Spicy Sweet Salmon

Yay! I cooked lambs! Our Tuesdays typically run pretty late in the kitchen assembling our little Crimps, but before I left for the evening I made the glaze and the hominy mixture for this meal from Bon Appétit,. I got home pretty tired but was so happy that I had to simply glaze the salmon and roast for 10 minutes in the oven. I reheated the hominy with a 1/3 cup of milk to give it a little bit more body and bam! dinner was served.

This took exactly 30 minutes to put together and was DELICIOUS. I served a little bit of fresh cilantro on top of the salmon to give the plate a little more pizazz. We loved this for its flavor, freshness and the unique blend of cumin, red wine vinegar, apricot jam, and chipotles on the glaze! Plus, according to the magazine, you get a good dose of Vitamin D through the salmon – winning. And with that, I might have just killing “winning”…good.

Roast Salmon with Sweet Chipotle Glaze and Hominy Puree

  • 2 servings
  • PREP TIME: 20 minutes
  • TOTAL TIME: 30 minutes
  • Recipe by Selma Brown Morrow
  • Bon Appétit, April 2011

Ingredients

  • 3 chipotle chiles (about) from canned chipotle chiles in adobo
  • 2 tablespoons apricot jam or preserves
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons red wine vinegar
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
  • Nonstick vegetable oil spray
  • 2 6- to 7-ounce salmon fillets with skin (scant 1 inch thick)
  • 1 15-ounce can hominy, drained, juice reserved
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro

Preparation

  • Preheat oven to 450°F. Using back of spoon, press enough chipotles through fine sieve into small bowl to measure 2 teaspoons puree. Mix puree, jam, vinegar, and cumin in bowl; season glaze to taste with salt.
  • Coat small rimmed baking sheet with nonstick spray. Arrange salmon on sheet; sprinkle with salt and black pepper. Spread half of glaze over each fillet. Roast until just opaque in center, about 10 minutes.
  • Meanwhile, puree hominy and 3 tablespoons reserved juice in mini processor until almost smooth. Transfer to small skillet. Add butter and cilantro. Stir over medium heat until warmed through, mixing in more reserved juice by teaspoonfuls if too thick. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
  • Divide hominy between 2 plates, top with salmon, and serve.

Read More http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/2011/04/roast_salmon_with_sweet_chipotle_glaze_and_hominy_puree#ixzz1I7VOhPjf

Austin Bakes for Japan

The recent tragedy in Japan has been absolutely heart breaking to watch. With each day I always hope I’ll hear that things are getting better, and I’m amazed how the people of Japan have handled this dire situation. I admire their strength, civility, and ability to think beyond their own personal problems and unselfishly do what’s best for their community. Speaking of community, the one I love – Austin – is doing its part to help Japan, and you can too.

The Pie Society is a proud business partner of the Austin Bakes for Japan,  a bake sale fundraising event to help survivors of the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan happening April 2 from 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. in five locations across the city. More than 70 home cooks and dozens of local bakeries will be contributing baked goods at locations throughout Austin with proceeds going to AmeriCares work in Japan. Since there are only two of us at The Pie Society, we will only be at the Westlake location selling full pies and Crimps. So be sure to come by and purchase as many baked goods as you possibly can for this amazing cause.

For all of the details visit the Austin Bakes for Japan website and visit any of the five locations to get some baked goods and more importantly help the citizens of Japan.

Until we see you out at the fundraiser, we wanted to share a delicious pie recipe (I kind of melted on the spot when I tasted this the other day) with you in case you would like to bake something up yourself.

The Pie Society’s Lemon Cheesecake Pie

For the pie crust*:

  • 1/2 cup vegetable shortening
  • 1 1/2 cups unbleached flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 6 to 7 tablespoons ice cold water

For the pie filling:

  • 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 12 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon almond extract
  • 2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest
  • 4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • 1 cup powdered sugar

For the crust: In a mixing bowl, combine the shortening, flour and salt until the mixture is crumbly and smaller than pea-size. Add the water tablespoon by tablespoon, mixing it with a pastry blender or fork until the dough clumps and sticks together (usually 6 to 7 tablespoons total). Don’t overwork the dough. Pat the dough into a ball, add a little flour to the top of the dough, so the rolling pin won’t stick, and on a lightly floured, smooth surface, roll out the dough evenly into a circle. Roll out the dough so it is larger than the circumference of the pie pan by an inch. As a trick, we roll the dough around a floured rolling pin and then unroll it onto the pie pan. Press the dough firmly into the pie pan. We like to tuck the extra inch of dough hanging over the edge of the pie pan under, so it makes a fluted edge. Prick the crust thoroughly on the bottom and the inside edges, so the crust won’t bubble up. Cook at 475 degrees for 8-10 minutes or until golden. While crust cools, make filling.

