Poached Salmon with Roasted Shallot-Dijon Sauce

This poached salmon is actually very versatile.  It can be served hot, very cold or at room temperature.  I think it really depends on what you like, and what time of year it is.  On a hot summer day, cold poached salmon is a very light and delicious entree.  This main course is easy on the waistline, but it delivers big-time in flavor.  And to make it outstanding?  Serve the Roasted Shallot-Dijon Sauce along side.  Now include one of your favorite vegetables or salad (or try one from this blog),  and you'll be wondering if you're at a gorgeous spa somewhere.  Slip into your white terry robe and enjoy.

Poached Salmon

4 wild salmon fillets, about 5-6 oz. each (skins removed)

4 scallions, coarsely chopped

1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced,

1 bay leaf

4 sprigs fresh thyme

Salt and pepper

2 cups chicken broth

1 cup dry white wine

In a large saute pan, place the salmon. Add the onions, bay leaf, fresh thyme on top and around the sides of the salmon.  Sprinkle fish fillets with salt and pepper.  Pour the broth and the wine in the pan, making sure to completely cover the fish.  (If more liquid is needed to cover, use water.)  Cover pan with a tight fitting lid.  (If one isn't available, use aluminum foil.)  Put on medium high heat and bring to a gentle boil.  Reduce the heat to low and poach for 15-20 minutes, until salmon can be pierced easily with a knife.  If serving the salmon hot, carefully remove the fillets from the poaching liquid and put on plates or serving platter.  If serving cold, transfer salmon and its poaching liquid to a container and cover.  Put in the refrigerator for several hours or overnight.  To serve, arrange Boston or Butter lettuce leaves on 4 plates.  Remove salmon from poaching liquid and place on lettuce. 

Roasted Shallot-Dijon-Dill Sauce for Poached Salmon

6 shallots, peeled
1/4 cup olive oil, divided
1/2 cup sour cream
2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
2 tsp. coarse-grained mustard
1 garlic clove, chopped
3 Tbsp. fresh dill, chopped
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a small bowl toss shallots with 2 Tbsp. olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Put in a small baking dish and roast in oven for 30 minutes, stirring once or twice, until they are soft and slightly caramelized.  Remove from oven and cool in roasting dish.

Coarsely chop shallots and place in food processor.  Add remaining ingredients, including the oil from the roasted shallots.  Process until smooth and season with salt and pepper.

Chocolate Bundt Cake (Very Special)

It's always fabulous to find a new recipe for chocolate cake that offers a bit of a twist, but instantly becomes a classic.  The beautiful twist in this recipe is fresh lemon, as well as fresh orange juice.  It's a bit unexpected, but ends up accounting for a lusciousness in flavor.  This cake is moist, so fresh tasting and more-than-one-piece worthy.  (Don't even try to tell me you won't.)

Chocolate Bundt Cake

4 eggs

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup light brown sugar

8 Tbsp. (1 stick) butter, room temperature

2 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 cups sifted flour

1/2 tsp. salt

2/3 cups cocoa powder

1 Tbsp. baking powder

1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice

1 1/4 cups walnuts or pecans, toasted and chopped

Powdered Sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit

Lightly grease a 10” bundt pan.  In a large bowl, beat eggs, sugars, butter and vanilla on high for about 4 minutes, until light colored.  In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, salt, cocoa powder and baking powder.  Stir flour mixture, lemon and orange juices, and nuts into egg mixture.

Pour into prepared pan.  Bake for 35-40 minutes or until cake is springy to the touch and cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.  Cool cake in pan.  Invert pan onto platter and remove cake.  Dust with powdered sugar.  

Chocolate Meringue Cookies (Totally GF - Gluten and Guilt Free)

This is one of a million recipes that my mom kept on file.  This is for the chocolate lover who needs something light but still has to have chocolate.  These weigh nothing and are the perfect way to get a little chocolate if you're trying to cut calories elsewhere.  They are a great addition to your cookie jar and a wonderful treat to offer unexpected guests. 

Chocolate Meringue or Beacon Hill Cookies

1 cup chopped bittersweet, semi-sweet or milk chocolate - pick your favorite

2 egg whites

dash of salt

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 tsp. vinegar

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

3/4 cup finely chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

On top of a double boiler, melt the chocolate.  In another large bowl, beat the egg whites with the salt until foamy.  Gradually add the sugar until stiff peaks form.  Beat in the vinegar and vanilla.  Gently fold in the melted chocolate and walnuts.  Don’t overmix – the mixture should have streaks of chocolate.

Drop by teaspoonfuls onto a lightly greased baking sheet.  Bake 9-10 minutes.  Cookies should be firm and slightly cracked.  Let rest on cookie sheet 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

Fudgy, Caramel Pecan and Walnut Pie

I had to make dessert once for a woman who absolutely adored chocolate and wouldn't eat any other kind of dessert.  She was also a health nut who took extremely good care of herself.  But this dish?  She could not resist it.  The first time I made it was not for any particular occasion.  After that, though, I was requested to make it every year for her birthday in place of cake.  I hope you'll try it and swoon a little too.

Fudgy,  Caramel Pecan and Walnut Pie

Serves 8 to 10.

For Cookie Crust:

1 1/2 cups cookie crumbs, made from whatever delicious cookies you might have, zipped through the food processor.  (I used half chocolate wafer cookies and half homemade chocolate chip cookies.  You could mix it up however you wish.  Sugar cookies, oreos, chocolate covered grahams...all fine.)

