Poached Coconut Salmon Salad

We are pretty keen salmon eaters in this household, and we have it often.  There has been a scare on Tasmanian salmon recently, but I was still able to buy some fillets - and they were very edible.  I think we had better enjoy it while we can, as there is much debate on the future of salmon farming here.  

But on a brighter note, I have to say this salad is delicious!  I decided to halve the recipe for me and Mr P., but I kinda wish I'd made the full quantity.  So definitely double it if you are feeding more people, or just fancy a tasty supper snack before bed.    

This recipe is from Donna Hay's Too Easy, her latest cookbook.  There are lots of interesting recipes to try, but I decided to make this one for (Lambs' Ears) Cookbook Club.  I know I've mentioned it before, but Donna is such an Aussie icon, and you can always rely on her recipes.  I came late to the party, as I hesitated to add another cook to my list of faves, but here we are!  I now have two of her books on my groaning shelves.  

so delicious!

Serves 2:

ingredients:

For the salad:

125g./4.5 oz dried rice vermicelli noodles

2 Lebanese cucumbers

3/4 cup mint leaves

3/4 cup Thai basil leaves

1-2 long green chillies, thinly sliced

2 Thai lime leaves, thinly sliced

2-3 heaped Tbs roasted, unsalted peanuts

Poached coconut salmon:

100 mL/3.5 oz coconut milk  (I used light)

1 Tbs lime juice

1 Tbs fish sauce

1 tsp fresh ginger, finely grated

1 tsp caster sugar

1 long green chilli, halved (seeds and all, or not)

4 Thai lime leaves

250g.-300g./10.5 oz salmon fillets, skin-off

Extra peanuts, some sea salt flakes, and white sesame seeds (all optional) scattered over the top, when serving

cukes!

ginger root

Method:

Cook the noodles a là packet directions - which for me meant drowning 'em in boiling water in a bowl :=), then run under cold water, drain really well, and let 'em sit for a bit

Now grab a medium saucepan, and put it over a medium heat

Add the coconut milk, lime juice, fish sauce, ginger, sugar, chilli and lime leaves to the pan 

Give it a good stir, bring to a simmer, and let it rip for 4 minutes

Add the fish, turn down the heat, and let it cook for 4 minutes on each side, or to your liking (I poached it for about 6 minutes all up)

Remove the fish, strain the liquid and pour into a jug, as you want to keep it for the dressing

Cut the cukes into thirds, place on a board, and whack 'em with a rolling pin or muddler!  You want big, juicy chunks!  see Notes

Grab a large platter, and scatter on the cuke chunks

Add the herbs and peanuts, and toss together, gently

Now you place the noodles and the fish on top, and the poaching liquid over the salad   see Notes

Throw on extra herbs, peanuts, sesame seeds and sea salt, if using

Delicious!!

mint leaves

Notes:

Thai basil and Thai lime leaves were not in the shops this week, so I used a heap of lime zest instead

Mr P. asked 'why can't you just chop the cukes?'  But I think you get a better mouthfeel (sorry) with the squishy bits :=) but you do you

I'm not a big fan of cuke skin, so I (mostly) peeled mine, but peel or not, as you please

I suggest grabbing your kitchen scissors, and giving the noodles a bit of a snip before adding the fish et al - makes it so much easier to eat!

ingredients gathered

start up your poaching liquid

slip the fish into the poaching liquid

get out your rolling pin!

and into the platter/bowl

on go the noodles, fish and nuts

dressed and ready to demolish

a beaky/nosy little fishy!

When I drew these, Mr P. said: 'But salmon don't have noses!  And I said: 'Oh yes, they do!'  (Like a pantomime queen).  Check it out, my friends; some species of salmon are indeed very nosy :=)

'Use Up That Jar Of Miso' Biscuits/Cookies

Who would think to add salty, umami miso paste to a sweet biscuit?  Cherie Hausler that's who, in her cookbook A Plant-Based Farmhouse.  Then again, I love a bit of sea salt on a chocolate biscuit or dessert ...  so it's not that odd!

I took some of these into our local bookshop, thinking the miso flavour might be a bridge too far, but they went down a treat, apparently.  We are so lucky in our little suburb to have this fabulous bookshop (Quick Brown Fox) run by two fabulous ladies!  They run heaps of craft sessions during school holidays, and run many a bookclub in the shop.  I've made treats for bookclub, and Love Your Bookshop Day, and book launches ...  Such fun!

gotta make these again!

Makes around 25:

ingredients:

150g./5.3 oz butter, at room temp.

110g/4 oz caster sugar

1 large (60+g.) egg

105g./4 oz white miso paste  (or red)   see Notes

250g./9 oz plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

choc bits or chopped nuts on top - I used a (290g.) bag of white chocolate melts, and some Lindt choc-orange!

one Flake chocolate bar, and/or more chopped chocolate after baking, to decorate  -  

Method:

Butter and sugar go into your food processor (or a mixing bowl where you will beat like the devil), and whizz away till you have a fluffy, creamy mixture (scrape down the bowl when and if needed)

Add the egg (motor running), then the miso paste

And then add the flour and baking powder - and pulse it in, briefly -Cherie says till you have a soft, thick, mousse-like dough!

