Orange-Glazed Salmon, Routines and Teaching

What do you get when you let brown sugar and orange marmalade mingle with Cajun spices and cuddle up to salmon? A perfect blend of sweet and spicy. And a perfect weeknight meal after a full day, a full week, I should say.

I "survived" my first week of teaching full-time. I have to admit, I'm a bit out of practice, both the full-time thing and the teaching thing. But by the end of the week, I was finding a new rhythm.

I miss my morning walks with Mr. Rosemary and I miss -- I can't believe I'm really saying this -- cleaning out the horse stalls every morning.  I guess I just miss my regular routine.

And I really miss cooking . . . . and blogging.  I just haven't cooked as much this past week.  All I could manage were quick hurry-up-and-get-it-on-the-table kind of meals.

After just one week, I have a new respect for bloggers who have full-time jobs and children and volunteer work and social lives and still manage to not only cook and bake but write about it and photograph it -- a couple times a week or more!

I think I may need to do some serious time management retooling.

I did make one delicious salmon dinner, though, and I got it from the Cuisine at Home.  It was very simple, very fast, and very good.  Enough said.

While I was cooking this, though, I got the thought that cooking was a lot like teaching.  Before I lose you completely, let me explain:  I have four classes of high school sophomores and even though we're all reading the same book, even though I'm using the same study guide information, I have very different experiences with these kids each day.

Doesn't that happen often with cooking?  Same ingredients, same method of cooking, and sometimes, very different results.  A different brand of pasta or canned tomatoes can make a dish taste just a bit different than the last time you made it with another brand.  Or the veggies weren't quite as fresh, or you had to use dried herbs instead of fresh.  Get what I'm saying here?  Same information, different group of kids, different discussion, different results.

The kids are great.  And when you see that something you've said really did sink in, when you see understanding in what were confused eyes, when they greet your homework assignment with a blank stare but then produce some insightful analysis, well, that makes the sometimes boring dinners tolerable. At least for now.

Off to make a lesson plan for better cooking this week.

Orange-Glazed Salmon
only slightly adapted from Cuisine at Home
Makes 4 fillets

3 tablespoons Cajun seasoning blend
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/4 cup orange marmalade
2 tablespoons lime juice

Combine Cajun seasoning, sugar and salt. Rub over all surfaces of fillets.
Saute fillets in oil in a large non-stick skillet over high heat for 3--4 minutes.  Turn and saute an additional 2--3 minutes.
Blend marmalade and lime juice.  Swirl in skillet until melted. Carefully turn fish to glaze on all sides.  Salmon is done when it begins to flake when tested with a fork.  Serve with  lime wedges.

Good for You Pistachio Baked Salmon

I don’t think I tasted any fish until I was in my twenties.  I don’t think Friday nights eating deep fried no-name fish count.  (As my friend Peg so logically asks, “Can’t you eat fish other nights, too!?!”)   The frozen Mrs. Paul’s fillets don’t count either.  And as much as I love shellfish, and have since I was a kid, shrimp is an ineligible competitor.

But when I first tasted salmon, I was sold from the get-go.  It was meaty, had texture, this wonderful pink color and it didn’t smell – or taste  -- fishy.  And now I know that not only is it good, it’s really good for you.  Full of those wonderful Omega-3 rich fatty acids that form a shield against heart disease, Alzheimer’s disease and a host of cancers.  “Modest amounts” the experts say, 2 to 3 times a week.  

And then there are pistachios.  More sturdy soldiers to protect me.  Although all nuts aren’t exactly stingy on the calorie end, they’re great disease armor, too.  “A handful of pistachio nuts a day can help destroy bad cholesterol, ward off heart disease and prevent cancer,” according to a Penn State study.

That’s a double whammy!  The fact that they’re two of my favorite foods made this recipe easy to swallow and easy for me to tell Mr. Rosemary, “But honey, it’s healthy!!” (Well, except for the little bit of sugar.)

And it’s easy to prepare, except for the fact that I had to shell all the nuts, and broke a nail in the process.  The only thing to be careful about is to not overcook the salmon.  It’s easy to do, especially when you’re dealing with the thin pieces I’m able to get.  Unless I make a special trip to the “big city” I need to rely on frozen fish here and salmon, since it’s a firm fish, holds up to freezing really well.  For me it’s a workhorse and I’m glad it’s working hard for me in return, keeping me healthy. 

Pistachio Baked Salmon

slightly adapted from Better Homes and Gardens

1 cup salted dry roasted pistachio nuts, chopped

½ cup brown sugar, packed

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon dried dillweed

1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

½ teaspoon dried red pepper flakes

6 6-ounce (each) skinless salmon fillets

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.  In a small bowl combine pistachio nuts, brown sugar, lemon juice, dillweed, black pepper and red pepper flakes.  Set aside for a minute.

Line a baking pan with foil, spray it with vegetable and place the salmon on it.  Spoon mixture onto salmon pieces and press lightly to form a crust.

Bake for 4 to 6 minutes, depending on how thick your pieces are. 

Makes 6 servings.   About 390 calories each.