Cooking with Diamonds with Swiss Diamond and a fabulous Giveaway!

Ingredients

• 4 large salmon fillets, about 1 inch thick and weighing about 6 ounces each
• fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• a bit of olive oil (I didn't use any in this pan and it worked a charm)
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• For the cucumber salad:
• 1 english cucumber
• 1 TBS rice wine vinegar
• 1 tsp fresh chopped dill weed
• a pinch of salt
• For the sour cream sauce:
• 6 TBS sour cream
• 2 TBS fresh chopped dill weed
• 2 TBS rice wine vinegar
• 1 1/2 TBS finely chopped shallot
• 1/4 tsp freshly grated lemon zest
• 2 tsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 clove of garlic, peeled and minced
• fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• First
• make the sauce. Whisk together the sour cream, dillweed, vinegar,
• shallots, lemon zest and juice, and garlic. Season to taste and set
• aside.
• To make the cucumber salad, trim the ends off the
• cucumber. Using a vegetable peeler, shave lengthwise into ribbons.
• Place into a bowl. Toss together with the remaining ingredients and set
• aside to marinate while you cook the salmon.
• Season the salmon
• well on the flesh side. Heat a bit of olive oil in a large nonstick
• frying pan until hot. Add the fillets, presentation side down, and cook
• for 3 minutes, without disturbing. Carefully turn the salmon over and
• cook for an additional minute. Remove from the heat. Add the wine,
• then cover and allow to sit until the salmon flakes easily with a fork,
• about 3 minutes.
• Divide the cucumber salad amongst 4 plates. Top
• each with 1 salmon fillet. Divide the sour cream sauce evenly amongst
• each serving and serve immediately.
• Small baby potatoes, unpeeled and steamed until tender, go very well with this!
• Simple Pan Fried Haddock*
• Serves 2
• Printable Recipe
• Quick to cook and oh so easy and delicious. We both really enjoy this!
• 2 boneless, skinless haddock loins
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 TBS flour
• a knob of butter (I only needed a very small knob of butter. You could probably get away
• with none, but the butter really adds to the flavour of this recipe)
• several sprigs of fresh thyme
• the juice of one lemon
• Season
• your Haddock filets well on both sides then sprinkle with flour to
• coat, patting it lightly into the flesh. Set aside. Melt a knob of
• butter over medium high heat in a skillet until it begins to foam. Add
• the springs of thyme and then brown the Haddock fillets, starting with
• the presentation side, and then turning them after about 2 minutes.
• They should only take about 2 minutes per side to cook through,
• depending on the thickness of your fillets. After you have cooked both
• sides, squeeze the juice of a lemon over all and allow it to bubble up.
• Remove from the heat and let stand for several minutes before serving.
• Delicious!
• Potato Pancakes*
• Makes about 10
• Printable Recipe
• These are easy to make and so
• delicious! You can tell from the grease splattered piece of paper I’ve
• got it written down on that it’s a winner, but don’t take my word for
• it. Try them for yourself! We like to have them with applesauce and sour
• cream, with a few chives sprinkled on top, but you can have them with
• whatever strikes your fancy.
• 3 cups raw potato, peeled and finely grated
• 2 eggs, well beaten
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 TBS plain flour
• 2 TBS grated onion
• Sunflower oil for frying (I just used a light spritz)
• Grate
• your potatoes and squeeze as much liquid from them as you can, working
• quickly so that the potatoes don’t turn brown. Put into a bowl along
• with the remaining ingredients, mixing well.
• Heat a skillet to medium hot, and grease well with some oil. I add about 3 TBS and swirl it around.
• Once
• the oil is hot, drop the batter by tablespoonsful onto the hot skillet.
• Press with the back of the spoon to flatten a bit. Fry for about 3
• minutes on each side until browned. Place in a low oven to keep warm
• while you fry the rest.
• Serve hot with applesauce and sour cream. Delicious!
• Boeuf Bourguignon*
• Serves 6
• Printable Recipe
• A fancy beef stew which hails from the south of France. Plan ahead as you need to make it the day before you want to eat it.
• 1 3/4 pounds of braising beef or steak
• 3 TBS olive oil (I used half the amount with this pan)
• 1/2 cup cubed pancetta
• 3 onions, peeled and finely chopped
• 2 fat cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
• 1 1/2 TBS plain flour
• 1 3/4 cups of full bodied red wine, plus an extra splash if need be
• (I normally use a Shiraz)
• a bouquet garni (A few springs of thyme, a bay leaf and a few parsley stalks
• tied together)
• 2 TBS butter (Only used one TBS, again for the flavour)
• 1/2 pound of chestnut mushrooms, cleaned and halved
• 2 TBS finely chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• Pat
• the meat dry. Trim well, discarding any sinew or excess fat. Cut into
• large chunks. Heat 1 TBS of oil in a dutch oven and brown the pancetta
• lightly. Remove with a slotted spoon to a bowl and set aside. Brown
• the meat in two batches in the fat that remains in the pan. Once
• browned scoop out and add to the pancetta, once again setting it aside.
