Normally, when I share a recipe that uses the air-fryer, I offer alternative ways to make it, in case you do not own one. For this recipe, however, I have to say that the air-fryer method is a must. You simply cannot get the same results without it. Credit for finding the basic method goes to the husband. He often finds things for me to try and his intuition is pretty awesome. All recipes he picks turn out excellent. This was the most recent example.
24 oz salmon fillets (cut into 1-inch pieces) 3/4 tsp salt 1/4 tsp black pepper 3 tbsp honey 2 tbsp tamari sauce (or soy sauce, but reduce the salt slightly) 1 tbsp olive oil 1/2 tsp hot paprika
In a large bowl, whisk together the honey, tamari, paprika, salt, and pepper. Add the salmon pieces to the bowl and mix well to coat. Marinate for 1 hour. When time is up, turn the salmon pieces in the marinade again to coat well.
Turn the fryer to 400 degrees F. Place the salmon bites in the air fryer basket in a single layer, with some space between the pieces. Air fry for about 7 minutes, check the cooking by removing a piece and cutting through it. It should flake easily and the internal temperature should be around 140F.
Comments: This was soooo easy and soooo delicious! Plus, contrary to baking in the oven or using the stovetop, there was NO smell. Not sure how that magic works but I am sold. We only cook salmon by grilling it outside, as I have a serious problem with smells that linger in the kitchen. This was a winner in that aspect.
The meat flakes beautifully, and the marinade was perfect with it. A little sweet, a little spicy… I intend to play with different flavors soon, but the basic approach will be unchanged. I urge you to give this a try. If you are into bowls, Oriental style, this would be a great way to deal with the protein component.
Green. Green for Spring, green for St. Patrick, green is definitely the color of March. These macs are simple to decorate, especially if you can free-hand the piping, which unfortunately I cannot. A little stencil to airbrush the shape helped me out.
NUTELLA SHAMROCK MACARONS (from The Bewitching Kitchen)
For the shells: 200g Icing/powdered sugar (1 ⅔ cups) 115 g Almond Meal (1 + scant ¼ cup) 115 g egg whites at room temperature (approx. 4 eggs) 1/8 tsp of cream of tartar (optional) 100 g granulated sugar (½ cup) 1/8 tsp vanilla extract leaf green food gel
Line 3 heavy baking sheets with parchment/baking paper or Silpat mats. Layer the powdered/icing sugar and ground almonds/almond meal in a food processor. Pulse until the mixture looks like fine meal, about 12 pulses. Pass through a sieve and transfer to a small bowl or to a sheet of parchment/baking paper. Set aside.
Place the egg whites and cream of tartar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Make sure that the bowl and the whisk are impeccably clean. Starting on medium speed, whip the whites with the cream of tartar until they look like light foam. The whites should not appear liquid. The foam will be light and should not have any structure.
Slowly rain in the granulated sugar in five additions, trying to aim the stream between the whisk and the side of the bowl. Turn the speed up to high. Continue to whip the meringue until it is soft and shiny. It should look like marshmallow creme (marshmallow fluff). Add the vanilla and food gel color. Whip the egg whites until the mixture begins to dull and the lines of the whisk are visible on the surface of the meringue. Check the peak. It should be firm. Transfer the whites to a medium bowl.
Fold in the ground almond/almond meal mixture in two increments. Paint the mixture halfway up the side of the bowl, using the flat side of a spatula. Scrape the mixture down to the center of the bowl. Repeat two or three times, then check to see if the mixture slides slowly down the side of the bowl. Add drops of gel color and mix them briefly with a toothpick. Put the mixture in a piping bag fitted with your choice of piping tip (round, ¼ or ½ inch in diameter or 6 – 12 mm). If you don’t have a macaron mat, draw circles on baking/parchment paper about 2inches/5cm in diameter & turn the paper over before placing on the baking sheets. Pipe shells, I like to count numbers in my head and use the same count for each shell so they end up similar in size.
Slam each sheet hard four to six times on the counter/worktop. Let the unbaked macarons dry until they look dull but not overly dry. Drying time depends on humidity. In a dry climate, the macarons can dry in 15 to 20 minutes; in a humid climate, it can take 35 to 40 minutes.
