Food Revolution: Day 11

I bet you forgot all about this, didn't you? Well, I didn't. I know that last Friday was the last epsiode of the season, but that doesn't mean we can't continue with this adventure. So let's carry on.

I've been kicking myself every since last Saturday. I spent the afternoon cleaning out my fridge of all the gross foods that should not be a part of anyone's diet and didn't take a single picture to show you all. There were jarred things in my fridge that I can't pronounce half the stuff in them. This weekend I want to tackle the pantry, but I'm afraid that the hubby will be resistant to that since there's a lot of food in there that cost a good deal of money when we bought it. I'll have to sit down with him and talk it out.

Tonight, I went with Grilled Filet with Horseradish Sauce. I also made Jamie's rosemary potatoes from one of his other cookbooks, Jamie at Home. This was so good! I went with a cheaper cut of beef because I didn't want the hubby to have a heartattack at the cost of filet mignon. The sirloin filet was quite good. We had a small salad on the side to round out the meal and a glass of cabernet sauvignon. All in all, I'd say it was a good day in the revolution.

Grilled Filet with Horseradish Sauce
Recipe by Jamie Oliver

A small bunch of fresh rosemary
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Olive oil
2  1/2-lb filet steaks
1 large clove garlic

For sauce
2 Tbl creme fraiche or sour cream
1 Tbl horseradish, fresh or jarred
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 lemon
Olive oil

1. Put the creme fraiche and horseradish into a small bowl with a pinch of salt and pepper. Halve the lemon and add a squeeze of juice to the bowl. Add a splash of olive oil and mix well. Taste and adjust seasoning.
2. Put a grill pan on high heat until very hot. Pick the rosemary leaves off the woody stalks and finely chop. Mix with a good pinch of salt and pepper and scatter over your clean board. Drizzle olive oil over both sides of the steaks and roll them in the rosemary and seasonings.
3. Lay the steaks in the hot pan and press down gently. Wait a minute, then turnt he steaks over. Cut the tip off the garlic clove and discard. Rub the hot, charred side of the meat with the garlic. Flip the steaks after another minute, repeat the garlic rub, and press down again. For medium-rare, cook for 4-5 minutes per side. For well done, add a few more minutes for each side. Remove to a warm plate and allow the steaks to rest for a minute. Drizzle with a little olive oil to keep from drying out. Serve with a spoonfull of the horseradish sauce and a little drizzle of olive oil.

Daring Bakers: A British Pudding

You remember in my last post how I said I made the maramlade for a recipe in a sweet little cookbook full of Lancashire recipes? You remember how I mentioned that a lovely friend from Leeds sent me that cookbook? I don't think I ever truly thanked her as well as I should have for that cookbook. THANK YOU, ANNE!!! This little cookbook is very small but filled with great recipes that I like to imagine being served in a small cottage in the middle of England with a cup of tea and a story from an old granny. It's home cooking that I pretend my Nana would have made for me if we lived across the pond.

  

The April 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Esther of The Lilac Kitchen. She challenged everyone to make a traditional British pudding using, if possible, a very traditional British ingredient: suet. We were given free-range to make whatever pudding we wanted so long as it was steamed. We could go savory or sweet, prepared for breakfast or dessert. Nothing else mattered.

I of course was scared to death. This was my first baking challenge. I didn't know where to get suet from. I don't even have a regular butcher that I can go to with these crazy requests (I think it's time for me to find one though). I decided to go with a dessert pudding and came across the one I used in the little Lancashire cookbook. Since I had also come across the marmalade recipe only a week or two ago I knew it would be perfect for my challenge. Now, the pudding truly was not my favorite thing in the world. It actually worked even with all of my reservations about it, but I just wasn't loving the texture. I even asked my hubby, "Is it a fail if the recipe worked but you didn't like it or a success that you just didn't happen to enjoy?" He says it's a success, and who knows. Maybe you'll like it better than I did.

