Salmon With Yellow Rice

Quick and easy salmon dish!

I went to the North Carolina Ale House this past Saturday with my son.  We had a wonderful conversation about his latest mission trip; just a total blessing all the way around!  And then, we ordered.

I decided to try salmon, at a sports bar of all places, and I was pleasantly surprised!  It was a great dish that really hit the spot.  So, no great surprise to those that know and follow me here, I tried to duplicate the meal as best I could; with a few changes, of course.

First of all you need a couple of good fresh slabs of salmon.  I laid each on top of a nice salty slab of Amish butter, put a little salt and pepper on top, and set the baking sheet aside.

I opened a box of Zatarain's New Orleans Style Yellow Rice and cooked it as directed.  I opened a small can of peas with carrots and started them to boil at the same time. 

I then cut up a piece of onion and a hunk of red pepper and sauteed them in coconut oil.  When the rice was finished I dumped in the onion, pepper, and peas and mixed thoroughly.

Meanwhile I had the salmon baking in the oven at 350.  I took it out after about 18 minutes; just to check it, and put it back in for another 5 minutes under the broiler (550).

I plated the rice mixture and put a piece of salmon on the side.

It was really good, and I had fixed the meal in about 30 minutes total.  My wife was really pleased with me too! 

LESS GREASY STEAK AND GRAVY

Since the F4/F5 fusion/compression surgery, I haven't been doing a lot of cooking.  As a matter of fact, neither of us have been doing a lot lately, except trying to get better.  My wife has had some health issues, and is about to have a heart procedure that should bring her back to "life", so things have been slow lately.

I've messed around with salads again, as you can see above, and that usually makes us happy around "supper" time.  The theme goes along with my trying to walk a little each day on the treadmill, but I seemed to be slowly regaining some of the weight I lost after a previous surgery.

It was only lettuce (just simple Iceberg), tomato, onion, cheese, boiled egg, raisins, some chuck chicken breast, and a little jalapeño (seeded) on the side for kick!  It sure did hit the spot, even though the preparation was a involved, but when you've felt like doing nothing for so long, it was a real accomplishment for me.

However, what we really like is some good ol' Southern home cooking like the plate my wife made a few nights ago.  

She first boiled some potato hunks in water until a fork easily penetrates the heart of the potato.  She sat that aside to cool and began preparing the protein.

She then browned some tenderized beef round steak in a hot skillet.  Wanting to make the dish less greasy she put flour and water, some salt and pepper into a glass baking dish and stirred the mixture before finally plopping in the browned steak.  As the meat continued to cook covered, over the next 30 minutes, in the 350 degree oven, she would infrequently stir the flour into what little grease flowed from the meat.

Normally, the steak, the grease, and the browned pieces in the bottom of the skillet is all poured into making the gravy, but not doing this did make the meal less greasy without losing any of the taste.

While the steak was in the oven she whipped up the potatoes, adding salt, pepper, a little sour cream, and some milk.  She don't like chunky mashed potatoes like I do, so the mixer runs a long time, whipping them up into a fluffy mush.  A little butter is added at the end for additional taste.

We had a can of Le Sueur® Very Young Small Early Peas, and some left over coleslaw, so the rest of the meal was handy.  Oh yeah, we also had a package of King's Hawaiian Sweet Dinner Rolls, left over from a family gathering, so my supper was great!

Now, I don't know about you, but I like my peas plopped on top of my "mashed tatters", as shown.   Sometimes, when I'm not watching my waistline, I put a dollop of Miracle Whip into my tatters!  I learned that from my favorite uncle.  It's good!  Never heard of mayo/salad dressing in potato salad?  Try it...you'll like it!

So, the week hasn't been too bad after all.  I've had good company, good sightseeing, and good food, so life is getting back to normal 'round here!

ACCIDENTAL CHICKEN BAKE

We came home from the store a couple of evenings ago and put the perishables in the refrigerator. However, we did not notice that we put a whole bag of Tyson frozen chicken tenderloins in the meat chiller drawer. My wife happened to notice the mistake after the chicken had all thawed, so she reacted quickly to save the meat.

In a large glass-baking dish, she placed all the tenderloins around the bottom, salted, and peppered the pieces. She turned the oven to 450 to pre-heat, while she continued to improvise. She opened a can of Cream of Chicken and another can of Cream of Broccoli soups and poured the contents on top of the chicken.

Just as she finished, I noticed a plastic baggy of left over corn bread. I crumbled the 3 pieces up inside the bag and then spread it out evenly over the top of the soup-covered chicken.

She sprayed down a large sweet potato with cooking oil, placed the potato in an aluminum pan, and she popped it and the chicken dish in the oven for 45 minutes!

When the timer sounded, she placed a can of green peas in the microwave, along with some salt and pepper and a lump of butter, and we were in business!

After spraying the peeled sweet potato with butter spray, and sprinkling some brown sugar around, we sat down to a delicious meal.

Had we not let the chicken accidentally thaw, we would not have had such a quick, easy, and great tasting meal!