Posts tagged as:

seafood

Crème Fraîche Baked Salmon

by Emilia on November 10, 2008

In my opinion any food that has creme fraiche in it is delicious, even fish. I have never been one to embrace the eating of aquatic animals, sure I like sushi, salmon soup with heavy cream and rye bread, fish and chips, rye bread and salmon cured in salt, but I still never could say that yes, I like to eat fish.

There is something about the vast depths of the sea that leaves me uneasy; especially the thought of eating the animals with scales and fins living there. Even the strong salty odour that emanates from the deep waters gives me the chills sometimes.

Maybe it has something to do with the fact that sea to me means the Barents Sea which is almost black, cold and in my memories always raging, not for example the Mediterranean with the turquoise warm waters. The way I associate something like the Barents Sea with a nice cosy home cooked meal containing fish might be one of the reasons for my aversion of the ectothermic scale covered creatures.

I still eat fish though, especially salmon, although I can taste the salty icy waters with every bite I swallow.

On a more serious and less dramatic note I do not know why fish does not taste all that good to me, although salmon is a nice exception to the rule and I prefer eating it whenever we eat fish.

This recipe is a childhood favourite and a sure thing for me to make, since I know that I love eating it - every time.

Creme fraiche baked salmon recipe

The creme fraiche in this recipe can be substituted with any kind of cream cheese and smetana. For a more interesting twist you can add herbs, sautéed mushrooms and onions or parmesan to the creme fraiche. Remember that wild salmon needs a lot less salt than farmed salmon.

I always take the skin off the salmon when baking it because it is easier to eat that way, but you could just place the salmon skin side down and add the lemon and spices along with the creme fraiche on top of it right away.

Serves 4 (or two hungry persons) and takes approximately 30 minutes to make. Very easy to make.

- approximately one pound/500 grams of salmon fillet

-salt and black pepper according to taste

- the juice of one lemon, reduce the amount to half a lemon if you don’t want a strong lemony taste

- 200 grams/ one cup of creme fraiche

Preheat an oven to 400 F or 200 C.

Rinse and dry the salmon fillet.

Take a baking dish and place the salmon in it. Pour half of the lemon juice on top of it and sprinkle the salt on it along with the black pepper.

Turn the salmon skin side up and place into the oven. Bake for 7-10 minutes. Take it out of the oven and roll the skin off.

Pour the rest of the lemon juice on the salmon and sprinkle some salt and black pepper on it. Place the creme fraiche on top of the salmon evenly.

Bake the salmon for another 20-30 minutes, or until it is done. Some people like their salmon to be dryish and some prefer a moister salmon; the baking time should be therefore adjusted according to individual preference.

I like to eat this with some regular mashed potatoes that have some shredded basil leaves added to the mix.  A dry white wine is always a good option with this dish.

Popularity: 14% [?]

Gluten-Free Prawn Spaghetti and Prawn Rolls

by Emilia on July 24, 2008

I always associate prawns with summer; they are somewhat cooling and don’t require all that much cooking.

My absolute favourite prawn dish would be spaghetti with chilli and garlic flavoured prawns. Since I do like the taste of brown rice pasta, I have been making this dish so many times this summer that I have lost count already.

The best part with this is that it requires only 10 minutes of cooking time; therefore it is ready when the spaghetti is done. I also usually have the ingredients at home, so I can make this whenever I feel like it. Everything is also easily adjustable, you can substitute the prawns with some tofu for example and using some fresh herbs would also be a nice adjustment. I used some dried oregano in the recipe – it has a stronger taste than fresh oregano – since I think that almost everyone has dried oregano at home almost all the time? You can substitute the cherry tomatoes with some canned tomatoes too, although fresh summery cherry tomatoes do have a nice sweet taste to them, especially if they are organic.

Gluten-free spaghetti with prawns

Serves 2 as a main meal

-1 cup peeled and cooked prawns

-1 tbls olive oil and 1 tbls butter

-1 tsp dried red chilli flakes, this amount will make for a very hot dish, so reduce the amount if you would like a milder taste

-2 minced garlic cloves

-salt according to taste, I use 1 tsp and I do like a lot of salt in my foods

-enough cherry tomatoes to cover the pan

-2 tsp oregano

Start cooking the spaghetti.

Take a pan and place it on medium heat. Add one tablespoon butter and one tablespoon of olive oil on the pan. Mince the garlic and fry it for a small while on the pan, one minute is usually enough.

