Maple Glazed Salmon

Salmon was one of the first things I made when I began cooking again a year and a half ago. Pan fried salmon with green beans and mushrooms sauteed in butter. My mom, dad and myself gobbled it up, I remember it like it was yesterday. It is still one of my favourite meals, and I’m still making it today, or at least making variations of this classic dish. Salmon, green beans and mushrooms are like those old friends you can always turn to. Although, I think it’s pretty hard to have three old friends to turn to...at least when you’re still in high school. Anyways, that’s beside the point.

This is a new take on my favourite - Maple Glazed Salmon. I’m Canadian, and we live for maple syrup up here and I don’t know if it’s my Canadian side talking here, but this maple glazed salmon is pretty darn delicious.

I would think that macaroni and cheese, chili, or a big warm bowl of soup would be the most common choices for a comforting dish. Well, if you know me you probably know that I’m not like most people, so, it should come as no surprise that neither of those three are my favourite comfort foods. To me, salmon is one of the most comforting dishes. Is that weird? Probably. I also hate when people talk to me during movies so I enjoy seeing them alone...again, slightly odd. Sometimes, I prefer to eat vegetables over candy. I love words, my dad and I do SAT vocab flashcards for fun. I love going out and forget to do my homework until late Sunday night... wait, that's normal.

I’m not weird, I’m limited edition.

Maple Glazed Salmon (serves 3)
Slightly adapted from: Canadian Living

Ingredients
1 lbs salmon fillets
2 tbsp maple syrup
2 tsp dijon mustard
1 tsp soya sauce

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 (convection oven) or 425 (conventional oven). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Combine maple syrup, Dijon mustard and soya sauce in a bowl. Brush sauce over salmon.

Bake at 400 (convection oven) for 8-10 minutes or at 425 (conventional oven) for 11-13 minutes.

Enjoy this maple glazed salmon with Spicy Broccoli or Green Beans in Vinaigrette.

- Lou

Trout with Chili Sauce

I might have mentioned this before, but I'm a big fan of trout. Do you love trout? If not, in my opinion, you should reconsider. That is unless you just absolutely, positively hate fish, then you should probably disregard this post. Just kidding. You shouldn't, I'll try to change your mind.

Trout is pretty versatile, you can dress it up however you like and it always tastes delicious. Something that I find that happens during the week is that you're running around and there isn't enough time to put together a full, healthy meal. Well here's your answer! This trout is so simple, mix a few ingredients together and bake in the oven, serve with a side salad and some brown rice and you're good to go!

One of my favourite ways to eat trout is covered with aromatic herbs with the heat of chili flakes, such as in my Terrific Trout recipe! This version of trout is completely different than my previous recipe, yet it is still very tasty!

Trout with Chili Sauce

Ingredients

1 lbs piece of trout
1 tsp chili sauce
1/8 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp sweet paprika
1/4 tsp parsley
1/4 tsp Dijon mustard
1 garlic clove, crushed

Directions

Begin by preheating your oven to 325 degrees and greasing a baking dish with a little olive oil.

Next, mix together all the ingredients and brush over trout. Place trout in the dish and bake for 18-20 minutes.

For a filling and healthy meal, serve with a spinach salad and some brown rice.

This is the perfect recipe to cook up some scrumptious trout for dinner tonight!

- Lou

Terrific Trout!

Mmmm, I really love seafood... salmon, octopus, calamari, shrimp, trout... the list goes on and on... So, when I saw that trout fillets were on sale for a ridiculously good price, I was ready to buy the whole stock. But, I realized that that may be a little extreme. Just a little. So I bought myself four fillets and off I was, running home to prepare my delicious dinner.

Terrific Trout

Ingredients
4 medium sized trout fillets
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp each of rosemary, thyme and parsley
3/4 tsp honey mustard
1/8 tsp each of chili flakes, garlic powder and chili powder
cracked pepper to taste

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Mix all of the ingredients together to create a marinate for the fish. Butter or oil your cooking dish and place trout fillets in the dish. Brush the marinate over the fish and bake for 20-25 minutes.

