Fresh Salmon Cakes

While not everyone may have had these, I'm sure everyone has heard of them. But do you even know how hard it was to find a recipe that used fresh salmon. After two dozen recipes that called for a can of salmon flakes, I thought I was going to have to just wing it.

So I left my comfort zone website of dependable recipes and did a search. It was scary, the blue links that just appeared, no pictures to go along with the recipes....

Lucky for you, I put myself through that so you don't have to. I went through a few different recipes and picked the things I liked from them and put it all together.

Here's what happened in my kitchen.

• 2lbs Fresh Salmon, make sure it is boneless.
• 2 1/2 Tbsp Miracle Whip
• 1/4 cup Onion, finely diced
• 2 Green Onion, finely sliced
• 2 Tbsp Parsley
• 3/4 tsp Sea Salt
• Juice and Zest from half a Lemon
• 2 slices White Bread, crusts removed, finely chopped
• 3/4 cup All-purpose Flour
• 3 Eggs, slightly beaten
• 2 tsp Canola Oil
• 1 cup Bread Crumbs

• Canola Oil, for pan frying

Remove salmon skin, discard.

Finely chop salmon, 1/4-1/3" pieces

In medium bowl, mix salmon bits with Miracle Whip, onions, parsley, salt, lemon juice and zest and bread bits.

Form into patties, you should get 8 or 9 easily from this. If patties are really mushy, or don't really hold their shape, add extra bread or bread crumbs a little at a time until you get the consistency you want.

Place on parchment covered baking sheet.

Place in freezer for 15-20 minutes. This helps them to keep their shape while handling, but it's up to you.

Set out three shallow dishes.

1. The flour
2. The eggs and 2 tsp oil
3. The bread crumbs

Heat your canola oil in a skillet on medium heat. Don't let it smoke.

Run the patties through each of your dishes, ensuring that they are fully coated. 

Cook each patty for 2-3 minutes on each side, they should be a nice golden brown. Not a light shade, but you don't want them to be really dark.

When you take them out of the skillet, rest them on a dish with paper towel to absorb some of the oil that is on them.

Serve as a side with some fresh steamed veggies, or you can use them as salmon-burgers with all the fixings.

If you are planning on making these and saving some for another day, they can be frozen after they go through the three dishes of coating. Just put the patties on a parchment covered cookie sheet and freeze. Once they are solid, you can bag them.  To cook from frozen, adjust your cooking time as required. 

That's my taste on it.

Kids in the Kitchen

Cooking great meals can be challenging. Cooking great meals while dealing with kids can feel impossible. I have found that if I get them involved we all enjoy the experience more.

Granted, kids can't do everything. I would never ask my kids to stir a pan of boiling sugar; but they can beat eggs, stir ingredients and fetch different items from the pantry or fridge.

Even if they don't understand what is going on, they can still enjoy the experience. I do my grocery shopping early in the morning and I take the baby with me. She has no idea what is going on, but she understands tone and smiles. Maybe on some level she even understands what I am saying.

So when we are in the produce section, I explain to her how to pick out veggies and which fruits are best and why we don't want bruised apples. I'll hold up two items and let her pick which one goes in the cart. The one that gets the big smile and the grabby hands is the winner.  It may not mean anything now, but getting myself into the habit of including her in our choices and picking the item she shows a preference to (even if they are completely identical) helps me to include her. The sooner I can develop these habits the easier it will be when she is older.

My older daughter and I went to my Mother's house on the weekend and we made bread. She likes to knead the dough, but the best part is punching to down once it has risen.

Kids also need to learn the responsibilities in the kitchen as well. It is very common in our house for the kids to clear the table, unload and reload the dishwasher, and sweep the floor. I can feel my anxiety climb when the kitchen isn't tidy. I'm not saying it has to be polished all the time, but it should definitely be organized.  It is a rare day that there are dishes in the sink by the time dinner is on the table.

It's the little things that count, and where they can help out let them!

Tasty Boneless Wings

I can't think of a single person who isn't a fan of wings. Hot wings, sweet and sour, teriyaki, you name it. The vast majority of people can't get enough of them. Why do you think there are pubs everywhere with wing night? What could be better?

