Back In The Kitchen

I've been cooking again! Yeah! I love cooking! I hate cleaning up, that is something for another day.

I was inspired by the winner of The Next Food Network Star this week because she made one of my favorite foods...salmon patties...on her show $10 for Dinner. She made 12 patties from I can of salmon.

I am a strong proponent of canned salmon because it is still wild salmon. And very inexpensive to cook.

Melissa with the french last name added things to her salmon that I had never tried. She used baked potato for a filler and added mayo. I generally use saltines for filler and I've never used mayo. And I like to throw in a little dill, but instead she added bacon. And she added parmesan to the bread crumbs.

So I tried it her way. The potato and mayo made for a much lighter pattie, but I missed the intense flavor of the salmon. (It was great, however, for re-warming the next day, the scent of fish did not permeate the building). The bacon was pretty much wasted. I think the next time I make salmon patties, I'll add the mayo and maybe the potato, but will return to adding dill. But the parm in the bread crumbs I will definitely give two thumbs up!

As if the salmon patties weren't decadent enough, I fried a pan of okra to go with the salmon and mixed up a little cole slaw.

Perfect Fried Okra

2 c sliced okra
1/2 c white corn meal
1/4 c vegetable oil
1/4 tsp salt

Place okra in a bowl and toss with corn meal and salt. Place half the oil in an iron skillet on medium high heat. When oil is hot, add half the okra. Stir often to keep the okra from burning. Place on paper towel lined dish when golden brown. Repeat. Salt while hot from skillet.

I could eat this stuff like popcorn!

You can see Melissa's recipe here.

Back In the Saddle (for now)

I really haven't felt good in a long while. Nothing drastic, just an overall malaise. But yesterday, I felt good. Not just good, I felt great! Work was good. I came home to a clean house. I got a little kitty lovin' and read for a while before I decided to cook. It seems like soooo long since I last cooked myself dinner.

Unfortunately, I had to scrounge around for something good to eat. I found a can of salmon so I decided to make salmon patties. I made some bread crumbs and mixed those in with the salmon, chopped a shallot and tossed it in with some fresh dill and an egg.

While the oil was heating in my iron skillet, I tossed some asparagus in EVOO and spread it on a baking dish before sprinkling it with coarse sea salt and fresh ground pepper. I placed it in a 425* oven while I fried my salmon. I drizzled it with balsamic vinegar before serving.

Now my house smells of salmon, but that's okay. Imagine how popular I will be when I go to warm up left-overs in the break room for lunch!