5 tablespoons butter, melted

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

For Filling:

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter

3/4 cup (packed) golden brown sugar

3 Tbsp. light corn syrup

3 Tbsp. dark corn syrup

1 1/2 cups pecan halves

1 1/2 cups walnuts

3 Tbsp. heavy cream

2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped

Make crust:

Blend all ingredients in processor. Press crumb mixture onto sides of a 8 inch-diameter cake pan. Place in freezer while preparing filling.

Make filling:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine butter, brown sugar and corn syrup in heavy medium saucepan. Bring to boil, stirring often. Boil 1 minute. Stir in nuts and cream. Boil until mixture thickens slightly, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat. Add chocolate. Stir until chocolate melts and mixture is well blended.

Pour hot filling into crust. Using spoon, evenly distribute nuts. Put pie on baking sheet.  Bake until filling bubbles all over, about 10 minutes. Transfer pie to rack and cool completely.  Put in freezer for about one hour to get really cold.  Cut in small wedges (the size of the wedge is entirely up to you) and serve.

Note:  How you actually eat this is a matter of personal preference.  You don't even have to put it in the freezer if you don't want to wait.  Just make sure to let it rest about one or two hours on the cooling rack.  I loved the results of putting it in the freezer.  It's like gooey, chocolaty, nutty frozen candy bars.

Double Chocolate Walnut Biscotti

This rich and dark chocolate biscotti  is every chocoholic's dream.  It's got two kinds of chocolate in it.  They're crunchy and the perfect ending to any great meal or long day.  They stay fresh in the cookie jar for at least a week, but if you want to take them a bit over the top, freeze them.  It's sort of like having the most amazing fudgesicle when you were least expecting it.  For some reason, after taking a couple of bites of this cookie, you will find yourself saying "thank you".  You're not sure to who and why, but it just comes out.

Double Chocolate Walnut Biscotti

6 Tbsp. butter, room temp.

1 C. sugar

2 eggs

2 cups flour

½ cup cocoa powder

1 tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

1 cup. chocolate chips (good quality such as Ghiradelli)

½  cup walnuts, chopped

In a stand-up mixer, beat the sugar & butter for a couple minutes.  Add the eggs, mix for another couple.  In a medium-large bowl stir together (or use a whisk) the flour, cocoa, baking soda & salt.  With the mixer running on very low, gradually add to the butter/egg mixture.  When it’s all mixed in good, stir in the chocolate chips & nuts.

Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Turn dough onto a lightly floured board and lightly flour your hands.  Bring dough together and then cut in half length-wise.  Form a log about 12" long and then transfer each log to your baking sheet.  Dust with powdered sugar.  Bake in a 350 degree oven for 35 minutes.  Remove from oven…let sit on cookie sheets for about 7 minutes.  Transfer logs to a board and slice in biscotti shape.  Place biscotti back on cookie sheet and bake for another 5 minutes or until slightly hard. DONE! (If you prefer your biscotti less crunchy, remove them from the oven a few minutes sooner.)

It's Chocolate Day! (Wait! Isn't It Every Day?)

I wanted to do a day with three of some of my all-time favorite chocolate recipes.  I know chocolate makes me happy.  When I eat it, it's like sharing time with a friend.  And I know I can say with total confidence, it makes most every creature on the planet happy too.  It's CHOCOLATE!!  Pick your poison.  Cookies?  Candy?  Cake?  Yes. Yes. Yes.  Hot Cocoa?  Ice Cream?  Truffles?  Of course - YES!  To all of the above and more.  Think of the involuntary reaction most of us have to chocolate.  Closed eyes. Weak knees.  Slight moaning.  Ummm, I guess it's like sharing time with more than a friend.

But when something is that universally wonderful, let's smile and find a way to get our hands on some soon.  In the movie Chocolat, candy shop owner Vianne knew that everyone loved chocolate and that each of us has an irresistible favorite way to eat it.  She also knew that eating and enjoying chocolate brings people together, while avoiding it tears us apart.  You can't argue with that kind of great logic.  Idle hands are the devil's keeper.  Get in the kitchen and make something with chocolate.  Have friends over.  Share.  You never know...you will have maybe saved a couple of relationships and prevented some real disasters.  That's power, my friend.  That's what chocolate can do.

Oh, and this will definitely not be the last of my chocolate posts and chocolate recipes.  Hardly. This is just the beginning.  I didn't just discover the stuff last week, you know.

Fennel and Orange Salad (Sicily At Its Finest)

This is a refreshing salad that would almost be better served after your main course.  It has a way of lightening up the entire meal.  A Sicilian classic.  Pairing the sweet navel oranges with the licorice flavor of the fresh fennel and then a drizzle of the finest olive oil transports you right over to the Mediterranean and all of a sudden, you're on vacation.  (I go on a lot of vacations, just by closing my eyes.)

This is also as easy as it gets.  I hope you'll be enjoying it soon.


Salad with Fresh Fennel, Oranges & Scallions
Insalata di Arance

Serves 4


4 oranges, peeled and segments cut out
2 fennel bulbs, end trimmed, cut into 1 1/2" slices
1 scallion or green onion, thinly sliced
4 Tbsp. good quality extra virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients.  Let it rest for half an hour.  Divide among plates and serve.  Afterward, go dip your toes in the water.