Archive for fish

Salmon salad royale

March 21, 2008 at 7:55 pm · Filed under appetizer, easter, fish, salad, spring

Hi, my name is Maggan. Welcome to Maggan’s kitchen!

It’s Good Friday. Since it’s a non-working day, I spoiled myself in the sauna by sweating the whole afternoon. If I were a fish, I’d be ready to eat and soft to the bones as punishment for indulging.

I learned that Good Friday is a day to eat anything but meat. In my childhood, foregoing meat was the biggest sacrifice to do on this day. And so it was common to feast on tiger shrimps, crabs, grilled fish, mussels, rice cakes etc. Anything but meat. It was a good deal for seafood lovers. These days, you can even add vegetarian pizza and fresh salad to the Good Friday menu.

Last weekend, while going through last week’s newspapers, I came across a salmon recipe which I thought was perfect for Lent. It’s called salmon salad royale by Sweden’s cook of the year (2007). This is a spring salad with creamy egg halves, spinach and lemon dressing.

Ingredients for 4 portions

Salad

  • 200 grams fresh salmon
  • 200 grams baby spinach
  • 1 decilitre fresh dill
  • 4 eggs, boiled for 15 minutes
  • grated lemon rind from one lemon
  • 4 slices of dark sour-bread
  • butter or olive oil for frying

Dressing

  • juice from one lemon
  • 2 decilitres extra virgin oil
  • pinch of salt
  • pinch of ground black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon brown sugar (optional)
  1. Remove the salmon skin if the butcher didn’t do it.
  2. Cut the salmon to 1.5 cm x 1.5 cm. Season with salt and leave for 15 minutes.
  3. Wash the baby spinach leaves. Strain of the water.
  4. In a salad bowl, mix the spinach leaves with dill and grated lemon rind.
  5. Cut the eggs length-wise. Take a spoon and spoon the egg halves off the shells. (This is easier than peeling off the egg shells.)
  6. Get a small jar with lid. Mix all the ingredients for the dressing: olive oil, juice from one lemon, salt, pepper and sugar. Put the lid on and shake. If the dressing is still not tasty enough, add a little more salt. It will lift up the sugar’s sweetness.
  7. Tear the bread slices into bits and fry them in butter or olive oil. Don’t brown them. You just want them to be crispy. When done, lay on a paper towel to get rid of excess oil.
  8. Put the seasoned salmon cubes in a baking dish lined with baking paper. (This way, you neither mess the baking dish nor the fish.) Bake in pre-heated oven at 100 degrees Celsius for 8-10 minutes.
  9. While the salmon is baking, lay the egg halves on the salad mix. Pour some dressing over the salad mix and the eggs.
  10. Finally, top it with the salmon and sour-bread croutons.

This salad reminds me of Lolo because he would love it. He was the most religious in the family and enjoyed seafood (I mean, abstained from meat) every Friday of the year.

Oh, that’s right. Lolo spent Lent in a seminary, away from family and loved ones, returning only in the afternoon of Black Saturday probably hungry and looking forward to a meat dish. He would have it then on any Friday, except Good Friday. This is if he were at least 10 years younger and still alive today.

If you don’t feel like eating spinach, use other leaves like mangold, mache, or romaine. Or better yet, mix different kinds of salad leaves with neutral taste. The salad thus becomes a feast for the eyes as well. I used mangold and romaine lettuce. Lolo loved vegetables too.

Croutons are not necessary. I made mine without this accessory. If you want some carbohydrates and can’t get sour-bread, use any kind of unsweetened white bread (baguette, loaf)  as it makes good croutons too. Less healthy though.

The salmon may still seem raw after 10 minutes in the oven. Still soft and moist. But this is okay. It is safe to eat fresh salmon this way. However, this may depend in which part of the world you are located and how the fish is handled. As of this writing, H and I don’t feel any reaction to it.

Preparing the salmon salad royale is quick. Finishing it is even quicker. That’s it? I want more. I wasn’t full after eating my portion. This can be a form of sacrifice, I guess. Anyway, I have half a bag of country chips as safety net.

P.S. Lolo always had a tin of biscuits or cookies hidden in his closet.

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The Smorgasbord on Viking Line

September 12, 2007 at 9:51 pm · Filed under autumn, dessert, fish, food

Hi, my name is Maggan. Welcome to Maggan’s kitchen!