For the filing: Combine all ingredients, pour into prebaked pie shell and chill.

To serve: Place fresh raspberries or strawberries in a circle on top of the chilled pie and sprinkle with freshly grated lemon zest.

*Crickets*

Oh, hello there! So nice to see you! I know it’s been a while since I’ve posted, but my cooking has kind of fallen off the map due to home renovation (we are thisclose lambs) and the launching of The Pie Society. As soon as I get my kitchen back to optimal operating standards I’ll start testing and tasting recipes again – scout’s honor.

I have had a little time to try some pretty good recipes including this Pan- Seared Strip Steak and Warm Potato Salad with Ramps and Bacon from Cooking Light; they both were amazing! Tonight I’m trying their Slow-Roasted Tomato Pasta. I can’t wait for a gentle night in with David and then back to work on cabinets, floors and more!

Hugs,

Emily

Pan-Seared Strip Steak (Photo by Charles Masters)

 

P.S. Be sure to “like” Cooking Inside the Lines on Facebook and if you dig pies, you can “like” The Pie Society too!

The Pie Society

As I mentioned last week, I’ve been working on a little project non-stop for about the past five months and now, it’s ALIVE. A little background shall we?  I received a degree in Corporate Communication and Public Affairs from SMU and naturally went on to pursue a job in PR. I had worked in many industries – cell phones, cat food, tax software you name it – but when I got into the food work I was a happy little panda.  I loved the work, my fellow colleagues, food media friends and my clients but something started to feel like it was missing. It started out as a tiny grumbly voice in the back of my head that continued to get louder and louder until one day I couldn’t take sitting behind a desk any longer or getting on one more plane ride for a business trip – something just wasn’t right.

One night I was talking to David about the situation and as you can imagine I felt rotten for feeling this way. A lot of people would kill to have a steady job and great work and here I was, miserable. So lame. We started talking about other avenues I could take which led to a discussion on current food trends. I then mentioned pie was about to get its day in the sun. I love pie. Love, love, love, love, love, love pie. I don’t seek out cake or even sweets really, but you put pie in front of me and I go bananas. I mentioned that I loved pie so much that I wished I could have multiple slices of pie without consuming my calorie and fat intake for the week in one sitting. And then, BAM.  I mentioned it would be cool to have a small tiny bite of pie that you could eat in two bites so you could eat a variety of different flavors. I’m such a fat kid, I swear. Like an itch I couldn’t scratch, I couldn’t get the idea out of my head.  I told my little idea to Lindsay Leslie who was already doing her own pie blog plus she was an ex fellow PR colleague of mine so I knew she would be just as anal retentive as me. 😉 I’ll never forget telling her the idea and she hit the table and goes “let’s do this!”.  Since then, there has been sweat, some tears, some burns, total recipe fails, total recipe successes and a lot of  “What the hell you mean we need fill in the blank with something extremely absurd here that too?” I know now what an LLC, DBA, EINs, blah, blah, blah means and could not be happier with what we’ve created. VOILA LAMBS!!

 

She's My Cherry Crimps

Introducing Crimps, the two-bites-and-you’re-done pie! We have six flavors, full-sized pies and dipping sauce we call Complements. I’m not going to tell you much else because I would love for you to visit www.thepiesociety.com and if you live in Austin place an order and see for yourself. Fingers crossed poodles.  We are the little pie engine that could but don’t worry, I still have to eat SOMETHING else other than pie so I’ll still be here testing and tasting recipes so you don’t have to. One final note, without my niece Alex, Lindsay my partner in crime and sounding board/counseler/pie mom, support of my amazing friends and of course my prince charming David, none of this could have happened. Thank you a million times over for everything.

Big hugs and smooches,

Emily

That is one hot salad….

Here’s my pretend conversation with Gwyneth Paltrow about her dish, Hot Niçoise Salad.

Emily: So, let me get this straight. You are smart, funny, a great actress, gorgeous, married to Chris Martin from Coldplay, have two beautiful kids, an Oscar, a blogtravelled Spain with Mario Batali and Mark Bittman and now the most amazing thing you’ve accomplished (I kid, I kid) was the creation of this Hot Niçoise Salad. You’re an alien aren’t you?

Gwyneth: You’ll have to speak to my publicist.

