Database About Recipes Used

I find it very useful to maintain a database about the recipes I've used. It helps me to quickly identify recipes for a specific purpose and to keep track of which dishes I've served to guests at our house. I can sort the list of recipes in many ways. 

An example of how I use the database would be to create a menu for a Tuscan dinner for guests. I can quickly identify Tuscan dishes for each course and determine if I have served those dishes to the guests who are coming. 

The database has the following fields in the order listed below:

- English name of the dish - I normally write the name so the main ingredient is first; e.g., "salmon, grilled" instead of "grilled salmon." With that approach, like dishes are together when sorted.

- Foreign name of the dish, if it's a foreign dish

- Type of dish - appetizer, entree, side, soup, dessert

- Taste rating, abbreviated - Ex(excellent), VG (very good), OK, bad. I usually only remake excellent dishes

- Difficulty - very easy, easy, moderate, difficult

- Country (of Origin)

- Comment - For example, Lots of cutting; requires pan scrubbing. Most of the time there is no comment.

- Source (of recipe) -  For example, allrecipes.com. Beautiful Tuscany, Silver Spoon

- Served to - names of people to whom I've served. If it's just my wife and me, I enter "us"

An example of a typical entry is:

Pan-Fried Sausage & Mushrooms, Tegamata di Salsiccia, Entree Ex, Easy, Italy , Beautiful Tuscany, Us

I normally keep the database sorted first by the type of dish, then by the English name of the dish. 

Levantine Lamb & Asparagus Stew

I inherited a Palestinian-American cookbook called, "Sahtein," from my mother. (Sahtein is the Arabic equivalent of "bon appetit.") This cookbook contains Palestinian, Lebanese, and Syrian recipes. I have the 1979 version, which was published by the Arab Women's Union of Detroit. An unspecified version of this cookbook is available from the web site of the American Federation of Ramallah, Palestine (http://www.afrp.org/about-us/books/)

I have decided to try some of the easier recipes. The first I tried is a delicious lamb and asparagus stew. I have added a few details and slightly rearranged the instructions to make it easier to follow. It is supposed to serve 4. However, my wife and I managed to finish it all ourselves.

It is served over long-grained rice prepared separately.

Ingredients

- 3 tbsp butter or margarine (I used olive oil.)
- 1 lb fresh asparagus spears, cut into 2" pieces, and with tough bottom portion broken off. Wash and drain.
- 1/2 lb lamb, cubed
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 1 cup water
- juice of one lemon (My wife thought this was too much. I thought it was perfect.)
- salt, pepper, and allspice to taste (I used 1/2 a tbsp of allspice.)

Directions

1. Heat butter, margarine, or oil in skillet over medium heat. 

2. Sauté meat and onions until lamb is light brown.

3. Add water, salt, pepper, and allspice. Cook until tender. I believe it took about 5 minutes.

4. Add asparagus and simmer for 15 minutes, or until tender.

5. Add lemon juice and stir. 

6. Serve with or over rice.

Keeping Track of Dishes I've Cooked

I maintain a database that catalogs all the dishes I've prepared. It helps me to quickly identify the tastiest entrees, sides, desserts, etc. 
It also helps me prepare special-purpose menus; e.g. a Tuscan menu or New Orleans menu. I list those I've served the dishes to so that I don't repeat the same dishes to specific guests.

The database contains the following fields:
- Name of the dish
- Foreign name for the dish (if it's a foreign dish)
- Type of dish - salad, dessert, etc.
- Taste results - Ex (Excellent), VG (Very Good), etc. I normally only repeat the excellent ones
- Level of difficulty
- Country of origin
- Comment - items such as city of origin; e.g., New Orleans, description; e.g., very rich
- Source of the recipe
- People to whom I've served the dish.

Pork Chops with Maple Bacon Onion Jam - Yum

First of all - Happy New Year!

Last night, I decided to try a variant of the "Terrific Pork Chop Recipe" that I had found on YouTube and posted about 15 months ago (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAjlfkzr2sg). I have used that recipe over and over because it consistently produces such great results.

This time, I made a couple of changes that produced a very tasty dish (and also saved some onion chopping).

