Food and Crafts for All Occasions

Poached Salmon with Pernod, Fennel, Fresh Garbanzo Beans and Cream

To my taste, poaching is one of the best ways to cook salmon. When served together with poaching liquid, this salmon is referred to salmon a la nage. Despite its French name and seeming haute cuisine-ness, my dish is so simple and fast to make that you can easily cook it for a weekday dinner.

Traditionally, poaching is quite a long process. First, a poaching liquid, called court bouillon, is cooked. Then an item to be poached is fully submerged in it and left there on a low heat until done. Before or during poaching, some portion of the poaching liquid is taken out and turned into a sauce by mixing it with other ingredients and reducing to a proper consistency. Looks like a whole project, isn't it? That's why so many people either never bother themselves with poaching or do it only for special occasions.

Chawan Mushi, My Favorite Breakfast

Eggs are my favorite breakfast meal. I like them in all styles - fried sunny-side up or over easy, soft boiled, poached, baked en cocotte, scrambled.  Chawan mushi, a steamed Japanese egg custard, is one of my recent favorites. Extremely light and airy, with silky mouth feel and delicious, delicate flavor  - what's not to like?

Traditionally, it is served as an appetizer, hot or cold, but I prefer to have it for breakfast or lunch.

Homemade Mayonnaise

In the recipe below I mentioned homemade mayonnaise, but didn't give the recipe. Here it is. Homemade mayonnaise is absolutely superior to any store bought mayo and extremely, I mean it – extremely, easy to make. You don’t need any blender, food processors or any fancy piece of equipment, just a good old whisk will do the job in mere minutes. Less than 2 minutes, actually, from start to finish.

 

Eggs with Pickled Spanish Anchovies

Sometimes for Sunday brunch, my friend Lana makes these delicious boiled eggs, halved and topped with mayo and sprinkled with curry powder. I’ve always enjoyed the simplicity and bold flavor of this dish. But I am known as a person who tends to complicate things. So I borrowed Lana’s idea and complicated it with a couple of more ingredients – boquerones, Spanish style pickled anchovies, that give this dish both saltiness and tartness, and spicy radish sprouts, which bring a nice zing.