Salmon Cakelets

For my niece Anna as she steps into fish world!

This is a riff on a Jamie Oliver recipe. I will start by saying that. There are some changes, however, so do not call out the plagiarism police on me! After all, as Coco Chanel said, “imitation is the highest form of flattery”. The idea came about because we were having a family nibble night for a myriad of celebrations. College graduation, impending birthday, upcoming family reunion for July 4th. There were a lot of tastes involved and we all contributed something in some way. My niece, Anna, is beginning to try seafood after years as a vegetarian. So I thought of a recipe that I had seen on the Jamie Oliver channel and thought I could downsize the cakes (hence cakelets). I gave her a list of ingredients and she loved them all so we decided to make them together. From start to finish. Including tasting for taste. It was great fun. I give you Salmon Cakelets.

For this recipe, I used 2 pounds of Atlantic salmon which I skinned. If you are not comfortable skinning the fish, ask your fish purveyor to do it for you. It is quite easy and the skin makes fabulous cracklings. Different recipe….. Also needed were 2 stalks of lemon grass (use lemon rind or lime rind if you cannot find lemon grass and taste for flavor), about a 1-1/2 inch piece of peeled ginger, a bunch of cilantro, and chili oil. I make my own chili oil so I used that, but included a picture of what you need should you make this. Cooking time is enough time to fry the cakes, but allow about 1/2 hour before cooking for resting in fridge.

First, peel the salmon skin and chop into 1/4 inch pieces. Flatten the lemon grass and remove the outer hard bits. Chop as finely as possible. Do the same with the ginger and the cilantro, using leaves and stalks.

I have combined the lemon grass and ginger in a bowl. I separated out the cilantro because not everyone is a fan so I made half with and half without to please everyone.

Now take 1/2 of the cubed salmon and cut down to almost a paste. You can do this in a food processor, but why take out a piece of equipment when a knife works just as well and is easier to clean! Besides, great stress reliever….. Add the lemon grass/ginger mix as you chop. You will. have this:

Add the remaining salmon chunks to this minced down product and continue to chop all together keeping the bigger chunks bigger than the minced bits but making a somewhat homogenous mix.

Quite frankly, I took this photo and chopped a bit further because Anna thought the cakelets were not holding together. She was right. If you make larger cakes it is a bit easier for the finished product to set. You will notice that there is cilantro in this photo. I split out the with and without prior to taking this pix, but if you are not splitting, just mix it all in when you add the ginger and lemon grass (or grated lemon rind or lime rind). Add salt. I think next time I will use soy sauce for this. It will give a better flavor. At this point, if you are a sushi eater, you can taste for seasoning (as I did which is when I realized it needed more salt). If you rather have it cooked, make a small patty to taste.

For patties (cakelets). Form a 1 1/2-2 inch ball and press to form a chunky pancake like thing. Make all the patties at once and then refrigerate for about 1/2 hour.

The best way to cook is to use a non-stick skillet but one was not available so I used cooking spray. Heat the skillet and then spray. Hot Pan Cold Oil. Good trick to remember to keep things from sticking. Learned that at a Chinese cooking class. (the actual quote is hot wok cold oil…).

When you have prepped your pan, add the cakes and cook. Flip when you see the sides of the cakes turning white. If you have prepped the pan or if you are using a non-stick skillet, this will be quite easy. Cook the other side and then put aside. Remember, the salmon will cook after it is taken off the pan. Don’t overcook or the cakelets will be dry. Top with some of the chili oil, crisp, or spice of your choice. You will have this.

This recipe made 24 cakelets. Needless to say, if you want them larger to put on a salad or into a bun, have at it! BTW, none left. Even the 4 year old took some. But Anna? she love making them, chimed in on what was working in shape and taste, loved the finished flavor and hopefully she will make them on her own.

For everyone else? 🙂

Just in Time for Summer. Zucchini Butter!

No butter needed.

