Salmon Terrine

Despite still not being able to cook much, it does not mean I don't eat well due to the wonderful local elfs dropping off food. This time, a fabulous home-made tender salmon terrine made by M. and S. ! Must learn how to make this.....

Adventures of a one armed chef

"Life is what happens when you are busy making other plan.". Plans were to finish the semester and welcome summer, life that happened was an unexpected spin on a step and a broken shoulder. Besides coping with the excruciating pain and immobilized arm, life is now slow motion and the freezer is stocked with pizza. 

Slowly, I ventured out to cook again, and new challenges arise.  How to chop an onion with one hand? How to chop romaine without making it look like butchered?

Luckily, I have a few elfs who help me out with these new hurdles and also occasionally drop off a mean barley soup.

So, here it is -- elf salad.

Spring lunch

Life has been so busy lately that I've been living off things in my freezer and the veggies in my fridge, somehow creatively thrown together.  This is a nice one -- arugula, fennel, cabbage with grilled asparagus and grilled Trader Joe's meatless meatballs.

Salad:
1 fennel bulb, halved
1/4 head of a small head of cabbage
handful arugula salad
salt, pepper,
Galeo's dressing (Miso Ginger)
green asparagus
4 meatless meatballs (Trader Joe's or others).

I sliced the fennel and cabbage thinly into a plastic bowl using a mandoline, added the salt and pepper, and mixed it well. In a serving bowl, I mixed the arugula salad and about 1/4th of the fennel/cabbage salad, and added the dressing. Heated the broiler, and grilled the asparagus and meatballs for about 10-12 mins. It helps to brush the asparagus with some olive oil and add some salt. With the broiling, the meatballs get a nice crunchy crust. Serve asparagus and meatballs with the salad. 

Arrows Restaurant, Ogunquit, ME

Great article about the Arrows Restaurant in Ogunqit, ME in the Maine Magazine. The restaurants is about to open again for the summer 2010.

Arrows
(207) 361-1100
Bridgton
41 Berwick Rd
Ogunquit, ME 03907

Update: on May 3 2010  Clark Frasier and Mark Gaier: Arrows, Ogunquit, ME won Best Chef: Northeast, James Beard Foundation. 

Greek Yogurt Chive Dip

The garden starts to turn its colors from gray and brown to green, pink and yellow. Chives and mint are the first herbs each year that announce spring time and a new growing season.. "Hellooooo!" the chives chimes, eat me eat me! So, here we go, a chive greek yogurt dip. 

bunch of fresh chives
1 small container greek yogurt
salt, pepper to taste
1-2 TB water
Optionally: 1 TB sour cream.

Mix the greek yogurt with the salt and pepper until creamy and well-flavored to taste. With a kitchen scissors, cut the chives in 1/4 inch pieces directly into the greek yogurt mixture. Stir. The mixture will get thicker depending on how many chives you add; to make it creamier again, add some water.   Serve with pretzels, crackers or on a slice of rye bread. Enjoy!

Triple Chocolate Cookies

They looked like worth trying out. And having tried them out, they can only describe with one word: outrageous!

2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups (2 1/2 sticks) salted butter, softened to room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 cup firmly packed dark or light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups mini chocolate chips
1 cup slivered almonds

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.

In the bowl of an stand electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment cream the room temperature soft butter and the 2 types of sugar. Add the egg and vanilla and mix together. 

Add the flour mixture and continue mixing until just combined. Now, add the chocolates and almonds and mix until combined (I left out the almonds, because I had no slivered ones). Using a small ice cream scoop, drop the dough two inches apart on sheet pans lined with parchment (makes about 6 cookies per regular sized cookie sheet, and 3 cookie sheets overall plus 3 small cookies). Bake for 15 minutes.

Cool the cookies on the cookie sheets (! don't move them, they will fall apart!). The cookies should be very soft when they are removed from the oven. They will firm up as they cool (10 min).

ps. for those, who care: 1 cookie = 300kcal.