Lox and Cream Cheese Dip/Spread

It’s almost new year’s weekend, so I’ve been cooking for our annual New Year’s Eve hors d’oeuvres fest (storing a lot of stuff in the freezer).

These are some of the items I’ll serve at various times during the day: Marinated Mushrooms (a cinch to make); Potato-Carrot Latkes; Romanian Cheese turnovers; Scallion Cakes; Almond Chicken Nuggets; Hot Dog en Croute, and some others, plus a couple of dips, like hummus.

This Smoked Salmon and Cream Cheese dip is a definite for our smoked fish hour. It’s amazingly easy to put together, so if you need something last minute, this is for you.

Lox and Cream Cheese Dip/SPREAD

• 4 ounces smoked salmon

• 1 cup cream cheese (8 ounces)

• 1/3 cup dairy sour cream

• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill

• 2 chopped scallions

Chop the smoked salmon into small pieces and set aside. Cut the cream cheese into chunks and place in a food processor. Add the sour cream, lemon juice, dill and scallions. Process on pulse until the ingredients are relatively smooth and well blended. Add the smoked salmon, pulse a few more times to distribute the pieces evenly.

Makes 1-1/2 cups

Roasted Fish with Tomatoes, Olives and Basil

“I loves you Porgy……” a lovely aria from Gershwin’s opera, Porgy and Bess of course.

But mostly I love porgy, the fish species, which should be coming to market soon, where I live.

Actually I love all fish. My husband — not so much. My cousin who is coming to stay with us over Memorial Day weekend - she loves fish too. Her husband — not so much.

But both men do like fish that’s covered and baked with lots of flavorful ingredients such as olives, tomatoes, onions and fresh herbs.

So this dish is on the menu. I’ll probably be making it with branzino, which is widely available, but it’s a perfect way to prepare lots of different kinds of fish (see the recipe).

Roasted Fish with Tomatoes, Olives and basil

• 4 fish filets such as porgy, branzino, hake, grouper, halibut, cod or sea bass about 5-6 ounces each, or 24 ounce large filet

• 1-1/2 tablespoons olive oil

• salt to taste

• Aleppo pepper (or use cayenne or crushed red pepper) or freshly ground black pepper

• 3 large plum tomatoes, chopped

• 1/3 cup chopped red onion

• 1/2 cup mixed pitted olives

• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

• 2 tablespoons lemon juice

• 2 teaspoons grated fresh lemon peel

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the fish in a baking pan. Coat the surface with the olive oil and sprinkle with salt and (Aleppo) pepper. Scatter the tomatoes, onion, olives and basil over the fish. Sprinkle with lemon juice and lemon peel. Bake for 12-18 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fish, or until the fish is cooked through.

Makes 4 servings

Roasted Salmon with Orange-Mustard Butter

During the pandemic I used shopping/delivery services for my groceries. For the most part it’s been easy and reliable and I am incredibly grateful to the shoppers for risking their health and lives to help other people.

But recently, after two covid vaccinations and several weeks went by, I ventured out to the supermarket for my first “shop.” It was like an event. Who knew that grocery shopping could be such a thrill!

I went to a new store because my old reliable, Fairway, went out of business.

So, Wegman’s it was! It’s a huge place and kind of overwhelming after a year of not being or going anywhere.

There were products I hadn’t even thought to buy through a shopper — it seems stores don’t list everything that’s available for internet orders.

I bought lots of produce — oranges and berries and several kinds of lettuce and mushrooms and parsnips, fennel and more.

The FISH counter!! It was spectacular! I envisioned feasts! I LOVE fresh fish.

The salmon in particular was gorgeous and inviting. I know salmon is not such an exotic fish but it’s one that my husband eats without complaint, so I make it quite a lot. And I loved being able to pick out the exact pieces I wanted. From the front, at the big end, where it’s marbled with fat.

It was as delicious as it looked. Dinner was SO wonderful.

Things are looking up.

Roasted Salmon with Orange-Mustard Butter

• 6 salmon filets, about 6 ounces each

• 2 tablespoons softened butter

• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

• 2 scallions, chopped (or use chives)

• 2 teaspoons grated fresh orange peel

• 2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger

• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Place the salmon filets in a baking dish. In a bowl, combine the butter, mustard, scallions, orange peel, ginger and parsley and mix to blend the ingredients thoroughly. Slather equal amounts of the butter over the fish. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast the salmon for 15-18 minutes, depending on thickness and degree of doneness desired.

Makes 6 servings

Smoked Salmon and Cottage Cheese Pie

Last week I made the ideal dish.

By that I mean it is light and easy to eat during the scorching days of summer.

