What's cookin', good lookin'?

wicked woman said:

My concern with the salmon is that canned is cooked, so ready to eat, but frozen isn't. If it calls for canned almond, your cook time will be off using thawed frozen. It's not really that big a chore to clean up the canned salmon. I do it whenever I want a salmon sandwich. Personally I'd do that.

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If these turn out to be a hit with the family, I think I'll try the canned salmon next time, but since I've already done the grocery shopping for this week, I'd like to use what I have on hand.

I didn't think about the cook time though, so I went to have another look at the recipe. It calls for a total of about 8 minutes ( up to 4 min per side). Here's what I find a bit confusing: when I make salmon fillets all on their own, that's about the same amount of time it takes for them to cook all the way through. My typical mo is to saute it for 5 minutes on one side (by which time it's 3/4 of the way opaque), then flip for the remaining 3 minutes.

Given that, it doesn't seem like making these with thawed fillets would require that much more time. But since I don't experiment with fish often, I could be missing something.

I did find a similar recipe by Giada de Laurentis, where she calls for cooking the fillets first (6-8 minutes), flaking them, mixing in the remaining ingredients, and then cooking for an additional 8 minutes. My concern here is that they'd be overcooked and dry.

seela said:

I don't have polenta at hand, but I have some fine couscous and I think that is pretty similar to polenta. So 150 g of couscous was a little bit over 200 ml, which then makes it a little bit under 1 cup.

50 g is a little less than half a stick of butter.
750 ml is roughly 3 cups.
100 g is 3.5 oz

As to your salmon question, I've never seen canned salmon, so I don't know how the texture is, but I'm sure you can use fresh salmon. That's what I always use when I make any kinds of fish cakes. If the canned stuff has oil/other liquid in it, you might need to add a little liquid to your...how do you call it, dough? mass?...when you use fresh fish instead of canned.

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Thank you so much for the measurement conversions; that's really helpful! When you make fish cakes using fresh fish, approximately how long to you cook them per side?

midwestyankee said:

In stores here, we can buy pouches of cleanly picked salmon, I think from Chicken of the Sea. It's fairly expensive, since each pouch contains only a few ounces, but would make the construction of salmon cakes much easier than working with the canned version.

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I did see that MWY, but for the amount of fish I need for this recipe (about 30 oz), it would have been cost prohibitive. IRC, it was $2.50 for a 2 or 3 oz pouch! And if I'm going to spend that much on a meal, I want it professionally cooked!

MeekMe said:

If you're having trouble finding canned salmon in all those stores you listed, perhaps an Asian grocery store? Though, if you've looked and looked, maybe it's depends on where you are?

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That's it in a nutshell, Meeks. The area I live in is pretty ethnically homogenous, and I've not been able to find an Asian market within a reasonable distance. Italian or Greek, yes.

MeekMe said:

If you make your own, I'd suggest cooking it in a covered pan and flaking it after it's cooked.

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I've thought about this, but I'm worried about over cooking the fish.

IrisAlthea said:

I found polenta here:
http://incidentalcooking.tumblr.com/conversions

It says 1 cup=160g.

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Sweet! Thank you so much! I've bookmarked the converter for future reference!

Thanks for all the replies, everyone! You've all been very helpful!

bailadora said:

Thank you so much for the measurement conversions; that's really helpful! When you make fish cakes using fresh fish, approximately how long to you cook them per side?

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I'm sorry, I can't really help you with exact cooking times. I'm a pokey cook, I usually smell and poke things to check if they're done instead of timing.

A good tip for checking salmon is to poke it with the tip of your knife so that it reaches the center of the fish and then bring the knife to your lip. The tip of the blade that was inside the fish should feel about body temperature, that leaves the salmon pink in the center but cooked. Some people prefer fully cooked, though.

That said, maybe do a test run with a small fish cake first and see how it cooks? 4+4 minutes sounds reasonable to me, maybe even a bit too long, if there's nothing else that's raw in them than the salmon when they go on the frying pan.

I also am usually too lazy to fry my fish cakes on a pan and bake them in the oven instead.

BonBon1976 said:

Vietnemese dish the restaurants call it Bun?
Vermicelli
Grilled chicken and shrimp
Shredded lettuce and cucumber
Pickled shredded carrots
Cilantro fresh chopped
Crushed peanuts
A couple spring rolls

Fish sauce ...


