Teriyaki Salmon

Good evening, dear readers.

My teriyaki salmon. It tastes better than it looks. The picture came out too dark so I had to use GIMP to enhance it some

While Lent is winding down in these last few weeks, it's still a Friday and that means no meat today. Fortunately, my husband bought some salmon because I am catfished-out. I had an irresistible craving for teriyaki in particular because I had a tupperware tub of leftover rice from a previous meal and needed to make something with it. Hence, salmon+rice=teriyaki salmon!

Though he normally makes the food, my husband had to work tonight and could not cook dinner. So, the job fell on me. I didn't mind doing this since I spent all afternoon cleaning the mountain of dishes in the sink and overflow onto the counter. I had a clean area to work in, and that was all that mattered.

I got the idea for tonight's dinner from this recipe but because I hate reading directions, I didn't follow it exactly as listed. For one, I brought out my marinade skills and in a break from my usual procedure, I marinated the salmon for about an hour before cooking it. I also modified the teriyaki sauce recipe and preparation, but I was quite pleased with the results. I hope my hubby finds them just as delicious as I did. Too bad we ate all the broccoli and asparagus. They would have gone great with the salmon.

Teriyaki Salmon

1 large can of pineapple bits (use whatever you have on hand, whether sliced, crushed, bits, etc)
3 cloves of garlic
1 chunk of ginger
1 lemon
1/2 cup of orange juice
1 Tbsp cornstarch
2 Tbsp molasses
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
4-5 salmon fillets

In a large nonreactive bowl, grate the cloves of garlic. Peel and grate the ginger. Add the can of pineapple (if not already crushed, mash the slices and pieces with a potato masher to extract all the juice), do not drain. Squeeze in the lemon and add orange juice. Stir to combine, then place the salmon fillets into the marinade. Make sure the fillets are completely submerged. Cover with plastic and set aside for one hour.

Marinade magic. Who needs plastic wrap when you can use shopping bags and rubber bands to achieve the same purpose

In a separate small bowl, add cornstarch with water and stir till combined. Add the soy sauce, molasses, and brown sugar next and stir to combine until the sugar is dissolved. Cover the teriyaki sauce and set aside until the salmon is finished marinating.

Homemade teriyaki sauce, ready to go

Using a large skillet over medium heat, sear the salmon fillets two or three at a time. Start by adding a little olive oil to grease the skillet and let the fillets sear two to three minutes on each side. Sear longer if the fillets are thicker. After a few minutes of searing, ladle in about two or three scoops of marinate and half the bowl of teriyaki sauce. Stir and let sauce simmer to thicken. Turn fillets to make sure each side gets a nice thick coating of sauce. After about five minutes, move the fillets and sauce to a plate and set aside. Repeat for any remaining fillets. Serve on a bed of rice and vegetables.

Using my trusty cast iron skillet to do the searing

All done!

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Picture of the Day

Greetings!

Today was Robert's birthday. Robert, as you may recall, was my husband's late best friend, most loyal student, and most trusted dope dealer. Though I never met the illustrious Robert Contreras, I have him to thank in part for my marriage. If it hadn't been for his funeral, my hubby might never have been inspired to pray to the Virgin Mary for a wife. It is for that reason that we periodically visit Robert's grave and usually leave him a candle and a Black and Mild cigar. It's good to have a grave to take care of, since it serves as a reminder of our own mortality and lets the deceased know they're not forgotten in this world.

We'll come visit you soon

While my hubby and I wanted to go and visit the grave, we wound up not going because hubby was too tired. His job had him working late into the night sweeping out the trash in the stands of the basketball arena. It was also pretty hot today, and he didn't want to subject the baby to the heat by being out for an extended period of time. Also, the liquor stores here in the neighborhood were out of Taddy Porters, Robert's favorite beer. The last time we were at Robert's grave, my husband promised to bring him a Taddy Porter for his birthday. We will be going to the cemetery on Sunday after church, since we'll be in the general vicinity.

Since today was Friday, alas it was a no-meat day in our household. During Lent, all Catholics who are able to must abstain from eating meat on Fridays. Exceptions are granted for pregnant and nursing mothers, the elderly, the infirm and of unsound mind, but such groups can still participate in fast if they so choose. Since I'm still nursing the baby, I technically can eat meat, but hubby can't. Still, we try and minimize the cooking so I wind up eating fish too. My hubby usually fries up some catfish, but I'm tired of catfish. So while giving our neighbor a ride to the grocery store, my hubby bought some large shrimp and the box mix from Zatarain's to make jambalaya. After boiling the shrimp, I peeled them while hubby chopped up the vegetables and then combined all the ingredients in the pot to cook. The delicious result is today's picture of the day.

"Jambalaya, crayfish pie and file' gumbo..."

Who says vegetarian food has to be inedible?

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Shrimp Boil Heaven

Greetings everyone! Hope your day has been good.

A few weeks ago, one of our regularly frequented Mexican grocery stores had shrimp on sale $2.50/lb. They came in 5lb boxes, and we got 2 of them. I was pleased because I'd been wanting shrimp for a while, but none of the stores (American or Mexican) had them for a reasonable price, despite us being so close to Mexico and the Sea of Cortez. So when the sale came, we got some!

After putting one of the boxes out to thaw yesterday morning, my hubby went and got a package of Mexican seafood boil seasoning and a tin of Old Bay seafood boil. He'd been wanting Zatarain's seafood boil, which is what he traditionally uses for this sort of purpose, but the store didn't have any in stock. This morning, after the box of shrimp had thawed completely, he poured them into the pot with the water and seasoning mixes and set it all to boil for a bit.

The results were absolutely divine! The shrimp was a perfect pink color, and when we had a bowl of them for lunch, they were tender and sweet from having absorbed the spices. They just about melted in my mouth.

For a real down-home boil, I would have added potatoes, corn and other vegetables. But, for that we'd need something like a large tamale pot

This batch of shrimp will make for one bodacious gumbo, and whatever else we decide to make with them (I've got a hankering for shrimp and grits). There's nothing like down-home cooking to make the mouth water and fill the tummy up right.

Always be thankful for the little good things along the way.