It’s meatless, so perfect for the Nine Days and any other time we don’t want to eat the usual meat-two-veggie or salad dinner.

I got to use up leftovers and bits of this and that (smoked salmon, cottage cheese, cream cheese).

It served as dinner and also as hors d’oeuvre — I rewarmed the leftover portion and cut it into bite-size pieces for some socially distanced company.

You can use any leftover fish. I happened to have smoked salmon, so that’s what I used.

Smoked Salmon and Cottage Cheese Pie

• 1 tablespoon butter

• 1 large shallot, chopped

• 1 partially baked pie crust

• 3-4 ounces smoked salmon, chopped

• 2 tablespoons cream cheese

• 4 large eggs

• 1 cup cottage cheese

• 1 cup half and half

• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill

• 1/2 teaspoon salt or to taste

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Heat the butter in a small frying pan over medium heat. When the butter has melted and looks bubbly, add the shallot and cook for 3-4 minutes or until softened. Spoon the shallot onto the bottom of the partially baked pie crust. Scatter the salmon pieces on top. Cut the cream cheese into small pieces and scatter them on top. In a bowl, beat the eggs, cottage cheese, half and half, dill and salt together until well mixed. Pour into the pie crust. Bake the pie for about 45 minutes or until the top is nicely browned and the custard has set.

Makes 4-6 servings

Whitefish Cakes with Asparagus and Egg

If you’re refraining from eating meat during the Nine Days, or because the weather is hot and humid and the thought or eating something heavy like meat is beyond your emotional capacity or you just love the occasional meatless meal, try these fish cakes!

I had leftovers from a large smoked whitefish that we didn’t finish — but it would work with any cooked fish (I’ve made this dish with smoked trout and cooked salmon).

It’s also the kind of amazingly versatile recipe you need during a pandemic when you may not be able to shop or find the exact ingredients you need and you also don’t want to waste any food.

So, for example, if you don’t have red onion, use scallion or chives or shallot or plain old yellow onion.

No matzo meal? Use dry bread crumbs. Or panko. No parsley? Substitute fresh dill, basil or thyme.

Add a fried egg, a vegetable (here I’ve shown it with asparagus but carrots, spinach, cooked kale and so on would work too) and the meal is complete.

Whitefish Cakes with Asparagus and Egg

• 2 cups mashed smoked whitefish

• 1/3 cup chopped red onion

• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

• 1/4 cup matzo meal

• 2 large eggs

• 1/2 cup matzo meal, approximately

• 20-24 asparagus spears

• 2 tablespoons butter, margarine or vegetable oil

• 4 large eggs

Place the whitefish, red onion, parsley and 1/4 cup matzo meal in a bowl and mix briefly. Add the eggs and mix to combine the ingredients. Shape into 4 thick patties (about 1/2-inch). Place the 1/2 cup matzo meal on a dish and press the fish cakes into the matzo meal to coat both sides. Refrigerate the patties for 30-60 minutes. Heat the oven to warm (or use a warming drawer.) Heat the butter in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Fry the fish cakes for about 3-4 minutes per side or until crispy. While the fish cakes are frying, steam the asparagus for 3-4 minutes or until crisp tender. When the asparagus are cooked, place equal amounts on dinner plates and top each with a fish cake. Keep warm in the oven or warming drawer. Heat the remaining tablespoon butter; when it has melted add the eggs and fry until desired consistency. Place one egg on top of each asparagus-topped fish cake.

Makes 4 servings

Mini Salmon Latkes

I’m thinking ahead to Hanukkah and the New Year’s Eve weekend. For the first, of course latkes! For New Year’s? Hors d’oeuvre.

Here’s a recipe that works for either or both.

Salmon latkes in mini form. Fried right? So perfect for Hanukkah. Make them small enough and put them on some sort of base and you’ve got a super morsel for cocktail hour.

You can put the latkes on crackers or toasted bread, but I like using small tomatoes (campari tomatoes in the photo) as a base because it makes the hors d’oeuvre colorful. They are less crunchy but much juicier.

The latkes are freezable. Isn’t that nice?!

Mini Salmon Latkes

• 2 cups mashed cooked salmon

• 2 large eggs

• 1/2 cup matzo meal

• 2 tablespoons chopped chives

• vegetable oil

• 12 campari tomatoes (approximately) (or other small tomatoes)

• 3 tablespoons mayonnaise

• chives or fresh dill for garnish

In a bowl, mix the salmon, eggs, matzo meal and chives until well combined. Heat about 1/8-inch vegetable oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Shape the salmon mixture into 36 small disks. Fry, a few at a time, for 2-3 minutes per side or until crispy. Drain on paper towels. Before serving, slice the tomatoes about 1/2-inch thick. Place the latkes on top of the tomato slices. Spoon a small amount of mayonnaise onto the tops. Sprinkle with chopped chives for garnish (or use a tiny leaf of fresh dill).

