Magical Salmon: Delicious Dinner Turns to Gourmet Breakfast Right Before Your Eyes!

Babe and I hosted Thanksgiving at our home again this year as it is our favorite holiday and I love to cook. This year, however, I decided to make an entree that our non-turkey gobblers could enjoy. The dish went over so well that we brought the leftovers to an extended family party the next day. Everyone loved it so much that I figured I would share the recipe:

Salmon en Croute
Serves 4

Ingredients for the Salmon

4 individual salmon fillets, skinned
1 shallot, chopped
1 clove of garlic, crushed
1/2 bag chopped frozen spinach, thawed
1 container of fresh sliced mushrooms
1 tbs cream cheese
1 tbs butter
1 tbs truffle oil (olive oil can be used as a substitute)
Egg wash ( 1 egg and 1 tbs of water beaten together)
2 boxes of frozen puff pastry sheets (thawed)

Directions

1. Preheat over to 375 degrees
2. Add butter and truffle or olive oil to large saute pan
3. Saute shallots and garlic for about a minute on medium heat then add mushrooms. Saute until mushrooms start to give off liquid then add pan contents to food processor.
4. Add spinach to now empty saute pan and return to heat until spinach is cooked. Add spinach to food processor.
5. Add cream cheese to food processor and pulse until a chunky paste forms.
6. Salt and pepper salmon fillets and add a drizzle of olive oil to same saute pan used earlier. Saute the salmon until just slightly cooked on the outsides (you want it to be rare as it will continue to cook in oven)
7. Spray a cookie sheet with non stick and lay out puff pastry sheets. You will use one sheet (cut in half) per fillet.
8. Spoon about 2 tbs of the mixture from food processor onto one halved sheet then place salmon on top and cover with other halved sheet. Press sides to seal and brush egg wash on top. Repeat for remaining fillets.
9. Bake for 30 minutes or until pastries start to turn golden-brown in color.

Ingredients for Dipping Sauce

1 cup sour cream
1 tbs fresh chopped dill plus some for garnish
1 tsp mustard
1 1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice

Directions for Dipping Sauce

1. Combine all ingredients and garnish with chopped dill


Stumped for what to make Christmas morning? Here is a simple way to turn it into an elegant brunch dish:

Salmon en Croute with Poached Egg and Sherry Cream Sauce

Ingredients

4 Eggs
1/2 cup Sherry
1 cup heavy cream
1 tsp paprika
2 tbs minced onion
2 tbs butter

Directions

1. Press top of salmon en croute to create a divot to place poach egg so it wont roll off and poach four eggs to preference.
2. In a sauce pan over medium/low heat, add 1 tbs butter and onions
3. Once onions turn translucent, add sherry and let reduce to half
4. Add cream and let thicken then add paprika
5. Add tbs of butter and let sit over low heat. Salt/pepper to taste.
6. Top salmon en croute with poached egg and then spoon sauce over top.

If you don't have the ingredients or time to make the sherry cream sauce, you can turn this dish into a creative Eggs Benedict and make hollandaise sauce out of the packet. I always keep a couple of the McCormick brand handy. It is a delicious mix and a huge time saver.

Enjoy!

Grocery Shopping Carts Should Have Horns

That is all.

7 Minutes 'til Heaven

I make this pasta dish when I don't have a ton of time to devote to dinner. It's cheap and it's packed with yummy veggies. You can also add in grilled, poached, or sauteed shrimp or chicken if you want some added protein or to make it a more filling dish.  I call it "Mediterranean Pasta" and it literally takes less than 10 minutes to prepare:

Mediterranean Pasta

Ingredients

• Pasta - I like to use Fettuccine, Linguine, or Pappardelle, but you can really use any kind.
• 2-3 sun dried tomatoes chopped fine
• 1 medium sized fresh tomato chopped
• 1 shallot or 1/4 onion chopped
• 1 Tbs fresh dill chopped and 1 tsp fresh dill chopped
• 1 tsp lemon zest
• 1 can of artichoke hearts chopped
• 1 package crumbled feta
• Olive oil
• 2 Tbs butter
• Salt

Directions

1. Bring water to a boil and cook pasta to package instructions (make sure you salt water a lot)

2. In a large saute pan add about a Tbs of olive oil and a Tbs of butter over medium heat. Place shallots/onions, 1 Tbs fresh chopped dill, and the sun dried tomatoes to the oil/butter. Let simmer for about 2 minutes. Add artichokes and lemon zest.

3. When pasta is finished, drain but do not rinse. Place pasta back into hot pot. Add a Tbs of butter, a Tbs of olive oil, and a sprinkling of salt. Mix to coat pasta then add the tsp of dill and the crumbled feta. Mix into pasta evenly then add the fresh tomatoes and the contents from the saute pan. Mix all together then add shrimp, chicken, crushed red pepper, or any other optional ingredients.

Getting drunk is Easier than Baking Cookies

This past weekend I attended a cookie share party at my friend Teresa's house. Teresa had the same party last year and it was a lot of fun so I was really looking forward to it. I was especially anxious because my organic peanut butter cookies had been below par last time and I was eager to step it up this year so that my cookies would mesh in seamlessly with the other beautifully decorated, doughy art forms that seemed to grace the table last year.  For those of you who don't know what a cookie share is, you basically bake and package a dozen cookies for each guest as well as an additional plate for tasting during the party. This way guests can try the cookies at the party then bring home dozens of different kinds of cookies to make assorted cookie plates to use as gifts (or to eat - like I do).

This year I decided to make sugar cookies. In my mind, I saw beautifully colored and frosted Christmas shapes with sprinkles. On my counter, I saw globs of randomly shaped dry and flaky mounds with no appetite appeal whatsoever.

I had quite a dilemma as I had already baked about 50 of my 108 cookies. I started to panic. I decided to add another egg to moisten things up. The cookies were coming out much better and I was feeling a bit more confident so I added some sprinkles. When all 108 cookies were finally finished I looked at my counter and saw the most inconsistent display ranging from small quarter-sized floury catastrophes to huge hand-sized glittery masterpieces. My new issue was now what to serve at the party and what do I give to people to take home? Do I face everyone as they try to palette and swallow the nightmare batches or do I bask in the praise of how delicious they are while deceiving them later when they open their tins to see I had false advertised?

I eventually decided to compromise and packaged some good with the bad and plated the same. Then I made homemade eggnog and spiked it. A lot. I figured if I could just get everyone drunk before they ate my cookies, then they should taste just fine. And so by popular demand, I present you with my eggnog recipe that more than made up for my cookie catastrophe:

Ingredients

• 4 cups milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 12 egg yolks
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 cups light rum
• 1 cup bourbon
• 2 cups light cream
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions

1. Combine milk, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, and cinnamon in a saucepan, and heat over lowest setting for 5 minutes. Slowly bring milk mixture to a boil.
2. In a large bowl, combine egg yolks and sugar. Whisk together until fluffy. Whisk hot milk mixture slowly into the eggs. Pour mixture into saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly for 3 minutes, or until thick. Do not allow mixture to boil. Let cool for about an hour.
3. Stir in rum, bourbon, cream, and 2 teaspoon vanilla. Refrigerate several hours before serving.