I don't seem to cook from recipes much anymore. I tend to just throw things together when I make our dinners, and yes, if we do have guests over, I follow recipes. But we haven't had anyone over for dinner in a long time.

This morning, I watched Barefoot Contessa. She made what she called a Fig and Fennel Caponata. Caponata usually contains eggplant. Instead, she used fennel. I love fennel, and had to make this. As soon as possible. Never mind that my husband was out of town and I knew I would probably end up eating the entire recipe myself. In one sitting, I was afraid.

So I went to the store and picked up a few ingredients, and a short while after that I had this amazing appetizer. Sweet and salty and tangy. The best flavor combinations. I've only had it on toasted bread so far, but later this week I'm going to serve it on top of halibut, as I think this topping will go really well with the mild fish.

So run to the store and pick up the ingredients to make this. I think you'll be very happy. This might just become my signature appetizer.

Fig and Fennel Caponata
Adapted from Foodtv.com Serves:6 to 8
(If you want specific measurements, look up the recipe at foodtv.com. I didn't measure the onion or fennel, but instead just used what I list below.)

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons good olive oil
1 medium red onion, finely diced
1 large fennel, diced (1/2-inch-dice)
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1/3 cup good sherry vinegar (my store was out of sherry vinegar so I used 1/2 sherry wine and 1/2 champagne vinegar)
1 cup canned crushed tomatoes in puree
8 dried Calmyrna figs, stems removed and 1/4-inch-diced
2 1/2 tablespoons light brown sugar, lightly packed
2 tablespoons drained capers
1/2 cup green olives, pitted and coarsely chopped, such as Cerignola
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
3 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
Grilled bread for serving

Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a 10-inch saute pan. Add the onions and fennel and saute for 7 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened. Add the garlic and cook for one more minute. Stir in the vinegar, tomatoes, figs, and brown sugar, stirring to coat everything with the tomatoes. Stir in the capers, olives, orange zest, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 8 to 10 minutes, until thickened. Stir in the orange juice and parsley. Taste for seasonings; it should be very highly seasoned. Serve the caponata warm or at room temperature with slices of grilled bread.

Last night, I was feeling a little (okay, a lot) blah, and I decided to try to cheer myself up by making a simple French country dinner to have in front of the fireplace with my husband. Good food often has a way of cheering me up. And good wine also. I thought I'd open a bottle of Sonja's Suds, a wine I had brought home from our Los Alamos, California trip.

Sonja's Suds is from Casa Dumetz Wines. Their tasting room, called Babi's Tasting Room, is right on the main road in Los Alamos. Sonja's Suds is a sparkling syrah rose. It was a small batch production; only 75 cases were made. Drinking sparkling wines always add a touch of fun to the drink. This wine is not only fun to drink, but delicious also!

Casa Dumetz was started by Sonja Magdevski. Sonja is an adorable, bubbly blond lady who happens to be engaged to Emilio Estevez. They have their own vineyard in Malibu, but most of the grapes used for their wines are from Tierra Alta Vineyard in the Santa Ynez Valley. She makes a variety of wines, including Gewurztraminer, Viognier, Syrah, 2 kinds of Grenache, and the sparkling syrah. Her wines were so good we brought home over a case and had her ship another case to us. Happy me! To read more about Casa Dumetz wines, click here for their website.

Back to the dinner. I started us off with a typical French salad - green salad with goat cheese toasts. Make a simple vinegrette of red wine vingar, Dijon mustard, grainy mustard, and olive oil. Set aside, and make the goat cheese toasts. Cut a couple of slices each of a baguette, spread a soft goat cheese on top, and place under the broiler until it all begins to brown. Toss mixed greens with a little of the dressing, top with toasted walnuts (or if you're like me and out of walnuts, substitute pecans) and top with the toasts. Yum!

Our entree was a Country French Omelet. I didn't want to cook fish last night, and wanted to use ingredients I had on hand. The recipe is an Ina Garten recipe which was found on the Food Network website.

Country French Omelet Serves 2
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 slices thick-cut bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 cup (1-inch-diced) unpeeled Yukon Gold potatoes
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
5 extra-large eggs
3 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon fresh chopped chives

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Heat the olive oil in a 10-inch ovenproof pan over medium heat. Add the bacon and cook for 3 to 5 minutes over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until the bacon is browned but not crisp. Take the bacon out of the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside on a plate.