In our recent trip to Helsinki, H and I finally had buffet dinner on Viking Line. We so decided since our trip was free, courtesy of the duty-free shop on the ship. We had traveled to Helsinki in June on the same ship and I had shopped enough to qualify for a bonus card that enttitled me to a cabin, meaning a free roundtrip ticket. How much I shopped for? I won’t tell.

H and I shared our table at the buffet restaurant with two ladies who were travelling together. They were going on a sightseeing tour in Stockholm. They were Findish (Finnish-Swedish). Despite the very heavy accent on their Swedish, I found them easy to understand. Words came forth slowly and my brain had time to decode them. I was taking things easy on this trip. So did my brain.

The buffet on Viking Line lived up to my expectation. A bowl of a variety of salad leaves in one corner with other salads. Three dessert tables in three corners. Roast meats on two sides of the very long buffet table. Different kinds of salmon dishes next to the meat dishes. Big bowls of cooked fresh sweet shrimps by the salmon dishes. They’re the sweetest. It must be the cold waters here in the north that make them so.

I tried to go for the salads first. But the crowd pushed me to the Mediterranean corner. Argh! Fine. I love Italian too. I lost H. Or H lost me. I found him sitting behind our designated table—number 70— with his first plate. Apparently he went straight for the roast beef and meat balls. Then came our Finndish tablemates. I quickly looked at their plates. Salmon and salmon. That would be my next plate too.

It was time for my next plate. Pickled salmon, warm smoked salmon, cold smoked salmon, baked salmon. To my taste, this fish is best with potatoes. So, I got Jansonn’s temptation and marble potatoes. What a feast! If I had died and went to heaven, then I must be a cat and had died a few times before because I recognized the feeling very well.

The pickled salmon was remarkable. It was worth going for it again. But it was time to move on to the shrimps before I became full. I got a new plate and filled it with shrimps. Just shrimps. A plateful of them. H was surprised that I didn’t take the whole bowl from the buffet table to save me another trip, in case I went for seconds.

The salad corner was free by this time. I took the chance and had salad for my next plate. While the crowd was on the dessert by this time, I was lagging behind and was still on the salad. I saw no reason to hurry. H and I still had about 45 minutes to be there.

As the rest of the crowd, H was on his dessert plate. His first dessert plate. And so were the Findish ladies. Well, as for myself, I went back for more salmon. The pickled and smoked salmon were just too good. A good closure I thought.

While H was on his second plate of dessert, and I on my second salmon plate, one of the Findish ladies started talking about panna cotta. The younger one had once made panna cotta dessert with apricots and it was delightful. Obviously, she was a good story-teller because her panna cotta did sound delightful.

I had decided to forego the desserts. I didn’t need sweets after the salmon. But hearing the lady’s testimony about panna cotta changed my mind. I became curious. I had never had it before and I had the chance to try it. If salmon was the closure, the panna cotta would be the appendix.

The panna cotta in the buffet had raspberry sauce. It wasn’t as sweet as desserts normally are. It had a texture similar to leche flan. I couldn’t tell if there were eggs in it. But I assumed there was gelatin. I enjoyed panna cotta not for its taste but for its texture. It was very soft to the bite but hard enough to be moulded and hold itself in shape. Until the last dessert spoon, I still couldn’t say for sure if there were eggs or gelatin in it.

H and I were pretty much stuffed after dinner. We went back to our cabin to rest for a while before we hit the duty-free shop. How ironic that eating can be exhausting sometimes.

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Kitchen diary day 3: Spaghetti with tuna sauce

September 7, 2007 at 9:06 pm · Filed under autumn, cooking, fish, food, Italian, pasta

Hi, my name is Maggan. Welcome to Maggan’s kitchen!

Monday, 03 September: Spaghetti con salsa di tonno

Nothing grand about spaghetti with tuna sauce. But I have a weakness for pasta and I especially love spaghetti. Several reasons why I’m making spaghetti with tuna sauce for myself tonight and for tomorrow’s lunchbox. Besides wanting fish tonight, the recipe is cost-effective and a time-saver. 45 minutes of cooking time for a fancy Italian dish is not bad at all.

That’s right. For myself. I’m home alone tonight for a few hours. This means P-A-R-T-Y-! for a few hours. The guys are watching this year’s football game—the Greens versus the Bees. This is the reason why Don and Jones flew across the Irish and North Seas.

I’m having a dinner party and I’m in charge of the food. Spaghetti with tuna sauce that serves 4 portions. Let the party begin!