Boneless wings.

This recipe is great if you are making appetizers or as the main dish. You can have them hot or cold, they are fantastic the next day, or to satisfy that late night craving!

For the Chicken:

• 2-3 Skinless Chicken Breasts
• 2/3 - 1 cup Cornstarch
• Salt and Pepper (just a bit to season)
• 4-5 Tbsp Canola Oil
• 3 Large Eggs, beaten

For the Sauce:

You can use whatever sauce you want, you need about a cup for this recipe. But if you are looking for some quick and easy sauces, check out this page.

Cut the chicken into 1" bits or strips, whichever you prefer.

Heat the oil in a large skillet.

Put the chicken and the cornstarch, along with the salt and pepper in a large ziploc bag, and shake it about, making sure each piece is nicely coated.

Pre-heat oven to 325F.

Dip each piece in the egg and then place in hot oil. Make an even layer inside the skillet. 

Cook for a couple minutes on each side.

Remove the chicken from the skillet and put into an oven safe dish.

Cover with sauce.

Bake at 325F for 45 minutes; after 20 minutes turn the chicken pieces over to ensure that both sides are coated with sauce. Check a large piece to make sure it's cooked through.

Plate with whichever sides you want. If you choose a spicy sauce, I'd recommend rice.

If you'd like more than one flavour, then just split the bits into two or more oven safe dishes, and use a different sauce for each.

Super Sauces

In a lot of cases, the right sauce makes the dish. Well, you make the dish, but the sauce makes the dish. The right sauce turns a good meal into a great meal. The wrong sauce ... well, let's not go there; it's not a pretty place for anyone.

Sauce doesn't have to be scary. In fact, it doesn't have to come from a bottle. Why use the store bought stuff, when you can take five minutes, or less, and make your own? Seems silly when you think about it, right?

Here's a few to get you started.

Teriyaki:

• 2/3 cup Soy Sauce
• 1/3 cup Honey
• 1 Clove Garlic, crushed

Sweet and Sour:

• 1/4 cup Brown Sugar
• 1/2 cup White Sugar
• 1/3 cup White Vinegar
• 2/3 cup Water
• 1/4 cup Soy Sauce
• 1 Tbsp Ketchup

Hot and Sweet:

• 1/3 cup Hot Sauce
• 1 cup Light Brown Sugar
• 1 Tbsp Water
• 2 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
• 1/4 tsp Salt

You can turn any of these into a dipping sauce by adding 1 or 2 Tbsp cornstarch, heat on medium, stirring constantly until thick.

Have a good sauce? I'd love to try it out. 

Soft Granola Bars

Granola bars are great. Excellent if you're feeling a bit peckish, wonderful when you're on the go, and great for the kids' lunches. But they can be on the pricey side; especially when you have two kids and there are six bars in a box. So, to save emergency trips to the store, why not try your own?

Here is a great recipe that takes hardly any time at all to make.

• 4 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2/3 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/3 cup brown sugar

Mix it all in a big bowl. It's tough to mix with a spoon, so feel free to use your hands.

After it's all mixed up, you can add the fun stuff. You'll want about two cups total of the additive, so you can use as much or as little of the below ideas to make up your two cups. Though they may be a bit crumbly if you are solely using a dry ingredient like nuts.

• Semi-sweet chocolate chips
• Almond slivers or other nut
• Raisins
• Dried cranberries or other berries
• Diced apple pieces

Fold in your additive and then press lightly into a parchment lined pan. This makes thick bars in a 9x13" pan, if you want thinner bars, use a large cookie sheet.

Bake for about 18-20 minutes (or until golden brown) at 325F.

Allow to cool for 10-15 minutes before cutting into desired portions. Then allow them to cool completely before you remove them from the pan.

Wrap individually and store in air-tight container, so they don't dry out.

For mine, I used 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips and 1 cup almond slivers. Before I put them in the oven I sliced up some dates and scattered them about on top, pressing them in slightly so they wouldn't fall off. I found them to be on the chocolatey side, but the kids love them.

That's my taste on it.

Super Easy Biscotti

Biscotti is a scary thing. It's a cookie, but then it's baked again and then again. It's a tough thing to jump right into; especially when you have kids who are all like, "You're making cookies?!"

