salmon burger with three kings

The three kings! My fanciful name for three delicious dressings for this salmon burger: Sriracha mayo, Thai basil-cilantro sauce, and guacamole.They are a kingly taste indeed; spicy, sour, sweet, salty, and savory.

Salmon Burger (adapted from Skinnytaste)

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 8 minutes

1 pound salmon steak, cut off the skin and bones
1/2 small red onion
2 large cloves garlic, minced
6 tablespoons Panko bread crumbs
2 tablespoons milk
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon soy sauce
Juice of 1/2 fresh lime
2 teaspoons oil

Mince the salmon after it has been deskinned and deboned. Add the onion, garlic, bread crumbs and milk. In a small bowl, add the egg and beat lightly with a fork. Add the soy sauce and the fresh lime juice. Pour on the salmon mixture and combine. Pat gently into four patties.

Heat the oil in a skillet. Fry each patty for 4 minutes on one side, flip them over, and fry again for another 4 minutes. Serve on a bed of fresh arugula lettuce. The peppery leaves make a nice contrast with the salmon, which needs no spices, except for the following accompaniments:

Cilantro Mayo
3 tablespoons mayonnaise (I prefer full fat for the taste; low fat is very sweet)
1 tablespoon Sriracha sauce (more or less, to taste)
1 scallion, minced

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Refrigerate any leftovers.

Thai Basil-Cilantro Sauce (adapted from The High Heel Gourmet)
1 cup mint leaves, loosely packed, chopped fine
1 cup cilantro, loosely packed, chopped fine
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
1 tablespoon ginger, minced
1 red chili with or without the seeds, or more to taste
1 scallion, chopped fine
1/4 cup vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
2 -4 tablespoons sugar (1/4 cup in original recipe)
Water 1/4 cup
Juice of 1 lime

Boil vinegar, sugar and salt together until dissolved. Let it rest until cool.

Add the cooled syrup to the vegetables, salt, 2 tablespoons sugar, water, and lime juice. Taste the sauce and adjust seasoning. Add a little more sugar if too sour, or a little more salt or vinegar if too sweet. The taste should be tart. Refrigerate leftovers.

Guacamole
2 ripe avocados, mashed
1/3 cup chopped tomatoes
1/2 small red onion, chopped
1 red chile pepper, seeded and chopped, optional
Juice of 1-2 limes or to taste
Salt and pepper

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Taste and adjust seasonings. Refrigerate leftovers.

 

nutella-bacon french toast

Andy suggested the bacon and I suggested the Nutella. A marriage of true minds admits no impediment, especially when it comes to foodies.   A simple enough breakfast or brunch notion for two, with fruit.

Nutella-Bacon French Toast

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes

2 eggs
2 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla, optional
4 slices whole wheat bread
4 slices bacon
2 teaspoons oil
1/2 to 1 tablespoon Nutella chocolate-hazelnut spread for each slice of bread
Sea salt flakes, optional
Powdered sugar, optional

Put bacon on a plate between two sheets of paper towels. Microwave on high heat for 5 minutes or until crisp. Remove from oven to cool slightly. Crumble into large pieces and set aside.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whip the eggs until frothy with the milk and vanilla, if using. Soak one slice of bread in the egg mixture for a few seconds, turning once. Set the slice on one end at the side of the bowl then repeat the step with the remaining slices.

Heat the oil on medium high heat in a large skillet and swirl it around. Add the bread slices and cook on one side for about 2 1/2 minutes or until golden brown. If the bread gets too brown too quickly, reduce the heat.  Flip and repeat. Voila! French toast in 5 minutes (or less).

Spread Nutella on two slices of French toast. Top one side with crumbled bacon. If desired, sprinkle a little sea salt on top. Cover with one slice of bread spread with Nutella. Slice sandwich in half diagonally. Repeat with the remaining two slices of bread. If desired, sprinkle each triangle with a little powdered sugar. Serve with sliced fruit. I recommend, kiwi or any berry–so enjoy summer’s bounty. Here in Bangkok, strawberries are a luxury but kiwi is available and quite reasonable.

 

candied almonds

Actually, this works with your favorite nut–walnuts, pecans, macadamias, and almonds are highly recommended. They make a great garnish for ice cream or sweet grape salad. Or just to eat by the handful.

1 cup chopped almonds
4 teaspoons water
2 tablespoons brown sugar
pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 400˚F/200˚C.