Place the potatoes in the pan and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Continue to cook over medium-low heat for 8 to 10 minutes, until very tender and browned, tossing occasionally to brown evenly. Remove with a slotted spoon to the same plate with the bacon.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, beat the eggs, milk, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper together with a fork. After the potatoes are removed, pour the fat out of the pan and discard. Add the butter, lower the heat to low, and pour the eggs into the hot pan. Sprinkle the bacon, potatoes, and chives evenly over the top and place the pan in the oven for about 8 minutes, just until the eggs are set. Slide onto a plate, divide in half, and serve hot.

We had a very nice evening, and even Bella loved joining us in front of the fireplace.
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The day I made this soup it was a strange weather day in Alaska. It's winter and there's supposed to be lots of snow on the ground and it should be really cold. But instead, we had very strong winds at our house and the temperature hovered around 42 degrees all day. While I like the warmer temperatures, I don't like the freeze/thaw that happens, making the roads really slick. And time will tell how many of my flowers will make it through the winter, considering they've spent a lot of time this winter without their nice thick blanket of protective snow.

Being as the weather was blustery and my husband felt like he was coming down with a cold, it felt like a perfect evening for a bowl of soup. I knew I wanted to do something with shrimp, and I also had broccoli I wanted to use. So I found a recipe for Thai Chicken Soup and made some adjustments. I added a lot of healthy broccoli and carrots and used shrimp instead of chicken. The soup is very flavorful with all of the spices, and quite filling with the noodles and coconut milk. It would be very good topped with cilantro. Feel free to adjust the variety or quantity of vegetables or use more chili paste if you want it really hot. If you're not a huge fan of coconut milk I think you could use 1can and add extra chicken or vegetable broth. I have lots of leftovers for tomorrow, so this made probably 4 very large bowls or 6 regular sized bowls of soup.

SHRIMP AND VEGETABLE CURRY SOUP

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 small onion, finely diced
2 tablespoons minced ginger
2 tablespoons minced lemon grass
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons dark red chili paste, such as sambal, more for serving
1 small head broccoli, chopped into small pieces
2 lg carrots, chopped into small pieces
1 lb peeled shrimp
3 tablespoons curry powder, preferably Malaysian, Thai or Vietnamese
1/2 teaspoon paprika
2 cans (14 ounces) light coconut milk
4 cups chicken stock
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon sugar, more to taste
Juice of 1 lime
2 small pkgs bean thread noodles

1. Heat oil in a medium pot over medium heat. Add onion, ginger and lemon grass and cook, stirring, until softened, about 10 minutes. Do not brown; reduce heat if necessary. Add garlic and chili paste and stir until fragrant. Add broccoli and carrots and stir fry until just beginning to soften. Add shrimp and stir-fry one minute. Add curry powder and paprika and stir to coat. Then add coconut milk, chicken stock, turmeric, fish sauce, sugar and lime juice. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until shrimp is cooked through, about 5 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, soak noodles in hot water according to package directions (about 5 minutes). Drain. drain.

3. Taste broth and adjust seasonings with salt and sugar and garlic sauce. Add noodles to soup and warm through. Ladle into bowls.

I haven't posted on my blog in a long time. I lost my motivation and have had trouble getting it back. It's not fun trying to take food photos in the winter in Alaska. I cannot time my food photos to be taken during the few hours of sunlight. So I have to use artificial light, and the Ego lights seem to do a good job.

I was in California last week and ate some fabulous food along with drinking some really good wines. I think this might have been enough to stir my interest back into blogging. I'm still trying to eat very healthy and I make a lot of baked fish and vegetables, which is nothing to put on the blog. But I think I'll try to cook something special once a week and post about that.

On to the food and wine....Last night I opened a bottle of a new wine we tried while in California. It's from a really great place called Casa Dumetz Wines. I'll go into more detail in an upcoming post, but I'll give you a little information here today. The winery's tasting room is named Babi's Tasting Room and it's in Los Alamos, California. The winery is owned by the really sweet Sonja Magdevski. The wine we had last night was Gravitas Grenache 2011. I'm sure I had tasted grenache before, but really didn't know anything about it. The is a really nice wine, with lots of berry flavor.

