Orange Dinner

I just made the most amazing dinner for my family. I hate to gloat, but it was pretty darn awesome.

First, I made a simple salad of mixed greens, Craisins, sliced almonds, orange sections, and blue cheese.

I need to pause here to say that Craisins are AMAZING. And this from a person who hates raisins. Craisins are dried and sweetened cranberries, and they have this amazing sour sweetness that bursts in your mouth, much sweeter than an actual cranberry.

Craisins mix very well with pungeant cheeses like Gorgonzola, and a sweeter salad dressing. I mixed honey, mustard, champagne vinegar, and olive oil for this one.

After the salad, I made a Salmon with Orange Glaze from “The Healthy Kitchen.” I meant to take pictures as soon as it came out, but my family was so hungry and it looked so tasty that I forgot until there was only half a piece left. The salmon was amazing. The glaze wasn’t too sweet, and with a little extra soy sauce, the dish tasted great. I made a few changes to the recipe from “THK.” This is my version of the dish.

Salmon with Orange Glaze

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Sear six 6oz. fish fillets in sesame oil in a large, very hot skillet for 1 minute on each side. Remove fillets from the heat and transfer them to a glass baking dish or baking pan. Drizzle three tablespoons of soy sauce and one quarter cup of sherry over them and bake them for 10 minutes. Remove them from the oven. Sprinkle with black sesame seeds.

Meanwhile, heat one cup of freshly squeezed orange juice, one teaspoon of orange zest, three tablespoons of sherry, and half a teaspoon of freshly grated ginger together in a small saucepan over medium-high heat until reduced by half. Remove from heat, strain the sauce over the fish, and serve.

To go with the salmon, I made Orange Ginger Brown Rice that I got off of Food Network’s Date Plate. Growing up, my mother never made brown rice. In fact, she hardly ever made rice at all. I was raised eating all Italian or French food, because my father’s family is Italian, and my mother was trained in France. I think this could be why I’m so interested in Asian styles of cooking, even if it is mostly fusion cooking now.

I don’t love white rice; I find it rather bland, and the only time I like it is with sushi. Brown rice, however, is a different story. I love the nutty flavour and texture, and the difference between the harder outer husk and the tender inner grain. Once again, I made a few changes to the recipe I found on Food Network, and this is my changed version. I added more broth, and used sesame oil in place of the vegetable oil that the recipe used. I also subbed red onion for white. This recipe paired very well both with the rice I used and with the fish.

Orange Ginger Brown Rice

Begin by sweating two medium red onions, diced, in sesame oil in a medium sized pan until they are translucent. Add two cups of brown rice and saute for 1 minute. Add two teaspoons of orange zest and two tablespoons of ginger and cook for 1 more minute. Add four and a half cups of vegetable stock and bring to a boil. Cover the pan with a lid and cook over low heat for 20 to 25 minutes or until rice is tender. Add salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste.

Dessert was a peach crumble I made with peaches that were about to turn bad. So good for crumble! Here’s the very straightforward recipe I used. Once again, I forgot to take pictures until it was mostly all gone, but oh well.

Peach Crumble
Preheat oven to 425°F.

Mix 3/4 cup flour, 2/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup crumbled sliced almonds, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Add 1 stick of cold butter, sliced into tablespoon pieces, and mix with hands until butter is in small pieces and coated. Spread one pound of sliced peaches in a 9 1/2-inch deep-dish glass pie plate and sprinkle topping over it.

Bake crumble in middle of oven until fruit is tender and topping is golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes.

So there we go. I’ll be back tomorrow!
emiglia