Cedar Planked Salmon

Cedar planked salmon, pita, and cucumber salad

Cedar planked salmon is so easy and soooo good. It is moist and infused with a bit of a salmon flavor. We like our salmon with a semi-spicy rub (our daughter doesn't like food that is too spicy so we hold back when she is having salmon). We always have brown sugar as our base and always use kosher salt. The rub we use depends our mood. Tonight we are doing a middle eastern rub.



Cedar Plank

The first step is to soak the cedar plank in water for at least 20 minutes. We soak ours in the sink. Sometimes we buy untreated cedar and make our own cedar planks and sometimes we buy them. While the cedar plank is soaking you make the rub and like the coals (we are purists and do not use propane). While the cedar plank is soaking, unwrap the salmon so it can dry out and come to room temperature. The salmon will soak up more of the cedar plank goodness if it does not have a skin.

Salmon on a cedar plank

The Rub

Tonight's Rub

1/4 Cup (53 g) Packed Brown Sugar
2 Tsp Kosher Salt
1/4 Tsp of ground allspice
1/4 Tsp of ground turmeric
1/4 Tsp of coriander
1/4 Tsp of ground cinnamon
Cayenne to Taste (I use about 3-4 dashes)

Rub for the salmon

Jerk Rub

1/4 Cup (53 g) Packed Brown Sugar
2 Tbsp of Kosher Salt
1/4 Tsp of Ground Ginger
1/4 to 1/2 Tsp of Cinnamon
1/4 Tsp of Ground Allspice
Couple of Dashes of Red Pepper Flakes
1/4 Tsp of Paprika (either hot or sweet depending on taste)
1/8 Tsp of Thyme
1 Dash of Ground Cloves

Rubbed with the rub and ready for the grill

Grilling

Cedar planked salmon

Put the salmon on the cedar plank and rub the rib on the fish and put it on the grill. Cook until it easily flakes (we like ours rare and usually cook it for about 13 minutes). There is no need to flip the salmon. The cooking time depends on the thickness of the wood and the heat of the fire. We cook ours with the top closed on the grill.

Cucumber Salad

Cucumber salad

Since the salmon is a little spicy, I thought a sour cream/yogurt cucumber salad would be a nice foil to the spicy salmon.
For the salad combine: one cucumber (peeled and seeded- I usually peel the cucumber, cut it in quarters and scoop out the seeds with a grapefruit spoon), 1/2 cup (125 ml) of plain yogurt (Greek works best), 1/4 cup (61 g)sour cream, one clove of garlic minced, fresh mint chopped (to taste), and salt and pepper to taste. My family absolutely loves this and I can't seem to keep any in the house. I make it with low fat sour cream. Sometimes I add cayenne (because everything is better with cayenne).

Christmas Cookies Galore

A plate of Christmas cookies

I love Christmas cookies-- always have. My mother makes the best Christmas cookies (in fact a lot of these recipes are hers)  and some of my favorite childhood memories are of Christmas cookies (especially the ones where we snuck into the deep freeze and ate the frozen cookies before Christmas). I still love eating frozen cookies.

Right around Thanksgiving I start getting the restless urge to make Christmas cookies. To the left are a plate of cookies I made this year (lemon ginger pinwheels, crescent cookies, peanut butter blossoms, almond glazed sugar cookies, raspberry linzers, thumbprints, coconut chocolate macaroons, peppermint bark, and almond bark. Below are  some of the recipes for my favorites. I hope you try some and like them as much as I do.

Almond Glazed Sugar Cookies (A Land of Lakes Recipe)

Cookie Ingredients: 

1 Cup (227 g) of Butter, Softened

3/4 Cup (169 g) of Granulated Sugar

1 Tsp of Almond Extract

2 Cups (250 g) of Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

1/2 Tsp of Baking Powder

1/4 Tsp of Salt

Glaze Ingredients

1 1/2 Cups (170 g) of Powdered Sugar

1 Tsp of Almond Extract

4 to 5 Tsp of Water

Sliced Almonds

Heat oven to 400°F/204 C. Combine all cookie ingredients in large bowl. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until creamy.

Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls, 2 inches (5 cm) apart, onto ungreased cookie sheets. Flatten balls to 1/4 inch (.5 cm) thick with bottom of buttered glass dipped in sugar. Bake for 7 to 9 minutes or until edges are very lightly browned. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets. Cool completely.

Combine all glaze ingredients except almonds in small bowl with wire whisk. Decorate cooled cookies with glaze and sliced almonds as desired.

Notes for this recipe-- The quality of ingredients make a difference in this recipe; remember to dip the glass in sugar often to prevent the dough from sticking to the glass. You could change the flavor of the cookies by changing the extract.

Walnut Crescents

1 Cup (227 g) of Butter, Softened
1/4 Cup (28 g) of Powdered Sugar (plus more to roll the cookies in)
1 1/2 Tsp of Water
2 Cups (250 g) of Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1 Cup (114 g) of Chopped Walnuts

Preheat oven to 375 F/ 191 C.

Cream butter and 1/4 Cup (28 g) of powdered sugar. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Shape into rolls 1/2 inch (1.3 cm) in diameter and cut into one inch (2.5 cm) pieces. Shape each piece into a crescent, place on ungreased cookie sheet, and push ends down on sheet. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from cookie sheet and roll in powdered sugar. Once the cookies cool, roll again in powdered sugar.

Notes for these cookies-- It is important to roll the cookies twice in the sugar. I try to have someone around to help with rolling the cookies in powdered sugar- it makes the process go quicker. The cookies tend to be fragile so (at least for me) there are broken cookies to enjoy while baking. Instead of chopping the walnuts, I used ground walnuts.

Peanut Butter Blossoms

1 3/4 Cups (219 g) of Unbleached all-Purpose Flour
1/2 Cup (113) of Granulated Sugar (plus more to roll cookies in)
1/2 Cup (107 g) Firmly Packed Brown Sugar
1 Tsp of Baking Soda
1/2 Tsp of Salt
1/2 Cup (95 g) of Shortening
1/2 Cup ( 129 g) of Smooth Peanut Butter
1 Large Egg
2 Tbsp of Whole Milk
1 Tsp of Vanilla Extract

48 Chocolate Kisses

Preheat oven to 375 F/ 191 C.
In a large bowl combine all ingredients except kisses. Blend at low speed. Shep into balls (about a rounded teaspoon full). Roll balls in sugar and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 F/191 C for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from oven and top each cookie with a kiss pressing down firmly so that the cookie cracks around the edge.

Notes- Remove the chocolate kisses from the foil BEFORE you start the cookies. You can use any flavor you like-- but I like the milk chocolate. This is a fun cookie to make with kids-- it is easy and kids tend to love them because they get a cookie and candy.

Pelmeni

A bowl of pelmeni with sour cream and dill

I love dumplings and it is one of my many goals to make dumplings of all cultures. Pelmeni seems to have sidetracked me from my lofty goal because I can't stop making them. I even have a pelmeni mold from Russia.

Pelmeni are a fair bit of work but with my professional grade mixer (with a dough hook) they have become easier to make. They take some time to master and are time consuming. Why do I love them so? First of all, they are versatile; I change the fillings based on my mood. Second, they freeze really well. Third, when I cook them, they take about 15 minutes total to cook. Fourth, they are delicious. They are a perfect dumpling. Having said that, this pelmeni recipe took me a while to develop.

The Dough
A word of warning- the dough is difficult to work with. I now have arm muscles. It is a lot of work to get the dough to roll out in a thin layer.The thinner the dough better the dumpling.