The wine paired very well with my entree, which was salmon. I'm not going to give you a recipe for the salmon, but instead will explain my method.

First, I cooked a pot of farro. I bought some packages of 10 minute farro at Trader Joe's (oh, how I wish there was a Trader Joe's in Alaska). Just the farro cooked in chicken broth. Full of that chewy texture with the earthy taste. Next, I heated a little olive oil in a large skillet. I added 1 chopped onion and 1 chopped fresh fennel bulb and sauteed until beginning to soften. Then I added a cup or two each of sliced cremini mushrooms and shitake mushrooms, and fresh thyme. I deglazed the pan with some sherry, seasoned with salt and pepper and some porcinin mushroom rub. I continued cooking until all was soft. Next, I took a salmon fillet and placed it skin side down on a foil-covered baking sheet. I mixed together some plum jam (the best I've ever tasted, which I brought back from Paris), dijon mustard and a little olive oil. I spread that over the salmon and seasoned with salt and pepper. I baked that in a 325 degree oven until just firm to the touch. Do not overcook - you want your salmon to be rare in the middle. I then plated by placing a scoop of the farro on a plate, placing a piece of salmon on next, then topping it with the mushroom mixture. It was delicous. I love the earthy flavor of mushrooms and farro together, and they pair beautifully with salmon.

If you want to read about some wineries around Los Alamos, California, check back on my blog soon. I'm going to do a write up on our trip and I'll write about the wineries we visited and some of the great food we ate.

On a recent Sunday, I made two kinds of soup. The first one you saw posted earlier - Mushroom Farro Soup. I also decided to try a soup from a new cookbook I got - True Food by Andrew Weil. Well, I sort of tried the soup from the book. The soup turned out thinner than I wanted, so I added black beans (and more corn) to the soup. That also adds more protein, making this soup more of a complete meal. I'm also giving the recipe with less water. I didn't like the soup as thin as it was. The soup tasted good. It was different to have the flavors of the southwest (poblano peppers, chili powder, cumim) combined with coconut milk. The coconut milk added richness to the soup.

Sweet Potato Black Bean Poblano Soup

1 large sweet potato, peeled and diced
1 small onion, diced
1 cup corn kernels (I used frozen corn but fresh would be great)
2 carrots, diced
1 small fennel bulb, diced
4 garlic cloves, mashed
1 poblano chili, seeded and diced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 to 1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup white wine
1 (14 oz) can light coconut milk
2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 or 3 scallions, thinly sliced

1. Turn oven to broil. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
2. In a large bowl, toss together the sweet potato, onion, carrot, corn, fennel, garlic and poblano. Add the olive oil and toss to coat. Spread the vegetables in a single layer on the prepared pan and broil for 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from oven, stir, place back under broiler for another 5 to 7 minutes, or until the tops of vegetables are brown. Be sure not to burn.
3. Transfer the vegetables to a large stock pot. Add the drained beans, chili powder, cumin, oregano, cayenne, turmeric, salt, pepper, wine and 2 quarts of water (or enough water to cover vegetables). Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer for 45 minutes.
4. Remove the soup from the heat and stir in the coconut milk. Serve topped with cilantro and scallions.

It's soup time in Alaska. Well, anytime is soup time for me, but others like to wait until the weather is cold. Since it snowed about 4 or 5" here yesterday, and the ground is still covered in snow, I thought it would be a great day for making soups.

I wanted to make a mushroom soup, and decided to add a farro wild rice mixture that I had. The soup is not spicy, and can really have the addition of any spices you might like. You might add a little basil, oregano, or thyme as it cooks. I only added a little dried dill to mine. This is a very hearty soup, even though it doesn't contain any meat. I did use beef broth as the base though. It's hearty, low fat, and will keep you warm and full for hours.

