Broiled Teriyaki Salmon (with Buttery Drop Biscuits & Garlic Green Beans)

I am a self-proclaimed cookbook fanatic. If I had more money in the bank, I would probably spend a good chunk of it on cookbooks of all kinds. Old ones, new ones, some overly specific ones (1,001 Cupcake Recipes!), and eventually a few that are written by celebrities. It takes a lot of coaxing for me to get into the mood to read and then buy a cookbook presented by a famous actor or musician, mostly because I feel like there is an ever-present expectation for celebrities to keep doing more. I don't doubt that many celebrities are fantastic cooks, but it feels odd to expect to find decent recipes in their books when they are presented next to an accomplished chef's culinary memoir. 

However, I am willing to put aside one celebrity in particular, whose cooking chops really do seem to exist, and fully embrace the fact that her cookbook is fantastic. I'm talking about Gwyneth Paltrow, a lovely actress and apparently a pretty hardcore foodie. She runs a foodie website called Goop and has gone on various food tours with Mario Batali and other famous chefs. I bought her cookbook My Father's Daughter last year because the recipes are simple enough, and the stories behind each dish really seem honest and meaningful to her. Basically, I feel like I could translate the dishes to my life and make them meaningful in my own way, which is what cooking is all about, really. 

So tonight I chose to make her recipe for teriyaki salmon and paired it with some hot, buttery drop biscuits and garlicky green beans. The biscuits are dead simple and worth baking a little beforehand, especially if you want something to snack on while the fish broils. I made sure to marinate the salmon for several hours while I was in class, and it definitely made a difference flavor-wise. Lastly, all I did for the green beans was thaw a few handfuls of the frozen kind, then sauté them in olive oil, garlic, red pepper flakes, and salt. Easy. 

I am already a huge fan of Gwyneth's other recipes in My Father's Daughter, and the salmon is definitely one of them. Hers is certainly a celebrity cookbook I can get behind. Ted Nugent's Kill It & Grill It or Coolio's aptly named Cookin' with Coolio, not so much. Happy eating! 

Gwyneth Paltrow's Teriyaki Salmon
This is a halved recipe, so feel free to double it!

2 tbs. soy sauce
1 tbs. rice wine vinegar or mirin
2 tbs. honey
1 tsp. peeled & grated fresh ginger
2 tbs. water 
2 sprigs fresh cilantro

2 (4 oz.) salmon filets 

Combine all of the ingredients except for the salmon in a small saucepan. Bring the marinade to a boil, then boil for 2 minutes. Let the marinade cool down completely before pouring over the salmon in a plastic container. Let the salmon marinate in the fridge for at least an hour or up to overnight. When ready to cook the fish, preheat the broiler. Place the salmon and marinade in a baking dish and broil until cooked through, about 5 minutes. Serve hot. 

Buttery Drop Biscuits

2 cups flour
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tbs. sugar
4 tbs. cold butter, diced
1 1/4 cups milk

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Combine the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Work the cold butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Add half the milk and mix until combined. Add the remaining milk and stir until smooth. Drop dollops of dough onto a baking sheet, then bake for 12-15 minutes or until light brown. Brush with melted butter! 

Chipotle Potato & Black Bean Stew

Something about gloomy, rainy nights makes me crave spicy foods. Meals that make your lips burn and flavors that trick you into thinking you are somewhere else while the rain pours outside. Which is why I immediately flipped to one of my favorite cookbooks Vegan with a Vengeance by Isa Chandra for some inspiration and adapted one of her recipes for this hearty stew. I say "adapted" because the recipe was supposed to have sweet corn in it, but unfortunately I forgot to put it on my grocery list and it never got into the stew. It's a shame because corn in this recipe would add just the sweetness it needs to balance the smoky spiciness of the chipotles and the starch of the beans and potatoes. 

My favorite part about the stew is the chipotle peppers, which are smoked jalapeños stored in a vinegary sauce called adobo, and man are they spicy. I don't even want to know what it would be like working in the factory that makes these fiery peppers. Just two peppers from the can is plenty to add smoke and heat to the veggies, unless you are a spice fanatic and like to feel the burn. In which case, add as many or as few chipotles as you'd like. Don't say I didn't warn you, though. 

Even without the corn, this was absolutely delicious and it made a TON of food. I mean, three containers worth of food. I will be eating for days! I served it with cornbread from a box mix to which I added shredded smoked gouda cheese before baking - yummmm. This is originally a vegan recipe, so leaving out the shredded cheese on top would keep it that way, but I eat cheese almost every day, so it was a no-brainer that I would add it. 