  • 1 clove garlic, crushed
  • .5 decilitre olive oil
  • 3 pieces anchovy filets in oil, chopped
  • 1 can crushed tomatoes
  • 2 tablespoons tomato puree + 1 decilitre water
  • 1 can tuna fish in oil (200 grams), drained
  • 1 tablespoon fresh oregano or 1 teaspoon dry oregano
  • .5 decilitre flat-leaf parsely, finely chopped
  • salt and pepper
  • 400 grams spaghetti
  1. Saute the crushed garlic in olive oil in a casserole in moderate heat. It is important that the garlic does not brown.
  2. Take out the garlic from the oil.
  3. Put in the anchovies, crushed tomatoes, tomato puree, and water. Put the lid on and simmer for 40 minutes- Turn the heat low once it starts boiling.
  4. Add the drained tuna, oregano, and parsely.
  5. Simmer for another 5 minutes.
  6. Add salt and pepper to taste.
  7. Cook the spaghetti al dente in another casserole with water and salt. Cook according to the instructions on the package.
  8. When done, drain the spaghetti.
  9. Put in the drained spaghetti in the tuna sauce.
  10. Serve in a warm and slightly deep plate.

On the scale of easy to hard, this recipe is easy. But this is Zeta’s. Mine has slight modifications. Not following instructions again, Maggan?

For one, I use whole-wheat spaghetti. Instead of the canned crushed tomatoes, I’m using 2 fresh medium-size tomatoes. I’m also adding 1 chili pepper, chopped, minus the seeds. I don’t want the sauce arabiatta hot. If you don’t know what I mean, order pasta with arabiatta sauce the next time you go Italian.

Well, put on your party clothes, Maggan, and light the dinner candles!

Epilogue

I did more modifications to Zeta’s recipe. After sauteing the crushed garlic, I didn’t take it out of the casserole. I didn’t want to waste it. Was I stingy over my head or what?!

I added 2 tablespoons of capers. Mainly because I had them in the fridge. Other reason than that, I don’t know.

There was neither fresh oregano nor parsley. I didn’t have and I refused to buy. I was stingy. And because I still had a pot of thyme that was about to wilt and die. (Stingy all through the night.) I used that instead. Thyme works well with fish so it’s good enough. I read this somewhere before. On top of my spaghetti, I sprinkled grated parmesan.

It was good. No tuna taste at all. I had 2 servings. H came home much earlier than Don and Jones. Although he joined them in the pre-game ritual with M and Tor, H didn’t watch the game of the Greens and the Bees. He was welcome to party with me. He had a plate of spaghetti.

Now I’m dying to know how the original recipe tastes like. And you may be itching to know the result of the football game of the year.

Tuesday, 04 September: Cocunut chicken

To be continued…

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A dose of essential fats

June 7, 2007 at 7:57 pm · Filed under cooking, fish, food, health

Hi, my name is Maggan. Welcome to Maggan’s kitchen!

As planned, dinner would be salmon steak and asparagus with mild lemon sauce. Quick and easy. My goal was to give my guests a good dose of Omega-3 fat.

Ingredients: 4 pieces salmon steak, 2 bouquets green asparagus, 5 decilitres Kelda mild lemon sauce 

We had been to the grocery. Ed and Gerry had drunk a beer each and eaten black caviar on boiled potatoes as appetizer. And while Ed and Gerry were enjoying their appetizers, I was preparing the salmon steaks and green asparagus.

Green asparagus. I washed them. Chopped about 2 centimetres of the bottom ends. Boiled 3-4 decilitres water with a little salt in a pan. When the water was already boiling, I put the first batch of asparagus. Boiled them for 3 minutes. With thongs, I took them out of the water and then laid them on a strainer. I did the exact same thing with the second batch of asparagus.

Pink-peach fatty salmon steaks with skin. Patted them dry with paper towels. Sprinkled a small amount of salt and pepper on them. Rinsed the pan I had used for the asparagus. Put about 3 tablespoons butter in the pan. Heated the butter in medium heat. Fried the salmon steaks. 3-4 minutes on each side.

While I was frying the fish, I heated the mild lemon sauce on medium heat. It didn’t need to reach boiling point. It would have been warm enough when all 4 salmon steaks were done.

I used our heavy oval plates. I diagonally laid one salmon on one side of each plate. Laid several pieces of asparagus next to the salmon. Generously spooned mild lemon sauce over the salmon and the asparagus. No pouring. Soooo Jamie!

There was a third space left on each plate. I had some potatoes topped with black caviar. Leftover appetizers. I decided to fill the last third of the plate with 2 pieces oof appetizers. The plate turned out to be an inspired ensemble. A creation indeed!