Part way through the cooking process, I spooned onto each pork chop a couple of spoons full of Stonewall Kitchen's Maple Bacon Onion Jam. (I had originally purchased this jam to put on Tuscan pecorino cheese and toasted baguette - a delicious appetizer.)

Below is the jam version of the recipe:

Ingredients

- Two - four pork loin chops 
- Several sprigs of fresh rosemary (or some dried rosemary)
- As many cloves of garlic as you'd like, chopped coarsely. I use four large cloves
- Two soup spoons (or more) of Stonewall Kitchen's Maple Bacon Onion jam for each pork chop
- salt and pepper to taste

Directions

- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Put a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in an oven-safe skillet.
- Heat the olive oil over medium high heat.
- Put the pork chops and rosemary into the skillet and cook the chops for 3-4 minutes on one side.
- Turn the chops with tongs, not a fork.
- Add the garlic, and put a couple of spoons full of jam on top of each pork chop.
- Cook for another 3-4 minutes.
- Put the skillet in the oven and cook for 4-5 minutes.
- Remove the skillet from the oven, using oven-safe gloves or other protection to hold the skillet.
- Remove the pork chops from the skillet  and let them rest for 4-5 minutes. Serve.

Potatoes Braised in White Wine - Patate all'Umido

This nice Tuscan side dish is from the book Tuscany the Beautiful Cookbook, by Lorenza de' Medici. The book has authentic recipes from throughout Tuscany. This one if from Siena, a town that we love.


This versions serves 6


Ingredients
- 1 tbsp. tomato past
- 1/4 cup light meat stock
- 3 tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1 fresh rosemary sprig
- 2 lbs boiling potatoes, peeled and sliced about 1/8 inch thick
- 1 cup dry white wine
- salt & freshly ground black pepper


Directions
- Dissolve the tomato past in the stock and set aside
- Warm the olive oil in a heavy saucepan over moderate heat.
- Add the garlic, rosemary, and potatoes, and cook until the garlic is golden, about 5 minutes.
- Pour in the wine, lower the heat, and continue cooking gently. As the liquid evaporates, gradually add the stock to keep the contents moist.
- After about 20 minutes, the potatoes should be tender. Season to taste. Remove and discard the rosemary. Serve very hot.

Pork Chops with Apples - a Delicious & EasyTuscan Dish

One of my favorite sources of Tuscan recipes is a delightful book entitled, "A Culinary Traveller in Tuscany." The author describes one-day trips to different areas of Tuscany. She found wonderful small eateries and chose delicious dishes from each.


One nice and easy recipe is Pork Chops with Apples - Costolette di Maiale alle Mele. This recipe is from Ristorante Pizzica in Campiglia Marittima, which is south of Livorno near the Tuscan coast.


This recipe is not only easy to make, but can easily be scaled up or down to serve different numbers of diners. This version serves six.


Ingredients
- 3 slightly tart green apples, peeled, cored, and sliced into half-inch widths
- 3 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- s tablespoons cognac
- 3 tablespoons cream
- 6 thick pork chops
- salt and freshly-ground black pepper


Directions
- Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a sauté pan and sauté the apples until just soft and browned.
- Throw in the cognac and allow to evaporate for a minute.
- Add the cream, cook for another minute, and remove from heat.
- Salt and pepper the pork chops, and brush with the remaining olive oil.
- Either grill or fry the pork chops, and serve with the apples and their sauce.


The way that I generally cook pork chops is as follows:
- Heat the oven to 350 degrees
- Put a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in an oven-safe skillet or grill pan
- Heat the olive oil on the stove over medium-high heat
- Put the pork chops into the skillet, and cook for 3-4 minutes per side (turn the pork chops over with tongs, not a fork.)
- Put the skillet in the oven and cook for 4-5 minutes
- Remove the skillet from the oven, using oven-safe gloves or other protection to hold the skillet.

Salmon with Brandy or Bourbon & Brown Sugar Glaze - Fast & Easy

It's amazing how many easy and delicious salmon recipes there are. While I was buying salmon at our local Publix last night, the seafood seller and I discussed ways to prepare salmon. He mentioned that one customer uses a bourbon, orange juice, and honey recipe. When I returned home, I did an Internet search for salmon - bourbon recipes. I found one that sounded good, but then I discovered that I had no bourbon. I decided to use brandy instead. I was delight with the results, and the preparation was really easy.


