My mom used to make these a lot for us when I was growing up. They’re good, crunchy little salmon patties mixed with egg and flour and fried. I loved them with lots of ketchup – and mashed potatoes on the side was a must (and still is!)! I hadn’t had these in years, but finally decided to try my hand at making them for my hubby (he loves fish sticks, so I knew he’d go nuts for these!). They’re so simple to make – all you need is a can of salmon and the rest, you probably already have in your kitchen. I was so pleased with how these turned out – hubby loved them, and I know I’ll be making them a lot in the future!
Salmon Croquettes
1 15oz can pink salmon
1 egg
1 heaping tsp baking powder
1/2 c flour
chopped onion and garlic powder (optional. I used garlic powder and onion powder)
oil for frying
Heat a few tablespoons of vegetable oil in a large skillet. Reserve 1/4 c salmon juice in a measuring cup and set aside. Place salmon in bowl, add egg and mix well. Add flour, mixing thoroughly. Batter will be thick. Add baking powder in the salmon juice and beat with a fork until foam forms; measuring cup should be about 3/4 full (if it doesn’t foam, baking powder is old). Pour into salmon mixture and mix well. Form into small patties and drop into frying pan 4 at a time. Cook until golden brown on each side (only a couple of minutes per side). Let drain on paper towls. Serve hot with ketchup.
It seems like I’ve been making so much ice cream lately, I’ve got it coming out of my ears! Not that I mind, really…what better time than Summertime to have fun making all kinds of delicious homemade ice creams?! This time around it’s Dorie’s plain Vanilla – thick, smooth and creamy. I’ve been saving it for my mother and sister’s visit this week (it’s my sister’s birthday today!! Happy Birthday, big sister!!), so hopefully we can all dig in tonight after cake! I did manage to sneak a taste while I was taking pictures, and wowee – this is some tasty ice cream!! And believe me, it’s anything but plain! I put in a tiny little splash of Grand Marnier, and I think that really gave it a nice, rich flavor to compliment the vanilla. I think my mom and sister will really enjoy this!!
This weeks’ choice is brought to you by Lynne of Cafe LynnyLu – go check out her fantastic looking recipes and photos; while you’re at it, be sure and get the recipe for this delicious ice cream!
And, as I said a few days back, get ready for some new and exciting things here at Sing For Your Supper! Hopefully it will all come together soon!! Yipppee!!
I actually made these scones months ago….these pictures have been sitting in my “to blog” file for ages now. I don’t know why I’ve waited until now to finally post them; I guess I just didn’t notice them or something. Silly me! This recipe comes from Katie over at Good Things Catered, and since she posted them (probably over a year ago) it seems like everyone has made them (she has that affect on people!). Yes, this is the same Katie from whom I got the famous “Easy Cheesy Beer Bread” – she’s good, I’m telling you!
These scones are full of fresh, juicy strawberries (thus their name, “Juicy Strawberry Scones”) and not overly sweet, so they’re perfect for breakfast or brunch with your coffee. I loved them smeared with melty butter as a late night snack! I even sent some to my hometown for my Great Grandmother, Baba to try, and she loved them! She really enjoys things like that, so I was thrilled when I heard back that she really enjoyed them. Give these a try for your next breakfast party, or even just a plain ‘ol Saturday morning…they’re perfect for any occasion!
Juicy Strawberry Scones
-Good Things Catered
2 1/4 – 2 1/2 c. all purpose flour (depending on how ripe your strawberries are)
1/4 c. granulated sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick (8 Tbsp) butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
1 egg
1/4 c. yogurt
1/4 c. milk
2 tsp orange zest
1 c. fresh strawberries, diced
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line baking sheet with parchment.
In small bowl, combine egg, yogurt, milk, zest, whisk to combine thoroughly and set aside. In large bowl combine flour, sugar, powder, salt, and whisk to combine. Using pastry cutter or two knives, cut butter into flour until all pieces are smaller than pea-sized.
Add strawberries, and toss to coat. Add wet ingredients to dry and mix in lightly with fork until dough just comes together.
Turn dough out onto well floured work surface and pat into large ball. Cut dough in half. Shape half of dough into flat disk shape and cut into 8 slices.