Millers Marmalade Pudding

Recipe from Favorite Yorkshire Recipes, adapted by me

3 Tbl orange marmalade (or rhubarb marmalade if you've made it yourself)

4 oz flour

4 oz granulated sugar

4 oz soft margarine (1 whole stick, I used butter)

1 tsp baking powder

2 medium eggs

Sauce

4 Tbl orange marmalade

1/4 pint water/orange juice mixed (I forgot the orange juice but it was fine)

2 tsp arrowroot (I couldn't find any and therefore left this and the next ingredient out)

2 Tbl cold water

1. Place a large pot, big enough to hold your pudding bowl, on the stove filled about halfway (you want enough water to come about halfway up the pudding bowl but not so much that it submerges it). Place a ball of foil or other item that will keep the bottom of the bowl from touching the bottom of the pan (this was not a step in the original that I knew about from reading up on puddings; I just used a large biscuit cutter made of metal that worked perfectly). Begin to heat water on medium heat.
2. Grease a 2 pint heatproof pudding basin and place 3 Tbl marmalade in the base. Put the flour, sugar, butter, baking powder, and eggs into a large bowl, mix, and beat well for 2-3 mintes until soft and of a smooth consistency. Alternatively, use a food processor and process for 30 seconds.
3. Put the sponge mixture on top of the marmalade in the basin. Cover with a circle of greasproof paper and then seal with foil (I didn't have any parchment paper and was forced to cut a circle out of aluminum; it worked just fine but stuck a little so grease it first if you have to do the same).
4. Cover and steam for 2 hours. Prepare the sauce while the pudding is steaming by warming together in a saucepan the 4 Tbl marmalade and water/oj mixture and simmer for 5 minutes. Blend the arrowroot and cold water to a smooth cream and stir in some of the marmalade mix. Return this to the pan and heat, stirring untilt he sauce thickens and clears.
5. Turn out the pudding onto a warm plate and serve hot with the sauce.

My First Marmalade

It may come as a surprise to you, but I don't really care for marmalade. Oh sure, it's nice and citrusy and is almost always a beautiful orange color, but the batch I tasted in Ireland years ago was so overwhelmingly bitter I had to wonder what they did wrong when they made it. After almost six years, I've finally figured it out. They didn't put rhubarb in it!

I came across this super simple recipe on All Recipes while perusing the many rhubarb recipes that are out there. It was rather fortuitous that I found it since I have a very special recipe coming up that is part of my first Daring Bakers' Challenge that also came from a small cookbook sent to me by a very special lady from leeds (thank you again, Anne). This rhubarb marmalade is sweet and a little tart but definitely not bitter.

I only made one minor change this time around, but I've already got high hopes for the next time, and there will be a next time. If you do get adventurous and decide to try to make it for yourself, definitely cut the sugar down by at least half of a cup. It's very sweet, which didn't bother me too much, but others might find it cloying. Enjoy!
 

 
Rhubarb Marmalade
Recipe from All Recipes, adapted by me
 
6 cups chopped fresh or frozen rhubarb
6 cups sugar
2 medium oranges
5 whole cloves

1. Combine rhubarb and sugar in a large heavy saucepan. Grind oranges, including the peels, in a food processor; add to rhubarb mixture. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, stirring often until marmalade sheets from a spoon, about 1 hour.
2. Pour into hot jars, leaving 1/4-in. headspace. Adjust caps. Process in a boiling-water bath for 10 minutes.

Food Revolution: Day 3

I really wasn't planning on having two posts in a row dedicated to the Food Revolution, but as I found myself sneaking another bite of this granola, I knew I had to share it now. This granola is like crack! My hubby can't keep his grubby paws off it, and I'm not even trying to keep mine to myself.

 

From the breakfast section of Food Revolution, this granola has infinite possibilities. It can be completely customizeable to your own dietary likes and needs. It's perfect mixed in with some yogurt (I actually really like it with vanilla flavored Greek yogurt) but is also fantastic to just snack on straight out of your hands. Tomorrow I'm going to try Jamie's suggestion of topping it with a little bit of milk. I might even stew some rhubarb and throw it on top for a little crunch.

 

I could obviously go on for days about the granola. I won't since that might make you not want to try it at all. I am going to do things just a bit differently for this recipe. After each ingredient fromt he original recipe, I'll add my own modifications in red so you can see what I put in mine. It's not much different from the original, but it'll give you a better idea of just how much fun you can have with this one. Enjoy!

