checking at 12 minutes), we like ours still crisp but beginning to char and soften at the tops.
Remove from the oven and grate the rind of a lemon over the asparagus, sprinkle with freshly grated parmesan.

Baked Asparagus with lemon rind and parmesan

October 21, 2014 by Liz @ spades, spatulas, and spoons

There is always something going on in the garden!

It pays to keep your eyes open when you spend time in the garden! I am never quite sure what I will find. It pleases me to think of the mini ecosystem the garden is supporting.

California stick insect

I came across this stick insect in the front yard while doing some clean up. It’s a variety of walking stick, a California Timemas. They usually live in trees and shrubs in the chapparal or at the foothills of mountains. I don’t know what it was doing in Oakland! This is the first time I have seen one here. Global warming?

Caterpillar of Black Swallowtail Butterfly

Black Swallowtail catterpillar – about 2 inches long

While cutting parsley I spied this lovely caterpillar. Looking it up on the web I found it is the caterpillar of the Black Swallowtail Butterfly (Papilio polyxenes). In the past it was commonly referred to as the Parsnip Swallowtail as their favorite food plants belong to the Umbelliferae, or Carrot family. They like parsley and fennel, both of which are abundant in my garden. The adult butterfly must have visited my butterfly bush and decided the nearby parsley was a good place to lay its eggs. After photographing and identifying it, I returned it to the parsley. There is plenty to share.

Butterfly Bush

Black Swallowtail Butterfly. Photo by Peter Miller.

You can read more about them at:

http://kimsmithdesigns.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/eastern-black-swallowtail.jpg

And, asparagus growing in with the chard?! In October! This one must have seeded itself from the asparagus bed which is a good 50 feet away.

spades, spatulas & spoons

Adventures in gardening, cooking, and eating

Asparagus

April in the Kitchen – Teriyaki Salmon with Spring Vegetables

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April in the Kitchen – Grilled Asparagus with Pickled Asparagus and Prosciutto

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February in the Kitchen – Roast Asparagus

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