Pecan-Encrusted Salmon

Fish rarely seems to be the most appetizing food to photograph.

In my experience, it is a relatively common occurrence for me to become hungry and have absolutely no inspiration as to what I should conjure forth from my the depleted stores tucked away in my pantry. It is also rather common for me to buy stuff that is supposedly healthy and then proceed to ignore it for months at a time as I consume my usual fare. Now on their own, these two problems are not all that interesting; having random stuff I don't care much for doesn't provide any additional inspiration, and indeed tends to encourage me to seek out external establishments from which to purchase my meals. However, on this particular evening, these two forces combined with a third (and a significantly more powerful) force: convenience.

I can see some explanation is in order. As anyone who has read a handful of my recipes can observe, some of the culinary "tests" I put myself through are designed to stretch my kitchen's horizons and broaden my repertoire. Consequently, when a trial recipe calls for an ingredient I don't really keep on hand (e.g., pecans), I am forced to buy a half-ton of them (because if I buy in bulk, I can save a quarter or two) and am subsequently left with an abundance of what I call "recipe fillers" and no idea how to get rid of them. I'm sure this gives one the picture of my cupboards chuck-full of miscellany and my trash can filled with take-out bags (which is only sometimes the case!). Nonetheless, I am always vigilantly seeking new inspiration from various websites and magazines to help me get rid of both the monotony of sandwiches for dinner and the clutter of my cupboards.

As one might be able to decipher by now, this long-winded buildup is a means of stating that in this particular instance, I managed to find a recipe (http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Alaska-Salmon-Bake-with-Pecan-Crunch-Coating/Detail.aspx) that utilized ingredients that I have been attempting to eliminate from my pantry with only a few items that I did not have on hand (the only noteworthy one being dijon mustard, which I have since decided will be a permanent fixture in my refrigerator). Furthermore, the end result was actually rather tasty and allowed me to finish off the accursed bag of frozen salmon fillets that had been mockingly staring back at me whenever I opened the freezer.

Recipe:
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons butter, melted
5 teaspoons honey
1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs*
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
3 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley
6 (4 ounce) fillets salmon
salt and pepper to taste

* I didn't have bread crumbs on hand, but I did have some saltines that had been sitting in my cupboard for the better part of a decade. I crushed these up into something pretending to be crumbs that called it even. Since this obviously added some salt to the recipe, I simply reduced the amount of salt added directly later on.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).

1) In a small bowl, mix together the mustard, butter, and honey. To help the honey dissolve, I heated the entire mixture in the microwave for ~15 seconds or so and stirred again.

Somewhat dull in appearance, but its flavor was terrific!

2) In a zip-top bag, mix together the bread crumbs, pecans, and parsley. Since I had to crush my crackers and pecans by hand, I did both in the bag before chopping the parsley in.

Actual levels of crumblage may vary depending on the tastes and level of frustration of the cook.

3) Season each salmon fillet with salt and pepper and place them in a lightly oiled cast iron skillet. Be sure not to use too much oil here; the goal is not to fry them, simply to keep them from sticking.
4) Brush each fillet evenly with the mustard-honey mixture.

I bet just cooking them like this (without adding the crumbs) would be even better than the actual recipe.

5) Sprinkle the crumb mixture on top of the fillets to coat.

No, the bag didn't explode in my kitchen; this was a deliberate and careful effort.

6) Bake for 10 minutes per inch of thickness, measured at thickest part, or until salmon just flakes when tested with a fork.

I should note that although this recipe helped me discover I don't think I'll ever really care much for salmon, it was actually very tasty, most especially the honey-dijon glaze. I might consider altering this recipe for use on chicken breasts or even pork chops as I think the sweetness would compliment those meats particularly well. That said, I don't know that it would be suited to most types of fish due to the strength of the dijon flavor.

Peanut Butter Cookies (Gluten-Free)

Note: Since this recipe is basically the same as the previous glutenized incarnation, I didn't bother taking pictures. So there.

