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  • Classes
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  • You Can Cook!
  • About Me
  • Recipe Box
    • Appetizers >
      • Buffalo Chicken Dip
      • Cream Cheese Appetizer
      • Sweet and Salty Nuts
      • Thai Peanut Sauce
    • Beverages >
      • Blueberry Lemonade
      • Cosmopolitan
    • Breakfast >
      • Apple Pancake
      • Homemade Granola
      • Peanut Butter Cup Smoothie
      • Stick-to-your-ribs smoothie
      • Veggie Omelet
      • Yeasted Waffles
    • Main Dishes >
      • Beef Stew
      • Chicken Fajitas
      • Choley
      • Grilled Chicken
      • Low and Slow Chicken Breasts
      • Roast Turkey
      • Rub for Pulled Pork (and other meats too!)
      • Salmon Burgers
      • Simple Homemade Mac & Cheese
      • Simple Red Sauce
      • Steak and Potato Salad
    • Sides >
      • Bacon-Roasted Brussel Sprouts
      • Creamy Polenta
      • Homemade Potato Chips
      • "Magic" Salad Recipe
    • Soup >
      • Apple Cheddar Soup
      • Butternut Squash Soup
      • Chicken Noodle Soup
      • Creamy Tomato Basil Soup
      • Smokey Beef Chili
    • Sweets and Treats >
      • Almond Cake
      • Apple Crisp
      • Bruna Kakor
      • Butterscotch Pecan Sandies
      • Chocolate Fudge Brownies
      • Chocolate Mousse
      • Compost Cookies
      • New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookies
      • Pumpkin Pie
      • Salted Caramel Sauce
  • Classes
  • Contact Me
you can cook

Scrumptious Salmon Burgers

5/28/2016

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In our culture, we describe a meal based on the type of meat, and so I might say, "I had chicken for dinner" or "I had pork for dinner" or "I had fish for dinner". But in Seattle, there is an entire category of meat that most of the country doesn't separately recognize: the category of salmon.

There's a good reason for this - huge amounts of salmon are caught in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska. Visit the fish ladders at the Chittendon Locks in Ballard between July and September, and you can see entire schools of 2'+ salmon making their way upstream. One summer, the salmon harvest was so large the grocery stores were giving them away for free (limit 2, please).

Nearly all of my family now live in the Pacific Northwest, and I have had salmon many, many ways: poached with dill sauce, baked on a cedar plank, stuffed in puff pasty, made into sushi, or grilled and Rubbed with Love. But my favorite is the humble salmon burger.

I have frequently purchased salmon burgers from my local fishmonger. The problem with those burgers however is that they have so much fat that I find myself popping Tums within a few minutes of the completion of my meal...and personally, as a dessert, Tums leave much to be desired. Plus it seems somewhat ironic to consume my entire day's limit of grease eating an allegedly healthy food like fish.

So while my search for the perfect salmon burger doesn't quite rise to the level of a quest (for example my caramel sauce adventure), it has been an interest for quite a while. And I'm proud to say, I think I've found a winner.

This simple and flexible recipe for salmon burgers can be prepared at least two ways: as full-sized burgers, or as mini-burgers for an unusual but memorable appetizer. For a full sized burger, you can use your hands to shape the mixture, or get an inexpensive single-use kitchen tool: a burger press. For the uninitiated, you fill the press with ground meat and then rotate the handle to release a perfectly-shaped burger into your hand. Although this may seem a bit fancy for some (and anathema to people like me who decry single-use kitchen tools) it actually makes some sense: burgers - whether salmon or any other meat - are prepared quickly and without having to pack down the meat, and it's a lot easier to make them all the same size, ensuring even cooking.

To make mini-burgers, use the smallest cookie scoop (about 2 Tbs), and release a flat-sided scoop directly into a non-stick skillet. Saute on both sides, flattening with your spatula to form a mini-burger. By the time it's browned on one side, the fish will be perfectly cooked. I served mine on Triscuits with a bit of chive on each one for color. In the photo below, I used them to make a salmon salad.
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As to the type of salmon, the recipe was developed with farmed salmon, which is more oily than wild. If you can get wild, it's delicious - just be sure to remove all the small bones before chopping (or enjoy your extra calcium). Although farmed salmon is not as healthy as wild, it's much less expensive and quite tasty. A good taste and health compromise in New England is farmed salmon from Norway, which does not allow antibiotics to be used in fish farming, among other beneficial practices.