 

Granola

Recipe by Jamie Oliver, adapted by me

2 cups quick cook oatmeal, not instant (I used rolled oats)
1 heaped cup mixed nuts (hazelnuts, almonds, walnuts, brazil nuts, pecans)
1/4 cup mixed seeds (sunflower, poppy, pumpkin, sesame)
3/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1 tsp ground cinnamon (I also included ground clove, cardamom and nutmeg)
1 1/2 cups dried fruit (raisins, cranberries, apricots, strawberries)
5 Tbl maple syrup or honey (I used Greek honey because I just happened to have some in the pantry)
5 Tbl olive oil

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Put your dry ingredients, including the coconut and cinnamon but not the dried fruit, on a sheet pan (next time I won't include the coconut in this step because it got a little burnt). Stir well and smooth out. Drizzle with the maple syrup or honey and the olive oil and stir again.
2. Place the pan in the preheated oven for 25-30. Every 5 minutes or so, take the granola out and stir it, then smooth it down with a wooden spoon and put it back into the oven.
3. While it's toasting, roughly chop up any large dried fruit.
4. When the granola is nice and golden, remove it from the oven, mix in the dried fruit, and let it cool down.

Food Revolution: Day 1

We're friends, right? You'd tell me if I had lipstick on ym teeth or toiletpaper stuck to my shoe, right? You'd laugh at my lame attempt at a joke even if it wasn't funny, right? So, can I be serious for a few minutes? I know that I joke around a little about my neverending love for Jamie Oliver. I go on and on about how great he is, how cute he is, how much I love the guy. There's more to it than that. I truly admire and respect that goofy British lad not because he's made a name and a living off of making great food but because of what he's trying to teach us about what we're putting into our bodies.

 

Every Friday night, a new episode of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution airs on ABC. Jamie goes toe-to-toe with the inhabitants of Huntington, West Virginia, the fattest city in America, trying to teach them how to change their eating habits so that they can live longer and healthier lives. He espouses the benefits of eating whole and organic foods over the processed foods that have become so ingrained in most people's homes. Each week he lets us see a little bit of his soul as he shows how much he truly cares for the children at the elementary school that he is trying to bring healthy foods to. He shows his compassion when he speaks to the overweight high schooler who has been given 5 to 7 years if she doesn't change her diet (she can't be more than 16 years old; scary to think she could be gone by the age of 21).

 

As I sat watching this week's episode, I began to take stock of the things in my pantry and fridge. I'm pretty good about cooking most nights and making enough so the hubby and I can have leftovers the next day for lunch. I'll admit to having Hambuger Helper about once a week (we're really trying to cut back). We've even got some frozen taquitos that haven't been touched since I started watching the show. So here's what's going to be happening in my life. I'm taking the challenge at the beginning of the cookbook, Food Revolution, that says to share at least one recipe from each chapter with someone else. I'm going to work my way through the cookbook and try to bring you one recipe a week from its pages. I'm also going to try to make some of the changes Jamie suggests on the show. My challenge to you is to join me on my quest. It could be fun!

My first recipe is from the section, Tasty Stir-Frys. Sweet and Sour Pork seems a little labor-intensive when you read the list of ingredients and realize how much chopping comes into to play, but the meal came together so quickly and filled the apartment with a lovely smell. It was definitely worth the work in getting the veggies prepped.

 

Jamie's Sweet and Sour Pork
Recipe by Jamie Oliver

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
1 cup long-grain or basmati rice
1/2 lb pork tenderloin
1 small red onion
1 red or yellow pepper, or 1/2 of each (I used 1 small of each)
A thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger
2 cloves o garlic
1/2-1 fresh red chile, to your taste
A small bunch of fresh cilantro
Peanut or vegetable oil
1 heaped tsp five-spice powder
1 tsp cornstarch
2-3 Tbl soy sauce
1x 8-oz can of pineapple chunks
2 Tbl balsamic vinegar (I used apple cider because it was all I had)
1 small heart of romaine
2 tsp sesame seeds