Place on baking sheet and repeat with other half of dough. Sprinkle tops of scones with sugar and place in the oven.
Bake until turn slightly brown, about 25 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool on baking sheet for 10 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool (or eat right away!) Enjoy!
Mmm, lime sherbet…everybody loves it; it’s pretty, it’s refreshing, it’s delicious. But I never ate it as a kid; for years I thought I wasn’t allowed. How silly is that? It started when I was a little girl (I don’t know how old – probably somewhere around 6-8ish) and my grandmother (Nana), my sister and I were at our favorite ice cream shop. I was eyeing the pretty, bright green lime sherbet – it looked so good! I really wanted a big scoop, unfortunately, I had on a brand new dress, and Nana knew I’d end up with bright green sherbet all over it. So, she urged me to pick another flavor of ice cream instead. For whatever reason, since then, I always thought there was something wrong with the lime sherbet and that I shouldn’t eat it (I was a very gullable child…). It took years before I even tried it! Finally, once I did, I loved it! So tart and creamy!
So, the other day, I found myself with a few leftover limes and decided lime sherbet would be the perfect way to use them up! I used David Lebovitz’s recipe for Lemon Sherbet, using limes instead, and it turned out great! I’m really enjoying his book, The Perfect Scoop – it’s so great to have in the summertime! In case you’re wondering why my sherbet is green, I added a few drops of green food coloring, just so it would look like the pretty lime sherbet I saw in the ice cream shop that time! I love the color!!
Lime Sherbet
-David Lebovitz – The Perfect Scoop
3 cups whole milk
3/4 cup sugar
1 lime, preferably unsprayed
6 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice (from 2 to 3 limes)
In a medium, nonreactive saucepan, mix 1 cup of the milk with the sugar. Grate the zest of the lime directly into the saucepan. Heat, stirring frequently, until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat and add the remaining 2 cups milk, then chill thoroughly in the refrigerator.
Stir the lime juice into the milk mixture. If it curdles a bit, whisk it vigorously to make it smooth again. Freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Makes about 1 quart (1 liter).
This was so refreshing and delicious. And loved that it’s so much lighter than ice cream, so I feel a little less guilty eating it. A perfect summer treat!
This was by far, one of the stranger recipes I’ve made so far with TWD. A Raspberry Blanc-Manger, chosen by Susan of Sticky, Gooey, Creamy, Chewy (who is a fellow musician, by the way! Woot, woot!). You’re probably wondering what the heck a blanc-manger is…I know I sure was! Basically, it’s sort of a creamy jell-o, if you will….Panna Cotta meets flan…sort of. Honestly, it was just weird to me. Ground almonds, milk, whipped cream, gelatin and fresh raspberries get mixed together and chilled for a few hours, then topped with rasperry coulis. Sounds good, right?
I was very tempted to just skip this week, as I wasn’t really in the mood for anything that sounded all French and snooty-like, but I’ve been a little neglectful of my TWD duties lately, so I decided to give it a go. This probably shouldn’t have been as complicated and time-consuming as I made it…but for whatever reason, it was. And I couldn’t really get over the fact that the whole time I kept tasting it…it reminded me of Cream of Wheat (you know, the hot breakfast cereal?). I guess it was the ground almonds in there with the cream and milk – it just tasted…breakfasty. Still, once I added the raspberries, let it set in the fridge, and topped it with a really delicious raspberry coulis (I threw in a splash or two of Chambord liquer…yum!), it tasted pretty good.
I loved the light, airy texture of it – that part was fantastic. It felt really fancy – this would probably really impress company. I probably won’t make this again – just not my cup of tea, I guess. However, as always, I’m still really glad I tried it…plus, I like saying the name. Blah-mah-jay! Fun. As always, if you’d like the recipe, head on over to Susan’s blog. She’ll have it posted.
These are the steaks I mentioned a couple of days ago (one blog post below) that I made for my hubby last week. I have to say, I was a wee bit (ok more than a wee bit) proud of myself for finally (and successfully!) cooking steaks! I know – what kind of cook doesn’t know how to make a good steak, right? For some reason I had always thought steaks would be too finicky for me to handle – I just knew I’d overcook them or set my kitchen on fire or something else awful. BUT – these were surprisingly super duper easy! Once again, Ina Garten comes to my rescue and makes things that once looked challenging totally approachable for me. Love her! Her recipe is for Filet Minon, but I had some great looking Ribeyes that I wanted to use instead – they worked just fine!
