Showing posts with label grill. Show all posts
Showing posts with label grill. Show all posts
Moroccan Grilled Salmon
Earlier this week I saw an episode of Good Eats about salmon and the various ways to prepare it. When it comes to salmon Lauren and I pretty regularly (twice a month on average) make the blackened salmon burgers I've posted here before. I'm not a big fish eater, especially when it comes to fishy fish like salmon, but those salmon burgers are unbelievable.
On Friday I was perusing the Summer Grilling section of FoodNetwork.com and found another intriguing (but simple) use for salmon.
- 1/2 cup plain yogurt
- Juice of 1 lemon, plus lemon wedges for garnish
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for the grill
- 2 to 3 cloves garlic, smashed
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
- Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
- 4 6-ounce skinless center-cut salmon fillets
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro or parsley, for garnish
Stir together the yogurt, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, coriander, cumin, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and pepper to taste in a small bowl. Pour HALF OF THE SAUCE into a large resealable plastic bag; cover and refrigerate the remaining sauce. Add the salmon to the bag and turn to coat with the marinade. Refrigerate for 20 to 30 minutes, turning the bag over once.
Preheat a grill to medium-high. Remove the salmon from the marinade and blot off excess yogurt with paper towels. Lightly oil the grill and add the salmon; cook, turning once, until browned on the outside and opaque in the center, 4 to 6 minutes per side, depending on the thickness. Serve with the RESERVED YOGURT SAUCE and garnish with the herbs and lemon wedges.
The next thing I need to get is a non-stick fish basket for grilling. Its not a problem with the salmon burgers presumably because of the spices and butter, but with this recipe it is a tricky proposition. Our fish was sticking to the grill like crazy. It also didn't help that I forgot to use the non-stick olive oil spray on the grill beforehand, but by the time it was all said and I done I think we lake at least 1/2 a fillet to sticking.
The fish was excellent, but I did not reserve enough yogurt sauce for the leftovers. I used two cups of 4oz dannon plain yogurt (5/$2 ) rather than buying one of those huge 32 oz plain yogurt containers. After making this recipe I am sure you could also use greek yogurt. The combination of yogurt, garlic and lemon has a very familliar Mediterranean flavor.
We used a 1.7 lb salmon filet cut into six smaller filets, which meant we needed to use slightly more than 1/2 cup yogurt for our sauce. The only thing I didn't have from the recipe was the ground coriander. I'm not sure what else it can be used for, but if you don't have ground cumin it is pretty useful in burgers, chili, white chili and meat loaf recipes.
We served the salmon with grilled corn, grilled asparagus and Zatarain's Rice Pilaf.
Hawaiian Chicken Kebabs
So we used a toothbrush and applied CLR to the chain and gears, washed it off, sprayed some WD-40 and then took the bikes out for a ride. Keep in mind this was a bike Lauren got maybe 8-10 years ago by her estimate. So the bike is a little bit small, and for most of the ride I felt like a bear riding a tricycle. The ride was good, aside from the fact that I couldn't really ever fully extend my legs. Also I think the rear brakes were rubbing the tire a little bit, so it was basically like being on a mobile spin bike.
Which leads me to the tuneup. I was so convinced that the bike was in need of a tuneup (as opposed to just being a bike made 10 years ago) that I brought it outside, grabbed a ratchet set and the WD-40 and began loosening, tightening and lubricating every part I could look at and understand. For the better part of 2 hours I did all of this and it made zero difference. In fact if anything I made the issue with the rear brake even worse. I relaxed some of the tension so that the rear brake handle was easier to press, but in the process I loosened or tightened something to the point that the brake doesn't relax from the wheel when you release the brake handle. It is very frustrating. I think about it multiple times a day and it still bothers me. Bikes aren't that complex. This should be easy. If I don't find a bigger bike on Craigslist in the next few days, I'm going to take another crack at the grease monkey thing and see if I can't figure out that rear brake.
