Dutch Baby with Lavender Sugar

Sunday mornings for me deserve a special breakfast.  Often this means french toast, but when the only bread in the house is multi-grain (and let's be serious, a good french toast should be made with challah or French bread) sometimes you need to up the ante a little bit.  I have been seeing recipes for dutch babies for months and I've been dreaming about them but they look... intimidating.  All that puffed dough in a cast iron skillet? Sounds complicated.



Wrong.  SO EASY.  Healthy? Not so much. But definitely easy!  And delicious?  Of course.  It reminds me of the fried dough we used to get at Clowntown, my hometown's annual carnival, every year.  But it's breakfast food and on Sundays, I don't even feel guilty about it!  The lavender on top takes it from a cheesy carnival treat to something just a little bit more gourmet.  I loved this so much as is, I didn't even pour maple syrup on it.  Now that's saying something.



Dutch Baby with Lavender Sugar
from A Cozy Kitchen

Ingredients
3 large eggs at room temperature 30 minutes
2/3 cup whole milk at room temperature (I used skim and it worked fine)
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 stick unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon of dried lavender

Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 450 F. Put a 10" cast iron skillet on the middle rack of the oven and let it heat up for about 3 minutes (if it gets too hot the butter will burn).
2. In the bowl of your stand mixer, beat the eggs on high with the whisk attachment until pale and frothy. Add the milk, flour, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg and beat just until smooth. You'll have a very thin batter.
3. Carefully remove the hot skillet from the oven and add the butter, swirling to coat the bottom evenly. It may brown a little bit - that's OK.  As soon as the butter is melted, add the batter and immediately return to the oven.  Bake until puffed and golden brown, 18-25 minutes (mine was done in 18, so be sure to watch it).
4. While the pancake bakes, mix together the sugar and lavender in a small bowl.  Press the lavender into the sugar, breaking it up and making it fragrant.
5.  When the pancake is finished, remove from the oven and top with the lavender sugar.  You may not need all the sugar - I only used about half and saved the rest for another day.  Serve immediately.

Malted Maple Blueberry Muffins

Last weekend was the first weekend with really gorgeous weather.  The kind of weather that makes me force the Monkey Scientist out of the house to play in the sunshine with me.  I wanted to celebrate with a bright and yummy breakfast to start the day on Saturday, which to me always means muffins.  I bought a bag of frozen Maine blueberries at Trader Joe's a while ago and used the first half to make Easter muffins.  They were corn and blueberry muffins and well... they were not a hit.  So I decided to scrap that recipe and try something new.



Of course, I couldn't leave well enough alone and make the recipe as it was written.  I'm too obsessed with maple and malted anything to allow that.  So I winged it and added quantities I thought would work (reasons I am not usually a baker) and magically it worked out!  I was sort of afraid they'd end up super dry or un-risen or something, but somehow my additions didn't disturb the recipe too badly.  Saturday win!



These muffins turned out wonderfully.  Right after I put them in the oven I had to run to yoga class, so I left the Monkey Scientist to pull them out of the oven and make sure they were done.  When I got home an hour later, one muffin was halfway in his mouth and another had disappeared.  Looked like an upgrade from my Easter muffin fail for sure!  Next time, I'd love to increase the maple flavor - maybe even using maple sugar instead of regular.  But this recipe is an easy weekend go-to for now!

Here's to hoping this weekend is just as beautiful as last!



Malted Maple Blueberry Muffins
adapted from Taste of Home
makes one dozen muffins

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup malted milk powder
1 stick butter, softened
1 cups sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 tbsp maple syrup
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cups frozen Maine blueberries
topping
1 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and malted milk powder.
3. In the bowl of your standing mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add in the eggs, milk, maple syrup, and vanilla extra and mix until combined evenly.
4.  Slowly add in the dry ingredients and mix until just incorporated.  Stir in the frozen blueberries with a spatula.
5. Evenly distribute the batter into a 12 muffin tin lined with muffin cups.  In a small bowl, combine the remaining sugar and nutmeg and sprinkle over each muffin.
6. Bake 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of a muffin comes out clean.  Allow to cool in the muffin tin for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack.

