What's Cooking?

Oven Baked Salmon with Herbs

 

 

I found this Baked Salmon recipe on Recipezaar - my favourite recipe site on the web. Not surprisingly, I modified it from the original to make use of what I had on hand. This recipe says "Great for Beginners!" in the description, and that appealed to me. I also wanted a fish recipe that my kids would like, and thought this might work. Surprisingly enough, the picky-middle-child ate it up, the girl practically threw it at me, and the oldest boy took a few bits, said it was good, and went back to Guitar Hero. So I almost had two out of three, and two out of three ain't bad. A side of easy rice pilaf and some steamed broccoli made for a colourful and healthy supper.

Brunswick Stew - Pork Hocks and Chicken

 

Brunswick Stew was inspired by a discussion with my friend on the problem with pork hocks. More precisely, what to do with a freezer full of them (also a freezer full of blueberries, but I was no help there). Since I also seem to have more pork hocks than any one hog should have - I have eight in my freezer, and I'm sure there are only two hind legs - I decided to look for a recipe that would use them up. The pork hocks that I used in this recipe were smoked, but if yours are not, it's not a problem. You can add a teaspoon or so of liquid smoke and get the same effect, or leave it plain and it will be just as good. The meat of the pork hocks is almost sweet, and that adds a great flavour to the stew whether there is smoke in there or not. Traditional Brunswick Stew is a Southern Dish, served with cornbread. My version is a little modified for what I had on hand, but it still turned out good. I may change my mind if I get the chance to eat real Brunswick Stew. The original recipe calls for a 28oz can of diced tomatoes, but kids voted no on that, so I used the tomato paste instead.