This new free ebook is about to turn your summer grilling and entertaining up to 11.
(Yep, that's a Spinal Tap reference, I'm dating myself.)
Introducing The Not Ketchup Burger Book. This book has 10 of the most delicious burger recipes you've ever tasted. My sweet and tangy Not Ketchup sauces make every burger something truly special.
The recipes:
Cherry Chipotle Breakfast Burger
Citrus Crab Cakes with Tangerine Dressing
Blueberry Bison Burger
Cherry Chipotle Southwestern Turkey Burger Bowl
Smoky Date Banh Mi Pork Burger
Spiced Fig Lamb Sliders
Spicy Salmon Burger
Smoky Date Veggie Burger
Classic Cherry Chipotle Burger
Tangerine Shrimp Cilantro Burger
I was lucky to have my friend Laura Bashar, who writes the gorgeous blog Family Spice and is co-author of Cooking Techniques with Olive Oil, do all the styling, photography and graphic design. I'm telling you, these are some of the most beautiful burger photos I've ever seen. (If you're looking for an ebook for your business, I highly, highly recommend her and would be happy to put you in touch.)
When I first created my Not Ketchup fruit ketchups, I really only thought about using them on meat. Burgers, steak, chicken, sausages, lamb chops, pork chops, ribs. Meaty meat.
But after spending a lot of time at Santa Monica Seafood - the best retail seafood market, wholesale seafood distributor and seafood cafe in southern California, and an enthusiastic supporter of Not Ketchup from the very beginning - I realized that Cherry Chipotle Not Ketchup, with its perfectly balanced combination of sweet, salty, tangy, and slightly spicy, would pair well with rich, buttery salmon fillets.
This recipe puts the salmon under the broiler, but you can do it on the grill as well. Just make sure you don't put the fish too close to the heat source - you want the Not Ketchup to caramelize and bubble without burning.
Cherry Chipotle Not Ketchup Glazed Salmon
Erika Kerekes
Published 01/06/2015
Cherry Chipotle Not Ketchup fruit ketchup sauce makes a sweet, tangy, slightly spicy glaze for oven-roasted salmon fillets. A delicious and easy gourmet dinner.
Preheat the broiler until very hot, with the oven rack about 4 inches below the heat.
Line a sheet pan with foil and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Place the salmon fillets on the baking sheet and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Using a basting brush or the back of a spoon, spread each fillet generously on all sides with ⅓ of the Cherry Chipotle Not Ketchup. Broil the salmon 2-3 minutes, until the Not Ketchup coating starts to brown and sizzle.
Remove the baking pan from the oven. Slather the salmon with another layer of Cherry Chipotle Not Ketchup. Return the baking sheet to the oven for another 3-4 minutes, watching carefully to make sure the salmon doesn’t burn. The salmon is done when the outside is browned and bubbling and the inside is cooked through.
Drizzle the remaining Cherry Chipotle Not Ketchup over the top of the salmon fillets and serve immediately.
Yield: 4 servings Prep Time: 00 hrs. 05 mins.
Cook time: 00 hrs. 10 mins. Total time: 15 mins. Tags: seafood, fish, salmon, dinner, Not Ketchup, chipotle
Inspired by my friend Kristina Vanni, owner of Cooking Contest Central, I've been trying to enter more recipe contests lately. Kristina often points out that hundreds of food companies and commodity boards run recipe contests each year, with substantial sums of money and other prizes up for grabs. Food bloggers create recipes all the time - why not do it for a shot at the gold?
The thing is, there's a knack to winning recipe contests. That's why the members of Cooking Contest Central, a longstanding online community for recipe contest participants, consistently beat the pants off the rest of the field. Look at the winners of just about any recipe contest and you'll see at least one CCC member. The same names come up over and over.
What does it take to win a recipe contest? An eye for trendy ingredients and flavor combinations. Clever, highly visible use of whatever ingredient(s) or product(s) are sponsoring the contest. If it's a contest with history, an understanding of what kinds of dishes have won in years past. And a way with recipe names. I'm still learning on all these fronts. I've entered more contests this year than any other, but my track record hasn't been great.
Which is why when I entered the Alter Eco Foods quinoa recipe contest last month, I wasn't expecting to place. And yet, somehow, I did! My Salmon Quinoa Cakes with Caper Dill Sauce made the semi-finals. True to form, veteran CCC member Merry Graham took the grand prize for her quinoa tacos. But that's okay - Merry will enjoy her weekend in Napa Valley, and I'll be very happy with my year's supply of Alter Eco quinoa.
You can make these salmon cakes with leftover cooked salmon or canned salmon. Either way, no one will turn down these crispy pan-fried fish cakes with crunchy, nutty quinoa and a creamy dill sauce with tangy capers.
print recipe
Salmon quinoa cakes with dill caper sauce
by Erika Kerekes September-1-2013
Crispy pan-fried fish cakes made with leftover cooked salmon and quinoa, then dressed with a creamy dill sauce.
