Baked Salmon With Dill And Lemon Cream Sauce

 
Aside from “good genes” one of our secrets to staying slim and healthy weight are eating out less, everything in moderation, and eating light sometimes. I don’t know why but for some reason, I was craving salmon. It’s not often that I eat salmon, but when I do, it’s usually salmon cakes, or salmon sushi, or smoked salmon with crackers. Anyways, back to my craving, I wanted top to it off with a creamy sauce.
As a kid, I was not a big fan of the “fishy” taste that fish can sometimes have. One of the only ways that I would eat fish, is if it was prepared with lemon flavor. One of my favorite fish dishes as a kid was the lemon dipped cod at Chesapeake Bay (restaurant). Yes, I am probably showing my age now as I don’t think that the franchised restaurant exists anymore. I think part of its demise was the “all you can eat” option. However, I remember my family would often go with my Godfather and his closest friends on the weekends. He was a bottomless pit of sorts so we were often there until close and occupied ourselves over by the video games once we finished our meals. Though, the quality changed over the years, it was a very family friendly restaurant with generous seating.
Salmon, similar to steak is rich with a flavor all its own. Therefore, when choosing seasoning combinations, it’s best to go with options that won’t overpower the salmon. With memories of having fish prepared with lemon back then, it was only natural that I wanted lemon and dill. A simple combination that would just enhance its natural flavor. Another thing about salmon is that it is kind of tricky and fussy to work with. The methodology to cooking is simple but it’s easy to overcook. Once you do overcook it, it’s unpleasant in both texture and flavor. One of the easiest ways to prepare salmon is in an aluminum foil packet to ensure even cooking throughout the filet and the maintain a nice texture.
Recipe:
1 Large salmon filet
Kosher salt
Ground black pepper (or fresh ground black peppercorns
1 Large lemon
Sour Cream (Whole 8 oz bar can be used or half depends on preference for thickness of sauce)
Large bunch of fresh dill (weed)
Cream Cheese
1/4 Cup of Milk
2 Tblspns of butter
Method:

In a shallow but large baking tray (casserole dish), lay the whole salmon flat and season both sides with kosher salt and pepper. Allow the salmon to marinate for at least a couple of hours. Once salmon has finished marinating, slice lemon into round thin discs. Top the salmon with a few lemon discs and a few sprigs of fresh dill. Seal and enclose the salmon in a foil packet on the baking tray. Bake for at least 20 minutes on 350 degrees.
For the sauce, in a sautee pan, melt 2 tablespoons of butter and at least 4 oz of cream cheese. More can be used for a thicker and more cheesier sauce. Add 2 tablespoons of sour cream and mix well. Then stir in 1/4 cup of milk. At this point, I added a small lemon wedge and 2 sprigs of fresh dill. However, you can add 2 teaspoons of lemon juice.
Once the salmon is done, open foil and slice the filet into smaller portions. Serve warm and topped with the lemon and dill cream sauce. Suggested sides: Asparagus or a nice fresh caprese salad. Enjoy!

A Trip to Shannon's Market

 

It was Thanksgiving week. My Godfather was already here and my sister was on her way down with her kids (my niece and nephews). My Godfather had initial plans to go to Showcase of Citrus in Clermont. Instead, he found some place closer to get his raw peanuts and red oranges. He let us know that there was a wide array of produce as well as other essentials that we would need for our Thanksgiving Dinner.
As papa Smurf and I drove through Z-Hills to get there, it’s a very sleepy and no frills town. Alot of senior communities and trailer parks. When we arrived to the market, we pulled up on a cute little red open air barn, with a dirt and gravel parking lot. Once we entered we were pleasantly surprised. All I could think in my head at that moment was “Holy produce!” Not only did Shannon’s have everything that we would need comprised in a myriad of produce but a selection of items I had not ever seen before. This selection included, cranberry beans (a fuschia speckled with lime green bean), prickly pears (cactus pears), Chinese eggplant, red yams, and another fuschia colored item that resembled sea urchins. Just to name a few things I had not seen before in my foodie life.  For every food item you can often find three or more variations; For instance, cabbage, red cabbage, and bok choy. Then there are green beans, pole beans, and as I shared earlier their cousins the cranberry beans lol. For yams, there are plain yams, golden yams, red yams, and oriental yams (purple in color I had never seen oriental yams before either). For onions, there are white onions, yellow onions, red onions, and shallots. With the fruits I noticed three different types of pears, red pears, white ones and green ones. Tomatoes and green tomatoes are also available. There is so much variety and everything is so fresh! Fresh herbs are cut straight from their plants. The selection is also abundant. Collard bunches are very very generous. One bunch moreso resembles three. Enough to completely fill a large brown grocery bag. There were lots of tropical and international produce staples available. I could go on and on about the produce. I stumbled upon some refrigerated goodies as well, which included homemade cream butter (just good old cream and salt). plants are also available for sale.



