Favorite Recipes
BAKED SALMON
So many people have asked me for my baked salmon recipe that I have decided to put it on my website. So here goes! The whole secret to the baked salmon is in the quick marinade that has these ingredients: (This is enough for two large filets of salmon.)
First preheat the oven to 450 degrees fahrenheit.
Then do the following.......
The juice of one lemon - The juice of one lime.
The zest of one lemon - The zest of one lime.
about two inches of fresh peeled ginger finely minced.
1/4 cup of soy and one tablespoon of toasted sesame oil.
That's all you need for a great quick marinade. Combine all the above well in a mixing bowl.
You need a pan large enough for the two filets lined with aluminum foil. Rub about two tblspoons of extra virgin olive oil on the foil and lay the filets in the lined pan. I really like using Kosher Salt to sprinkle over the filets at this point. Followed by some freshly ground five pepper blend (fresh ground black pepper is great as well.)
Next spoon the well mixed marinade over the two filets and be generous with it! Follow that with a liberal helping of a good fish seasoning. I use the PIKE PLACE seasoning that I get at my local HEB. Emerils Essence is great as well. Finally just dust the filets with a very light amount of cayenne pepper. It's ready to bake!
Bake for about 20 to 25 minutes in the 450 degree perheated oven. Take it out and get ready to enjoy some great salmon.
For a party there isn't a more simple main dish to prepare than this. All ready to go in about 30 minutes total time, depending on how quick you are to prepare the marinade. This marinade will store for two to three days if it is tightly sealed and put in the refrigerator.
Rotisserie Chicken Cassarole
This recipe works really well with either home made rotisserie chicken or the kind you can get from Sam's Club or your local market. I use two chickens at a time on my Showtime Pro rotisserie. I'm usually just cookin' for three of us, and have leftover chicken to use up the next day. I suppose you could use oven baked chicken but it won't have the depth of flavor you get from the rotisserie. Ingredients as follows.
Meat pulled from one and a quarter to one and one half rotisserie chickens. (About 2/3 of a really large mixing bowl full.) one half large yellow onion diced.
one half large red bell pepper chopped
one annaheim or cubanelle pepper chopped
10 to 15 crimini mushrooms sliced thin
one can of Campbell's Cream of Mushroom soup plus one can of water to make it soupy
Prepare a large 16 oz bag of wide noodles by boiling and draining and cooling them
a 12oz bag of mild cheddar and grated Monterey Jack cheese
about a half cup of parmesan grated fine and a half cup of peccorino Romano grated fine for the top of the casserole.
Salt
Pepper
garlic powder
cayenne pepper
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Sautee the onions, peppers, mushrooms in a large (12") skillet in two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and a half stick of non salted butter that has been heated over medium high heat. Add some salt and pepper to taste as the mixture sautees to bring out the juices and deepen the flavor. Pour in the Cream of Mushroom soup and add some of the garlic powder and cayenne pepper to taste. Stir well so the soup and the vegetables in the pan are well mixed. Continue heating over lower heat, covered for fifteen minutes. Combine the cooled noodles with the contents of the sautee pan. Mix thoroughly!
Pour the above mixture into a very large mixing bowl containing the chicken meat you have pulled off the one and one quarter to one and one half rotisseried chickens. Mix well but gently! In a 13 x 9 x 2 glass baking dish that has been oiled lightly with extra virgin olive oil, place a layer of the chicken mushroom and noodle and pepper mixture.Cover it liberally with the fancy shredded mixture of mild cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese. Add another layer of mixture and liberally cheese it up again. Then use the Parmesan and Romano mixture to top the whole thing! Bake at least forty minutes to fifty minutes checking around thirty minutes to see it is not getting too brown too soon. Remove from oven and let sit for at least 10 to 15 minutes before serving.
Serve with a nice salad, some fresh very young tender green peas or some steamed Broccoli. I really think you're gonna love this recipe. It's real comfort food. You can substitute Farfalle, or tri color rotini, Elbow macaroni, really, just about any kind of pasta that you or whoever you cook for enjoys for the noodles. I like the cholesterol free Dumplings, wide noodles in mine.
ENJOY!