Teriyaki Glazed Salmon

This easy salmon recipe is super good! If you plan ahead, you can marinate the fish in the morning, spend the day out of the kitchen having fun, and sit down to a salmon dinner a few minutes after you take the fish from the refrigerator.

This recipe requires up to 8 hr. 

for marination

Teriyaki Glazed Salmon:

3 lb. salmon fillets

¼ c. brown sugar

1 tsp. garlic powder

⅓ c. soy sauce

2 tbsp. lemon juice

Lay salmon fillets flat in a single layer on a large, shallow-sided baking sheet. Sprinkle with brown sugar. Combine remaining ingredients in a small bowl, pouring evenly over fillets. Wrap tightly with cello wrap, refrigerating up to 8 hr., occasionally turning fillets. Preheat oven to 400 deg. F. Bake, uncovered, 10-to-14 min., until salmon is no longer milky and appears cooked through. Serves 8.

Combine ingredients for teriyaki marinade

Sprinkle salmon fillets with brown sugar

Pour marinade over sugared fillets

Bake: Garnish with lemon slices and dill

Ron’s Barbecued Pork Ribs (Version 1)

Ron’s recipe for barbecued ribs is the best I’ve ever tasted - and his fabulous BBQ Sauce works equally well with beef ribs. Whether you use beef or pork, each is fall-off-the-bone tender! Ron’s recipe is outstanding - and so, Dollinks, is he!   

Ron’s Barbecued Pork Ribs (Version 1):

2 lb. (900 kg) pork side ribs (see Note)

1 c. (250 mL) cold water

Preheat oven to 225 deg. F. Cut ribs into serving sizes (about 4 ribs per chunk). 

Ron cuts ribs into serving-sized chunks.

Arrange in a single layer on a rack in a shallow-sided roasting pan or baking sheet. Add water to pan; ribs should lie above water level. Cover tightly with heavy-duty foil, sealing edges well so water doesn’t evaporate. 

Cover tightly with foil.

Steam 3 hr. before removing foil. Drain water and fat from pan. 

Steaming ribs on low oven heat takes 3 hr.

While ribs are steaming, prepare Ron’s BBQ Sauce (see Note). Refrigerate until ready to use. Preheat barbecue to 400 deg. F. Brush both sides of ribs with sauce. Cook 5-to-7 min. (depending on barbecue’s heat), brushing top side of ribs a second time. Turn ribs over, again cooking 5-to-7 min. and immediately brushing top side of ribs so sauce has time to glaze meat. 

Three words: Fan-tas-tic! The best ribs ever!

Note: Ron’s BBQ Sauce keeps well under refrigeration. If you make extra, pour the amount you intend to use into a small bowl, brushing the meat from the decanted sauce. Do not save or reuse sauce that has touched basting brush or meat. What we both love about  is that it doesn’t flare up and char the meat as oil-based sauces do. 

Hey, rib lovers! Check out Ron’s Barbecued Pork Ribs (Version 2).

Huevos Rancheros

When I recently had this version of Huevos Rancheros in a restaurant, I just had to reproduce it. The restaurant served it for brunch, but I made it as a simple supper for Ron and me. I saved some time in its preparation by using canned black beans, purchased salsa, and store-bought guacamole. The recipe below serves 2; you’d need a second person in the kitchen to make this in a larger quantity, because once you get going, you need to work fast.

Huevos Rancheros:

1 large flour tortilla (per plate)

½ c. (125 mL) oil, for frying (see Note)

2 large eggs (per plate)

½ c. (125 mL) cooked brown rice (per plate)

½ c. (125 mL) cooked, drained, rinsed black beans (per plate)

1 small scoop fresh tomato salsa (per plate)

1 small scoop Guacamole (per plate) (See Guacamole Note)

1 small scoop sour cream (per plate)

Fresh cilantro, as garnish

Hot sauce, optional

Assemble ingredients. Warm serving plates in the oven. Heat both sides of tortilla in a large skillet and transfer to warm plate in oven. Heat oil in large skillet: I used a generous amount, allowing eggs to crisp as they cook. Break eggs into small, individual bowls: This will allow you to work faster as you plop and separate them into the hot oil. 