To make the dough mix together:

2 to 2 1/2 Cups (250 g to 313 g) Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
2 Large Eggs
1/2 Cup (125 ml) of Water
1/2 Tsp of Salt

Start with 1 1/2 cups (188 g) of flour and add a 1/2 cup (63 g) at a time until the dough is the correct consistency. It should form a ball and be elastic.

This dough needs more flour

This dough is ready to be kneaded

At this point I switch over to a dough hook and knead for 4 minutes (you need to have a professional mixture to do this- if you don't knead the dough by hand).

This dough is ready to rest

The next step is to wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let it rest in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

The filling
Ok so maybe I am a little obsessed with pelmenis. I grind my own meat for the filling. That way I can grind the spices into the meat and I choose the cuts of meat I use. I usually use a mixture of half pork and half beef (sometimes I throw lamb in as well). I don't measure the amount I use because I use left over meat in other recipes or I freeze it for later. So back to the meat mixture. The meat mixture is ground park and beef, one grated onion (small) and a spice mixture. I really like Penzey's Tsardust Russian spice. I also will make the following spice mixture: salt, garlic, cinnamon, pepper, and nutmeg (sometimes I throw in some cayenne- just because).

Making Pelmeni

Note: The dough drys out quickly so whatever dough you are not using, keep wrapped up in the plastic wrap.

Using a Pelmeni Mold

My pelmeni mold

Take a piece of dough and roll it out thin. Place the dough on top of the pelmeni mold and place a bit of the meat mixture into each hole.

Filled pelmeni mold

Next roll out another thin sheet and place on top of the mold. (it looks like a pie)

Dough layer, meat layer, and then another dough layer

Next roll a rolling pin over the mold and the pelmeni are almost done.

The pelmeni mold after a rolling a rolling pin over it

Finally take the pelmeni out of the mold and place on a cookie sheet and freeze.

These pelmenis still need to be separated

Once the pelmenis are frozen, they can be place in a plastic freezer bag until you are ready to eat them.

Holding a pelmeni

By Hand 

Roll out the dough as thin as possible- use a round cookie cutter to cut the dough into 3 inch (7.5 cm) circles.

The first step of making pelmenis by hand: cut out the dough

Place about a teaspoon of the meat mixture onto one side of the circle and fold the other side on top of the filling.

The second step: placing about a teaspoon of meat in the dough

Then crimp it shut using your fingers. You may need to lightly moisten the edges.

The third step: crimping the pelmeni closed

Make the pelmeni into a crescent shape.

The fourth step bending the pelmeni into a crescent shape

Repeat this process until all of the dough is used.

Cooking Pelmeni

A bowl of pelmeni with sour cream and dill

Pelmeni are amazingly easy to cook. Drop frozen (you should freeze them before you cook them) pelmeni into boiling water, beef broth, or chicken broth. Cook until done (5-7 minutes). You could serve in the broth like a soup, drain and serve as is, or drain and fry in butter. I usually serve pelmeni with sour cream with a bit of dill. Vinegar is a traditionally served with pelmeni. I gave up on trying to pair pelmenis with wine-- if you have any ideas I would love to hear about them. I think the best pairing for pelmenis is ice cold vodka-my current favorite is Nemiroff Honey Pepper Vodka.

Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act and Brunswick Stew

Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act

On November 9th the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission published final regulations (effective January 2011) implementing Title II of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act or GINA.

Congress enacted GINA because it believed that a national and uniform basic standard is necessary to protect the public from discrimination and allay concerns about the potential for discrimination, thereby allowing individuals to take advantage of genetic testing, technologies, research, and new therapies. There are a patchwork of state laws that address the use of genetic information. The majority of states have laws that prohibit the use of genetic information in underwriting decisions in health insurance (remember state laws are preempted by ERISA so these laws would not apply to ERISA plans, generally employer sponsor health plans. (A chart of state laws concerning health insurance and genetic information is available at http://www.ncsl.org/default.aspx?tabid=14374) State genetic nondiscrimination laws in the employment context are in place in 34 states and Washington DC. The protections afforded vary by state (A chart with state laws concerning employment and genetic information is available here: http://www.ncsl.org/default.aspx?tabid=14280) Finally there are a few states that have passed genetic nondiscrimination laws for long-term care, life, and disability insurance. Once again these vary by state (A chart of state laws concerning life, disability, and long-term care insurance and genetic information is available here: http://www.ncsl.org/default.aspx?tabid=14283)