The recipe I used was from allrecipes.com (http://allrecipes.com/recipe/salmon-with-brown-sugar-and-bourbon-glaze/) It has only four ingredients and is really easy to prepare.


The recipe below is the full recipe which serves four. I cut it in half because there were just two of us. The brandy I used was Montmartre Extra Fine Napoleon French brandy. Despite the name, it was inexpensive - about $10 for a .75 liter bottle.


Ingredients
- 4 (6-ounce) salmon steaks
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
- 1/3 cup bourbon (or brandy)


Directions
- Melt butter in a large heavy skillet over medium heat.
- Stir in brown sugar.
- Place salmon fillets on top of brown sugar mixture.
- Cook for 5 minutes on medium heat.
- Turn salmon fillets, and pour bourbon/brandy around the fillets.
- Continue cooking for 5 minutes, or until salmon flakes easily with a fork.
- Spoon glaze over the salmon and serve.

Tasty, Quick, & Easy Chicken

Allrecipes.com provided me with yet another easy & tasty recipe - this one for chicken. Most home kitchens are likely to already have all of the ingredients except the chicken breast and perhaps the onion. About the only preparation that takes more than a few seconds is chopping the onion.

I found the recipe at http://allrecipes.com/recipe/quick-and-easy-chicken/

The recipe serves four. Since there were just the two of us, I used only two chicken breast halves. I didn't change the amounts of ingredients in the sauce recipe.

Ingredients

2 tbsps. olive oil
1 onion, chopped
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
3 tbsps. ketchup
2 tbsps. soy sauce
3 tbsps. sugar
2 tbsps. lemon juice
1 tsp. ground black pepper

Directions

Sauté onion in oil until translucent

Add chicken, and brown lightly

Combine ketchup, soy sauce, sugar, lemon juice, and pepper; mix well. Pour over chicken, and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 25 to 35 minutes.

Modified Version of a Traditional Italian New Year's Eve Sausage & Lentil Entrée

As many of my posts reflect, I love authentic Italian food. At the last minute, I decided to try to find a traditional New Year's Eve entrée. I chose Cotechino con Lenticchie - Cotechino Sausage with Lentils. This is a main dish that is served at the big, traditional New Year's Eve dinner - the Cenone di Capodanno. The lentils represent coins - money that will come to the diners in the coming year.

The only problem was that I could not get to an Italian market to buy Cotechino, a salami-like sausage, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cotechino), so I substituted mild Italian sausage from Publix. The results were nice, but not authentic. We also fresh had grapes, another Italian New Year's food. Next New Year's Eve, I intend to try the real thing.

I found this recipe on allrecipes.com - http://allrecipes.com/recipe/cotechino-con-lenticchie/

This meal serves six, is very easy to make, and takes a little over an hour to prepare.

Ingredients
a. For the pot with the sausage
- 1 pound cotechino
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 bay leaf
- 8 whole black peppercorns
- 1 sprig fresh thyme
- 7 cups water
b. For the pot with lentils
- 1 pound dry green lentils
- 1 onion, quartered
- 1 clove garlic (I used two)
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 large carrot, quartered
- salt and pepper to taste
c. For use on the plated food
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 bunch fresh parsley, chopped

Directions
1. Pierce the cotechino with a fork in several places. In a large pot, place the cotechino, chopped onion, 1 bay leaf, peppercorns, and thyme. Cover with the 7 cups of water and bring all to a boil. Reduce heat and let simmer for 45 to 50 minutes - if using fresh cotechino. For precooked cotechino, simmer for 20 minutes.

2. In another large pot, combine the lentils, quartered onion, garlic, bay leaf, carrot, and salt and pepper to taste. Cover with the 4 cups of water. Bring all to a boil; cover; reduce heat to low, and let simmer for 40 to 45 minutes, or until lentils are soft. Add additional water if necessary.

3. Remove and discard the onion, garlic, bay leaf, and carrot. Spoon the lentils into a serving dish, drizzle with olive oil, and slice rounds of the cotechino over the top. Sprinkle with fresh chopped parsley, and serve.