As the eggs fry, place a large scoop of brown rice at the top left of each tortilla. This rice will become the bed upon which the eggs will rest. Place a large scoop of black beans at the top right of the tortilla. Below it, fan small, individual scoops of salsa, guacamole, and sour cream. Turn eggs “over easy,” frying a few seconds more. Transfer eggs onto rice. Garnish with a few cilantro sprigs, serve immediately, and pass the hot sauce!

Note: Lower the fat content of this recipe by substituting fresh tomato sauce for the oil in which the eggs cook. You can make your own tomato sauce quickly and easily: Slice one ripe, medium tomato in half, grating the cut side into a skillet and discarding the skin. For this recipe, use one tomato for every 2 eggs you intend to cook. Warm the sauce over medium-high heat, slipping each egg into it. When the eggs are cooked, pour sauce and eggs over the brown rice on the tortilla.

Guacamole Note: If you like Guacamole as much as I do, you may enjoy Sarah’s Guacamole and Heart ’n’ Soul Guacamole. Each is excellent. 

Brown rice …

Black beans ... a healthy start to a great vegetarian meal!

Warm flour tortilla on griddle or in large skillet.

Cook eggs over easy, allowing them to crisp slightly.

Begin arraying ingredients on flat top of tortilla.

Work at the edges: Keep colors and flavors distinct.

Guacamole, rice, beans, sour cream, salsa ...

And finally, the eggs! Serve with hot sauce.

Heaven-or-Hell Hash Brown Potatoes

This recipe is the equivalent of eating a bag of potato chips - high-fat, addictive, and expensive. This is not the way I normally cook, but it is tasty as a novelty and as an occasional treat. I’d suggest doubling the recipe and taking it to a potluck buffet where everyone can enjoy a little. It’s one of these recipes everyone will ask for but few will actually make, once they read what’s in it!

Heaven-or-Hell Hash Brown Potatoes:

1 c. dairy sour cream

1 c. grated cheddar cheese

¼ c. artificial bacon bits

1 - 1 oz. pkg. (28 g) powdered Ranch Dip salad dressing and seasoning mix

2-½ c. frozen hash brown potatoes (shredded or chunked)

Preheat oven to 400 deg. F. Combine all ingredients except hash browns, stirring well. Add hash browns and spoon into a medium casserole. Bake 40 min., or until golden.  

Note: If you double this recipe, increase baking time to 50-to-60 min.

Assemble ingredients

Stir together sour cream, cheddar, bacon bits, ranch dip

Hot out of the oven!

Turkey Stroganoff with Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup

If you’re staring down a passel of poultry leftovers, here’s something you can do with it, Dollinks! This recipe works equally well with chicken … four thighs or a breast will do it.

Turkey Stroganoff with Condensed 

Cream of Chicken Soup:

2 c. (5oo mL) broad noodles or 4 oz. (125 g) other pasta such as fettucine

2 tbsp. (25 mL) butter or margarine

1 medium onion, chopped

1 celery stalk, diced

2 c. (500 mL) fresh mushrooms, sliced

1-1/2 c. (375 mL) cooked, leftover turkey, chunked

1 - 10 oz. (284 mL) can condensed cream of chicken soup

1/2 soup can milk

1/4 c. (60 mL) fine, dry bread crumbs or crumbled, stale potato chips

Preheat oven to 300 deg. F. Boil 4 qt. (4 L) water in large pot. Salt lightly, stirring in noodles. Cook 10-to-12 min., stirring occasionally, until noodles are al dente (tender “to the tooth”). 

While noodles cook, melt butter in large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and celery , stirring until celery is soft and onion is translucent. Add mushrooms, stirring until tender. Stir in turkey until heated through. Combine condensed soup with milk, adding to mixture in skillet until well combined. 

Drain noodles, transferring to lightly greased 2 qt. casserole dish. Cover with turkey mixture and sprinkle with bread or potato chip crumbs. Bake 20 min., until golden. Serves 4.

Stir onion, celery and mushrooms over medium heat.

Transfer cooked noodles to lightly greased casserole.

Pour turkey mixture over noodles. Bake 20 min.

Garnish with a sprinkle of parsley flakes. 

Ready for the table!

For more Stroganoff recipes, see One Click: Stroganoff.

Turkey, Tomato, and Rice Soup

Some people believe the best part about a turkey dinner is the next-day’s pickin’s. One of my favorite ways to enjoy turkey leftovers is by making soup, and this one’s as easy as it gets.