I decided to top the steaks with a mushroom cream sauce – I love mushrooms on my steak, so I thought this sauce would be really good on top – sure enough, it was deeeeelicious! Hubby absolutely loved the whole meal and I was quite surprised at how delicious it turned out (especially since it was so easy!!). Toot, toot tooooot! (That’s me tooting my own horn, if you can’t tell…).
Steakhouse Steaks
-Barefoot Contessa
2 (10-ounce) filet mignon (or in my case, Ribeye steaks)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon coarsely cracked black peppercorns
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature, optional
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Heat a large, well-seasoned cast iron skillet over high heat until very hot, 5 to 7 minutes.
Brush the steaks with the vegetable oil on each side and season with salt and pepper.
When the skillet is ready, add the steaks and sear them evenly on both sides for about 1 1/2 minutes per side.
Top each steak with a tablespoon of butter, if using, and place the skillet in the oven. Cook the steaks until they reach 120 degrees F for rare or 125 degrees F for medium-rare on an instant-read thermometer. (To test the steaks, insert the thermometer sideways to be sure you’re actually testing the middle of the steak.)
Remove the steaks to a serving platter, cover tightly with aluminum foil and allow to rest at room temperature for 10 minutes. Top with mushroom cream sauce (recipe below) and serve. Enjoy!
Mushroom Cream sauce
-Adapted from Barefoot Contessa
2 pounds baby Portobello mushrooms
1/2 cup good olive oil
1 shallot, chopped
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup heavy cream (you could also use half and half)
1 tablespoon dry red wine
Brush the caps of each mushroom with a clean sponge. Remove and discard the stems. Slice the small mushrooms thickly and cut the large ones in a large dice.
Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven or saucepan. Add the shallots and cook over low heat for 5 minutes, or until the shallots are translucent. Add the butter, mushrooms, salt, and pepper and cook over medium heat for 8 minutes, until they are tender and begin to release their juices, stirring often. Stir in the Worcestershire sauce, red wine and cream and cook for 2 more minutes. Serve warm over steaks.
This turned out to be one of the best meals I’ve made in a long time – hubby kept going on and on about how good it all tasted. I always feel so good when I put a good dinner on the table for my hard-working hubby – especially when he really loves it! I know this recipe will be in my recipe box from now on…it’s definitely a keeper!
OH! – and, be on the lookout….something new and exciting is in the works here at Sing For Your Supper!! I can’t wait!……………
Poor hubby has had a hard week. So last night I wanted to make him a nice, relaxing, delicious dinner that would hopefully let him forget his troubles for a while. That’s just what I did; pan-seared Ribeye steaks with a mushroom cream sauce, baked potatoes, gelato (all coming soon!) and this salad – it was a wonderful meal and a wonderful evening!
There is an Italian restaurant we like to go to that has the best house salad dressing; they make it with fresh tomatoes and it’s totally delicious. I’ve been meaning to try and recreate it at home so we can enjoy it anytime. So of course when I saw this recipe on Kayotic Kitchen, I knew I had to try it. While this recipe was great – it wasn’t quite like the restaurant style we love so much- pretty close, though. However, it’s good to have this recipe on hand – it’s delicious!!
Fresh Tomato Salad Dressing
-Kayotic Kitchen
3 Roma tomatoes
1 garlic clove
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
4 tbsp oil
pepper
salt
I put all ingredients in a blender and pureed it until smooth. Taste for seasoning and refrigerate until needed.
This was a great salad – it was a nice change of pace from regular ranch dressing and we both loved it! I think hubby enjoyed his meal tremendously…I know I did!
Back around Father’s Day, I wanted to make cookies for our dads, but I wanted something new and different. I love trying different flavor combinations and coming up with recipes that turn into new favorites. This idea came to me when I was lying in bed one night and couldn’t sleep – I started thinking about cookies and somehow apricots, white chocolate and coconut kept popping up. I knew both of our dads (and my mom, too) love white chocolate and coconut, and I thought chewy, dried apricots would be a nice compliment – so the next day, I got in my kitchen and these cookies were born!
