January 4: Hone Lime Salmon

I got this recipe from Rachael Ray's cookbook, 365 No Repeats. See? Great minds think alike. I bought this cookbook about two years ago for the precise reason that I thought a "no repeats" year would be fun. Do you know how many recipes I've made from this cookbook?

One.

Honey Lime Salmon.

It's good stuff. Along with the salmon is the recipe for a warm spinach and corn salad. Here's how I make each.

To Make the Salmon:
First, I must point out that these instructions are my representations of Rachael's recipe. I am not quoting her.

Get some salmon filets. In a shallow dish (like a casserole or pie plate, depending on the size of the filet) pour some honey. Then squeeze in the juice of one lime. Sprinkle in some chili powder. Don't you love how Rachael Ray avoids measurements? Mix up these ingredients. Then put the salmon filets in this mixture and make sure they're well coated.

Put a skillet on the stove and pour in about 2 tbsp of olive oil (Rachael loves extra virgin olive oil, or EVOO. I'm not that particular. Olive's olive). Heat up the oil to medium high and then put the filets in the skillet. Cook the filets about 4-5 minutes on each side, longer if you have big, thick filets. Serve with warm spinach and corn salad.

To Make the Spinach and Corn Salad
Make this salad while the salmon is cooking. I have modified this part of the recipe a bit. The biggest difference is that I use Vidalia onion instead of the red onion Rachael Ray calls for. I have two reasons for that. First, because I live only 90 minutes away from the onion capital of the world, I feel almost obligated to use Vidalias whenever possible. I also like to support local economies. Second, my husband hates red onions.

I also use chicken boullion instead of chicken stock just because it's a lot more convenient to keep around. I find it doesn't make a difference in the taste. What's more, I usually forget to squeeze in the lime juice at the end. Nobody misses it. Okay, here's how to make the salad:

Ingredients:
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 Vidalia onion, chopped
1 red pepper chopped
3/4 of a 16 oz pkg frozen kernel corn, thawed
1/2 cup chicken boullion
1 can black beans
1 bag (about 6 cups) fresh spinach leaves
a sprinkle or so of red pepper flakes
juice of 1 lime

Put olive oil in a large pot (like a Dutch oven--the spinach takes up a lot of room). Heat to medium high. Add onion and cook until transparent. Add pepper. Cook about two to three minutes. Add corn and chicken broth. Cook until chicken broth boils. Add black beans and cook for a minute or so. Turn off heat. Add spinach leaves. Toss until they wilt. Sprinkle in the pepper flakes. Toss some more. Squeeze in lime juice. Toss one last time.

Along with the salmon and warm spinach and corn salsa, I served yellow squash and garnished with blood orange slices. Blood oranges make everything seem a bit more exotic.

My fifteen year-old said dinner was "okay." Hey, at least he showed up for dinner tonight! My ten year-old said dinner was "All right. It could've been better." I went out on a limb and gave it a rating of pretty darn good. My husband was late getting home tonight. He's eating now. So far, I've heard no complaints.

Oh, speaking of my fifteen year-old, he told me that he ate the leftover calypso chicken for lunch today. He reports that it was better than the teriyaki chicken he had for dinner at the Japanese restaurant last night. Score!

The honey-lime salmon is the last dish I'll make for a few nights. I'll be out of town tomorrow night to deliver my husband and fifteen year-0ld to Hawkinsville for the annual river trip (I'll post photos later). Then Wednesday night is dinner at JoJo's. Thursday night my younger son has a basketball game, so I doubt I'll have time to cook then. That means no more cooking for me until Friday night. That will give me time to browse my list and decide what I'm going to make. Stay tuned.

January 3: Calypso Chicken

This morning before I left for the grocery store, I asked my fifteen year-old what he wanted for dinner. He asked for his favorite meal, Calypso chicken. I was happy to oblige. I like the dish too, and we haven't had it in a while. So off to Publix I went to get the ingredients.

Then what did my number 1 son do? He stood me up for sushi and Megan.

Megan is the hottie my son took to the homecoming dance last October. They're just friends, he said, but they text a lot. When Megan drug her heels taking her driving classes, my boy made a bet with her. "If you get your license before I do," he proposed, "I'll take you out to dinner." Megan got her license on December 16th. This afternoon she called my son and and asked him to make good on his bet.

So off they went to the local Japanese restaurant. Before he left, he said, "I can always eat Calypso chicken another night." Clearly he doesn't understand the rules of the Remler Menu. Oh, well. More chicken for me.

The Calypso chicken recipe comes from the Publix Aprons recipe series. Publix employees do cooking demonstrations in the store and hand out recipe cards. Conveniently, all the ingredients are neatly displayed adjacent to the cooking stand. I have modified the recipe to suit my cooking preferences, but I must credit the source of this fine recipe.

