Here little fishy fish...

Every now and then (i.e., at least 4 times a week) I have a hankerin' for some tasty seafood. I'm certain that I would be OK with eating crab legs or shrimp nearly everyday if I could afford it. Mmmm yummy crustaceans... AND it turns out that shellfish is not actually high in cholesterol as the docs once warned us. Anyone that has picked up the newspaper or watched TV in the past decade knows how salmon provides those healthy Omega-3s and good cholesterol. Well, that's a real good thing since the recipe that follows has enough butter to counteract any thoughts of a super-healthy meal. Whew.

Last night I made Slow-Roasted Salmon with Potatoes from Food Network magazine. Holy smokes - it was so tasty that Rob snagged the rest of the leftovers for lunch today (he's not that into food). And do you know why it might be so delicious? BUTTER. 4 tablespoons of it goes into a very tasty 'herb-butter-sauce' (see green topping in above photo) that really makes this dish rate high. The rest of the fat comes from healthy olive oil (to roast the leeks and salmon). The filet cut of salmon was not particularly thick (1/4 inch), so I was a little concerned about it drying out too quickly. Therefore I only cooked it for the minimum time -- 30 minutes. I don't know if it was the low temperature, the olive oil, or the steam from the leeks, but the salmon was very juicy.

Besides the salmon, there were fingerling potatoes. I'm sure that the little red potatoes would be a fine substitute, but I love the cuteness of fingerlings (and some are blue - very cool). Some of the buttery goodness is mixed with the boiled potatoes... oh yeah. The other star of this meal are the roasted leeks. You roast them for ~30 minutes and then add the salmon to the top at a lower temp. Roasted *anything* is pretty amazing if you add olive oil and salt... even brussels sprouts... but that's for another entry.

Cheating

Not REALLY cheating. We didn't go out to eat, but I am using a shortcut tonight. A month or 2 ago I bought a mix for Potato Leek Soup from alice.com. Alice is a company here in Middleton, WI that I started using a few months ago. They are like Amazon, but specialize in household and dry goods. Their motto is something along the lines of ordering toilet paper. I have found the site to be handy. Typically, when I go to Target I spend about $50 no matter what. I go there planning on buying 3 or 4 things, but then I see the stuff I "need" and spend more. With Alice, I decide at home, compare prices, use coupons etc, and then it comes to my door. Typically in about 2 or 3 days. While this sounds incredibly lazy, the best thing to me is no more impulse buys. I am totally an impulse shopper. Even with a list, I buy more.

The packaging is eco friendly. They are efficient in packaging. The box I recycle every week (no plastic bags...) and the air pouches can go into recycling as well. I am not sure this is the best way to shop considering the carbon footprint, but I like to think that the fact that I am not buying more junk counteracts that.

Ok, back to the point. Potato Leek Soup. So, I have this package sitting in my pantry. So I decided to make it. Soup is always so good and hearty on a cold day. It's overcast and cold and freezing rain is in the forecast. Unfortunately, this is not a soup the kids will eat. So, the grown ups will eat this and for them it's a canned tomato soup with cheese. Not sure if it will be topped with cheddar or parm at this point.

So this soup does give me the opportunity to add my own touches. For example, I have to add 6 cups of chicken broth. I had 4 that were just plain from Swanson AND I happened to have 2 cups left over from when I made the Chicken & Dumplins' a few weeks ago. Let me tell you. Those 2 cups of homemade smell incredible. I am also adding my own Yukon Gold Potatoes. I love Yukons and I am sure I will go through the spice drawer and add something else.

Since it's not from scratch, it IS cheating a bit. I will let you know how it tastes.

Pizza Night!

Saturday I made Pizza. I made 2 pizzas - basically because I had made enough pizza dough for 2. It also made it easier for everyone to have what they wanted. The recipe I was working from was from The Pioneer Woman Cooks cook book. If you haven't checked out her blog, do it. The pictures she takes make you want to make the recipe right then and there. I got the cook book for Christmas and have made at least 3 or 4 of the recipes so far (maybe more).

The recipe for the pizza crust was as follows.

1 tsp or 1/2 packet active yeast
4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp kosher salt
1/3 cup extra Virgin Olive Oil plus more for drizzling

Pour 1 1/2 cups warm water into a bowl and sprinkle the yeast on top.

Combine the flour and salt in a mixing bowl. On low speed, drizzle the olive oil until mixed in.

Stir the water and yeast mixture and then drizzle into the flour and oil mixture. Mix until the dough forms a ball.

In a new bowl, coat liberally with olive oil and put the dough in. Flip over until it is completely coated in oil. Cover and let set for an hour or 2 or in the fridge for up to 2 days.

To make the pizza preheat the oven to 500 degrees.

Divide the dough in half and drizzle a little olive oil on a baking sheet or pizza pan (or stone!). Roll the dough out on the sheet. Layer on the desired toppings and bake for 8-10 mins!

Now, the pizza I made was the Potato Leek Pizza. I made a few modifications to her recipe, namely, no bacon ( I wanted to leave the door open for my son to try it, which he didn't) and no goat cheese (I AM trying to save money) and I added garlic.

Here's how I made it.
1 Large Yukon Gold Potato
2 Leeks
1lb fresh mozzarella
3 cloves minced garlic
Grated Parm
Pepper
Salt

I used my new Mandolin slicer to slice my potatoes very thin - like I was making potato chips. I also washed well the leeks (leeks are notorious for being dirty because of how they grow) and sauteed them for a few minutes with olive oil - until softened. I then placed the potatoes on the dough like shingles. Then added the mozzarella - big round white pieces of cheese all over the pizza. After the cheese I added the leeks and garlic. Topped it with salt, pepper and grated parm and cooked it up! It was better than I expected. Without the bacon, it needed the garlic. My kids chose not to eat this pizza so since I had the double recipe of dough, they got their own - half pepperoni and half onions & green pepper made "conventionally" with cheese and sauce. (their pizza is the 1st picture)