Miso glazed Atlantic salmon, bacon wrapped sea scallops with oven roasted rosemary and garlic red potatoes, asparagus and cheddar cheeses sauce.

We had friends over for Sunday dinner. Robert and Karen Rusnack are moving here from New York where Robert worked for Columbia University and Karen taught school. Robert will be the new CFO for the Utah State Athletics Department and Karen will look for a teaching position in Cache Valley. I wanted to make something that would make them feel comfortable so ATLANTIC SALMON!!!

There are many ways to make salmon but one of my favorites is a Japanese miso glaze. You can do all the work from scratch but I use JC brand miso vinaigrette dressing strait from the jar. Serve with oven roasted potatoes, asparagus with cheddar cheese sauce and end the meal with Spanish flan. Enjoy…we did.

DAD’S ROSEMARY/GARLIC ROASTED RED POTATOES

Ingredients:
red potatoes
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
3 cloves fresh garlic (finely minced)
2 teaspoons dried rosemary
1 package dry onion soup mix


Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Quarter dry potatoes with the skin on add potatoes to a mixing bowl with the olive oil, sea salt, ground pepper, minced garlic, rosemary and dry onion soup mix and toss in bowl until evenly coated. Place seasoned potatoes cut side down on a baking sheet covered with aluminum foil. Place in oven for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown and fork tender.

DAD’S MISO GLAZED SALMON

Ingredients:
1 large salmon fillet with the skin still on
9.5 ounce jar JC brand Japanese miso vinaigrette dressing
fresh ground pepper
sea salt

Preparation:
Preheat oven to broil (500 degrees)

Place the salmon fillet skin side down onto aluminum foil and create a dam around the fillet. Pour the miso dressing over the fillet sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place top of fillet about 8 inches from the broiler element. Cook about 6 minutes then re-coat fillet with miso dressing. Cook fillet until meat pulls apart with a fork. Take out of oven and let rest for 3-5 minutes. Serve warm. Enjoy!

DAD’S PAN SEARED BACON WRAPPED SEA SCALLOPS

Ingredients:
8 large sea scallops
8 slices pre-cooked bacon
2 garlic cloves (finely minced)
fresh ground pepper
sea salt

Preparation:
I like the packaged fully pre-cooked bacon because it is still flexible. Rinse scallops with running cold water, pat dry. Wrap each scallop with a slice of bacon, securing with a toothpick. Sprinkle scallops lightly with seasoned pepper, sea salt and minced garlic and place in a buttered glass pan. Preheat broiler. Place pan on top rack and broil 4 to 5 inches from heat for 10 to 15 minutes, or until scallops turn opaque throughout, using tongs to turn scallops half way through.

Bacon Crusted Trout Fillets With Cilantro Butter Cream Sauce

I wanted to prepare this trout in a non-traditional way…the result is a bacon crusted trout fillet in a cilantro butter cream sauce garnished with California olives. I will definitely prepare this dish again but with modifications. First, the bacon was too powerful and needs to be cut way back. Second, more cilantro and garlic and…some spice experimentation is needed to bring out the trout flavor. Don’t get me wrong, it was delicious. I took a sample to my friend Chris who gave the sauce his stamp of approval but I am not completely satisfied yet. My friend Chase called me to go to lunch and when I told him I had just prepared this dish he came right over and really enjoyed it.

Here is what I did for round one:

Bacon Crusted Trout Fillets:
8 Trout Fillets
1 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup flour
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup bacon, lightly cooked and crumbled
1/4 cup softened butter

Directions:
Prepare a glass bottom pan by coating the bottom and sides with butter. Add some cracked pepper and sea salt to the bottom. Lightly season all sides of the trout fillets with fresh cracked pepper and sea salt. In a shallow dish, combine the flour and the remaining salt and pepper. In a second shallow dish add the beaten eggs. Dip the fillet in the beaten eggs then roll the fillet in the flour, gently shaking off the excess. Place in the glass pan and repeat with remaining fillets. Sprinkle the crumbled bacon over the fillets and place in the ovens top rack and set the oven to broil. Fillets are done when golden brown and the fish readily pulls apart with a fork. Do not overcook!