This is a great quick preparation for carnivores, pescatarians, vegetarians and vegans. Gluten free. Dairy free. And in the next month or so, they will be everywhere! Can go on toast, pasta, fish, meat, in eggs….getting the picture? 4 ingredients unless you really want to jazz it up. I bring you ZUCCHINI BUTTER. To make, you will need

Note. One of the ingredients is a piece of equipment. That everyone has. In some way, shape or form.

To make. Grate your zucchini on your box grater using the largest holes. If you want to break out the food processor, just pulse a few times to get the size shown below. Do not over process, you are not making soup, you are making butter. It should be mentioned that any color of zucchini or summer squash can be used. I think, as the product arrives at markets or in stores, the smaller varieties would be better because they are sweeter but do not let lack of small vegetables deter you from making this. Your grated product should look like this.

Chop shallot and add to zucchini bowl. No shallots? Use onion. Use scallion. Use garlic, but sparingly. You want to taste zucchini.

Heat your pan, and after heated, add olive oil. If you are using non stick, add olive oil and heat pan at the same time. Toss in zucchini and shallots, salt and pepper and let cook down. This is halfway through the process.

The water from the zucchini will cook out and the zucchini will soften. The edges may get a bit brown just continue to toss, the whole process will not take more than 15 minutes.

This is the finished product. Allow to cool and you will see that your zucchini has become spreadable, you get it, just like butter! And that’s all there is to it. If it needs more salt, add salt. If you like it a bit more fiery, add red pepper flakes or my favorite Calabrian Chili past. Want basil? Just throw it in. More acidic? A squeeze of lemon. The world is your zucchini!

Now what? Below is the simplest way to use. Toast a piece of bread and spread the butter. Eat.

I made breakfast with some leftover pasta and threw a bit of the butter in the eggs and I give you this.

And there you have it. Keep it in the fridge and remove just before spreading. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

PAN TOMATE

A variation on a theme

After spending a wonderful and food filled 10 days in Spain, I find that I am drawn more than ever to small bites. Not that I needed that much in the way of encouragement, but the Spanish seem to have developed the final word on yumminess in small plates. So with that in mind, I give you my spin on Pan Tomate. Normally, Pan Tomate is a piece of toast rubbed with some tomato and topped with something. This is an upgraded riff on that-easy, involves no cooking unless you call toasting bread cooking, only a bit of hands on time (think less than 5 minutes) and can be used in a myriad of ways. Perfect for your next happy hour nibble. What you need are these items:

Notice, two of the 6 items are “utensils”. I had a beefsteak tomato that was sitting unused and decided to employ it for this appetizer. Also shown are salt, bread, and oil. I am using Spanish olive oil, use what you want or what you have. The bread is an olive loaf, again, use what you want or have. For you gluten free folks, substitute the olive bread with your gluten free fave. Grate the tomato on the largest holes of the box grater. It may smush if you have an overly ripe tomato, if that occurs, you can chop down the larger pieces, but by and large the tomato will grate easily and you will end up with this.

Pour your what is now tomato puree into a strainer placed over a bowl , salt lightly, and allow the tomato to drain. Like so.

The more liquid part of the puree will seep into the bowl below and you will be left with a spreadable product. Don’t worry about the seeds. In Spain, I saw seeds everywhere, even in a 2 Michelin Star restaurant surrounded by the gelatin which holds the seeds in place. They are delicious. A bit tangy.

Now the fun part. Take your bread, toast it slightly, and and then “butter it” with the tomato. I will show you two different iterations. The first was part of a tapas dinner on a Sunday night. The second was a breakfast toast with avocado.

In Madrid, they call this a matrimonio. A combination of white and grey anchovies for anchovy lovers. I love anchovies, but admit that there are haters out there. Maybe you should give them another go??

This is tamer. Both were delicious. Topped with a bit of salt and a drizzle of olive oil. Pepper if you want. Parsley or cilantro.

So what else can you use? Top with thinly sliced manchego. Top with tinned tuna or another tinned fish. Top with a slice of sweet onion. You can even top with a fried egg. You are only limited by your imagination!