Tonight, I enjoyed eating this stew and chatting with my roommate as the rain poured outside and our new Beta fish Tibault swam lazily in his fish bowl. Sometimes staying in, relaxing, and being at peace in the company of others is all you need to make an evening wonderful. Happy eating! 

Chipotle Potato & Black Bean Stew

2 tbs. olive oil 

1 small yellow onion, peeled and thinly sliced

3 cloves garlic

course salt & black pepper

2 tsp. cumin

1/2 tsp. dried oregano

2 chipotle peppers in adobo*, chopped 

1 (28 oz.) can crushed tomatoes

3 cups water 

3 Russet potatoes, washed and cut into 1/2-inch dice

8 baby carrots (or 2 medium carrots), diced

1 (16 oz.) can black beans, drained and rinsed

2 tsp. honey

zest of 1 lime

juice of 1 lime

shredded cheese for serving, optional (smoked gouda, cheddar, pepper jack, etc.)

Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat, add the onion and garlic. Season with salt and pepper, saute for 5 minutes. Add the cumin and dried oregano and cook for 1 minute more. Stir in the chipotle peppers, tomatoes, and water and stir. Add the potatoes and carrots and bring to a low boil, cooking until tender. Add a little more water if the stew gets too dry before the potatoes cook. Add the black beans, honey, lime zest, and lime juice, and season with salt to taste. 

Take the stew off the heat and cover the pot with the lid. Let sit for at least 10 minutes before serving. Serve with shredded cheddar cheese and cornbread. 

*Tip for storing leftover chipotle peppers: Place the remaining chipotle peppers with their juice in a freezer-safe plastic zip baggie, and place the bag in the freezer. When you need the chipotles for another recipe, simply peel back the plastic and grate the chipotles on a cheese grater. This works every time for me and the chipotle flavor is still fresh.  

Sweet Potato & Chorizo Hash

Growing up, I was never a lover of fried eggs. I was often repulsed by the sight of a runny yolk, especially if someone else ordered them at a diner, allowing the yellow contents to flow and touch everything on their plate. I remember thinking something along the lines of, "Oh my gosh! HOW can you let that stuff touch your perfectly good bacon? Your hash browns? Oh no, not the toast, too!" I was always more comfortable with enjoying scrambled eggs, and I should probably owe this to the fact that I was never really taught to eat fried eggs and to truly enjoy the sunshine yellow yolk in its intact form. 

Then I studied in Seville, Spain for four months during my junior year of college, and my whole egg-eating experience was rocked by my host mother's cooking. I can still remember her laying a beautiful multicolored bowl of Spanish pisto manchego (a gorgeous vegetable stew) in front of me and boldly declaring that this would be the best pisto I would hope to try. It looked and smelled incredible, but alas... atop my stew was a perfectly round over-easy egg, the yolk already broken and pouring over my meal. I looked at my roommate, who was already digging into her dinner. I tapped her on the shoulder and whispered, "I don't know if I can do this. There is egg yolk all over my food!" Corinne, bless her heart, nudged me and told me it was delicious and that I would love it. So I took a deep breath, crying a little inside because I still held the memories of diner food covered in yellow, and took a huge bite. I figured, go big or go home. 

That pisto combined with the rich egg yolk completely eradicated my egg phobia. I can honestly say that a switch flipped inside my brain from ewwwwwgrosseggyolksbleeeehhh to moremoremoremoremoremoreeggyolksplease. I am in love with egg yolks now and forever. We ate them countless times in Spain, and I prepare them several times a week at home. As such, they are perfect set atop my sweet potato and chorizo hash. The spices and meatiness from the chorizo make the sweet potatoes sing, and the egg on top creates a sort of rich sauce that I like to soak up with buttered toast. 

I like to think that without the help of my host mother Barbara and her incredible cooking, this hash would not have happened. Happy eating! 

Sweet Potato & Chorizo Hash

Makes 2 large portions

1 medium sweet potato, washed and cut into 1-inch chunks

1 chicken chorizo sausage (found in the refrigerated section of the grocery store), cut into small chunks

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

heavy pinch of course salt 

lots of cracked black pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all of the ingredients and place on a rimmed cookie sheet. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until the sweet potatoes are cooked through and browned, and the chorizo is crispy. Serve hot with a fried egg and buttered toast.