Gerry seemed impressed. He asked what the sauce was and how I made it. I told him that I had bought it. Ready-to-use pack. All I had to do was heat it. That it was milk-based. 9 per cent fat. Gerry and Ed were careful about their diet and calorie intake. They both deserved to know the truth about the food they eat.

Ed was quiet the whole time during dinner. He was enjoying the meal. Gerry said that I was as good as a chef. Or did he say almost as good? H, who doesn’t like fish, joined our salmon feast and seemed quite satisfied despite the bones. What more could the cook ask for?

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Sour and hot soup

May 25, 2007 at 4:57 pm · Filed under cooking, fish, food, meat, soup

Hi, my name is Maggan. Welcome to Maggan’s kitchen!

H and I ate at the Flower City early this week. The soup of that day was tom yam. It was the modified version of the Thai recipe but the best soup they had had since we started frequenting the place 1.5 years ago. It reminded me of Nids’ home-cooked sinigang. Sour soup.

Sinigang is a clear soup dish where sour fruits are used for flavouring. Tamarind, guava, or kamias. Kamias (scientific name: averrhoa bilimbi) is related to carambola or star fruit, and bilimbi. Very, very, very sour. Sour to the max. Pure sourness. Sinigang can be made with meat (pork or beef cuts with bones), fish, or shrimps. Very flexible recipe.

Ingredients: 300-500 grams meat cuts with bones (bones make good broth). 1-2 pieces tomatoes, quartered. 1 large onion or 2 medium onions sliced. 1 white radish peeled and sliced at about 2 centimetres thick. 1 bouquet of kangkong (scientific name: ipomoea aquatica), also known as water spinach. 1/2 cube meat bouillon (optional). 1 piece of lemon grass chopped. 1-2 pieces green chilli pepper (3 pieces would give more hot than sour taste; we want the right balance), or 1 piece piri-piri pricked or halved. About 1 litre water (ideally, water from the third wash of rice is used). Fresh tamarind fruit.

I find measurement a dilemma in Philippine cooking, unless I follow a recipe book. Nids is one of the best in home cooking. She never uses measuring gadgets. She learned to cook this way. I learned to cook Filipino food from her in the same way. Measurement is done by taste. If Nids feels that the sinigang is sour enough, that’s it. If you notice the ingredients list, the amounts are all but guess approximations. Not scientific at all. I’m trying to be on the safe side. Not too much water, not too much meat.

But when it comes to the fresh tamarinds, they cannot be too much. The sourer, the better. The worst sinigang is one that lacks in sourness. You get dishwater for soup. Phooey! So how much fresh tamarind, the small to medium kind and unripe? Let me think. 2-3 handfuls. No. 3-4. Make those 3-5 handfuls. Yes, 3-5. Complicated.

White radish. No problem. Nids just peels and slices it.

When the meat has become tender, Nids adds in the radish and the tamarind puree. Radish takes longer to cook than the kangkong so it goes first. When the radish is cooked, the kangkong is added. The leaves go on top of the soup. As soon as they are added in, she puts the lid on the casserole and switches off the stove. The steam in the casserole will cook the kangkong.

Some notes.

  • Stressed cooks can skip fresh tamarind and pureeing. They can get tamarind bouillon and just add it in plain water.

  • Instead of meat, sinigang can be made with fresh shrimps (whole raw shrimps with heads, shells, and tails) or fresh water fish (milkfish or tilapia with head and tail minus scales).

  • If using shrimps, bring to boil the tomatoes, onions, radish, and the puree first. When the mixture has boiled, add the raw shrimps and the kangkong. The sinigang is done when the shrimps have turned red-orange. Serve immediately.

  • If using fish, season it first with a little salt on both sides. Boil the tomatoes, onions, radish, and the puree. Add the fish. When the fish is cooked, add the kangkong. Serve immediately.

  • Omit the meat and voila! You have plain vegetable sinigang.

  • If the sinigang is not sour enough, squeeze a piece or two of calamansi (scientific name: x Citrofortunella microcarpa; x is hybrid, I guess), also known as calamondin. I’m not sure if lemon will work. Lemon is mild. Lime is even milder.

Do I dare make sinigang, the Philippine sour soup? Are you kidding? I doubt it. Well, probably. In the right place and at the right time.

Suddenly, I noticed H making faces at me. I thought I heard someone say H-E-L-L-O. It was H trying to make contact with me. H succeeded to win me out of my little world. I snapped back to reality.

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