Salmon Non-Salmon Eaters will LOVE

The first time I made this meal, my husband told me it was "restaurant quality."  Now that is not a review that I often hear from him.  My husband always gives his review at the end of the meal.  And although he enjoys my cooking, I don't always take home the Gold medal when I make dinner.  Because I don't just get rave reviews, I believe he is honest and I feel that I can always trust his reviews.

This salmon is a bit sweet, a bit Asian, and totally easy to make.  I have adapted it from Great Food Fast a recipe book written by The Martha Stewart. I have made it for my family and served it with white rice and green beans.  My four year old and two year old only make yummy sounds when eating it.  My son ALWAYS says, " Oh, thank you Mommy ... I love this" when I place his salmon filled plate on the table for dinner.  I am telling you if you love salmon, you will love this .... and if you don't like salmon, it is possible you might not hate this salmon.  It is pretty darn good.  And the best part is it is so easy to make.



Sweet Salmon that makes Non-Salmon Eaters say," Ohhhhhhh
Maybe I do like Salmon"

The ingredients you will need:

salmon
orange juice
Hoisin sauce (you find this in the Asian section of your store)
honey
sesame seeds

Place your salmon in a baking dish that just fits your salmon (in other words you don't want there to be too much room in the dish because you want the sauce you make to really sit on and around the salmon)

In a small bowl mix

3 Tablespoons of orange juice
2 Tablespoons of Hoisin sauce
1 - 2 teaspoons of honey (the truth is I am not sure about the measurement; I just squeeze some in)


And that is it!  Pour the mixture over the salmon.  Put it under the broiler for 5 - 8 minutes (400 or 450 degrees) depending on the thickness of the salmon pieces.  Sometimes if I am not ready to serve my salmon right away, I turn the oven down to 300 degrees and leave it in there another 2 minutes and then shut the oven off.

I serve the salmon with rice and green beans.  And just before I serve the salmon, I sprinkle it with sesame seeds.  It gives it that restaurant look. Buon Appetito!

Stuffed Green Peppers or Stuffed Any Vegetable

I get a loud and honest Yummy out of my son every time I make my stuffed green peppers.  There is nothing that warms my heart more than a long "mmmmm"  or a "yummy" from my kids.  And the sprinkles on top of my sundae is hearing my husband enjoy the meal too. If your family doesn't like green peppers, you can use any vegetable you want.  The really yummy stuff is the "stuffed" part.  That is the part of the meal that gets all the accolades. So if your family doesn't like green peppers, try large hallowed out tomatoes, zucchinis cut lengthwise and hollow out, eggplant cut lengthwise and hollowed out, or red peppers which are high in vitamin C and much sweeter than their green brother the green pepper.  But in the end, if they only eat the inside and a little bit out the outside, it is still a great easy weeknight meal.

Stuffed Green Peppers

Ingredients:

2 cups of rice  (white or brown)
1 package of ground sirloin (about 1.5 pounds more or less) 
1 medium onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
olive oil
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning (dried basil, oregano, thyme, marjoram, rosemary, and sage)
* mommy hint - if you don't have a pre-made Italian seasoning -- just use a couple of dashes of oregano -- or skip this step
 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese
salt/pepper to taste
14 - 16 oz can of tomato sauce (depending on brand you use size varies, and it doesn't really matter)


Directions:

First step -- start making rice (white or brown your choice).  Now start making the meat part of the inside.  Get your pan hot over a medium flame.  Add olive oil and chopped onion.  Once they are translucent, add chopped garlic.  After a minute and before garlic turns brown, add ground sirloin and brown. Add cinnamon *mommy hint - the cinnamon doesn't add sweetness; it adds a great warmth to the background of the dish.  Add Italian seasonings and salt and pepper. Once meat is cooked, take off stove.  In a large bowl mix meat add rice (just enough so that there is a good ratio of meat to rice -- eyeball it.) Then add tomato sauce and Parmesan cheese.  Once mixed, it is time to stuff your peppers or family prefered veggie.  First prepare your veggie to stuff.  If you are stuffing peppers, cut top off and take out seeds and ribs.  After preparing veggie, stuff them.  Place stuffed pepper like little soldiers in a high sided casserole dish. If you have extra stuffing, place yummy meat and rice mixture around the peppers.  To help keep dish moist, add some water (about a 1/3 cup give or take) to bottom of casserole -- right on top of extra meat and rice mixture.  Sprinkle some Parmesan cheese to top of peppers.  Cover casserole.  Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to 1 hour -- depending on how crunchy or soft you want your peppers to be.  I cook them for 45 minutes then take the cover off for the last 15 minutes of cooking -- I like to have a nice crust on the top.