Due to the fact that my previous batch of peanut butter cookies had been a splendid success with the coworkers, I became curious about how easy it would be to convert the recipe for one of my fellow drones who could not process gluten. As it turns out, it's perfectly simple, so long as one has gluten-free flour and a modestly-priced supplement.

It should be noted that this recipe is virtually identical to its all-purpose flour brother, but if it works, why mess with success?

Recipe:

1/2 cup Crisco

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup white sugar

1.5 cup brown sugar

1 cup peanut butter

2 eggs

3 cups gluten-free flour*

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. Xanthan Gum

1 tsp. vanilla

* Although my batch was a premade mix, this can also be created by using one cup each of corn starch, tapioca flour, and rice flour

Simply follow the same steps as listed in my previous recipe and bake at 375 for 14 minutes or so. It's worth pointing out that these cookies did not come out *as* good as the originals, but that might be due to the peculiar blend of flours I had. My coworker mentioned that garbanzo flour (which made up a portion of my mix) adds something of a metallic aftertaste to baked goods, which I noted in these. This flavor came through much stronger in the raw dough, so on the bright side, you probably won't be tempted to eat all the dough before cooking!

All things considered, I might blend my own gluten-free mix next time instead of using the pre-bagged stuff, but as a proof of concept, this worked rather well indeed.

***
Update: After another recent attempt at this recipe, I've decided there are some things that could bear further modification to enhance this recipe. Two major notes: the flavor and the texture. For flavor, the cookies aren't "peanut-buttery" enough for my taste, so I'd increase the amount of peanut butter used and decrease one of the fats (probably shortening). For texture, I'm uncertain how to fix things; the gluten-free version feels grainer or crumblier than the regular variety. Perhaps using all brown sugar instead of a 3 to 1 ratio of brown to white would help.

Cakey Brownies (Final Revision)

Author's Note: Due to a hard drive crash, this entry has been delayed, and as such, is no longer as "recent" as the text may indicate. Thankfully, the data has risen from its ashes completely intact, and thus the masterful creation is preserved. You may all rejoice.

After realizing it'd been a while since I had revisited my cakey brownies, I determined recently that it was time to finish the job. This version represents the completion of my master plan in that it incorporates the final ingredient (as borrowed from Paula Deen's brownie recipe--hers uses a box mix though) and turned out so fantastic that the next time I make them, I'll have to make at least a double batch in order to ensure that my coworkers don't inhale them all before lunch.

Ingredients:
1/2tsp baking powder
3/4c natural cocoa powder
2/3c butter, melted
1/2c cold milk
2c white sugar
2 eggs
1 1/3c all-purpose flour
1tsp vanilla extract
1/4tsp salt
2 large milk chocolate candy bars

Note that this is basically the same recipe that I used in my last draft, with the small addition of candy bars on the end. Due to feedback from a couple friends (thanks Shari, Sharon!), I determined that the last recipe was close enough to what I wanted that the textural differences could probably be alleviated by simply mixing less. My last recipe mixed for several minutes after all ingredients were incorporated for no evident reason (this idea was taken from Good Eats; I don't feel it adds much to this recipe though), so I eliminated that and stopped the mixer whenever I could between ingredients.

Procedure:
Preheat oven to 350F and mix the eggs on low speed for a minute or two--just until the yolks and whites mingle. Slowly add the milk and vanilla and continue mixing until incorporated. Gradually add the dry ingredients, slowly enough that the batter never becomes a huge clump of powder clustered over a messy ball (hard to explain, but easy enough to see during the process). Note that a few clumps of dry ingredients are allowed in the batter; better that then over-aerating the batter by overmixing. Once the dry ingredients are mixed in, gradually add the melted butter in a slow trickle and mix until it is completely incorporated.

Pour about half the batter into a 9x9 pan (just enough to coat the bottom when spread with a spatula) and place the candy bars side-by-side on top of the batter. They should effectively cover most of the surface at this point:

Cover the candy with the remaining batter and smooth out until the bars are completely covered and the top of the batter is smooth.


