Jester's Musings and Missives

Recipe: Sweet Orange Salmon

Eight ingredients combine in a spice rub that would also be good on pork tenderloin medallions. Serve with orange wedges.

Servings: 4

INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon grated orange rind
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
4 6-oz salmon fillets
Cooking spray

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat broiler.

Combine first 8 ingredients in a small bowl. Rub spice mixture over both sides of salmon fillets. Place salmon on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray. Broil for 8 minutes or until salmon flakes easily when tested with a fork.

NUTRITION (per serving):
WW Points = 8
CALORIES 303(39% from fat); FAT 13.3g (sat 3.1g,mono 5.7g,poly 3.2g); PROTEIN 36.2g; CHOLESTEROL 87mg; CALCIUM 33mg; SODIUM 235mg; FIBER 0.5g; IRON 1mg; CARBOHYDRATE 7.5g

SOURCE: Cooking Light, MAY 2005

Recipe: Kotopoulo Youvetsi (Baked Chicken with Orzo)

It's Christmas and that means I’ll be preparing my husband’s favorite meal – Kotopoulo Youvetsi.  Greg LOVES it and always requests it for Christmas dinner.

Years ago, I found the perfect special occasion recipe in one of my many Greek cookbooks - The Foods of the Greek Islands: Cooking and Culture at the Crossroads of the Mediterranean, by Aglaia Kremezi and Jim Botsacos.  It sounded delicious and proved to be even better than I expected. 

Recipe: Upside-Down Baked Apple French Toast

‘Tis the season for cooking, so I thought I’d share another recipe…enjoy!!

On Christmas morning, we’ll hustle up to my sister’s house to have breakfast with her family and my parents. My sister warned me that it will be an early morning, since she doesn’t think she’ll be able to keep my 5 year old nephew and 6 year old niece in their beds very long.  They’ll be too excited to see what Santa brought them.

Thea asked me to bring my “banana and apple French toast” to the festivities.  Yummmmm!  I haven’t made it in a while, but it’s pretty easy and definitely a crowd pleaser.

If you’re looking for an impressive dish to serve to family or guests for a breakfast or brunch, give this one a try.  I always break up the process by carmelizing the bananas and apples the night before – letting the bread, egg mixture and fruit soak overnight.  All I have to do the next morning is pop the dish in the oven.  What could be more simple?

Talking Turkey

Another Turkey Day has come and gone.  Thanksgiving is my absolutely favorite holiday.  No pressure to buy gifts – just a time to relax with great company, conversation, and food.

Each Thanksgiving, Greg and I head west to the Albany area to spend Thanksgiving with his older sister’s family and close friends.  Greg’s family is Greek – very Greek – so we enjoy a mix of traditional American T-Day fare with not-quite-so-traditional spinach pie, feta, and baklava. 

Restaurant Review: EVOO

On the 14th, Greg and I celebrated our fifth anniversary by exploring a new restaurant, EVOO, in Somerville.  It came highly recommended, so we were excited to check it out.  We had an incredible meal!  I cannot express just how much we loved this place.  Here’s the scoop…

Loved My Trip to Margarita-ville

A couple of years ago, Greg and I visited my sister’s family in California.  While there, my sister’s in-laws, Vic and Rose, served the most delectable margaritas ever concocted.  Vic and Rose spent years perfecting their recipe.  Their cocktails were (are!) delicious!  Given that I am not a fan of Tequila, that’s saying a lot. 

I re-discovered the recipe today while sorting through some papers on my desk. It would be selfish to keep the recipe secret.  So, with great thanks to Vic & Rose, I present their fabulous Margarita recipe here for all to enjoy: 

VIC & ROSE’S SPECIAL MARGARITA MIX

Ingredients:
*     6 ounces Frozen Concentrate Limeade by Minutemaid
*     6 ounces Quervo Gold Tequila
*     3 ounces Grand Marnier
*     2 ounces Dark Beer (e.g., Samuel Adams)
*     Ice
*     Margarita salt
*     1 Lime

Directions:
Fill blender 3/4 full with ice.  Add Limeade Concentrate, Tequila, Grand Marnier and beer.  Blend until smooth.

Margarita Glass Preparation:
*     Slice lime into wedges.  Lime outside of glass rim with juice from lime wedge.
*     Roll outside of glass rim in Margarita salt.
*     Fill Margarita glass with mixture to 1/4 inch from top of glass.
*     Garnish with lime slice.