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Engaging stories of love, joy, comfort and friendship with proven scrumptious, healthy recipes, we celebrate LOVE as the secret ingredient for wonderful food!

Salmon Udon Soup

October 27, 2021 by Mary Leave a Comment

Yummy Salmon Udon Soup ready to eat!

Soup season is coming with the chillier weather on the way. I was feeling a little throaty last week and threw together this Salmon Udon Soup that was really just divine, and certainly hit the spot on what I was craving, fish and a light hot soup! 

I really needed to use up what was in my fridge and you can certainly substitute some things on your own. I have learned to not make everything such a big deal when cooking – be flexible – as you have to be in yoga.

Beautiful Maine!

In late September, I was waaaay up north in Island Falls, Maine at a yoga retreat, feeling all clean and stretched out, body wise, and clear in my head, like these beautiful falls. It is gorgeous there but the weather changes in a nanosecond. My teacher said that there is a saying in Maine that if you don’t like the weather, just wait a moment…and it is true!

Our lovely guide testing the water temperature

On our waterfall hike one day, we came across all of these different mushrooms!! I had no idea if they were edible and I was certainly not going to try them, but they are pretty!!

Yellow Mushroom 4 in Maine.












Donna Sewall Davidge runs the Sewall House yoga retreat and I highly recommend to come to this place to recharge and renew. Tune out your everyday life and center yourself with Kundalini and Hatha yoga. It is a welcome break and a chance to improve your yoga practice, commune with nature and meet some cool people. 

The Sewell House was built in 1865 by Donna’s great grandparents and kept in the Sewall family all these years. This historic home is where Teddy Roosevelt came to heal from asthma in the 1800’s. 

Donna’s cook served a delicious vegan fare, and although I had hoped to lose some weight, that did not happen. That Island Falls air made me hungry! 

Beautiful ingredients ready to make the Salmon Udon Soup.

Back to my scrumptious Salmon Udon Soup, which I’m going to make again and again in this cooler weather. Just take a look at all the beautiful ingredients! And once the chopping is done, which isn’t a lot, the whole thing comes together so quickly.

SALMON UDON SOUP – serves 4

4 ounces buckwheat udon noodles
2 Tbs. grape seed oil
3 Tbs. thinly sliced garlic
7 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth (preferable homemade)
1 large tomato, diced
1 Tbs. fish sauce
1 Tbs. chile-garlic sauce – Korean Gochujang
2 tsp. hot sesame oil, or to taste
1 ¼ pounds wild salmon fillet, skinned and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
3 Swiss chard leaves, leaves and stems chopped as shown in the photo or spinach
4 shishito peppers
2/3 cup thinly sliced chives or scallions
½ cup loosely packed parsley leaves or cilantro
Lime wedges, for garnish

The Process

Cook noodles according to the package directions, drain and pat dry.

Meanwhile, heat the grape seed oil over medium heat in a Dutch oven. Add garlic slices and cook, stirring often, until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel with a slotted spoon.

Carefully pour broth into the pan (it may spatter a little), and bring to a boil. Stir in tomatoes and their juice, shishito peppers, fish sauce, chile-garlic sauce and hot sesame oil. Cook for about 3 minutes

Stir in salmon chunks, reduce heat to a gentle simmer and cook until the salmon is nearly cooked through, about 2 minutes.

Stir in the drained noodles, Swiss chard and chives and simmer 1 minute more.

Serve in warmed bowls and top with the parsley and crispy garlic chips. Squeeze the fresh lime on top. Serve with LOVE.

Garlic chips sautéing in grapeseed oil.

Make your garlic chips this lovely golden color.


Filed Under: Dinner Tagged With: easy fish dinners, fish dinners, quick fish recipes, quick fish soup, salmon, soup

Ginger-crusted Halibut

May 24, 2021 by Mary 4 Comments

Ginger-crusted halibut on a gold rimmed plate.
Beautiful deliciousness in dappled sunlight!

I adore halibut. And I love ginger. So I made up this dish of Ginger-crusted Halibut, not sure how it would really work and it was amazing!

You must have super fresh ginger. Slice a big three-inch knob lengthwise on a mandoline. Then wrap that ginger around, covering both sides of your filet, pan sauté in grapeseed oil and butter and voila! Total deliciousness.

You see, I was afraid that you wouldn’t be able to cut through the ginger and just desecrate the beautiful fish while eating it but no, as long as your ginger is super fresh, creamy yellow in color, sliced very thin, this worked. And it was not overly spicy, which was another concern. It was just right with the butter mingling in.

Ginger-crusted halibut cut with arugula and tomato salad.
So very moist and flakey.

