Recipes – Page 19 – a hippie with a minivan

Salt Cured Salmon…

I was buying some Cured Salmon from the fish store once in a while because I love it… but it is expensive!

A few weeks though I saw recipe and I found out that it is really easy to make… pretty much just pack the salmon in Salt and whatever else you want… So I tried it… and I can’t stop making it since then…

What I have been doing is taking the filet, brushing a bit of liquid smoke on it (to give it a bit of a smoked Salmon taste) putting a few tbsp of salt over it plus pepper, dill, sugar and granulated onion… then I weight it down with some cans of tomatoes and stick it in the fridge…

After about 12 hours I drain it a bit and add a bit of everything if needed… and then put it back in the fridge… another 12 hours later I drain it again and put a few paper towels under it to saok up the rest of the moistur and stick it back in the fridge… A few hours later it should have a slight rubbery feel to it… then it is time to slice…

Slice at an angle as thin as you can get it…

then you can store it in the fridge… I am not sure how long it lasts, but it is cured so it should last a while…

but it also gets eaten very fast…

(on a whole wheat english muffin with a bit of butter and cream cheese)

Miso Paté

This may not look very appetizing but don’t let looks fool you. This is a kind of paté that can be very versatile. You can use it as a spread on bread of vegetables, in a sandwich or with crackers. EVeryone enjoyed this in the house, which is saying a lot.

2 cups broken pieces whole wheat bread
1/2 cup water or broth
1/4 cup tahini
2 tbsp miso
1 small onion (minced)
1 tbsp sesame oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tsp of poultry seasoning (mix of sage, thyme, rosemary etc)

break the bread into pieces and add the broth or water and mix until moist with your hands…
add the rest and mix well…
put in the fridge and let it sit for a least a few hours… but better the next day….

So good!!

Salmon… stuffed and smothered…

This is a recipe that even the fish hater in my family likes…

Like most of my recipes… amounts are approx…

butterfly a Salmon filet and stuff with crumbled goat cheese, tarragon, salt and pepper…. and place in a baking dish…

In a bowl Mix together about 1/4c of sour cream and 3 tbsp of Mayonnaise, add to that add about 3 tsp of mustard, chopped green onion (I use 2), about 3 tbsp of parmesan, and about 1 tbsp each of tarragon and dill, a bit of pepper and a bit of salt to taste… (might not need it depending on the parmesan)

spread over the stuffed salmon fillets… (you can reserve some of the sauce for dipping)

bake at 450 for about 10 min per inch of thickness…

stuffed…

out of the oven…

ready to eat…

Dense Chocolatey Chocolate cake…

It was Simon’s birthday 2 weeks ago and I wanted to make him happy with chocolate… which is something that he loves…

So I searched for the best chocolate cake recipe and fell on one on this blog…

I did adapt it a bit to make it more dark and gooey…. but omg… it was good!

CAKE
2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3 large eggs
1 ½ cups buttermilk
1 cup strong brewed coffee, cooled
3/4 c vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla
4 oz unsweetened chocolate squares, melted and slightly cooled

FROSTING
1 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup whipping (35%) cream
6 oz semi-sweet chocolate squares
2 tsp vanilla
1 package (8 oz) light cream cheese, softened
1 cup butter, softened

CAKE
1. Lightly grease bottom and sides of three 9-inch round or square cake pans. Cut circles/squares of parchment paper to fit bottom of pans and place in pans. Lightly grease paper and set pans aside.

2. Combine sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Set aside.

3. In another large bowl, beat eggs for about 3 minutes, until they have thickened slightly and are lemon-coloured. Add buttermilk, coffee, oil, vanilla and melted chocolate. Mix until well blended.

4. Gradually add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix until batter is smooth. Divide batter equally among pans.

5. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes at 350 degrees F, until a toothpick inserted in centre of cakes comes out clean. Cool in pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove cake from pans, peel off paper and cool completely before frosting.

FROSTING
1. Whisk together sugar, cocoa, and whipping cream in a medium saucepan. Cook slowly over medium heat, whisking constantly, until mixture comes to a gentle boil. Cook 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in chocolate until melted. Stir in vanilla. Let cool to room temperature.

2. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and butter on high speed of an electric mixer until smooth. Add cooled chocolate mixture and beat on medium speed until well blended. Refrigerate frosting until desired spreading consistency is reached, about 1 hour. But don’t let it get too firm – you won’t be able to spread it!

3. To frost cake, place one cake layer on a plate. Spread 1 cup frosting over top. Repeat with second layer. Place final layer on top. Ice top and sides with remaining frosting.

Cover and refrigerate, but let cake stand at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving.

Some yummy bread…

I got this recipe from one of my best friends… and it is a keeper!!!

It is a simple bread made with oatmeal, millet and flax seeds (though I ran out of flax so I used sunflower seeds) and it is sweetened with Molasses…

This makes 5 loaves… so it is a large recipe.

You need:

2 cups of Oats
1 cup of Millet
1 cup of Flax seeds
2 tbsp of butter/oil
1/2 cup of Molasses
3 3/4 tsp salt
2 1/4 tsp yeast
Flour

Put the Oats in a large bowl and add the 4 cups of hot water and then add the butter (so it will melt).

In another bowl place the grains with equal amounts of hot water and soak.

When the water in the large bowl is warm to the touch, add the molasses. (if you are using intant yeast you can add it directly to the bowl, if you are using traditional yeast, proof it first and then add)

Add the soaked grains to the large bowl and then start adding flour. Add flour until the the dough starts to come together but is still very sticky… add the salt and mix it in and then let rest for 20 min.

Flour the counter and turn the dough out and knead for about 10 min or until elastic, adding flour as needed.

Shape into a ball and let rise.

Preheat oven to 350 and grease the bread pans.

Once dough has doubled, turn the out onto the counter, fold and cut into 5 pieces.

Bake for about 45 min or until ready (the bread will sound hollow when tapped)

Rising…