Fiori di Zucca

One of Paul's patients was kind enough to share some of the squash blossoms she had growing in her garden. We had some delicious fiori di zucca while we were in Italy, so i was super excited to make them again. 

We used a simple recipe we found online (we found many, with variety in terms of the frying batter and the cheese to include inside). This recipe called for ricotta cheese (we had a cup or so left of skim ricotta, and an easy batter of flour, salt, egg and warm water.

The batter was not too bad -- I think I would have used either a little more salt or perhaps a saltier cheese (whether full-fat ricotta or mozzarella). I wanted (and did) add salt to these after I took the first bite.  I also tossed in a little thyme with the filling, which was pretty tasty. You could easily include chopped basil, rosemary, or sage to change up the flavoring of the filling.

They were simple to make and cooked quickly. You definitely want to eat them right away while the breading is still crispy! And I'd avoid eating the stem end (or getting too close to it) as well -- even after taking out the stamen or pistil, it can be bitter. 

I'm hoping we can another batch to fry up before summer is over! 

Grilled Skirt Steak with Poblano-Corn Sauce and Salsa

Food & Wine magazine had several recipes in their most recent issue that included only three ingredients (minus things like salt, pepper and olive oil). We made Grilled Steak with Poblano-Corn Sauce and Salsa. 

It was very simple to make, and tasted very fresh. However, I would make a couple tweaks to the recipe for the next round. 

The recipe suggests grilling the corn and the pepper for just a few minutes -- but I would keep the pepper on much longer. We couldn't peel the pepper, so just ended up dicing it an including it with the skin still on. If you grill the pepper and then cover it with plastic wrap in a bowl, you can essentially rub the skin right off. When it isn't as cooked, it's really difficult to get off. 

I know it's supposed to be a three-ingredient recipe, but I think I would also add cilantro and also lime to the salsa. I don't think it would take too much away from the recipe, and would add some additional flavor without losing the freshness of the recipe. 

Breaded Mussels

We've recently been really excited to start cooking some more seafood. For a nice, relaxing Sunday dinner, we made breaded mussels to eat alongside some soup and salad. The recipe was quite simple to do -- we spend much more time prepping the breaded mixture and soaking/cleaning the mussels than actual cooking time. 

I've also resolved myself to the fact that I need to buy more mussels that I think, as some always need to be tossed out. They open too early (and won't close back up), they don't open at all, they are cracked -- a few have to go unused no matter how carefully I treat them. Oh well.

Some of the steamed mussels

Cooking up the pancetta

Paul topping the mussels with the breadcrumb mixture

After browning in the oven

I loved the way that these turned out. The breadcrumb topping was salty and crunchy. Adding the strained wine mixture to the mussels before broiling added another level of flavor also -- you definitely noticed that little extra something.  I topped mine with a little squeeze of lemon juice as well. They were gone in a flash.

June 13: Grilled Salmon with New Potatoes, Broccoli...and a minor fail

We're big salmon eaters around here. Paul had picked up this nice big fillet at the store. We weren't sure how we should prepare the salmon, especially a large piece like this (about 2 lbs). I found a recipe online that looked easy and tasty. 

Fillet? Filet? I went with the two L version.

The only thing we were missing was mayonnaise to make the sauce. So, we decided to make our own. I decided to make it in the food processor. First, add an egg yolk and 2 teaspoons of Dijon mustard. I only had one egg left, so it was do or die. 

So far so good...

I started the food processor, and used the feed tube to add in the oil. I think it went too fast into the mixture, because it didn't work. I couldn't get the mayonnaise to emulsify. 

Yerg.

So, we scratched the sauce, and simply went with the marinade on the salmon instead. (Note: I'm not sure it's technically a marinade since we didn't let it sit and soak into the salmon, but for the sake of keeping the marinade and the failed sauce straight, we'll call it the marinade). The marinade consists of vegetable oil, prepared horseradish, soy sauce, garlic, salt and pepper. 

Getting the salmon all ready to go. 

We decided to make some small red potatoes in olive oil and rosemary as a side. The potatoes were small enough that we figured they could cook alongside the salmon on the grill. 

Everything went on the grill. The potatoes went on first while I was making the marinade for the fish. The potatoes were on for about 20 minutes (you really can't overcook the potatoes here.) Paul cooked the salmon for about 5 minutes on each side. 

We think it was 5 minutes per side. Note to self: update the blog in a more timely fashion and you won't have friends cursing you while eating raw fish. 

Everything came off the grill looking quite tasty!

We steamed some broccoli to go with the salmon and the potatoes.

You also can't go wrong with rosemary potatoes in my mind.

YUM. I would totally make this marinade for the salmon again. It was really tasty! I'm glad turned out okay without the sauce. The fish was really nicely cooked, even the end pieces which can dry out. By making such a big fillet, we also had salmon lunch for each of us for a couple days. Normally I fear reheating fish in the microwave, but both Paul and I commented that it still tasted delicious a day or two later.