riding on the Marrakesh Express…

salmon, rice and salad...Alex's favorite dinner

I’m so inspired by my friend Sarah, and her fantastic blog What's Cooking In Your World ?  . I’m definitely an “equal opportunity” foodie – love all kinds of cuisines, and am just as happy eating a full Japanese meal as I am making Jamaican Jerk Chicken (neither of which have anything to do with my own ancestors). But Sarah is really doing it – cooking meals from every country around the world. No hesitation, no hemming and hawing - just jump in and start cooking. I can’t think of a better way to step into someone else’s shoes then to eat how they do – food is truly a common denominator.

We found ourselves eating salmon again this week  - Wild-Caught Coho is on sale at Whole Foods, and that’s just too good to pass up. I wanted something completely different that the miso we had last week though, so I was perusing some links Mark found – the recipe section of Fish Alaska magazine. . . Moroccan Style Wild Alaska Salmon caught my eye…I’ve always wanted to try and make Moroccan food…and I thought “What Would Sarah Do” ? She’d go for it, of course…and so did I J

Since it was a weeknight and I was trying a new main dish, I took it easy on myself with the sides…Toasted Almond Rice Pilaf (yep, the Near East one) and a wonderful salad of tender butter lettuce, multicolored peppers, tomatoes, English cucumbers, and red onion. Both were easy and delicious.

The salmon and Charmoula Sauce definitely got three thumbs up. The guys weren’t as enamored of the raita – they felt the salmon didn’t need it – but I enjoyed it, so am leaving the recipe here. Perfect wine match : Pouilly-Fuissé. We're picky about white wines - has to be a good one to pass muster around here - and this was really perfect, flavorful enough to stand up to the flavors we had going on here.

Moroccan Style Wild Alaska Salmon

Adapted from Fish Alaska magazine

2  ½ lbs salmon fillets, bones removed, cut into 4 pieces.

Charmoula Sauce

Mix in small bowl:

1 1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp ground coriander

1 tbsp sweet paprika

2 tsp kosher salt

dash white pepper

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Place in food processor:

4 cloves minced garlic

1/2 cup Italian flat leaf parsley

1/2 cup cilantro

juice of 1 lemon

juice of 1 lime

zest of 1 lemon

zest of 1 lime

1/2 cup olive oil

Add first spice mixture to above ingredients in food processor. With motor running slowly add olive oil until blended well.

Drizzle half of Charmoula Sauce on both sides of salmon. Set in fridge until ready to grill.

Raita

1/2 small seedless cucumber, chopped

2 tbsp chopped red onion

1 cup plain Greek yogurt

1 tsp lemon juice

salt and white pepper to taste

Process in food processor until smooth. This is part of the garnish and gives the Charmoula Sauce a little contrast, as it is cool and smooth.

Preheat grill (oil grill grates so fish doesn’t stick) .

Cook salmon about 3 to 5 minutes per-side-per-inch of thickness, flip and cook until done to your liking, about 3 to 5 more minutes, depending on thickness of fish. Be careful not to overcook! (Note : we did this without flipping – we used skin on salmon and put skin side down, then just put lid down on grill…worked great) . Remove salmon to platter.

Assembly

Drizzle reserved Charmoula Sauce on salmon fillets. Drizzle a little Raita Sauce atop salmon. Drizzle a little of Charmoula Sauce and Raita on plate. Garnish with additional cilantro, parsley, tomato and lemon.

better than takeout Chinese :)

Beef and Broccoli Lo Mein, Mandu

so yesterday, I found myself with too much broccoli on my hands. Mark had purchased broccoli instead of my requested asparagus for the Oktoberfest meal...broccoli just wasn't going to go. (Oh, and Mark would like me to tell the blogosphere that I'm the one that came up with the spice mix for the sauerbraten....he thinks I'm not taking enough credit :) ).

Usually an abundance of broccoli in my house would be turned into my famous Chicken, Broccoli and Ziti....mine is an alfredo sort of version though, and the boy can't go off and serve his country until he's down to fighting weight...not easy with me as a mother, that's for sure ! Whilst perusing the Cooking Light website for ideas, I found a Beef and Broccoli Lo Mein recipe which I thought could be easily adapted to meet the dining requirements of my audience (plenty of meat, for one, and not so heavy on the onion) . The boy loves lo mein, and contrary to popular belief I am a nice mom :) I used sambal oelek because I love the stuff, but really whatever type of chili paste you may have around would work fine.

To complete the meal, I served this with some mandu which I had in the freezer (H Mart again) - basically just pan fry according to directions. The mandu were very good, but I still haven't found ones to match up to the ones I grew up on (I'm kind of part adopted Korean, in case you didn't know :) ) . Once I do, you'll be sure to hear about it. I was very happy with the dipping sauce I came up with though, so I will share that with you all.

tonight's plan is Moroccan.....tune in tomorrow !