So this summer, even if you can't get to the Pacific Northwest - which is beautiful and actually far less rainy in the summer than New England - bring a little bit of Seattle to your grill by making salmon burgers...you're going to LOVE it!

On a weekend that can be focused on grilling, friends and fun, I would like to offer my heartfelt thanks to all of the veterans who have sacrificed in ways large and small for our shared country. God bless you on Memorial Day and throughout the year.

Chris

​​If you would like to see my recipes, tips and adventures in cooking every week go to www.ucancook.net and enter your email on the right side. Alternatively, email me at [email protected] and I will set you up! For even more tips and techniques, follow You Can Cook on Facebook.
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Impossibly delicious - and simple - vegetables

5/16/2016

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I've often started my posts with stories of cooking disaster; an overcooked turkey, a failed salad made of shredded brussels sprouts, and the time I stuffed a roast chicken with a weed I believed to be sage. But with roast vegetables, I have no failures to share because it is almost impossible to do it incorrectly.

The basic recipe is simple: line a cookie sheet with foil, place evenly cut, clean dry fresh vegetables on the sheet and toss lightly with olive oil and salt. Making sure they are no more than one layer deep, bake at 450 degrees for 12 - 20 minutes, until the vegetables are crisp-tender (i.e. you can pierce them with a fork).

My son (21) attends the Riverview School in Sandwich, MA and in his dorm, they cook dinner together most nights. He recently send me a picture of the roast vegetables he prepared for his dorm. If a bunch of young 20-something men can cook roast vegetables - and enjoy eating them - you can be pretty sure you can cook and enjoy them too.

A word about salt. Salt has a bad name, and part of that is well-deserved. If you look at the back of a can of soup, frozen dinner or many other prepared foods, the amount of salt per serving is shocking; sometimes as much as your entire recommended daily intake. However, when you cook food that is REAL (i.e. not manufactured), adding a bit of salt is often a crucial step for great flavor. So when you make this recipe, add more than a pinch; unless you're on a salt-restricted diet, it's not going to hurt you.

Here is a partial list of vegetables that taste great roasted:
  • Asparagus (snap off woody base of stem, usually about 1", and roast whole)
  • Beets (boil until the peel slips off and cut to 3/4" cubes)
  • Broccoli (break into equal sized florets, about 1")
  • Brussels sprouts (trim and halve, also see my recipe for brussels sprouts roasted with bacon)
  • Butternut squash (peel and cut into 3/4" cubes)
  • Carrots (cut into 1" pieces, peel if desired) 
  • Cauliflower (break into equal sized florets, about 1")
  • Garlic (peel and trim end but leave bulbs whole)
  • Onion (peel and cut into 3/4" pieces)
  • Parsnip (peel and cut into 3/4" pieces)
  • Potatoes (especially the waxier types such as red, blue or yukon gold; cut into 3/4" cubes)
  • Sweet Potatoes (peel and cut into 3/4" - 1" cubes; they cook more quickly than regular potatoes, so cut the sweet potatoes larger if roasting together)

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This technique is great for when you have guests; it looks elegant but is very simple (and if you are spending time on the main course, the veggies need to be quick and easy). Buy a few of the vegetables above, and wash, dry and cut them up. Put in a ziploc bag and toss with oil and salt up to 1 day in advance. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees, and 20 - 30 minutes before you plan to serve dinner, pour the vegetables from the bag onto a lined jellyroll pan in a single layer and slide them in. Remove when done, and pour into serving dish. The only caveat with this is that if you are using vegetables whose color might bleed (beets, red onions, multi-colored carrots), bag those separately. A beautiful array of roast vegetables is a dramatic and delicious add to any meal.

Another way to do this is on the grill. If you have a grill basket, you can use that, but if not, do what countless generations of scouts have done: roast them in a foil packet with a couple of holes punched on each side.

Here are some great combinations:
Asparagus, multicolored peppers and shallots (pictured before roasting below)
Potato, carrot and onion

Beets, white onion, butternut squash 
Butternut, carrot, parsnip and red onion
Sweet potato and white potato ("crazy taters")
Red, white and blue miniature potatoes (you can buy this mixture)

My personal favorites are asparagus, multi-colored carrots (just trim off the top) and broccoli. I have eaten an entire pound of asparagus prepared this way; ditto for farmstand carrots.
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If you've read this far, you've probably just spent more time reading than it would take you to prepare a pound of roast vegetables. With farmer's markets starting up (or having started if you live in a lovely warm place), there is no better way to celebrate each delicious bite. Buy a couple of interesting new vegetables - or even some reliable old ones - and give it a try. You won't be disappointed!

