Food By Franz

Think Cool, Crisp and Tasty about this main dish salad. Travels well in individual servings or makes a pretty party salad. This recipe is written for two generous individual portions.

Pasta of choice (bowties look pretty, elbows travel better)
Salmon – 3 oz per person, cooked and flaked
celery 1/4 C chopped
red onion, 1/4 C chopped
cucumber, approx 1/2 C, sliced thin
peas, 1/8 C (*optional)
lettuce, or napa cabbage
black olives (about 4 per person – quartered)
Baste of soy, sugar & pepper
Dressing of choice – but we suggest the Creamy Cucumber Dressing – Ranch works well also.

To make the salad -
Set your pasta water boiling. Slice the cucumber thinly (about 1/3 C sliced per salad serving) and place in ice water to “crisp up” and mix up your baste for the salmon fillets. Boil your favorite bite size pasta – you want about a generous cup of cooked pasta per portion or about 2.5-3 C for a bowl. Drain and set aside. While it boiling – take your salmon fillets, brush with mix of: 1/3 C soy, 1 Tbsp brown sugar, 2 grinds of pepper – cook (broil, pan, bake or bbq) until just done – flake and set aside You can substitute Canned salmon or smoked salmon if you prefer.
Chop celery, red onion to make 1/2 C, add 1/3 C of peas (I usually use frozen unless I have fresh peas from the garden) Snap or Snow peas are a great fresh addition if available and toss with the pasta when cool.
Tear your choice of greens, lettuce, nappa cabbage, or a mix of green
Quarter the black olives.

To assemble the salad – layer each container or one large bowl with the lettuce or greens of choice
Next layer is the pasta – mixed with the peas, celery, red onion – spread over the lettuce
Next layer is the sliced cucumbers, drain well and layer over the pasta
Then take the flaked salmon and layer over the cucumber layer and top with a few black olives.
Package for travel and take the dressing on the side. Or serve in a pretty glass bowl and dressing in cruet – both need to be refrigerated until ready to serve.

This recipe is a simple reduction. That means you just simmer the liquid until it is reduced to the required thickness. Heavy cream or whipping cream is what i usually use. This recipe can be made with a flour/fat rue, then milk (instead of cream) for less calories, but the taste is not as rich.

Ingredients:
1 Tbsp oleo/marg/butter
2 can clams (keep the juice!), drain as directed below
2 Tbsp green onions, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tsp Clam base
1 C Cream
Linquine (prepared as you like it)
shredded romano or parmesan for topping

To assemble: In a 10′ skillet, saute the green onions & garlic for a couple of minutes in the butter. Drain the juice out of the clams into the pan with the onion/garlic – let this liquid reduce by at least 60% (aproximately 6-7 minutes). Then pour in the cream and clam base, stir. Let this come to a simmer and reduce this liquid until it is your preferred thickness. Turn down the heat and stir in the clams, heat through (1-2) minutes. Serve immediately over prepared pasta (any pasta will do, too) Top with cheese. This is a quick and easy entree for two. Rich and robust clam flavor for your seafood lovers. Serve with a nice green vegetable or salad and dinner is served. This makes 2 large servings.

To choose a nice salmon fillet, it should be semi-firm with some fat grain visible. A strong smell indicates age. Frozen salmon fillets or steaks work fine for this recipe. Some rice and a green vegetable make this a wonderful, flavorful and quick dinner.

Ingredients:
3/4 lb salmon
1/4 C aji mirin* (japanese sweet rice wine)
Ginger, fresh
1/8 C honey
a lime for juice
1 Tbsp wasabi powder* (japanese horseradish)
Soy sauce

Marinade
1/4 C aji mirin
1 Tbsp grated fresh ginger
1 Tbsp soy (optional)
1/8 C rice vinegar*(optional)

Marinade the fish, skin side up for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 400. Prepare a pan to bake/broil the fish in (I usually line it with foil for easier clean up). Drain excess marinade, place the fish skin side down in the prepared pan. Place the pan high in the oven for approximately 10 minutes – depending on how you like your fish cooked and how thick the fillets are, then flip the oven off and turn the broiler on. Broil the fish until the top is slightly blackened – another 3-4 minutes. Pull the fish and let “rest” for 5 minutes. Place the portions on each plate – flake the fish apart slightly and drizzle with the sauce. Some rice and a green vegetable make this a wonderful, flavorful and quick dinner.

Sauce to drizzle
1 Tbsp soy
1/8 C honey
1 Tbsp fresh lime juice (to taste)
1 Tbsp wasabi powder (optional)
1 tsp of water
In a small, microwavable bowl, warm the honey slightly, add the rest of ingredients and mix until smooth. Drizzle over fish just before serving.

*Note – Aji mirin, rice vinegar and wasabi powder are commonly found in the “oriental” sections of most major stores (smiths, albertsons etc).

When buying fresh ginger – look for a round, firm, 1″ long sized piece. No mold, or dehydration wrinkles on skin if possible – break off what you need if you don’t use ginger in other recipes.

Think of this as seafood in a rich, brown spicy gravy – yummy!

Seasoning mix:
2 tsp salt
2 tsp ground red pepper (cayenne)
1 tsp white pepper
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp dried thyme
½ tsp dried basil

To equal 3/4 cup: Chopped onions, chopped celery, chopped peppers
(red bell, green bell, Anaheim – I’ve even used yellow wax or jalapeno peppers)
2 clove garlic minced
4 tbsp oil
1/2 C flour
1.5 C seafood stock (or chicken stock)
1/2 stick butter or oleo
1 lb. Crawfish tails or medium shrimp (peeled & deveined)
1/2 C fine chopped green onions

First step is to combine the seasoning mix and set it aside.

In a heavy skillet – make roux of oil and flour – whisk constantly over med hi heat until roux is dark peanut butter color, turn down heat and add vegetables & ½ of seasoning mix – cook through – 3-5 minutes. Meanwhile microwave the stock until hot – gradually add to roux until thoroughly dissolved (use a whisk if needed) reduce heat to low allow to cook 5-7 minutes. Taste, add the rest of the spice mix if preferred. Then to this “gravy” mix add your crawfish tails or shrimp – (shrimp should cook in less than 5). Add enough of the butter to obtain a smooth consistency. Top with the green onions. Traditionally served w/rice

*Serves 3-4 with rice

This is a general use blackening spice – its made of basic spices that you probably already have in your rack, so don’t pay the extra price for the special mix, when they are so easy to produce. Added benefit – it helps one use the spices in the pantry (remember most spices have a recommended shelf life of less than a year) and you can always use frresh instead of dried. This spice works best on fish and chicken.

Blackening Spice

1 Tbsp paprika (prefer hot or sweet hungarian)
2.5 Tsp Salt
1 Tsp onion powder
1 Tsp garlic powder
.75 ground cayenne
.75 tsp white pepper
.75 tsp black pepper
.5 tsp thyme
.5 tsp oregano

Tip* I usually mix this up in a shot glass, it easy to set aside until needed, easy to sprinkle from and easy to clean when done!
One can always increase the amount of cayenne for folks who prefer the “warmer” side of life.