Beef-Broccoli Lo Mein
(adapted from Cooking Light)

12 oz Chinese noodles or vermicelli, cooked
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon peanut oil
1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
4 garlic cloves, minced
3 cups chopped broccoli
1 small onion, thinly sliced
1 1/2 pounds flank steak, trimmed and cut across the grain into long, thin strips
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 tablespoon sambal oelek (chili paste)

Cook pasta according to package directions; drain. Combine pasta and
sesame oil, tossing well to coat.

While pasta cooks, heat peanut oil in a large wok or nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the
ginger and garlic; sauté 30 seconds. Add broccoli and onion; sauté 3 minutes. Add steak, and
sauté 5 minutes or until done. Add pasta mixture, soy sauce, and remaining ingredients; cook 1
minute or until lo mein is thoroughly heated, stirring constantly.

Soy-Ginger-Scallion Dipping Sauce

This works well for any kind of Asian-style dumpling or egg/spring roll....

1/4 cup soy sauce

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

2 tsp sugar 

1 tablespoon chopped fresh ginger

2 teaspoons sesame oil

2 tablespoons chopped scallions

Combine everything except the scallions in a medium bowl. Whisk or stir well to dissolve the sugar. Stir in scallions. 

Oktoberfest !

oh yeah baby !!

So, Sundays at my house are all about two things : football, and food. My goal is always to do something that I can mostly have done prior to the kickoff of the 1 PM game...possibly something last minute that I can do during halftime (after the highlights of the other games of course).

This past Sunday, the decision was made to do a Sauerbraten - sort of a happy early Oktoberfest :). I love German food...I am German (well 1/4 anyway), but it's not just that. It's happy memories of my childhood, yes..even though its only one quarter, it's a quarter I identify very strongly with - and food-wise, something I did get to see in action quite often (though I SO wish I had taken better notes !) .  Sauerbraten is basically a pickled roast - marinated at least three days, though Oma had a system where she'd marinate it for two weeks. Bit scary, that :). However long you marinate it, when you're ready to cook it, you basically go pot roast style - brown the sides, then cook. On top of the stove works fine, but we usually bake it in the oven...then take it out and thicken the gravy with gingersnaps. Rotkohl (red cabbage) and Kartoffelkloesse (German potato dumplings) are the usual accompaniments around here - Mark loves red cabbage, and the dumplings were one of Oma's specialties. It's taken me a while to perfect them - I think having her potato ricer is key :). We call them "footballs", since that's what my mom called them growing up - who the heck can say "Kartoffelkloesse" ? . (According to my sister everyone in Germany calls them footballs, but that's a story for another time :) ) 

Mark is definitely the master when it comes to Sauerbraten. The Martins were already well versed in German food even before I married in, courtesy of some Austrian heritage. I just pitch in where assigned :).  He usually does the red cabbage as well...but the footballs are all mine :)

Sauerbraten , Martin style

Marinade :

1 1/2 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup cider vinegar
2 cups water
2 large onions, chopped
6 stalks celery,  chopped
6 carrots, chopped fine
8 peppercorns, 8 whole cloves, and 8 whole allspice berries - cracked in mortar and pestle
1/4 tsp mustard seed

5 lb bottom round roast

Mix all marinade ingredients, then place in ziplock bag. Poke holes in roast, place in bag, and marinate for at least three days in fridge, turning at least once a day.

Brown all sides in pan. Bake in covered pan (we use stoneware, but a heavy pan with foil will do) with 2 cups of the marinade liquid - 350 for 30 minutes, then 325 for about three more hours.

Gravy - strain remaining marinade into saucepan, and simmer on stove for 30 minutes. Put in blender with 8 - 10 gingersnaps (or use immersion blender), then return to saucepan for another 10-15 minutes, until nice and thick.

Rotkohl (Red Cabbage)

1/2 pound bacon
1 onion
2 apples
1 head red cabbage, chopped.
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 tablespoon brown sugar

Saute bacon in Dutch oven. Remove and saute onion in fat a bit, then add rest of ingredients. Add bacon back in and simmer for about three hours. Salt and pepper to taste.

Kartoffelkloesse (German potato dumplings)

Makes about 9. Easily doubled.

6 potatoes
1 egg, beaten
1/3 cup flour
1/3 cup potato starch
dash of nutmeg, shake of salt
9 croutons - usually I use a slice of good German wheat bread pumpernickel, cubed up and sauteed in a little butter

Peel and boil the potatoes until done, then run though a ricer (or mash well, if you don't have one) Let cool a bit, then mix in the egg, flour, potato starch, nutmeg and salt . Take some in your hand and form each dumpling around a crouton - it should come together almost like making a good heavy snowball. If it't hard to work with or starts falling apart, just add more potato starch to the mixture.

Take a large but sort of shallow saucepan, fill about 2/3 way halfway with water and bring to a boil. Drop the dumplings in - don't crowd the pan, if you can't fit them all you're much better off using two pans. Lower the heat to a simmer and simmer them about 20 minutes.