Cilantro Butter Cream Sauce:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup minced shallot
1 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 cup roughly chopped cilantro leaves
1/4 tablespoon lime zest
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the shallot and pepper and sauté for 1 minute. Add the cream, lime zest and cilantro and bring to a low simmer. DO NOT ADD THE LIME JUICE at this stage since it will curdle the cream. Stir frequently until reduced by half. Remove from the heat, stir in the lime juice and salt and blend with a stick blender until smooth, Keep warm, or reheat gently before serving.
Arrange fillets on serving plates, top with the cilantro cream sauce and garnish as you like. Enjoy!

Trout Creole

When a snowy winter day turned sunny, I called my son Richard and my buddy Cliff to go fishing.  We caught nine beautiful rainbow trout and one brown trout.  Returning home, I taught Richard how to fillet fish.  He did a great job!!  Richard had an aversion to eating fish because of the bones that may be left behind by even the best fillet expert.  He asked if we could pressure cook some of the fillets so I made a trout creole in the pressure cooker.

First, I seasoned the fillets in cracked pepper and sea salt and placed them in a stainless steel basket.  Next cam diced tomatoes, shallots, yellow onion, garlic and creole seasoning.  I added a couple of cups of water and brought the pressure up to 15 pounds for 35 minutes.

While the trout cooked, Richard and I played dome pool.  After depressurization, I plated the fish with roasted red potatoes, and hot pickled vegetables.  We enjoyed a wonderful day together filled with fun and a great lunch.  Enjoy!

Ancho Chili Enchiladas

Went to visit my mother in Idaho today. We made Ancho chili enchiladas together and enjoyed a wonderful meal and conversation. We started with Ancho chili re hydrated with the seeds removed, fresh garlic and cumin blended together then added to a cream base.  The filling was made from fresh cilantro, shallots, sour cream, tomatoes and chicken chunks and sharp cheddar cheese.  After drenching flour tortillas in the base, we stuffed them with the mixture, covered and baked for 35 minutes then uncovered with shredded chees on top for another 10 minutes (all at 350 degrees).

Mom then added a salad, olives and corn with her home canned sweet pickles. Of course the food was excellent as was the conversation.

Journey Through Food

I have always had an affinity for great cooking. My world travels have introduced me to glazed meats in Brazil, spicy curried dishes in India, bird's nest soup in Hong Kong and ginger/lime fish in Thailand just to mention a few of the many countries and dishes that have inspired me. Living in the Rocky Mountains of the western United States provides a vast food resource of fresh ingredients through local gardens, wild game and a variety of fresh water fish. I love to fish and recently began to post some of my wild caught trout recipes on my Facebook home page. The response has been a little overwhelming with such positive response and questions about how I prepare my dishes.

My daughter Tiffany and I enjoy home canning of various fruits and vegetables when they are freshly harvested in the fall. We have created several award winning recipes for garden salsa, relish and a raspberry/habanero sauce we call " Daddy Daughter Raspbanero Sauce".

I watch the Food Network almost every night on TV and have become a fan of Good Eats, Diners Drive-ins and Dives, Chopped and Iron Chef America. I explore their recipes and change the ones I like to fit my tastes. Life is a journey and the most important part is not the end of the road but the journey itself.

One of my favorite record albums from 1972 was the Moody Blues album "Seventh Sojourn" (yes, record that dates me). A sojourn is a journey and each of us has many journeys that define who and what we are. I have become, a little of salt and pepper, bitter with a little sweet...good and a little bad. In the end, I hope my journey completely transforms me from the bland into the savory--from the mediocre into the masterpiece.

Please join me as I blog about the foods, people and recipes throughout my own Seventh Sojourn.