GINA is divided into two titles. Title I prohibits discrimination in health coverage based on genetic information. Title I applies to group health plans sponsored by private employers, unions, state and local government employers, issuers in the group and individual health insurance markets, and issuers of Medicare supplemental insurance.

Title II prohibits discrimination in employment based on genetic information and limits the acquisition of genetic information by employers, labor unions, employment agencies, and joint labor-management committees. The individuals protected by Title II of GINA are job applicants, current and former employees, labor union members, and apprentices and trainees.

The article I am working on applies GINA and its regulations to HHT. HHT is short for Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangiectasia, a dominant hereditary disease of abnormal blood vessel formation. Some background information about HHT:

· It is nonsex-linked dominant hereditary disease (therefore, each child had a 50-50 chance of having the disease)

· It occurs in 1 in 5,000 to 8,000 people

· A person can have no symptoms and still have the disease

· The symptoms of the diseases usually worsen with age

· HHT is a multisystem disorder and can strike the skin, nose, GI tract, lungs, liver, and brain. (More information about HHT is available here: www.hht.org)

The issue with HTT and GINA is when has the disease "manifested". Once a disease has manifested it a current health condition and no longer protected by GINA (family history still is and so are the genetic test and counseling but the fact that a person has the disease is no longer protected). According to the literature, the current diagnostic criteria for determining if a patient has HHT are the Curacao Criteria (Scott E. Olitsky, MD, Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangiectasia, 82 American Family Physician, 785, 788 (October 1, 2010)) The criteria are: (1) spontaneous, recurrent nosebleeds; (2) a first-degree relative (sibling, parent, child) with HHT; (3) multiple telangiectasias at characteristic sites (lips, mouth, nose, fingers, finger nail bed); (4) visceral lesions (gastrointestinal tealngiectasia, lung AVM, liver AVM, or brain AVM). The HHT diagnosis is made if three of the criteria are present, it is suspected if two are present, and not likely if less than two.

Brunswick Stew

While I grappled with HHT and GINA, I made Brunswick Stew. There are two place that claim to be the originator of Brunswick Stew. One is Brunswick, Georgia; the other is Brunswick County, North Carolina. I have no idea which one was the first. . Brunswick stew it is a thick tomato-based stew that can have a variety of meats—pork, chicken, rabbit, and squirrel. Every Brunswick stew I have made has had corn and either lima or butter beans. Brunswick stew is like gumbo-- everyone has a different recipe and everyone thinks their recipe is the best My recipe for Brunswick Stew (like gumbo) changes based on the leftovers I have.

Here is how I made today’s version of Brunswick Stew:

Cover 4 chicken leg quarters, pulled pork (with the bone), and a couple ribs of celery with water and cook for approximately 45 minutes (until the chicken is done). *** Meanwhile- sauté 4 cloves of sliced garlic, chopped up celery, one onion diced, and chopped green peppers (I also threw in a hot pepper). Remove the celery, pork bone, and chicken. Pull the meat off of the chicken and put back in to the pot. Add the sauteed mixture, 2 large cans of small-diced tomatoes, three peeled and diced potatoes, one cup of bar-b-cue sauce, salt and pepper to taste, and about 1 1/2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce. Cook for about an hour. (At this point I put it in the refrigerator overnight so I can skim the grease off). When you are ready to serve, add frozen lima beans and corn and simmer for approximately an hour. My stew was not thick enough so I added some mash potatoes.

http://www.officialguide.com/gistew.html.