Bibim Nengmyun (Gochujang Buckwheat Noodles)

Unless this is your very first visit to the blog, you know we are spicy food eaters.  I'm pretty sure sriracha has replaced ketchup in my regular diet (yes, it's all I put on my hot dogs), and the Monkey Scientist believes salt and pepper means salt and crushed red pepper flakes.  When the roommate and I were at HMart, the women handing out samples warned us a few times that we should be careful because whatever they were giving us was very spicy.  We disagreed.

I say all of this as a warning.  This dish was barely more than spaghetti and marinara sauce in our house, but our house is clearly not the norm.  If you hate spicy food switch on over to this post. And just ignore all that crushed red pepper....



One thing I love about Asian foods is the variety and intensity of the spiciness they offer.  Korean foods in particular have great flavor even in the spiciest ingredients.  Whenever we go to the Asian market, we have to pick up a container of gochujang.  This time, I learned something new about gochujang!  It is rated in terms of spice where the higher number is spicier.  Gochujang rated 1-2 is mild, 3 is medium, 4 is hot, and 5 is "burn your face off" hot.  Or at least I think that's what this label was trying to tell me.  We picked up a 3 and a 5 (the latter for the Monkey Scientist, of course).  We don't actually buy this brand, despite their amazing graphic design.  We buy Sunchang because the woman at HMart told us it's the best (and some others seem to agree).



I liked this dish because I thought it would be a good way to test out the difference between the gochujang rated a 3 vs the 5.  Honestly, I was terrified of the 5 at first.  The picture on the jar doesn't have eyes anymore!  But it actually wasn't that bad.  At first, I don't think there is even a difference between the 3 and 5, but once it hits your mouth the 5 does create a tingle.  I definitely burns a little bit, but it's also sort of just like a really pungent half sour pickle.  For every day, the 3 is just fine, but I'm ok with keeping the 5 in the house as well.

The dish itself is...interesting.  Which I know was what my great grandmother said about things she didn't like, but that's not what I mean at all.  I wouldn't say it was my favorite thing I've made recently, but it was a nice change of pace to what we usually eat and was super simple to throw together.  It's a cold noodle dish, which I'm not very accustomed to making.  I like the cold of the noodles contrasted with the heat from the gochujang. The tobiko on top added a nice bite that I enjoyed a lot.  The original recipe was served with a hard boiled egg, but that did not sound up my alley at all. Otherwise, the recipe itself was very good!



BiBim Nengmyun (Gochujang Buckwheat Noodles)
slightly adapted from spoon fork bacon

Ingredients
8 ounces Korean-style buckwheat noodles
1/3 cup gochujang
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 ½ tablespoon low sodium soy sauce or tamari
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
garnish:
1 tbsp tobiko (flying fish roe)
¼ small hothouse cucumber, julienne

Instructions
1. Cook the buckwheat noodles according to package instructions.  Rinse in a colander under cold water until the noodles are cool.
2. Combine the gochujang, sugar, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, and sesame seeds in a small bowl and whisk until smooth.  The gochujang will be thick at first, but just keep whisking!
3. Pour the sauce over the noodles and stir to coat.  Garnish with tobiko and julienned cucumber.

Bulgogi Style Salmon with Bok Choy and Shitake Mushrooms

This weekend we finally made a trip up to my favorite type of grocery store - the Asian market.  We hadn't been in so many months, I was running low on lots of my staple ingredients!  Although there are a few Asian markets on the north side of Chicago, I haven't found any Korean markets, and I hadn't found any markets that were very big.  So this weekend was the grand adventure - we went up to the HMart in Niles.



