Make a little taste of Ireland

When Jim and I spent a week in Ireland, we both fell in love with the country and its food. Breakfast was always substantial with eggs, an accompanying meat and bread and some strong Irish tea or coffee. It’s the kind of breakfast that energizes the visitor who wants to explore all day. Later in the day, after an afternoon tea break, we would search for a pub or more elegant restaurant to enjoy a feast of an evening meal. There were always mashed potatoes, usually served over or under the meat or another vegetable.

For all the wonderful places we dined, Jim’s favorite was the Irish version of a highway rest stop. We looked around the few historic buildings in the area then headed into the cafeteria for lunch. Jim still talks about his smoked salmon sandwich, which couldn’t be easier to make.

Irish Smoked Salmon Sandwich

Choose a bread that you like to eat toasted. Toast two slices.
Spread cream cheese on your toasted bread. Chop chives (or dill) from your garden and sprinkle over the cream cheese.
Add smoked salmon.
Top sandwich with second piece of bread and enjoy.

Of course you can experiment with adding your favorite condiment, caramelized onions, roasted peppers, sprouts, lettuce or any other favorite sandwich topping. However, first try the simple version. Sometimes the pure flavor of simple ingredients is impossible to best. If the smoked salmon is good, it truly needs very little to go with it.

First garden meal of the season

Jim and I are fans of the television show Chopped and he’s been promising to give me a Chopped challenge. It came on Sunday in our modified version—prepare an entrée plate, no time limit, with fresh garden asparagus, onions, arugula and radishes.

So I went to work. All of those great veggies sounded like they would pair nicely with rice and fish, so I first got out two salmon fillets to unthaw. Then I put on a pot of brown rice to cook. Next, I sliced the onions thinly and put them in a sauté pan with olive oil and a little butter and salt to slowly caramelize them. We love onions that way!

With the longest cooking items on, I turned the oven on 425 degrees then cut the asparagus in one to two inch pieces, tossed it with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper and put it in to roast. I also prepared the salmon with a little olive oil, salt and pepper and put it in approximately 10 minutes later. Remember, you only need a small amount of salt to bring out flavors; no need to go overboard because then you’ll only taste salt.

As the rice cooked, I considered what to add to it. I decided to head outside to check out the herbs. I cut some oregano, parsley and sage. I put the sage into the pan where I was slowly browning some butter and two whole garlic cloves. Then I chopped the oregano and added it to the cooked rice, along with chopped arugula and a little bit of freshly grated parmesan cheese. I used that as the bed for the salmon (topped with fresh parsley) and the onions and asparagus, which I mixed. On the side, I placed a fresh arugula and radish salad, a piece of parmesan flatbread (leftover) and a bowl of tomato soup (leftover also).

Since the sun was shining, I suggested we eat outside, which turned out to be a wonderful choice for our first garden meal of the season. By the way, it might not have gotten me anywhere in a competition but Jim gave the whole thing a 10 and didn’t even add salt. This recipe is a keeper!

Rating the tomato salmon

When I had accumulated about five slowly-ripened-in-the-windowsill tomatoes, the last from this year’s garden, I decided to try a new recipe. Jim, who is my harshest critic since he lives with me and knows if he gives something a good rating he’ll have to eat it again. This time around?
Jim’s salmon rating: 9+
Beth’s salmon rating: 9

Jim said he might have given it a 10 if the salmon had been fried instead of baked. The recipe is below so you can try it for yourself. My guess is that it would work with any kind of fresh tomato that you like.

Tomato Salmon

Olive oil
½ onion, diced
1 garlic clove
4-5 San Marzano tomatoes
Small bunch fresh parsley
Salt and pepper
2 6-ounce salmon fillets

Warm olive oil in small skillet. Dice onion and cook on medium until soft. Add chopped garlic. Add chopped tomatoes. Cook until soft. Stir in chopped parsley. Season with salt and pepper.

Put the salmon fillets on a cookie sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle sparsely with salt. Pile cooked tomato mixture on top, covering every bit of the salmon flesh.

Bake at 400 degrees 12 – 15 minutes.