Salmon in Potato Pillows

So I forgot to take a picture. So sue me. But these things are SO good, and easy to make. Here's my story of how I discovered them: It was a rare snowy evening in Seattle, and I was between Netflix arrivals. The only thing I had left to watch (I have no cable) was a video tape of a chef from Kaspar's, making a couple of dishes. I acquired this when my sister moved to LA last year and gave out all her junk as Christmas "presents." I do like watching food shows, so in went the video. Kaspar's is a great restaurant in Seattle. The chef is this funny German man, who has really taken to cooking Pacific Northwest specialties. He served the Salmon in Potato Pillows with a Merlot Reduction Aioli, Crab Hash Cakes, creamy mushroom soup in little pie dishes topped with puffed pasty, and this fabulous apple desert thingy - YUM. I only had ingredients for the Salmon. Here's how it went.

Ingredients: 1 potato, 1 lb of salmon, olive oil, basil leaves.

1. Grate a potato into thin strings with a Mandolin or a food processor with the grating attachment. Do not rinse, but do season with salt and pepper.
2. Put 2 Tablespoons of olive oil in a small pan.
3. Put 1/4th of the potato strings in the pan. Top with 2 large fresh leaves of Basil.
4. Then nestle a 1/2 lb Salmon filet on top (I got the frozen stuff from Trader Joe's which thaws nicely on a warm water bath).
5. Cover the Salmon with another 1/4th of the potato strings, so you have a little pillow.
6. Cook about 7 minutes on each side and VOILA!
7. Then do one more for a dinner for 2. Keep the first one warm in the oven.

I served this with endives simmered in white wine and vegetable broth, a salad that included beets and apples, and Night Harvest Cabernet from R.H. Phillips. Delish! It all felt very satisfying and healthy, until the Boyfriend wanted some home made chocolate chip cookies. But that's another story.

Food Network Celebrity Sighting

Today I decided to pop into Carlo's to see what delicious baked goods they had on display, and who do I see behind the counter with two cameramen but Food Network's Jim O'Connor! They were filming the display case from front and back with hand-held video cameras while Jim excitedly shouted out directions and commented on how good everything looked. And he's right: this place is amazing. Anytime we have a birthday or special occasion at my office we get a cake from Carlo's, and they are beyond delicious. They better get me one for my graduation, dammit! The best M&M cookie I've ever had was from Carlo's. On Halloween they had the cutest cupcakes with a giant dollop of white frosting with two little black eyes painted on so they looked like ghosts. The frosting was easily three inches high. I wanted one so badly!

Broccoli Cheddar Scramble

I was first introduced to the Broccoli Cheddar Scramble at Jane's in Newmarket. A steaming cup of Capone, two big slabs of buttered toast, fighting off a hangover with my hungover pals, rehashing the previous evening's events at the Elvis Room...ah, the good old days. I've tried to recreate the scramble many times, but they never taste as good as they did at Jane's.

Soup, Salad, and Bread

Homemade lentil soup with salad, buttered bread from Mazzola Bakery in Brooklyn, and a little red wine. I got a seeded baguette, which are so delicious: I could easily eat an entire one over the course of a day. Luckily I managed to restrain myself and only ate half of this particular loaf.

Oatmeal Cookies

I made these last Saturday, some with raisins and some without. I gave about a dozen away and proceeded to eat the nearly two dozen remaining. Ug. But they were good! A little crumbly, but good. Not sure why they were crumbly. Any cookie experts (G) know why that happens?

Quorn Cacciatore

This meal is G's invention. Fry up an onion and some garlic. I don't dice the onion, I slice it so it falls apart naturally, in thin, curved strips. Then throw in some green pepper strips. Pour in a can of crushed tomatoes and add whatever herbs/spices you want. I added salt, pepper, parsely, basil, and oregano. Then, immerse a Quorn Chik'n Patty and let the sauce heat up the patty. Serve the patty smothered in the tomato sauce. Good stuff! Served along side a baby romaine salad and a carrot/orange juice. And I have some sauce leftover for another patty tomorrow.

Homemade Chinese Take-Out

I adapted a recipe for beef and brocoli stir-fry and used seitan instead of beef. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that seitan marinates quite well. The marinade consisted of soy sauce, garlic, ginger, sesame oil and a pinch of cayenne pepper. After you marinate it you pour the marinade into a bowl and add some cornstarch to thicken it. Stir-fry the seitan for a little while, then dump the seitan into a separate bowl. I put the broccoli florets in the fry pan with a little water, covered, and steamed them. Then I dumped the seitan back in the pan with the broccoli, poured the sauce over it, heated it up, sprinkled with scallions, and then it was done. I made two batches and after about my fourth serving I was so sick of it I ended up throwing the rest away. It tasted great, but my taste buds were numb from eating the same thing four times in a row.