​​If you would like to see my recipes, tips and adventures in cooking every week go to www.ucancook.net and enter your email on the right side. Alternatively, email me at [email protected] and I will set you up! For even more tips and techniques, follow You Can Cook on Facebook.
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Feeding a Crowd

5/4/2016

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There are times when you need to feed a group...a BIG group. This is actually a little more complex than it sounds because unless you have access to a commercial kitchen, your oven, stove and especially your pots and pans are too small to prepare more than about 12 servings of most foods. Plus, if you are hosting the crowd, you probably have more to do than just cook.

But there are many simple ways to feed 30, 40 or even 50+ people, and one of them is to serve pulled pork. Don't let the fact that you are not a barbecue pit master stop you from attempting this dish; although it takes a long time to cook, the preparation is very simple and you just need a few tips to achieve pit master-level results.

The first and most critical step is selecting the meat. Costco sells a pork shoulder (photo below) that works really well. Another good cut is often called a "Boston butt" or "pork butt" (names vary regionally). Ask your butcher which cut you should use - butchers are a great resource for this type of question. You should plan about 3/4# per person for sandwiches and as much as one pound per person if you are serving the pork on it's own. This sounds like a lot, but it loses up to 25% of its weight as it cooks. Of course, you can reduce these amounts if there are many other dishes being served.

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The next step is the rub, a combinations of sugar, salt and spice. You can buy it or make your own. For purchased rub, I like the salmon version of "Rub With Love" for both salmon and pork. Making your own rub is simple and inexpensive, and it keeps for up to a year. The evening before you are going to cook your pork, generously coat the pork on all sides with the rub and refrigerate the pork (uncovered if possible) overnight. 

First thing in the morning, get the pork out of the refrigerator and bring it to room temperature on your counter (this is perfectly safe unless you have a counter-surfing dog in your home). After an hour, preheat your oven to 275 degrees and put the pork in, fattier side up. Depending on the size, it will take several hours to cook - allow a solid 6 hours. This is a very forgiving meat; it needs to reach 200 degrees but if you cook it a bit longer, it will still taste great. Use a meat thermometer to confirm that the meat has reached 200 degrees.

A note about slow cookers (crockpots). There are many good crockpot recipes for pulled pork, and if your oven is otherwise occupied, a crockpot will do the job. The problem with a crockpot is that it's a moist cooking method, and your pork won't develop a crispy exterior if prepared this way. So crockpots are a good backup plan, but an oven is the preferred choice. A grill is a great choice (bonus - it frees up your oven and doesn't heat up the house), but only if you can truly control the heat.

Once the pork reaches 200 degrees, take it out of the oven and let it cool for 30 minutes or so. This is not necessary for the recipe, but will make it much less likely that you will burn yourself when you pull it. When the pork is done, it should smell fabulous and be crispy on the outside; the outside pieces are called the "bark".

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Now it's time to "pull" the pork. Remove the meat from it's baking pan and put into a clean 9x13 pan or a large cookie sheet with a raised edge (sometimes called a "jellyroll pan"). Get two dinner forks and starting with a nice crispy piece of bark, start pulling - or shredding - the pork into pieces. When you are finished, you will have a pile of bite-sized chunks of shredded meat. You can remove some of the fat at this time, but don't get rid of the crispy outer fat - pulled pork is not exactly a diet dish and that fat tastes great. 

When it's completely shredded, you can mix in barbecue sauce. I love Sweet Baby Rays, but a vinegary Carolina-style sauce is delicious too. Cover the meat with foil.

When it's time to eat, uncover your meat, put the buns and some extra sauce on the side and stand back; you don't want to be trampled in the crush of people trying to get to your pulled pork. Congratulations - you've just fed a crowd!

​If you would like to see my recipes, tips and adventures in cooking every week go to www.ucancook.net and enter your email on the right side. Alternatively, email me at [email protected] and I will set you up! For even more tips and techniques, follow You Can Cook on Facebook as well.

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The 70's are calling and they want you to try fondue!

1/11/2016

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On a bitter cold night, there is nothing better than sharing some serious comfort food with a group of friends. The problem with much comfort food however is that it takes a good deal of time and planning to prepare. Now, I have no problem spending two days to make a couple of loaves of sourdough bread or a really intricate chocolate torte, but we are all looking for simpler ways to entertain. For that, I'd like to raise up a child of the 70's, the humble fondue.

