"A house is not a home unless it contains food and fire for the mind as well as the body." - Benjamin Franklin


Saturday, February 19, 2011

Salmon, Pesto Penne with Stir-Fry Garlic Spinach

Today’s post is salmon, pesto penne with stir-fry garlic spinach.  This idea is taken from my son’s creative mind in foods. As a team we created another fancy dinner for the family.
British Columbia of Canada has the best salmon. You can get this everywhere and in season all year round, and the price is not pricey. Since salmon is loaded with omega 3 and classified as brain food, our family likes to eat this very often. There are many ways of cooking salmon. Each cuisine has its own unique specialty. To name a few; Chinese like to steam it in black bean sauce or pan fried it just salt and pepper, Japanese as we all know- "Salmon Sushi" or "Salmon Sashimi" eat it raw, and the French likes it boil or pouch etc., They all have their special technique of creating this dish and always tasted delicious. What my son and I did is to boil it in salt and pepper with white wine sauce, it so simple and yet delicious.
To go with this, we used pesto penne as starch. The favor in pesto is so light fitted perfectly with the salmon. Wee touched up the dish with stir-fry garlic spinach. The whole meal takes no more than 45 minutes to complete from preparation to completion, of course with my son’s help….
Ingredients:

  ½ of a good size salmon (serving for 3) 
·         1 lbs of fresh spinach
·         3 cups of Penne
·         2 cups of fresh basils
·         3 tablespoons of Pine nuts
·         ½ cup of parmesan cheese.
·         1 handful of grated mixed cheese (for garnish)
·         2 cups of white wine (white Zinfandel)
·         Lemon (for garnish)
·         1 teaspoon of salt
·         ½ teaspoon of pepper
·         3 cups of olive oil
·         1 ½ of fours
·         3 cups of cream
·         3 cloves of garlic (diced)

Preparation:

Salmon:

Marinate the salmon with salt and pepper. Preheat the oven to 350 degree for 5 minutes; place the salmon in the middle rack and let it bake for 10 minutes, cover it with a tin foil to trap the moisture in. On the side, create the white wine sauce for the salmon. Bring the cream to boil in a pot, add flours and stir until it becomes thicker. Add a touch of salt and pepper to adjust the taste. Finally, add the white wine in last.

Penne:

Boil the pasta on a separate pot. Create the pesto sauce on the side in a blender with olive oil, salt, pepper, parmesan, fresh basils, garlic and pine nuts. Once the sauce is created, mix with penne in a salad bowl. Place a handful of mix grated cheese on top for garnish.

Spinach:

Bring the olive oil to boil with diced garlic. Place all the fresh spinach in and stir-fry until cooked. Once the salmon is baked, place everything on a plate and serve. It’s delicious!