Arctic Char with Roasted Garlic and Fresh Rosemary

This comes together quickly once you roast the garlic.

Artic Char with Roasted Garlic and Rosemary 
from Food Network

Ingredients

• 2 medium-sized bulbs garlic
• 2 (1-pound) Arctic char fillets
• 1/4 cup grapeseed or canola oil
• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• Leaves from 3 large sprigs fresh rosemary
• Salt and pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Slice off top of the garlic bulbs, wrap in foil and roast for 1 hour. Set aside and allow bulbs to cool. Squeeze the roasted garlic from the bulbs into a food processor, and add the oil, lemon juice and rosemary. Process until mixture is smooth.
Raise the oven temperature to 400 degrees F.
Place fillets on well-oiled, foil-covered baking sheet. Salt and pepper the fillets liberally. Spread puree over the fillets, making sure all the flesh is well covered. Let fish marinate in refrigerator for 30 minutes.
Bake fish for 12 to 15 minutes, until the meat flakes easily and has a somewhat darker appearance on the inside.
Broil for another 2 minutes to brown the tops of the fillets.

Honey Soy Broiled Salmon

I'm always looking for more fish recipes.  We try to have fish once a week and get tired of the same ones over and over.  This was fast and everyone scarfed it down.  Definitely adding it to the rotation!

1 pound salmon fillet
1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds

Whisk Marinade Together:
1 scallion, minced
2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger

 Place salmon in a sealable plastic bag, add 3 tablespoons of the sauce and refrigerate; let marinate for 15 minutes. Reserve the remaining sauce.

Preheat broiler. Line a small baking pan with foil and coat with cooking spray.  Transfer the salmon to the pan, skinned-side down. (Discard the marinade.)

Broil the salmon 4 to 6 inches from the heat source until cooked through, 6 to 10 minutes. Drizzle with the reserved sauce and garnish with sesame seeds.

Korean beef bulgogi

Another favorite - this is SO good, and easy.  Recipe comes from a Foxfire saute class I took.

Marinade:
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 Tbs rice vinegar
1 Tbs ginger, peeled and grated
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tsp Siracha (southeast Asian chile sauce)
2 tsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp Asian sesame oil


1 to 1 1/2 pound flank steak
1 Tbs olive or peanut oil
2-3 scallions, finely sliced, green & white parts
2 Tbs sesame seeds, toasted


Marinate:  Stir together the marinade ingredients.  Score the steak, not too deep, in 2 directions to facilitate marinating.  Coat steak well on both sides and allow to marinate for one hour or more under refrigeration.  Turn several times during this period.

Sautee:  Heat a large heavy skillet over medium high heat.  Add the oil, swirl to coat pan then add drained steak.  Saute until medium rare, about 2-3 minutes per side.  Remove steak and allow to rest to distribute heat and mostly redistribute internal juices.

Slice the steak very thin across the grain.  Sprinkle with scallions and sesame seeds and serve.

Notes:  Sirloin steak may be substituted for flank steak.  Steak may be grilled over high heat instead of sauteed.

I always serve this wrapped in bibb lettuce with brown rice and kimchee.  Thai Iced Tea to drink makes it seem extra special.

Thai Iced Tea:
Steep Roobios tea (red tea) as directed.  Cool.  Sweeten with sugar (I put about 1/6 cup per quart) and add a small amount of milk or half and half (the picture below has too much milk).  Serve over ice.

Breakfast casserole

This can be mostly assembled the night before and you can use any assortment of meat/veggies you have on hand.  Unless I'm making this for a Christmas brunch I leave out the red peppers because I don't care for them.  At Christmas time the red peppers and green onions look festive. 

12 ounces (3 cups) cheddar cheese, shredded
12 ounces (3 cups) mozarella cheese, shredded
8 ounces mushrooms, chopped and sauteed
1/3 cup sliced green onions
1/2 medium red pepper, chopped
8 ounces of cooked ham, diced
1/2 cup white whole wheat flour
1 3/4 cup milk
8 eggs, beaten

In large bowl, lightly toss cheeses together.  Sprinkle half the cheese mixture in ungreased 13x9 baking dish.  Sprinkle mushrooms, green onions, red pepper and ham evenly over cheese layer.  Add remaining cheese. **  Heat oven to 350.  In large bowl whisk flour, milk and eggs; pour over layers in baking dish.  Bake 35-40 minutes or until mixture is set and top is lightly browned.  Let stand about 10 minutes.  Serves 12

** To make ahead, prepare to this point, cover and refrigerate.

If I'm just making this for our family I will generally use a smaller 2.2 qt dish instead of the 13x9.  Here are the ingredient measurements if you use the smaller dish:

2 cups cheddar
2 cups mozarella
mushrooms, green onions, red pepper & ham to cover
1/3 cup flour
1 1/3 cups milk
6 eggs

Granola

After several tries I think I've found the granola I like best.  It is a very basic, classic granola.  This is Alton Brown's recipe, but I prefer to use honey instead of maple syrup and use coconut oil instead of the canola.  I love the hint of salt in this!

3 cups rolled oats
1 cup slivered almonds
1 cup cashew pieces
3/4 cup shredded coconut
1/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons dark brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
2 Tablespoons maple syrup
1/4 cup coconut oil (or canola)
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 250 degrees.  In a large bowl combine the oats, nuts, coconut and brown sugar.  In a separate bowl combine the honey, syrup, oil and salt.  Combine both mixtures and pour onto 2 sheet pans.  Cook for 1 hour and 15 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes to achieve an even color.  Remove from the oven and transfer to a large bowl to cool.  Add raisins.

I usually leave the raisins out and mix them in on a bowl by bowl basis.  Sometimes I'll add raisins, sometimes I throw in a few chocolate chips, sometimes just fresh fruit and yogurt.

Salsa

Made this easy salsa using tomatoes from Papa's garden.  So good!

whole tomatoes
handful of cilantro
1-2 garlic cloves
1 jalapeno
1 lime
1/2 red onion

Cut an x in the bottom of each tomato, place into boiling water for 1-2 minutes, then into an ice bath.  Remove skin and roughly chop, discarding any seeds and liquids.  Finely chop jalapeno, red onion and cilantro.  Add all to food processor or blender, add 1 or 2 garlic cloves pasted and juice of 1 lime.  Process for a few seconds.

Best Chocolate cake

I've found the best classic chocolate cake recipe.  So dark and rich, rose perfectly flat.  Didn't love the chocolate icing I made with this one, so still searching for the perfect icing.  This is it for the cake part though!  Saw this exact recipe on many sites, not sure who wrote the original.

Ingredients

• Butter, for greasing the pans
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pans
• 2 cups sugar
• 3/4 cups good cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup buttermilk, shaken
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 8-inch x 2-inch round cake pans. Line with parchment paper, then butter and flour the pans.

Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. With mixer still on low, add the coffee and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack and cool completely.
Place 1 layer, flat side up, on a flat plate or cake pedestal. With a knife or offset spatula, spread the top with frosting. Place the second layer on top, rounded side up, and spread the frosting evenly on the top and sides of the cake.