If you have never made biscotti before, my advice is this: find two hours where you won't have any interruptions, or at the very least minimal ones. During this time review the recipe once or twice, get all your ingredients ready, and take it one step at a time.

Here is the recipe I use. And I love it!

• 3 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 3 eggs
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• 1 Tbsp extract of choice (almond, anise, lemon, etc.)

Preheat oven to 375F, line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Blend all the ingredients in a medium bowl. The dough will become very sticky. Very sticky.

*I keep a small bowl of water on the side to dip my hands in when handling the dough. I have found that it doesn't change the recipe all that much and it makes it far easier to work with.*

Divide the dough into two equal pieces.  Form each piece into a log close to the length of the cookie sheet and flatten to about 1/2 inch thick.

Bake for 18-25 minutes, (22 for those of you in Calgary, AB) until edges become golden brown.

Remove from oven and place to cool on cooling rack.

When cookie log is cool enough to handle safely, cut into 1/2 inch strips; across or diagonally. I set the ends that are too small on the side and let my kids at them later. They are too small to be re-baked.

Put the cookie pieces on their side on the baking sheet and return to the oven for another 5 or 6 minutes, the bottoms will be lightly toasted.

Turn the cookies over and return to the oven for another 5 or 6 minutes.

Allow to cool completely.

It's as easy as that. True story.

Ready for some variations?

• Instead of a Tbsp of extract, add a different spice, to taste. This will colour the cookie a bit and it will reduce the stickiness of the dough in the beginning, but not by much. 
• Melt some chocolate to drizzle over the top, or give the bottoms a little bath.
• Add half a cup of dried berries or chopped nuts for some extra texture. 
• Add 1-1 1/2 Tbsp fresh zest.

I especially love this recipe because the cookies aren't as tooth-breaking as some of the ones I have tried from the store. Even if you don't want to have coffee or tea with these, you can still eat them!

I use chopped up almonds and 1 Tbsp of almond extract. They come out so delicate and full of texture.

That's my taste on it.

A New Spin on Hummus

I'm not a fan of Hummus. I don't like the smell, I don't really like the taste, and the texture ... so awful.

The Man, however, loves it. A lot.

So being the wonderful companion that I am, I made it for him.

We forgot to grab Tahini, so I had to improvise. Which was the best thing that could ever have happened.

Asian Sesame Hummus:

• 2 x 19oz cans of chickpeas, drained and rinsed.
• 2/3 cup Kraft Asian Sesame Dressing
• 1/2 cup Lemon Juice
• 4 cloves Garlic, peeled and halved
• 1 1/2 tsp Salt
• 2 Tbsp Olive Oil

Put it all in the blender and beat the tar out of it.

Serve.

The Asian Dressing takes the place of the Tahini which is what I suspect gives hummus the hummus-y texture. You can probably reduce the dressing to half a cup, but I really like it. Your call.

This makes a double batch, so it's great for parties and whatnot. It also freezes beautifully, so you can always squirrel some away for another day.

I was really pleased with how this turned out. It's very smooth, more like a paste than the store-bought stuff. And it's really tasty. Which surprised me.

My sister recommended using dried chickpeas and then soaking them so that you don't get all the preservatives that are in the canned variety. I'll try that next time.

When I remember to get a picture, I'll put one up.

That's my taste on it.

The Steam Buns

I've always wanted to know how they make those tasty little buns at Asian restaurants. All steamy and wonderful. The ones where there may or may not be a little treat hidden inside; plum pudding, BBQ'd meat the possibilities were only limited by my own imagination.

I was watching the Food Network, and what do I see?

Steam Buns!

Yeah, I made those. The bottom one in the right picture is my favourite. I mean, just look at it.

So here it is; the recipe I used*:

• 1 part coconut milk
• 2 parts self rising flour
• pinch of salt

Blend until smooth, super sticky dough.

Spread some flour on your work space and dump the dough out. 

Flour your hands and knead the dough until it becomes firm and waaay less sticky.

Divide into portions depending on the size of bun you want. I did 13.

Put each portion in a doubled up muffin paper.

Arrange in your steamer and steam for about 10-12 minutes. 

