Orange Roasted Salmon with Caper Sauce, Delicious!!!

 

Salmon is my favorite fish and I’m always watching for another good salmon recipe. 

We enjoy it frequently and I was 

more than happy with this recipe!

 

The smooth caper sauce is an easy one to make that’s filled with great flavor that complements the salmon perfectly.  In fact, it would probably be great with any white fish, a good way to add something special to the fish.  

 

Crispy Stovetop Iron-Skillet Salmon

I was lucky enough to inherit two cast iron skillets ~ a 10-inch skillet from Grandma and a 12-inch skillet from Mom.  They're way up there in years, probably 70 years at the least, and I handle them with TLC!

If you'd tell me that I could only have one cooking utensil in my kitchen, 
this is what it would be!

Tilapia Piccata-Style over Parsley and Tomato Orzo

Tilapia Piccata is a spin on the traditional 

Italian dish of 

veal or chicken piccata.

The history of the "piccata" dish is a bit confusing, but many believe it to be of American design, most likely by Italian-American immigrants during the 1930's.  Piccatas today are generally made with veal, but here in the U.S., chicken prevails. 

Baked Salmon with Robust Creamy Blue Cheese Sauce

Salmon fishing in Oregon

Kind of funny, Bubba (the seafood lover) reminds me now and then of how, when he and Matt were growing up, I used to never like fish or any seafood except for tuna and salmon, the 2 he didn't like at all back then and still doesn't.  And of course those were the only ones I served back then, pleasing Matt.

These days, I like fish and some seafood, serving it most weeks here, with Bill tolerating salmon.
 
That's when I pep up salmon for Bill and I at dinner time, turning to this piquant sauce uniting blue cheese, cucumber and dill for the salmon.  It's a perfect combo!

There's nothing bland about this little sauce which you can whip up in no time.  In my book, piquant blue cheese always puts pizzazz in a dish!

As salmon is readily available, versatile and simply delicious, the quick prep time of this recipe and its short list of ingredients, makes it an even better dish ~ perfect for a weeknight meal or company too!

Cook this for your dinner tonight:  salmon, with a zesty sauce; a little green salad, and broccoli, maybe a glass of bubbly, and Voila!  You have yourself a great tasty dinner!

By the way, the sauce makes a great salad dressing for a wedge of iceberg lettuce.  

It will make you wonder why you ever ate kale salad, for sure!

Yield: 2-3 servingsAuthor: Pam

Baked Salmon with Creamy Blue Cheese, Cucumber and Dill Sauce

This piquant sauce will jazz up your salmon deliciously!

INGREDIENTS:

For the salmon:

• 1-1/2 pounds slab of salmon
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon capers, drained
• Salt and pepper, to taste

For the blue cheese, cucumber and dill sauce:

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise (light, if desired)
• 1/2 cup sour cream (light, if desired)
• 1/2 cup English cucumber, diced
• 1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
• 2 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon lemon zest
• Dash of salt

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 400°. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray.
2. Place salmon on baking sheet, skin side down and brush with oil, season with salt and pepper.
3. Bake for 20-25 minutes, depending on thickness, and until fish flakes easily with a fork.
4. Meanwhile:
5. Combine all sauce ingredients in a bowl. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
   Makes 1-1/2 cups

Enjoy!

Chicken Pizzaiola with Capers ~~~ Lightened Up

I’ve never made, nor even eaten, Chicken Pizzaiola before, but I positively plan on cooking it again!

Chicken Pizzaiola is a traditional Italian food, as far as I know.  A lot of you, my foodie friends, out there are Italian, so please let me know if that is true---what is the origin of this dish?  I believe the original recipe combines the taste of herbs with tomato sauce, poured over cooked chicken and topped with slices of mozzarella cheese.  

I clipped this light variation of Chicken Pizzaiola from our local newspaper, The Northwest Herald.  It has the delicious tomato sauce with plenty of oregano, red pepper flakes and piquant capers.  Instead of layers of mozzarella, this is topped with grated Parmesan cheese. 

It was delicious!  I served it with a green salad and cooked spinach.  It would be great served with spaghetti!

Chicken Pizzaiola with Capers

Ingredients:

3 chicken breasts; boneless, skinless

1 teaspoon dried oregano

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon seasoned pepper

2 teaspoons olive oil

5 green onions, chopped

1 green bell pepper, sliced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 (14-ounce can) tomatoes, no-salt-added

¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 tablespoon capers, drained

¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese, optional

Method:

Place chicken between 2 pieces of plastic wrap.

With meat pounder or rolling pin, pound evenly to about ¼” thickness.

Sprinkle chicken with oregano, salt and seasoned pepper.

Spray large nonstick skillet with cooking spray and set over medium-high heat.

Add chicken and cook until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side.

Transfer to plate.

Add oil to skillet and reduce heat to medium.

Add onion and bell pepper; cook stirring frequently, until tender.