Mushroom Farro Soup

1 pound cremini mushrooms, sliced then chopped
1/2 cup dried porcini mushrooms
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 cup faro, or farro wild rice blend
7 cups low sodium beef broth (you could also use chicken or vegetable broth if you prefer)
1/4 cup dry sherry
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/2 to 1 teaspoon dried dill
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar

1. Cover the dried porcinis with hot water and set aside to soak while you start the soup.
2. Heat oil in stock pot or dutch oven. Saute the onions and carrots until onions soften, abut 10 to 15 minutes. Add the garlic and saute for about another minute. Add the fresh mushrooms, and saute until they begin to release their moisture, 5-10 minutes. Add the farro, and the drained, chopped porcinis. Stir and cook a minute or two. Add the tomato paste, broth, dill and sherry. Season with salt and pepper. Simmer over low heat about 45 minutes, or until the farro is tender. Stir in the sherry vinegar.

I was looking for a recipe that I used to make that was from Cooks Illustrated. It was for Shrimp Fra Diavolo. It was a nice spicy dish that had a great layer of flavors due to the use of wine and cognac in the sauce. I searched and searched and couldn't find the old recipe. I went to the web and started searching, and found several variations. Listed below is my variation. One thing I changed was to use crushed tomatoes instead of chopped ones.

I love this dish, and could probably eat about 2 or 3 times as much as I should. Why don't you try this recipe and see what you think.

Shrimp Fra Diavolo SErves 4-6

1 lb. large shrimp, peeled
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
6 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup cognac or brandy (I only had a little of each, so used both)
12 medium garlic cloves, sliced thinly
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley leaves
1 pound linguine or spaghetti

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. It should be up and boiling and ready to add the pasta when your shrimp is ready.

In a large bowl mix the shrimp, half of the red pepper flakes, two tablespoons of the olive oil, and the salt. Toss gently to evenly coat the shrimp. Place a large skillet's over med high heat, and when hot, add the shrimp in a single layer and cook without stirring until they turn pink and get brown spots on the bottom. This only takes about a minute or so, depending on the heat of the skillet.

When shrimp is cooked on one side, remove from heat,stir the shrimp, and add the cognac. Give it a few seconds to warm the cognac, and then wave a match over the skillet to ignite the cognac. Shake the pan a little to make sure it all gets a chance to burn. (If for some reason you're like me, and your cognac refuses to light, that's okay. Just place it back over the heat and reduce a little.)

After the fire goes out, take the shrimp out of the pan and place aside. Heat three tablespoons of the olive oil in the skillet, add the garlic, and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, for five or six minutes, until the garlic gets light brown. Don't let it burn. Add the other 1/2 teaspoon of the red pepper flakes, the salt, sugar, tomatoes, and wine. Simmer this sauce for ten minutes or so.

Your water should be at a boil right about the time your sauce is getting ready to simmer. Add a large pinch of salt to the water, and place the pasta in the pot of boiling water, stir, and cook until al dente, usually about 12 minutes. Drain. Add the drained pasta and the cooked shrimp to the skillet of sauce, stir, and if your pasta is too al denta, cook a minute or so more. Add the chopped parsley and serve.

Yesterday I was at Costco, and they had fresh figs. I can't get fresh figs very often, so I picked up a package of them, along with white peaches and raspberries. I thought I would make a tart wtih them (Fig and Raspberry tart in a Sesame Seed Crust from Baking with Julia), but as I had peaches that were a little riper than I thought when I bought them, I decided to cook a dish that I saw on Food & Wine's Facebook page today.

I am writing the recipe as they wrote it, but I did make changes. I was trying to hurry and not make any more of a mess than I already had in the kitchen, so rather than slice into cutlets and pound out then cook in a skillet, I decided to cook the tenderloin whole and roast it in the oven. I browned the seasoned tenderloin in a skillet in some olive oil until lightly browned, then added the chopped shallots and cooked until soft. I then added 2/3 cup Madeira wine, then I transferred the pork and sauce to a casserole dish. I surrrounded it with the figs, and baked in a 350 degree oven until it was 155 degrees. I'm not sure how long this was as somehow my oven got turned off in the middle of cooking.

I skipped the flour, but if I weren't so hungry and tired, I would have put the pan juices in a small pan and added some flour or cornstarch to thicken as a gravy. I just poured some of the juice, along with the figs and shallots, over the sliced meat.

The flavor of this dish was really good, and it's definately a keeper of a recipe. You could alter the meats also by using pork chops, rabbit, or probably even chicken.