This week at our farmer's market and in our garden

Lavender tuna

This week I decided to do something with edible flowers. We have some beautiful lavender in our yard so we made a lavender and pepper encrusted tuna. I used this recipe as a base and modified it to our tastes (http://whatscookingamerica.net/TunaLavender.htm). It was wonderful.

The next challenge was crystallized edible flowers. I picked some lavender flowers, pansies, roses, and violas. I washed and dried them. Next each flower was carefully painted with a mixture of egg white and water (one eggs white and 1 1/2 teaspoons of water) and then carefully covered in superfine sugar. Each flower is then allowed to dry. I placed my flowers on a waxed paper covered baking sheet and placed them in the oven with the light on overnight and they dried nicely. I made superfine sugar by processing regular sugar in the food processor (I don't think I processed it as long as I should have and it affected the results). The flowers that are created are very fragile and easily broken (I broke several). I thought this was a fairly difficult recipe because a lot of patience is required. I probably rushed the process more than I should have. Here are my results:

My garden is really coming along. We harvested one green bean. It was great. More beans are on their way. We also finally have peas and baby eggplant. I just planted more beans and I am going to plant a Serrano pepper and another basil plant. All we we have been using basil, parsley, chives, and dill in pestos, salsas, and green goddess dressings so I am a little worried about keeping up with the demand. It is so exciting to go out everyday and see the changes in the garden. Unfortunately I have not been pulling weeds and the weeds are quickly growing. So a fair amount of weeding needs to be done today. But now the farmer's market is calling!

We had coffee at the market, relaxed, and chatted about what to have for dinner. We decided on a nicoise salad. It is prefect for a hot summer day. It does take a lot of prep work but it is worth it. As we were discussing dinner and plans for the rest of the day, we realized that it was 11:00 and the market was closing. We quickly bought potatoes, lettuce and green beans for our salad. My version of the nicoise salad is full of boiled egg, lettuce, green onions, potatoes, tomatoes, green beans, and olives. I dressed it with a mustard vinaigrette. We decided on a salmon. I made a brown sugar jerk rub and Steven cedar planked the salmon on the grill.

Nicoise salad

This Week at the Farmer's Market- Napa Cabbage Ramen Noddle Salad

Saturday is my day to go to the farmer's market. I love our market; it is a mixture of plants, meats, veggies, fruits and prepared foods. Today Katie and I shared a shaved ice with fresh crushed strawberries and a bratwurst. Both were amazing. I brought lamb so we will be having lamb steaks for Sunday night's dinner. (Yum!) I also had to have the Napa cabbage. Katie's favorite salad is a Ramen noodle salad made from Napa cabbage. Finally I couldn't pass up the farm fresh eggs. I can't wait to have eggs Benedict tomorrow morning.

Even though our yard is in danger of being overrun by vegetable and fruit plants, I did buy more plants. I have always wanted to grow cucumbers but I have never had the room. So the solution seems to be a bush cucumber. I found them at the market and I purchased four dwarf bush cucumber plants. I don't have room for the sprawling cucumbers but certainly the dwarf bush cucumbers will work. I guess we will find out.

The garden is way ahead of schedule. The picture of the purple flower (above) is a Japanese eggplant. I planted five eggplants. I think I am going to be drowning in eggplants this year so if you have any great recipes for eggplant please let me know. Next to the eggplant is a picture of cherry tomatoes and below is a picture of Roma tomatoes. They hopefully will produce lots of tasty tomatoes. This week I provided them with organic fertilizer stakes so they will be "fed" all summer. Next to the Roma tomatoes is a picture of peas and peppers. The peas haven't flowered yet but the peppers have already flowered and are growing peppers. The peppers below are hot peppers and at the very bottom of this post are bell peppers.

We even have grapes growing. This year we have so many grapes, the squirrels and birds may actually leave some for us. Also the beans are flowering. We have two kinds of beans this year. My favorite of all of the plants is the corn (pictured at the very bottom). I looks like grass but (hopefully) will soon be as tall as Katie.