Using minced garlic produces a different flavour than pressed garlic.

Add the chilli flakes to the pan and fry them for about half a minute. Take the prawns and place them on the pan just so that they warm up and soak some of the flavoured of the pan. Place them on a plate and set aside.

Half the tomatoes and place them on the pan; press them slightly so that the juices run out of them. Sprinkle the oregano on them. They are done when they turn soft.

The spaghetti should be done by now so drain it. I usually add one tablespoon of butter to the spaghetti at this time for extra flavour.

Take the prawns and mix them with the tomatoes on the pan, scrape the bottom of the pan a bit so that you get the flavours from it.

Pour the spaghetti on to the pan and mix everything together.

I wanted to try steaming the rice rolls I made in this post. You can also see detailed information on how to use rice paper in that post.

It turned out really well and I will be steaming rice rolls in the future too; the texture is somewhat chewy and the filling stays deliciously moist. I was a bit worried that they would not hold together while steaming, but they did hold together nicely.

Steamed rice rolls with a thai flavoured prawn filling

Makes approximately 8 rice paper rolls

-rice paper

-1 cup shelled, cooked and minced prawns

- 2 egg whites

-1 minced spring onion

-1/2 tsp salt

-1/2 tsp thai seven spice

- 2 minced kaffir lime leaves

Separate the egg whites and whip them until they are white and foamy. Mince the spring onion and kaffir lime leaves.

Mix everything together and start rolling the rice rolls. You can see how they are rolled from here.

Line the bottom of a bamboo steamer with some baking paper.

Steam the rice rolls for approximately 10 minutes.

Serve these with some sweet chilli sauce for example.

On a side note I will be leaving for a summer holiday which will last until the end of August; posting will continue when I get back.

My sister kindly promised to moderate any comments since I will not have access to a computer most of my holiday. For this reason I will also not be able to answer e-mails during this time.

I wish everyone a nice and hot (not too hot) August.

Popularity: 10% [?]

Pasta Sauce Recipe With Cold Smoked Salmon

by Emilia on May 19, 2008

My love affair with pasta started at an early age; I would eat it with almost everything, ketchup being the only exception. When I went gluten-free I tried my best at getting used to those kind of horrible corn and starch things trying to imitate pasta, then eventually I gave up, I just didn’t want anything to do with those gluten-free pastas that tasted so vile in my mouth.

Everything changed when I got a hold of some brown rice pasta; oh, I was so happy, it tasted good, really good and now I could eat it with my favorite sauces. Most of the sauces I like are tomato based, just those regular kind of sauces, but there are some sauces which I have all kinds of special feelings towards that don’t have any kind of tomatoes in them and this recipe, which just happens to be my all time favorite one, is one of those white wine based tomato-free kind of sauces.

This only takes approximately 10 minutes to make and the taste is really something else since the cold smoked salmon adds a lot of unique flavor. The ingredients are basic, the lox is the only thing that is a bit more special and this sauce is very, very easy to make.

Pasta sauce with cold smoked salmon

Serves 4

- 1 big yellow onion chopped

-200 grams cold smoked salmon chopped into pieces

-1/2 cup (1,2 dl) cream (I used almond cream once again)

-1/2 cup (1,2 dl) white wine

-1/4 cup (0,6 dl) chopped parsley

-1 tbls butter

-1 tbls olive oil

Heat a saucepan on medium heat and cook the onions until they turn soft, don’t brown them, then add the salmon, cook it until it turns light pink. Add the wine and let it reduce on medium heat and then add the cream. Let the sauce boil for 5 minutes and take it off the heat and add the chopped parsley. Serve with some pasta.

I like to chop everything up before I start cooking, I like to think that I’m saving time that way. There’s some parsley, lox, butter, onion and white wine in that picture. I’m not a big wine expert, but that Riesling there is one of my favorite white wines and I especially like it with this food.

Add 1 tbls butter and 1 tbls olive oil into the saucepan and cook the onion on medium heat until it is soft.

Add the cold smoked salmon, it will be of this colour at first.

It’s done when the colour turns to this.

Add the white wine, 1/2 cup.

Let it reduce and add the cream after it has reduced a bit. Let the sauce boil for something like five minutes.

Take the pan off the heat and add the chopped parsley.

Serve the sauce with some spaghetti for example, you can also add some grated parmesan if you want to.

Popularity: 8% [?]