Since most of my energy this weekend was spent being a faux mechanic, not much was spent in the kitchen. Saturday night we made chicken caesar salad, and last night we made Hawaiian Chicken Kebabs:
- Lawry's Hawaiian Marinade
- 1.5 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast (chunked)
- 1 large vidalia onion (chunked)
- 1 sweet bell pepper (red/yellow/orange, chunked)
- 1 pineapple (chunked)
- BBQ sauce
Take your chicken chunks, marinate them for 15-30 minutes. Marinate your veggies separate from the chicken for 10 minutes. Proper kebab technique says you compose you skewer by ingredient, cook, then reassemble as a finished product. This ensures even cook times and contact with the grill surface, which leads to even charring. We don't bother. Handling the food more just means a bigger mess and a larger possibility of burning a finger.
Throw your skewers on the grill at medium-high heat for 10-12 minutes total, turning once, maybe twice to get charring on all sides. Just before you turn the skewers, brushing them with a little bit of BBQ sauce for added color.
Along with the skewers we had grilled asparagus (a summertime staple) and yellow rice. Grilled pineapple is obviously great, but the surprise for me was the grilled vidalia onion. It was so good that it made me consider roasting whole vidalia onions as a part of a future dish.
Lemon Basil Chicken Salad
So the meal plan for this week is hopefully going to be as follows: Lemon Basil Chicken Salad (done), Stromboli and Burgers. Each should make a solid dinner with leftovers for lunch without occupying a huge amount of space in the refrigerator like a casserole. Not only that but all three are meals that I can easily grab in the morning and make at work.
As I mentioned before, last night Lauren and I made the Lemon Basil Chicken Salad another Paula Deen creation. The recipe is as follows:
- 4 cups diced cooked chicken
- 1 rib minced celery
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
- 1/4 cup slivered almonds
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
Directions
In a medium bowl, combine chicken, celery, basil and almonds. In a small bowl, combine sour cream, mayonnaise, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Add to chicken mixture, tossing gently to coat. Cover and chill.
We used dried basil rather than fresh. The recipe calls for 1/4 cup and the fresh basil packages at the grocery store were $2 each and didn't seem like they'd produce that much. So rather than spend $6 on fresh basil I just took the dried basil I already had and used about 2-3 tbsp. Other than that I stuck to the recipe.
We grilled and diced 2 lbs of chicken breast to get our 4 cups, and as a result the chicken salad was a bit warm when we ate it last night. I'll be curious to see if the overnight refrigeration married the flavors a little more and alters the taste. This recipe will probably stick around as our change of pace chicken salad recipe.
Along with our chicken salad we also tried out a new recipe for corn. When summer rolls around the only vegetables I have interest in are the ones that get cheaper and veggies I can roast. So at least twice a week we end up eating sweet corn or asparagus. Last night was a corn night:
- 6 ears corn, shucked
- Cilantro Lime Butter, recipe follows
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Coat each ear of corn in 2 tablespoons of the cilantro lime butter and wrap individually in foil. Roast until hot and steaming, about 25 minutes. Serve with extra butter on the side.
Cilantro Lime Butter:
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro leaves
- 1 lime, zested and juiced
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 3/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Put the butter in a mixing bowl and, using a rubber spatula, mix in the cilantro, lime zest, lime juice, salt and cayenne. Use immediately or refrigerate.
Once again Food Network went a little overboard with their condiments. Two sticks of butter is ridiculous. Thats like 1/3 stick per ear of corn. I don't know if you've ever tried to put 1/3 of stick of butter on one ear of corn, but it just isn't possible. Not even by accident.
To make just two ears of corn last night, I used about 3 tbsp of butter total. I divided everything else by 3 and mixed it together. Rather than roast the corn for 25 minutes I first boiled the corn for 3-4 minutes, then slathered it with the cilantro lime butter, wrapped it in foil and finished it on the grill next to my chicken for another 5-10 minutes.
It was very good. I realize there are only so many ways to prepare corn and this isn't all that exotic, but it was appreciated nonetheless.
Neither of these pictures are mine. They are both from Food Network. I didn't have my camera out last night. My chicken salad didn't look quite so stupid. The corn is a pretty accurate representation though.
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