Thai Glazed Salmon with Baby Bok Choy

I have a new obsession.  I cannot stop eating Baby Bok Choy! I’ve bought it several times in the past week and added it as a side to way too many things.  I decided to take advantage of the salmon sale at Whole Foods and act like I was dining at a restaurant.

I mixed this one up impromptu so the quantities are guesstimates.

Ingredients

2 Salmon fillets

1 tbs wok oil

1 tbs chopped ginger

4 tbs soy sauce

3 tbs Sriracha

2 heads baby bok choy

Salt and pepper to season

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.  Salt and pepper both sides of the salmon filet and put aside.  Heat 1 tbs wok oil in a sauté pan and add chopped ginger.  Once the ginger starts to sizzle, add Sriracha and 3 tbs soy sauce.  

Once the sauce has heated up, add the salmon skin side down.  

Cook for 3 minutes while spreading with sauce.  

Transfer salmon to an oven safe pan and cook in the oven for 6 minutes.

While your salmon is cooking, return the sauté pan to the heat and add 1 tbs soy sauce.  Place bok choy in the pan flat side down and stir.  

The leaves will wilt within a couple of minutes so keep an eye on it and keep stirring.  

The salmon and bok choy will be ready around the same time.  Remove the salmon from the oven and plate with your bok choy.  Being the Nigerian that I am, I couldn’t help myself and I added rice. Stop judging!

I absolutely LOVED this dish. It made me wonder what I’ve been doing going to restaurants for such simple dishes.  I’m still on a hunt for Thai basil. Once I find that, I’ll be golden.

Hungry yet?

Origin - Morristown, N.J.

A few weeks ago, I visited Boney out in Morristown, NJ.  It was surprisingly lively in the streets of Mo-town but we ducked into a great French Thai restaurant, Origin.  We sat downstairs in a dimly lit dining room that was packed.  As we walked over to our table, I saw the different delicious treats that sat on everyone’s table and I knew we were in the right place.

We decided to share the appetizer special, Shrimp and Scallop Dumplings. 

They were steamed and served with a soy vinaigrette dipping sauce.  The dumplings were thinly wrapped, but bursting with flavor.  There was a hearty portion of shrimp and scallop in each bite. I could also taste the ginger and scallions. Every ingredient was perfectly balanced and the soy vinaigrette was the perfect enhancer.  The appetizer as incredible and I couldn’t wait for the main course.  Boney ordered the Pad See Ew with beef.

She noted that it is her favorite dish and she has had it at Origin a few times. It is a simple dish mixed in with Chinese broccoli.  I ordered Pad Kee Maow.

This was no ordinary Pad Kee Maow. It was spicy and served with chicken, shrimp AND squid. There was a mix of red peppers, spicy green peppers and basil. The flavors were incredible. The broad noodles were perfectly cooked and thankfully they weren’t drenched in sauce – sometimes that mistake is made. The only thing odd about this dish was that there was some lettuce at the bottom of the noodles.  I’m not sure why, perhaps that was to combat the spice. I have no issues with spice so I found the lettuce to be an unnecessary distraction.

Overall Origin was fantastic! I can’t believe such a gem exists in Morristown.  I will certainly return to try other items on their menu.

Hungry yet?

Apple Crumb Coffee Cakes

Another great recipe from the Thanksgiving Issue of Food & Wine is the Apple Crumb Coffee Cakes. I made less changes than with the Crab Cakes, and it turned out fabulous. Although, I only ate one!

Ingredients

Streusel

1 cup all-purpose flour

½ cup light brown sugar

½ tsp salt

5 tbs cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Crumb Cakes

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp salt

1 ½ tsps baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp cinnamon

1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

¾ cup sour cream

1 large egg, beaten

1 large Granny Smith apple, peeled and finely diced

Preheat the oven to 350°. In the mixing bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle, combine the flour with the brown sugar and salt. Add the butter pieces and mix at medium-low speed until the mixture resembles coarse meal; continue mixing the streusel until very small clumps form. The Food & Wine recipe recommended a standing mixer. That may have been easier, but I think the hand mixer would do the job just as well.  Transfer the streusel to a large plate and refrigerate until it is well chilled, about 10 minutes.

