Honey-Mustard-Glazed Salmon Steaks (or Fillets)

Recipe from Food & Wine Magazine/Contributed by Jamie Bissonnette

Husband-Tested in Alice’s Kitchen

This marinade/sauce is soooo mouth-watering  scrumptious!  You can also spread the sauce/marinade on chicken wings or pork chops before grilling.

¼ cup Dijon mustard

¼ cup whole-grain mustard

¼ cup honey

2 Tablespoons soy sauce

1 garlic clove, minced

1 ½ teaspoons finely chopped thyme or dried thyme

Four 6-ounce skinless salmon fillets or 6- to 8-ounce salmon steaks or fillets (about 3/4 inch thick)

Canola oil, for brushing

Kosher salt

Freshly ground pepper

In a medium bowl, whisk the mustards with the honey, soy sauce, garlic and thyme.

Light a grill or preheat a grill pan and oil the grate or pan. Brush the salmon fillets with oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill the salmon fillets skinned side down over moderate heat for about 3 minutes. Turn and grill about 3 minutes longer, until the salmon is nearly cooked through. Generously brush both sides of the salmon with the honey mustard and grill, turning frequently, until richly glazed, about 1 minute. (For salmon steaks, grill over moderately high heat, turning once, for 4 to 5 minutes, then brush with the honey mustard, turning frequently, for 1 minute.) Transfer to a platter or plates and serve, passing the remaining honey mustard at the table.

Make Ahead

The honey mustard can be refrigerated overnight.

Creamy Braised Parsnips with Sage

Serves 4-6

Recipe from Everyday Food

Husband-Tested in Alice’s Kitchen

Why not change it up a bit and serve parsnips as a side dish? Parsnips are loaded with fiber and vitamin C. A single parsnip provides 6 grams!  This is an easy dish to make and quite tasty too.  Also, try Baked Rosemary Parsnip Fries. Parsnips are a great addition to soups and stews too.  Parsnips are now available at Lost River Market & Deli.  Don't know how to recognize or prep a parsnip?  Don't worry.  Just check out the photos below the recipe.

2 teaspoons olive oil

1½ pounds parsnips, peeled and cut into 1/2-by-2-inch pieces

1½ cups chicken broth or vegetable broth

2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage or 1 teaspoon dried sage or thyme.

2 Tablespoons heavy cream

Kosher salt & freshly ground pepper

In a large straight-sided skillet, heat oil over medium-high. Add parsnips and sauté until lightly browned, 4 minutes. Add broth and sage and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and cook until tender, 8 minutes. Uncover, increase heat to high, and cook until the liquid is reduced by half. Stir in cream and season with salt and pepper.

A parsnip looks like plump cream colored carrot.  It is a root vegetable and available in the fall.  Store parsnips in a plastic bag (like you would carrots) in the crisper drawer of the refrigerator.

To prepare parsnips, just use a peeler and peel off the outer skin.  Trim off the bottom and top, as you would a carrot.

Whole Chicken in the Slow Cooker

Recipe from  http://www.100daysofrealfood.com

Husband-Tested in Alice’s Kitchen

Serves 4-6

For those who love the slow cooker, this is an easy and tasty way to cook a whole chicken.  The meat will be fork tender, perfect for eating as is with a sauce or to use for soups, salads or casseroles. 

INGREDIENTS

2 teaspoons paprika

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon thyme

½ teaspoon garlic powder (I used 1 whole garlic clove, minced.)

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

¼ teaspoon black pepper

1 onion

1 large chicken (2 ½ to 4 pounds)

2 Tablespoons flour (for sauce)

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

This is all you'll need to make a tender, flavorful chicken.

INSTRUCTIONS

Combine the dried spices in a small bowl.  

Make an extra batch of spices for another time.

Loosely chop the onion and place it in the bottom of the slow cooker. Remove any giblets from the chicken and then rub the spice mixture all over. You can even put some of the spices inside the cavity and under the skin covering the breasts. Put prepared chicken on top of the onions in the slow cooker and cover it.  