Delicious & Easy Salmon with Philippine Flavors

In doing an Internet search for an easy salmon recipe with turmeric seasoning, I came across this very nice, mild-curry recipe on http://salu-salo.com/, a Vancouver-based blog devoted to Philippine cuisine. I did not include the cilantro leaves, which I did not have at home. That would certainly have made the dish even better for us. The blog's author suggests that any fish steaks would work.

Ingredients

- Salmon steaks or any fish steaks. (I used two 8-oz. fillets.)
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- 1 medium onion finely chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1/2 cup tomato sauce (I used about a cup of chopped canned tomatoes)
- chopped cilantro leaves

Instructions

- Preheat oven to 375°
- Sprinkle salmon steaks with salt. Place steaks on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Set aside.
- Heat the oil in a large pan. Add the onion and garlic; cook until soft and brown. Add the coriander, cumin, and turmeric; and stir fry for 30 seconds. (I had premixed the spices in a small dish.)
- Add the tomato sauce and simmer for 1 minute. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve with rice.

Asparagus Shandong - A Nice & Easy Side, Great with Salmon

In a recent search for an asparagus side to go with a salmon entrée, I found this winner at saveur.com (http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Asparagus-Shandong-Style-) It was fast, easy, and tasty. It was a perfect accompaniment for the salmon. It serves 2-4.

Instead of 1 1/2 lbs. of asparagus, I used a pound because there were only two of us.

Ingredients

- 1 1/2 lbs. asparagus, trimmed and cut crosswise on the diagonal into 2" pieces
- 1 tbsp. Japanese reduced-sodium soy sauce
- 1 tsp. Asian sesame oil
- 2 drops red chili oil
- 1/2 tsp. toasted sesame seeds

Directions

1. Bring a medium pot of water to a boil over high heat. Add asparagus to pot and cook until tender-crisp and bright green - 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Do not overcook. Drain, then immediately plunge into a large bowl of ice water. Set aside to cool - 2 to 3 minutes. Drain again, then transfer to paper towels, pat dry, and set aside.

2. Whisk together soy sauce, sesame oil, and chili oil in a medium bowl. Add asparagus and toss. Transfer to a serving bowl and garnish with sesame seeds.

Super Simple Salmon

It's hard to believe how fast and simple some delicious recipes can be. I found a terrific salmon recipe in this category at allrecipes.com. This one is appropriately named "Super Simple Salmon" (http://allrecipes.com/recipe/super-simple-salmon/).

This recipe calls for four salmon fillets. I only used two 8-0z fillets because there were only two of us. It only takes 15 minutes to prepare and requires very few ingredients. I prepared it in a grill pan on the stove.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 x 6-ounce salmon fillets
2 tablespoons butter
4 lemon wedges

Directions

1. Stir together the garlic powder, basil, and salt in a small bowl. Rub in equal amounts on the salmon fillets.

2. Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Cook the salmon in the butter until browned and flaky - about 5 minutes per side. Serve each piece of salmon with a lemon wedge.

Salsiccie all'Uva - A Delicious and Really Easy Tuscan & Umbrian Sausage Dish

I found this terrific recipe several years ago on the New York Times' Diner's Journal Blog (http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/03/28/recipe-of-the-day-sausages-with-grapes/?_r=0). I've prepared it several times, most recently last night. I've always been happy with the results.

The first couple of times I tried it, I used Publix mild Italian sausage. However, last night, I tried Roma Sausage from Mazzaro's Italian Market in St. Petersburg, FL. The Roma sausage's ingredients include capicola, pepperoni, and asiago cheese. I'd never heard of it before, but it was very nice.

This recipe serves 4 and takes about 30 minutes to prepare.

Ingredients

- 1 to 1&1/2 pounds fresh Italian sausage
- 4 cups seedless grapes (I used red grapes)
- 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar or lemon juice, or to taste. (I used 4 teaspoons of balsamic.)

Method

1. Place sausages in a 10- or 12-inch skillet, and turn heat to medium. Cook the sausages turning from time to time, about 15 minutes. When they are brown all over, prick each sausage in a few places with a thin-bladed knife and cook for 5 minutes more. (The author of the NY Times blog posting advised that waiting 15 minutes to prick the sausages to release their fat would minimize the mess and that the sausages would brown perfectly even in a dry pan. He was right; and per the recipe, I used a dry skillet.)