It's totally okay to peek. I did. A lot.

Too boring for you? Okay, how about some variations:

• Instead of coconut milk, use a different liquid. 
• Grate some cheese and add it into the dough
• When the dough is workable, add a filling. A piece of meat, some cheese, fresh fruit or vegetables
• Sprinkle the tops with sugar
• Put chocolate inside. 

Think 13 buns might be too much for one meal? You're probably right. Let the leftovers cool a bit, then put them in ziplock bags. They'll last for a couple days, and have the consistency of scones. Terrific with jam.

That's my taste on it, I'd love to know if it worked for you!

Also, don't use decorative muffin papers in your steamer, unless you want the image transferred to the wood. Oops!

*Jamie Oliver's 15 Minute Meals, January 2013

Self Rising Flour

I recently came across a recipe for steam buns and I really wanted to try them. However they called for something called "Self Raising Flour".

I had no idea what that was, so I went to the supermarket to get some. I couldn't actually find a flour that was called "Self Raising". I did, however, find a flour called "Pastry Flour" which claimed it would be best for lighter and fluffier cakes and pastries. 

I'm sure you can see where my logic train went. It must be the same thing.

It wasn't; not even a little bit.

The attempt at steam buns with Pastry Flour sank. Like a brick. Literally.

The buns turned out to be gel-like bricks with a very heavy, chewy consistency. 

Not to be discouraged. I had my mom get the right kind of flour. One that actually said "Self Raising", so we could give it another bash.

And it worked. Beautifully!!!  Just one problem; self raising flour is ridiculously expensive. Without giving actual numbers, I could buy the buns from the Asian market near my house for less than it cost me to make them. Which kinda defeats the purpose.

So I hopped online and found that I could MAKE my own self rising flour. The recipe that I used can be found here.

And it's AWESOME! I cannot even begin to tell you how utterly well this worked. The buns turned out light and fluffy. And because the batch was more than I could handle in one sitting, I simply bagged the remaining buns and they taste just like scones the next day.

Brilliant.

For those of you that don't really feel like clicking the link above, the recipe (which is not mine, just to be clear) is as follows:

Sift together:

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt (I use sea salt because table salt doesn't get to come into my house)
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder

Then just use it as the recipe calls for.

My Taste on It. It's Clever when you think about it

As this will become very evident throughout the blog, I'm just going to get this out of the way now. I don't know much about cooking. Moreover, I don't know much about specialty ingredients, specialty cooking terms, or the difference between boiling and poaching.

Anyway, I've developed this huge interest in cooking. It's not a first, it does happen from time to time. I'll become completely obsessed with cooking something; usually Indian food, though I don't know why because I generally have to be in a very specific mood to eat Indian food, and that's rare. Historically, I don't really eat my own cooking. I'll make enough food to feed an army, then I'll just give it all away. I have some lucky, lucky friends.

That all changed after I had my first daughter. After that, aside from baby food, I HATED cooking everything. I made all her baby food, and that was kinda fun, but before you know it she'd just be eating littler portions of what I was eating, so that was pretty short lived.

In the past few years, I'd go through little bursts of cooking frenzies. I don't know what brings them on, and I don't know what makes them go away. I just know when they hit, I can't stop.

My family gets pretty excited when it happens, and needless to say very disappointed when they stop. Generally every six weeks something new will strike my fancy then I'll be off. In my defense, they are usually the same little hobbies set up in a six week rotation. I'll cook, then I'll blog, then I'll make little stuffed animals for the baby, then I'll sketch and draw, then I'll cook again.

This time I'm blogging about cooking, and I'm hoping to figure out how to add pictures, so then I can fold my photography itch in as well, and maybe we can go for 18 weeks straight on the same thing, and give me a chance to either fill my freezer with tasty dinners or to lull my family into a false sense of security. I guess we'll see.

I guess the point of this whole blog is to help me express some of the feelings I have about cooking, share my defeats and triumphs, just give you all my take on the experience. But I'm going to say "taste" on it, because it's about cooking, and I'm clever like that. (As I prove that in my other blog.)

This will be a fun little way for us to grow together.

Though, realistically this will be a way for you to watch me grow as a kitchen dweller.