Pork Medallion Sauté with Figs From Food & Wine
Serves: Serves 4
• 12 figs, fresh or dried (see headnote)
• 1 cup dry Marsala
• 1½ pork tenderloins (about 1¼ pounds total)
• Coarse salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh thyme
• About ½ cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• ½ cup finely chopped shallots
• 1 to 2 tablespoons fig balsamic or regular aged balsamic vinegar
• Thyme sprigs, cut into 1-inch pieces, for garnish
Snip the stems from the figs with kitchen scissors. Cut the small figs into halves or the large ones into quarters. Set aside. If using dried figs, place them in a small saucepan with the Marsala and heat gently until warmed. Set aside to soak while preparing the pork cutlets.
Remove the silverskin from the pork tenderloin: Lay the whole tenderloin on a cutting board and trim any excess fat. Locate the silverskin, which is a long, narrow, shiny white membrane that runs along the surface of the meat. With the tip of a thin, sharp knife, make a small cut at the top of the silverskin long enough for you to hold onto the skin with the fingertips of one hand. With the other hand, pull the knife, its blade leaning toward the skin, along the skin and parallel to the meat to separate it from the meat. Discard the skin. Repeat with the half tenderloin. Slice the tenderloins into 12 slices each ¾ inch thick.
Cut 2 sheets of plastic wrap each about 10 inches long. Lay 2 or 3 tenderloin slices on 1 sheet and cover with the second sheet. Gently pound the slices until evenly flattened to between 1⁄8 and ¼ inch thick. Repeat with the remaining slices. When all of the slices have been pounded into cutlets, sprinkle them lightly on both sides with salt and pepper, then sprinkle them on one side only with 1 teaspoon of the chopped thyme. Place the flour on a sheet of plastic wrap, and dip each cutlet in the flour, lightly coating on both sides and shaking off the excess.
heat a 10- to 12-inch skillet over medium heat. Add the butter and oil and heat until the butter foams. Add the pork a few slices at a time and sauté, turning once with tongs, for 1 to 2 minutes per side, or until lightly browned. Using the tongs, transfer to a plate and cover with aluminum foil to keep warm. Repeat with the remaining pork slices.
Add the shallots to the pan and sauté over medium-low heat, stirring, for 3 minutes, or until softened. If the dried figs are soaking, strain and reserve the Marsala separately. Add the figs, increase the heat to medium-high, and cook, turning them with a spatula as they brown, for about 3 minutes (turn fresh figs gently, as stirring might crush them). Add the Marsala and boil, gently turning the fruit, for about 3 minutes, or until the sauce thickens. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of the vinegar and the remaining 1 teaspoon of chopped thyme on top. Taste and add more vinegar, if needed. Season the sauce with salt and pepper. Return the pork to the pan and quickly reheat, turning the pork in the sauce.
Arrange the pork slices on a warmed platter and spoon the figs and sauce on top. Garnish with the thyme sprigs and serve at once.

Today was Labor Day. I was off work for 3 days in a row. We had originally planned on going out on the boat, for probably what would be the last trip of the season, but the weather didn't cooperate - the seas were calling for 6 foot, so we were not able to go. That left us to think what else we might want to do over the long weekend. We had reservations at doggie day care to board our dog, so going out of town could have been easy. But the weather was not pleasant this weekend. Cold, rainy, and extremely windy. So we chose to stay around the house and do some chores that we hadn't completed this summer. For me, that meant cleaning out some closets and drawers. Although I'm not through, I threw away 4 trash bags and have 3 to dontate to charity. Not bad. I think I'm feeling good about that, even though I won't feel completely good until we start working our way towards cleaning out our full crawl space.

Anyway, on to cooking. Tonight I wanted to make us a nice dinner of a local chicken I had purchased earlier in the year. I thought I'd roast the chicken, and open a bottle of champagne that we brought back from Paris in April. We did a wine and cheese tasting at O Chateau, and our sommelier was from a 8th generation family of champagne makers, Pierre Paillard. We tasted the champagne during our tasting, and I really liked it and decided to bring back 2 bottles to help us keep our Parisian memories alive.