2. Remove sausages to a warm platter. If more than a tablespoon or two of fat remains in the pan, remove the excess. Add grapes and turn heat to medium-high. Cook, stirring occasionally, until some of the grapes collapse. Add vinegar or lemon juice, stir, and turn off the heat. Serve sausages nestled in grapes.

(Note: The NY Time author used the "salsiccia," the Italian singular for "sausage." I used the plural, "salsicce." If you Google the recipe title using either, you'll find lots of results in both English and Italian.)

Mojo Peach Pork Sauté - Delicious & Easy Publix Recipe

Tonight, I tried making a Mojo Peach Pork Sauté I had sampled at Publix the other night. We loved it. The recipe serves four and takes about half an hour to prepare.

(http://www.publix.com/aprons/meals/SimpleMealPDF.do?mealId=8269)

(I have a soft spot in my heart for Publix recipes since I learned to cook at Publix Aprons Cooking School.)

Ingredients

- 2 firm peaches, coarsely chopped
- 1 tablespoon fresh chives, coarsely chopped (I skipped the chives because I didn't want to buy a package of chives just for a tablespoon)
- zest & juice of 1 lime
- 1 lb of pork tenderloin sliced into 1-inch thick slices
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 12-oz bag of Publix fresh fajita vegetable mix. (If the fajita mix is not available, use about half an onion, half a red bell pepper, and half a green bell pepper sliced.)
- 1/4 cup Publix Bakery spicy peach butter. (You could probably substitute spicy or regular peach preserves)
- 3 tablespoons mojo marinade.

Directions

- Preheat large sauté pan on medium high for 2-3 minutes. Season pork with salt & pepper; place oil in pan. Add pork; cook 1-2 minutes on each side, or until browned. Remove pork from pan.

- Add fajita vegetables to same pan, and cook 3-4 minutes, or until peppers begin to soften.

- Combine peach butter, mojo, lime zest, and lime juice.

- Add pork, peaches, and peach butter mixture to vegetables. Cook and stir 1-2 minutes until sauce thickens. Top with chives and serve.

Chicken Katsu - Tasty and Easy Japanese Dish

One of the types of dishes I enjoyed in Japan was Katsu dishes such as Tonkatsu (Ton = pork), Katsudon, and chicken Katsu. Americans who are not vegetarians usually enjoy katsu dishes. What many don't realize are that the original Japanese katsu dish, a beef dish first created in Tokyo in 1899 are Japanese versions of western dishes. Katsu is an abbreviated Japanese pronunciation of the English word "cutlet" (katsuretsu) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonkatsu#History).

I decided to try making Chicken Katsu. I found an allrecipes.com recipe that was very easy, and the results were excellent (http://allrecipes.com/recipe/chicken-katsu/). The author of the recipe says it can also be used to make Tonkatsu (by replacing the chicken with pork.) I plan to give that a try.

This recipe serves 4 and should take less than half an hour to prepare. I served it with Japanese-style short grained sticky rice.

Ingredients

- 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - pounded to 1/2 inch thickness. (I avoided the pounding by purchasing thin-sliced chicken breasts.)
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 egg beaten
- 1 cup panko bread crumbs
- 1 cup oil (I used canola oil) for frying

Directions
1. Season the chicken breasts on both sides with salt and pepper. Place the flour, egg, and panko crumbs into separate shallow dishes. Then:
- Coat the chicken breasts in the flour, shaking off any excess.
- Dip the chicken breasts into the egg.
- Press the chicken breasts into the panko crumbs until well coated on both sides.

2. Heat 1/4 inch of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Place the chicken in the hot oil, and cook 3 to 4 minutes per side, or until golden brown.

3. Serve with rice and tonkatsu sauce. (You can often find tonkatsu sauce at oriental food stores. The brand we prefer is one called Bull-dog sauce. Tonkatsu sauce also sounds very easy to make. Google "tonkatsu sauce recipe" to find recipes for the sauce.)