Now what to do with the tomato water that filtered out. Martini lovers, I am looking at you! Add to some chilled Vodka, skewer a small piece of Mozzarella and a leaf of basil. Not your grandmother’s Caprese!

I hope you make this. Like I said it is so easy to prepare, inexpensive, and so many ways to enjoy!

RICE PAPER TREATS

A twist on Spanakopita

I am currently visiting family in Chicago. This visit always turns into a food-a-thon, and that is great fun. While going through the pantry looking for something, I happened upon a sleeve of large rice paper wrappers which had seen better days. We had had a salad the night before and there was some fresh spinach left. I had to do a run to the grocery store and picked up some curly kale for another salad. While putting things away into the fridge, I saw a half block of feta and some unopened dill and realized that there was enough of everything to make filling for spanakopita and figured I would try it with the rice paper bits for Happy Hour nibbles. It worked. Lo and behold, I give you rice paper treats.

The fixings. This made 12 squares.

First, I chopped the spinach and kale really finely. You can probably do the same in a food processor, but I didn’t want to take out another appliance. Get the greens as fine as you can and then squeeze out as much liquid as you can to get a dry mix.

Chop the scallion, garlic, and dill and add to the spinach/kale bowl. Season with salt and pepper to taste and mix.

Add the egg and stir all together.

Crumble the feta (use as much as you want, I used about 1/4 block) and add to the entire mix. Stir to combine. If you want to taste, make a small patty and cook to make sure you have all the seasonings ok. A grate or two of nutmeg would go really well with the greens, I forgot to add but you will do better.

Now, set a dinner plate aside and add some water. Take a second dinner plate or a tray and spray or brush with oil. Take a rice paper sheet and place on the water plate for a few seconds. Flip the sheet and let sit for another few seconds. Take out and place on your board. Add a spoonful of the mix to the part of the sheet closest to you like so.

You can see that the paper is damp. That is what you want. The damper it is, the easier it is to roll. Starting at the bottom, fold the paper over the mix, then fold the two sides over and roll and flatten, much like you would do with a burrito. Place on the oil plate. Repeat until you have finished the filling or run out of paper. I forgot to take a foto of the wrapped square, but you will see in the finished product below.

Oil a non stick pan and place the squares over medium heat. They will get crispy and the interior will cook. Flip after a few minutes, that depends on how brown you want the exterior or how many people are hovering over you as you cook. I made 12. As I was taking them out of the pan, they were eaten. I had to move fast to get a finished picture!

I made a quick dip with some yogurt and the scallion tops that were left and that was it!

Why do I love this and why will I make it again? It’s easy. It tastes good. I always have rice paper sheets and you should too, they can be used for so many things, cooked and uncooked! Everyone loves hot crispy things. And it is so much easier than making with phyllo because you do not have to wait 24-48 hours for the phyllo to defrost. You don’t have to keep the rice paper sheets covered while you work. It’s gluten free for your gluten free friends. It took about 15 minutes to put the whole thing together including taking fotos to show you. Did I say it tastes good? I hope you try it. If you do, let me know how it goes!

MANGO TAPAS OF A SORT

Started as an avocado wrap

I had seen a recipe from the celebrated Chef Jose Andres and thought I would give it a whirl as I had an avocado that was waning. Unfortunately, I missed the first sentence of the recipe which stated “start with a ripe but not soft avocado.” I made the avocado into toast and was going to give up when I saw a “ripe but not soft” mango on my counter. While in Barcelona, I had a dessert which combined mango and strawberry and it was delicious. I had both in the house so I began to elaborate. I also had some Jamon Iberico and thought the flavors would pair well. Finally, I had some pickled onions for a counterbalance to the sweetness of the mango and strawberry and the fatty Jamon. And so I give you this Mango Tapas.

