Eli’s Asian Salmon

I love soy sauce marinades on salmon, and this recipe (Barefoot Contessa at Home) was no exception.  I could not find fish sauce at the grocery store (my limit is now to search at two grocery stores for any given ingredient, and then find a substitute), so I just added more oyster sauce instead.  You’ll see it here served with sauteed spinach, to which I added some soy sauce and sesame seeds to fit the Asian theme of the meal.

This particular piece of fish was caught by my brother in Alaska, and lovingly delivered to our home by his awesome wife and children, who are visiting before their big move to Hawaii next month.  My brother and I are only 16 months apart in age, and I’ve known his wife since we were kids at church camp together.  Many of my late-night cooking adventures have been with them, and I credit my brother with being my first guinea pig in the kitchen – he would eat anything, but then give an honest review.  I kind of hate that they live so far away, but at least we have great places to visit wherever they live.

Indonesian Ginger Chicken

This recipe (The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook, p. 125) calls for two whole chickens, but I just use whatever bone-in, skin-on chicken I happen to have on hand (usually whatever is in the freezer from the last grocery store sale).  It makes quite a bit of marinade, so if you’re only cooking for a few people, you could freeze some uncooked chicken in the marinade for another time (although I wouldn’t recommend re-freezing previously frozen, thawed chicken).  This time, I used a package of chicken thighs, and it was delicious.  I’d made this years ago, but had forgotten how easy (and good) it was.  The picky toddler even ate some, and as you can see, we ate it with rice and green beans on the side.