We started off with a simple cauliflower soup. I just steamed cauliflower until tender, then pureed it along with salt, pepper, a garlic and onion powder, half and half, and 1% milk. Then I topped it with a little Italian cured beef (which the name of is escaping me right now).

For the chicken, I decided to make m. jacques' amagnac chicken, from "Around My French Table" by Dorie Greenspan. I had made the recipe once before, so had some armagnac on hand. I don't tend to drink Cognacs, so I might as well cook with this $50 bottle that I previously had to have a liquor store special order for me.

The results were delicious, and this is such an easy dinner to make. Place the chicken along with potatoes, carrots, onions and garlic, and some fresh herbs, in a heavy casserole. Pour the cognac over, place in the oven, and about an hour later you have a fantastic dinner waiting for you.

Wow, I've been missing from the blogging scene lately. I've been cooking a lot, but just can't seem to get motivated to write about it. I've got several things to post about, so if you're here now looking at this, be sure and check back, as I'm going to try to blog more regularly.

As most of you know, we have a boat and do a lot of fishing in Prince William Sound. Our freezers are always full of fish and shrimp. I wanted to try cooking salmon a little differently than I usually do, and saw a recipe in Cooking Light for a Barbecue Salmon. It is served with a Snap Pea Salad, and I had just received snap peas in my CSA box this week, so this was the perfect thing to try.

It's very easy to make. You mix a few ingredients in a mini food processor, brush that on the fish, and grill it. While that's cooking, you thinly slice and shred your vegetables.

I thought the taste of the barbecue sauce was good, and the salad was very light and refreshing. I didn't think my husband would like the raw snap peas, but he liked it a lot and ate the leftovers for lunch today.

BARBECUE SALMON AND SNAP PEA SALAD
Serves 4 Calories per serving: 268
Adapted from Cooking Light Magazine

2 tablespoons dark sesame oil, divided
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 (1/2") piece fresh ginger, peeled
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons ketchup
2 teaspoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon sambal oelek (ground chili paste)
4 (6 ounce) fresh salmon fillets
2 cups sugar snap peas, trimmed and thinly sliced lenthwise
1/2 cup grated radishes
1/4 cup very thinly sliced shallots
2 teaspoons rice vinegar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1. Preheat grill to high heat.
2. Combine 1 tablespoon sesame oil, garlic, and ginger in a mini food processor; pulse until finely chopped. Add lime juice, soy sauce, ketchup, brown sugar, and sambal oelek; pulse to combine. Place salmon on piece of foil, skin side down, and brush top with half of the sauce. Grill 10 minutes on medium/low. Brush with remaining sauce and continue grilling until cooked to your liking. ***My note - salmon is much better if a little undercooked. Cook until just firm when top of fillet is pushed on .
3. Combine peas, radished, and shallots. Combine vinegar and 1 tablespoon sesame oil and drizzle over salad. Sprinkle with salt and toss.

Serve salmon over the salad.

A couple of years ago, I belonged to an inline cooking group called Sunday Slow Bakers. One of the projects we did was to make multiple recipes from "Dolce Italiano" by Gina De Palma. I love this cookbook. I've made many tasty treats from this book.

Recently I decided to make taralli, a type of crunchy Italian pretzel. I made this recipe during our cooking group but hadn't made them in a couple of years. We had a few days of nice weather where we were able to sit out on the deck, and I wanted a crunchy little snack to have with a glass of wine.

These do take some time to make. Like bagels, they are first put into simmering water, then drained, placed on a baking sheet, and baked until crunchy. I flavored mine with red pepper and oregano, but next time I think I'll use just fresh rosemary.

Taralli. Makes 16 to 20

4 1/2 cups "oo" flour
2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh oregano or other desired herb
2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes (you could omit if you don't want the heat)
1cup plus 2 tablespoons dry white wine
1cup extra virgin olive oil
Flour for dusting bowl and kneading

Place the flour, 1 tablespoon salt, sugar, oregano, and red pepper flakes in the bowl of an electric mixer. Add the wine and oil and use the paddle attachment on medium speed to form a smooth dough. Continue beating for 3 minutes; the dough should be firm and smooth.

