Salmon Burger

I was going to cook the salmon my regular way but it was broken in a few pieces so I put together the things I like to make these.

Mix these things together and form two patties from the mixture:

• 8 oz fresh salmon. Chopped into 1/4 inch cubes.
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 tsp dijon mustard
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp wasabi sauce (grocery store variety a little thinner than mustard)
• 1/3 cup panko bread crumbs

In a plate stir the following together:

• 1/4 c pistachios (salted and shelled), crushed to a rough powder
• 1/4 c panko bread crumbs

Salt and pepper the patties and coat them in the bread/pistachio mixture.

Heat a skillet to hot. Add a little oil. Fry the patties quickly. Leave the center pink.

Serve on 

• toasted bread or hamburger buns 

with

• lettuce 
• sliced tomato.

Grandma's Turkey Dressing

Whether you call it dressing or stuffing, everyone in the United States has a different recipe for it. Some cook it in the bird. Some outside (as I do).

Over the last couple of years I have moved twice. In the course of moving, I lost my Grandmother's recipe for Turkey Dressing.

This is what we ate all the while I was growing up at Thanksgiving and Christmas. It's the taste I associate with those holidays. I got it the first year my wife and I were away from family for the holidays. I called Grandma and she told me the recipe and I wrote it down on a 3x5 card and put it in my recipe box. And now its lost.

What's funny is that just a few years ago I invited my sister for Christmas and she arrived with her copy of Grandma's recipe. She got it when she visited Grandma years before that.

Her version was different than mine. So we talked to our brothers and found another version of the recipe. Different again.And received directly from Grandma. Evidently, she didn't have a written recipe and sort of cooked up something on the fly depending on what she had and how she felt. And, being a grandmother, it was always good.

Well, what could I do with the "real" recipe lost. I texted those pretenders and got their recipes and came up with the recipe I have here combining my memory (altogether imperfect) with the two other versions.

First you boil the 3 eggs.

Preheat over to 375 degrees F.

Next you make the bread mixture:

• Prepare one pan of canned biscuits according to label directions. A can has 8 biscuits.
• Prepare one pan of cornbread using your own recipe or a dry mix. I have a 9 inch diameter round pan and it comes out about 3/4 inch thick.
• Use one 16 oz package (bag) of Pepperidge Farms Herb Stuffing. This has the right combination of spices and herbs for that "Grandma" taste. (Your Grandma May Vary.)

Break up the biscuits and cornbread. (You can toast them some after breaking them up if you like.) Add the stuffing mix and stir together thoroughly.

This is the weird part. You pick out a casserole or baking pan that you will use for the dressing and use it to measure out one full pan of the bread crumb mixture. (I used to keep the rest in my freezer until they get covered with frost and then throw them away. Nowdays I throw the rest away sooner having realized its going to be another year before I make it again.)

I usually pour the crumbs out of the baking pan into a large mixing bowl because its easier to mix in the rest of the ingredients. But you can mix them in the baking pan. It just always seems to overflow and make a mess.

Add the following and stir well:

• 1 very large yellow onion, chopped medium to fine.
• 5 sticks of celery chopped
• 3 boiled eggs chopped (these are the ones I said to boil ahead of time)
• (optional) 1 carrot chopped
• (optional) 3 Tbsp fresh chopped parsley. Italian or curly both work. Dried will work too.

Put the mixture back into the baking pan and pour the following over the top, one by one:

• 1 stick (1/4 pound) of salted butter, melted
• About 2 cups warm chicken broth. (You can use your own pre-prepared broth, or use the canned or boxed version from the grocery, or boil water and add boullion of some sort. If the broth has salt, you will need less or no salt with the pepper. As you pour this over the bread, try to get all the crumbs wet.

Now test the consistency.

If the top is dry and the bottom really soggy, you are going to want to stir it up to get a more consistent wetness.

If the top is dry and the bottom damp, add some more water or chicken broth.

It should be wet -- more than damp and less than soggy -- through and through. It is ok if the bottom part is wetter but you don't want liquid pooling in the bottom if you can help it.

Top with:

• Sprinkles of dried parsley
• Salt (unless the butter and broth/bouillon have added too much already.
• Fresh ground pepper sprinkled.

Cover the dish with foil (or use a lid). Bake for 45 minutes in a 375 degree F oven. Remove the foil for the last 15 minutes. (Alternatively, you can freeze it at this point. You may need to cook longer if you don't let it fully thaw before you begin baking.)

