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

Salmon with Mango Tomato Salsa

August 2, 2014 by Mary 38 Comments

Salmon with mango tomato salsa served with parsley buttered boiled potatoes and roasted broccoli.

So I’ve been on this sweet and savory kick. (We loved the pork chops with grapes.) Just the other night I wanted a quick meal again. Quick, because I’m always starving when I get home from work at night and my husband says I get very mean when I’m hungry. (he’s right 🙁 ) I had a beautiful piece of salmon and a mango. I love these little yellow mangoes. Here’s one that’s really ripe but I wanted to show it to you because I think these are so much more flavorful than the large red and green ones. I put together this dish of roasted Salmon with Mango Tomato Salsa in a jiffy, and it was so delicious, so fresh tasting and so very yummy!

I’ve done mango salsas before but never with tomato, but being on this sweet and savory bent gave me the go-ahead to do this. (Like I need permission for myself?) Mango, tomato, jalapeno, olive oil, lime and cilantro – a beautiful combination!

Then to quickly season and cook the salmon, I turned to Old Bay – for the first time on salmon and it was perfect! My husband is from Baltimore, the home of Old Bay. I always have some around, just in case we get the urge to steam hard-shelled crabs, a family favorite. But you know, I thought I should be using it more than once or twice a year and so here we are with this delicious salmon dish!

Here’s the recipe – light and bursting with freshness – perfect for a late evening summer meal. It was another “can you make this again?” request from my husband, and I wanted to share it with you. And please remember to make it with LOVE as it will always taste better!

SALMON WITH MANGO TOMATO SALSA – serves 2

1 14 oz. piece of center cut salmon fillet, washed and patted dried
1 rounded tsp. Dijon mustard
Sprinkling of Old Bay seasoning
1 tbs. olive oil

Salsa

1 small orange mango, peeled and diced into 1/4″ pieces
4 cherry tomatoes cut into 1/4” dice
1/2 of a jalepeno, minced with seeds
1/2 lime, juiced
1 tbs. olive oil
Fine sea salt
Pepper
2 tbs. chopped cilantro

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Make the salsa: Toss together the mango, tomatoes and jalapeno. (omit the seeds if you’d like less heat) Drizzle on lime juice and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Fold in the cilantro to combine everything. Taste to correct seasoning, if necessary. Let flavors meld while you make the salmon.

For the salmon: Smear the top of the salmon fillet with the mustard and sprinkle on Old Bay. Heat the olive oil in a non-stick, ovenproof skillet over moderately high heat. Place the salmon in, seasoned side down for 3 minutes. Then carefully turn over and place the pan in the oven to roast for 7 – 10 minutes, depending on how well done you like your salmon and if the salmon is super cold or not. Transfer to a platter. Cut into 2 pieces and serve topped with the salsa. Enjoy!

Kale with Ginger and Carrots

February 27, 2014 by Mary 24 Comments

I love coming up with unique combinations of vegetables. Not that this is so mind blowing but it’s a new combination for me. And I love being able to put dinner on the table in 40 minutes. I think the 30 minute claim is BS. Unless you’re using processed food. This meal, I put on the table in 40 minutes, even with the time it takes to cut the kale leaves off of the stem. But what pleased me most, was this vegetable combination of kale with ginger and carrots.

Kale with ginger and carrots and roasted cod on a white Wedgewood plate.

Roasted cod seasoned with Old Bay and the sauteed kale with ginger and carrots

The addition of the chicken broth, which was a second thought, only because I had some brewing on the stove, was a great flavor booster. I think I’ve told you before, my husband is not a kale fan. At all. But, he loves my kale salad. I do too, but that’s more time consuming as you have to chiffonade the kale, heat and watch the olive oil, grate the cheese, and toast the pine nuts. And that’s not exactly a low calorie dish with the oil and cheese. This dish of sautéed kale was easy, peasy, really pretty (pretty is important to me), low calorie and Steve liked it! He really liked it. It was delicious!

Here you go – you might call this More Easy Vegetables for Joan, 2.0!

KALE WITH GINGER AND CARROTS – serves 4

1 tbs. olive oil
1 bunch of kale, washed, stemmed and cut into 1” strips
3 carrots, peeled and cut on a diagonal into 1/8” thick slices
2 tbs. of fresh ginger, peeled and cut into matchsticks
1/2 cup chicken broth, preferably homemade, or vegetable broth or dry white wine
Salt
Pepper

Warm olive oil on low in a large skillet. Add ginger and carrots and cover for 10 minutes to soften. Add all the kale and the chicken broth and cover for 5 minutes. Toss and turn up heat to medium and toss and cover alternately until kale and carrots are tender to your liking, 10 – 12 minutes longer. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve with love.

Summer pleasures!!

August 12, 2012 by Mary Frances 6 Comments

There’s nothing better than a meal of hard shell crabs, corn on the cob and a cold beer on a hot summer night. Throw in a little coleslaw, make sure you have plenty of newspapers and you are set for a real treat! Since my husband is from Baltimore, this is a must at least one summer night in our household.