Lightly brush the inside of another bowl with olive oil and sprinkle it generously with additional flour. Place the dough in the bowl and dust the top with flour. Cover with plastic wrap and allow the dough to rest for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

In a stockpot or Dutch oven, bring 4 quarts of water to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Season the water with 1 tablespoon salt. Prepare 2 baking sheets by lightly brushing them with olive oil. Have ready paper towels to drain the taralli on.

Turn the dough out onto a floured board and knead it lightly. Divide the dough into 4 pieces; return 3 of the pieces to the bowl and cover with a damp towel or plastic wrap. Roll the piece of dough into a long rope about 3/4" in diameter and about 18" long. Cut the rope into 4 or 5 pieces and shape each piece into a ring, making a small knot at the top. Repeat with the remaining pieces of dough.

Working in batches of 4 or 5, drop the rings, one at a time, into the simmering water. The taralli will sink then rise to the surface. Increase the heat under the pot as needed to maintain an even simmer. Alllow the taralli to float to the surface for 30-45 seconds then gently scoop them out of the water with a Chinese skimmer or slotted spoon. Drain for a moment on the paper towel before placing on the baking sheets. They won't rise much, so you don't need to space them far apart. Continue until all if the taralli are boiled.

Bake the taralli for 25-35 minutes, rotating the sheets 180 degrees halfway through baking. Bake until evenly browned and crisp, remove from oven and transfer to a rack to cool completely. They can be stored in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

I had a tube of almond paste that hit its expiration date, so it was time to do some baking. I decided I wanted an almond cake and I began looking through cookbooks for a recipe I wanted to try. I browsed through Dolce Italiano by Gina DePalma. I love this book and found a recipe for an almond and raisin cake, flavored with vin santo. I had enough almond paste to make 2 cakes and decided to make 2 different cakes. One I made with dried cherries and amaretto and the other I used dark chocolate chips and a mixture of Bailey's and Creme de cocao. They were both delicious. The one with cherries was a little drier and crumblier and I enjoyed a slice with coffee for breakfast. The chocolate one made a great dessert.

Almond Cake with Bittersweet Chocolate Chips. Makes one 9" round cake

2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting pan
3/4 cup Bailey's, Creme de cocoa, or a mixture, or any other liquor you'd like to use
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
1/4 cup almond flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 ounces almond paste
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 cup whole milk
Confectioner's sugar for dusting top

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Place rack in center of oven. Spray a 9x2" round cake pan with nonstick cooking spray and dust with flour, shaking out excess.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the all purpose flour, almond flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until creamy and light, about 2 minutes. Add the almond paste a little at a time and beat on medium speed until the mixture is fluffy and lump-free, about 1 minute.

Beat in the eggs, one at a time, followed by the vanilla and almond extracts, scraping down the bowl after each addition. On low speed, add half the dry ingredients, beating well. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the milk, beating well. Beat in the remaining dry ingredients on low speed, then switch to medium speed and beat for 30 seconds. Switch back to low speed and beat in the chocolate chips and liquor.

Pour the batter into prepared pan and smooth surface with a spatula. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool in pan for 10 minutes, then invert onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Before serving, transfer cake to a serving platter and dust with confectioner's sugar.

I don't know if it is quite this way in other parts of the country, but here in Alaska if you belong to a CSA or visit the farmer's markets and are trying to eat locally and seasonally, it means you will be eating a lot of greens. And saying a lot is putting it mildly. I belong to one of the few local CSA's and every week my bag contains mostly greens. Turnip greens with beautiful little white turnips attached, beet greens, bok choy, chard, kale, radish greens, etc. etc. So I'm always looking for a new way to cook them besides just sautéing in olive oil and garlic. I adapted this recipe that was given to us by the CSA. The braised greens are made delicious by being simmered in a chicken broth flavored with Dijon mustard. And topping anything with toasted nuts is only going to make it better.

Both my husband and I really enjoyed this dish and I've been serving it weekly now. Give it a try if you're trying to add more nutritious greens to your diet.

