roasted salmon with lemon sage sauce

I'm posting this recipe in response to a request last week.

Let's start with the sauce:

2 shallots, peeled and sliced into thin pieces
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
2 lemon slices
12 sage leaves
1 pint heavy cream
1 tablespoon butter

Put everything except the cream into a saucepan and cook on medium high heat until the liquid is almost completely gone (there should be just enough left to cover the bottom of the pan). Add the cream and let the mixture heat all the way through. Puree the sauce in a blender or using a Braun hand mixer and return it to medium heat, so that it simmers but doesn't boil. The sauce gets better if it cooks for awhile so you can let it simmer while you cook the fish. When the fish is done and you're ready to serve it, add the butter to finish the sauce (making sure it's melted and stirred in well) and pour it over the salmon.

Speaking of salmon, here's the easy part:

6-8 oz salmon fillets (however many you need)
lemon pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the salmon fillets on a baking sheet and sprinkle the tops with lemon pepper. Cook for about fifteen minutes. The fish should be a little flaky, but not dry. Plate them and pour the sauce over the top. At the Inn we serve the salmon with garlic mashed potatoes; at home, Ginger likes it with fettuccine and snow peas.

For an added touch, garnish with some fried sage leaves, which can be done easily by heating some olive oil in a small skillet and frying the leaves for about fifteen seconds, so they are crisp but not burned.

Peace,
Milton

caramelized onions and portabello mushroom tarts

This is an adaptation of something we do at the Inn where I work.

Caramelized onions are one of my favorite things. They take some time to make, but they're worth it.

3 lbs onions, peeled, halved, and thinly sliced
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup olive oil

Use a pot deep enough to hold all the onions. Put it on the stove and over medium heat and let it get hot. Melt the butter, add the oil, and, when both are hot, add the onions and stir. I cover the mixture for the first ten or fifteen minutes to let the onions sweat because that's crucial to their caramelization. Then uncover the pot so the water evaporates and continue to cook another thirty minutes or so, until the onions have cooked down and are dark and sweet.

For this recipe, after the onions get close to done add

3 portabella mushroom caps, thinly sliced
1/4 cup red wine

Cook the mixture, stirring occasionally, until the wine has reduced and there is not much liquid left. Spoon into the puff pastry cups (Pepperidge Farms makes good frozen ones that are easy to use) and serve. This mixture would also make a great pizza topping.

Serves 4-6.

Peace,
Milton

southwestern chowder

I had about an hour to come up with a soup for a meeting at church tonight, so I tried to come up with something that mostly involved opening cans. It turned out great. Go figure.

4 10 oz. cans of Ro-tel Chunky Tomatoes and Green Chilies
3 15 oz. cans black beans (I used Kuner's Southwestern Beans with Cumin and Chili Spices)
2 1 lb. packages of frozen corn kernels
1 quart chicken broth
1 quart light cream

6 tablepoons (1/2 stick) butter
6 tablespoons flour

Open the first five items and put them in a stockpot. Turn on the heat and bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan and add the flour to make a roux. When the flour is absorbed, the mixture should be fairly stiff. Add to the soup and stir well until it's dissolved. Continue to simmer for about ten minutes, until the soup thickens.

Serves 12.

Peace,
Milton

dijon chicken

This is a really tasty dish that is quick and easy to make -- my kind of meal.

1/2 cup canned unsalted chicken broth
1/2 small onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 teaspoons dried thyme, crumbled
6 boneless skinless chicken breast halves, well trimmed

Combine the first 5 ingredients in heavy large skillet. Bring the mixture to a gentle simmer over medium heat. Add the chicken and season with pepper. Cover and poach until the chicken is just cooked through, about 20 minutes. (If you pound the chicken to about a half inch thickness, you can reduce the cooking time.) Transfer chicken to platter. Turn the heat to high and boil the remaining liquid in skillet until it is reduced to a sauce consistency, which will take a couple of minutes. Pour sauce over chicken and serve.

Serves 6. (If you don't want to serve six, use fewer pieces of chicken; I often make it for just the two of us and halve the other ingredients.)