Za Recipes

Showing posts with label staring. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Broccoli Gratin – Why am I staring at you in the check out line

Some things just go great together; chips and beer, warm bread and butter, Britney and K-Fed, and of course, Broccoli and Cheddar cheese sauce. As you’ll hear in the video this clip was inspired by watching people in grocery store lines buying tiny, expensive, and poor quality, frozen packages of broccoli and cheese sauce.

I had some left-over Béchamel sauce, so in this clip I’ll show how easy it is to take that humble base sauce and create a wonderful vegetable gratin. In case I wasn’t clear in the clip, turn the heat off the Béchamel as soon as you add the cheese. By the way, if I haven’t already, I’ll add a béchamel demo to the blog in case you’re not familiar with that “mother” sauce.

As far as recommendations go, I’m a HUGE cheese head, not the Green Bay Packer variety, but the delicious English Farmhouse Cheddar kind.

I hope you have a nice cheese shop near you, but if not you can get just about anything you want online these days. Check out cooking.com, they’re a great resource. I suggest any nice sharp cheddar for this dish, but so many other cheeses would be delicious. And for the top, Parmigiano-Reggiano is great, or even a nice Pecorino Romano.

2 cups Béchamel sauce
24 oz. Broccoli florettes (about 4 heads trimmed)
8 oz Cheddar Cheese
1/3 cup plain bread crumbs
1/2 cup grated Parmesan

Monday, March 3, 2014

Broiled Herb Crusted Salmon – Stop Staring at the Seafood Case You’re Making the Fishmonger Nervous

I don’t generally talk to strangers – heck, I barely speak to my friends – but once in a while I’ll see someone staring so cluelessly at the fish case in the grocery store, that I just have to jump in and offer them some unsolicited advice – usually suggesting a recipe like this broiled herb-crusted salmon.

This method of broiling salmon, with its simple to make mayonnaise-based crust, produces a magnificently moist and flavorful piece of fish. It can be varied a thousand ways, and other than the actual mayonnaise, literally every other ingredient is optional.

I love the combination of tarragon and Italian parsley, but I’ve used herbs like basil and thyme, which worked wonderfully as well. As far as the fish goes, a center-cut salmon filet is a perfect thickness for this, but other similarly shaped seafood will work.

So, if you happen to be one of those people who get that deer in the headlights look when choosing seafood at the store, I hope you give this great recipe a try. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 2 Servings:

2 (8-oz) center-cut salmon filets

salt and pepper to taste

1 garlic clove, sliced

1/4 tsp kosher salt

1 tbsp chopped tarragon

1 tbsp chopped Italian parsley

1 tsp Dijon mustard

3 tbsp mayonnaise

pinch of cayenne

1 tsp fresh lemon juice, or to taste