Salmon Salad Recipe

let's all pretend that it's no big deal to give up pasta.

I made a decision last weekend that in order to feel remotely comfortable putting on a bathing suit for the last (and first) time in NYC this summer I would have to cut out all delicious things for a week until Labor Day. This was a silly decision, made on a whim, and I didn't even make it a whole week. But none-the-less, I did get to try out a new great recipe that was tasty and healthy :-)

I've read about countless spice rubs before and always seem to opt for a wet marinade but I figured that most marinades would add unnecessary sugar. Instead I toasted some spices and ground them in my lovely (but often unused) mortar and pestle. 

My Spice Blend included:

• Chinese Five Spice Powder
• Fennel Seed
• Black Sesame Seeds
• Sea Salt
• Crushed Red Pepper 
• Dried Shallot

With a tablespoon of olive oil I rubbed the spices into the salmon and let it rest in the fridge for about an hour. Right before I was ready to sear it, I chopped a few peppers and tomatoes and made a quick salad dressing.

  


Dressing: (all approximate measurements here)

1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive oil
1/4 cup Rice Vinegar
2 Tablespoon Chinkiang Black Vinegar
1 teaspoon honey
sea salt and fresh ground black papper, to taste


and voilà

Dinner!

Canning craziness / the most productive birthday ever

 
 
 
 

My lovely mother will be one year older tomorrow, but we decided to celebrate early with a weekend jam packed with canning experiments!! (see what I did there? hehehe)

Growing up Italian, I became (spoiled) accustomed to fresh tomato sauce at an early age. Growing up in the North East poses a few issues seeing as the average grocery store tomato selection leaves a lot to be desired. My family solves this problem every August by bottling up all the summer goodies we can, so that we have enough for the whole year.

We have not once run out.
That's a lot of tomatoes.
Seriously, it takes forever.

This year was different! We decided to forego the never ending back ache that is washing bushel after bushel of tomatoes in kiddie pools for something new. I mean, we still did two bushels of tomatoes, we're not totally throwing away tradition - but we decided to keep it small this year so that we could attempt some brand new totally exciting recipes!


Added to the roster this year was the following:

Roasted garlic and onion salsa
Mango Peach and Jalapeno salsa
Dill Pickles
Pickled Cherry Peppers
Pickled Carrot Spears
Pickled Asparagus
Jalapenos packed in olive oil
Peach Jalapeno Jam
Tomato Basil Jelly*

*this last one bombed - the jelly failed to gel so we were left with sugary tomato juice in a jar. Not sure what to do with that...

We only made a couple jars of each so I'm sure we'll have run out in just a few months, but I'm glad we bucked tradition a bit and learned some new things. I cannot wait for the carrot spears to be fully pickled. I plan on throwing a brunch for their unveiling so I have a good excuse to make bloody Mary's by the pitcher!



Definitely not a bad way to spend a day in Jersey :-)

Pizza for sale, and good music too!

The New Music Bake Sale is coming up next weekend and to support boyfriend's percussion quartet [ensemble, et al.] I'm making pizza. Not just any pizza. My mom's pizza. Actually, I should probably give my nonna credit, but my mom is the one that kicked it up a notch.

home made crust

whole plum tomatoes (preserved from last august)

caramelized onions

olives

capers

lots of extra virgin olive oil

and a sprinkling of pecorino romano cheese

___________________________________________________________________________

I love leisurely weekend meals with the family when my mom bakes bread and we snack on cheese and home cured olives. We spend hours on end in the kitchen just chatting and drinking wine and eventually the antipasti bowl needs a refill. 

In the cold winter months she's been making a lot of soups. This lentil soup below is one of my more delicious memories of the recent past. And of course the pizza with fennel and goat cheese wasn't bad either!

Anyway, I'll be baking away next week preparing for the bake sale - it's at Roulette in Brooklyn. Come support local musicians!!! And eat tasty baked goods!!