I'll bet that most of you could - either by asking your parents or visiting a well-stocked antique store - lay your hands on a fondue pot. If those sources fail you, Amazon will provide. The question is, what can you do with it? I want to share two fondue recipes that will have you swapping stories over bubbling pots of cheese and chocolate in less time than it take to text your friends and invite them over.

A word about fondue forks: you can make do without them. For cheese fondue, you can substitute long toothpicks or thin italian breadsticks, and for chocolate, marshmallows speared on tiny pretzels sticks work much better than a fork, and the long toothpicks work well for dried fruit or poundcake. That said, if you get your hands on some of the wooden handled, color-tipped forks, go wild! Just don't put them in the dishwasher - the 70s were all about hand-washing.

To start your fondue party, serve a salad following my "magic salad" rule of one fruit, one nut and one cheese (suggested combinations are with the recipe). Serve with a simple vinaigrette - given the main course and dessert, you will want to start on a lighter note.
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The main course is of course cheese fondue. While there are many ways to make cheese fondue, I prefer to keep it simple: use a bag of good quality pre-grated cheese, a bit of chopped onion, some beer and a couple of tablespoons of flour. The recipe comes together in under five minutes, and - bonus - your guests can help you prepare it!

The next question is what to dip? Start with sliced apples (Granny Smith work well) and cubed french bread, and if you like, include thin italian breadsticks, par-cooked broccoli or even lightly microwaved mushrooms (dry well before serving). This is not an exhaustive list - after all, what doesn't taste great with a bit of cheese?

For dessert, clean your fondue pot of any leftover cheese and pile in chopped dark chocolate. Add cream and stir until melted; then stir in a few tablespoons of liqueur. The recipe for chocolate fondue has many permutations; I'm sure you can think of several just while reading!

For a dessert fondue, consider dipping mini-marshmallows speared on thin pretzels, fruit that has been washed and well dried, pound cake, or animal crackers for kids. For the more adventurous, chunks of cheesecake, thin crisp cookies, dried fruits, or even a toasted nut or two or two are delicious. Like cheese, what doesn't taste good dipped in chocolate?

One more thing about fondue: it's not considered good form to drop things into the fondue pot, in fact, if you do this, you are supposed to kiss the person to your left. So do take care when planning your seating arrangements...we've heard some stories about those wild 70's, and who knows if fondue played a role?

Happy dipping,

​Chris

If you would like to hear about all my recipes, tips and adventures in cooking, go to www.ucancook.net and enter your email on the right side. Alternatively, email me at [email protected] and I will set you up!

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Back Pocket Dessert: Quick, Simple and Tasty

1/4/2016

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​Now that the holiday rush is over and the decorations put away, isn't it wonderful to spend an evening with friends? I mean seriously, what else is there to do this month? You really don't need a reason; last fall, I invited friends over and we shared a bottle of good wine to celebrate one's job loss, another's awful job and the third quitting her job. It was fabulous.

But when such lovely occasions arise, the question - if you're hosting - is what to serve? My main housekeeping strategy is one I call "lowering my standards" (I got this good advice from my mother), but even I need to clean the place when people are showing up, and this all takes time. This is where a "back pocket dessert" really comes in handy. A true back pocket dessert should be able to be produced in 15 minutes or less including hands-on time and cleanup, made with stuff you already have in the house and taste fabulous. Now my staples may be different than yours, but I'd like to share one of my favorites: Almond Cake. This delicious cake has only 7 ingredients: almond flour, butter, eggs, sugar, almonds, almond extract and flour. Obviously this is not good for anyone with a tree nut allergy, but for the rest of us, it's great! The ingredients mix in one bowl, and aside from the chore of cutting a circle of parchment to put in the bottom of your cake pan, the cake is in the oven in about the time it takes to preheat it - and your friends will swoon over this dessert. It tastes like marzipan made into a crispy, buttery cake; you can even add some liqueur or top it with sliced almonds and sugar (as in the photo above) if you want to take it to the next level.

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A couple of words about almond flour. This ingredient (I buy the Bob's Red Mill brand at the grocery) is simply ground up nuts, but is the key to several other great recipes including a flourless queen of sheeba torte and french macarons. If you celebrate Passover, this flour will allow you to make amazing flourless desserts for the holiday. Because almond flour is just ground almonds, it's kind of expensive, but you don't use a lot at one time and it keeps for a solid year in the freezer. My only caution is that people who are allergic might not expect ground nuts in a cake or cookies, so make sure you let everyone know. Anaphylactic shock is a terrible way to end a friendly gathering.