Add garlic and cook about 1 minute.

Return chicken to skillet along and add tomatoes, pepper flakes and capers.

Cover and simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 10-15 minutes longer; depending upon thickness.

Serve sprinkled with Parmesan, if desired.

Tender, Moist & DELICIOUS! 

Be sure to visit my friend, Linda’s blog @My Kind of Cooking for great tips on Tuesday’s and good and easy recipes every Friday!

Chicken Breasts Dijon

I like to try different ingredients with chicken as it’s so versatile and I’m a huge fan of Dijon mustard so this recipe is a winner for me. 

This is a simple recipe that ends up being a savory gratifying dish.  The Dijon mustard, chives and lemon juice add a piquant flavor to the chicken cooked with the mushrooms.  A tablespoon of capers adds a bold taste. 

Serve with a crunchy salad and cheese grits for a fast mouthwatering weeknight meal.  Chicken breast Dijon has the best taste ever!

Chicken Breasts Dijon

Ingredients:

4 large chicken breasts, boneless and skinless

1 pound button mushrooms, sliced

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon coarse ground pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons chives, chopped

2 tablespoons lime juice

3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

3 teaspoons Dijon mustard

¼ cup chicken broth

1 tablespoon capers

Method:

Heat 1 tablespoon each, oil and butter in a large skillet.

Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper.

Cook chicken breasts until browned and no longer pink, about 20 minutes, depending upon size.

Remove to a warm platter and set aside.

Add remaining butter and olive oil.

Sauté mushrooms on medium-high heat until tender.

Add chives, lime juice, parsley and mustard, whisking well.

Stir in broth and combine.

Return chicken breasts to skillet, add capers and heat thoroughly.

Remove to serving platter, spooning sauce over top.

Serve

ENJOY!!!

Be sure to visit my friend, Linda’s blog @My Kind of Cooking for great tips, recipes and cookbook giveaway! 

Pasta with Spicy Tuna Sauce

Kathy, this is for you (and everyone else too!)

If you like canned tuna with pasta, this recipe will be a hit for you!

You can whip this up in very little time for a satisfying meal on a weeknight.  It’s brimming with the good flavors of albacore tuna, capers, tomatoes, olives, garlic and red pepper flakes melding with angel hair pasta.  I liberally added the garlic and red pepper flakes but adjust them to your taste.  And, if you don’t care for mushrooms or capers, leave them out.

This is a highly appealing quick dish to use up those canned goods you probably have sitting in your pantry right now.  It’s on the table in about a half hour.  Serve a crisp salad alongside and enjoy!

Pasta with Spicy Tuna Sauce

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 white onion, chopped

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

1-2 tablespoons capers

¼ cup green olives, sliced

1 (8-ounce) can mushrooms, drained, optional

1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes

¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes, to taste

Cracked black pepper, to taste

2 (6-ounce) cans albacore tuna, drained

8 ounces angel hair pasta

Parmesan cheese, shaved, optional

Method:

In a large sauté pan, heat oil over medium-low heat.

Add onion and garlic, cooking and stirring until onion is tender.

Stir in capers, olives, mushrooms and tomatoes.

Season with red pepper flakes and cracked black pepper.

Simmer gently for 3-5 minutes until sauce thickens slightly.

Gently fold in tuna, slightly breaking it up and heat through.

Meanwhile, while sauce is cooking, add pasta to a pot of rapidly boiling water.

Cook until tender.  Drain well.

Lightly toss pasta with tuna sauce.

Serve with Parmesan cheese if desired.

Serves 2-4

It’s lip-smacking good and quick too!

Don’t forget to enter my CSN giveaway I posted Monday!

Be sure to visit my friend, Linda’s blog @My Kind of Cooking for great tips, recipes and cookbook giveaway!

Chicken Puttanesca with Fettuccine

The delicious, piquant sauce in this dish goes wonderfully with chicken that is sautéed first then allowed to simmer in the sauce to absorb all the flavors.  The pungent tastes of the Mediterranean mingle well in this good dish.

Chicken Puttanesca is one of my favorite Italian pasta dishes!  This recipe is a quick variation of the dish using bottled pasta sauce with the requisite capers, olives and red pepper making it a savory puttanesca with a little heat.  Next time, I will be trying this tangy sauce with shrimp or a whitefish.

This is a perfect dinner for these cool fall evenings.  You can make dinner in a flash with this great homey recipe that is a wonderful company dish also!  It is truly delicious and I hope you try it!

 

Chicken Puttanesca with Fettuccine

Ingredients:

8 ounces fettuccine

2 teaspoons olive oil

4 chicken breasts, skinless, boneless

2 cups tomato-basil pasta sauce

2 teaspoons minced garlic

1/3 cup kalamata olives, sliced

2 teaspoons capers

¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper

¼ teaspoon black pepper

1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

Method:

Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting fat and salt

Drain and keep warm.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.

Cut chicken in 1” pieces.  Add to skillet.