Start with a piece of cling wrap and coat it with a neutral oil or spray. This keeps the mango from slipping and easier to roll. Then peel your mango and using the peeler, continue to peel thin strips of the fruit. Layer the slices on the cling wrap as so:

Slice the strawberries as thinly as possible, you can use the peeler for this as well but it is a bit tricky. Layer them atop the mango and then add the Jamon on top. Finish with the pickled onion.

Now, starting from the bottom with the wide end of the cling wrap facing you, roll the package up to look like this.

Other options, you can use thinly sliced shrimp in place of Jamon. You can use regular ham. You can use mortadella. You can use chorizo. You can use prosciutto. (Think prosciutto and melon, same idea). If you do not have pickled onions on hand, here is a very quick easy recipe https://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-quickpickled-red-onions-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-193247. You can eliminate them, but you do need something sharp and tart, you can even use some pickle slices but don’t overdo.

Refrigerate until ready to serve. Slice and top with some sesame seeds, or chopped nuts, or a bit of soy sauce. Maybe some hot sauce for tang? It is an easy do, can be made ahead and will go well as a nibble with some fizz or wine!

Enjoy!

BROCCOLI

Not just for steaming.

I was testing a recipe for pork spareribs for a Lunar New Year party that we are having in my building. I found the pork recipe I wanted, but as I was making the ribs for dinner, I needed a side veggie to go with the pork and rice. I had some fresh broccoli in the fridge, so that became my side and the inspiration for this post. The good thing about this prep is that the seasonings can be used for a roasted side or a steamed dish. And the ingredients are probably things you have, but I am including some two items that you may want to keep on hand for future use. Both of these items can be stored in the fridge for a bit, so it may make sense to add them to your everyday larder. Or not, you do you.

To prep the broccoli for either steaming or roasting, break down the florets into smaller pieces and peel the stems and cut them into coins. Here I have two small broccoli crowns; you can see the before and after.

If steaming, just add to your steamer and cook to your liking. If roasting, which I prefer, toss with a bit of neutral oil and add to roasting pan. Don’t crowd pan or your broccoli will not crisp up and I like my broccoli with crunchy edges. I set oven to a pretty high heat, 400-425 for about 15 minutes. After that, toss and keep an eye on the pan, burnt isn’t good. Roast to your preferred taste and remove.

To finish the dish, you are ready to season. Simply, toss with lemon juice and chili flakes, salt and pepper to taste. Or you can bougee the dish with these ingredients, and these make a big and tasty difference.

Notice the use by date on the peppers. Once you get accustomed to using these peppers, you will go through them long before the use by date. The preserved lemons are a pickle by another name and last for a long time as well. See sentence regarding peppers and repeat.

With both of these ingredients, a little goes a long way so taste as you go. The peppers have a bit of a kick and the lemons are salty. A scant 1/2 teaspoon of the peppers will suffice for the amount of broccoli shown if you want just a bit of heat. The lemons are soft, again I use scant 1/2 teaspoon to start and toss with chilis and broccoli and taste for seasoning. That’s it. Either dish can be served hot, at room temp, or chilled for a salad. If taking from fridge, remove about 10 minutes before serving to let the flavors come back to life.

Want another idea on how to use? Crostini. Toast some bread, rub with a clove of garlic, chop the broccoli a bit finer, and top the toast. Drizzle a bit of olive oil to complete the dish. Serve with a glass of red wine. Enjoy!

It’s Back!

After a bit of a hiatus, you know, Covid (blame everything on Covid), life, laziness, the usual, I am restarting my bitty blog about nibbles. Those of you who subscribe may be happy (I hope so), hopefully some new followers may appear. With a New Year and resolutions pushing at me, the time seems right. So without further ado, let’s get started

RED WINE MUSHROOM RAGOUT.

This will be an easy start. I made this mushroom ragout with an excess of what I purchased for my duxelles for Christmas Beef Wellington (another post). Fairly simple, but so delicious, I served it along with chicken cutlets coated with garlic breadcrumbs which were made with leftover bread for the same holiday. You can serve it on toasts, topped with an egg for a Sunday brunch , or toss in pasta. The world is your mushroom!