1. Prepare rice as directed on package
2. To prepare the stir-fry:  Cube the pork tenderloin into 3/4-inch pieces. Peel and dice the red onion into 3/4-inch cubes. Halve the bell pepper, seed, and cut into 3/4-inch cubes. Peel and finely slice the ginger and garlic. Finely slice the chile. Pick the cilantro leaves and put them to one side. Finely chop the cilantro stalks.
3. To cook the stir-fry: Preheat a wok or large frying pan on a high heat and once it's very, very hot add a good lug of peanut oil and swirl it around. Add the pork and the five-spice powder and toss or stir them around. Cook for a few minutes until browned, then transfer to a bowl with a slotted spoon. Carefully give the wok or pan a quick wipe with a ball of paper towels and retrun to the heat. When it's really hot, add 3 good lugs of peanut oil and all the chopped ingredients. Toss or stir everything together and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in the cornstarch and 2 Tbl of soy sauce. Let everything cook for 30 to 40 seconds, then add the pineapple chunks with their juice, the browned pork, and balsamic vinegar. Season with black pepper and little more soy sauce, if needed. Break open a piece of pork, check it's cooked through, and remove from heat. Reduce the sauce to a gravy-like consistency by cooking for a few minutes more. Serve over the rice and lettuce. Top with the reserved cilantro leaves and sesame seeds.

Le Chocolat Chaud

I know that it would seem strange to have hot chocolate in the middle of April especially since we've been enjoying the sunshine and gardening on our balcony. But this weekend the weather turned typically Oklahoma-Springy, cool and rainy. This is my kind of weather though. I love to sit by the window with a good book and a mug of this hot chocolate in my hands.

A few months ago I came across David Lebovitz's book, The Sweet Life in Paris. It had been out for a few months before then, but I could never get a copy of it no matter where I looked (even Amazon seemed to be out). I brought it home and devoured it in one sitting like a pint of Ben & Jerry's ice cream. Fantastically witty and extremely insightful, my only regret is that I hadn't been able to read it before going to Paris. Definitely check it out if you're looking for a funny read with some amazing recipes interspersed throughout.

I've made this recipe several times with amazing results. My favorite version that I made was with a stick of cinnamon boiled in the mixture. So yummy and will be a constant companion when fall and winter rolls back around here. It's best to use best ingredients you can find and afford. With only three ingredients, you will notice a difference if you don't. Enjoy!

Le Chocolat Chaud
Recipe by David Lebovitz

2 cups milk (I used skim; the book says to use whole or low fat)
5 oz semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped (I used bittersweet to help cut down on the sweetness)
Pinch of coarse salt

1. In a medium saucepan, warm the milk, chocolate, and salt. Heat until it begins to boil.
2. Lower the heat to the barest simmer and cook the mixture, whisking frequently, for 3 minutes. If you want it a thicker consistency, cook it an another 1 to 2 minutes. Serve with a dollop of lightly sweetened whipped cream.

Daring Kitchen

Remember a post or two ago how I was telling you that I joined a couple of blogging groups? Remember how I said I'd be posting another one of those blogging challenges soon? Well here it is! Apologies to everyone reading. I  honestly had no intention of having two posts with challenge recipes in a row. Today was tax day which means this past week has been nothing short of crazy. All back to normal thought his weekend.

The 2010 April Daring Cooks challenge was hosted by Wolf of Wolf’s Den. She chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make Brunswick Stew. Wolf chose recipes for her challenge from The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook by Matt Lee and Ted Lee, and from the Callaway, Virginia Ruritan Club. I went with the latter of the two recipes because it was a much quicker and simpler method. If I make it again, I'll certainly try the first one since it involves making your own stock.

 
I'm going to be completely frank with you. I was extremely hesitant to make this. I kept putting it off and waited to make it until the night before I was supposed to post it. It wasn't because I was afraid of my very first Daring Cooks challenge, oh no. It's because I have this serious obsession with corn being mixed into things. I used to never be this way, but now, just the thought of corn being mixed with stuff makes me shudder. Corn and I used to be the best of friends. Now it's all I can do to even eat it (sorry, mom, I'm not sure where it came from or when, I just don't like corn anymore). Anyway, I'm glad I did make the stew though. Even though I wasn't crazy about it, hubby went back for not one but two more bowls of the stuff. Said something like, "This is my ratatouille, takes me back to my childhood." He started to get up for a fourth bowl, but then I mentioned wanting ice cream and he backed away from the stock pot and grabbed the keys. Needless to say, he's pretty excited about having all of the leftovers to himself, and I'm pretty excited that something I wasn't too happy to make was such a big hit. Enjoy!

