I tend to lose my appetite easily when it is grossly hot outside like it has been this week, tending towards fresh fruits and greens over carbs & meats. There’s just one problem with desiring such lighter fare day after day – I don’t consume enough calories and then I am hungry. So how to eat something more substantial when I don’t feel like anything heavy? Why of course, a chilled flavorful pasta salad!
Unfortunately, pasta salads for me often invoke images of mayonnaise laden macaroni concoctions at a sweltering hot picnic brunch that leave my stomach in that “sunken” feeling after eating, like a giant boulder decided to take up residence in my tummy. It’s usually not an awesome experience. However, thanks to my friend Stacy over at Little Blue Hen, her Greek pasta with colorful visions of artichoke hearts and olives was exactly the inspiration I needed. A light olive oil and vinegar dressing and some great bright flavors sounded perfect to me.
Most everything I had already in my pantry too, which means I didn’t have to go back out in the heat to the store to buy things. Not that going to the store is an issue, but climbing the freaking hill back up to our apartment is. Did I ever tell you that I am a complete wimp in the heat (especially if there is no A/C to be had)? There’s a reason why most of my work & travels have been to cooler regions, or why my husband and I chose the chilly windy New England shore in the Autumn rather than a tropical Caribbean island for our honeymoon. A beach all to myself on a day where the high is 50ºF with 30 knot winds? Now that’s my kinda vacation:
Continue reading Chilled Pasta Salad
Although I grew up in New England and have fond childhood memories of many regional treats like maple sugar candy, my family did not cook much fish. Actually, truth be told, I did not even know I liked fish until my early 20s. I started to become a bit more adventurous in this area upon moving to college, and distinctly remember a time during my summer in NYC when my friends and I were in Little Italy, and were faced with a decision of ordering seafood in a restaurant. My only previous experience eating ocean critters involved them being battered and deep-fried or in the form of clam chowder. I decided to be brave and show off my “New England upbringing” talking about how natural it was to eat seafood, and ordered a pasta dish with sautéed calamari. After all, I couldn’t let it be known that my seafood palate was so limited! I very loudly exclaimed to all my friends about how much I loved seafood (well, I was from New England after all) and that I would eat anything that came out of the ocean – we all ordered the calamari, but feeling some irrational need to show off, I was the first to try it. Looking back I really don’t know why, but it took a bit of courage for me to confront sea critters that did not come with a crispy batter coating. Luckily for me (and my reputation amongst my friends), I loved it upon the first bite – and ever since then, there really hasn’t been a dish involving a critter from the ocean that I have come across and wouldn’t try – from raw sea urchin roe in New Zealand to cod tongue in Newfoundland, I’ve definitely had some unique experiences!
During my then “newfound” love of seafood in my early 20s, as I was exploring tastes of fish and various shellfish, salmon was about the fishiest tasting dish that I really enjoyed. It’s funny, because salmon actually isn’t that fishy. Over the years I’ve been exposed to a much broader range of foods, but salmon still is one of my favorites. I’m not really sure what to think about news of a genetically modified version that could possibly be approved soon, and I’m often torn on whether we should really be eating any seafood at all given issues with all forms of fish populations.
We do eat fish a lot less frequently than when we were living in the States, if for no other reason than Switzerland is a land-locked country and so seafood always has to be imported in, making it a bit more expensive than local poultry or saucisson. But when we do, frequently I like to do something that involves little effort and yet imparts a lot of flavor – I love using a tamari base for marinades, because the salty umami flavor just blends so well with the quite distinct tasting salmon. And on a warm summer’s day, what could be easier than a marinade and then a quick pan-fry? Placed on a fresh bed of greens and topped with some onions made this a nice light, refreshing summer dinner 
How do you like to enjoy fish in the summer?? What are your favorite marinades?
Continue reading Marinated Pan-Fried Salmon
I don’t usually write about my failures in the kitchen – after all, who wants to try a recipe that didn’t work? However, at the risk of sounding cliché, I’m learning the slow lesson that life is not always about the end result, but about the process that one went through to get there.
Our hostesses this month, Evelyne of Cheap Ethnic Eatz, and Valerie of a The Chocolate Bunny, chose delicious pate with freshly baked bread as their June Daring Cook’s challenge! They’ve provided us with 4 different pate recipes to choose from and are allowing us to go wild with our homemade bread choice.
Daring Cooks always post on the 14th of the month, but I made this attempt over two weeks ago. So it appears a little out of order if you remember it was just last week that I had a miraculous find of guar gum in a natural foods store. This attempt happened before I had guar gum and before I found gluten free bread mix. We were charged with making baguettes, and after finding an awesome gluten free baguette recipe to try, learned that it would not happen without xanthan or guar gum. So, I took one of my sandwich bread recipes, and made a go without any binding agents by adding in some extra eggs and playing with the ratio of flours a bit. I have also since learned from one of my favorite gluten free chemists that gelatin or agar agar should never be used in baking, because they turn the products too brittle. I guess when making pitas or pizza dough it hasn’t been a problem for me because they are pretty flat to begin with, but for a crusty bread, brittle is definitely not a quality I’m looking for.
Continue reading Smoked Salmon Pâté
|
Copyright © 2008-2010 by Jenn Cuisine, All Rights Reserved. Do NOT use original graphics or written content without requesting and then receiving explicit permission. Please contact Jenn for all requests.
Disclaimer: I am NOT a licensed medical professional NOR am I a certified nutritionist. This site is NOT meant to be used in place of medical advice. You are responsible for your own consumption of foods. Consult a licensed medical professional before making any dietary changes. Contact manufacturer to inquire about allergy risks in specific food products.
|