Back to the mushrooms. I had an assortment. In addition to chopped and shredded mushrooms, I minced a garlic clove and a scallion. You can use shallot or onion, I had some scallions left so I used them before I lost them. A sprig of rosemary or thyme A bit of chicken stock or just water and 1/2 cup red wine whatever you have. I had some Beaujolais and I used that. Salt and pepper to taste.

Heat skillet over medium high and then add some neutral oil along with some butter (you can use any fat, but add a bit of neutral oil like grapeseed or canola to raise the heating point). Toss in the mushrooms taking care not to crowd. If you can see some space between the shrooms, you are ok. Otherwise, they will steam and not brown (thank you Julia Child).

As soon as the mushrooms start to brown (about 5 minutes or so) add the garlic and scallion. Waiting after the cooking process has started will prevent the garlic from burning. Allow the scallion and garlic to soften and flavor the mushrooms. Toss in the chicken stock or water to deglaze and then add the red wine and the rosemary. It should look like this.

Let the red wine cook down until the sauce becomes a purple color and thickens the dish. Salt and pepper to taste and that’s it.

Not the best photo but you can see the purple hue of the finished product. The wine has cooked off and all you have is the flavor.

So there you have it. Nibbles and Bits.2 for 2025.

3 January 2025

Say Ciao To Summer Tomatoes? Not yet!

In my never-ending attempts to connect with my Italian roots, and in my continued efforts to be a good citizen and not waste anything, I have concocted this recipe after looking at several sites to come up something doable. It is a bit time consuming but read on, it will be so worth it, I promise. Besides, what else are you going to do? Binge watch yet another series on MHZ? Clean another closet? And the beauty of this project is that has a real Zen effect, for me anyway. When was the last time closet cleaning had that effect?

Back a bit ago (September 2018, I guess more than a bit), I did a post on making tomato sauce from scratch using the end of summer greenmarket bounty. This is a kind of an epilogue to that post. I have taken to removing the skins from the tomatoes before actually cooking them down to make the sauce because after doing the pureeing, there was a big mess of skin and seeds and it became sort of a PITA to clean up. The last few times I made sauce this summer, I sliced a cross in the end of the tomato and removed the core at the top and blanched them in boiling water for 10-15 seconds. After that time seconds, I removed the tomatoes and placed them in a bowl of ice water to cool. The skins came off without an iota of trouble, and my cleaning mess was halved.

after blanching, skins on pan ready to cook, dried product

But then I started thinking, there must be a use for those skins. So searched the web and found a myriad of ideas. This encapsulates all of them. After removing the skins, place them on a sheet pan covered either with parchment paper or a Silpat. Try to keep them as separated as possible. If you have blanched them right, the skins will come off in sheets and that will make it easier for you. Place the pan in a 250 degree oven and let them dry completely (the whole process will take 45 minutes to an hour (if you use a convection oven, slightly shorter). The skins will shrink, check them periodically so that they do not burn and rotate the pan occasionally (Some suggested to use the microwave, that procedure did not work for me). Make sure the skins are dried, think Cape Cod Kettle Chip dry. When completely dessicated, let them cool and put them into a food grinder, or use a mortar and pestle to grind. Add a touch of salt if you want. There you have it, powdered tomato topping. With the dregs of the tomato made by your own hands, and the satisfaction that comes from doing good for the earth. Plus the added benefit of sauce which you can freeze for those cold months to come.

Its uses? It is a seasoning. Sprinkle it atop of linguine with white clam sauce for a touch of color. Sprinkle atop sliced mozzarella with a bit of oil, cheater Caprese. Sprinkle in eggs to add zing to omelets.

Or……rim glasses for Bloody Mary’s. Your guests will thank you!

