Hoisin Glazed Salmon

When I first started living on my own decades ago, and cooking for myself, I would buy some fresh fish at the market, put it in the fridge, cook it several days later, and wonder why it never tasted as good as my mother’s. The reason? It was no longer fresh! Now, having been duly trained by my notoriously picky seafood-loving father and my fisherman friends, I cook fresh fish the day I buy it. Not only that, but I buy the freshest looking fish at the counter, nothing tired, dull, or remotely fishy smelling. This often means a trip to the store looking for one type of fish, and returning home with another, because the halibut just didn’t look good that day but the petrale sole glistened. These salmon fillets were the most gorgeous fillets on ice at the market the other day, and the result of the quick broil with a hoisin glaze? Transcendent. 

INGREDIENTS

• 2 Tbsp hoisin sauce
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp lime juice (can sub rice vinegar)
• 1-2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 large garlic clove, smashed and minced
• 4 6-ounce salmon fillets
• Vegetable oil, for greasing the broiler pan

METHOD

1 Mix the hoisin sauce, soy sauce, lime juice, sugar, and garlic together in a bowl. Taste and adjust to your taste (more lime juice if too sweet, more sugar if too acidic). Coat the salmon pieces in the marinade and chill for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

2 Set the rack in your broiler to about 6 inches underneath the heating element. Turn on the broiler.  Lightly grease a foil-lined broiling pan with vegetable oil. Arrange the salmon pieces skin side down (if your fillets still have skin on one side) on the pan and paint with a little more of the marinade. Broil until done, about 5-10 minutes, depending on the thickness of the salmon fillets and the heat of your broiler.

Serve with steamed rice. Asparagus or Asian Coleslaw would work well as side dishes for this salmon.

Angel Hair Pasta with Garlic, Herbs, and Parmesan

When I was a college student living on my own years ago, one of my go-to quick dishes was spaghetti noodles stirred in with a little olive oil, Parmesan cheese, and rosemary. It’s still a favorite comforting side dish, though I’ve fancied it up a notch with the use of angel hair pasta (so quick!), more herbs than just rosemary, sliced garlic, some red pepper flakes, and lots of freshly ground black pepper. In this recipe we are using rosemary, oregano, and thyme, sturdy herbs that grow year round outside my kitchen window. You could easily use other herbs. If you use more delicate herbs like tarragon or basil, I would recommend not heating them in the oil, but tossing them in at the end with the Parmesan cheese.

INGREDIENTS

• 8 ounces angel hair pasta
• Salt
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh herbs such as rosemary, thyme, oregano
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 3 cloves of garlic, sliced
• 1/8 teaspoon chili pepper flakes (or more to taste)
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper (to taste)
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

METHOD

1 Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. (1 Tbsp salt for every 2 quarts of water).

2 While the water is heating in step 1, heat the olive oil in a small saucepan on medium heat.  Add the sliced garlic, chili pepper flakes, finely chopped herbs, and chopped parsley to the oil.  Cook for one minute or until the parsley has wilted and the garlic is emitting a strong fragrance.  Remove from heat.

3 The angel hair past will cook in about 2 minutes once it starts, so get everything ready. Once the water is at a rolling boil, add the pasta.  Cook at a rolling boil until al dente. Drain the pasta and rinse briefly with cold water, just enough to stop the cooking, but not so much as to make the pasta cold. The pasta should still be quite warm.

4 Place pasta in a large bowl. Pour herbed garlic sauce over the pasta and gently toss to combine. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese  and freshly ground black pepper over the pasta and gently toss to combine.

Serve immediately as a side dish. Reheats well if you make ahead.

Fudgy Oatmeal Cups

2 eggs
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups packed brown sugar
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
3 Tbsp butter
3 cups quick cooking oats
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
2 Tbsp vanilla extract, divided


Preheat oven to 350 degrees (temperature should be set at 320 degrees if using darker pans). Lightly grease a 2-24 count mini muffin pans.

In a large bowl, beat together brown sugar and 1 cup butter until fluffy. Mix in 1 tablespoon vanilla and eggs. In another bowl, combine flour, oats, 1 teaspoon salt and baking soda; stir into butter mixture. Stir in 1 cup of mini chocolate chips. Set aside.

In a medium saucepan, heat sweetened condensed milk, 3 tablespoons butter, chocolate chips, and 1/2 teaspoon salt over low heat, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat. Stir in 1 tablespoon vanilla.

Using a small cookie scoop place dough into muffin tins filling the cup 1/2 way to the top. Spread 1 tsp of the chocolate mixture evenly over the top of each cup and dot each cup with the remaining oat mixture.

Bake for 10 minutes in preheated oven.
Let cool completely, then remove from pans.
Removing them can be tricky, just wait until them cool down and use a knife to ease up the edges. The BEST part about baking them in the muffin tins is the cooling time is SO fast compared to baking this recipe in a 9X13 pan which can take hours to cool completely!