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I have two favorite things this week...

1. Sockeye Salmon- Delicious and in season right now. Publix has it on sale for $9.99 lb. Also, if you need a great way to prepare it check out my post on Cedar Plank Sockeye Salmon

2. One of my new favorite places to eat these days is Delia's Chicken Sausage Stand located  at 489 Moreland Avenue, Atlanta, GA 30316.

 Its great for breakfast, lunch, dinner or late night dining (they stay open until 4am Fridays & Saturdays).  As someone who doesn't consume anything with four legs (i.e. beef, pork), I really appreciate a place that only serves chicken sausage. Not only do they serve chicken sausage, they make all of it  on site using Springer Mountain Farms organic chicken. I am a huge fan of their Sleazy Cheesy. Its a link of chicken sausage, kraut and their delicious Wild Heaven cheese sauce served on a Holeman & Finch hoagie roll. I don't know what is in that sauce but it is one of the best things I've ever eaten. Also, try their black bean chicken chili. Hey, it is chicken, you can indulge and not feel so badly about it. Right? ;-)

Sockeye Salmon & Cedar Planks

Gotta love sockeye salmon season! This wild-caught, full-flavored, rosy- pink salmon is one of my favorite summer time treats.  You can find this sustainable fish frozen all year long, but the price is much better when it is fresh, and seasonal. I got mine for $9.99 a pound at Publix this week. There are a zillion ways to prepare sockeye salmon, but on a cedar plank on the grill is my personal favorite. You can season it what ever way you prefer, but this fish has a lot of flavor doesn't need a lot of seasoning. Plus, you get lots of flavor from the cedar plank. This is an easy fish to cook, but because sockeye isn't the fattiest salmon,  one of the biggest mistakes you can make is over cooking it. Don't be scared though, it is delicious and the cedar plank helps a lot. Here is a recipe for my lemon-dill cedar plank salmon.

The most important thing you need to know is to make sure you soak the cedar plank(s) in water for a few hours (2 hours at the least) prior to putting it on the grill. Otherwise, your cedar plank will catch fire and burn up on the grill.

Cedar Plank Grilled Sockeye Salmon

Ingredients:

1  to 1 1/2 lb sockeye salmon fillets, skin on (ask for center cut fillets, you can use one large piece or two smaller fillets, up to you)

2-3 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 tsp ground pepper

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp chopped, fresh dill

1/2 lemon zest

1 tsp freshly, squeezed lemon juice

Directions:

1. Soak cedar planks in water for at least 2 hours

2. Meanwhile, rinse salmon fillets and pat dry. Feel each piece carefully for feather bones and remove any you find, carefully (needle nose pliers work perfectly, no need for fancy fish de-boning tools).

3. Drizzle olive oil over both sides of the salmon and place the salmon skin side down on large plate or dish (I used a Pyrex baking dish).

4. Sprinkle each fillet with pepper, salt, lemon zest and dill. Cover and refrigerate until ready to grill.

5. When ready to grill, heat grill to medium-low heat.  Place each fillet on cedar plank, skin side down. Squeeze fresh lemon juice over the top of each. 

6. Place cedar planks on the grill. Cover the grill and cook until cooked through, around 20 to 30 minutes. The internal temperature should read 135 degrees F. The fish should flake easily with a fork.

7. You can serve directly on the planks, but fish should slide of the plank easily, leaving the skin behind.

French Toast

When life gives you leftover challah bread, make French toast. This is exactly what I did. In my opinion, french toast is the perfect meal for breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner. It's easy and affordable. You really only need three major ingredients. Bread, milk and eggs (I can only assume people in Atlanta must survive on french toast when we have ice/snow storms). You can throw in some extra ingredients if you want to make it fancy, but they are optional. Here is my recipe for French toast.

Ingredients
6-8 slices of bread (preferably challah, but any will do)
3 large eggs
3/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon raw sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1-2 tablespoons butter

Bonus Ingredient: 1 tablespoon Gran Marnier(optional and you can sub orange juice)









Directions
1. In a large mixing bowl whisk eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla extract, cinnamon & Gran Marnier together until combined.

2. Slice 6-8 pieces of challah bread (about 1/2 in or 1 in thick, depending on how you like it)


3. Dip each piece of bread into the egg mixture. Coat completely and then place on a rack and let excess drip off. Repeat this process one more time.