Now divvy up the dough into two pieces, and slap each piece onto a piece of baking paper

Then knead very briefly (you might not need to knead, as the dough is very soft) and shape into 15cm/6 in. logs

Roll up the dough in the paper, screw up the ends and whack into the fridge for 2-3 hours

On goes the oven to 160C/320F, while you grab a baking tray and line it with baking paper

Slice up into 1cm (c.½ inch) discs, place them on the tray, and press the sprinkles and/or chocolate bits into the dough

Bake for 20 minutes or till golden

Cool on the tray completely  (can be stored in an airtight container for a few days)

Add extra chocolate bits or sprinkles after baking, if you fancy - I did!

Notes:

You can use other pastes like Nutella or peanut butter or whatever takes your fancy (Cherie even suggests marmalade!)

She also says to use unsalted butter, but that's the devil's work!

You can use electric hand beaters to cream the butter and sugar, if you don't have a food processor

I used 90g. of white miso and 15g. of hulled tahini paste

divvy up the dough!

lay them on baking paper

twisted up like Egyptian mummies

cut into discs

onto the tray, and press in the sprinkles and the chocolate

cool 'em down on the tray, then onto a wire rack

looks like the white chocolate melted, then hardened - yum!

Green Beans - Cheesy And Garlicky!

The weather is cooling down (slightly) as we've passed the Autumn equinox now, so I'm finally putting up this post.  Green beans are available year-round, but Brussels sprouts are an autumn/wintry veg., so it's perfect timing for this dish, which I actually made six months ago in late Winter!

So, after the cyclone, we've now got flooding in western Queensland - the worst in recorded history.  The poor farmers have lost huge numbers of their livestock so meat prices are going to escalate here.  Ah well, Mr P. and I don't really eat meat these days ...  but I am wondering how the price of butter and milk will go, though I believe it is mostly beef cattle out west.  Those poor farmers knowing all their livestock and pets would drown as they themselves were evacuated.

apropos of nothing :=), here we are at the NGV in Melbourne
 for the Yayoi Kusama exhibition

Serves 3-4 as a side dish:

ingredients:

500g./18 oz of green beans, or a mix of your fave green veg.  see Notes

2-3 Tbs EV olive oil

sea salt and black pepper, to taste - maybe 1/2 tsp salt and a dozen grinds of pepper

2-3 garlic cloves, chopped roughly

parmesan, freshly grated - as much as you please - maybe up to 50g./1.8 oz? but go for it! 

Cayenne pepper, chilli flakes, cummin seeds, or dukkah - a good sprinkling, but it's up to you how much  (optional)

3-4 Tbs panko breadcrumbs (optional)  (Use gluten-free if needed)

green beans!

feeling seedy? yep :=)

Method:

Turn on your oven to 210C/410F

Prep your chosen veg. - i.e.  green beans topped and tailed, Brussels sprouts trimmed and halved

Place the veg. into a large mixing bowl; add the olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic and parmesan and give it all a really good toss

Now grab a baking paper-lined tray, throw on the veg., and sprinkle over the extras (cayenne, etc) and the panko if using

Into the oven for 15 minutes, or till well-roasted, tender, and a wee bit charred

A great side dish with whatever you fancy!

Notes:

I used a mix of green beans and Brussels sprouts but you can use whatever veg. you like - cauliflower, broccoli and so on

ingredients gathered

vegetables prepped

in goes the cheese et al

give it a good mix

and pour out onto a lined baking tray

and roasted at 210C/410F for 15 mins.

I served it with battered fish fillets

who doesn't love a Brussels sprout? 
Lots of folk apparently :)  but we do!

In My Kitchen - April

April?  How the heck? ...  Oh my, Mr P. is having another birthday already!  As are a few friends; I guess all the parents were keeping warm in those cold Winter nights nine months beforehand:=).  

March was interesting here in old Brisbane town.  We waited (and waited) for the cyclone to hit, and I had a prolonged bout of bronchitis.  So these days, they just let you get over it in your own good time, without medication.  And it takes a bit of time to get over it fully - third week already ...  

And speaking of medication, I don't want to get political but what's with all the childhood diseases coming back?  Mm, you know what I mean.  Time for our 'flu jabs soon!  (Which my lungs will appreciate.) 

our local brook which often floods, and did its best during the cyclone! 
The footpath is in the foreground (under water)

In My Kitchen:

I made another batch of pickled beetroot

and I bought lots of chocolate when we were in Melbourne

and I made more chutney - nectarine this time

paper napkins and a Yayoi Kusama fridge magnet from NGV Melbourne

yep I bought 2 different kinds of hot choc!

and some sweets

I bought this gorgeous little Japanese pourer/jug

foodie gifts from friends!

fridge magnet on the fridge :=)

and the curveball -
a mango-wood sculpture of a coelacanth by our mate Chainsaw (Christian) Newton

Right, that's it for this month from me.  So let's go, everyone!  Looking forward to seeing you here this month; everybody (with an appropriate post) is welcome.

c. Sherry M.

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