This was our dinner last night and the crabs were heavy, meaty and delicious! Just follow the instructions on the back of the Old Bay can. Make sure your blue crabs are alive to start, wash them in the sink using long tongs, as they will bite. Create a steamer rack in a large soup pot, (I use a store bought aluminum pan, upside down and punched with holes), fill with about 2″ of half water and half cider vinegar, (or you could use plain old white vinegar), put the live crabs in, layer by layer sprinkle heavily with Old Bay, cover and steam for 30 minutes and voila – get ready to work for the succulent crab meat. It is worth it!

(Now, what in the world are we going to do when we finally give up getting the Times every morning in paper format?)

Delicious crab cakes

December 29, 2011 by Mary Frances Leave a Comment

A traditional Polish Christmas Eve dinner is comprised of numerous courses of fish. It was a sin, way back, to eat meat on Christmas Eve and many folks fasted all day too.

However, my brother David was born on Christmas Eve so things got all catawampus at our house. David is the second oldest, was born with no name in mind. The story goes that after attending midnight mass, my father went back to the hospital and said he had to be named David, as that was the most mentioned name in the entire service.

Then I moved to New York and every Jewish person I met was totally surprised that our Catholic family had a son named David! Oy vey!

Well David and his brood (7 kids and 10 grandchildren with 2 more on the way) still live in St. Louis. So all of us on the East coast could go back to a more traditional meal, rather than his birthday request.

Here is what I served for this year.

Appetizers:
Taramusalata with red pepper and celery sticks
Greek cheese & aged Gouda with Breton crackers
Beautiful bunch of grapes

Dinner:
Crab cakes on a bed of Boston lettuce with chipotle mayonnaise and 1/2 slice of warm homemade Polish bread just out of the oven.
Steamed whole striped bass with ginger and lemon
Fennel salad
Coarse bulgar with olive oil and parsley
Oven roasted plum tomatoes with oregano

Dessert:
Christmas cookies, of course!

David’s wife, Pat, requested the crab cake recipe. This is from Preston Clark at Food and Wine magazine and it is the best crab cake recipe I have found so far. Now my husband is from Baltimore, so this is a big deal. Baltimoreans know their crab and they serve up the BEST jumbo lump crab cakes. A fine restaurant there will never use a lot or maybe any breading, but then I could never figure out how they got them to hold together because every time I would try to replicate their recipes, they would taste good, but look terrible as they always fell apart.

This recipe uses another fish as a binding – it’s genius! Fresh and full of flavor with the jalapeños and scallions, and crispy on the outside, you will love these. And they hold together nicely.

Crab cake on a Boston lettuce leaf with organic watercress and chipotle mayo

Here you go!

CRISP CRAB CAKES WITH CHIPOTLE MAYONNAISE – ADAPTED FROM PRESTON CLARK
-serves 8 as a first course or 4 as a main

Crab Cakes
1/4 – 1/2 lb. skinless flounder fillet, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
5 scallions, thinly sliced
3 jalapeños, seeded and minced
3 tbs. fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 tbs. chopped parsley
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
3/4 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 lb. lump or jumbo lump crabmeat, picked over for shells, lay out on a paper towel and pat dry on top
1 1/4 cups panko bread crumbs
Pure olive oil, for frying (I think I might try canola or peanut next time to get it at a higher temperature.)

Chipotle Mayonnaise
This makes a lot and all is not necessary for the crab cakes, but you can use leftovers for other meat sandwiches, especially turkey would be good
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1 chipotle chile in adobo, seeded and minced (or leave the seeds in if you like it spicey – I did)
1 tbs. fresh lemon juice
1 tsp. Old Bay Seasoning
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
Salt and freshly ground pepper

To make the cakes:
In a mini food processor, puree the fish. A small fillet is about 8 oz and my fishmonger wouldn’t sell any less so I used the whole 1/2 lb. and pureed it in two batches. Transfer the pureed fish to a large bowl and add the scallions, jalapeños, lemon juice, parsley, cayenne, salt, pepper and mayonnaise and mix thoroughly. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in the crabmeat. Form the mixture into 8 cakes. Place the panko in a pie plate and gently coat the cakes with the panko and refrigerate for 30 minutes. It is important to refrigerate them for at least 30 minutes, so you can handle them and they hold their shape when frying.

To make the mayonnaise:
In a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, chipotle, lemon juice, Old Bay and mustard and season with salt and black pepper. Cover and refrigerate.

To fry the cakes:
In a large nonstick skillet, heat 1/4 inch of oil until shimmering. Add the crab cakes and cook over moderate heat until browned and heated through, about 3 minutes per side. Use 2 skillets or do 2 batches as 4 at a time is enough.

To serve:
I served the crab cakes on a bed of one Boston lettuce leaf topped with watercress with a dab of the chipotle mayonnaise. Squeeze a tiny bit of fresh lemon juice on the outside rim of the lettuce, before placing on the crab cake, then put on your dab of mayonnaise.

So pretty. So fresh. So good!!

Covered bread

Homemade Polish bread on a white napkin.

Homemade Polish bread – the slight sweetness of this bread offset the spiciness of the crab cake with chipotle mayo – yummy!

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

Salmon with Mango Tomato Salsa

Kale with Ginger and Carrots

Summer pleasures!!

Delicious crab cakes

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