YUM!!

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This is another favorite of mine... and yes, Bun - you can get it with any type of grilled meat or vegetarian... I could definitely eat it every week!

Oh....SO glad you liked Diabolica I can recommend a couple other Cab Sauvs too if you like

bailadora said:

That's it in a nutshell, Meeks. The area I live in is pretty ethnically homogenous, and I've not been able to find an Asian market within a reasonable distance. Italian or Greek, yes.

I've thought about this, but I'm worried about over cooking the fish.

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Makes sense, I live in an area that has a decent selection (though not at great as I'd want it. @_@ California had all the best stuff) I think it's because we have an international airport, that's my husband's theory anyway.

In a covered pan, depending on the thickness, 3-5 minutes on each side usually works well for me. You want the center to be a little dark. If you did actually decide to use the frozen, aside from the liquid, you would also have to adjust the salt content of your cakes.

Whatever you decide to do, good luck! ^_^

Last night we had potatoes seasoned with soy sauce and sesame oil, miso eggplant stir fry, and fried rice so I could use up the old rice. Also, leftover soft tofu soup.

Crock pot beef stew. We have a new skillet that has a ceramic cooking surface. There was zero fond left in the pan after browning the beef so I couldn't cook down some brandy to go into the stew with the beef. Oh well.

MeekMe said:

Makes sense, I live in an area that has a decent selection (though not at great as I'd want it. @_@ California had all the best stuff) I think it's because we have an international airport, that's my husband's theory anyway.

In a covered pan, depending on the thickness, 3-5 minutes on each side usually works well for me. You want the center to be a little dark. If you did actually decide to use the frozen, aside from the liquid, you would also have to adjust the salt content of your cakes.

Whatever you decide to do, good luck! ^_^

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I used to live in a very ethnically diverse city, and I do miss the culinary selections. Thanks for the tip, Meeks. I'm giving these a whirl tomorrow night (that way the fishy packaging can go straight into the garbage, and right out to the curb for pick up the next day. ETA: And thanks to you too, Seela. Between the pair of you, I *should* be able to make these without too many problems.

midwestyankee said:

Crock pot beef stew. We have a new skillet that has a ceramic cooking surface. There was zero fond left in the pan after browning the beef so I couldn't cook down some brandy to go into the stew with the beef. Oh well.

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Beef stew. Oh man, I had the best beef stew EVAH on Monday. I used this recipe. Three out of three kids and one husband raved about it, which is a score in my book. Now I just need to figure out how to convert it into a crock pot recipe for those days I can't let it simmer on the stove for a couple of hours.

bailadora said:

I used to live in a very ethnically diverse city, and I do miss the culinary selections. Thanks for the tip, Meeks. I'm giving these a whirl tomorrow night (that way the fishy packaging can go straight into the garbage, and right out to the curb for pick up the next day. ETA: And thanks to you too, Seela. Between the pair of you, I *should* be able to make these without too many problems.



Beef stew. Oh man, I had the best beef stew EVAH on Monday. I used this recipe. Three out of three kids and one husband raved about it, which is a score in my book. Now I just need to figure out how to convert it into a crock pot recipe for those days I can't let it simmer on the stove for a couple of hours.

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It's not really a traditional stew, but Julia Child's Boeuf Bourguignon is the gold standard for me. It's a crazy involved process that keeps the chef in the kitchen for three hours or so but the richness is out of this world.

Baila, that recipe is far, far more complex than any I attempt. If I can't toss a few pre-packaged ingredients into the crock pot and apply many hours of cooking time, I leave it to the one who likes to cook.

bailadora said:

I used to live in a very ethnically diverse city, and I do miss the culinary selections. Thanks for the tip, Meeks. I'm giving these a whirl tomorrow night (that way the fishy packaging can go straight into the garbage, and right out to the curb for pick up the next day. ETA: And thanks to you too, Seela. Between the pair of you, I *should* be able to make these without too many problems.



Beef stew. Oh man, I had the best beef stew EVAH on Monday. I used this recipe. Three out of three kids and one husband raved about it, which is a score in my book. Now I just need to figure out how to convert it into a crock pot recipe for those days I can't let it simmer on the stove for a couple of hours.