It will be done when it is hot through the middle and the top is crisped up.

Alternatives:

My brother has these differences:

• Use 1 cup of chopped celery instead of 5 stalks.
• Giblets are chopped up and boiled in the broth. They can be added to the mixture.
• An additional 16 oz package of Pepperidge Farm Cornbread Stuffing is added to the bread mixture.
• Two raw eggs are beaten and added with the liquid. This is easy if the broth is cool. If not stir with some additional water and sprinkle over the top.
• 1 can Campbell's Cream of Chicken soup concentrate is added to the broth. (This soup typically mixes with 1 can of water to make soup for eating. Don't dilute it for this recipe.)

My sister has these differences:

• Substitute a 16 oz package of Pepperidge Farm Cornbread Stuffing for the Herb Stuffing in my version.
• Use a whole bunch of celery instead of 5 stalks.
• Add 1 can Campbell's Cream of Chicken soup (as above)
• Add 1 can Campbell's Cream of Mushroom soup (mixed just like the Cream of Chicken)
• Cook at 350 degrees F. for 45 minutes instead of 375.

A vegetarian version is tasty too:

• Replace the chicken broth with vegetable broth
• Don't include in turkey parts.

There you go. Who says family isn't fun?

Thanksgiving Gravy

I'm adding this here so I don't have to keep the folded and faded piece of random paper I wrote it on some time ago. This makes enough to feed a lot of people--say, 15.

• 16 Tbsp turkey fat or butter (or some mixture)
• 16 Tbsp flour
• Chopped giblets and/or small bits of turkey or chicken meat
• 3 quarts turkey stock, chicken stock and/or water. This is best if heated to near boiling in the microwave. If that's not convenient, you can use it at room temperature. Only use it cold if you can't figure out any other way.
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• salt to taste.

The traditional way to make this is to heat the fat or butter (which has to melt) in a large pot. (The pot should hold at least 5 quarts.)

Sprinkle the flour and pepper into the melted fat but keep stirring all the time. Do not let this burn. You have to decide whether you like it to brown or not. You only must cook it long enough so the flour is no longer totally raw.

Add the giblets and/or bits of meat. Stir together.

Add the liquid stirring insistently to keep form forming lumps. (Warmer liquid means less lumps.)

Now all you do is stir until the mixture begins to boil. It will start to thicken. Use as much as another quart of warm stock if needed to thin. Boil a while to reduce the liquid if too thin. Remember it will thicken a little as it cools on the table.

Remove from the heat and add the salt at this point. It should be easy to add salt to taste. I can't give you an exact amount as much of the available poultry stock contains salt. Some more. Some less. It could be anywhere from needing no salt at all to needing a tablespoon. Taste first. Add some. Taste with a clean spoon and repeat until you get it the way you like it. (Note that gravy is typically a bit saltier than most foods since it is added to the other foods and supplies the salt for those foods as well. Think about how little salt goes into sliced turkey, dressing or mashed potatoes.)

Turkey or Chicken Stock

If you make your own stock, you avoid the problem with the stock being so salty that it changes the taste when you use it in your cooking. This works really well around Thanksgiving because you have that turkey carcass.

You are going to need some poultry. Here are some options for what you can use

• Option 1: The turkey carcass including bones, neck, skin and the remaining meat stuck to the bones. This is best if it is cooked. Either use it after you cook your turkey or use the raw turkey bones and roast them for a bit until somewhat done and, maybe, a little singed.Sometimes you can buy a package of turkey necks. These work great.
• Option 2: The turkey (or chicken) giblets including gizzard, heart and liver.
• Option 3: Chicken skin and bones. You might have used a whole chicken and cut off the breast meat or removed the bones from the thighs or legs. There's also that part I call the chicken hips. Its the part on the other end of the backbone from the ribs. The thigh bones attach to the side of it. Its not really that great fried so you can save some up that way.
• Option 4: Some chicken parts. I like to use some frozen chicken wing segments but breasts with bones or thighs/legs would work just as well.

Put the following in a big stock pot:

• Poultry (as described in the list above) 15 chicken wings or 4 thigh/leg combinations or one turkey carcass plus neck and giblets or similar amount.
• 2 carrots - broken
• 2 sticks of celery - broken
• 3 medium yellow onions - cut in quarters (other onions are acceptable)
• 18 whole peppercorns
• 3 tsp salt
• 8 cups water

Add a bit more water if needed to cover everything.

Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer and cover. Simmer for 30 minutes or until the meat is tender and falling off the bones. Turn off heat and let set for one hour.