Bake for about 40-45 minutes. Note that due to the candy bars, the standard toothpick test won't work here, so you'll have to eyeball or tap the top of the brownies to determine their doneness; mine came out slightly crisper on top than I might've liked, but not significantly enough that I cared much. If yours come out too crunchy, consider increasing the temperature and decreasing the time to 375F and 35-40 minutes, respectively (for the next batch, of course!).

Note that the final product comes out with a moist and almost-gooey brownie texture (especially in the middle brownies) with a molten chocolate-filled center. Be warned that you MUST let these things cool for longer than normal brownies (I'd recommend at least 30-40 minutes) before consumption, as that molten chocolate center, while delicious, is roughly the same temperature as the surface of the sun, and getting any on your tongue will result in your being unable to taste anything (including your brownies) for the next week or two.

Nanaimo Bars

Given that I apparently haven't experimented with any new creations lately, last weekend I had the urge to try something new. Something different. Something... Canadian. Yes, the same place that brought us the NHL and Celine Dion somehow managed to find the time between creating additional plagues on humanity to produce a dessert so wonderful it may almost make their previous crimes worth enduring. The slice of paradise pictured at the top of this post is by far one of the best baking experiments I have picked up, and while complicated and rather time-consuming, provides rewards that will have your palate begging--nay, demanding--that you deliver more.

Fine, so I'm indulging in a bit of hyperbole. I don't really hate Canadia (yes, I know how to spell it. But this is more fun!) and Celine Dion is not a plague so much as a punishment for some crime we can't recall. That said, I maintain that the Nanaimo bar is just as delicious as I described, although this statement is based partly on the potential I taste in the recipe. I don't consider this the best version that can be produced (indeed, next time we're going with peanut butter flavor!), but the very fact that it is so easy to tailor to a specific taste has planted this recipe firmly in my pile of "things I'll make more than once a year".

It is definitely worth noting that my idea (and the recipe for it) did not spawn from nothing; my inspiration was drawn largely from here and here. I used two references in order to determine the substitutions I could make in order to compensate for not caring enough to go out and find "European style cultured unsalted butter". While I'm sure the stuff is fantastic, I suspect I'll survive with just my run-of-the-mill Costco butter. However, from these two sources, I created my hybridized version thereof. Future attempts will include additional modifications. A lot of ingredients? Yes! Yes it is! For sanity's sake, I'd recommend breaking this recipe in three distinct segments. Thankfully, it does this for you anyway!

Nanaimo Bar Recipe (consists of three layers)
Preheat oven to 350F (only used for first layer)

Bottom:
1/2c Unsalted butter (melted)
1/3c Sugar*
1/3c Unsweetened cocoa powder
1 Large egg
1.5c Cinnamon-sugar graham crackers*
1/2c Pecans (crushed)
1c Coconut (shredded)
1tsp Vanilla extract

*More observant readers will notice that I reduced the sugar from 1/2c. This is because I couldn't find your regular everyday graham crackers, and had to use the pre-sugar/cinnamoned variety. It should also be noted that my coworkers detected the note of cinnamon and deemed it a "very nice addition", however accidental it may have been.

Middle:
1/2c Unsalted butter
2tbsp + 2tsp Heavy whipping cream
2tbsp Vanilla pudding mix
2c Powdered sugar
1tsp Vanilla extract

Top:**
6 Squares bittersweet baker's chocolate
1.5tbsp Corn syrup
3oz Heavy whipping cream
1/2tsp Vanilla extract

**No, I didn't use the topping recipe from either source listed above. Instead, I took the advice of some of the recipe commenters and used a Ganache recipe from Good Eats as the topping. True to the reader's remarks, this made for a topping that wasn't so stiff that it shattered when consuming it and was overall what I felt to be a good substitution.

For the crusty base:
1) Mix the butter, sugar, and cocoa in a large bowl until well combined. Use a bowl that seems far larger than necessary; you'll want the extra room.
2) Add the vanilla extract and egg and mix. Set the bowl aside.
3) In a gallon zip-top bag, crush the graham crackers and nuts (I did this by hand for fun, but those of you with food processors can use those, if you call that living).
4) Add the coconut to the bag and mix thoroughly (read: Zip up and shake!)


