Salmon Pink

Olive oil and lemon marinated Salmon

Here in Portland, Oregon, the summer is mostly glorious! Although the temperature seldom reaches 100 degrees with minimum humidity, some evenings we opt out to make a no-heat, nice, light, A.K.A.appetizer for our dinner.

Not sure where I got the recipe…the marinated salmon on toasted French baguette we love, however, bread is optional, simply put it on the sliced cucumber for gluten free and less calorie version.

Ingredients and Instruction for marinating salmon (Print Recipe Here)

• Medium size onion, thinly sliced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 3 Tablespoons  white wine vinegar 
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• Salmon – sashimi grade thinly sliced (I used about 1/3 pound)
• 1 lemon, washed well, cut lengthwise fist then thinly sliced
• 1-2 fresh dill stems, chopped

1. Put thinly sliced onion in the bowl and sprinkle with salt and mix well, let sit for 5 minutes. Squeeze the juice out. Set aside.
2. Combine olive oil, wine vinegar, salt and sugar well in a small bowl. Set aside.
3. Place prepared onion evenly distributed in a shallow glass dish with rim,
4. Single layer the salmon on top of the onion, sliced lemon on top of salmon. Stir the olive oil mixture before pouring over the salmon. Scatter the dill on top. Cover with plastic wrap.Chill for at least 3 hours or overnight.
5. Serve with sliced baguette, crackers or cucumber.

Gifts from friends – Home grown Kale is sheer beauty!

Then I received handmade cards by Jalna in the mail. I was touched. Too beautiful to let go…can I just keep them in a keepsake box?

The table my husband was working on was finally stained (antique red)!
The painting was done by moi, My son-in-law made the vase.

Miss-happening occurred playing basket ball the other day…seriously? My husband spent a few days in the horizontal position.

He must get better fast! We’re ready to go to Japan soon…  

See you in a few weeks!

PS – I greatly appreciate you all for visiting my blog. 

Dome

Crab and Brie Bake

May you have warm words on
a cold evening, a full moon on a
dark night and a smooth road
all the way to your door.

This gentle Irish prayer reflects my thoughts for those who were affected by the tsunami three years ago today. The enormity of the aftermath is still evident and lives of many were changed that day.

The anniversary happened to fall on Tuesday this year, my blog day. I went back to check my old post to see what I was feeling that day three years ago, more of the same feelings - sadness of course, powerlessness and fear…I pray that time is kind and people find hope and happiness even if it’s still in darkness.  My son and my husband (my son is in back wearing towel, my husband is next to him in dark shirt) traveled to Japan to volunteer for clean up efforts in 2011.

Oh hello there… I found Fillo sheets inside the freezer. It must be more than 6 months old. I think I had a plan for this but what was it? It’s time for plan B. I improvised one of the recipe in a ‘Award winning Fillo Recipes’ booklet.The recipe is simple however, fillo demands a most delicate touch which is not my strong suit.

Ingredients and Instruction for Crab and Brie Bake for 2-4 servings (Print recipe here)

 

• 1/2 cup crab meat

• 1 Tablespoon of fresh chives finely chopped
• 1-2 Tablespoons mayonnaise
• Lemon juice 1-2 teaspoons
• Cayenne pepper 1/8 teaspoon or more 
• Salt and pepper
• 8oz brie
• Fillo sheets or Puff pastry dough. Defrost over night in refrigerator
• Olive oil 1/4 cup or more or melted butter 
• 1 egg for egg wash

1. In a medium bowl, mix crab meat, chive, mayonnaise cayenne pepper and lemon juice. Salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
   
2. Prepare fillo –Unfold and lay flat for sometime to get crease out. Brush 1/2 sheet with olive oil and fold in half. Repeat 8 more times. Prevent the fillo sheet from drying by covering with plastic wrap and a moist towel. Lay the prepared fillo sheets in a sunburst design.
3. Remove rind from top of brie and place on the center of the sunburst. Top with crab meat mixture. Press to make dome form.
4. Fold over fillo sheets over from top layer sheets and so on. Trim fillo if needed as you go.
   
5. Heat oven to 375F. Lay foil on the cooking sheet or just simply grease the baking tray. Place fillo wrapped crab and brie on top of it.
6. In a small bowl beat egg and 1 Tablespoon of water. Brush fillo with egg mixture. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm. Garnish with mixture of mayonnaise and wasabi paste if you like.

The accompanying warm soup was not really that complementary. Spinach soup is vegan, gluten free and has 8 servings of vegetables in it. Although the color is wonderful, It tasted like a warm spinach smoothie. Get me some ice cubes! A Happy St. Patrick's Day to you!

 

I didn’t notice last week but cherry blossom is already happening.

Have a blessed week!

Petit Parcels

Prunes and Cheese Bites

Small packages are delivered to the table. Delightful little bites are wondrous gifts for the evening. The sweetness of prune and creamy cheese lessen the melancholy just a touch. Returning home from a trip always puts me in a sappy mood like that. As if the laughter of yesterday is already turning to nostalgia.

My husband I were able to spend time in the Happiest Place on Earth with our daughter and granddaughter thanks to the TECHmunch Conference last week. The well planned, information packed conference was only a day event and rest of the days were all play. Yahoo! We, the conference attendees, feasted on an array of fabulously presented appetizers at the reception and lunch. This is my take on little bites. Nothing heavy yet well wrapped.