Ingredients:

1 lb. or so of boneless, skinless, chicken thighs
salt
pepper
garlic powder
1-10 oz pkg. yellow rice (I use Vigo)
1 can lite coconut milk (found in Oriental foods section)
1 1/2 cups chicken broth (I make it with boullion)
1 generous handful of raisins
1/3 cup frozen green peas
1/2 Vidalia onion
1/4 cup molasses
3 tbsp chili jam sauce (you can find it in the Oriental foods section)
1 tbsp cilantro paste (available in the produce section--see photo)

Instructions:

Season chicken with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Put aside. Pour coconut milk and chicken broth into a non-stick pot and add yellow rice mix and raisins. Bring to boil. Watch this pot carefully because when coconut milk boils over, it makes a big mess of the stove. Reduce heat and let rice simmer. When it's about 3/4 done, add the frozen green peas. Recover until rice has finished cooking. While the rice is cooking, chop the onion and place in a small bowl. Add molasses, chili jam sauce and cilantro paste and stir. Spray electric skillet or frying pan with cooking spray and heat to medium high. Add chicken. Allow chicken to brown on one side. Then turn and allow to brown on the opposite side. Add molasses mixture. Cover and simmer for about 20 minutes or until chicken is cooked all the way through. By this time the rice should be finished as well.

I serve this dish with green peas. The molasses mixture makes a tasty gravy for the chicken, but I also put some on my rice and peas as well.

The Publix Aprons recipe calls for a dash of jerk seasoning in the rice. Sometimes I add it, but I often omit it because my younger son doesn't like the spiciness of the jerk seasoning.

There's a little bit of Calypso chicken left over. Maybe my son can have some for lunch tomorrow.

The Remler Menu, Season 1

This blog has been woefully neglected in the past several months, but now Remlerville is back with a new project! For the next few months, instead of featuring family photos and milestones, this blog will feature food.

On January 1, 2010, my first new year's resolution was to learn how to make a ham. You see, my mother in-law, JoJo, makes a killer ham, and over the past 20+ years, I've asked her repeatedly how to make it, but the task has always intimidated me. This year, I faced my fears. My first task New Year's Day was to cook that ham.

Doesn't it look good? It tasted good too.

While the ham was cooking, I starting wondering how many days I can go cooking a different meal each time, no repeats. I made a list of the meals I commonly make, and I figured that if I cook every day, I could get through more than a month without repeating every dish.

However, cooking daily is impossible in my life. With a full-time job and two kids who play basketball and lacrosse, I'm bound to be away from home from time to time, not to mention the nights I want to have "Do It Yourself Night." So with nights off, I might be able to get through a couple of months without repeating any dishes.

And so 2010 is the year of The Remler Menu. Here are the rules:

1. Each time I cook dinner, I must cook a different meal.

2. I am not imposing my plan on my husband. Hence, on nights he cooks meals, he can cook whatever he wants.

3. Wednesday nights are off because JoJo always cooks dinner that night.

4. Nights that I teach or am out of town or am at writing group meetings are also exceptions, as are nights that my sons have basketball games, which call me away from the kitchen.

5. The goal is to cook a different main dish recipe each time. So I may cook chicken multiple times, but the recipe will be different.

6. Not all family members must be present for me to cook a meal. However, I do have to show up.

7. When I cook a different main dish, I'll include a photo and share the recipe on this site. I'll also reveal the family commentary on each main dish.

6. Side dishes are not included in this plan, but as I discuss the meal, I'll include recipes of my favorite side dishes. I'll also discuss desserts, as applicable, as well.

Although I cooked the ham on January 1st, we didn't eat it until January 2nd. That's because I invited JoJo and my father in-law, Bruce, over for dinner to partake of said ham, but they couldn't come over until last night. So the Remler Menu officially began on January 2nd with a meal of ham, butter peas, sweet potatoes, brocolli and cauliflower and corn muffins.

Here's how I made the ham:




Ingredients:
1 ham (I bought a 7.5 lb ham)
pepper
mustard (whatever you have in the fridge)
brown sugar

Instructions
Heat oven to 325 degrees. Put the ham in a brown paper bag. Then put that bag in a disposable aluminum roasting pan. Put the ham in the oven and roast it for about 20 minutes per pound (which in my case turned out to be 2 hours and 40 minutes). About three quarters of the way through (in my case, about 2 hours) remove the ham from the oven and take it out of the paper bag (I used scissors and cut the bag away from the ham). Remove as much fat as you can. Then score the ham. Pepper it. Then smear mustard all over it. Pat brown sugar over the mustard. Return the ham back to the oven and roast it for the remaining time. Watch it carefully to ensure it doesn't crust over too much.

I'm not sure what constitutes crusting over too much. Perhaps JoJo would like to elaborate. I found that after 2 hours and 40 minutes, my 7.5 pound ham was cooked perfectly, with a nice honey-mustard glaze pooled at the bottom of the ham. Yum!

Lake Weekend, 2009

In spite of thunderstorms and water spouts, the Remlers had another fine time at Laurie's luxury lake house. Between downpours, we skied, wakeboarded, swam, floated, played games and, of course, ate. And Stephen discovered his penchant for vandalism.

Boating on the Savannah River

Today was another beautiful day to go boating, but we knew Williamson Island would be mobbed. Instead, we went to a beach on the Savannah River and enjoyed watching the Maersk Utah sail by. A tugboat spraying water was also entertaining.

An Evening at Williamson Island

Tuesday night the tide was just right for a picnic and fishing on Williamson Island. Nancy read her new book, but Stephen, Davis and Lawson cast for bait and threw their lines in the water. At the end of the day, they'd caught two sharks, a whiting and a trout.

Surfing

Saturday the Remlers spent the afternoon at the beach. Lawson wanted to show off the skill he learned at surf camp last week. Unfortunately, the tide didn't cooperate. Usually we enjoy smooth waters, but Lawson needed the waves to be a little bigger. Davis and Mary Elizabeth helped him pick out the right one.