Recipe Review from 11/25/2019

Uff. What a week. Head cold. Snowstorm one on Wednesday. Thanksgiving activities.  Quick fit in the grocery shopping and sub a yoga class.  Snowstorm two on Saturday and Sunday was instant winter with something like 15" of snow at once.

I didn't host Thanksgiving, but brought the sides: a basic dressing, squash, cranberry relish, and the base for gravy. Taking a note from Sarah Molton's Thanksgiving day recommendations: make everything ahead and then pop into the oven while the turkey rests. Worked like a charm! Totally doing that again, made festivities so much smoother and relaxing for all involved.

The Meal Plan:
Sat (L) out (S) Stirfry tofu and mushrooms
Sun (L) leftover stirfry (S) Salmon with spicy cranberry sauce
Mon (yoga/book group/legion) leftover salmon
Tues (yoga) salmon cakes leftover salmon

Wed - salmon cakes pasty
Thurs - Thanksgiving!
Fri (errands/yoga at noon/Hockey game pm) (l) Leftovers (S) out

lunches - leftovers from last week, sandwiches, grapes, granola bars

Instant pot chicken broth (loosely based off of Damned Delicious blog)
I got a late start to my broth over the weekend and not wanting to deal with chicken bones and hot broth 9p at night, I decided to give the Instant Pot a try. Now, I greatly modified the recipe from Damned Delicious - mostly what I needed was amount of chicken, how much water, and timing. I generally don't add aromatics such as onion, celery, garlic, etc, because I may need it for sick pups. This is straight up unseasoned, salt-free, bone broth.

Since I needed the stock for Thanksgiving, I stored the broth in some quart sized mason jars in the fridge until needed.

This is what I did for 3 qts of stock:

• 1 - 3lb chicken
• Roast at 350* for 1 hour and 15 minutes (roughly)
• Let stand 15 minutes or until cool enough to handle
• Quarter chicken
• Remove thigh and breast meat
• Place remaining chicken parts in the slow cooker and cover with water until the "Max" line, (follow directions for your specific pressure cooker) set to Pressure Cook, 45 minutes, with natural release.
• Let cool, strain, discard bones and "stuff", and store in your preferred method

From start to finish, about 4 hours total. 3 1/2 of that is completely hands off.

Mushroom and Tofu Stirfry (Eating Well, Dec 2019) vegetarian/vegan option**
A recipe I actually made as written! I used a combination of black oyster mushrooms, large portabello,and shitake. If I were to make this again I would use brown, white, and shitake mushrooms. I don't have access to baked or smoked tofu, so I used extra-firm. This does come together quickly, so having everything prepped ahead of time is a must. I timed it when my instant rice went into the pot (10-12 minutes total cooking time), I started the veggies. Then everything was ready at the same time. Recommended!

This made enough for 2 people for 2 meals when served with rice.  

photo from eatingwell.com

4 tablespoons peanut oil or canola oil, divided
1 pound mixed mushrooms, sliced
1 medium red bell pepper, diced
1 bunch scallions, trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
1 large clove garlic, grated
1 (8 ounce) container baked tofu or smoked tofu, diced
3 tablespoons oyster sauce or vegetarian oyster sauce** (see Tip)


Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large flat-bottom wok or cast-iron skillet over high heat. Add mushrooms and bell pepper; cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 4 minutes. Stir in scallions, ginger and garlic; cook for 30 seconds more. Transfer the vegetables to a bowl.

Add the remaining 2 tablespoons oil and tofu to the pan. Cook, turning once, until browned, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the vegetables and oyster sauce. Cook, stirring, until hot, about 1 minute.

Recipe Tip: Sweet, salty oyster sauce is made from, well, oysters, along with salt, sugar and sometimes soy sauce. Substitute vegetarian oyster or stir-fry sauce, if desired, which uses mushrooms instead of oysters.


Roasted Salmon with Spicy Cranberry Relish (Eating Well, Dec 2019)
This was pretty good. I had my doubts about the cranberry relish - you don't cook the cranberries, it's a "raw" salad, but I was impressed with how fresh and crisp this worked over the salmon. I will note, this makes a lot of relish and granted, I halved the salmon (there are only two of us) but kept the relish quantity the same for ease of prep. I think for 8 people it still would be too much. Recommended.

Serves 8 (I halved the salmon for 2 meals for 2 of us)

photo from eatingwell.com

2½ pounds skin-on salmon fillet
2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
1½ teaspoons kosher salt, divided
½ teaspoon whole black peppercorns, cracked
1 lemon, zested and cut into wedges
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 cups cranberries, fresh or frozen (8 ounces)
1 small shallot, minced
1 serrano pepper, seeded
1 medium Granny Smith apple, peeled and finely diced
1 stalk celery, finely diced
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, divided

Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

Place salmon on the prepared pan. Mash garlic, 1 teaspoon salt, peppercorns and lemon zest into a paste with a fork or a mortar and pestle. Transfer to a small bowl and stir in 1 tablespoon oil and mustard. Spread on the salmon. Bake until the flesh flakes easily with a fork, 10 to 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, pulse cranberries, shallot and serrano in a food processor until finely chopped. Transfer to a medium bowl and stir in apple, celery, vinegar, 1 tablespoon parsley and the remaining 1 tablespoon oil and ½ teaspoon salt. Sprinkle the salmon with the remaining 1 tablespoon parsley and serve with the relish and lemon wedges.