• Add the remaining oil and fry the onion in it very slowly, covering the
• pan, until very soft and caramelized, about 25 minutes in time,
• stirring occasionally and adding the garlic to the mixture halfway
• through the cooking time. Stir the flour into the onions and cook for
• about a minute, then add the wine and bring to the boil, stirring. Add
• the meat and pancetta, along with the bouquet garni and bring back to
• the boil, then reduce the heat to a slow simmer and cook, covered, over
• very low heat until the meat is tender, about 2 to 2 1/2 hours.
• Turn
• off the heat and leave the casserole overnight. Next day bring the
• dish back to the boil, then turn the heat down and simmer. Melt the
• butter in a skillet. Add the mushrooms and fry until lightly browned.
• Tip them into the stew and allow to cook for another 15 minutes or so.
• Season the stew with some salt and black pepper to taste and, if you
• think it needs it, another splash of wine. Sprinkle with the parsley to serve.
• Serve hot with some mashed potatoes on the side. Delicious!
• Sautéed Chicken Curry*
• Serves 4
• Printable Recipe
• I love cooking with chicken
• breasts. They can happily accept many flavours and I love coming up with
• new ways of preparation. I think this is a delicious experiment of mine
• that I will be repeating often! You needn't serve this curry with
• anything more than some plain steamed basmati rice, and maybe a steamed
• green vegetable on the side. It really is delicious!
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 TBS butter ( I used half this amount and half of the required oil as well)
• 2 TBS olive oil
• 1 large onion, diced
• 2 fat cloves garlic, minced
• 1 TBS curry powder (I use a medium strength)
• 1 TBS peeled and grated fresh gingerroot
• The grated zest and juice of 1 large orange
• 1 cup unsweetened coconut milk
• 1 cup hot chicken broth
• 2 heaping TBS mango chutney
• 1 TBS chopped fresh coriander (cilantro)
• 1 TBS chopped fresh mint
• ½ cup lightly toasted cashew nuts
• Thinly
• slice the chicken breasts lengthwise and then again in half so that you
• end up with four thin pieces from each. Season well with salt and
• pepper.
• Heat the oil and butter in a large skillet over medium
• high heat until hot and the butter sizzles. Toss in the chicken pieces
• and brown them well on both sides. Remove to a plate and cover to keep
• warm.
• Reducing the heat sauté the onion, stirring until tender
• and translucent. Thisshould take 3 to 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook
• for about a minute longer, taking care not to brown it as this makes it
• bitter. Add the curry powder, orange zest, ginger and orange juice,
• stirring to scrap up the brown bits from the bottom of the skillet. Add
• the coconut milk and chicken broth and bring to a boil. Boil for a few
• minutes to reduce somewhat and then return the chicken to the pan,
• simmering for 3 minutes or so to cook through. Stir in the chutney and
• sprinkle with the coriander, mint and cashew nuts before serving.
• Serve hot with some steamed or pilau rice on the side and some naan bread to sop up all that lovely sauce.
• Anthony’s Favourite Fly-Off-The-Plate Pancakes*
• Family size (must mean at least 4 or five people)
• Printable Recipe
• This
• is another oldie from my big blue binder. In the amount area it only
• says family size so I take it to mean that means a lot, because I had a
• rather large family. My Anthony loved these and for good reason. They
• are quite simply delicious. The addition of sour cream gives them a
• wonderful tenderness. I always made them silver dollar size when I was
• making these. I think he liked them that way because he could get a
• whole one into his mouth at one time, you know how boys are! Break out
• the butter and Maple Syrup, you’re in for a real taste treat today!
• 2 cups plain flour
• ¼ tsp salt
• 2 TBS white sugar
• 6 tsp baking powder
• 2 large free range eggs
• 2 cups milk
• 5 TBS sour cream
• 4 TBS melted butter
• Oil for frying (I only lightly spritzed with oil)
• Whisk
• together the flour, salt, sugar and baking powder in a large bowl. Put
• the eggs, milk, sour cream and melted butter into a large beaker and
• whisk them together well. Make a well in themiddle of the dry
• ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients all at once. Whisk together