Sautéed Greens Braised in Mustard Broth

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 shallot, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (to taste)
1 bunch greens, washed, stemmed, and sliced ( you can use turnip greens, book Chou, beet greens, or any combination)? You can include the turnips if you have them also.
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/2 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup chopped pecans, toasted

Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add shallot, garlic and red pepper flakes and sauté until tender. Add the washed and cleaned greens. Mix together. Cook until they have wilted down, about 3 minutes. Add pepper to taste.
In a small bowl, whisk the Dijon mustard with the chicken stock. Add to the wilted greens and cook until the liquid has all but evaporated and the greens are tender. Add the toasted pecans and serve immediately.

Gardening in Alaska is challenging, but one of the flowers that grows well here is peonies. I'm lucky because they are one of my favorite flowers. Here's a bouquet I cut from my garden today.

Do you love crusty, European- style bread? Are you like me, and don't have a bakery close by? What about making your own bread? In the past, you had to really plan on when you were going to make it, and if you worked a full-time job during the day, that meant you would only have time to make it on the weekend. Well, things have changed! There are many recipes out there now for no-knead breads, some of them of which you make the batter ahead of time and store in the refrigerator. When you're ready for a loaf, while your oven is heating up, you pull off a piece of dough, quickly shape it, and let it rest until your oven is heated to the correct temperature.

I made my first batch last weekend. I'm totally sold on this method. Saturday morning, I mixed flour, yeast, salt, and water together in my large bucket that I purchased from King Arthur Flour. I let it sit for 2 or 3 hours, and into the refrigerator it went. I was planning on waiting at least a day before making bread, as the dough is supposed to be harder to work with when this fresh. But that evening, I couldn't wait any more. I reached into that bucket and pulled out a piece of dough, divided it in two, and qently shaped it into baguettes. As my oven heated up, I let it rest. After 20 minutes, my oven was 450 degrees and into the oven I slid them. After about 30 minutes, here is what I had:

Fresh, warm, crunchy bread. You're not supposed to cut into it until it has completely cooled, but there was no way I was waiting? Would you be able to?

This recipe/method comes from the book "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day" by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois. You really should buy this book. Besides containing many different recipes, there's a lot of explanation as to why this bread works with no kneading.

Basic Dough Recipe Makes four 1-pound loaves

3 cups lukewarm water ( about 100 degrees)
1 1/2 tablespoons granulated yeast
1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt
6 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (King Arthur brand works very well)

In a 5-6 qt resealable, lidded ( not airtight) plastic food container, add the yeast and salt to the water. Stir until mostly dissolved. Mix in the flour until the mixture is uniform, without dry spots. DO NOT knead the dough. The dough will be very wet. Cover with the lid and allow to rise at room temperature for 2 hours, or until dough begins to collapse on itself. You can use a portion if the dough anytime after this, but the dough will be easier to work with and have better flavor if you refrigerator overnight. Keeps in the refrigerator 2-3 weeks.

When you're ready to bake a baguette, preheat the oven to 450 degrees F with a baking stone placed on the middle rack. Place an empty broiler pan or cast iron skillet on any other rack that won't interfere with the rising bread. Dust the surface of the refrigerated dough with a little flour and cut off a 1-pound piece, about the size of a grapefruit. This will give you one normal size baguette or 2 small ones. Dust the piece of dough with a little more flour and shape it into a ball by stretching the surface of the dough around the bottom on all four sides, rotating the ball 1/4 turn as you go. Once cohesive, begin to stretch and elongate the dough. It might be helpful to roll it back and forth with your hands on a floured surface. Form a cylinder about 2" in diameter. Cut in half if you want two smaller baguettes. Place the loaves on a piece of parchment that's been dusted with whole wheat flour and let rest for 20 minutes. After dough has rested, brush the surface of the dough with water. This keeps the knife from sticking as you slash the dough. Slash the loaf with longitudinal cuts across the loaf, using a serrated bread knife. (Be sure and make the slashes very deep. You can see on one of my photos my slashes disappeared when the bread rose.) Slide the parchment onto the stone. Pour 1cup of hot tap water into the broiler pan or skillet and quickly close the oven door. Bake for about 25 minutes, until the loaves are deeply browned. Allow to cool on a rack before cutting or eating.

I know that most of the country is sweltering in heat right now and you probably won't be turning your oven on for a while. That's not the case in Alaska this summer. But be sure when your weather turns a little cooler to give this bread a try. I think that you'll be very happy you did.