Strain out the liquid. Store in jars or sealed plastic containers in the refrigerator. (You can freeze this if you pay attention to the container.)

Makes about 2 quarts plus whatever water you add to cover the vegetables and meat.

Bauernfrühstück

I had this years ago in Solvang, California at a little restaurant there.

The recipe is based on memory and evolution over a couple of decades. Perhaps its not authenticly German any more. Perhaps you will like it as much as I do anyway.

On Sunday's, sometimes, I will cook a pot roast with carrots, potatoes and onions. We have some left over so I do the following on Monday morning:

Begin with a skillet. I like to use cast iron for some reason. Medium heat.

• 3 Tbsp olive oil or butter

Start with the stuff leftover and already cooked. How much of each depends on what's left over and what you like best. It doesn't much matter. About a cup and a half is about enough for 4. Measure by eye.

• pot roast (beef)
• whole or halved potatoes
• half onions
• whole carrots

Chop roughly and and brown it just barely in the pan. It should all be hot but do not cook too long or it will get dry and tough.

Remove this part from the skillet. You can put it on a serving plate or drain to get rid of a bit of the oil.

At this point you have two choices. You can either cook some eggs in that same pan which I prefer for scrambled eggs or you can use another pan and forego the brown bits in the eggs.

For four people:

• 6 eggs
• 1/4 c buttermilk (or use milk or even room temperature water)
• salt
• pepper

Scramble the eggs however you like them--soft, hard or in between. (You could fry the eggs too or even poach them.)

Serve with some of the the meat and potatoes mixture topped with the egg(s). Its really good with some crispy sourdough bread toast with or without butter.

Be sure to eat it before it gets cold.

Hot Chocolate and Coffee

I have a new favorite chocolate coffee drink. This one isn't too sweet and is just chocolaty enough. You can adjust how strong of coffee you want.

Start by adding this stuff to a glass measuring cup

• 1 heaping Tbsp chocolate - Take a handful of semi-sweet chocolate chips. Semi-sweet is important here. Crush them with a mallet or the side of a heavy knife or a can of soup. Then you measure.
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/2 c milk

Microwave until hot but not boiling. In my microwave it takes about 1 minute 40 seconds.

Stir well and pour into a good sized mug.

• Fill with strong hot coffee. Remember that the milk will dilute it. Pour directly from the pot or make it directly from the Keurig (or similar) machine right into the mug.

Top with

• whipped cream

It looks nice with a pinch of chocolate dust on top. Usually there's a little left from crushing the chocolate chips.

Drink and enjoy.

Spinach Salad

This makes a big bowl of salad. It's more than enough for 6-8 people. Look to the bottom and make the croutons ahead of time so they will be ready when the salad is:

Start the salad with the greens in a large salad bowl

• 1 1/2 bunch fresh spinach sliced with root end of stems removed.
• Drizzle a little olive oil
• Sprinkle some salt

Toss this to get the spinach covered with salt and oil.

Then add the following on top. I don't mix it in at all. It forms layers that folks mix together as they dip some out for their own plate:

• 3 tomatoes sliced somehow. (I suggest about 8 chunks per medium tomato.)
• Salt and pepper
• 1 Tbsp dried basil flakes
• 3 Tbsp chopped fresh basil
• 1/2 cup feta cheese crumbled
• 1/4 c shelled salted pistachios (expensive but good)
• 1/4 c dried cranberries
• 1/4 c chopped dried apricots (slices 1/4 inch thick)
• 1 Tbsp finely chopped fresh spearmint

Croutons

Make croutons ahead of time, but not too far ahead or they will lose their crispy.

• 1/2 unsliced loaf French bread (or sourdough or garlic bread)

Cut in cubes and spread on cookie sheet. I like large cubes about 3/4" to 1" on a side but there is not rule here. Use any size and shape you like.

Drizzle evenly with

• olive oil and/or melted butter

Sprinkle with:

• Garlic salt (or garlic powder and salt)
• Parsley flakes
• Crushed red pepper (gently)

Bake at 375 until crispy. Turn or stir occasionally

Dressing

You can make the dressing ahead of time and keep it cold.

Mix this all together in a jar or tall bowl:

• 1/2 c red wine vinegar
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp dried yellow mustard powder
• 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
• Juice of 1 lemon. 
• 2 Tbsp honey

Stir well and then as you stir add slowly

• 1/2 cup olive oil

Pour dressing over salad at the last minute. Serve cold.