Ingredients
2 cups cooked salmon (fresh or canned)
2 eggs
1 cup cooked Alter Eco quinoa
3 green onions, chopped
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
2 Tablespoons mustard
3/4 cup mayonnaise, divided
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 lemon, zest and juice, divided
olive oil, for frying
1/2 cup Greek yogurt
1/4 cup capers
2 Tablespoons brine from capers
2 teaspoons dried dill
freshly ground pepper
Instructions
In a large bowl, flake the salmon with a fork. Mix together the salmon, eggs, quinoa, green onions, parsley, mustard, 1/4 cup mayonnaise, salt, and half of lemon juice.Form into 8 patties, using about 1/3 cup of the mixture per patty. Heat olive oil in a large skillet and pan-fry patties until golden brown on both sides.While salmon quinoa cakes are frying, make the sauce: Mix together remaining mayonnaise, remaining lemon juice, lemon zest, Greek yogurt, capers, caper brine, dill, and freshly ground pepper to taste. Serve salmon quinoa cakes hot with sauce pooled over.
Details
Prep time: Cook time: Total time: Yield: 8 servings
This is made easier by the fact that our local Costco always has an excellent selection of fresh fish, often wild, always sustainably farmed and caught.
Ironically, while my husband and both sons really like fish, I struggle with it. I just don't love eating it most of the time. And because I don't love eating it, I resist preparing it.
I am the Roadblock To Fish in our house.
So when I find a fish recipe I don't mind making and enjoy eating, I stick with it.
Example: these neatly rolled bundles of Dover sole bathed in a briny, buttery sauce. Relatively easy to prepare, beautiful to behold, and not bad warmed up in the microwave the next day.
Does your family like fish? What's your favorite way to prepare it? Share your fabulous fish ideas in the comments - I need inspiration!
print recipe
Oven-poached Dover sole with butter and capers
by Erika Kerekes August-27-2013
Serve these neat little rolls of Dover sole over rice or couscous to make the most of the briny, buttery sauce. An excellent main dish for a dinner party.
Ingredients
3 pounds Dover sole fillets
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
1/4 cup capers
1/8 cup brine from jar of capers
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.Spray a large baking dish (or two smaller ones) with nonstick cooking spray. Roll each piece of Dover sole into a cylinder, then place it in the baking dish with the seam down. Continue with the rest of the fillets, nestling them tightly together in the pan(s).Put the butter, capers, and caper brine in a large Pyrex measuring cup and microwave about 90 seconds, until the butter is melted. (Alternatively, melt the butter with the capers and brine in a small sauce pan on the stove.) Pour the butter mixture over the top of all the fish fillets.Bake the fish about 30 minutes, until the rolls are cooked through and the butter mixture is bubbling. The fish will release liquid as it cooks, so don't be surprised to see more liquid in the pan at the end than there was at the beginning.Serve hot over rice or couscous, spooning some of the cooking liquid and the capers over the fish on the plate.
Details
Prep time: Cook time: Total time: Yield: 8-10 servings
But then I made a batch of my family's favorite Thai fish stew, and the pan looked just as beautiful when I was done as it had when I started. It's heavy, 5-ply stainless steel. You can use it on the stove or in the oven. It can even go in the dishwasher.
However you cook with this pan, here's the most important part: You can carry it straight to the table with your head held high. You could put this pan down in front of Queen Elizabeth and it would likely be the most beautiful thing she'd seen on the table in a long while.
I've encountered only one problem with this pan: It takes up a lot of horizontal space and thus it's been hard to find a good place for it in my drawers and cabinets. The handles on the sides, while gorgeous, stick out pretty far, making it hard to store. So far I've addressed that issue by leaving it out on the stove at all times, but eventually I'm going to have to find it a hiding place. That said, I have a lot of pots and pans already. If you're starting your cookware collection from scratch or buying a wedding gift for a couple furnishing their first kitchen, space constraints probably won't be as much of an issue.
Summary: Stunningly beautiful cookware. Good for all stove types, including induction. Safe for stove, oven, dishwasher. Would make a fabulous gift. See the entire CookServ collection here.
Oh, the Thai fish stew? You'll love this recipe. It's a variation on a dish served to me years ago by my good friend Rachel Kaganoff Stern of Inside the Kaganoff Kitchen. She calls hers Brazilian; I added the Thai curry paste and took it farther east. I use whatever combination of fish and shellfish strikes me, and I give you permission to do the same.
print recipe
Thai fish stew
by Erika Kerekes May-2-2013
A quick and simple stew with fresh fish, shellfish, coconut milk and Thai curry paste. Finish with a generous shower of fresh chopped cilantro and/or basil.
Ingredients
2 pounds fresh fish filets and shellfish, any combination, fish cut into 2-inch chunks
6 limes (juice only)
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
2 Tablespoons yellow or red Thai curry paste
2 14-ounce cans coconut milk
1 bunch fresh cilantro, leaves and stems, chopped
salt to taste
Instructions
Put the fish and/or shellfish in a large bowl with the lime juice. Toss and leave to marinate 15 minutes.In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and bell pepper and saute 3-4 minutes, until the vegetables are softened. Add the Thai curry paste and stir to coat the vegetables; saute 1 minute. Add the coconut milk to the pot and stir until everything is well combined and the coconut milk is starting to bubble around the edges.Now add the fish and/or shellfish and the marinating liquid to the pot. Bring the pot to a boil, quickly turn down the heat, cover the pot, and simmer the stew about 15 minutes, until the fish is cooked through and flaky and the shellfish is cooked. Add the cilantro, stir, season to taste with salt, and serve immediately.
Details
Prep time: Cook time: Total time: Yield: 6-8 servings
