Teriyaki Salmon and Cheesy Muffins

Asian, Breads and Muffins, One pot meal, Seafood

I hope everyone is doing the well. While I have been cooking, it has mostly been quick and easy things. Between the Pandemic and all the other horrible things happening recently, I have not really been in the right state of mind to cook or write, but I am slowly starting to dip my toe back in, so here is something I made the other night that was super easy and I thought I would share.

I found this teriyaki marinade at the store last week. I usually tend to make my own concoction or different Asian sauces, but this looked like a good one. Low sodium and pretty straightforward ingredients; garlic, ginger, sesame seeds, soy sauce, onion, and vinegar.

I bought this pretty salmon that was on sale at the store. I saw an interesting fact about fresh salmon- when you get it, just should smell like watermelon. Just a hint of it. It is true! Next time you get some salmon, try it out. It should not smell fishy. I marinaded the salmon for about 15 minutes. Rebecca made some cheesy mini muffins -the kind from Jim and Nicks, which you can find on the baking aisle with the cake mixes and such.

The salmon cooked the same time as the muffins, about 15 minutes. These were on the thick side, so 12-15 minutes is usually the range. The oven was at 425. I added a side of broccoli to complete the meal!

Watermelon Slushies

Happy Hour

I follow everything Chrissy Teigen does, so when I saw this right before I was about to yell at my daughter for not eating the watermelon she begged me for, I quietly followed all these directions. Except I didn’t have mint. Oh well, still a tasty summer drink! Link to the recipe in the caption 😉

https://cravingsbychrissyteigen.com/cravings/vodka-watermelon-slushies/

Dutch Baby

Breakfast and Brunch

I have always wanted to try make one of these, so this morning, Becca and I attempted our first Dutch Baby. It came out super yummy! It is like mix between a crepe and a pancake. Delish!

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup whole or 2% milk

2 large eggs

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1-teaspoon vanilla

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Pinch of salt

Directions-

  1. Place the flour, milk, eggs, sugar, vanilla, and salt in a blender or food processor. Blend for 10 seconds, scrape down the sides, and then blend for another 10 seconds. Continue until everything is mixed well. Let the batter rest for at least 10 minutes.
  2. Meanwhile, place the skillet on a middle rack to warm along with the oven. Heat the oven to 425°F.
  3. When you are ready to make the Dutch Baby, remove the skillet from the oven and place it on top of the stove. Add the butter and swirl the pan to melt the butter and coat the bottom and sides of the pan. I used a brush to make sure the butter was all up over the sides.
  4.  Pour the batter on top of the butter. Tilt the pan if needed so that the batter runs evenly to all sides. Place the skillet in the oven.
  5. Bake until the Dutch baby is puffed, lightly browned across the top, and darker brown on the sides and edges, about 20 minutes.
  6. Add any toppings- syrup, jam, fruit, etc.
It was light and airy and the edges were perfectly brown. Next time I might leave it in a little longer to get the top a bit more brown, but overall it was a delicious success!

Meaty Stuffed Shells

Pasta

Hello, all! Katie requested the “baked pasta dish with those huge shells,” so last night, that was on the menu. I have made these a few different ways here on the blog before, but this time I decided to make them with half a pound beef and half a pound of ground pork. I really like the combo of the two of those. Here is how it went down.

Ingredients
1 container of Jumbo Shells
1`pound ground meat (combo of beef and pork)- season with salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and Italian seasonings
1 container of mushrooms, sliced
1 1/2 small bags of shredded mozzarella Cheese
1 jar of your favorite pasta sauce

Directions

Cook your shells in a big pot of salted water. Drain and cool.
Brown your meat and mushrooms. Let cool.
Stuff the shells with the meat and mushroom mixture with some cheese. Cover with sauce and cheese. I used the same pan to bake the pasta that I browned the meat in. One less pan to clean! Just make sure it is oven safe 😉
Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Thumbs up and clean plates from everyone!

Oven Baked BBQ Ribs

Breads and Muffins, Pork, Side dishes...veggies

My family LOVES ribs, so when I saw these at the grocery store, I knew I had to get them. Usually I buy them already cut up, but I was up for the challenge of trying to cook them in the oven as a whole rack. I researched tons of recipes, and decided on doing a rub then adding a sauce at the end.

These were pork spare ribs. They came vacuum-packed and were sitting in a bit of liquid that I rinsed off under cold water. I patted them dry with a paper towel, then peeled off the silver-skin. This is the shiny, white piece of membrane that sits on top of the bones and makes things tough and chewy once cooked. Most of it comes off pretty easy when you slide your finger under it, but a couple parts I needed to use my paring knife to help loosen it up. 

I preheated the oven to 300. In a small bowl I made a rub with different spices from my cabinet. I didn’t really measure; I used a combo of cumin, coriander, smoked mild paprika, garlic and onion powder, and chili powder. I rubbed the mixture all over ribs and placed on a baking sheet with aluminum foil.

I cooked them in the oven for about 2 hours. Then I took them out and brushed them with BBQ sauce. I happened to have a jar of our family’s favorite sauce, Sticky Fingers in the fridge. So I painted it with that and let it cook for 20 more minutes.

I served with a side of creamed corn- 3 cans of corn drained- obviously fresh would be best, but we had canned in the pantry. Half a container of cream cheese, a few pats of butter, and a splash of heavy cream. I just mixed everything together and let the ingredients melt in to each other. I also gave them a bit of a mash to release some of those sweet corn starches.

My 13 year old helped make the cheddar biscuits. You know the ones. From that seafood restaurant. They sell them in a cheat box mix where all you have to do is add the cheddar cheese and some water and butter.

It was a perfect meal 😉