Emily: Well, regardless this was absolutely incredible, something I’m going to add to my weekly diet, full of delicious flavors, simple to make, David and I might have snorted it in five seconds and it turned out to be a staff favorite at Food & Wine. I mean really, only an alien could create this amongst EVERYTHING ELSE you do. Hugs, sparkles and unicorn horns. XOXO.

Hot Niçoise Salad
P.S. I loved you in Sliding Doors.

This Week We’re Having…

So gang, here’s what we’re munching on this week. I’ll try to keep you posted on any beauties that come our way as much as I can, but next week is the launch of something really exciting that I’ve been working on with a fellow food lamb here in Austin. More details to come, but I have a feeling it’s going to be a little nuts around here. I’ll still be here updating as much as I can so bear with me if you can. Thanks!

Saturday: We’re having friends over for an early St. Patty’s Day dinner with this Baked Lamb Chops, Onions and Beer

Sunday: Hot Nicoise Salad (created by Gwyneth Paltrow? Goop me)

Monday: Spiced-Braised Chicken Legs with Red Wine and Tomato

Tuesday: Striped Bass with Lemon, Shiitake, and Baby Bok Choy (In Everyday Food magazine, no link yet)

Wednesday:  Jerk Pineapple Pork Chops with Basmati Rice (In Everyday Food magazine, no link yet)

Thursday: Happy St. Patty’s Day everyone! I have no idea what our plans are yet but if it’s anything like last year, oh dear.

No Hurry Curry

I, well, I have no words really to describe this Malaysian Beef Curry from Bon Appétit. It was so rich in flavor and the beef was so fork tender, I kind of whimpered after I ate it. If you are into a kind of lengthy prep and ingredients that may send you on a wee bit of scavenger hunt, then this is for you. With lemongrass, tamarind paste, dried New Mexico chiles, more lemongrass, coconut milk, fish sauce (YAY!), and star anise, it is definitely out of my usual comfort zone for cooking at home but WORTH IT. Ha, just check out the ingredient info from the magazine to see what I mean: New Mexico chiles can be found at some supermarkets and at Latin markets. Fish sauce and coconut milk are sold at supermarkets and Asian markets. Look for star anise, star-shaped seedpods, in the spice section of the supermarket. Tamarind is available in Asian and Indian markets.

Although the spice paste takes a little time the worst part is waiting for this to cook while it fills your house with such a lovely aroma it makes your mouth water. I served this over basmati rice with fresh cilantro and lime wedges. I took a first bite and was like “meh it’s pretty good”. Then I realized I clearly didn’t include enough of the delicious sauce/paste it had cooked in. After topping with a boatload of sauce I gave it a second bite, whimpered and kept saying mmmmmmmmm over and over again.

For those adventurous cooks out there this is a great dish to serve to family and friends. Even if this a wee bit our of your usual dinner plans I urge you to try, it’s an amazingly flavorful dish. Trust me, I’m not an expert.

Farfalle Provencal

My friend “The Boo” gave me the Neiman Marcus Cookbook (2003) as a Christmas present a few years ago and to this day I still love thumbing through it. After hours of working on the house – total remodel mode lambs – we were starving and I wanted pasta BAD. I had all of the ingredients for a basic marinara and was *gasp* going to to wing it on my own; shocking I know. However, I turned to the Neiman Marcus book and voila! a lovely and unique recipe for Farfalle Provencal.

Farfalle Provencal

Make the marinara sauce and while that cooks away prep for your pasta cooking; easy peasy! A few things I changed to the marinara, one I added a Parmesan rind to add a little bit more depth of flavor and not.waste.a.thing. Two, instead of water I used chicken broth for once again a smidge more flavor and I had some I needed to use up anyway.  Jiminy Cricket this was good! The depth of flavor with the savory tomato, salty bite of olives and capers and fresh herbacious basil was delicious. Go ahead, get your farfalle on!

Neiman Marcus Marinara Sauce  – Neiman Marcus Cookbook, 2003

  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1/2 cup finely diced onion
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic
  • 6 cupd canned diced tomatoes (with juice)
  • 3 cups canned whole plum tomatoes (with juice)
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1/8 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
  • 1 dried bay leaf
  • 1/4 cup chiffonade fresh basil

Yields about 2 quarts

To prepare the sauce, pour the olive oil into a large saucepan and set over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic and saute for 4 or 5 minutes, stirring often, until garlic begins to brown. Add the diced and whole tomatoes, tomato paste, 3 cups of cold water, the pepper, salt, sugar, red pepper flakes, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, turn down heat to low, and simmer, uncovered, for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Just before serving, stir the basil into the sauce.