The only items we used from our garden for dinner was the herbs (rosemary, sage, thyme, and chives) for the rub for the porchetta style pork. Saturday night in addition to the Napa cabbage salad (recipe below) we had porchetta style pork roast. It roasts at 300 F/149 C for hours so it is juicy and pull apart tender. (Below is a picture of the pork-- it was absolutely incredible).

Katie's Favorite Ramen Noodle Salad

• 1 Head of Napa Cabbage
• 1 Bunch green onions
• 3 Tbsp Butter
• One 3 oz (85 g) Package of Ramen Noodles
• 1/4 Cup (36 g) of Toasted Sesame Seeds
• 1/4 Cup (60 ml) of Rice Wine Vinegar
• 3/4 Cup (180 ml) of Vegetable Oil
• 1/2 Cup (113 g) of Granulated Sugar
• 2 Tbsp Soy Sauce

Finely shred the Napa cabbage and finely chop the green onions and put in a large salad bowl.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan and add the crushed Ramen noodles and sesame seeds and sauté until toasted. Put in a small bowl and allow to cool.

To make the dressing:

In a small saucepan, heat vinegar, oil, sugar, and soy sauce. Bring the mixture to a boil, let boil for 1 minute. Remove the pan from heat and let cool.

When ready to serve combine all of the ingredients.

This Week at the Farmers Market- Tom Yum Gai Soup

A bowl of Tom Yum Gai Soup

My Saturday mornings usually include a trip to the Tulsa Cherry Street Farmer's Market. I look forward to it all week. It has a great combination of locally grown produce and live plants.

This week I found some great tomato plants: Napa grape hybrid, chardonnay grape hybrid, and Victoria. I think I have a dozen tomato plants. Last year I planted too many pepper plants (more Steven's fault than mine). I guess this is the year of the tomato. I also have planted all kinds of herbs, shallots, leeks, beans, peas, peppers, eggplant, okra, corn, blueberries, raspberries, and even tomatillos (great for salsas). I also have a dwarf banana plant but it will not provide any fruit until next year. Below are pictures of my garden (which show that I need to get out and pick some weeds).
Tulsa is a great place, but until my garden starts to provide me with its harvest I only have access to fresh local produce once a week. It's amazing how much better fresh food tastes.

This week's fresh haul at the farmer's market was snow peas and green onions. I am in a soup mood (getting over a nasty cold) so I came up with a modified Tom Yum Gai soup. I love Thai food. I think the mingling of flavors is amazing. I grow lemon grass each year so I have access to one of the most important ingredients (at least in my opinion). Tom Yum Gai has an incredible balance between spicy and sour. I know it is not traditional, but I love coconut milk so I added it too. Here is what I did:

Tom Yum Gai Soup

Homemade chicken stock
2 Tablespoons Fish Sauce
Can of Baby Corn
Can of Straw Mushrooms
2-3 Limes
5 Cloves of Garlic, Chopped
3 Shallots, Chopped
3 Green Onions, Chopped
1 Habanero Chili, Cut Down the Middle
Snow Peas
3 Roma Tomatoes, Sliced
Green Onions
Lemongrass Stem, Cut in Pieces
Galangal Root, Sliced (I can only find this at an Asian market)
Chicken, Chopped

Put a total of 10 cups of chicken stock, water from baby corn, and water from straw mushrooms in pot. Add lime juice, kaffir leaves, lemon grass, garlic, shallots, and galangal (or ginger if you can't find any galangal). Bring to a boil then let simmer for 20 minutes. Next add baby corn, mushrooms, chili, tomatoes, snow peas, green onions, coconut milk and chicken. Simmer for approximately 10 minutes.

Taste the soup -- I ended adding a little brown sugar , red curry paste, and chili garlic sauce. (The lime juice was too overpowering and needed to be offset). Since this soup was our main course, I added rice noodles.