I thought I was pretty lucky for my first time out – these really turned out exactly how I wanted them to; perfectly chewy and soft, but with lots of texture, a little tanginess from the apricots and lots of sweetness from the white chocolate chips. Both of our parents loved them (as well as my dog, who, while we were in the next room, decided to jump up on my dining room table and scarf down as many of these as she could before getting caught!)! The only thing I might do differently next time would be a little lemon zest to really bring out the apricots – other than that, I won’t change a thing. I decided to name these “The Amelia”, because, well, that’s me – plus, I really couldn’t think of anything clever. Maybe I’ll just start a whole line of named cookies – from now on, I could give each new cookie I create a person’s name to go with it – just so I can keep them all straight, you know? I love trying out and creating new and exciting cookie recipes – the possibilities are endless and on top of that, it’s so much fun! Plus, I always have plenty of willing guinea pigs – ready to try anything I throw at them!
The Amelia (Apricot, Coconut and White Chocolate Cookies)
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened is fine)
6 ounces white chocolate chips
1 cup dried apricots, chopped
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugars on medium speed until smooth. Add the eggs, almond extract, and vanilla extract and blend. In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking soda and salt and slowly add to the butter/sugar mixture. Stir in the coconut, white chocolate and apricots.
Drop by rounded spoonfuls on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake until cookies are golden brown – about 15 minutes. Makes approximately 30 cookies. Enjoy!!
Believe it or not, I had never had blueberry pie until I made this one a couple of weeks ago! Weird, isn’t it? Blueberry pie is just one of those All-American type desserts, I think – it sounds so summery and delicious. I had tons of juicy, fresh blueberries from the farmers market and decided a double-crusted blueberry pie would be the most perfect way to use them!
I decided to use Dorie Greenspan’s recipe for both the pie filling and the crust – her pie crust is to die for! However, after following her recipe exactly, my pie still (as always, it seems) turned out very runny and soupy! I emailed Dorie about it and she replied (how cool is that?!), suggesting adding a little extra cornstarch if needed, but usually, you can never know how much juice your berries will give off, so there’s no way to prepare for a runny pie. I could care less about the runny pie now….I got an email from Dorie and that’s all that matters!!
Double Crusted Blueberry Pie
-Dorie Greenspan
Double Crust pie dough, chilled (recipe below)
2 1/2 pints fresh blueberries
1 cup of sugar, or a little more, to taste, plus more for dusting
1/2 cup all purpose flour
Pinch of salt
Coarsely grated zest of 1/2 lemon
Squirt of fresh lemon juice, or a little more, to taste
1/4 cup dry bread crumbs (you can use packaged unseasoned crumbs)
1 large egg, beaten with 1 tsp of water, for egg wash
Sugar, for dusting
Butter a 9-inch pie plate (Dorie uses a standard Pyrex pie plate).
Working on a well-floured surface (or between wax paper or plastic wrap), roll out one piece of the dough to a thickness of about 1/8 – inch. Fit the dough onto the buttered pie plate and trim the edges to a ½ inch overhang. Roll the other piece of dough into a 1/8 inch thick circle and place it on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat. Cover both the circle and the pie plate with plastic wrap and refrigerate while you pre-heat the oven and prepare the filling.
Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees F.
Put the berries in a large bowl and gently stir in the sugar, flour, salt, zest and juice; let sit for about 5 minutes. Taste the filling and add more sugar and/or lemon juice, if needed.
Remove the pie shell and top crust from the refrigerator. Sprinkle an even layer of the breadcrumbs over the bottom of the shell. Give the filling a last stir and turn it into the crust.
Using your fingertips, moisten the rim of the bottom crust with a little cold water. Center the top crust over the filling and gently press the top crust against the bottom. Either fold the overhang from the top crust under the bottom crust and crimp the edges attractively or press the top crust against the bottom crust and trim the overhang from both crusts even with the rim of the pie plate. If you’ve pressed and trimmed the crust, use the tines of a fork to press the two crusts together securely. Using a small, sharp knife, cut 4 slits in the top crust crust and cut a circle out of the center, then lift the plate onto the baking sheet. (If you have time, refrigerate the pie for about 30 minutes. The pie can also be wrapped airtight and frozen for up to 2 months. Glaze and sugar it before you put it in the over and add at least 15 minutes to the baking time).
