Salmon has long enjoyed well-deserved regard among foodies as one of life’s great delicacies. Even with the general public who usually prefer beef to fish, salmon has become very popular.

Salmon in itself is considered a healthy dish, but you can enjoy a healthier salmon meal with a leaf wrapped stuffed salmon. As the name suggest, it’s salmon stuffed with bread crumbs, almonds, and parsley, and wrapped with steamed or boiled lettuce or sorrel leaves. The stuffing can be so good you would actually want an extra batch in a separate dish or a hollowed-out lemon. Without further ado, here’s your recipe for this mouth-watering salmon presentation.

For the Wrap, You Will Need:

• 3 heads lettuce (butter type) or 1 pound fresh sorrel leaves

For the Lemon-Almond Stuffing:

• 1 cup fine fresh bread crumbs
• 1 cup unblanched almond
• 1 tablespoon fresh tarragon or thyme leaves
• 1 cup fresh parsley sprigs
• 3 tablespoons freshly grated lemon zest
• ¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• ¼ pound unsalted butter, softened
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Ground cayenne pepper
• 1 whole 5- to 8-pound salmon, dressed and boned
• Salmon caviar or cooked crayfish for garnish

How to Prepare

1.) Preheat the oven to 350° F.

2.) Dip the lettuce or sorrel leaves in boiling water for about 10 seconds. Remove leaves immediately and place in a bowl of ice water.  Drain and spread out on paper towel.

3.) To make the stuffing, combine almonds, bread crumbs, and parsley in  a blender or food processor. Process until coarsely chopped and well mixed. Add tarragon or thyme, lemon zest and juice, and butter. Mix thoroughly and season with salt, pepper, and cayenne to taste.

4.) Rinse the salmon under running water and pat dry using paper towel.

5.) Stuff the cavity of the salmon with the mixture and place the fish on a baking sheet.

6.) Drain the blanched lettuce or sorrel leaves and wrap the fish in the leaves, overlapping them as you work and covering the fish completely with several layers.

7.) Bake the salmon until the flesh is barely opaque throughout, about 10 minutes per inch of thickness

8.) Garnish with caviar or crayfish and serve immediately or at room temperature. To serve, cut the fish crosswise into 1-inch thick slices.

Serves 6 to 12.

Tips: Serve the salmon with lemon and butter. For individual servings, divide the stuffing and wrapping among six one-pound farm-raised fish.

About the Author: Stephen John is a food and wine enthusiast. He blogs about food, wine, and culture and writes wine reviews for a living. He loves pairing his salmon dish with a bottle of his favourite Penfolds Vintage

Author information

The Food Curator

The Food Curator (AKA Michael Robinson) is an aficionado of all things food and bon viveur based in London. A passion for cooking and dining has driven him to put fingers to keyboard to bring you his thoughts on the world of food. When not writing, eating or cooking he has a love of American muscle cars. Pop on over to my Facebook page and let's start a Facebook food revolution together: http://tinyurl.com/thefoodcurator

|

The post Leaf wrapped stuffed salmon appeared first on Food on the Blog. Post by The Food Curator

Ras el hanout is a Moroccan spice mix which means “head of house”. It is not a precise mix as it is of the house, but typically has between 35 and 42 different spices in it! You can buy it online (Amazon!)  if you can’t find it locally.

This is a quick, easy (healthy) dish that is full of flavour.

For 2 good portions:

• 75g quinoa
• 1 tsp coconut oil
• 100g bacon, chopped
• 1 portabello mushroom, chopped
• 1 stick celery, chopped
• 1 small red onion, chopped
• 3 handfuls spinach, washed
• 8 small sun dried tomatoes (in oil, but drained)
• 1 tsp ras el hanout*
• 1 tsp fresh mint, chopped
• 1 tblsp mixed seeds eg pumpkin, sunflower, flaxseed

To prepare

First, start the quinoa:

Bring the quinoa to the boil in twice its volume of water – water will just cover the quinoa. Simmer for 10 minutes then switch off  the heat, cover and stand for a further 10 minutes.

Meanwhile…

Sweat the onion in the coconut oil until softening and starting to colour

Add the bacon and mushrooms and cook over medium heat for a few minutes stirring occasionally until they are nearly cooked.

Add the celery, seasoning and sun dried tomatoes and stir.