CHEATER PORCHETTA

I saw this recipe on “ITALIAN SONS AND DAUGHTERS” website so I do not claim it as my own. Having said that, I thought it was too, too good not to share. I love porchetta but it takes forever to make and is usually too large for dinner for 2-4 people. This recipe is ingredient friendly, easy to prepare, and perfect for Sunday dinner or a small dinner party. You will get all the flavor of the larger roast plus all the crispy bits from the pork skin. What you need is a tablespoon of fennel seeds, about a tablespoon of chopped garlic (more or less according to your taste) and a garlic head sliced in half across the equator (optional, but why not??), a tablespoon of chopped rosemary and a few sprigs (3-4) set aside, olive oil salt and pepper, a pork tenderloin and the thing that makes it porchetta, 4-5 slices of BACON!

Start by combining the fennel, chopped garlic, chopped rosemary, salt and pepper, and olive oil to make a paste. Rub the mixture over the pork loin. Place the rosemary sprigs onto an oiled baking dish and place pork loin on top. Now wrap the loin with the bacon slices making sure to tuck the ends under the pork. Place pork into a 425 degree oven, if using convection to roast, use the temperature for your oven. Roast for 30-45 minutes depending on style of cooking, but start testing at 30 minutes. You want the internal temperature to be 145 degrees. Let rest tented for 10 minutes before serving. See? Easy.

I paired it with a warm snap pea and purple potato salad and some grilled asparagus, you can come up with your own sides, even some grilled apple or strawberries would be nice as it is the season.

Don’t eat pork? Try it with Salmon. Bacon too much (said no one ever)? Wrap it with prosciutto. Leftovers? Sandwich with onions and roasted peppers.

Comforting Sunday dinner. Don’t forget the wine.

Roasted Rapini

It is a beautiful Saturday here in quarantined Brooklyn. Totally Spring. And in a sign that some normalcy is trying to return, my dry cleaner was opened so I was able to ransom garments that I dropped off a month ago, like having a new wardrobe. Our Greenmarket is open on Saturdays as well, so I walked up to see if anything was available. Lo and behold, green things are starting to appear as nature does its thing with or without face masks.

One of the vendors had beautiful bunches of broccoli rabe and for the first time in 6 weeks I had a craving for something that wasn’t a potato chip or a bottle of wine. This has to be the easiest, freshest, and tastiest thing to make on the spur of the moment.

So before you I have presented the ingredients. Rapini (or broccoli rabe), garlic, crushed red pepper. You will also need olive oil and flaky sea salt to taste. Everything is QB (quanta basta, or as much as you need or want). First blanch the rapini in boiling water for about 5 minutes. This will soften the stems. Refresh in ice water and drain. Heat oven to 400 degrees. While oven is heating, slice the garlic as thinly as you can. Cover a rimmed sheet pan with aluminum foil (read easy cleanup) and place the rapini on the pan alternating stems and tops for even cooking. If necessary, use two pans, you don’t want to crowd the pan. Add the olive oil, the shaved garlic, the crushed red pepper, salt to taste, and toss. Roast 10-15 minutes. That is all there is to it. If the stems are still tough, cut them from the tops, and place back into oven covered with some aluminum foil to finish. Add lemon juice if you want, or a splash of red wine vinegar. That’s the healthy part.

When I was growing up, my grandmother would make me a sandwich on our Sunday visits. Kaiser roll, some pork cracklings from the rendered fat back used to fry the meatballs for Sunday gravy, and some broccoli rabe. As I was roasting the rapini, I thought of that dish. I had some bacon in the fridge which I chopped down into small pieces and fried. Dipped a Martin’s potato roll into some of the bacon fat, added a few pieces of crispy bacon, a few slices of shaved pecorino cheese, some of the garlic slices from the rapini and toasted my grandmother. Not so healthy, but oh so delicious.

Other things you can do: chop it, add some of the cooking oil and bacon and toss with pasta; top with fried egg; serve at room temperature as a side or salad adding some lemon zest; chop and add to omelettes.

So grab your mask, go for a walk, enjoy the day, look for the rapini, and be grateful for another spring.