In a medium bowl, toss the almonds with water and brown sugar and a pinch of salt. Line a baking tray with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray. Spread the almond mixture in a thin layer on top. Bake 6-8 minutes or until the nuts just begin to brown. Remove from the oven and let cool 6-8 minutes in the tray to get crisp. Put up the nuts in an airtight container if not eating right away.

green skillet pizza

I used the electric pan as a pizza maker and this is what I found out: the top griddle does not brown the top of the crust when it is closed, so I will have to flip the crust over to brown the top. Basically, the pan fries the bread, and in the absence of clear instructions of how to cook a pizza in the electric pan, I had to experiment. To those of you who have the Homemate brand Double Electric Pans/Pizza Maker, this is what you will have to do: roll out or pat the pizza as thin as possible–about 1/4 inch thickness. Put about 2 tablespoons oil in the skillet part to heat up (about 2 1/2 to 3 minutes) on maximum. Put the crust in and let it fry about 5 minutes. Flip it and let the top brown slightly, about 2-3 minutes. Then flip it back over, add the toppings and close the lid and cook for another 5 minutes on 180˚C. Pizza in ten!

Pizza Crust (from America’s Test Kitchen)
Prep time: 10 minutes
Proofing: 30 minutes

2 1/2 cups (312g) all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 package instant yeast (2 1/2 teaspoons)
3/4 cup (200ml) skim milk
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons sugar

Heat the oven to 200˚F. Once it reaches the desired temperature, turn it off but do not open the door.

In a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, add the flour, salt, and yeast in the mixing bowl. In a measuring cup, add the milk, oil, and sugar. Combine the flour, salt, and yeast on low speed, while it is mixing, add the milk mixture. Continue beating until just incorporated. Turn the speed up to medium low and continue mixing until the dough is smooth and shiny and comes together in a ball.

Baker’s note: I used a handmixer fitted with dough hooks. It takes longer to make pizza dough with a handmixer because it’s not as powerful. So when the recipe says low speed, use medium low speed, and so medium low becomes medium high. My arm got tired holding the motor so I had to use both hands to hold it!

Lightly flour a board and knead the dough two times and form into a ball. Put dough ball in a large greased glass bowl, turning it several times to coat. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put it in the warm oven to proof for 30 minutes.

By now the dough should have doubled in bulk. Take it out of the oven and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Cut it in half with a bench scraper.

Baker’s note: I wrapped both dough balls in plastic and refrigerated them to stop the rising process. This is because I didn’t want to make the pizza right away. If you refrigerate the dough, use it within 24 hours. If you want a thick crust you will have to make the pizza right away when the yeast is fresh. For a thin crust pizza, where very little rising is involved, cooking the crust later is no problem.

To make the crust, roll out one dough ball on a lightly floured surface. Or use your fingers to stretch and tamp the dough into a roughly 10 inch round. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a skillet and add the pizza dough.  Prick the dough with a fork. Fry 5 minutes on one side, flip and fry 2-3 minutes on the other.

Green Skillet Pizza:
Prep time: 15 minutes (includes sauteeing the toppings)
Cook time: 10 minutes

1/2 cup sliced shiitake mushrooms
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
1 tablespoon oil
6 cups spinach, chopped
5 ounces arugula,any tough stems removed, chopped (about 6 cups)
Pinch of salt
Freshly ground pepper to taste
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup green peas
1/2 cup sliced grape tomatoes
1/2 cup prepared pesto (I used basil pesto, recipe to follow)
1 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

In a large skillet, lightly saute the mushrooms and garlic in oil. Add the spinach and arugula. Saute until wilted. Salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat. In the pan add the water and heat to boiling. Add the peas and cook until bright green. Drain the peas and discard the water. Add peas to the cooked vegetables.

Baker’s note: Prepare the pizza toppings ahead of time and refrigerate.

When the top of the pizza crust is browned, spread half the pesto. Add half the toppings and half the cheese. Cook for 5 minutes. Remove to a plate and repeat with the second crust.

Andy complained that the pizza was slightly bitter. I think the arugula and the spinach were not a good combination. I should have used broccoli with either arugula or the spinach, not both. He said the crust was excellent–it was fresh, slightly crisp on the bottom but soft on the inside.

Basil Pesto (adapted from Skinnytaste)
Prep time: 10 minutes

1 cup fresh basil leaves
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
3 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

The easiest thing to do is to process all ingredients in a food processor. Since I’m in Salaya and not in my kitchen at home, I had to make the pesto by hand. For this, I needed one sharp santoku knife.