Buon Appetito -- I hope your family enjoys it too.

Chicken Pot Pie

Chicken Pot Pie

My husband loves chicken pot pie.  Trying to perfect this recipe took quite a few times.  One time the potatoes inside were raw.  One time the inside was too dry and not creamy enough.  One time I needed more veggies and the wasn't enough pie crust. I used a frozen pie crust, but apparently I didn't use enough my husband said, "to qualify this recipe as a pot pie."  So I tried again -- and triumph.  This recipe was a big hit with my triumvirate: husband, son, and daughter. All three loved it; the final recipe I am sharing has enough veggies, solved the potato issue, and has plenty of the pie crust.


Chicken Pot Pie

Ingredients: (this makes two pies or one 9x13 pan)

3 Chicken breasts/ or roasted chicken from the store/ or turkey breast
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 Tablespoons butter
1 medium onion
1/2 cup flour
4 cups of chicken stock (one box)
frozen veggie mix (I use sweet peas, carrots, corn, lima beans)
frozen green beans
3 small potatoes, diced / or use frozen breakfast potatoes (this way you don't have to peal and cut)
salt and pepper

2 packages of refrigerated pie crust (each package has two crusts) 4 crusts in total ( I use Pillsbury)

Directions:

First thing you have to do it start cooking the potatoes.  The first time I made this I tried to use uncooked potatoes, and they weren't cooked by the time the crust was finished.  So I had to choose par cooked potatoes or burnt pie crust. Hence it is a good idea to start to cook potatoes in a pan with a bit of olive oil. Once cooked, put potatoes off to the side in a bowl. Next, if you have raw chicken, cook the chicken in that same pan with some olive oil.  If you bought roasted chicken from the store or are using left over chicken or turkey from a previously dinner, cube it up.  *mommy hint-- this meal is something I usually make to reuse left over chicken or turkey.  But you could start from scratch if you would like.  Once chicken is cooked, cube it and place in potato bowl.

Now it is time to make the sauce. Place 2 Tablespoons of butter, 2 Tablespoons of olive oil, and diced onion in a pan.  Once onions are translucent, add flour -- it will form a paste.  Slowly add warmed chicken stock until you have a sauce that is the consistency you like.  If you want it to be thicker, add some cornstarch, but the sauce must be bubbling at that time so to not have a lumpy sauce.  If you want it to me thinner, keep adding stock or a bit of water if you used all your stock (no need to open a new box).  Add salt and pepper. * mommy hint - Taste it!  You have to see if you like the taste of the sauce.  You may need more salt.  This is the time to make adjustment.  Once you decided on your sauce taste, add chicken, potatoes, and frozen veggies (add as many as you feel like your family wants or needs).  I also add frozen green beans.  The inside is finished.

Lastly, it is time to assemble pot pie. If you are making this recipe in a pie pan, cover the bottom of pan with crust.  Then fill with your pot pie mixture and cover the top with a pie crust.  Pierce some holes in the top of the crust to vent pie. *note -- this filling makes 2 pies, so if you want one pie - cut recipe in half.  If using a 9 x 13 pan, cover the bottom with 2 pie crusts (this takes some geometry -- don't let anyone tell you high school geometry doesn't play a part in cooking -- every once in a while I have to whip it out) Fill your pan with your yummy filling.  Then top with two more pie crusts.  Pierce top to vent your pot pie. 
* mommy hint - you can make it all the way to this point a day ahead of time and then 
cook it. This is the perfect make ahead dinner.  Bake at 400 degrees for 25-35 minutes until crust is golden brown. Enjoy!

This is a corner piece - look at this beautiful crust -- yummy!