I've been to HMart's in Maryland and Massachusetts, so I knew generally what I could expect.  But the one in Niles is a Super HMart which means it's the size of the Home Depot next door.  We were literally lost in there for hours.  We watched folks making kimchi, tried lots of samples (except the blood sausage... the woman handing out samples didn't think it was a good idea to offer me any), and loaded up on some of our favorite ingredients.



One fun part of the trip was watching the men at HMart making fresh kimchi.  For those of you who aren't familiar with kimchi, it's a spicy fermented cabbage dish.  It's almost similar to a good half sour pickle.  In Korean restaurants, they often start the meal with a variety of very small side dishes that can include tofu, a type of Korean potato salad, broccoli, and always kimchi.  I'd never seen anyone make it before so this was a special treat for me.  They pull the cabbage to shreds while they're mixing it with the spices and vinegar.  Pretty cool!



This salmon dish was really delicious. It was a nice change of pace from our usual lemon juice and garlic salt preparation.  It was just a little bit spicy from the sambal oelek and was sweetened by the sherry and sugar.  The ginger, garlic, and soy sauce rounded out the traditional Asian flavors.  In Korean tradition, I served a side of the freshly made kimchi along with our meal, which was spicy and pungent.  My favorite!  I especially liked the bed of bok choy and mushrooms under the salmon.  Stay tuned for the final component of the meal!



Bulgogi-Style Salmon with Bok Choy and Shitake Mushrooms
slightly adapted from WeHeartFood

Ingredients
3 large garlic cloves, peeled, divided
1/3 cup chopped green onions
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
1 tbsp cooking sherry (Chinese rice wine would work, too)
2 tsp minced fresh ginger, divided
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp chili-garlic sauce (sambal oelek)
2 salmon fillets, 0.5-1 lb each
1 tbsp olive oil (or chili-infused olive oil)
1 bunch bok choy, bottoms removed and cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-wide strips
8 oz fresh shiitake mushrooms, sliced

Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F.
2. Combine 2 of the garlic cloves (I broke them up slightly but didn't bother mincing), green onions, soy sauce, sherry, 1 tsp of ginger, sugar, sesame oil, and chili-garlic sauce.  Blend using either your immersion blender or food processor until smooth to create your marinade.
3. Place the salmon in a glass baking dish.  Pour the marinade evenly over the salmon fillets and allow to marinate for at least 5 minutes.  Bake for 8 to 12 minutes, or until the salmon is just opaque at the center.
4. Meanwhile, place the olive in a wok and heat over medium high heat.  Add the remaining clove of garlic, minced, and 1 tsp of ginger to the oil and heat until fragrant.
5. Add the bok choy and mushrooms and saute until the mushrooms are soft and the bok choy is wilted.
6. Serve the salmon over a bed of bok choy and mushrooms.

Peppermint White Chocolate MandM Cookies (Merry Christmas!)

This year, I'm spending Christmas with the Monkey Scientist's family.  His mom is an expert baker and I wanted to help contribute to the endless flow of Christmas cookies she's producing.  I picked up a couple bags of these MandMs at Target (uhh they were white chocolate and peppermint, of course I bought 2 bags) a few weeks ago but I'd been fighting not to eat them so I could make cookies! (I knew if I opened the bag without a plan, I'd eat it all in a day or two. I lack self-restraint.)




I whipped these up yesterday so that I wouldn't be contributing to the chaos once the Christmas cooking really begins.  We have them in an airtight container (along with his mom's famous sugar cookies) and I think they might last through tomorrow!  There is never a lack of good food around here - especially baked goods.  I was glad I could contribute a little something.



This is my first year not heading up north in New Hampshire to ski over Christmas, I think in my whole life.  Things were just a little too crazy for me to travel over the holidays.  Luckily, the Monkey Scientist and I will get a good weekend of skiing in just after the New Year.  It doesn't sound like the skiing I'm missing has been very bad lately, anyways!  I'm certainly missing my family, but looking forward to seeing most of them in a few weeks. I'm also lucky the Monkey Scientist's family takes me in as one of their own!  It's my first Christmas with a tree, rather than a pile of presents at the bottom of the stairs or under the fireplace.



