Salmon Loaf - Revisited

It's fun sometimes to go back and revisit those classic recipes that you remember from childhood. We both have fond memories of our mother's making a pretty tasty salmon loaf (mostly on Friday nights). But when you really look at it, it's actually a pretty basic meal that was more likely made for its value and its ability to feed a family.

This web site, dedicated to preserving vintage cookbooks and recipes, has a scan of a salmon loaf recipe from 1942 (that included Rice Krispies!).

A few months ago, we noticed the canned salmon at our local supermarket and decided we should pick up a few and make that salmon loaf again someday. Well, that day came to pass recently.

I found lots of basic salmon loaf recipes online. But then I decided to take a different approach and do my interpretation of a recipe update. I'd keep the basics (canned salmon, eggs, bread crumbs) but up the herbs and seasonings. So that "dash of pepper" is updated to "generous." Many recipes call for only dried parsley so I broadened the list to add some variety. Then I decided to top it with something thoroughly modern - panko bread crumbs.

It's still a "value meal" and still quite tasty. Some roasted fingerling potatoes from the box and a bottle of Pinot from our cellar rounded out the meal. Our cat purred contentedly as we enjoyed it.

Salmon Loaf - Revisited

Ingredients:

• 1 can (16 oz.) salmon
• 1 cup bread crumbs
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup milk
• 3 Tbsp. lemon juice
  
• 3 Tbsp. minced onions (I used about 1/4 of the red onion in the box this week)
• 1 Tbsp. dried parsley
• 1/2 tsp. dried dill
  
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• generous amount of black pepper
• 1/2 tsp. Penzey's Mural of Flavor seasoning - or use any herb mixture: Italian Seasoning mix, bouquet garni, or whatever you have
• dash of lemon pepper
• pinch of "heat" - cayenne pepper, ground chili powder - I used Penzey's Arizona Dreaming seasoning
  
• 1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs

Steps:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
2. Open the can of salmon and flake the meat into a bowl removing any skin and bones (Feed your cat the skin and water).
3. Add all other ingredients except panko bread crumbs. Stir to mix but get your hands in there and really mix it up.
4. Place the mixture into a buttered casserole dish.
5. Form the mixture into a loaf with your hands.
6. Press a thin layer of panko bread crumbs into the loaf.
7. Bake for 45 minutes, or until loaf is firm.

In the Garden: January 2011

It's been awhile since I posted an "In the Garden" entry. After I cleared most everything out of the garden, we have had weeks of cold, rainy weather. It was a disappointing year. We had a cool cloudy summer which meant that the plants didn't take off. We got no basil last year. Hopefully, this year will be better. Today, was a nice enough day to get outside and take care of a few things in the garden.

Citrus
I harvested our first oranges! The tree was planted 3-4 years ago. It didn't produce anything for the first year or two. Then it produced something but they weren't oranges. Now it's starting to look like an orange tree.
I also harvested our first lemon as well. The peach tree got its first spraying of copper fungicide to prevent peach leaf curl.

Fall Garden
About a month ago I put two broccoli plants in the beds. They survived the few freezing nights we've had recently. Today I added a cauliflower. It says that in about 65 days I should have some cauliflower.

The Night Before Going Back to Work

It was Sunday night after a busy two weeks of family, friends, and food. Our refrigerator was full with a wonderful variety of leftovers from the holidays: Heavy cream and mushrooms from a tart I hope to post someday, smoked salmon slices from an appetizer for relatives for the day after Christmas, leftover yellow onions from the box recently. I looked around the fridge and came up with the following dinner for the Sunday night before going back to work. This also represents how I cook most weeknights after work. I just try to use up what's in the fridge and not follow any particular recipe. Most of the time it works out. The results here were delicious. I mixed in both cream and skim milk just so it wasn't a "heart attack" alfredo sauce. The salmon slices almost tasted like pancetta in the cream sauce. All of the measurements are approximate as I pretty much just winged it with the ingredients I had on hand. 

Creamy Smoked Salmon Pasta 

Ingredients:

• pasta; I used Cavatappi
• butter, about 1-2 tablespoons
• 1/2 yellow onion, diced
• mushrooms, about 2 cups, chopped
• garlic, 3 cloves minced
• smoked salmon, sliced thinly, about 2-3 cups
• heavy cream, probably 1/2 cup
• skim milk, probably 1/4 cup
• pepper: freshly ground black pepper if you like it mild; a generous pinch of red pepper flakes if you like it spicy

Instructions:

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
2. As water boils, melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Saute onion in butter until tender.
3. Add mushrooms and cook for a few more minutes.
4. Stir in cream and milk. Heat to just below boiling point and cook over low heat for 4 minutes.
5. Toss in smoked salmon, and cook for 2 more minutes. Serve over pasta.

Apple Cranberry Crisp

We had a backlog of apples from the box over the last few weeks that we had yet to use. Then a neighbor dropped by with some more homegrown apples. Usually I would make an apple pie in situations like this but I was inspired by this recipe from a fellow CSAer to go for the crisp. I like the idea of incorporating oats instead of just a white flour pie crust. The crisp is a nice, tasty alternative to pie.