Ingredients and instruction (Print Recipe)

Items to prepare – 2 damp moist towels, a few stacks of paper towels on the plate.

• Large seedless prunes (I used 10 prunes)
• Cream cheese – goat cheese is a great substitute
• Square spring roll pastry –  may use wonton wrapper but texture will be different. Cut in 4ths.
  
• Oil for frying approximately 2 cups

1. Make a slit in the middle of the prune with a sharp knife.
2. Stuff cream cheese or goat cheese inside about 1 Tablespoon
3. Wrap with spring roll. I used a dab of cream cheese to secure the end. Note; always keep spring roll wrapper and already made packages under the moist towel to prevent from drying. 
4. Heat oil in a heavy pan to 340F or 170C. Fry a few at a time until the packages develop light brown color. Turn onto the prepared paper towel to absorb excess oil.
5. Serve as is or with small amount of sriracha chili sauce.

Fried pickle – One of the appetizers we had at the conference was a fried pickle(it is in front of the burger). I made my version of that too. Just wipe the baby pickle very well with paper towel, wrap, secure with tooth pick then fry. 

In all honesty, I was somewhat overwhelmed with this conference. Mainly because I don’t have a clear destination. I wander all over the map and can’t find the station. I admire food bloggers who work hard for their dream. I’m extremely grateful for organizers for this event, especially Babette of bakespace.com It was awesome!

Familiar faces – (I apologize for the bad photos) beside my daughter, I met a few bloggers I already knew…that made me at ease. D of kitchencorners and Ben of  youfedbabychilli We spent some time at California Adventure. Lovely people!  Their Children and my granddaughter played well together. I stayed behind with kids while they rode ‘Tower of Terror’. They loved it…yeah right.

 

We left my daughter and granddaughter at Disneyland Friday evening around 6:00 PM. My husband and I were exhausted from walking all day but they still wanted to play….are you kidding? The pass is good till 11:00 PM said my daughter. Whatever! Just the two of us dined at Morton Steak House. This is their famous Hot Chocolate Cake with Haagen-Dazs ice cream…a la! it tastes a lot like lava cake. It was hard to take good pic in the dimly lit restaurant.  I’m thankful for the opportunity to attend conference also for four days of blessed trip. I miss my daughter and granddaughter already (sob).

Crisp

Nagoya Style Chicken Wings

My desire to go to Japan was heightened while I was making these chicken wings. When my husband and I travel to Japan, we usually stay in Nagoya the first night. As we age, our coping mechanism for jet lag will diminish and all we want is to sleep in a horizontal position. The city of Nagoya is between places and we know a great hotel to crash at. We did this same travel pattern often enough that we feel know Nagoya Station well. No matter how late we get there, we drop off our luggage in the room then hurriedly go down to a convenience store to buy puddings or musubi (rice ball)….that is the sort of things I long for…

This recipe is from Masahiro Kasahara (笠原将弘)’s cookbook ‘Let me handle the chicken wings too’ (手羽も俺に任せろ). He is owner of ‘Pros and Cons Arguments(賛否両論) ‘ restaurant in Tokyo. The place has far more favorable than negative reviews of course and it’s very hard to get a reservation. He has studied cooking since he graduated from high school and his late father was also a cook. It’s in his DNA to be in this field I bet. He practices Christianity and despite devastating loss of his wife last year, he makes best efforts as a chef and as a single dad for his three young daughters. Last September he opened the 2nd same name restaurant in Nagoya. I hope we could find this dig next time there. You see, we are only familiar with inside the perimeter of the station.  

Ingredients and instruction for 8 to 10 chicken wings (Print Recipe)

• 8 to 10 chicken wings

• For Marinate – sake 2 Tablespoons, salt 1 teaspoon

• Potato starch 3-4 Tablespoons

• Glaze – Mix all in small sauce pan - sake, soy sauce, mirin 4 Tablespoons each, rice vinegar 2 Tablespoons, sugar 1 Tablespoon, grated ginger 1 teaspoon and grated garlic 1 teaspoon

•  Oil for frying

• White toasted sesame seeds

1. Cut off chicken wing ends and keep the middle part. Save two other parts for chicken stock (see pic) etc..
   

2. Prick the chicken with fork
   

3. Rub chicken with sake and salt and let rest for 1-2 minutes. Wipe lightly with paper towel.
   

4. Coat wings generously with potato starch.

5. Heat oil to 356 F. Fry wings until golden color; approximately 4-5 minutes
   

6. While the wings are frying, boil glaze until it thickens some.

7. Brush the liquids over the just-fried wing on the skin side only and sprinkle with white sesame seeds. Serve with lots of napkins!
    

Crispy, Sweet and Salty chicken wings are sure hit with the Super Bowl crowd! Go Seahawk!

Last week…I noticed the tree had some buds coming in and tulips start shooting up… Why on earth I could complain about slightly below 40 degree weather since other parts of the country are freezing?

Large piece of cherry pie shared from a neighbor. I looked for ice cream in our freezer but there was none. I whipped up cream by hand. Mmmm, life is grand! Or cherry on top?

Thank you for reading thus far. Wishing you a wonderful week!

Oh one more thing…my husband is tweaking my blog and he designed that ‘nippon nin’ logo. Whada ya think?