5) Add the contents of the bag to the bowl and mix with a spatula until combined.
6) Press the mixture into a well-greased 9x9 pan and bake at 350F for 10 minutes. Set aside to cool.

As seen above, my "well-greased" pan is actually lined with parchment. This made final dessert extraction significantly easier, and I highly recommend the practice.

For the custard center:
1) Cream the butter, pudding, and sugar until well-mixed and fluffy.
2) Add the cream and vanilla and continue mixing until it reaches the consistency of frosting.
3) Spread the mixture on top of the cooled bottom layer and refrigerate for at least an hour to let it set.

I had intended to take photos of the creaming process for examples, but forgot up until I started refrigerating it. But you know what frosting's texture is like, right?

For the ganache topping:
1) Simmer the syrup and cream in a medium saucepan.
2) While waiting for the mixture to reach a simmer, use a serrated knife to break up the chocolate chunks into more manageable pieces.
3) Once a simmer is reached, add the chocolate and remove from heat.
4) Stir until the chocolate is well melted and the mixture is smooth.
5) Add the vanilla and stir to combine.
6) Spread the ganache on top of the dessert.
7) Refrigerate for another hour to allow the chocolate to firm up. Note that while this step isn't necessarily required, omitting it will make for a very gooey top when cutting the bars.

Again, I forgot to take more pictures. Still, it's a simple process. Note how nicely the block came out of my pan. Thank you, parchment!

Future modifications:
As I said, this dessert turned out great and I'm hesitant to tweak with it much. ...Ok, I'm lying; it *was* great, but the "custard" center wasn't quite what I had hoped for (seeing as how it wasn't a custard at all). For my next attempt, I'll mix some peanut butter into this layer and increase the volume a bit so it makes a thicker and denser filling. The other problem was that the bottom layer turned out to be half the dessert! While it was tasty, I wanted more cream and chocolate top and less graham cracker. Consequently, I'll attempt to make more ganache and custard and reduce the amount of crust in my next try. Still, I heartily recommend trying this actual recipe out first before making your own tweaks. Seeing the final product gave me a much better idea of what I wanted to be different. Plus, more dessert is always a good idea!

Peanut Butter Cookies

Shown with chocolate chips. Although not technically necessary to peanut butter cookies, I'm not entirely sure why anyone would choose to omit them.

After the recent culmination of my brownie recipe (final draft not posted yet, as it currently resides on a hard drive without a home), I set my culinary sights onward and, in the opinion of some, upwards. Like many of my more successful attempts, this peanut butter cookie recipe is most heartily stolen from Shari's blog and modified for my own amusement. This is, of course, no slight on her original draft; I simply prefer the texture that my minor tweaks permit. On the downside, this recipe blows through brown sugar like nobody's business, so be prepared to run out in the middle of the baking process. ... Not that that happened to me. I ran out of peanut butter too.

As anyone who clicked on the link above can observe, Shari's recipe is a study in balance: equal parts shortening and butter as well as equal proportions of white and brown sugar. I never had a problem with this balance... until that fateful day.

Like anyone else, I am a creature driven by whims--perhaps more so than most, but that's not really the point--and as such, when I develop a craving for cookie with a peanut buttery core, I spring into action like a well-trained walrus rolling into the water. On this day, I splashed into my pantry only to discover that I had managed to let myself run out of sugar! (well, I had half a cup) ... Gasps are in order here, folks. Work with me!