Brush the top crust with the egg wash, then sprinkle the crust with a little sugar, just to give it sparkle.
Bake the pie for 30 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees F, and bake the pie for another 30 minutes or so (total baking time is about an hour) or until the crust is a beautiful golden brown and the filling is bubbling up through the slits. If the crust seems to be browning too quickly, make a loose foil tent for the pie.
Transfer the pie to a rack and let it cool and settle for at least 30 minutes before serving.
Good for Almost Everything Pie Dough
For a 9 inch Double Crust
3 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 sticks very cold unsalted butter, cut into tbsp size pieces
1/3 cup very cold vegetable shortening, cut into 4 pieces
About 1/2 cup ice water
Put the flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor fitted with a metal blade, pulse just to combine the ingredients. Drop in the butter and shortening and pulse only until the butter and shortening are cut into the flour. Don’t overdo the mixing- what you’re aiming for is to have some pieces the size of fat green peas and others the size of barley. Pulsing the machine on and off, gradually add about 6 tbsps of the water- add a little water and pulse once, add some more water, pulse again and keep going that way. Then use a few long pulses to get the water into the flour. If, after a dozen or so pulses, the dough doesn’t look evenly moistened or form soft curds, pulse in as much of the remaining water as necessary, or even a few drops more, to get a dough that will stick together when pinched. Big pieces of butter are fine. Scrape the dough out of the bowl and onto a work surface.
Divide the dough in half. Gather each half into a ball, flatten each ball into a disk and wrap each half in plastic. Refrigerate the dough for at least 1 hour before rolling (if your ingredients were very cold and you worked quickly, though, you might be able to roll the dough immediately: the dough should be as cold as if it had just come out of the fridge).
To Roll Out the Dough: Have a buttered 9 inch pie plate at hand.
You can roll the dough out onto a floured surface or between sheets of wax paper or plastic wrap or in a rolling slipcover. If you’re working on a counter, turn the dough over frequently and keep the counter floured. If you are rolling between paper, plastic or in a slipcover, make sure to turn the dough over often and to life the paper, plastic, or cover frequently so that it doesn’t roll into the dough and form creases.
If you’ve got time, slide the rolled out dough into the fridge for about 20 minutes to rest and firm up.
This was sooooo good! We especially loved it with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream on top! I think I’ll probably be making this every summer from now on – it just doesn’t seem like summer without a blueberry pie!
No, I’m not speaking some strange, made-up language…Bum Goolie is a type of food! It’s light, it’s tart, it’s refreshing…it’s totally delicious! But what is it, you’re probably wondering…
I guess you could say it’s a type of salad. It’s been in my family for years ever since my Aunt Bunny gave my Nana the recipe. We have no idea what the heck “bum goolie” means, but hey, it tastes good and that’s all that matters. It’s sort of a salad of pickled tomatoes, banana peppers and onions – that’s the best way I can describe it. It’s absolutely delicious in the summer when tomatoes and banana peppers are in season and the weather is hot- it’s very refreshing. I love to stock up on tomatoes and peppers at the Farmer’s Market and make a big batch – it goes great with pretty much every meal.
Here’s how I make it:
Bum Goolie
6-8 long, fresh banana peppers, seeded and chopped into bite-size chunks
3-4 tomatoes, seeded, cut into chunks
1/2 a yellow onion, cut into chunks
1/2 – 3/4 cup white vinegar (depending on how tart you like it – add as much or as little as you like. I like mine pretty tart, so I’d probably use a little more than this)
1/2 water
1 teaspoon sugar (or more if you like it a little sweeter)
salt and pepper to taste
Mix all ingredients in a large bowl (it will be very liquidy – you’ll need a slotted spoon when you go to serve it); cover and refrigerate for at least 2-3 hours. Overnight is best.
I know it looks and sounds weird, but trust me, it’s delicious. I just love it in the hot summertime! Enjoy!
