Without a Net

I've had a hard time with food blogging because I'm not good at following recipes (or documenting what I do when I'm cooking, period). Do I love recipes? Yes! Do I use them as inspiration? Absolutely! But I often find myself in situations where I've made something that I think is memorable, but I'll have a little trouble telling anyone else how to recreate what I've done.  The biggest culprit is that I'm not good about measuring--I'm certain this is why I do so little baking.

Does this happen to anyone else?  Do you just throw things around the kitchen and can't necessarily nail it down into a follow-able recipe if asked to do so?

Green Beans and Zucchini with Sauce Vert from Bon Appetit

Green Beans and Zucchini with Sauce Vert

I followed this Bon Appetit recipe to a T. I'd absolutely make it again with no changes. BUT! It's nearing the start of zucchini AND squash harvesting in my little garden and I thought the zucchini absorbed the sauce vert flavor a little better than the green beans. So, I'll make it again with zucchini and squash spears, most likely.

The sauce is fantastic. The recipe says leftover sauce is good stirred into cous cous. I made a bowl of rice the other evening (Trader Joe's frozen--I am SO lazy sometimes for someone who loves to cook) and stirred some of the sauce in. Terrific! I'll be thinning some with olive oil as a marinade for chicken before grilling. I think it would make a great pasta sauce as well. Think pesto with more of a kick.

Roasted Fingerling Potato Salad from Bon Appetit

Roasted Fingerling Potato Salad from Bon Appetit

1. This gave me a huge "DUH" moment when it comes to roasting fingerling potatoes. Seriously people, follow the directions from this recipe. Each time. Every time!

2. I will just say no to tarragon the next time I make this recipe. I really don't care for the licorice-y taste and I didn't like the taste with roasted potatoes one little bit. The rest of this recipe really shined as good enough to think of a substitute. Next time I make this I'll be using fresh thyme.

Back to the kitchen

I'm going to be using this blog to log recipes I've tried and alterations I've made. Because let's face it--who cooks and doesn't mess with the recipe?

Potlatch-Seasoned Grilled Salmon on a Cedar Plank

Over the years I've had several opportunities to enjoy salmon grilled atop a cedar plank. Each time I remember thinking "Oh, this is easy. I can do this at home. No sweat." Mmm...not so much. My gas grill didn't allow for the flame down to be adjusted to a point low enough to keep from catching the cedar plank on fire (bad, because you may not realize it right away since the grill lid is closed for cooking). Also, I wasn't soaking the plank properly--you need to place something heavy on the plank and keep it fully submerged in water for several hours (I let it soak all day). Now that I have a charcoal grill (yep, still singing the praises and giggling at converting my parents who thought it was just a waste of time and energy) I decided to try again. It seems to work better because when you let the coals of charcoal burn down, there is no actual flame to ignite the board. This time I wanted to try a seasoning I've heard so much about. Get ye to Williams-Sonoma and buy some of this Potlatch Seasoning. They also carry the cedar planks, but some grocery stores even have these now. Make sure the wood is UNTREATED!

Potlatch-Seasoned Grilled Salmon on a Cedar Plank

1 cedar plank (soaked)

2 lbs. fresh salmon (with the skin still on)

2 heaping TEAspoons Potlatch Seasoning

enough olive oil to make a paste of the seasoning (but no more than that...stir the olive oil and seasoning together to make a thick paste)

Prepare your charcoal grill. Let the coals burn down until there is no more flame. The temperature will be between 350-400 degrees. While the coals are burning down, prepare the fish as follows:

Place the salmon (skin down) on the soaked cedar plank. Spread the paste evenly over top of the salmon filet. Rub it in gently, not tearing the flesh of the fish filet.

When the coals are ready, place the plank on the grill and close the lid. The salmon will take appx. 20 minutes to cook, but this can vary due to grill temperature and thickness of your salmon filets.

Remember Me? Summer Grilling (and a recipe for Cheater's Cajun Shrimp Alfredo)

So, I've been a little busy. OK, a lot of busy. I still cook...sometimes. I'm doing a good bit of chasing the kids around outside and reading for school.

We've been doing a lot of grilling on our new Char-Griller combination charcoal grill/smoker. I can honestly say that I don't think our propane gas grill will get any (or much) use this season (or ever again). Like many people, we shied away from charcoal thinking it was a pain, too dirty or too time-consuming. We're finding that none of that is really true. Now, my mom says it's carcinogenic, but after all the food hysteria (and packaging hysteria) that we've been inundated by, I just can't even bring myself to look. It appears that breathing air each day is carcinogenic, too. So, anyway, sidetracked... Jon has been begging for a charcoal grill and I found this great model on sale at Home Depot (if we ever go bankrupt, I hold them solely responsible). It was supposed to be his Father's Day gift, but I guess Father's Day came early this year.

Something to consider (it's worth the $10-15 or so) is a Charcoal Chimney Starter. This takes all the work out of getting your charcoal ready for grilling. We've been buying natural charcoal, too, instead of the briquettes with all of the chemical starters, etc. in them.

The taste difference in grilling over charcoal as opposed to on the gas grill is just unbelievable. We haven't used the smoker yet, but I'm sure we'll get to that (probably a pork loin with a cider-vinegar-based BBQ marinade so we can chop the meat and make Pulled Pork Sandwiches). today I have a flank steak marinating in a mixture of Pampered Chef's Southwest Seasoning, Olive Oil and Apple Cider Vinegar (yes, I love me some vinegar...what of it?!!?).

Happy Grilling!!!

Now, last night I made a quick "fake it don't make it" kind of dinner. Last weekend I went to fish market and got some Old Bay-seasoned steamed shrimp. We had some left over, so we peeled them and popped them in the freezer. I had an idea to make some kind of Cajun Shrimp Alfredo, but had no desire to make alfredo sauce from scratch (my only true cooking disaster was homemade alfredo sauce...the cats wouldn't even eat the shrimp from it). So, here's what I did.

Cheater's Cajun Shrimp Alfredo

1 lb. cooked shrimp (frozen or thawed, doesn't matter) peeled and deveined

powdered cajun seasoning (I use something called Cajun Dust...found it at TJMaxx)

3 small containers refrigerated alfredo sauce (I used Buitoni)

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 portabello mushroom, chopped

1 box whole wheat linguini

Place first 5 ingredients in a large saucepan and allow to heat through. DO NOT ALLOW CREAM SAUCES TO BOIL. Prepare pasta and serve. It tastes so good that no one could ever guess how lazy you are ;-)

RAMPS, Y'all!!!

It's that time of year again. We just harvested our first batch of ramps on Sunday. We have a hillside full of them. For those who know and love ramps, no, I'm not telling you where I live. We're greedy and selfish folks. Unless we like you. And you're brave. And you like to be a little stinky. This post will be continued, with photos and a recipe or two (or ten). But, I needed to get started with the post as I lose my train of thought a lot these days (Since bringing our daughter Sophia home from Guatemala late last month, we now have two kids under the age of two in the house). Go forth, click these links, and learn about ramps. Appalachian brain food. Read about "The Feast of the Ramson".