Brunswick Stew
Recipe by Virginia Ruritan Club

2 ½ lb TOTAL diced stewed chicken, turkey, and ham, with broth - yes, all three meats (we were told that we could make any changes such as vegetables we didn't like or switching out meats if we couldn't eat them; all I did was halved the recipe)

3 medium diced potatoes
2 medium ripe crushed tomatoes
2 medium diced onions
3 cups/ 689.76 grams / 24.228oz frozen corn
1 ½ cups / 344.88 grams / 12.114oz frozen lima beans (I also did not use the lima beans because neither of us would touch them)
4-5 strips crumbled bacon
½ stick / 4 tablespoons / ¼ cup / 56.94 grams / 2oz of butter
1 Tablespoon / 14.235 grams / .5 oz sugar
1 Tablespoon / 14.235 grams / .5 oz ‘Poultry Seasoning’
Dash of red pepper
2 diced carrots (optional)
Tomato juice

1. In large stock pot or Dutch Oven, mix all ingredients, heat until bubbly and hot. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add tomato juice as desired. Cook until all vegetables are tender. Serve hot.

Cuba Libre!

The summer before I turned 16, I got to live with my aunt and uncle in Florida. I was there to learn about videography and see if it's what I wanted to do when I grow up. Obviously I didn't go that route, but it was still a really awesome experience. One of the best parts of that long ago summer was the food. It was the first time I tried sushi (blech), the first time I tried plantains (no thanks), and the first time I tried Cuban food (yes please!).

I like to think I'm not a picky eater. Sure, there are things I know I don't like, but in general I'm willing to try anything once. I also know that there are a lot of things I never would have tried before that summer, things like sushi. That was one of the best summers ever, and I'm still very greatful to my aunt and uncle for what they had to deal with in order to let me stay with them for three whole months (I was 15 after all, and they are a couple who probably never imagined that they would have a teenage girl to care for since they don't have kids).

This recipe is for them. Cuban Ropa Vieja cooks all day in the slow cooker and comes out so flavorful and tender that it just falls apart (at least it does if you cook it on low for 10 hours instead of on high for 4). I can't say that it's authentic Cuban food, but it was damn tasty. We served ours with rice and black beans with a sprinkle of lime juice, but we also threw on some shredded monterey jack cheese even though I know that's not authentic. Still, damn tasty. Love you Uncle Robert and Aunt Laura!

Cuban Ropa Vieja
Recipe from All Recipes

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

2 pounds beef flank steak
1 cup beef broth
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 small onion, sliced
1 green bell pepper, seeded and sliced into strips
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chopped fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon white vinegar

1. Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Brown the flank steak on each side, about 4 minutes per side.
2. Transfer beef to a slow cooker. Pour in the beef broth and tomato sauce, then add the onion, bell pepper, garlic, tomato paste, cumin, cilantro, olive oil and vinegar. Stir until well blended. Cover, and cook on High for 4 hours, or on Low for up to 10 hours. When ready to serve, shred meat and serve with tortillas or rice.

You Want Pies with That?

Recently I joined a really cool little baking group called You Want Pie with That. Hosted by the dynamic duo of Jessica, of My Baking Heart, and Amy, of Sing for Your Supper, the group bakes one pie a month that has been decided on in the previous month. After several months of being on hiatus, these two lovely bloggers got together and revamped the old site (which can be found here) and picked a pie theme for April. Can you guess what it is?

Spring! With the grass finally turning back to its verdant shade of green, the flowers blooming, and the fruits and veggies peeking the little heads out of the grounds and trees, spring has finally sprung in Oklahoma (and hopefully most of the northern hemisphere). To be completely honest I prepared two pies, each of which did not become what I had originally planned. I had every intention of making a pie version of a Pavlova, but then it got a little too humid around here, and I just knew my meringue was going to end up sticky (nothing worse than a sticky meringue, amirite?).

What I ended up with were two very similar pies with different lemon bases. One was a lemon posset and the other was a lemon curd/cream. My very stressed out coworkers got treat to the lemon posset pie while my family got the lemon cream for Easter. I topped it with fresh fruits and just served it cold, perfect for the warm weather we've been having. Below is the recipe for the one my family had and a link to the lemon posset in case you want to try that too. On a separate note, I've joined three other blogging groups so expect some more posts in the coming weeks that are based on challeneg recipes. I'm so excited!

