caesar blue cheese salmon

We eat a bit of salmon around here.  It is my favorite fish and it is a good way to get fish oil in me that helps the arthritis not hurt so bad.  But sometimes, I just need to snazz it up a bit.  This was an experiment that turned out to be one of those "Oh, we can have THIS again!" types of experiments.

And it is quick.  I served it with salad and the roasting of the salmon took all of seven minutes.  The dishes afterwards took longer!

caesar blue cheese salmon

about a cup of caesar salad dressing

about a cup of blue cheese crumbled.  I had a smoked blue cheese that was lovely.

8 to 16 ounces salmon

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.  Remove the skin and all possible bones from the salmon.  Mix the dressing and cheese together.  Spread over the salmon.  

Put the salmon in the oven and roast for seven minutes.  You want very moist and hot but not dry through.

This is on the make again list.  

slow cooker smoked chuck roast

Sunday, I was so thankful for my slow cooker.  I had very little energy for cooking.  The week before, I had tried this same recipe with a pork shoulder and using the oven.  The flavor was very good but I was not happy with the tenderness of the pork shoulder.  My Beloved's tummy has been happy with pork with half the time.  I decided that I really needed to try this recipe again with the slow cooker and my Beloved requested beef.  

It was a hit.  Tender.  Flavor.  Life after a long two days was very good.  We are down to one tender spot on my Beloved's scalp and eyes that are still a bit sensitive to light and wind.  But not so sensitive that sunglasses do not take care of the problem.  I did order four pairs of prescription safety glasses tonight and two pairs of regular prescription glasses to replace the burn spotted pair for him.  Thank you so much for all the prayers.  

slow cooked smoked chuck roast

Note 1:  based on Local Milk's faux smoked slow cooked pork shoulder

Note 2:  Tried this with pork short ribs and it worked well.  Added one teaspoon ginger and one teaspoon cinnamon to the marinade.  Let it sit over night.  Braised it in the oven at 300 degrees Fahrenheit, used one cup of water to clean the marinade bag, added to the pan, covered, and baked for six hours.

about a 3 pound beef chuck roast

1/3 cup dijon mustard

2 tablespoons dry rub

1 tablespoon alder smoked salt

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke

At least 12 hours, if not 24 hours ahead, mix the mustard, dry rub, smoked salt, brown sugar, and liquid smoke together.  Rub this all over the chuck roast.  Place in a plastic bag.  Put this in a bowl, and put in the refrigerator until you are ready to put the roast in the slow cooker.

The next day, unwrap the chuck roast and put the meat into the slow cooker.  Put in all the extra marinade.  Cover.  Turn the slow cooker on for at least eight hours.  Serve with potatoes of some sort or anything else you wish.

I served this with cheesy mashed potatoes.  It was soooo good.  My Beloved had it for lunch the next day and he said it got better.

This is going to be our go to when we wish to have bbq instead of going out.  We will just need patience.

dry rub

Life has calmed down from Saturday morning.  My Beloved is healing.  He has a few sensitive bits of skin, eyes are still sensitive to bright lights and wind, and he tires easy but that is what is left.  He needs new glasses.  He has his sight and there are no blistered burns.  I am very thankful.  

I was very thankful that I had planned a slow cooker meal for Sunday that I actually started on Saturday.  I woke Saturday night every time my Beloved moved.  It meant there was very little energy on Sunday.  But we needed food.

I have been experimenting with a fake smoked pork recipe.  I actually followed the recipe the first time.  My Beloved thought I was sick.  The flavor was good but I thought the pork was dry.  My Beloved asked for beef the next time because his stomach seems to react to each pig that is butchered differently.  I have had the same experience so I was not surprised.  On Saturday, I marinated a chuck roast.  I started with a dry rub I made based on one of Bobby Flay's from the Food Network.  I will be using this again.

dry rub

1 tablespoon cumin

1 tablespoon paprika

1 tablespoon New Mexico chile powder (I used one from Rancho Gardo)

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 teaspoon cayenne

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon white pepper

Mix all in a spice grinder.  Blend well.  Put in a jar to use on meat.  Rub into meat and let sit overnight to season.

peanut butter chocolate cookies

A few nights ago, I was asked for something sweet.  I had seen a recipe for peanut butter chocolate cookies on pinterest.  I decided to modify my chocolate cinnamon pine nut cookies to be something similar. I would have liked to have some peanuts to add but I did not have any in the house.  Next time.  I only baked a few because we did not eat them all at once.

