Mini-Salmon Cakes

As you have probably come to understand, I like to get my recipes from a variety of sources - but I do like to try ones from local publications such as the Inspired magazine that I can pick up at my Sobeys. I also like to browse through the NSLC's Occasions magazine from time to time, but this was the first time I actually wanted to roll up my sleeves and try one of their recipes.

A few days ago Steve and I decided that we would try out the mini-salmon cakes recipes. When we looked through the recipe we noticed that it was not too complicated but it would take a bit of time (there is a two hour block of time where the salmon cakes must be placed in the refrigerator before you can continue to the next step). So we decided to give it a try and to open a delicious bottle of wine to help with the 'waiting'.

Here are the ingredients that you will need for this recipes:

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1 1/2 cups red pepper, very finely chopped
• 1/2 cup white onion, finely chopped
• 1 lb skinless, boneless salmon fillets, chopped
• 2 2/3 cups bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh chives
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh basil
• 6 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 3 large eggs, whisked

And here is how you will bring it all together:

1.  Heat two tablespoons of olive oil in a large saute pan over medium-low heat. Add the onion and peppers and saute until peppers are soft. Let cool.
2.  In a large bowl, combine the salmon, chives, basil 2/3 cup bread crumbs, mayonnaise and sauteed onions and peppers; mix thoroughly. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Measure out 1/6 cup portions of salmon mixture. Roll into a ball and place on a baking sheet. Refrigerate for two hours.
4. In separate bowls, place remaining bread crumbs, flour and eggs. Dip salmon cakes in the flour, the dip into egg mixture and finally into the bread crumbs. Flatten the salmon balls o they become one-inch diameter discs.
5. Heat remaining olive oil in large saute pan.
6. When the oil is hot, add the salmon cakes. When the cakes are golden brown, flip and cook on the other side. Cook in batches until complete.

This dish is absolutely amazing! I am a modest person, but I felt that this dish was delicious enough to be served in some of Halifax's best restaurants. I cannot wait to make it again!

To add to this tasty dish Steve and I decided to make a delicious dill sauce (we usually make this just when we are having salmon for supper). Here are the ingredients and recipe for the dill sauce:

• 1/2 cup light sour cream
• 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh dill
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper

1. In a small bowl, whisk together sour cream, maple syrup, mustard, lemon juice, dill, lemon zest and salt and pepper. Serve cold.

I should also share the the wine we chose to pair the mini-salmon cakes with was from Luckett Vineyards. In early October Steve and I visited six wineries in Nova Scotia's valley (i.e. wine country) and picked up lots of new wines to try. One of our favorite new wineries was Luckett Vineyards - we were even lucky enough to have Pete Luckett himself do our wine tasting! The wine that we paired with this dish was Luckett's 2011 Ortega - Pete himself told us it would be great with seafood and he was definitely right in his suggestion!

Give this one a try when you have some extra time on your hands, or need to impress family and friends that are coming over for dinner.

Bon appetite and enjoy!

Lemon-Caper Chicken, Potato & Asparagus Skillet

If you haven't noticed yet - I appear to be cooking my way through the Inspired Magazine recipes. Simply because they are timely and delicious! And it doesn't hurt that I now feel part of their team through sharing these recipes back to them on twitter (@InspiredRecipes - Inspired Magazine; @CourtneyLarkin - me).

I was intrigued to try this recipe because I am big fan of lemon potatoes and have enjoyed capers in the past. Prior to trying this recipe I had only ever had capers on smoked salmon, on top of cream cheese on a baguette - but I knew I liked it then so I thought I may like it just as much (if not more) in this dish. The only thing I knew I would not like is the asparagus (I simply do not like it) but luckily Steve does and so I knew I could push mine over to his plate and enjoy more of the lemon potatoes.

The recipe was very easy to make - the only adjustments to the recipe that we made was to use boneless, skinless chicken breast (instead of bone in chicken thighs) and cut the pieces of chicken into smaller bite size chunks (about the same size as the potatoes).

I was very impressed by how much of an impact the lemon zest had the the dish. Now that I know how important it is to a recipe and how much flavor it can add I am going to try to seek out similar recipes to try.

I would definitely try this recipe again and encourage you to consider adding it to your recipe book as well! Click here for the complete list of ingredients and recipe.

Bon appetite and enjoy!

Southwest Chicken Bake over Rice

Steve and I always stock up on chicken at Sobeys whenever it goes on sale (and we only shop at Sobeys so we are like hawks when it actually does go on sale). So from time to time we will end up with lots of chicken in our freezer and will look for new recipes to use it all up.

I have mentioned in previous blog posts (from months ago) that I really enjoy both the Kraft and Campbells websites for coming up with meal ideas, and both are great at providing me with new chicken recipes too. This time I stumbled upon a recipe from Kraft and thought I would give it a try (also because Steve has just come to realize he loves corn and black beans in anything - so I thought that I would use that to my advantage).

We chose to use the Southwest Chicken Bake as a 'topping' for the rice. And this lead to us having this for leftovers for days and days. The good thing about this recipe for us was that was very similar to the taste (minus to turkey meatballs) of the Slow Cooker Turkey Meatball Chili.

This was a very quick and easy recipe and makes lots of great leftovers (easy to heat up and eat again at work the next day). Give this one a try when you have a busy week but needs several good filling meals.

Click here for the full list of ingredients and the complete recipe. 

Bon appetite and enjoy!

Quick & Crunchy Mac & Cheese

I usually find that by Thursday night I need a quick meal idea that is going to somehow involve cheese (one of my all time favorite comfort foods). So I was so happy to come across this recipe on the French's website.