Delicious & Easy Glazed Carrot Recipe

If you enjoy glazed carrots, you may enjoy this really easy Emeril Lagasse creation which I found on the food network. It's named, "Oh Yeah Baby Glazed Carrots."  (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/oh-yeah-baby-glazed-carrots-recipe/index.html)

Ingredients

- 1 one-pound bag of baby carrots
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1/4 cup orange juice
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

Place all the ingredients in a medium, heavy saucepan

Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally until the carrots are tender and the sauce becomes a shiny glaze, about 15 minutes.

Serve

Terrific Pork Chop Recipe

In searching for a good, easy pork loin chop recipe, I found a YouTube creation - "Juicy Pork Loin Chops"  (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAjlfkzr2sg) that easily produces moist, delicious results.

Ingredients

- Pork loin chops (I used two center cut chops from Publix.)
- Several sprigs of rosemary
- As many cloves of garlic as you'd like, chopped coarsely. I used four large cloves
- one onion, sliced
- salt, pepper, and any other seasoning you'd like. I used pepper and a very nice French sea salt with herbes de provence, lavender and cornflower, called Balade en Provence by Delices d'Ophelie. The salt was a gift from friends Kathy & George.

Directions

- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Put a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in an oven-safe skillet.
- Heat the olive oil over medium high heat.
- Put the pork chops and rosemary into the skillet and cook the chops for 3-4 minutes on one side.
- Turn the chops with tongs, not a fork.
- Add the onion and garlic, and cook for another 3-4 minutes.
- Put the skillet in the oven and cook for 4-5 minutes.
- Remove the skillet from the oven, using oven-safe gloves or other protection to hold the skillet.
- Remove the pork chops from the skillet and cook the onions and garlic for another 5-10 minutes. (I did 5 minutes.) You can add salt, pepper, and/or other seasonings to the cooking onion-garlic mixture.
- Combine pork chops, onion, and garlic. Serve.

Baked Salmon with Dijon & Garlic

Since Publix had wild Alaskan Sockeye salmon on sale this week and since I also had a coupon for $2 off any Publix fresh seafood item, I googled "sockeye salmon recipe" and came up with this fast, easy, tasty recipe from Natasha's kitchen (http://natashaskitchen.com/2012/06/08/baked-salmon-with-garlic-and-dijon/). I was very happy with the results.

I used two 7-ounce fillets for the two of us, but I made the same amount of sauce specified in the recipe. I used it all on the two fillets.

Ingredients

1.5 lbs salmon (this was wild sockeye salmon)
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, finely chopped
2 large OR 3 small cloves of garlic, pressed
1.5 teaspoons Dijon mustard (grey poupon)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/8 cup mild olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Lemon slices (mostly for effect)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

 

2. Line a rimmed baking dish with foil. (Natasha wrote that she had not lined the dish and regretted it because she had to scrub the dish fiercely for a day and a half to get it clean. I followed her advice.)

3. In a small bowl, combine the chopped parsley, garlic, Dijon mustard, salt, pepper, olive oil and lemon juice. Mix well.

4. Cut salmon into even portions: I made 4 generous cuts of salmon. (I used only two cuts of salmon.) Lay them onto the lined baking dish skin side down.

5. Generously brush all sides of the salmon with the sauce and top with fresh lemon slices.

 6. Bake at 450 degrees F for 12-15 minutes or until just cooked through. Don’t over-cook or the fish will be dry. (I had two pieces of salmon - one thin and one thicker. I cooked the thin one for 12 minutes and the thicker one for 14 minutes. That worked fine.) 

Lobster Roll Sandwich Recipe - Delicious, but Can Be Expensive

Thanks to our daughter pointing out a nice and easy recipe, we had delicious lobster roll sandwiches last night. The recipe was from Real Simple magazine (http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/lobster-roll-00100000106298/index.html) Depending on the time of year, the lobster can be expensive.

The recipe serves 4. I scaled the amount of lobster and corn down to serve the three of us.

The recipe supposedly takes 20 minutes to prepare. It took me a bit longer, principally because the lobster did not come out of the shell as easily as I had hoped.

