Stay at Stove Dad

Salmon Fried Rice with Broccoli

One of my go-to meals around the house is a simple combination of salmon, rice, and broccoli. It’s a go-to meal for me, but Santa Maria tends to think of it as a go-away meal—she doesn’t like it.  She can’t argue with it though, because it’s perfectly healthy, and if one is hungry enough, perfectly tasty.

Still, I see her point, and for months, if not years, I’ve been trying to figure out a way to make the salmon taste better. I tried making sauces with ginger and rice wine, ginger and red wine, ginger and soy sauce, garlic and rice wine, garlic and red wine, garlic and soy sauce. Nothing ever worked, and more often than not I would have to throw the sauce in the garbage and give up.

Tonight, though, I nailed it. I was home late from work, and Santa Maria had already cooked a piece of salmon and steamed some broccoli. That morning, I had made a pot of rice, so that was ready, too.

I wasn’t really in the mood for cold salmon, cold broccoli, and cold rice, and I cast aside my past experiences, didn’t consider the failures that had graced the frying pan recently, and started thinking.

Fried rice with ginger and garlic came to mind. A chili pepper would be a nice touch. And a bit of egg could bind things together. The broccoli and the salmon, broken into pieces, would warm in the pan with the rice. As I cooked, it looked and smelled promising. I finished the dish with a splash of white-wine vinegar, and I knew I was on to something. It tasted just great, and I’m sure I’ll be making it again soon.

 

Fried Rice with Salmon and Broccoli

• A few florets of broccoli, steamed
• A quarter of half pound fillet of salmon, pan fried or steamed until cooked, crumbled into small pieces
• 1 or 2 garlic cloves, minced
• A piece of ginger, about a half-inch long, peeled and minced
• 1 chili pepper
• A cup or so of rice, already cooked
• An egg, slightly beaten
• Canola, or other vegetable oil
• White wine vinegar

In a large frying pan on high heat, sauté the minced garlic and ginger for a few minutes in the canola oil, until it is fragrant.

Add the rice and keep stirring with a spatula

Add the salmon and the broccoli

Add the egg, and keep stirring

Keep it on the heat until the egg is cooked

Finish with a splash of white-wine vinegar

Kale Salad SmackDown

When both parents work, life gets a bit like tag-team wrestling. I was home last night at 7:25, and Santa Maria had the girls ready for bed. I kissed them goodnight and started to think about dinner for myself. Santa Maria put on some makeup and headed out to a work event.

Earlier in that afternoon, she had a craving for kale. The Park Slope Food Coop was out of lacinato kale, and only had purple-stem kale. Both are fairly similar, so she bought it. Taking it home, she discovered one key difference—she didn’t need to pull the stem out before making the Fly Sky High Kale Salad.  She liked this convenience a great deal.

Santa Maria left the kitchen and the rest of the house in perfect shape. More than perfect, actually. She had grated the Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, cut half a lemon, and toasted some pine nuts for me. All I needed to do was wash the kale, chop it, and start cooking.

I wanted more than a salad for dinner, though, so I added a few things to the dish. Taking a nod from Pinta, who had combined penne with her kale the first night she tasted it, I decided to pair it with a bit of leftover spaghetti. I didn’t think kale and pasta and cheese would satisfy me, so I added prosciutto  (and some garlic, for good measure).

I cooked the kale the same way as the salad, fried up the prosciutto and chopped it, and warmed the pasta in the microwave. I tossed everything in with the kale when it was finished, gave it a quick stir, and sat down to enjoy it.

Pinta had other ideas, though. She was having a hard time going to sleep, and she made a couple of curtain calls. Twice she called out. The first time I went to her, I leaned in close and asked her what she needed in a whisper (so as not to wake her sister). “You smell like Bolognese,” she said. I told her about my dinner. She said she needed water. The next time she called out, we made a trip down the hall to use the bathroom. On her way back to her room, I gave her a hug and she said, “You smell like prosciutto.” That girl was paying attention.

Software companies release beta versions of their product all the time, but I’m not going to stoop to that level. I don’t think this recipe is quite complete. I used too much of the ham (I was hungry, and I threw in four pieces), and the dish lacked balance. Though I was happy to have it while wrestling with my parenting duties, I'm going to have to go back to the mat on this one.

Gallery Opening (Almost) Over: Must Be Time to Boil Water

Last night was a “put a pot of boiling water on the minute you come in the door” kind of night. I had taken Nina and Pinta to the opening of “Eat/Art,” at the Atlantic Gallery, where I have three drawings on exhibition,  but my anxiety about a looming work deadline combined with Santa Maria’s exhaustion from a lack of sleep the night before and the children’s general state of fussiness because of lingering head colds (see lack of sleep, above), had me hightailing it out of the gallery well before the opening was over.

We got home and needed to eat. I had thought that I’d be out late, and consequently hadn’t really planned  anything. The pot of boiling water is a good anchor in times like that, and sure enough, I decided on a simple dish of pasta and jar sauce, supplemented by super-quick Hot Robot Spinach.

A friend of mine recently gave me a jar of Victoria marinara sauce, after reading in a post of mine about how  hard it is to find sugar-free commercial sauces. She said it was an old favorite of hers. I’d been holding onto it for a situation like the one last night. The sauce is clean and fresh tasting. It is quite delicious, and apparently made right here in Brooklyn. I'll be looking for more soon, I'm sure.

Quickest Indian Curry Dinner Imaginable

Santa Maria’s mother and father have returned safely to their own home, and I’m sure they are much more comfortable there than they were in our apartment. When we were crammed together, it felt as if we were stranded sailors on a Soviet-era Russian submarine that had been disabled and was running under emergency power.

After more than a week of sleeping on my daughters' floor (we gave Santa Maria's parents our bed; Santa Maria headed for the living-room couch, and I took the only room left), I was happy to be back in my own bed. Feeling somewhat better after some much needed rest, I was looking forward to trying out Marcella Hazan’s recipe for Clam Sauce with Tomatoes, but I didn’t get home in time yesterday to attempt it.

Instead, I turned to one of my super easy weeknight dinners built around a jar of Maya Kaimal's tamarind curry sauce (though I was too worn out to consider making the raita that makes this dinner whole lot better).

The clams, which I have on hand from an overly-optimistic foray to the Greenmarket this past Saturday, will have to wait (they’re patiently resting in the bottom of my refrigerator; nestled in a mesh strainer they should be okay for a few days).

Lightning Fast Indian Curry Dinner

• 1 cup white basmati rice
• 1 lb boneless chicken thighs
• 1 jar of Maya Kaimal's tamarind curry sauce

Cook the rice by combining it with two cups of water in a small sauce pot with a good lid. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook for about fifteen minutes, or until the water is gone.

While the rice is cooking, pour the sauce into a second sauce pot, and set on the stove over a medium flame.

Chop the chicken and add it to the sauce.

Heat until the chicken is cooked through, stirring occasionally. This should not take longer than the time it takes for the rice to cook.