Halibut, although expensive, is such a delectable fish. Creamy white, solid but flakey tender – big flakes.

Make sure not to overcook it – 118 degrees F on the internal temperature is perfect.

Quick and easy is this recipe of Ginger-crusted Halibut. I really wouldn’t call it a recipe so much as it is an idea – that I think you will LOVE.

Ginger-crusted halibut with rice and salad.
A super easy lovely dinner!

I served this with steamed Jasmine rice and a little tomato and arugula salad. Total yumminess.

Make and serve with LOVE.

I’m sure you’ll make this again and again.

GINGER-CRUSTED HALIBUT – serves 2

One 3” long knob of super fresh ginger
1 lb.piece of Halibut fillet
1 Tbs. grapeseed oil
1 Tbs. butter
Extra virgin olive oil – a few drops
Salt 
Pepper

Peel the ginger and thinly slice it lengthwise on a hand mandoline.

Wash and pat dry your fish fillet. Put a few drops of olive oil on and rub it all over. Follow this with salt and pepper and then wrap the ginger crosswise around the fillet. Do this on both sides of the fillet, carefully wrapping the ginger and patting it down so it sticks.

Heat grapeseed oil and butter in a cast iron or non-stick skillet on medium-high heat. Carefully place the ginger-wrapped fish fillet in. Saute for about 4 minutes. Carefully loosen it on the bottom, gathering all the ginger and flip it over, being careful not to splatter yourself.

Saute on the other side for about another 4 minutes. Test with a thermometer – it should register about 118 F degrees.

Carefully remove, cut in half, serve and enjoy!!

I know you’ll LOVE this!

Ginger-crusted halibut sautéing in a black cast iron skillet.
Be sure to flip over ever so carefully.

Filed Under: Dinner, Fish Tagged With: Dinner, easy dinners, easy fish dinner, easy fish dinners, easy fish recipes, easy seafood dinners, easy weeknight dinner, easy weeknight dinners, fish, fish dinners, ginger, Halibut

Grilled Flounder with Sweet Tomato and Chili Chutney, Rosemary and Sage

September 3, 2020 by Mary 9 Comments


Flounder hot off the grill!

How many of you adore eating fish but are longing for ways that are quick and easy and would love to add a new zing to just a regular old piece of grilled fish with EVOO, salt and pepper? And how many of you have a refrigerator full of various condiments that take up too much room? I know. So this simple recipe of Grilled Flounder with Sweet Tomato and Chili Chutney, Rosemary and Sage delivers on taste and ease all in one!

You don’t necessarily have to go out and buy The English Provender Co. Sweet Tomato and Chili Chutney. Although this is very tasty with a savory sweet hot vibe, I say you should try to use up something you already have that has the same vibe. Wouldn’t that be even better? 

Of course you could also dress up a piece of fish with my versatile Green Sauce, but that takes more work than I was willing to do last night. ( I can be so lazy…)

Think of flavors you LOVE…

Since it is only me eating now, I am trying all kinds of flavor combinations and I have been fascinated by mixing up sweet summer fruits with meats and fish. I mean, why not? I want to eat something new, surprising and different. After all, being totally alone in this Covid time, cooking and eating (and drinking wine) are the highlights of my day, so I love experimenting.

And I have made a commitment to myself to clean out the fridge of all of these jars! You see, my kids stayed in my apartment in the city for nearly seven weeks and cleaned out that fridge of outdated things and used the others, so now I want to do that here, upstate.

I have tons of jam that I never use on toast. I want to attack those – maybe on grilled pork chops soon…

Get creative!

I hope this post will spur some creativity on your part. Go ahead and try an unusual combination. Have fun! Experiment and enjoy. But remember to always make it with LOVE.

Flounder ready to go on the grill.

GRILLED FLOUNDER WITH SWEET TOMATO AND CHILI CHUTNEY, ROSEMARY AND SAGE – serves 2

1 lb. fillet of flounder
Extra virgin olive oil
½ TBS. The English Provender Co. Sweet Tomato and Chili Chutney
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary, chopped
1 sprig of fresh sage
Salt 
Pepper

Preheat your grill or oven to 425 F degrees. Use a grilling vegetable pan for the grill.

Thoroughly wash and pat dry the fish. Coat both sides with a thin film of olive oil. Salt and pepper on one side only. Then spread on the Sweet Tomato and Chili Chutney. Top with chopped rosemary and lay the sage sprig on top.

Spray the grill pan with high heat grilling spray or if using the oven, line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

Grill or roast for about 5 minutes.

Use 2 spatulas to remove the fish to a platter. Cut in half and serve.

Enjoy!