Cook for a minute or two then lay the spinach on top. Allow it to start wilting then stir it in.

Fluff up the quinoa with a fork and stir it into the vegetable mixture with the seeds and mint. Check the seasoning and serve.

Author information

Karen Kennaby

Karen Kennaby is the Intuitive Food Coach. She helps people, primarily women, discover the best foods & eating pattern for them so they feel & look AMAZING!
“The focus is very much on delicious, beautiful & healthy food. For the last 9 years I’ve chosen real food, moderately low carb diet & maintained my weight all that time – plus no tummy aches, no bloating etc"
I am excited to tell you about: 'Around the Table with Karen'... I believe a lot of life goes on around the table…meaningful 121 conversations, group discussions, interviews, coaching, relationships developing, preparing & sharing food, eating, and more! Around the Table with Karen covers all this.
Click here for more information on Karen.

|

The post Moroccan Style Quinoa appeared first on Food on the Blog. Post by Karen Kennaby

Yes while strolling though Mark & Spencer picking up some ingredients for a Sunday roast, I noticed a pack marked “flower sprout” I had never heard of this before. Further reading confirmed this is indeed a “new and exclusive vegetable”, and interestingly that it “arouse naturally from a crossing of Brussel sprouts and kale”. Finally there is a bold promise on the package of “a mild nutty flavour that will appeal to all”.

Now I like Brussel sprouts and I like kale, but I also know a lot of people don’t like either of these greens. So how do they taste?

Well I loved them!

The small sprouts look like wildly unfolded Brussels, and have a mixed light and dark green colour. First off they taste mildly of Brussel sprouts, then the flavour changes leaving an aftertaste closer to the strong chlorophyll and iron of kale.

It has a good texture too, the stalk of the sprouting leaves kept some “bite” while the leaves themselves held up well not going too soggy like sprouts can, but not quite having all the bite and firmer texture like kale.

So taste and texture are both good. It certainly went well with my roast chicken Sunday dinner, and would be great in stir fries. Another way to try them is with cheese sauce.

On the packet it says the flower sprouts were grown by George Read in Lincolnshire, but a quick look at their website doesn’t give any further clues about this new vegetable.

In fact flower sprouts aren’t mentioned anywhere

A quick Google search confirmed these are not in fact new they have been sold exclusively by M&S since 2010, However you can buy the seeds online from the flower sprouts creators Tozer Seeds, and grow them in your own garden!

At the official flower sprout website it says this product will be available in Waitrose soon.

Expect to see this interesting new “super food” in a supermarket near you soon!

Do you know of any other unusual vegetables which deserve to be in (or out) of our shopping baskets?

Author information

The Food Curator

The Food Curator (AKA Michael Robinson) is an aficionado of all things food and bon viveur based in London. A passion for cooking and dining has driven him to put fingers to keyboard to bring you his thoughts on the world of food. When not writing, eating or cooking he has a love of American muscle cars. Pop on over to my Facebook page and let's start a Facebook food revolution together: http://tinyurl.com/thefoodcurator

|

The post New (oldish) greens appeared first on Food on the Blog. Post by The Food Curator

It was in the business section titled “Kidz Breakfast: Giant breakfast boosts cafe’s business”, I must say I was intrigued. It appears a café in Great Yarmouth has come up with a promotional idea, if you can eat their mega-breakfast you get it for free, or you pay £15 if you can’t. It’s called “Kidz” because the meal weighs the same as a baby…

This is no new trick in the promotion of a restaurant, but the staff at this establishment have been watching way too much Man vs Food. The breakfast in question is a whopping 9lb of your morning favourites! It could feed a family of four…a very hungry family of four. Only one man in history has managed to eat the entire grease-feast unaided – Mr Robert Pinto (great name!), a competitive eater from Lincolnshire. . .Yes he ate all 6000+ calories worth. Want to know what all that looks like? OK deep breath:

• 12 Bacon rashers
• 12 Sausages
• 4 Slices of black pudding
• 6 Eggs
• 4 Slices of bread plain
• 4 Slices of toast
• 4 Slices of fried bread
• 2 Hash browns
• A potato and cheese omelette made with 8 eggs
• Fried potatoes
• Baked beans
• Mushrooms
• Tomatoes

Are you feeling hungry now?

