Roasted Salmon "Slashed and Stuffed" with Basil Butter over Ratatouille

Found this absolutely amazing recipe by Tyler Florence from the most awesome book, “Stirring the Pot” while on our drive to France on Saturday. One of my main missions going there was to find absolutely delicious ingredients I cannot find readily in my area of Germany. One of those things is fresh fish. I am from Maryland, and fresh fish was just easy to find! Growing up, I did not really like fish, and I truly regret that now as I love fish. So while wondering the streets of Strasbourg Saturday, we found a nice fishmonger and I ran inside full of excitement! I found a great recipe and I was ready to buy. And the funny thing is I buy salmon. Salmon IS easily found 'round here; so the next time I go, I will purchase some lovely halibut fillets I saw!


Even though the fishmonger did not understand English, and I do not speak a lick of French, my point came across easily and I about 1/3 of a side of salmon, which is all my family needs right now.

This is the perfect dish because it is basically a one pot meal, and it takes no time to prepare. Just remember mise en place (I do know French cooking terms) and you’re on easy street!

Ingredients (adapted from Tyler Florence, “Stirring the Pot”)

Ratatouille

·        Extra Virgin Olive Oil

·        3 garlic cloves

·        Pinch of red pepper

·        4 sprigs of fresh thyme

·        1 red sweet bell pepper, thinly sliced

·        1 large fennel bulb, thinly sliced

·        1 zucchini, thinly sliced into rounds

·        1 medium onion, thinly sliced

·        2 cups of cherry tomatoes

·        Kosher Salt and freshly ground black pepper

     Herbed Bread Crumbs

·        2 cups of Panko Bread Crumbs 

·        1 bunch of fresh basil sprigs (about 8 sprigs) leaves only

·        ¼ bunch fresh Italian flat-leaf parsley

·        Pinch of salt

Salmon

·        1 bunch fresh basil sprigs (8 sprigs), leaves only

·        2 sticks of unsalted butter, room temperature

·        ½ teaspoon of salt

·        1/3 side of salmon

For the Ratatouille, place a large pan over medium heat and add about 3 tablespoons of oil. Add garlic, crushed red pepper, thyme, and the vegetables, gently squeezing the tomatoes as you add them. Season vegetables with salt and pepper. Sauté for 5 to 7 minutes until vegetables wilt. Pour vegetables onto a sheet tray and set aside.

For the Herbed Bread Crumbs, on a food processor, combine panko, basil, and parsley. Pulse until crumbs are green. Set aside.

To make the Basil Butter, roughly chop the basil. In a food processor combine basil and butter. Pulse until fully combined and creamy.

Preheat oven to 400F. Make slits on the skin side of the fish. “Paint” the skin side of the fish with the Basil Butter. Carefully place the fish skin side up on top of the sheet tray covered with Ratatouille. Bake about 15 minutes until top is golden and bubbly. Top the fish with Herbed Bread Crumbs and switch broiler. Broil for 5 minutes until golden and crispy.

This will result in a light flavorful dish! Hope you all try and enjoy!

Snapshots of Strasbourg, France: Why I'd be ginormous if I lived there!

Strasbourg is the ninth largest metropolitan area in France. It is located close to the border with Germany. Which is about 125 kilometers (78 miles), only and 1 hour or so away from my home in Heidelberg. My eldest son is away at the moment, so we thought a day trip like this would be a bit easier with just our younger 2. We were wrong of course. Though it wasn’t unbearable, 1 and 2 year-olds will most certainly have their moments. We thought we could drop them off here, but got a bit lost in translation:

I kid, I kid!!! Haha. We love to mess with our little ones from time to time.

We left our home with a empty stomachs because with the little time we had with a daytrip, we planned to fatten ourselves up nice and well- and we so did.

Lunch:

Coq Au Riesling

 Pommes for the kids. Which they did not eat. They ate our food!

 Grilled Veal

Pastries and more lovely carbs

Bought loads of treats at this patisserie 

More food on the square

 Couldn't resist a crepe with nutella and bananas. Soooo bad but soooo good

 Honestly, this is what summer looks like in most European cities. Rows and rows of restaurants with patrons eating outside people watching. I love it!

 We bought some lovely salmon from here! Wish we came early in the morning; would have bought a lot more!  We have no true fish shops in our town besides the Nordsee and some tiny fresh fish stands inside of grocery stores. Another difference I noticed was that the fishmonger asked me specifically how I wanted the fish. I usually have to take the skin off the fish myself when I buy it fresh from the German market. They look at me crazy when I ask them to remove it. Or maybe it's my VERY bad German. 