Early in the week Steve and I had remade a recipe from back in April (green bean casserole made for Easter dinner) and still had some of the French's fried onions left over (these were not left over from April - but from earlier in the week). So I started to go through the French's site to see if there was anything else that I would like that I could use them for. I eventually stumbled upon this recipe and thought I should give it a try.

The recipe was simple and delicious - exactly what I was looking for. And the fried onions gave it that extra little kick I was looking for. The recipe makes a very cheesy meal - so make sure that you are in a cheesy mood when you try it.

For the complete recipe click here.

Bon appetite and enjoy!

Pepperoni Pizza Rolls

I came across this recipe one night while I was going through pages of recipes on Pinterest. It was a few days before Steve and I were expecting a little visitor (who happens to be 7 and loves pizza) so I thought I should bookmark the recipe and try it while the visitor was here with us.

On the Saturday night of the visit, after a long day of swimming at the Canada Games Centre, we came back to the house, rolled up our sleeves, put on our aprons and started to make our pizza rolls. The recipe was surprisingly easy (easy enough for a little visitor to help us) and was delicious. We chose to have two types of pizza rolls (1) pepperoni from Fox Hill Cheese which was a little bit spicier - ideal for the adults (2) normal pepperoni that was not spicy at all.

It was a fun little recipe to try and made tons and tons of pizza rolls (enough for 3 people to eat enough to be full at supper and then enough for 3 people to be full the next day at lunch).

I would consider making this recipe again, but perhaps switching up the ingredients depending on my mood (and what is in the fridge).

To check out this recipe please click here.
(I have to give complete credit for this recipe to Six Sisters' Stuff who did the original post and then put it on Pinterest).

Slow Cooker Turkey Meatball Chili

Another great find from the Sobeys Inspired magazine! This time from their fall publication.

As we have slowly started to move away from the hot summer days where we would barbeque hamburgers and hotdogs almost every day, we have been craving hearty meals that are still easy to make. That's why we were so excited when we came across this recipe.

We followed the recipe to a tee except for two steps - instead of using a slow cooker (we work longer than 8 hour days so the slow cooker was not an option on the night that we wanted to make it) we chose to just use a large pot and make it directly on the stove. And we opted to not use a can of peaches and cream corn - we just used a can of corn.

I was very impressed at the taste of the turkey meatballs - I had never had them before so I was a little skeptical but they were excellent.

Overall this recipe was simple yet hearty and full of flavour. Both Steve and I were surprised at how much we enjoyed the recipe - so needless to say this one will definitely be added to our 'must make again' list.

Give this one a try the next time you've had a long day, it's raining outside, and you need a good warm hug (from food!).

Click here for the full list of ingredients and the complete recipe.

Bon appetite & enjoy!

Sushi Attempt #2 - Califiornia Rolls

You may remember that back in April Steve and I attempted to make sushi for the first time (if you don't remember click here for that post). Since that time we have made sushi again, but we always kept it the same type - just using salmon.

During our trip to California this past July we had the opportunity to enjoy the most delicious sushi at Loews Santa Monica (absolutely stunning hotel and delicious foods). We were at Loews for their Live From Loews events that happened monthly and were fortunate that one of them just happened to be during our trip. While we were at Loews we had the opportunity to taste every dish, enjoy every cocktail/wine/beer/champagne and enjoy the great band. One of the great items on the menu was sushi that was being made on the spot - however, I was a little nervous to try it because it was being made with nori (the thin black paper like product in many sushi rolls) and not the clear/white soy paper I usually prefer. So with it being vacation and all, Steve and I both decided to try something new. We loaded up our plates with their California rolls, found a great seat by the band, raised our glasses in a toast to our amazing trip and dove in. We each took a few seconds to take in the tastes and textures and soon both of us had the goofiest sushi filled mouth grins imaginable - we loved it! I loved it so much I went back to the sushi table probably five more times before the end of our night.

So as you can see, we have grown to love California rolls and the nori paper; and because of this we decided that the next small step that we could take for making sushi at home would be to make the California roll (but still use the soy paper - we have tons of it!). Now our California rolls were not as good as Loews, but we were still very proud of our work.

If you are ever in Santa Monica you have to go to Loews and try their sushi and if you don't like sushi, you just need to go into the hotel and look around - it is stunning!

Try making your own sushi rolls at home - and if you have tips and tricks to making your own please share them with us - we're eager to perfect our techniques.

Bon appetit & enjoy!

Chicken with Crunchy Salsa Topping & Salsa Rice

Well the summer is now over and we are well into our fall routine. We've been very busy with work, alumni/homecoming activities, Steve's new company (At Home Rehab), and of course Thanksgiving. So we are just now getting back into making time to post recipes and pictures from our favorite recipes (and there are lots of posts that need to be made!).

Over the summer months we really started to enjoy looking through the magazines that are published by stores that we go to (i.e. Sobeys, NSLC, etc). And it was to my surprise that I really enjoy the Inspired magazine that Sobeys puts out on a quarterly basis. You'll notice that the recipes in this post are both out of the Inspired - Spring magazine and several posts that will be following this one will also be from that publication. If you haven't grabbed a copy of the magazine for yourself yet (it is usually available on magazine racks as you exit Sobeys) I encourage you to pick one up next time you are in, or just go visit their website.

The Chicken with Salsa Topping & Salsa rice recipes were made by myself and Steve in early September and were delicious. Since that time we have made variations of the salsa rice multiple times (it is a really simply recipe that allows you to add in great flavors and vegetables that you may not be able to find ways to incorporate into your regular weeknight meals). We have not yet made the chicken recipe again - but it is on our list of 'must make again!'.

To view the recipes for the Chicken with Crunchy Salsa Topping and the Salsa Rice click here and go to page 9.

I hope that you will try this recipe and enjoy it as much as Steve and I have.

Bon appetit & enjoy!