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That looks so great!
I'll have to try that recipe.

midwestyankee said:

It's not really a traditional stew, but Julia Child's Boeuf Bourguignon is the gold standard for me. It's a crazy involved process that keeps the chef in the kitchen for three hours or so but the richness is out of this world.

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I was about to exclaim "three hours!" and hit the eek emoji, but then I looked at the total cook time for the recipe I linked, and yep! Three hours.

IrisAlthea said:

That looks so great!
I'll have to try that recipe.

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Please do, and let me know how you like it! I'm also serious about wanting to convert it to a crock pot/slow cooker recipe, so if anyone has ideas on that, I'd appreciate it.

We each had a single grilled chicken wing (light seasoning), avocado mac'n cheese, and spinach salad with lime vinaigrette.

It's J's birthday week showdown.

Pan fried shrimp with rhubarb chutney and goat cheese foam. Sounds weird but works.

Chicken roulade with spinach and goat cheese filling, mushroom and rosemary sauce, roasted beets with rosemary and balsamic, roasted carrots with rosemary and honey, fennel salad.

Rhubarb, rosemary and gin granita.

Panna cotta with rhubarb and cherry syrup and caramelized pecans.

seela said:

It's J's birthday week showdown.

Pan fried shrimp with rhubarb chutney and goat cheese foam. Sounds weird but works.

Chicken roulade with spinach and goat cheese filling, mushroom and rosemary sauce, roasted beets with rosemary and balsamic, roasted carrots with rosemary and honey, fennel salad.

Rhubarb, rosemary and gin granita.

Panna cotta with rhubarb and cherry syrup and caramelized pecans.

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I don't know how you plan all this, but it sounds amazing.

MeekMe said:

I don't know how you plan all this, but it sounds amazing.

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The planning happens so that you peek into the freezer, decide what you want to get rid of and go from there.

It looks pretty good so far, I just hope the panna cotta sets in time. People are gonna start coming over soon.

seela said:

The planning happens so that you peek into the freezer, decide what you want to get rid of and go from there.

It looks pretty good so far, I just hope the panna cotta sets in time. People are gonna start coming over soon.

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Ah, my favorite planning style.

Good luck!

Breakfast!

The usual rice with the option of furikake. Miso soup with mushroom, onion and bell pepper. I made a delicious salad with spinach and avocado. I am not a huge fan of avocado so I've been sneaking it into meals and have started to tolerate it.

Fishcakes made with salmon, leek, ginger, curry powder and lime served with coleslaw.

i found a recipe for kare udon that i'll be making for dinner this weekend. can't wait to see how it turns out.

I'm currently letting yeast rolls rise. I'm not very experienced with baking, so we'll see how this goes. (^_^)a

MeekMe said:

I'm currently letting yeast rolls rise. I'm not very experienced with baking, so we'll see how this goes. (^_^)a

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I hope they turn out. Baking seems to be one of those things that really is as much art as science. My mother taught me to bake bread many years ago, but it still took a few tries before I figured out what the dough should feel like when it was ready to be put to rise, and so on.

Tomato basil bisque that I may add some chicken and asparagus to. I guess it is just tomato soup now LOL. Smells really good though!

Made Master his favorite for his birthday, my homemade chicken enchilada casserole. I make a big batch so he can have some another day for lunch, too. He swears it tastes even better as leftovers.

I made mashed potatoes tonight with just potatoes, salt, pepper and yogurt. It was soooooo good!! Much tastier than using milk or cream and butter! I'm a forever convert at this point.

Collar_N_Cuffs said:

I made mashed potatoes tonight with just potatoes, salt, pepper and yogurt. It was soooooo good!! Much tastier than using milk or cream and butter! I'm a forever convert at this point.

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If your hands touched it....it has to be delicious!

midwestyankee said:

I hope they turn out. Baking seems to be one of those things that really is as much art as science. My mother taught me to bake bread many years ago, but it still took a few tries before I figured out what the dough should feel like when it was ready to be put to rise, and so on.

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They came out great! (*^◯^*) I was worried about the dough consistency, but read some comments and found that was how they should be. They baked up just like they were supposed to.

Definitely a science (o_o) and I was never good at science. I would have loved for someone to teach me these things.