Lemon Cream

Recipe from Baking: From My Home to Yours

1 cup sugar
Grated zest of 3 lemons (I used 5 small ones)
4 large eggs
3/4 cup fresh lemon juice, from 4-5 lemons
2 sticks plus 5 Tbl unsalted butter, cut into Tbl-sized pieces, at room temp

1. Have an instan-read thermometer (I just used my candy therm), a strainer, and a blander or food processor (I used the food processor, but Dori recommends the blender) at hand. Bring a few inches of water to a simmer in a saucepan.
2. Put the sugar and zest in a large heat-proof bowl that can be set over the pot of water. Off the heat, rub the sugar and zest together between your fingers until the sugar is moist, grainy, and very aromatic (I did this step with a ziplock bag, and it worked great). Whisk in the eggs, followed by the lemon juice.
3. Set the bowl over the pan and start stirring with a whisk as soon as the mixture feels tepid to the touch. Cook the cream until it reaches 180F on an instant-read thermometer, whisking constantly to keep the eggs from scrambling (this takes quite awhile, but son't get discouraged, it's well worth the time). It'll start out light and foamy, then the bubble will get bigger, and as it gets closer to 180F, it will start to thicken.
4. As soon as it reaches 180F, remove from heat and strain it into your blender or processor; discard the zest. Let the cream stand at room temperature, stirring occassionally, until it cools to 140F (the book says about 10 minutes but it was much quicker for me since I had to work with a small strainer).
5. Turn the blender or processor to high and, with the machinerunning, add the butter about 5 pieces at a time. Scrape down the sides as needed as you incorporate the butter (do I need to tell you to turn the machine off before scraping?). Once all the butter has been added, allow the machine to run for 3 minutes.
6. Pour the cream into a container, press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface to create and air-tight seal, and chill for at least 4 hours, or overnight. Before using, stir a few times with a whisk to loosen it.

As promised, the link for lemon posset, which was really light and a little sweeter then the cream, can be found here. This one was really easy and only used three ingredients.

Why I Blog

I often ask myself why I blog. There are days that just the thought of even cooking makes me want to go to closest McDonald's and eat a cheeseburger. The thought of taking pictures of more food results in me wanting a large order of fries (or chips to you, Anne).Just thinking about trying to type up something worth reading gets me sucking down a chocolate shake. Those are the days I let my hubby make Hamburger Helper instead of me trying to figure out something new and tasty to share with you.

 

I know lots of bloggers have time set aside for blogging. Some even plan it out from start to finish and sit at a desk to type what aboiut what they've so lovingly created. I often wonder how I can possibly measure up to those people. I don't plan in advance what I'm going to do. I'm lucky if I've figured out what to cook for dinner before I get to the grocery store. I sit on the couch watching tv while I type up each post. That's also where we've usually eaten our meals.

 

It's when I'm sitting there next to my hubby that I remember why I started blogging and why I keep on doing so. It's for him. I started this while he was overseas so that he could feel like he had a piece of home with him every time he got on a computer. I also wanted to learn some new recipes so that when he came home I could make him more than just spaghetti or chicken and rice. He does so much for me without ever being asked and wants nothing in return then for me to just love him. I give him a hard time about a lot of things, but at the end of the day I love him very much. That's why when I knew I'd be gone over the weekend I got dinner prepared for him to just pop into the oven. I didn't want him to be without or have to buy nasty food for lunch the next day at work. This meal was for him courtesy of Jamie Oliver. Although he didn't really like it as much as I had hoped, maybe you will. I love you, hubby!

Salmon Baked in a Parcel
Recipe by Jamie Oliver

2 handfuls of green beans
2 lemons
2 x 7-oz. chunky salmon fillets, skin on, scaled, and bones removed
2 heaped Tbl green pesto
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400F. Trim the beans by cutting off the stalk ends but leave the wispy tips on. Halve one of the lemons. Get about a yard of tin foil and fold in half. Place a handful of green beans in the middle of the foil. Lay a salmon fillet, skin side down, across the beans and spoon over a good Tbl of pesto. Drizzle with olive oil, squeeze over the juice from one of the lemon halves, and season with salt and pepper. Pull the foil edges together and scrunch them up to seal the parcel.
2. Repeat these steps for the second parcel and place both on a baking sheet.
3. Cook in the oven for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and let it stand for a minute before carefulkly unwrapping and checking that the salmon is cooked through.