My mind whirled as I dug through the cupboard with the desperation of an addict looking for that "one last hit". What could I possibly do without white sugar? My mind absently pondered the implications of comparing myself to an addict whilst lamenting the lack of a product termed "white sugar" when I stumbled across a hidden cache of potential culinary gold: powdered sugar (ah! The drug metaphor continues to work!)--which I decided not to mess with for the time being. However! Contained within that cheap faux-Tupperware powdered sugar compartment was a small bag of white sugar's more flavorful and complexificated cousin who is always seen lurking in big brother's shadow, all the while really carrying the weight on his own shoulders.
Emerging from the pantry with my score, I hoisted the entire bag off so we could get reacquainted. Having done cookie research prior to this situation, I knew that to a cookie, sugar was (mostly) sugar, and as such, my old-new friend would be more than happy to help me get my next fix. It is worth noting that the sugar substitution results in a "chewier" cookie, which was just fine with me. The result of my tweakage? A pile of crumbs, a newly-discovered favorite, and several extra pounds around my waistline. The recipe? Observe!

Preheat oven to 375F

1/2 cup Crisco

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup white sugar

1.5 cup brown sugar

1 cup peanut butter

2 eggs

3 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. vanilla

It is worth noting that this recipe works great in a stand mixer, but can be done by hand as well.

1. In a large bowl, cream the butter and shortening together for a few minutes until you have a paste that resembles dense frosting. Add both types of sugar and continue creaming until the mixture resembles dense frosting with sand mixed in.

2. While the butter/shortening mixture is creaming, mix all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Set this aside until step 6 below.

3. Add the peanut butter to the wet mixture and mix well, until the it is no longer readily apparent in the dough.

4. Add the eggs, one at a time, making sure the first completely incorporates before adding the second.

5. Top it off with the vanilla, and continue mixing until there remains no evidence of any of the individual ingredients.

If you decide to add anything (i.e., chocolate chips, nuts, etc.) to the final cookie, this is the time to do it.

6. Slowly add the dry mixture, mixing steadily to ensure that the dry ingredients incorporate properly without clumping up. Of course, this step is where the stand mixer shines; however, if working by hand, simply drop the dry stuff in about a cup to a cup and a half at a time and mix until it incorporates. After all the dry has been mixed in, you will have a very loose dough that will clump properly when compressed.


7. Scoop the dough with spoons (I like to use an ice cream scoop) into balls about 1 to 1.5 inches in diameter and place them on a greased cookie sheet. Try not to compress the dough too much in this process, as doing so can create a denser cookie. Of course, if that's what you're after, go to town.


8. Bake at 375F for about 14 minutes for a cookie portion the size of an ice cream scoop. Note that since this recipe makes a hell of a lot of small cookies, the exact time can be determined through trial and error with relatively little consequence (the "rejects" are always the best part anyway).

9. Allow the cookies to cool on a rack until they can be handled without burning your fingers. Stockpile or consume as desired!

Lemon Meringue Pie

As my mom can attest, I have had a lifelong infatuation with this particular dessert, and she has always been a fairly willing party to it, despite the fact that making lemon meringue pie is a good way to "dirty up every dish in the kitchen", to use her words. Consequently, I determined to put this theory to the test by making it as a surprise for mother's day when she came to visit. I realize that making one of *my* favorite desserts for a day dedicated to her is probably not the most thoughtful thing I could've done, but she likes it too, so everyone's happy.

From what I recall from my youth, making the pie was somewhere around 1-2 hours of actual work, excluding cleanup. Despite my best efforts at cleaning implements as I used them, this *did* indeed get a lot of different pans, bowls, and utensils dirty, but I didn't particularly mind this because it's truly a fascinating dish to make. It incorporates two very different baking staples (foam and custard) and thus provides a great deal for fledgling bakers to learn from. Of course, this also means there are plenty of potential stumbling blocks to encounter; thankfully, I didn't hit too many of these and those few that I did didn't have a huge impact on the final product.

But enough rambling. As with many of my recipes, I heisted my base from Good Eats, borrowing heavily from the actual episode ("I Pie") for the timing of certain steps. These instructions were particularly important for avoiding the soupy or watery problems with the custard that I have seen in any number of restaurant-produced versions.

