Cooking anyone?

Good Morning my lovely Friends! Since my schedule hasn't permitted me to do a lot of crafty things I thought I would share a yummy little recipe with you all. Hope you try it, as it is really delicious.

The weather has turned cold again, you could say frigid. It seems like a roller coaster at the moment, since just 3 days ago we had 70F and today we will be lucky if we reach 32F. I guess that just means we have to snuggle a little longer into our warm Blankies.  Spring..... Where is Spring? Please hurry up and come our way!

Oven Roasted Salmon w. Cauliflower & White Bean Sauté Recipe

Ingredients:

4 (4-5oz) salmon fillets - fresh wild salmon

juice of 1 lemon - cut lemon in half and set aside

1/2 cup dry white wine - optional

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 scallion - chopped medium fine

2 tablespoon Italian parsley - chopped

optional: 1 cup chicken stock - store bought may be used

course sea salt

cracked pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400°F

1. Heat olive oil in pan over medium high heat on the stove top. Season the salmon with pepper, place in pan skin side up. Reduce heat to medium and cook for about 3-5 minutes. Turn over and cook for an additional 3 minutes.

2. Move pan from heat and squeeze the juice from the lemon halves over salmon and add wine. Return to heat and let reduce for 1 minute. Finish in the oven, about 6-8 minutes, depending on desired doneness.

The Plate: Place the cauliflower sauté in the middle of the plate and place the salmon on top. Garnish with the chopped parsley and scallions.

Happy Friday Everybody!

Hope you have 

a fantastic 

weekend.

Erika

Sweet Potato Cauliflower Soup

Fall is in the air and YES I am so ready for it. This summer has been hard on me. Some people love and I mean love that hot weather. I am not one of them. Autumn officially starts this weekend and I am looking forward to the colors of fall, the changing of the leaves and the crisp night air. The only thing I don't like about fall and winter are the much shorter days. But we can't have it all.

This time of the year makes me think more again about those comfort foods, like soups and casseroles. With that said I thought I would share a soup recipe with you all. It is absolutely yummy. Enjoy!!

Sweet Potato Cauliflower Soup

• 1 large head cauliflower (the one I used was at least 7″ in diameter
• olive oil for drizzling
• Few dashes garam masala (optional)
• 3 medium to large sized peeled sweet potatoes, cut into 1″ pieces
• 1 sweet onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic
• 7 cups filtered water

First, preheat your oven to 400 °F and cut up your cauliflower into bite sized pieces. Sprinkle cauliflower lightly with garam masala. Place cauliflower onto ungreased cookie sheet and lightly drizzle with olive oil. Place in oven and let roast until golden brown on the tops and tender, but not mushy, about 20-30 minutes. There’s no need to flip ‘em. Just remove from oven and let cool while you cook the rest of the soup.

In large stockpot, bring sweet potato, onion, garlic and water to a boil. Salt (abt 3/4 tsp) and stir. Reduce heat and allow to remain at a constant simmer until sweet potatoes are tender. Add in cooked cauliflower and divide soup into 2 parts.

Let soup cool and then blend one part soup in blender until very smooth. Combine with second part soup and stir. Salt to taste and warm up over stovetop if needed.

German Cucumber Salad (Gurkensalat)

Since I don't seem to have much to share regarding my crafting front (except I did another 3 long rows on my giant granny), I thought I would share another German recipe with you all. Personally I could eat cucumbers any which way, but this is certainly one of my favorites. Since I live by myself, it is a quick snack that I can whip up in minutes. Luckily I had some nice gardening friends that shared some of their loot with me. Lucky girl I am, right? Well hope you try it sometimes.

Ingredients:

1 large cucumber
1 teaspoon salt
1 /4 cup red onion strips (optional)
1 tablespoon fresh herbs chopped
such as dill, parsley or basil (optional)

Dressing:
1/2 cup cider vinegar, wine vinegar
2 tablespoons oil
2 - 3 tablespoons sugar *

*Splenda can be substituted to lower calories or carbs.

Directions:

This salad can truly become something that folks will comment on at a dinner and request over and over. It has been handed down from generation to generation in our family as a favorite. Also most major cuisines, be they German , French, Asian or Africa or South America , cucumber salad is a favorite. It adds a refreshing contrast to rich foods.