Line 18 muffin cups with paper liners. Spray the liners with vegetable oil cooking spray. In the mixer bowl, combine the flour with the granulated sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon.

Add the butter pieces and beat at low speed until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the sour cream and beaten egg and beat until the batter is smooth. Add the diced apple and beat just until incorporated.

Fill the muffin cups halfway with the crumb cake batter. Press the streusel into clumps and sprinkle on top. 

Bake the crumb cakes in the center of the oven for about 30 minutes, until risen, golden and springy to the touch; rotate the pans halfway through baking.

The crumb cakes came out great! They were a big hit for dessert and even for breakfast the next morning. I realize more and more how easy and enjoyable baking can be.  I sense a cake somewhere in the near future.

Hungry yet?

Crisp Crab Cakes

When the Thanksgiving issue of Food & Wine arrived, I was ecstatic! Bestie saw me jumping up and down in the elevator like a kid on Christmas morning. I was thrilled when I saw the Crisp Crab Cake recipe. I knew I would have to make them…and I did. I made a few changes mostly because I wanted the crab cakes to be more filling but didn’t want to buy more crabmeat. I also made these as mini crab cakes so they could be served as appetizers.

Ingredients

½ pound skinless cod, cut into ½-inch pieces

5 scallions, thinly sliced

3 jalapenos, seeded and minced

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon chopped parsley

½ teaspoon cayenne pepper

¾ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

½ cup mayonnaise

1 pound lump crabmeat, picked over

½ cups panko breadcrumbs

In a mini food processor, puree the fish. Transfer to a bowl and add the scallions, jalapenos, lemon juice, parsley, cayenne, salt, pepper and mayo and mix thoroughly. 

Gently fold in the crabmeat.

Form the mixture into 1-inch cakes. Be careful not to make them too round. 

These are crab cakes not croquettes! Coat the cakes with the panko and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

After the cakes are cooled, which helps them set, it’s frying time! In a large nonstick skillet, heat ¼ inch of oil until shimmering.  Add the crab cakes and cook over moderate heat until browned and heated through. 

This should take about 3 minutes per side.

The crab cakes were a hit at Friendsgiving! I made them again for Thanksgiving. They will definitely be a staple at future events.

Hungry yet? 

Limon Restaurant - San Francisco

I had a great time my first time in San Francisco last year. This year I decided to visit my PIC and GMTT.  I was a little nervous about having my worlds collide, but food is a universal unifier so I figured it would be a great time.  GMTT gave me a few options and ultimately we decided on Limon.  It was quite the festive restaurant. Very bright and a little loud, but overall a great scene.  The menu is expansive and we had more options than we needed, but that didn’t stop us from over indulging.  The Truffle mac-n-cheese came out first.

Whoa. They were too rich for me. I took one bite and my eyes immediately rolled in the back of my head.  PIC and GMTT made sure to take care of the rest. The Sweet Potato Fries were more my speed.

They were the perfect combination of sweet and salty. I loved it! Since Limon is a Peruvian restaurant, it’s only right that we ordered Ceviche.

This Red Snapper Ceviche was delightful! It was slightly tart with a tangy finish.  GMTT and PIC also ordered the Lomo Saltado.

They really enjoyed the stir-fry of sirloin strips.  I ate a couple of the fries – couldn’t help myself. We also ordered the Chicharron de Pollo.

At this point, I was stuffed beyond belief but still managed a few bites of these crispy pieces of chicken.  The best part was as crispy as the chicken was the inside was moist and well seasoned.  My favorite dish was the Pescado Limon.

It was beautifully presented, but also tasted incredible. The crispy fried snapper was layered over crispy potatoes and spinach.  The sauce was excellent. I couldn’t quite finish the dish, but thankfully the next morning I was able to reheat it and enjoy it a lot! As stuffed as I was, I certainly couldn’t turn down dessert.  PIC and GMTT went with the Profiteroles.

Those sugar-dusted cream puffs were a big hit. I wasn’t interested though. I was a big fan of the Bandido.

The Warm Chocolate Cake was amaaaaazing. The caramelized apples and dulce de leche ice cream went perfectly with the warm chocolate cake.  I couldn’t help myself I finished every last bite. The worlds collide dinner was fantastic! I really enjoyed Limon and of course any opportunity to hang with GMTT and PIC. 

Hungry yet?