It seemed like it was one of those “funny” news items, you know those items at the end of the news to raise a smile and give us all a break from all the depressing things that are happening in the world. Curiously as I read further on there was a quote from Professor David Haslam from the National Obesity Forum calling for the dish to be banned…

Have we really lost our sense of fun and frivolity in this country? The meal in question is so ridiculously enormous as to be laughable, and is so obviously a tongue-in-cheek promotion for a small café trying to make a living in these times of austerity. And this type of promotion has been done for years. Does anyone remember the Fatty Arbuckle’s challenge, three huge courses and many thousands of calories? Does Fatty still do it? It was one of the most famous food challenges when I was growing up…

Now I do understand that obesity is a big problem, and a big killer in this and many other countries, but to be honest if somebody had the will to eat that much without prompting they could order four large breakfasts for themselves.

So why call for a ban?

Is it because someone managed to finally eat it? Mr Pinto (still a great name!) is a competitive eater, and people all over the world try to out-eat each other in international competitions, it’s now so popular that it’s become successful TV entertainment, as per the aforementioned Man vs Food. Yes I’m sure there are some potential risks in pursuing this activity but I’m sure there are some potential risks when skydiving, but I’ve never heard anyone asking for skydiving to be banned.

Something I do agree on is that the public should be educated about how to achieve a good healthy balanced diet for themselves and their families, but if someone wants to eat enough greasy breakfast to sink a battleship then surely it’s their choice?

Reading between the lines the article was pushing for the banning comment to provoke a reaction. As it appears the reporter contacted the National Obesity Forum for a comment, the press demonising this innocent story of one man and his breakfast.

I am not advocating gluttony or over-eating, nor would I ever say anything against the good work that the National Obesity Forum do. Simply, in my view this was a fun story about a crazy meal-deal in a small town that was used to make a point against people’s freedom to eat, drink and more importantly have fun!

Do you think such challenges are right or wrong? Have you ever tried an eating challenge, if so how did you do?

Author information

The Food Curator

The Food Curator (AKA Michael Robinson) is an aficionado of all things food and bon viveur based in London. A passion for cooking and dining has driven him to put fingers to keyboard to bring you his thoughts on the world of food. When not writing, eating or cooking he has a love of American muscle cars. Pop on over to my Facebook page and let's start a Facebook food revolution together: http://tinyurl.com/thefoodcurator

|

The post Please sir can I have some more? appeared first on Food on the Blog. Post by The Food Curator

Keeping Fit and Healthy on a Budget

It is said that eating healthy food and doing exercise is a privilege only the affluent can enjoy. However, this is not necessarily true. Here are some tips you can follow to keep fit and healthy on a budget.

Bring your own meals to work

At work, rarely do people order healthy food, and if they do, it is extremely expensive to eat it on a daily basis. However, you don’t want to wind up eating fatty fast food. At home, take 20 minutes to prepare something like rice with chicken breast or vegetables for lunch plus a fruit or yoghurt for dessert to bring to work. To make this job easier, check out for example  some healthly recipes or  online.

Walk or use a bicycle

A car or a bus doesn’t have to be your only means of transport, nor a gym the only place to exercise. Depending on the distance to work, see if you can walk your way there, or your way back, or ride a bicycle. This is a great way to include work out to our daily routine without taking free time to do so. Another tip is using the stairs instead of the elevator. Try stepping with your ankle first, and then with the rest of your foot to focus the exercise on your gluteus muscles.

Take off your make up before going to bed

You don’t need to buy expensive moisturizers to have a good skin at all. Remember to take your make up off before going to bed, and washing your face with a neutral soap so your skin won’t get dry. After doing this, apply any face moisturizer. More important than buying an expensive moisturizer is having your skin clean and prepared for absorbing moisturizer.

Bio: Ivana represents http://www.quorn.co.uk company and likes to write about heatlhly foods and recipes.

Author information

The Food Curator

The Food Curator (AKA Michael Robinson) is an aficionado of all things food and bon viveur based in London. A passion for cooking and dining has driven him to put fingers to keyboard to bring you his thoughts on the world of food. When not writing, eating or cooking he has a love of American muscle cars. Pop on over to my Facebook page and let's start a Facebook food revolution together: http://tinyurl.com/thefoodcurator

|

The post Keeping Fit and Healthy on a Budget appeared first on Food on the Blog. Post by The Food Curator