Ingredients:
Lemon Custard
4 egg yolks (reserve whites for meringue)
1/3 cup cornstarch
1 1/2 cups water
1 1/3 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest

Meringue
4 egg whites
2 tablespoons sugar

1 Pie Crust (blind-baked)

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375F (I always perform this step first, as it allows me to ensure that the oven retains much temperature after I open the door and let all the hot air out). The pie must be constructed in three distinct phases, and in a particular order: crust (if not using premade--I didn't), meringue, custard. The reasoning behind this is covered later.

After creating the crust, add the egg whites to the mixer bowl and hand-whip them a little bit to get the foam started (I did this with the whisk attachment for the mixer to save a utensil from being washed). Beat the eggs on medium-high speed until soft peaks form. Slowly add the sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks arise.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator.

For the custard, it is important to start off with a cold saucepan (I think a saucier would work better, but I don't have one). Add the water, corn starch, sugar, and salt and whisk until the ingredients are fairly well combined. The important part in this step is to make sure that the starch dissolves completely; otherwise, clumps may form in the final custard. Place the pan on medium heat and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. Once boiling is reached, the textural difference will be remarkable as the starch thickens things up to a fine goo. Boil for one minute, then remove the pan from the heat. Now comes the tricky part: tempering the egg yolks. In order to ensure that the yolks don't get heated too quickly, you must slowly bring up their temperature before adding them to the mixture. To do this, use the whisk to scoop up some of the sugar mixture and whisk it into the yolks. It's important that you don't add too much at once, which is why the whisk is used. Repeat this step until about half the sugar mixture has been added to the yolks, then dump the yolks into the pan (at this point, they are both diluted and warm enough to not cook prematurely).

Return the pan to the heat and reduce the temperature to low. Cook the mixture, stirring steadily, for at least another minute. This step eliminates an enzyme contained in the egg yolks that causes the watery condensation that destroys many a lemon meringue pie (this is due to their reaction with the corn starch, from my understanding; cooking them now effectively turns the enzyme off). Remove from the heat again and slowly stir in the lemon zest and juice. Note that it will take a few minutes to incorporate the juice, as the watery liquid will not want to mix with the fatty custard. Once the mix has reached a relatively creamy texture, pour it into the pie shell and set aside.

At this point, you *must* apply the meringue as soon as possible to ensure that the custard binds to it properly; otherwise, the meringue simply separates from the second layer and makes for a less presentable (although just as delicious) pie. Remove the meringue from the refrigerator and whisk it on the mixer (on medium-high speed) for a minute to "wake up" the meringue. Smear the meringue on top of the custard, making sure that it reaches all edges of the crust, lest it retract during cooking and not bind properly.

Bake for 12 minutes or until meringue is golden brown on the top. Remove and cool on a wire rack before serving.

Onion Dip

Last weekend during the NFL draft, my roommate and I decided we needed a large quantity of junk food to properly celebrate the first real football-related action during the long drought that is known as the off-season. As part of this master plan, I determined to cobble together a mess of loose ingredients I had left over from various other projects into a functional dip. I've always enjoyed onion dip more than salsa or plain ranch, and since I had seen a recipe for it on TV recently, I decided to give it a shot.

Recipe stolen virtually unmodified from Good Eats.

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 yellow onion, diced
4-5 green onions, diced
1 shallot, diced
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 cups sour cream
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
3-4 grinds of pepper
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Heat a medium sautee pan on medium heat and add the oil. Once the oil is warmed, add the yellow onion, shallot, and 1/4tsp salt. Sweat the vegetables, stirring occasionally, until they are browned and soft (the linked recipe claims about 20 minutes; I left it for about 25 or so) and add the green onions. Sautee for another minute or two and remove from the heat to let the veggies cool. At this point, the onions should look like this:


While the onions cool, mix the sour cream and mayo in a mixing bowl until its thoroughly blended. Add garlic powder, salt, and pepper and mix again until the ingredients are incorporated, as shown below:


Mix the onions into the cream/mayo bowl and stir with a spatula until the vegetables have been distributed. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour to let the flavors meld properly. Make sure to stir the mixture again before serving, just to loosen things up a little. Serves more than two, in my experience, and goes well with potato chips, veggies, or other things you dip into stuff.