As a starting point, I just used the recipe off of the oats box (with a few minor modifications). It says you can also use pears and peaches instead.

Apple Cranberry Crisp

Filling:

• 6 cups of diced apples, peel on (about 6-8 apples)
  
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1/3 cup maple syrup (I didn't have any so I used some honey and brown sugar instead)
• 1 tbsp. lemon juice
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

Topping:

• 1 cup Quick or Old Fashioned uncooked oats (I used Country Choice available to Trader Joe's)
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup flour
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 stick of melted butter

1. Preheat oven to 375. With a small dab of butter grease the bottom of a glass or ceramic 9 inch pie pan.
2. In a large bowl collect the apple pieces, lemon juice, cranberries, syrup, vanilla extract, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Stir until well mixed. Spread evenly into the pie pan.
3. Prepare the topping by mixing together the oats, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and salt. Add the melted butter and stir until evenly moistened. Spread evenly over the fruit.
   
4. Bake 35-40 minutes or until fruit is tender.
5. Remove from the oven and let stand for 20 minutes

Kholrabi Slaw

Kohlrabi arrived in our box for the first time. In appearance, they immediately reminded me of the above characters. I was not familiar with kohlrabi and had certainly never cooked with it before. I checked in some friends who are also getting the FFTY box and the links at the bottom come from them.

Kohlrabi comes from the brassica family and " its origin in nature is the same as that of cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, collard greens, and brussels sprouts." All of the plant is edible. But by the time I got around to using it the greens had withered. I decided to go with the kohlrabi slaw recipe that was included in the information sheet in the box as a starting point.

As I cut off the top and bottom of the three kohlrabi bulbs there was an aroma of mild horseradish along with a rooty smell that reminded me of broccoli stalk. The flesh was clean, crisp, and crunchy.














Kohlrabi Slaw

• Peel and shred 3 kohlrabi bulbs
• Peel and shred 2 large carrots
• Peel and shred 2 Granny Smith apples
• Add mayo - the original recipe called 1 1/4 cup. I started with a 1/3 cup and added more until it was to my liking
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 apple cider vinegar
• I added a few pinches of celery seed just because I had some
• A pinch of salt
• Lots of ground black pepper

Mix all ingredients together. Serve immediately or chill in a bowl until ready to serve.

Verdict: Quite tasty! I would make this again. The only downside was that it was a bit watery so next time I would let the shredded contents sit in a colander for a bit.

More kohlrabi resources:

Lots of ideas here in the comments section
http://dorisandjillycook.com/2010/06/21/kohlrabi-international-vegetable-of-mystery/

Lots of links and ideas
http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/kohlrabi/

Kohlrabi and Mache Salad
http://www.gourmet.com/recipes/2000s/2008/11/kohlrabi-and-mache-salad

Kohlrabi Salad
http://orangette.blogspot.com/2008/11/whole-bowlful.html

Kohlrabi and Apple Salad
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Kohlrabi-and-Apple-Salad-with-Creamy-Mustard-Dressing-10693#ixzz15nC3EReL

Dormant Spray Schedule

Ever since planting the peach tree a few years back, I've been dealing with Peach Leaf Curl. This last year I tried a single application of a dormant fruit spray but I still had the curl. Our little local newspaper had a short blurb on dormant spraying. This plan looks more promising and is easier to remember. I've added some formatting to make it visually easier to remember.

"Plan your dormant fruit spraying schedule to coincide approximately with cool weather holidays, when the rain lets up for a few days. Specifics cues are the fall of the last leaves (Christmas), the height of dormancy (New Year's Eve), and when buds swell, but before they show color (Valentine's Day). Spraying at the precise period of bud swell is particularly important--after the blossoms open is too late."

Spaghetti Sauce - Batch #1

Another first!

My first batch of homemade spaghetti sauce! I ended up with 3 pints to put away for another day. I merged a couple of online recipes and came up with the following. This is only batch #1 so it may evolve.

Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

• 40 - 50 tomatoes - mostly Romas from the backyard
  
• 1/2 large yellow onion, chopped (probably more next time)
  
• 1/2 red bell pepper, finely diced
  
• 2 - 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 small can of tomato paste
  
• 10 - 12 basil leaves, finely chopped (also from the backyard)
  
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon Italian herb mix
• 1 tablespoon oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  
• 1 teaspoon parsley
• 1 teaspoon salt
  
• pinch of sugar
• 1/4 cup red wine (a 2007 Christopher Creek Cab from the cellar)
  

I washed and dried the tomatoes and then put them through the food mill. I got the sauce boiling so that it began to cook down and added the bay leaves, salt, and sugar. Meanwhile, I chopped up all the other ingredients. In a 12" skillet, I sauteed the onions for a few minutes, added the garlic, and then the bell pepper. Added in the herbs and seasonings. I waited until the sauce was about an hour or two away from being done and then added the onion/pepper mixture from the skillet. Add the tomato paste and let it cook down until desired consistency. Discard bay leaves. Add sauce to sterilized jars.

Inspiration:
http://www.pickyourown.org/spaghettisauce.htm

http://www.suite101.com/content/homemade-spaghetti-sauce-a61353