Turkey, Tomato, and Rice Soup:

6 c. (1.5 L) turkey broth

2 c. (500mL) coarsely chopped cooked turkey, in bite-sized pieces

1 - 5-½ oz. (156 mL) can tomato paste

½ tsp. (2.5 mL) granulated sugar

1 tbsp. (15 mL) finely chopped onion or dried onion flakes

¼ c. (60 mL) uncooked white rice

Salt and pepper, to taste.

Bring broth, turkey, tomato paste, sugar, and onion to a boil in large saucepan. Stir in rice and immediately reduce heat to low. Cover, with a toothpick between lid and pot to allow steam to escape. Simmer 15-to-20 min. until rice is cooked. Season to taste. Serves 6.

Note: Dressing up this plain and simple soup is easy. Season it with a little oregano and basil, adding a small can of rinsed, drained black beans, niblet corn, and anything else you might fancy. I like this soup both ways, as the accompanying photos show. For more recipes using leftover turkey, see One Click: Turkey. 

Plain ...

Or gussied up with beans ...  
This down-home soup is good!

Classic Pumpkin Pie

Perfectly spiced and not too calorific, this wonderful pumpkin pie is the perfect ending to any Thanksgiving dinner. Flute the pastry high, because there’s plenty of filling. The recipe comes from Royal City Foods Ltd., a Canadian company that dates to 1913. The company is now owned by a larger company based in the US and Canada. The bigger company has tinkered slightly with Royal City’s original pumpkin pie recipe. I’ve published the tried-and-true original … I want only the best, and this is it!

Classic Pumpkin Pie:

Pastry for 1-crust 9-inch pie (see Note)

1 - 13 oz. (398 mL) can of pumpkin (1-¾ c.)

¾ tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

½ tsp. mace (you can substitute nutmeg, but mace has a slightly different flavor)

1-¼ tsp. ginger

Dash of powdered cloves

¾ c. light brown sugar

2 large eggs

½ c. evaporated milk

¾ c. milk, scalded

Lightly sweetened (or unsweetened) whipped cream, as garnish

Prepare my Oct. 24, 2011 recipe for Bride’s Pastry, or make or buy your own favorite pastry. Line a deep 9-inch pie pan with pastry, fluting the edge high as the filling is generous. Freeze the crust 20 min. Combine pumpkin, salt, spices, and brown sugar until well blended. Beat eggs together with evaporated milk. Stir egg mixture into pumpkin mixture. Add scalded milk all at once, stirring just until blended. Pour into chilled pie shell. 

Preheat oven to 450 deg. F. Bake filled, chilled pie shell 20 min. Reduce heat to 350 deg. F., baking a further 30-35 min. Cool to room temperature, serving each slice with a dollop of softly whipped cream or Cinnamon Whipped Cream (see Index).

No whipped cream to top your pie? Substitute 1 c. dairy sour cream plus 2 tbsp. confectioners’ sugar (icing sugar) for each cup you require.

Maple Mousse with White Chocolate Garnish

This festive dish is a scrumptious way to conclude a holiday feast. As a bonus, it’s an easy-to-prepare dessert that can be made the day before. The white chocolate garnish adds the finishing touch, making this dessert extra special. Make the garnish up to a week ahead, keeping it covered in an air-tight container in the fridge. I always enjoy making and serving this lovely treat!

Maple Mousse with White Chocolate Garnish:

1-¼ c. maple syrup

1 tbsp. unflavored gelatin

¼ c. cold water

1 c. whipping cream, whipped

¼ tsp. rum extract (optional)

Heat maple syrup just to boiling, stirring constantly. Soften gelatin in cold water 3-to-5 min., stirring into heated syrup until gelatin is fully dissolved. Refrigerate until barely set, about 45 min., until jelly takes on a “jeweled” appearance when stirred. Prepare White Chocolate Garnish as mixture jells. Whip cream into soft peaks, folding in rum extract and cooled syrup mixture. Spoon into ½-cup serving dishes and poke White Chocolate Garnish at a jaunty angle into each mousse. Refrigerate until fully set, about 2 hr. Serves 8.

White Chocolate Garnish:

3 oz. white chocolate melting wafers, as required

Plastic or silicone chocolate mold (leaves, swirls, and other assorted small shapes)

Melt chocolate wafers in heat-proof bowl over simmering water in saucepan, effectively making your own “double boiler.” When chocolate is fully melted, wipe underside of bowl to prevent steam from affecting chocolate’s consistency. Pour warm chocolate into disposable piping bag with small funnel tip. Pipe chocolate into and around contours of chocolate mold. 