Cook chicken until lightly browned, stirring occasionally.

Stir in pasta sauce, garlic, olives, caper and peppers; bring to a simmer.

Cook 5 minutes or until chicken is done, stirring frequently.

Arrange pasta on dinner plates.

Top with chicken mixture.

Sprinkle with cheese.

4 servings

It is delicious!!!  ENJOY!!! 

Check out my friend, Linda’s blog, at My Kind of Cooking for her great recipes and the 4 cookbooks she's giving away!

Lemon Chicken Vermicelli with Vegetables

We really like pasta and chicken together with this being one of our favorite ways to enjoy it.  What makes it even better is that it’s simple and is packed with good flavor.

The lemon juice and capers give the chicken and vermicelli a unique taste along with mushrooms and fresh tomatoes rounding it out.  It’s good this time of year with the fresh vegetables and the butter certainly helps it also.

This is so good that as soon as you’ve had a couple of helpings and emptied the bowl, you’ll lick the bowl!  It’s a great dish that turns out extraordinarily good every time!

Lemon Chicken Vermicelli with Vegetables

Ingredients:

3 chicken breasts

8 ounces mushrooms, sliced

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 large tomato, large chop

1 pound vermicelli

1 lemon

1 stick butter, cut into small pieces

2 tablespoons capers

Salt and pepper

1 cup Parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons parsley, chopped fine

Method:

Sauté chicken breasts in skillet sprayed with cooking spray until done; juices running clear.   Cut into strips.  Set aside.

In same skillet, sauté mushrooms and garlic for 2-3 minutes.

Add tomatoes and heat through.

Add chicken strips to vegetables.  Set aside, keeping warm.

Meanwhile, in a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the vermicelli according to package directions, until al dente.  Drain well.

Grate the lemon zest into a large pasta bowl, being careful not to grate the white pith as it is bitter.

Add the juice from the lemon to the bowl.

Add drained pasta to the lemon mixture.

Add butter to pasta and combine.

Place chicken with vegetables, capers and parsley in the pasta bowl.

Season with salt and pepper.

Add Parmesan cheese.

Toss well.  

Serves 4-6

This is delicious!  ENJOY!

Today is the last day to enter my $60 Le Creuset, CSN giveaway posted on August 11, 2010!

Be sure to visit my friend Linda's, my kind of cooking, great blog for a chance to win her wonderful cookbook with lots of easy, delicious recipes! 

Check out another great giveaway at Bo's Bowl.  He has fantastic recipes and tells great stories connected with his good Southern cooking!

Sole Piccata

When I buy fish, it is usually orange roughy, tilapia or turbot but, this time I saw sole and wanted to try it.

Sole is a delicate fish in more ways than one.  It has a mild delicate flavor but is downright frail as it cooks and you must be careful when handling it.  So, turn it carefully, plate it with even more care and hope that it does not break apart.  If it does, don’t worry about it ~ just eat it.

Since sole is a mild fish, it needs some help and capers come to the rescue.  If you have never cooked with capers, you are in for a treat as they definitely have a unique taste.  

A caper is a spiny perennial bush that bears rounded, fleshy leaves and white to pinkish-white flowers that grows like a weed in the Mediterranean.  A caper is also a pickled bud of this plant.  They have a sour, salty taste from the pickling and come in a variety of sizes; small is better.  One of the classic ways to eat capers is a lemon sauce which leads us to this delightful Sole Picatta. 

The sauce in this dish combines butter, garlic, lemon juice, wine and capers.  Whatever white wine you are enjoying with your dinner will also be fine in the sauce.  This will actually work well with most thin skinless fillets of fish.  The combined flavors are great and it is quick to prepare.  I served it with brown rice and steamed broccoli for a healthy delicious meal. 

By the way, here’s the definition of piccata:  Piccata is an Italian word meaning “larded.”  It is used in reference to a way of preparing food; it means “sliced, sautéed and served in a sauce containing lemon, butter and spices.”  So, here’s the Sole Piccata recipe:

Sole Piccata

Ingredients:

1 pound sole fillets

¼ cup flour

Salt and pepper

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons butter

2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1 small onion, chopped

½ cup white wine

2 tablespoons small capers

2 tablespoons lemon juice

Method:

Season the fillets with a little salt and pepper.

Dust with flour.

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over moderately high heat.

Add the sole and sauté until the fillets are a little browned, a minute per side.

Remove from the pan and set aside.

In the same skillet, heat the butter and add the garlic and onions, cook for about 2 minutes.

Deglaze the skillet with the wine, scrapping up any bits.

Add capers and lemon juice. 

Bring back to a simmer.

Place the fillets carefully into the sauce.

Sauté the fish for about 3-4 minutes per side.

Arrange the fish on serving platter and pour remaining sauce over the fish.

Serve immediately

Pam’s note:  I like this sauce so much that I double the recipe!  

ENJOY!!!