Farfalle Provencal – Neiman Marcus Cookbook, 2003

  • 1 quart Marinara Sauce
  • 1 pound dried farfalle pasta (bow tie pasta)
  • 1/4 cup chiffonade fresh basil
  • 1 cup pitted Nicoise or Kalamata olives, julienned
  • 1/4 cup drained capers, rinsed
  • 1/4 cup butter, diced
  • 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Prepare the marinara sauce and set aside.

Meanwhile, prepare the pasta. Bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil over high heat and add farfalle. Turn down the heat to medium-hihg and simmer, uncovered, for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally, unitl the pasta is al dente. Drain the pasta in a large colander and shake the colander briefly under cold running water to stop the cooking process. Drain the pasta well and set aside.

Warm the reserved marinara sauce over medium heat, adding the basil as described in the sauce recipe. Add the olives, capers, and cooked pasta, and simmer for about 2 minutes, until the pasta is heated through. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the butter. Transfer to warm pasta bowls and sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese.

Mama Ingle’s Orange Muffins

Bless my mother. Not only did she have to tolerate a crazy little Emily (my nickname wasn’t Tricky for nothing), but we had a home cooked meal on the table every night after she worked all day long. Besides great Southern food each night, before snuggling me into bed she would ask what I wanted for breakfast the next morning so she could ensure I would go to school with a full belly. Lamb. I think my response each night was “ORANGE MUFFINS PLEASE!”. She would grin and politely inform me that I couldn’t eat orange muffins every day. See even as a youngin’ my food loving brain couldn’t comprehend the “you can’t eat this every day” scenario; kind of how I feel about bacon as an adult.

When I did get orange muffins, usually on Saturdays as a treat, I would run into the kitchen snag about four and watch morning cartoons – especially Rainbow Brite. Something about them was just so delicious to me. They are a little more dense than a regular muffin and the slight orange taste is perfect. Slap some melted butter or honey on these and you’ve got a delicious breakfast.

I’ve been talking about these to David so much that I finally decided to make them this morning. Since I yapped about them at length  I was a little nervous for him to try them! I followed my Mom’s recipe pretty much to the letter except a few additions of my own which I’ve marked in the recipe below. I got back from Pure Barre class and if you’ve ever taken this class you know (1) you can’t feel your entire body (2) you are going to be insanely sore tomorrow (3) you might kick something (if you could move your leg) if you don’t eat. I scarfed down two in a matter of minutes and the taste of the muffin warped me back to my little Emily days. Ahhh, don’t you love food items like these?  David loved them too. I’m hoping we can make our own special memories  in our  house with my Mom’s orange muffins (and all of her other delicious recipes). Sniffle.

Mama Ingle's Orange Muffins

 Orange Muffins

  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 1/4 cup of flour
  • 2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt*
  • 3/4 cup orange juice
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift together salt, flour and baking powder in a small bowl; set aside. Cream butter and sugar until very well blended. Add eggs, then add dry ingredients alternatively with juice. Add vanilla. Pour into greased muffin pan and bake for 30 minutes.

*I added in a little bit of salt and also marscapone cheese, about 1/4 cup after adding the last of the orange juice, to give it a little richer flavor.

Oldies but Goodies…

 

Easy Braised Brisket (Photo by John Autry)

Poodles, first and foremost, please make this Easy Braised Brisket from Cooking Light as soon as you can. For something that was made out of five ingredients this was insanely good. I was little thrown off by the olives at first but combined with the tomatoes and oregano they helped round out the sauce beautifully. Mmmm and the brisket was perfectly moist and fork tender. One recommendation, I kept adding more water as I went or I would have burned the heck out the brisket. Just keep an eye on it because a 1/2 cup of water on my stove was just not going to cut it. Besides that small issue, this was amazing and even better the next day for lunch!

Moving on to our menu plan this week, I’m revisiting some recipes to give David a chance to try them too – I think he’s going to love that cheeseburger:

Sunday: Coffee-Rubbed Cheeseburgers with Texas BBQ Sauce and Garlic Fries

Monday: Crab Cakes with Roasted Vegetables and Tangy Butter Sauce

Tuesday: Malaysian Beef Curry

Wednesday: White Pizza with Tomato and Basil

Fingers crossed we’ve got some good dishes coming up! Also, if you are a social media poodle, follow me on Twitter @EAIFood and on the Cooking Inside the Lines Facebook page. I tend to posts quick recipe reviews and food news there as well!