Turn the slow cooker on high. There is no need to add any liquid. Cook on high for 4 – 5 hours (for a 3 or 4 pound chicken) or until the chicken is falling off the bone.   

Carefully put the chicken on a platter and then make the sauce. To make a sauce, remove the onions from the slow cooker with a slotted spoon.  Set aside to eat or discard.  Pour the liquid into a gravy separator.  Let the fat rise to the top.  

Carefully spoon out 2 Tablespoons of the fat and put in a saucepan over medium heat.  Sprinkle the fat with 2 Tablespoons flour. Whisk to blend.  Cook, whisking, for about 1 minute.  Slowly pour the drippings (not the fat) into the saucepan, whisking all the while.  Cook until the sauce thickens a bit.  Add kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste.  Serve with the chicken.  

Note:  If you don’t have a gravy separator, pour the liquid in a large glass jar and use a turkey baster to suck out the drippings from the bottom of the jar until the fat is all that’s left in the jar.

Here is the chicken and sauce served with Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes, lima beans and a simple salad.  Yum!!

Grilled Jerk Chicken

8 Servings

Recipe from Gourmet via Epicurious.com

Husband-Tested in Alice’s Kitchen

A friend of ours had just returned from Jamaica.  He said that one of the highlights of his trip was the incredible food.  This inspired me to do a search for a great jerk marinade.  The ingredient list is a long one, but this is deceptive.  It didn’t take much time at all to make in the food processor.  Once that’s done, place the meat in the marinade for a time and then fire up the grill.  You’ll end up with succulent morsels worthy of company. (If you are concerned about guests not being able to take the heat, use jalapeno peppers and removed the seeds and membranes.) I tried this with skinless, boneless chicken breasts, but the meat came out too dry.  The chicken pieces that I used that were bone-in, skin-on came out juicy and tender!

For jerk marinade:

3 scallions, chopped

4 large garlic cloves, chopped

1 small onion, chopped

4 to 5 fresh Scotch bonnet or habanero chili, stemmed and seeded (I used jalapeno because they were local and available.)

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

2 tablespoons soy sauce

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 1/2 tablespoons salt

1 Tablespoon packed brown sugar

1 Tablespoon fresh thyme leaves or 1 heaping teaspoon of dried thyme

2 teaspoons ground allspice

2 teaspoons black pepper

3/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

For chicken:

6 pounds chicken breast halves, thighs and/or drumsticks with skin and bones (Cut the breast halves in half crosswise.)

Make marinade: 
Blend all marinade ingredients in a blender until smooth.

Marinate and grill chicken: 
Place chicken pieces and marinade in a sealable plastic bag. Seal bag, pressing out excess air, then turn bag over several times to distribute marinade. Put bag of chicken in a shallow pan and marinate, chilled, turning once or twice, 1 day.

Let chicken stand at room temperature 1 hour before cooking.

To cook chicken using a charcoal grill: 
Open vents on bottom of grill and on lid. Light a large chimney of charcoal briquettes (about 100) and pour them evenly over 1 side of bottom rack (you will have a double or triple layer of charcoal).

When charcoal turns grayish white and you can hold your hand 5 inches above rack for 3 to 4 seconds, sear chicken in batches on lightly oiled rack over coals until well browned on all sides, about 3 minutes per batch. Move chicken as seared to side of grill with no coals underneath, then cook, covered with lid, until cooked through, 25 to 30 minutes more.

To cook chicken using a gas grill: 
Preheat burners on high and then adjust heat to moderate. Cook chicken until well browned on all sides, 15 to 20 minutes. Adjust heat to low and cook chicken, covered with lid, until cooked through, about 25 minutes more.

Serve chicken with salsa.

Cooks' note:

If you can't grill, you can roast chicken in 2 large shallow (1-inch-deep) baking pans in upper and lower thirds of a 400°F oven, switching position of pans halfway through roasting, 40 to 45 minutes total.