The coolest train station evah

 A yummy patisserie inside. Bought a tart and chocolate macarons here.

Beautiful sites. Was hard to to take my time to take photos with the kiddos, but I got some nice stuff!

This city is full of culture, delicious food, beautiful scenery, and lovely people. I highly recommend anyone to visit here if they're ever in France!

Chopped Nicoise Salad- Make a SALAD lighter?

How do you make a salad lighter? I have a sneaking suspicion that most folks think salad almost always equal healthy. Oh, boy that's the total opposite of correct I am afraid. Just check out this article from "Eat This, Not That"'s author Davif Zinczenko "The Unhealthiest in America 2010". The number 1 salad coming in at an artery clogging 920 calories, 65g of fat (20 saturated, and 0.5g trans) and a whopping 1,685mg of sodium! Yikes! So please think long and hard when going out for salads. Most establishments has Nutritional Facts with their foods, so take like an extra 30 seconds to check those out when choosing your salad. 


So our anniversary was this Tuesday and I must say, although that Faux Chicken Doner tasted absolutely incredible, it wasn't the lightest of dinners! So for the rest of the week, I vowed to make salads. A salad that's both healthy and very filling. Last night's choice was from my pretend best friend, Ellie Krieger. Her chopped Nicoise Salad has amazing color, big flavor, filling, and it has 267 calories and 10 grams of fat. Perfect light dinner after a not so healthy dinner the night before.

I chose Nicoise Salad because I had Nicoise Salade while in Paris this past Spring. It tasted absolutely amazing with all the yummy bold flavors. I was in heaven with something so simple. The chopped version, does not have the anchovy fillets, fava beans, peppers and eggs that's pretty much a staple in with Nicoise Salade (Nicoise meaning made in Nice, France). But it's every bit as yummy!!!

Chopped Nicoise Salad (Adapted from Ellie's Krieger's version)

Ingredients

·         4 small red potatoes (about 1/2 pound)

·         1/3 pound fresh green beans, trimmed

·         12-ounce can light tuna packed in water, drained

·         1/2 cup chopped pitted Greek or Spanish olives

·         1/4 cup diced red onion

·         2 large tomatoes, seeded and diced (about 2 cups)

·         5 cups chopped romaine lettuce

·         2 tablespoons olive oil

·         1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

·         1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

·         1 teaspoon of anchovy paste

·         Salt and pepper

Directions

Boil water in a large pot, put the potatoes in, cover and cook for 15 minutes or until fork tender. Add the green beans and cook for 6 minutes more. Put the cooked potatoes and beans in a dish and set in the refrigerator to cool, or plunge into a bowl of ice water to cool quickly.

Put tuna, olives, onion, tomato and lettuce in a large bowl. Dice the potatoes and green beans, add them to the bowl and toss.

In a small bowl whisk together the oil, lemon juice, mustard, salt and pepper. Pour the dressing over the salad, toss well and serve.

Hope you all enjoy this as much as my family did! With the grey summer day, a colorful salad is what we needed :)

Holy Cumulonimbus!

Oatmeal Scotchies: Baking After Dark- Captured!

Last night I tried out a new cookie recipe called Oatmeal Scotchies. My husband bought some butterscotch chips at the commissary, and I did not know what to do with them. Of course cookies, frosting, brownies, cheesecake and cake popped in my head- haha! So with half the bag, I tried cookies, an easy fix. Recipe is from Nestle Tollhouse Cookies Recipes.

Baking at night and during the nap time is the best time for a mother of 3 children under 4 to do.....anything and this recipe is relatively easy. The recipe needs some tweaking, but the family approves! Here's the recipe as is, though I halved it as no family needs 48 cookies in their home! Following are some photos from a bored mommy baker/wannabe photographer: 

Oatmeal Scotchies

Ingredients

·         1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

·         1 teaspoon baking soda

·         1/2 teaspoon salt

·         1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

·         1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened

·         3/4 cup granulated sugar

·         3/4 cup packed brown sugar

·         2 large eggs

·         1 teaspoon vanilla extract or grated peel of 1 orange

·         3 cups quick or old-fashioned oats

·         1 2/3 cups  Butterscotch Flavored Morsels

Directions

PREHEAT oven to 375° F. 

COMBINE flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in oats and morsels. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.
BAKE for 7 to 8 minutes for chewy cookies or 9 to 10 minutes for crisp cookies. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. 

inseparable