My dinner – with 1/2 sweet potato and fresh cut arugula and tomatoes from my garden!

Filed Under: Dinner, Fish, Lunch Tagged With: easy dinners, easy fish dinners, easy fish recipes, easy roasted fish recipes, fillet of founder, fish, flounder, quick and easy dinners

Jenkins Jellies Guava Brava & Hell Fire Jellies

October 13, 2015 by Mary Frances 14 Comments

When actress Hillary Danner had an overabundance of peppers in her organic garden in LA, what did she do? Make jellies silly!! Made in small batches, with no preservatives, artificial flavorings or colorings, these Jenkins Jellies Guava Brava and Hell Fires Jellies are sweet, hot and delicious!! Hillary teamed with longtime friend Maria Newman and concocted these spicy gems.Jenkins Jellies Hell Fire and Guava Brava jellies with a tasting spoon.

Loved by many famous chefs, Mario Batali described it perfectly when he said, “… it dances right on the edge of spicy and sweet in a delicious tango of provocation and pleasure.”

He likes them with cheeses and warm bread. I used both of them as a glaze on roasted fish to make a super special, easy and quick weeknight dinner. This will taste more time consuming than it is as both jellies add a ton of flavor in a jiffy!!

As I write this post, I am flying home on a plane from Florida and this quote from Mario made me laugh! “One warning…. it is highly addictive and I would like to suggest 3 ounce packages so that we may improve the airline meals we suffer as we flit about “

Take a look at this video of me turning this gorgeous piece of salmon into pure deliciousness with the Guava Brava.

Jenkins Jellies Grava Brava salmon in skillet.

JENKINS JELLIES GAUVA BRAVA ROASTED SALMON – serves 3 – 4

1 Tbs. grapeseed oil
1.5 lbs center cut salmon fillet
French Grey or Kosher salt
Fresh ground pepper
1 Tbs. Dijon mustard
1.5 Tbs. Jenkins Jellies Guava Brava 

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. 

Wash and dry the salmon and season with salt and pepper. Spread the mustard on top. Spread the Guava Brava on top of the mustard.

Heat oil in skillet until nearly smoking. Sear salmon in skillet skin side down for 3 minutes.

Place skillet in oven for fish to roast for 8 -10 minutes.

Carefully remove fish from the skillet – use a hot pad on the handle – (too many times I have grabbed that) – and remove the fish, cut into serving pieces, serve with LOVE and enjoy!!Jenkins Jellies Guava Brava salmon meal on 2 plates.

I served this with some blanched sugar snap peas tossed with some toasted pecans, orange pepper, one chopped tomatillo and a champagne vinaigrette. 

This next recipe used the Hell Fire jelly. Again, this was easy peasy and so totally delicious. I made this with Basa and Tilapia, and really, I imagine any fish will work, so you get to choose.

Combining the jelly with butter was a splendid way to make a glaze which then got me thinking that this glaze would also work on butternut or acorn squash for a kick!

And then with the holidays coming, I see cheddar cheese coins with a dab of either jelly in my future. It would be amazing!

Experiment, have fun and have a party – invite your friends over and share the goodness!!Jenkins Jellies Hell Fire pepper jelly on basa fish with seared radicchio, oranges, pecans and aged balsamic vinegar.

JENKINS JELLIES HOT BASA – NOVA! – serves 3

3 fillets of Basa
2 Tbs. unsalted butter
1.5 Tbs. Jenkins Jellies Hell Fire jelly
French Grey or Kosher salt
Fresh ground pepper
Olive oil to slick the pan
Fresh lemon wedges

Heat oven to 425 degrees.

Wash and dry your fish fillets.

Oil slick a small rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle the baking sheet with some salt and pepper. This will season the underside of the fish – clever eh? Place the fish on the pan.

Jenkins Jellies Hell Fire pepper jelly in a pan with butter.Jenkins Jellies Hell Fire pepper jelly in a butter sauce.Melt the butter in a butter-warming saucepan. Add the jelly and use a small whisk to combine.

Brush this glaze on the fish fillets being sure to spread out the wonderful bits of pepper.

Sprinkle the top of the fish with a little crushed French Grey salt.

Jenkins Jellies Hell Fire pepper jelly on Basa fish.Roast for approximately 12 minutes until done.

Serve with a squeeze of fresh lemon. You will LOVE this!!

Filed Under: Dinner, Fish, Products for sale Tagged With: Basa with Hell Fire jelly, easy fish dinners, easy weeknight dinners, Jenkins Jellies, quick and easy dinners, salmon with Guava Brava jelly

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Mary Frances

Mary Frances

Spread love through cooking.

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