These cookies are super sweet and minty - just how I like them!  They would be perfect to leave for Santa under the tree as well.  They came out a little bit puffy for me, which I tried to fix with my rapping against the oven door trick, but I think you could also reduce the flour a bit.  I also left out the candy canes because the Monkey Scientist thinks they stick in his teeth too much.  Regardless, they taste wonderful!

Have a happy holiday!



White Chocolate Peppermint MandM Cookies
slightly adapted from Two Peas and Their Pod

Ingredients
2 1/2-3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup White Chocolate Peppermint MandM's

Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 350.
2. Mix the flour, salt, and baking soda in a large bowl.
3. In the bowl of the standing mixer, cream the butter and sugars until blended. Add the egg and vanilla and mix to incorporate.
4. Slowly add the dry ingredients, mixing on low until fully incorporated. Mix in the white chocolate chips and MandM's.
5. On a baking sheet (I lined mine with a Silpat) drop the cookies in tablespoon-sized balls about 2 inches apart. Bake for 5 minutes, then remove from the oven. Bang the pan against the open oven door or your stove-top to flatten the cookies. Bake for an additional 5-7 minutes or until the cookies are browning around the edges (but still soft in the middle).
6. Remove from the oven and let rest on the cookies sheet for 2 minutes, then move to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Apple Cider Pound Cake with Apple Cider Glaze

Last week I had a very special treat. My former coworker was visiting Chicago and invited me and the Monkey Scientist to have dinner at her sister's house.  I used to eat lunch with her every day, but now I hadn't seen her in months!  It was great to be able to spend time with her and catch up.  I can't believe how many people I used to work with have had babies since I left.  I miss the flurry of baby pictures I used to get in my email.



As I've mentioned before, my coworker isn't a big chocolate person.  I dug through my recently starred recipes in Google Reader and it seemed like everything was chocolate!  Finally, I came across this cake and I knew it was perfect.  I love cakes that are sweet and this cider glaze was perfect. I knew she'd love it.



Besides that, the Monkey Scientist gave me a bundt pan last Christmas and I still hadn't used it until now!  His mom makes a few really amazing bundt cakes, so I never wanted to compete with her.  Fortunately, this cake was far enough from her chocolate chip cake that I wasn't too worried. However, after the first 70 minutes I could tell the cake wasn't going to keep its shape and was going to become a pool of dough.  I threw it back in the oven for another 20-30 minutes, though, and it really did the trick.  So even if your cake is starting to turn brown around the edges, don't fret! Let it cook all the way through! (Especially if you have a silicon bundt pan).



To no big surprise, this cake came out really delicious. It's sweet without being too sweet, and has a nice subtle apple cider flavor.  I love the warmth of the cinnamon throughout.  I didn't reduce the cider quite enough so the glaze looks pretty white compared to what it should have looked like.  It didn't matter though - I liked the white color and it tasted great.



Apple Cider Pound Cake with Apple Cider Glaze
very slightly adapted from Buns in My Oven

Ingredients
For the cake:
3 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups butter, softened
6 eggs
3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup apple cider
1 teaspoon vanilla
For the glaze:
1 cup apple cider
1/2 - 1 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
dash of salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon

Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 325 and grease a bundt pan.
2. In the bowl of a standing mixer, cream the butter and sugar.  With the mixer on low speed, add the eggs one at a time until incorporated.
3. In a large bowl, whisk to combine the dry ingredients.  In a measuring cup, combine 1 cup of apple cider with 1 teaspoon vanilla.
4. With the mixer on low speed, add the dry mixture and cider a bit at a time, alternating between which you are adding.  When everything in incorporated, spoon the batter into your bundt pan.  Bake for 70 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean (I used a silicon bundt pan and it took closer to 90 minutes).
5. Remove from the oven and let the cake sit for at least 20 minutes in the bundt pan.  Remove from bundt pan and allow to cool completely.
6. Add the remaining 1 cup cider to a small saucepan and bring to a boil.  Allow to boil for at least 10 minutes or until the liquid reduces by half (I don't think mine reduced enough, so it wasn't dark in color).
7. Add the butter, salt, cinnamon, and powdered sugar.  If it isn't thick enough, continue to add powdered sugar until it reaches desired consistency.
8. Allow to cool slightly, and then pour over cake.  I recommend doing this over a jelly roll pan so you can collect the drippings and pour it over again if you like (I did this 3 times).  Serve at room temperature.

Salted Caramel

Now that autumn is in full-swing, all I want to do is go apple picking. Unfortunately, the weather has not cooperated between the drought and early heat this spring - which led to a small harvest this year - and the rain storms we've had lately. I tried to plan a big trip and we had tornado warnings all weekend. Such a bummer. Still, there have been great Honeycrisps from Michigan at the grocery store and I've really been enjoying them!



This weekend, I decided that if I was going to eat apples inside in the rain, I needed to dip them in caramel. This recipe was SUPER easy. I think I could have let the sugar get a little bit deeper caramelization, but I was so afraid of burning it that I pulled it off a little early. Next time I'll let it get a little darker. This recipe is fantastic though! I brought the leftovers to the Monkey Scientist's parents - I'm hoping his mom uses it to make some spectacular baked goods. It would be wonderful swirled in brownies or cake!



Salted Caramel Sauce
slightly adapted from Lick My Spoon

Ingredients
1 cup sugar
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into chunks
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions
1. Heat sugar and water in a 2-quart or 3-quart non-stick saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir to help the sugar dissolve, but stop stirring when the sugar comes to a boil. You can swirl the pan a bit if you want.
2. When the liquid sugar hits a dark amber color (I don't think I waited quite long enough), add all the butter to the pan. The mixture will foam up and thicken. Whisk until the butter has melted. Once the butter has melted, take the pan off the heat.
3. Add the cream to the pan (the mixture will foam up again) and continue to whisk to incorporate.
4. Add the sea salt and vanilla and whisk until caramel sauce is smooth.
5. Let cool in the pan for a couple minutes, then pour into a glass jar and let cool to room temperature. Don’t worry if the sauce seems a bit too thin at first, it will thicken as it cools. Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Warm before serving to loosen it up again.

Cookie Decorating (with Sari's Sweets!)

I have been wanting to try some serious cookie decorating for a long time, but I always always intimidated by fancy ingredients like Meringue powder and ...well my serious lack of artistic ability.  I love blogs like Bake at 350 and I'm amazed by the works of art she creates on her cookie canvas.  I knew if I was ever going to attempt this, I'd need some serious hands-on instruction from an expert.



This week, I had my chance!  Sari of Sari's Sweets hosted a cookie decorating party for our office!  Sari works by day with me, but by night is an amazing cookie decorator.  For anyone with a big event coming up (engagement party, bachelorette party, wedding, bar/bat mitzvah, baby shower, etc), I seriously recommend checking out some of Sari's creations.  She's incredibly talented, not to mention an absolute sweetheart, and will come up with fabulous creations to make your event special. She even makes gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free creations!



Our cookie decorating party was an absolute blast.  While my first attempt was a bit of a flop (it was supposed to be a flower...I think I got a little over ambitious/overdecorated), I think by my 4th and 5th cookies - the starburst and the Block M) I improved a bit!  Sari taught us all sorts of neat techniques, like how to make the firework-like shapes.  It definitely wasn't as easy for me as Sari makes it look, but I enjoyed experimenting.




Have you tried cookie decorating?  How did it go? I'm excited to keep trying new designs, especially with the holiday season coming up!

If you'd like to have a cookie decorating party with Sari, be sure to check out her website!

