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Menu Plan for Fall I: Week 6, Friday
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Daily Recipes:
Cream of Mushroom Soup
Salmon Baked in Phyllo with Tarragon Shallot Sauce
Simple Couscous
Butternut
Squash with Bacon and Sage
Cooking time: 40 minutes for menu Cooking schedule: see below for instructions
The Salmon in Phyllo is impressive and easy to make. Working with phyllo is not hard, just requires one to be ready and quick. Phyllo can be thawed and frozen twice, and keeps in the fridge - wrapped well in film.
Cream of Mushroom Soup with Sherry
Total time: 20 minutes
Try to get a variety of forest or wild mushrooms for this rather than the white button. Cremini will work, but the flavor will have more depth with 2 or 3 types of mushrooms.
Ingredients:
- 6oz (180gr) forest mushrooms try for a mix, forest and/or cultivated
- 1 medium leek, 1 1/2 " (3.5cm) in diameter
- 1 clove garlic
- 2 tsp butter
- 2 cups (16oz, 480ml) chicken stock
- 1/2 cup (4oz, 120ml) milk or cream
- 2 tbs dry sherry
- 2 tsp dried thyme
- 2 tsp dried parsley
- 1 tsp truffle or good olive oil
Instructions:
- Clean mushrooms (using brush - do NOT wash) and roughly chop.
- Clean leeks and finely slice.
- Mince garlic.
- Heat butter in medium saucepan. Add leeks, garlic and mushrooms and sauté for 8 - 10 minutes.
- Add stock, herbs, cover and heat through.
- When soup is done put solids in blender. Add enough of the broth to purée easily. I used all but 1/3 cup of the stock.
- Add milk and sherry.
- Check consistency and add more stock if needed.
- Gently heat just until soup is hot.
- Ladle into bowl, drizzle with a bit of truffle or good olive oil and serve.
Salmon Baked in Phyllo with Tarragon Cream Sauce
Total time: 25 minutes
A very impressive dish, easy to prepare, bakes quickly and makes an elegant presentation. Phyllo can be frozen twice.
Ingredients:
- 2 pieces of salmon, skinned, 12oz, (360gr) about 2" wide by 4" long by 1" thick (5cm X 10cm x 2.5 cm)
- 4 sheets of phyllo (filo) dough
- 3 tsp dill weed
- 1/3 cup butter you may not use it all - use any leftover in the sauce
- Tarragon Shallot Sauce
- 3/4 cup (6oz, 180ml) chicken stock
- 1 medium shallot
- 1 tbs butter
- 1 1/2 tsp dried tarragon
- 1/2 tsp dried dill weed
- 1 tbs cornstarch (maizena) dissolved in 2 tbs water
- 1/3 cup (3oz, 90ml) Greek yogurt
Instructions:
- Rinse salmon and pat dry.
- Melt butter.
- Take 1 sheet of phyllo dough, brush lightly with butter, sprinkle with half of the dill weed.
- Place another sheet of phyllo on top and brush with butter.
- Place salmon on narrower end of dough about 3 inches from edge, the 'side that had skin on' down.
- Bring dough over salmon and fold in sides. The phyllo is now as wide as the salmon (4 inches).
- Roll the salmon forward one complete turn so that 'the side that had skin on' is once again, on the bottom.
- Cut off any remaining phyllo and discard.
- Brush both sides of packet with butter and place bottom side down on a baking sheet.
- Repeat with the other piece of salmon.
- Bake at 400F (200C) for 15 minutes or until golden brown.
- Remove and serve with Tarragon Cream Sauce on the side.
- Tarragon Shallot Sauce
- Finely chop shallot.
- In small saucepan over medium heat sauté shallots in butter until tender.
- Add tarragon, dill, stock and bring to a boil. Simmer 5 minutes.
- Mix cornstarch in stock and stir into simmering stock. Cook until thickened - should be quite thick.
- Remove from heat and stir in yogurt. Cover and keep warm until serving.
Note: Phyllo dough is very fragile and prone to drying out. Use one sheet at a time and cover the remaining sheets with a slightly damp towel or paper towel.
Simple Couscous
Total time: 15 minutes
This is couscous at it's simplest: just a bit of herbs and oil, the perfect dish to accompany a sauced fish or meat...
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup (3oz, 90gr) couscous
- 3/4 cup (6oz, 180ml) chicken broth
- 2 tsp snipped chives
- 1 tsp snipped basil
- 2 tsp good olive oil
Instructions:
- Heat chicken broth to boiling.
- Put couscous and herbs in a medium bowl.
- When broth is boiling pour over couscous, cover and let stand for 10 minutes... Do not stir it.
- Add oil to couscous, fluff gently with a fork to combine and serve.
Butternut Squash with Bacon and Sage
Total time: 40 minutes
There is a group of cooks that feel almost anything can be improved with bacon. I'm one of them... Within reason. I love the combination of salty bacon or ham with sweet squash and spicy sage. And I love easy vegetables. This started out to be a gratin, but I decided to leave the topping off, some things are best simple.
Ingredients:
- 12oz (360gr) butternut squash
- 2oz (60gr) bacon, 2 - 3 slices
- 8 - 10 fresh sage leaves substitute 1 tbs dried
- 1/3 cup (3oz, 90ml) chicken stock
- 1 tsp olive oil
Instructions:
- Fry bacon until crisp.
- Remove, drain on paper towels for a minute, then crumble.
- Cut squash into slices about 1/4" (.6cm) thick.
- Snip sages leaves.
- Lightly oil the bottom of a baking dish large enough to hold the squash. I used an 8" (20cm) round glass dish.
- Make a layer of 1/3 of the squash slices.
- Sprinkle with 1/3 bacon and 1/3 sage.
- Repeat twice.
- Pour chicken stock over the top, cover and bake for 25 minutes, 400F (200C).
- Remove and serve.
Note: To clean butternut squash first peel it, using a potato/vegetable peeler. If it's large (typically) cut it in half between the 'neck' and 'bowl' ends. Then cut those in half the 'long' way. Scoop the seeds out of the round end and discard. I use the neck end for uniform pieces and the bowl end for soups and smaller pieces.
Cooking Schedule: 40 minutes |
Melt butter for phyllo |
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