4. Heat a large, nonstick skillet on medium heat. Add butter. When the butter starts to foam, add the bread 2 to 3 pieces at a time.  After about a minute or so, check to see if the other side is browning. When lightly brown, turn bread over and brown the other side. Once browned on both sides, remove from pan and repeat with the remaining slices of bread.

5. Serve with real maple syrup, fresh fruit, and/or powdered sugar.

"Challah" Back Girl!

Sorry! I can't resist a bad pun!
      I find myself stuck at home this Saturday morning. My husband's car is in the shop and he needed to use mine to get to work (yes, he works on a Saturday, everything about this post is not Kosher for Shabbat). The weather is unseasonably cool, so I got up early and went for a run. Came home. Ate breakfast. Took the dog out. Now what? So I got to thinking, I have a whole day to kill at home. What can I do that takes almost all day and I can only do from home? Bake bread! Duh!
    After the success of my bagels I was feeling ambitious and really wanted to attempt bread. Of course not just any bread. I have to keep with my Jewish homemaker theme and make challah bread. Challah bread is a traditional Jewish bread that is served with Shabbat dinner (the Sabbath). Jews making challah bread dates back more than 4,000 years where it is mentioned in the book of Leviticus & things pertaining to Moses. It is usually a braided loaf, but is a braided round on the high holidays. It can contain raisins but I've always preferred it plain with a shmear of butter. It is similar to brioche or any type of egg bread. Here is a bit more about this history of Challah if you are interested History of Challah. It's history could really warrent its own post.
It has been so hot here for the past week, I haven't wanted to turn on the oven, but with temperatures in the low 70s this morning, I figured now was as good a time as any. I came across this recipe for Challah Bread from my favorite food blog www.smittenkitchen.com.  Needless to say, if Jews are going to make it, they usually do it Friday before sundown (or buy it at Publix :) ) not Saturday morning. Anyway, it turned out delicious and even your average shiksa can do it!  Keep reading for the recipe I followed.

My Favorite Things

I know this is a common blog feature but I hope to share (weekly) my favorite things from the food world, whether it is a recipe, ingredient, kitchen gadget, restaurant dish, blog, cookbook, cooking show, etc.
 

This week is frozen, cooked shrimp that you find in your local grocery store (got mine at Publix on sale for $11.99 for a 24 oz bag)

It has been so hot here lately that the idea of turning on the oven or even stove are not appealing.  Frozen, cooked shrimp are also super easy. Just thaw under cold running water for 5-10 minutes and they are ready to eat on their own with some cocktail sauce or tossed in your favorite recipe like this one, Mexican Shrimp Cobb Salad, from www.skinnytaste.com.

Homemade Bagels! YUM!

I love bagels. A bagel with lox and cream cheese is probably my all time favorite breakfast/brunch item. I am fortunate to live close to not one, but two very good bagel places. However, I've always wanted to try to make them myself. I figured,
"How hard could it be? Make some dough, shape it, boil it, bake it." 
I wasn't that far off, but there are a few more steps and a lot of waiting for dough to rise and rest. Luckily, I had my trusty Kitchen-Aid stand mixer to help me along the way.
I used a recipe I found on a baking blog here  http://bakingbites.com/2007/06/homemade-bagels/ .  It takes you step by step through the process with great photos. I sprinkled sesame seeds over the top of mine before baking them, but you could make them plain or top with your favorite bagel toppings. You can click on the link above or you can follow my directions. The only ingredients I had to buy were bread flour and yeast, which was a total of $4.00. Though more labor intensive,  that makes this a lot cheaper then going to buy a dozen bagels.

Quinoa: The Sacred Food

What is quiona you ask? Umm, the greatest food ever! Quinoa looks like a grain but comes from a plant that is closely related to spinach. The Incas referred to it as "the sacred food". It is also has very high protein content and a balanced set of amino acids which makes it a complete protein source, this is not that common among plants.  Quinoa is also gluten-free and easy to digest... I could go on and on about the wonders and history of quinoa, but if you want to know more the Internet has a plethora of information you can read.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinoa

So how do you cook it? Pretty much the same way your would cook cous cous or rice.
2 parts liquid to 1 part quinoa and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, simmer, cover and stir until all the liquid has been absorbed and the quinoa is fluffy. It will have a slightly nutty taste and bit of a crunch too it.
You can serve it hot or cold and season it however you like.  Here is something I did with it recently. Follow the jump for my Mediterranean Quinoa Salad recipe.