Ingredients

- 4 lobster tails (about 1&1/2 pounds total). The lobster tails I used were small and would not have produced that amount, so I calculated that this recipe calls for 6 ounces per person. It took six 3-oz tails.
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 cup fresh corn (from 1 ear) (The ear I bought yielded only 2/3 cup.)
- 2 stalks celery, sliced
- 1/3 cup mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- Kosher salt & black pepper
- 4 potato hot dog buns (Publix didn't have the potato hot dog buns, so I used their tasty hoagie rolls.)

Directions

1. Fill a large saucepan with 1 inch of water and insert a steamer basket. Bring the water to a simmer and place the lobster tails in the steamer basket. Cover the pan and steam until the lobster is opaque throughout - about 8 to 10 minutes. Remove the tails. Using kitchen shears, cut straight down the central membrane (the thin, paler pink portion on the inside of the tail) and pull apart to break the tail in half. Remove the meat from the shell immediately (to stop the cooking) and coarsely chop. Let cool.
2. Meanwhile, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the corn and cook, tossing, until tender - 2 to 4 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl and let cool. Reserve the skillet.
3. Into the bowl with the cooled corn, add the lobster, celery, mayonnaise, lemon juice, and 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Toss the ingredients to combine.
4. Brush the insides of the buns with the remaining two tablespoons of butter. Brown the buns, buttered side down, in the reserved skillet over medium heat until golden - 5 to 7 minutes.
5. Divide the lobster salad between the buns.

Another Nice Moroccan Chicken Recipe

In looking for a recipe to use some leftover dates with couscous and leftover rotisserie chicken from Publix, I found a nice Moroccan chicken and couscous recipe at food.com (http://www.food.com/recipe/moroccan-chicken-121929). It is easy to prepare - a total of about 40-50 minutes of prep and cooking time. It serves two. (I'm not sure how authentic it is, but it sure tastes good.)

I made a couple of changes:
- The recipe calls for a pound of cut up boneless chicken breast. I had about half a pound of mostly breast meat on a whole rotisserie chicken. The chicken was Bourbon Maple chicken. That flavoring was primarily on the skin, which I removed.
- The recipe called for two tablespoons of flour, but did not say how to use it, so I eliminated it. That did not seem to affect the terrific flavor. (I assume this was for dredging to better coat the chicken. I'll probably do it next time to see the difference.)
- the couscous called for 1& 1/4 cups water. I used 1 cup chicken broth (The RiceSelect brand Moroccan-style couscous I use calls for 1 cup of liquid per 1 cup of couscous.) The chicken broth adds flavor.

(The food.com article also included a salad recipe, which I did not use.)

Ingredients

a. For chicken

- 1 lb boneless chicken breast, cut up
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1 & 1/2 teaspoons cumin
- 1 teaspoon coriander
- 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, to taste (I used 1/8)
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 cup orange juice
- 3/4 cup chicken broth

b. For couscous

- 1&1/4 cups water (I used 1 cup chicken broth.)
- 1 cup couscous
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/4 cup chopped dates or 1/4 cup raisins (I imagine that other dried fruits like apricots or cranberries would work nicely.)
- 1 tablespoon capers

Directions

a. Chicken

- Combine chicken and all spices (I assume now that "all spices" includes the flour.)
- Heat the olive oil in a skillet and put in the chicken-spice mixture. (I used medium heat.) Cook 5 minutes, then transfer the chicken into a bowl.
- Pour the orange juice and 3/4 cup of chicken broth into the skillet.
- Let the sauce reduce.
- When it thickens, put the chicken back into the skillet and cook until done - 7 to 10 minutes.

b. Couscous

1. Put the liquid (water or broth), couscous, bay leaves, dried fruit, and capers into a saucepan, and bring to a boil. (I do this differently. I first put the liquid in the saucepan and bring it to a boil. Then I put in the other ingredients.)

2. When the saucepan ingredients reach the boiling point, remove the pan from the heat and cover. The couscous is done when all the liquid is absorbed. (If you do it my way, put in the other ingredients when the liquid reaches the boiling point. Then remove from heat and cover. Done this way, it takes about 4-5 minutes for the liquid to absorb.)

3. (Added by me) After the couscous is ready, fluff it with a fork and mix the ingredients well. Remove the bay leaves. You can now serve the chicken and couscous. Depending on your preferences, you can put the chicken on the couscous or alongside it.