I cannot believe that it is Tuesday already.  Back to the grind as Christmas is now over.  Oh well – we must move on.  Yesterday was a huge shopping day for the house, we picked up some new bedding, some regular supplies, a new microwave and well some clothes…. but that is normal.

Remember a few weeks back when I posted about a huge food night at the zesty in laws?  Well I never posted one of the menu items as of yet because I couldn’t find any good pictures.  Well the good news is I found them and I think you may like it.

Ingredients

• 1 lb Salmon fillets, no bones
• 2 egg whites
• 6 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 2 Tsp. Salt
• 1-1/2 Tbsp. fresh ground pepper
• 2-3 Cups heavy cream, 36-38%, well chilled
• 8 Scallops, firm “feet” removed and reserved.
• 3-4 Peices dill with fronds removed, stems reserved.

Sauce

• 2 Tbsp. minced onion
• Reserved scallop feet
• Dill stems
• 1 Cup white wine
• 1 Cup water
• 1/2 Cup heavy cream

Method

1. Using a food processor, puree the egg whites and the salmon until smooth, use as is or pass through fine sieve to smooth even further. Then chill for at least 2 hours.







2. Whip butter salt and all the pepper until smooth, then add the fish puree and blend until well mixed.
3. Slowly add the cream, in a steady stream to allow full incorporation.
4. Layer 1/2 of the mix in a 4×11 inch loaf pan tamp to settle any air bubbles. Next place scallops and dill in the center of the mixture and cover with the remaining mix and tamp the mixture once again.
5. Cover with buttered parchment and back in a water bath for 90 minutes in an oven preheated to 275 F. Water bath should be about 3/4 up the sides of the loaf pan.
6. Cool for 2-3 hours or overnight. Remove from mold and serve with sauce.
7. Saute onions until soft and not browned and add scallops and dill stems. Cook for 30 sec over low heat and add water and wine and reduce until little 1/4 cup remaining and add cream.



8. Bring to a boil to thicken and then strain.
9. Serve slice mousseline  with sauce over, or under the slice.



10. ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: The same mix of fish can be poached in water for a quenelle and sauced then serve warm.

Well I better get going and get ready for work.  I will talk to you tomorrow for sure.  Any big plans for the new year?

Take care

zesty

Our society has forced alot of us to eat on the run or have very little time to prepare meals.  Whether your in the corporate world, busy parents with kids or just plain busy – having tips to prepare healthy quick meals is a big help.  I put together a few simple ways to be effective and cost efficient that you can try when preparing your next meal.

1. Prepare Food Immediately from the Grocery Store

Whether your chopping green peppers for stir fry or seeding and slicing a cantalope – Doing this right way and storing in ziploc bags can save you valuable time during meal preparation and also allows you to make healhier choices when you have a huge munch on.

2. Make a weekly meal plan

Check family members’ schedules before deciding which nights to cook. To increase family involvement, ask everyone to pick and schedule one family meal a week. Having a plan also makes writing shopping and “to do” lists easier.

3. Cook once, eat twice

Double favorite recipes, freezing extra servings in easy-to-thaw portions. Freeze extra cooked chicken breasts for quick salads, quesadillas, enchiladas, and soup.

4. Streamline shopping

Keep a running grocery list of items needed by category, such as breads, meats, and produce to reduce “emergency” trips for missing ingredients.

5. Get children involved in making dinner

Besides benefiting from the obvious creative aspects of cooking and the boost to their self-esteem, there are the more practical bonuses of developing math skills and learning how to eat well. Also if they are helping you with meal time – then you are not being distracted and things will move quicker.

6. Time is money

Take help where you can get it. “Sometimes it’s worth the added cents to choose raw deveined shrimp over shrimp you have to clean, or chicken cutlets over the breasts you would have to trim and split,” I also uses canned foods, such as beans, tomatoes and stocks, because of the time savings in certain situations.

7. Plug in the Slow Cooker

Although it might seem like a contradiction, slow cookers actually make quick work of getting a meal on the table. Just toss the ingredients in the cooker in the morning, and dinner is ready when you get home.

8. Keep your pantry stocked

The pantry being the building blocks of fast meals: basics such as pastas, rice, broths, stocks, canned tomatoes, extra virgin olive oil, and canned beans.