When each design has been piped with chocolate, lightly rap mold on work surface to flatten chocolate in mold. Freeze 5 min., or until firm. Pop chocolate designs from mold, refrigerating in air-tight container until needed. Poke one or two chocolate leaves or swirls into each mousse, adding a single cranberry or dab of marmalade for color. 

Stir softened gelatin into hot maple syrup

Chill gelatin until barely set, with "jeweled" appearance 

Pour jelled mixture into whipped cream

Using "under-over" motion, fold jelly into cream

Pour into 8 serving dishes. Chill 2 hr.

Remove chocolate from decorative mold

Garnish before mousse is fully set

Nicole Parton’s Sexy Undressing

There! Now that I have your interest, I’d like to share my recipe for an easy turkey dressing I make it every year. There’s no formal “recipe,” but I do it just like my mother did it.  Which sounds pretty sexy, to me. 

Before I begin, I want to explain the difference between turkey “dressing” and turkey “stuffing.” Some sources say there’s no difference whatsoever: I call what I make a “dressing” when I’m in polite company, but call it “stuffing” as I cram, ram, and jam it into the bird, right up to my elbow.  

For the difference between the two terms, I’m going to defer to an enthusiastic young blogger who lives in Central Mexico. Raven Chelanee writes about food at http://www.cookeatdelicious.com/ Here’s what she has to say (with minor editing from me) about the dressing/stuffing conundrum: “Let’s get this out of the way, first. There’s not a huge difference between dressing and stuffing - it’s just how you cook it. Dressing dresses the bird. It goes on the platter around the turkey or is served in its own serving dish. Stuffing, on the other hand, stuffs the bird. It goes into the raw bird’s cavity and is baked inside the bird. Yeah? Okay!”

I bake inside the bird, with extras baked in a covered dish alongside. I call my dressing “sexy” because I always make it the night before, dressed in a negligée. MYOB about what happens to that negligée later in the evening. That’s why I call this dish ...

Nicole Parton’s Sexy Undressing:

5-to-6 c. (1.2-to-1.4 L) dried, cubed white bread, crusts on
½ c. (125 mL) butter or margarine 

1 medium onion, coarsely chopped

2 or 3 stalks of celery with some leaves, diced

1-½ (7.5 mL) tsp. celery seed

½ c. (125 mL) dried cranberries (optional)

1 medium apple, peeled, cored, and chopped (optional)

1 c. (250 mL) toasted, coarsely chopped walnuts (see Note)

1 lb. (454 g) pork sausage meat
About 2-½ c. (625 mL) poultry stock, or as needed

2-to-3 tbsp. (30-to-45 mL) poultry seasoning

Salt and coarsely ground pepper, to taste

Dry bread with oven set on lowest heat. Cut into cubes and set aside. Melt butter or margarine in a large skillet. Add onion and celery, stirring until tender. Stir in celery seed, cranberries, apple, walnuts, and pork sausage, cooking over medium-high heat until sausage loses its pink tinge. Stir in seasonings, adjusting to taste. 

Transfer to large mixing bowl. Stir in well-dried bread cubes, so they absorb the fat. Mix well, adding stock little-by-little, until mixture is well moistened. Make this dressing one day ahead and the cranberries will puff up beautifully. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Do not stuff the bird the night before! On the day you cook your turkey, rinse its cavity with cold water, blotting dry with paper toweling. Salt lightly. Stuff turkey shortly before you pop it into the oven. This makes enough stuffing for a 15-lb. turkey.

For another excellent turkey stuffing, see One Click: Turkey, where Linda’s Pork-Free Turkey Stuffing is findable with a single click, as are other turkey (or turkey-related) recipes. 

Note: See Index for How to Toast Nuts.

Tip: Placing the stuffing into a moistened commercially available poultry stuffing bag before cramming it into the bird, and the stuffing will slip out quickly and easily!

Dry bread several hours

Dice into bite-sized bits, setting aside until needed ...

Which is now!

Combine onion and celery, stirring until tender

Mix walnuts, apple, and all except sausage, stock, and bread

Fry sausage in skillet with all except bread and stock

Combine with bread cubes and stock, as needed. Chill.

My good manners prevent a more graphic illustration of
what Ron is doing to this bird - and where he's doing it!