The lovely flavors help the tireds.  I fell asleep very early last night and felt like I could have gone to bed even earlier when I woke up.  Small Mister has been very active too which does not help my energy.  I feel like I could sleep for a week without an alarm going off and it would help!

Until then, there are things like chocolate and peanut butter.  Large cups of tea.  Skateboarding.  Surfing, if it was not summer.  No surf.

peanut butter chocolate cookies

4 ounces butter

4 ounces chunky peanut butter

150 grams brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

40 grams cocoa

50 grams almond flour

50 grams millet flour

50 grams sorghum flour

50 grams arrowroot flour

40 grams of chopped peanuts, if you have them

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Cover you baking sheets with parchment paper.

Cream sugar, butter, peanut butter, and vanilla together.  Mix in cocoa.  Mix in the flours.  Mix in the peanuts.

Drop by spoonful on the baking sheets.  Bake for 15 minutes.

Have a few with tea to relax.  Or grab a handful to go long boarding.  Or maybe surfing.  

I am thinking about building a long board deck for skating.  One more thing to the list.  Oh well.  This is why I get so tired.  Too much I wish to do in the number of hours in the day.  I laugh at myself.

foods that make you go "hmmmmm"

One of the things I look forward to every month is my subscription to Victoria magazine.  I usually get a cup of tea and take some quiet time to enjoy it.  I usually do not even try a recipe.  But this month there was a recipe for classic tatties, which is a Scottish potato scone.  They have many of our favorite ingredients in it so why not give it a try.  

Sooo good!  Both my Beloved and myself would be willing to have had them again today.  That is how good they were.  My Beloved said in need more tatties in his life!  Always a good sign.  I served them with smoked salmon.  Eggs would be good.  Anything  you would serve with potatoes and cheese would be good with them.  Or just by themselves.  Yum!

classic tatties

Note:  This makes about a dozen which is really too many for too.  Unless you do not serve them anything but other tatties.  The thought makes me smile.

1 russet potato, peeled and cut into chunks

1/4 cup butter, melted

1/2 cup potato flour

1/8 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar

a pinch of black pepper

4 ounces cheddar cheese

olive oil

In a medium pot,  put the potato and  cover with water.  Bring to a boil.  Turn down to a simmer and cover. Let cook until the potatoes can be poked with a fork.  Turn of the heat, drain, and let cool.  I did this mid day because I did not wish to burn my hands later.  I have done that.  If you do not let the potatoes cool, please be very careful with handling the dough.

Once the potatoes have cooled, mash.  Mix in the butter, potato flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, and pepper with a wooden spoon.  Sprinkle some potato flour on the counter.  Dump the dough on it and knead into a nice ball.

Grate the cheese.

Put a griddle on the stove over low medium heat.  Put a teaspoon of olive oil on it and let it slowly heat.

Roll the dough out until it is about a quarter inch thick.  Do not try to treat it like a pie crust but do make sure there is enough potato flour under it so it does not thick.  Sprinkle cheese over the rolled out dough.  Fold the dough ove the cheese and roll out to about  a quarter inch thick again.

Cut the dough into about a dozen pieces.  If you wish, you can cut it into traditional wedges, but that started to become too much work so I just cut squares.

Put the scones on the griddle.  Cook about four minutes on one side.  Turn and cook another three to four on the other side.  You want the scone to be golden and the cheese melted.

My Beloved and I split the tatties.  We ate them with smoked salmon, thick yogurt, and applesauce.  All you could hear was "hmmm" as we ate.  A high complement.

We both want them again.  Maybe later in the week.