The customer service is very friendly, inviting, hospitable and warm. If you need any help or have questions about the produce it’s no problem. The owner gave my sister a lesson on prickly pears and cactus pears. She is very knowledgeable, knows her products and produce. At checkout she made sure that we didn’t mix up our cilantro and flat parsely. During our last visit (oh yes, we made two visits in one week), we had all of the littles in tow; which included a 2 year old, 3 year old, and two 5 year olds. All loud and very busy! Shannon came over and offered the kids two baskets of grapes and napkins. One for each cart, as we had the kids situated two to a cart. Anyone who shops with one or two (let alone 4) in this age range knows it can get crazy! The grapes were right on time, and they kept the kids quiet and contained for the rest of the trip.
After our first trip we had our whole cart full of produce for the Thanksgiving meal. The total came up to about $25, jumped to $30 once our extra large bag of string beans were added. For a cart full we knew very well at one of the chain stores we could have spent about $75 or more easy! So for us the price was right and we will definitely be back!

Spiced Rosemary and Garlic Porkchops...

After

In between bulk shopping (which I try to do at least once a month) on familiar turf at Sam's Club, we navigate the local grocery chains which happen to be unfamiliar, Publix, Winn Dixie, just to name a few. Of course, none of the grocery chains from back home are located in this region. I have to say I really do miss Wegman's! There just isn't anything like it here. However, nothing beats the fresh local produce from local farmers so I guess that is our trade off. Anyways, Winn Dixie was having a "BOGO" on porkchops and the husband wanted them so in the cart (or buggy as they call them down here) they went.

All I could think of was "Oh no! Not pork chops again!?" I don't know where the over indulgence stemmed from but I was "pork chopped" out! I had been over them for quite some time now. What do you do when you're tired of a food item yet are faced with having no other choice than to prepare it yet again? You put a new spin on it and prepare it in a new way. So I got to browsing online for inspiration (mostly Pinterest and Food network). I usually browse for inspiration and then try to make a recipe my own, I rarely follow it to a "t" unless I don't have familiarity with the cooking process or ingredients. Typically we fry our pork chops and/or smother them in gravy, which has been over done and also requires care. Porkchops are one of those meats that can get pretty dry and that's sugarcoating it because honestly Porkchops can become damn near unpalatable if you're not careful in your preparation. You can have yourself a fine cut of cardboard and sliced splinters.

Randal has two jobs as a cook at two different restaurants now, it's been almost a month at the second venue. He has been picking up alot of new skills to add to his growing cooking skill set. He told me that part of the prepping process at the second venue is that they do alot of "braising of the proteins" (meats). He makes me proud, soon he'll be teaching me new things. At the second venue they mostly work with other white meats such as turkey and chicken. Meats that are notorious for drying out if not prepped and cooked properly. I was first introduced to braising when my mother would make beef short ribs or roasts for Sunday dinners, which were always so tender and flavorful. I love braising meats because it locks in the juices, keeps them tender and can magnify the flavor.

Recipe:

5 Bone-in pork chops
1 tsp black pepper
4 sprigs of fresh rosemary
3 mashed cloves of garlic
2 tblspns of extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp of allspice
1 tsp of nutmeg
1 or 1/2 tsp of kosher salt

First you want to season your chops. I usually start with the salt, pepper and oil. Then, I mash my garlic cloves in the garlic press and work in the mashed garlic shreds. I work everything in by rubbing all of the seasonings into the meat so as to evenly distribute and get a good season. I add the nutmeg and allspice next. Last, I add the rosemary leaves without the stems in the same manner. Then, I cover the chops and let them marinate in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to an hour.

After the chops have marinated, prep an oven safe saute or saucepan over medium high heat. Begin, braising your chops...basically, you only want to brown the chops and not cook them through. The juices will still run red or pink if you poke the chop and that is okay. You can achieve this by cooking the chops no longer than 2-3 minutes on each side and removing from the heat immediately. If your pan is oven safe then add a half cup of water to the juices, enough to fill the bottom of the  pan. Return the chops to the pan or an oven safe casserole dish (or dutch oven). Bake at 350-375 degrees for 30 minutes (until juices run clear). Don't allow the your baking container of choice to dry out causing your chops to dry out keep it moist if juices and water evaporates. Top pork chops with baked or fried apples ( the nutmeg and allspice were used to complement this topping). Enjoy!

~Stay tuned for the side dish recipe entry “Blanco Mac n' Cheese"