Roasted Strawberry Buttermilk Cake

I don't know about you, but I'm starting to really feel summer.  We've already been to the beach, the pool, and even for a small hike.  I love being able to get outside, but more importantly, I love summer foods.  Nectarines, peaches, and berries have been arriving and looking gorgeous at our grocery store and I couldn't be happier.  When I saw this recipe, it just screamed summer to me with fresh strawberries and buttermilk.



We brought this cake to a party the Monkey Scientist's office has every year for the team members ending their 2-year Fellowship (like him).  I was really excited to meet everyone who he works with.  I've heard many of their names for a long time, it was nice to be able to associate each one with a face.  The dinner was absolutely lovely.  There was tons of food and everyone was really nice.  His PI made us all feel at home in his house, which always makes for a particularly enjoyable party.

Oh yeah, and the cake!  Everyone seemed to enjoy the cake!  I had to make it the day before and keep it in the fridge, so honestly it was a bit dried out.  But the flavors were great - I think that the almond extract was KEY!  The strawberries were delightful, but you could really use any type of berry or fruit (peach slices would be great!) on top.  It was so easy to throw together - I recommend it for any summer event!



Roasted Strawberry Buttermilk Cake
from joy the baker

Ingredients
Roasted Strawberries:
8-oz (1/2 lb) medium strawberries, hulled
2 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp olive oil
pinch of salt
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
Buttermilk Cake:
2 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 c granulated sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 large eggs
1 1/2 c buttermilk
1/4 c unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
1/4 tsp pure almond extract
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
roasted strawberries
3 tbsp turbinado sugar for topping

Instructions
To make the strawberries:
1. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. The strawberries get juicy, so a rimmed baking sheet is important. Set aside.
3. Cut each strawberry in half and place in a mixing bowl. In a small bowl, whisk together maple syrup, olive oil, and salt (notice I didn't say balsamic vinegar...made that mistake). Whisk together until completely incorporated. Drizzle the mixture over the strawberries and toss until each strawberry is coated. Arrange strawberries in a single layer across prepared baking sheet.
4. Roast strawberries for 40 minutes. The juices will thicken, but remove the strawberries from the oven before the juices begin to burn. Remove the berries and juice from the pan while still warm. Place in a small bowl, stir in balsamic vinegar, and set aside.
To make the cake:
1. Place a rack in the center of the oven and heat oven to 400 degrees F. Butter an 11-inch cast iron skillet. You can also use an 11-inch round tart or quiche pan, or a 9×13-inch pan… although the cake will be more thin and you’ll need to keep a close eye on it in the oven.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Set aside.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together buttermilk, eggs, and butter. Whisk in the vanilla or almond extract.
4. Add the buttermilk mixture all at once to the dry ingredients. Stir until just combined and no lumps remain. Spoon batter into the prepared pan. Top batter with half of the roasted strawberries and juice. Sprinkle generously with turbinado sugar.
5. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow cake to cool to room temperature before slicing to serve. Serve with the remaining roasted strawberries.

Cake will last, well wrapped in the refrigerator, for up to 3 days.

Salmon with Cherry Sauce

There has been a theme lately on cooking shows and in cooking magazines - making a restaurant-style meal at home.  The Chew and Simple & Delicious both featured some amazing meals you can make at home with ease that would be as elegant as going out to an expensive restaurant.  The Monkey Scientist and I frequently try to save money by eating at home, and it's nice every once in a while to splurge a little bit more on an upscale dinner at home.



Even though this is one of the more expensive meals I make, it's still about a quarter of the price of getting a similar meal in a restaurant!  Salmon can be expensive, especially if you live in the middle of the country, but we waited and it went on sale for $6.99/lb which made it about the same price as the meats we usually make.  I estimate 1/2 lb per person, so for the 2 of us I bought just under a pound of fish.  The only other expensive ingredient is the cherry preserve.  I recommend a high quality preserve like Bonne Maman (it has been on sale 2/$7 at Giant lately), but if you'd like to make your own from fresh cherries this summer (especially if you're a Michigander), I bet it would be even better!