Makes 36

Roasted Salmon with Chive Flowers

On a recent trip to an Asian supermarket in Queens, New York, I bought a lot of interesting vegetables. Greens -- Chinese broccoli, bok choy, yau choy and cabbage -- and some herbs, including chive flowers (pictured above). 

Chive flowers are just like ordinary chives, except they've been allowed to mature and produce an actual flower. As a result, they are thicker and have a somewhat bolder flavor than regular chives.

I used them to season salmon one night. This dish couldn't be simpler. Takes about 5 minutes to prepare and 15 minutes to cook.

How easy is that!

Roasted Salmon with Chive Flowers

• 24-32 ounces salmon
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons chopped chives
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 475 degrees. Place the salmon in a baking dish. Mix the mustard, olive oil and garlic together in a small bowl and spread this mixture evenly on top of the fish. Sprinkle with the chives, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Roast for about 15 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fish, or until the fish is cooked to desired doneness and the top is crispy-browned. 

Makes 4 servings

Roasted Shad

When springtime comes, can shad be far behind?

Not in Connecticut!

Lucky us. The shad are running, swimming their way through the Connecticut River to spawn, on their way to the ocean.

The season is short, so get your fill now. (FYI, shad do run through other rivers along the east and west coasts so you can get it too.)

If you've never tasted shad, a herring cousin, you've missed out. It's one of the most tender of fish and it's loaded with omega-3 fat, which means it's not only healthy but also big on flavor.

The big problem with shad is the bones. There are lots of them, very very thin bones. A Native American tale says that shad was once a porcupine who turned inside out when it went into the water.

I managed to buy the filets already deboned, (which you can do at many fish markets). Many shad recipes call for cooking the fish at low temperatures for a long time (250 degrees for several hours), because the bones melt in the slow heat. But for a quick, tasty meal try the easy recipe below.

If you can't get deboned shad it's still worth eating because it tastes so good. You can also substitute any herring, trout, bluefish or mackerel filets.

ROASTed Shad with Thyme and Raisins

• 1/2 cup raisins
• 4 deboned shad filets
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• thin slices of lemon

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Place the raisins on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Place the shad filets on top. Mix the olive oil and mustard and brush over each filet. Sprinkle the filets with lemon juice, thyme and salt and pepper to taste. Place lemon slices on top of each filet. Roast for about 8 minutes or until lightly crispy. 

Makes 4 servings

Roasted Salmon with Hazelnut Crust

I think I could write a cookbook just about salmon, because we eat it so often and I am the kind of person who likes to change things up and not eat the same old same old for dinner.

So I have lots of recipes for salmon.

This one is among the easiest also. And fast. The essence of "quick and easy."

 

Roasted Salmon with Hazelnut Butter

 

• 4 salmon fillets or steaks, about 6 ounces each, about 1 1/4 inches thick
• 1-1/2 tablespoons softened butter
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives
• 2 teaspoons finely grated fresh lemon peel
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons crushed hazelnuts (or almonds)

Preheat the oven to 475°F. Place the salmon in a baking dish. Mix the butter, chives, lemon peel and mustard and spread this mixture evenly over the surface of the fish. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and scatter the nuts evenly on top. Roast for about 15 minutes, depending on thickness, or until nearly cooked through but still darker in the thickest part of the center.

Makes 4 servings.

Love Livornese

One of our favorite restaurants dishes is some-kind-of-fish Livornese style. Ed and I both like the tangy components -- olives and capers -- and how they give so much extra flavor to the more typical tomatoes and garlic red-sauce. 

Somehow I never made Livornese sauce at home, until recently, when I saw a great looking hunk of halibut in the market and decided to dig right in and try it out.

It was absolutely perfect. I used Aleppo pepper, because I like the hint of smokiness that it has, but crushed red pepper would be equally good.

 

Roasted Halibut Livornese

• 1-1/2 pounds halibut, about 1-1/2-inches thick
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium onion, sliced
• 1 large clove garlic, chopped
• 4 medium tomatoes, chopped
• 1/2 cup cut up black imported olives
• 2-3 teaspoons capers
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1/2 teaspoon Aleppo pepper (or crushed red pepper)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Place the fish in a lightly oiled baking dish. Heat the olive oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for 2 minutes or until slightly softened. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Add the tomatoes and cook for 2-3 minutes or until softened. Add the olives, capers, white wine and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, for 6-8 minutes or until soft. Spoon the sauce over the fish. Bake for about 15-20 minutes, depending on thickness of the fish, or until cooked through.

Makes 4 servings