This dish, with the blend of flavors and the melt-in-your-mouth trout is seriously a winner. It takes mere minutes to prepare, and mere minutes to devour!

Happy eating!

- Lou

Smoked Salmon Cucumber Boats

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This is one of the first posts of my many appetizer themed posts to come in the near future. On the weekend I was asked to help out at two different events (one being a pre-prom party, and the second a dinner party.) I was helping out in the kitchen working for the most part on the appetizers, so I've got a few appetizers to share! This recipe is an adapted version of the Salmon Mousse over on Annie's Eats

These cucumber boats are perfect for a nice summer event. With the use of the fresh, crunchy cucumber and the soft cold salmon mousse, it's perfect for a warm evening.
Ingredients
1 cucumber (rather thin so that your pieces aren't too large.)
1 cup smoked salmon, flaked with a fork
1 cup of fluid cream cheese
1/4 tsp. dried dill weed
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 clove garlic, finely minced
chives for garnish (optional)

Directions

Wash and chop the cucumber (leaving the skin on) into about 1-1 1/2 inch thick rounds. Scoop out the seeds creating a "bowl" in the cucumber. Be sure not to create a hole in the cucumber round.

Flake the salmon with a fork and put it into the food processor. Next add in the remaining ingredients and pulse until the desired texture. (Note: I like mine very smooth.) Scoop out about one teaspoon of the salmon mousse and place it into a cucumber bowl. Repeat the process for all the cucumber bowls. Serve immediately.

And there you have it, a yummy, summery appetizer for your next dinner party!

- Lou

Recipe adapted from Annie's Eats: Salmon Mousse

Meatless Mondays!

Has anyone heard of the Meatless Mondays initiative? I think it's an amazing idea, which is really easy to do and will make a big difference. If people all around the country, and the globe took part in meatless Mondays campaign not only would we be healthier but we would also be doing our part in saving the environment!

Meatless Mondays is an international campaign which originates all the way back to WWI. Now that I think of it, I do remember learning this in history class last year... Anyway, it came back around in WWII but it was recently recreated as a public health awareness program in association with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Center for a Livable Future. Recently the campaign has earned lots of publicity through the endorsement of celebrity chef Mario Batali as well as Sir Paul McCartney and Gwyneth Platrow (to name few!) It's gained more publicity through respected news outlets such as CNN, The Los Angeles Times, Macleans Magazine, The Toronto Star, The New York Times, The Times Of India, The Atlantic, and The Washington Post. If you wish to see what they said about "Meatless Mondays" click here.

I have decided to endorse this initiative and have planned it into my weekly menu! As for today's meatless dinner... French Roasted Salmon, with garlicky green beans and mushrooms!

Really a pretty simple and basic, yet extremely delicious and satisfying meal! The recipe for the salmon is my own adaptation off of the "French Roasted Salmon" recipe from besthealthmag.ca. I have to say that this is seriously, without a doubt, the best salmon I have ever had.

Ingredients (for salmon seasoning)
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried rosemary
1/4 cup of olive oil
1 tbs Dijon mustard
3/8 tsp chili flakes (you can add less/more depending on the heat level you want.)
1/8 tsp pepper
salmon fillets (really any size you want...)

Directions

Preheat your oven to 450° F. Grease an oven safe dish with a little olive oil to avoid the salmon sticking.

Salmon Garnish

Combine all of the ingredients together in a bowl and whisk them together. Place your salmon in the dish and season with sea salt. Brush the tops and sides of the salmon with the garnish you have just prepared.

Bake them in the oven uncovered for 12 minutes. Once the 12 minutes is up, turn the oven off, cover the salmon and leave them in there for about another 8 minutes! And voila, you should have mouth watering, perfectly cooked salmon!

And there you go! Delicious salmon!

- Lou

Recipe adapted from besthealthmag.ca