Besides quick preparation time and amazing flavor, another advantage to this back pocket dessert is that it's super portable. Since it's baked and transported in a cake pan, you could just about punt it over a goal post and it would still look and taste great. Several years ago, I brought a torte that I had spent a couple of hours glazing in three colors of chocolate to a holiday party. I had made the torte in a springform pan, removed the rim to glaze the torte and then placed the glazed torte on a plate for transport. I drove to the party with my seat all the way back, the plate with the torte between my legs. Everything was fine until I realized I had almost missed a turn, so I banked the torte with my knees and made a right...but then realized a quick left immediately followed! As the car lurched up the steep driveway, the torte skidded off the plate, flying towards the (vacant) passenger seat. I reached out my hand and palmed it right back onto the plate. After parking the car, I looked down. My hand was clean, but my beautiful, 3-color, watermarked chocolate torte had a giant handprint covering the entire top! I quickly went into the party, and when the hostess asked me what I'd brought, I told her "flying chocolate torte". We still laugh about that, but thankfully once the first couple of pieces were cut, you really couldn't tell. With this almond cake, you turn it out to remove the parchment but can return it to the pan for transport; safe in the pan, it could go to a party under the seat of your car and as long as it didn't get dirty, it would be perfectly good! So ideal.

So rather than think too much about the long nights, brutal cold or massive piles of snow, call a couple of friends, give your house a cursory cleaning, and make yourself an almond cake. It goes well with coffee, fresh berries, whipping cream or all three, and is good at any time of day your friends can join you. Please do this; you will have a wonderful time! 

Chris

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Oh Nuts!

11/12/2014

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Crispy. Salty. Sweet.

What more could anyone ask of a food?

These nuts are made with just seven ingredients, and there is nothing from a box or package that tastes this good. They blow packaged nuts out of the water. Destroy them. Eat them for lunch. You get the idea.

Words of caution: if these little nuggets of goodness are anywhere in your home you will not rest until you have eaten them. To guard against overconsumption, consider adding the optional chipotle powder: it adds an afterburn which is not only delightful, but will stop you from finishing the recipe in one sitting.

I could say more, but quite frankly my mouth is full...of nuts. So here is the recipe.

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Amazing...Chocolate Mousse

11/11/2014

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Just three ingredients will make the best mousse you will ever eat.

It's true:  all you need are 9 ounces (by weight) of chocolate, 5 tablespoons of liquid and 1-1/2 cups of cream. 

That's it.  No gelatin.  No powdered mix.  No eggs.  In fact in it's simplest form, the liquid is just water.

Since you only have three ingredients, choose them with care.  For the chocolate, chose milk, dark, or bittersweet sold in bar form.  No chips, no "candy coating" and nothing molded into shapes.  It's all about the flavor.  Chop your delicious chocolate into chip-sized pieces, and place in a microwave-safe bowl.

For the liquid, chose up to 3 tablespoons of liqueur such as Grand Marnier, Amaretto, Rum, Framboise or Frangelico, and add water to make up 5 tablespoons total liquid.  You can also use strong coffee for your liquid.  Pour the liquid over the chocolate.  I know we are breaking some rules here, but trust me on this.

Put the bowl in the microwave, and cook for 2 minutes on 50% power for dark and milk chocolate, and 20% power for white.  Once heated, stir gently until smooth.  Set aside until a small dab on your upper lip feels cool to the touch.

Measure 1-1/2 cups of the best heavy cream you can find.  It must say "Heavy Cream" on the carton. Don't even THINK of using half and half, creamer or <shudder> Cool Whip.  It's not like you eat this stuff every day, so get the real thing!

Pour the cold heavy cream into a large mixing bowl and put the whisk attachment on your mixer. Beat at high speed until soft peaks form.  A "soft peak" means that when you pull the whisk attachment out of the heavy cream, it will leave behind a pointed whipped cream peak which will then droop over slightly.

Once the cream is whipped, use a silicone spatula to gently fold the chocolate mixture into the cream and put immediately in a serving bowl or smaller bowls for individual servings.  Refrigerate for 2-3 hours before serving.  Excellent with fresh fruit or a very thin cookie.

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    Chris, cooking instructor, disability advocate and mom. Food geek and passionate believer in fresh, simple and homemade.

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    The typeface at the top of this page is Goudy Old Style, the same typeface used in my first copy of The Fanny Farmer Cookbook. My copy is a successor of The Boston Cooking-School Cookbook, first published by Fanny Farmer in 1896. It was one of the first cookbooks to use the standard measures that are common today.