The best part is how quickly and easily this meal comes together.  I've actually made it twice in the last couple weeks (that's how good it is).  Each time we started cooking after 7 and were still able to eat before 8!  I'd estimate the total prep and cooking time around a half hour.  That's it! It's even quicker than going out to eat.  Even the busiest mom can find time to delight and impress your family with this meal.



I like to serve this recipe over my favorite creamy polenta.  I have a wonderful recipe I'll share with you later this week!  Usually I only make polenta with red meat, but it complements the salmon fabulously.  The cherry sauce mixes with the polenta to make it tangy and sweet.  Polenta is incredibly easy and inexpensive to make, but, if you prefer, you can serve this with roasted root vegetables or potatoes instead.



The key to making this feel like a fancy meal out is making this meal look as good as it tastes.  When you plate it for everyone, it's very impressive looking.  There are beautiful colors - pink salmon, yellow polenta, and dark purple cherry sauce.  A friend was over the first time we made this and she was so impressed that in such a short period of time we put together a plate that looked so delicious.  The next time you have a few friends over for dinner, they will be very impressed if you bring this to the table.  If you wanted to add a vegetable, roasted asparagus would complement this dish very well and add a bit of green.



My review of this recipe is, of course, is that it is wonderfully delicious.  The mild salmon is complemented well by the sweet and tart cherry sauce.  If you serve it with polenta, the soft and creamy texture works well with the flaky salmon.  Salmon is one of the healthiest foods on the planet - high in omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin D and selenium - so you can feel good about eating this meal, too.  This week, give your family a high quality, ultra delicious and healthy meal - at home!



Salmon with Cherry Sauce
from Emeril

Ingredients
4 Salmon fillets, skin-on, 6 ounces each, scaled and scored
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons minced shallots
Pinch crushed red peppers (we use about a teaspoon)
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup cherry preserve (I like Bonne Maman best)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup chicken stock

Instructions
1. Preheat a large sauté pan or cast iron skillet with the olive oil over medium to medium high heat. Season one side of the fillets with half of the salt, pepper and sugar; flip them over and season the other side with the remaining seasonings.
2. Place the salmon in the pan, skin side down, and cook until it is nicely browned and caramelized, 3 minutes. Flip over and cook on the other side for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes. Remove from the pan and store in a low temperature oven (175-200 degrees F is fine) to keep warm, skin side up.
3. Using the same pan, add the shallots and crushed red pepper and saute, stirring, until just tender, 15 to 20 seconds.
4. Add the wine, red wine vinegar and cook until it is almost completely evaporated, 30 seconds.
5. Add the chicken stock and cherry preserve, stir to incorporate and let it simmer to slightly reduce it, 1 minute.
6. Stir in the butter and remove the pan from the heat.
7. Plate the salmon fillets and spoon the cherry sauce on top.  Serve over polenta or roasted vegetables.

Vanilla Sugar

This is one of the simplest and best kitchen tricks.  If you ever use vanilla beans (like when you make Vanilla Bean Scones), don't get rid of the bean after you scrape it clean of it's inside goodness.  Shove it down in a couple of cups of sugar and let it chill, spreading its love.  Then use the sugar as you would normally (preferably for baking) and you'll have a lovely hint of vanilla throughout!



I am loving vanilla sugar.  I can't wait to find new things to bake with it.  But even if you don't bake, this would give a lovely hint to coffee or homemade hot cocoa!  The possibilities are endless.

Do you have ways you love to use vanilla sugar?  Please share!!




Vanilla Sugar


Ingredients
1 vanilla bean shell, scraped clean (use the insides for Vanilla Bean Scones!)
2 cups granulated sugar

Instructions
1. Push your vanilla bean down into the middle of the sugar.  Store in an airtight container for at least 2 weeks.  Use for anything you'd normally make with regular sugar!