This recipe goes through some of the techniques to achieve two important things in marinated cucumber salad;

1.Crisp and Crunchy

The right crunchiness of the cucumber slices because as there is a natural enzyme in the cukes that breaks down the structure and it's activated when the cucumber is cut.

2. Tart and Sweet Refreshing Dressing

Keeping the dressing from being diluted by the water leeching out into it. I have often eaten bland cucumber salad because there is so much water in it, and it also leeches out and thins the dressing.

I find that if you take part of the skin off they are still very colorful but not as tough So I peel the cucumbers but skip a row as I go around the cucumber.

Slice the cucumbers about 1/8 inch thick. I find that if they are too thin they get soggy fast..

I use a channel cutter that makes nice groves. You can buy them at kitchen
tool stores.

A fork works nicely to make groves also , You can either peel the cucumber or leave it
unpeeled if you want.

If you have an older cucumber you can it in half , and then scoop out the tough seeds.

Then I cut in half and slice wedges.

Ok on to removing some of the moisture from the cucumbers and making them crisp.

The usual way to get water out of the cucumbers is to salt them and let them sit for awhile.

After 15 to 20 minutes you can see the board is soaked. The problem with this is that it is easy to over
wilt the cucumbers and they can become soggy. There is also an enzyme in the cucumbers that tends to break down the structure of the cucmbers that is activated when you cut them.

Cook's Illustrated Test Kitchen did a bit of research and found that you can put the slices between paper towels and let the water wick out of the cucumber. This is also a good way if you want a slat free cucumber salad. If you want you can salt these cukes just a bit and it will hasten the process.

You can see the wet paper towels after about 20 minutes even without salt.

This is the difference with salt and no salt. the one on the left is no salt and the one on the right has been salted. The same amount of slices, but the salt breaks them down much more.

I started out with half a cup of apple cider vinegar

I simmered it, NOT boil as this tends to dull the taste of the vinegar.

I reduced it by half , but 1 / 3 would have done just fine.

Then add the sugar

Add the oil

Add the onions and herbs if you want and taste. You can add salt and pepper if you want and let it sit
in the fridge a bit. I think you will be happy that the slices have a really great texture!

German Goulash Soup

Since we been having cooler weather in our neck of the woods over the last few days, it makes me think of making soups and other hearty dishes. This is one of my favorite comfort foods......Goulash Soup. My grandma would always make this soup in the fall and winter month. Hope you will enjoy this recipe as well.

2 lbs. Beef, cut in 1/2 inch cubes
2 cloves garlic
1 green bell pepper, chopped
3 oz. Tomato paste
1 tbsp. Caraway seed
Beef bouillon
Salt and pepper (to taste)
1/4 to 1/2 c. Sour cream
2 med. Onions, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
3 lg. Potatoes, chopped
3 tbsp. Paprika
3 cans beef broth (may need more)
1/4 c. Flour

Brown onion until transparent. Add beef and brown on all sides. Add garlic, tomato paste and spices. Add broth and simmer 1 to 2 hours. Add peppers and potatoes and simmer 1 more hour. Add sour cream. Make a paste of flour and broth from soup and dilute slowly to prevent lumps. Add back to soup. Simmer to thicken and let the flavors blend, about 15 to 30 minutes. Makes 6 to 7 quarts.

Enjoy!!

Cucumber & Potatoe Soup from Germany

Today I thought I would share a little German Recipe with you all. At the moment many of you have fresh Cucumbers and Potatoes in your gardens and might want to try something a little different. Enjoy!!

Ingredients:

1 medium cucumber
4 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups cold water
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup milk
1 green onion, grated
1 teaspoon dried dill weed
or 1 tablespoon fresh chopped dill

Cooking Directions:

Peel the cucumber and slice it lengthwise. Scoop out seeds with a spoon and discard. Dice cucumber. In a heavy 2 1/2-quart saucepan boil potatoes in salted water until the potatoes are very soft. Pour potatoes and cooking liquid into a sieve or food mill set over a large bowl. Force potatoes through. Return to the saucepan. Stir in pepper, cream, milk, grated onion and the cucumber. Simmer gently about 5 minutes or until the cucumber is tender. Add dill and season to taste. Serve hot.

Sorry I have no picture available to go along.

See you all back tomorrow.......I hope.