While the macarons are drying, heat the oven to 300 F (150 C/130C Fan oven/Gas Mark 2). Bake one sheet at a time on the middle rack. Check in 11 minutes. If the tops slide or move (independently of the ‘feet’ when you gently twist the top), then bake for 2 to 3 more minutes. Check one or two. If they move when gently touched, put them back in the oven for 1 to 2 more minutes until they don’t move when touched. Let the macaroons cool for 10 minutes before removing from the pan. The macarons should release without sticking.
Assemble the macarons: find two macarons similar in size and add a good amount of filling to the bottom of one of them. Place the other on top and squeeze gently to take the filling all the way to the edge. Store in the fridge for 24 hours for perfect texture.
For the filling:
NUTELLA BUTTERCREAM 60g unsalted butter softened 125g powdered sugar 40g Nutella 1 to 2 tbsp heavy cream to adjust consistency
Whisk butter, powdered sugar and Nutella until light and fluffy. Adjust consistency with heavy cream, if needed. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a open star tip. Match similar sized macaron shells with each other, fill and sandwich the cookies. Decorate the top with Royal icing in the shape of a shamrock, and if you like add a brush of gold before piping the decoration for added bling.
Comments: At first I wanted to make them filled with mint, but I have done two batches in a row with that flavor, so these went the Nutella route, which I also love… As to the decoration, I cut a small stencil to airbrush the leaf, but if you are brave and talented, skip the stencil and just go for it. Some of the steps are shown below.
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I really like the way they turned out, and hope they brought a little smile to those who got them…
I am a bit late to share this recipe, as I’ve made these delicious crackers back in December. They are super easy and the baker’s ammonia gives them a very unique and pleasant texture. If you have a bottle of this special leavening agent hanging around (maybe because you love baking Springerle), give this recipe a try… If you don’t have bakers’ ammonia, just use regular baking powder.
1 cup all-purpose flour (143grams) 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese finely grated 1/2 tsp baking ammonia (or baking powder) 1/2 tsp salt 1/8 tsp ground black pepper 1 tsp dry rosemary 4 tbsp cold butter, cut into pieces 3-4 tbsp cold water 1 tbsp kosher salt for topping or sea salt
Heat oven to 400F.
Combine flour, salt, ground black pepper, rosemary, grated parmesan cheese and baking ammonia in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until combined, Add cubes of cold butter and pulse until coarse mixture forms.
Gradually, while pulsing, pour cold water until the dough starts to form a bowl as you process it. Scrape the dough out of the bowl onto a lightly floured surface, gather it with your hands, and flatten it into a disk. Roll out the dough 1/8 thick between 2 parchment sheets or silicone baking mats. Lightly dust the surface with flour.
Slice the rolled-out dough into about 1-inch wide strips and then cut 1-inch strips perpendicular to the first set of stripes. Slide the baking sheet or silicone mat onto the baking sheet or rimless cookie sheet. Sprinkle with sea salt or kosher salt. If desired, use chopsticks to make two small holes in the center, or make the wholes with a small icing tip.
Bake crackers in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes until the edges are golden.
Comments: These crackers are similar in the overall method to the ones from Caro, that I blogged about last year (for my post click here, for Caro’s post click here). The main difference is indeed the baker’s ammonia, so make them both and see what you think. Personally, I think one cannot have too many cheese cracker recipes! Salty, flavorful, delicious!
Not too long ago I got notification of a new blog post by my friend Karen. You can check her post here. She mentioned the yudane method, a kind of tahgzhong on steroids. I am familiar with tangzhong and love it, but yudane was new to me. I could not wait to give it a try. I ended up following this recipe that was linked at the end of Karen’s post.
In the tangzhong method, part of the flour is gently cooked until a paste forms. To make yudane, you boil water and mix with the flour, then place in the fridge for 4 to 24 hours. That gets incorporated into the bread dough. Fascinating, Mr. Spock, fascinating…
I loved making this bread. For the full recipe, please visit Bread Experience (click here). My modifications were just a few: I did not have white whole-wheat, and did not have kamut in the pantry, so I used the full amount of regular whole-wheat, King Arthur’s brand. For the liquid component I used oat milk. Finally, I used store-bought black tahini, just eye-balled about 2 tablespoons and got a nice dark color. The dough is a pleasure to work with, and the marbling worked perfectly!
The crumb is soft, tender, and the bread is absolutely delicious with a hint of sesame taste. I highly, highly recommend you give yudane a try. This is what it looks like…
Just don’t forget it in the fridge, make sure to grab it when you are ready to make the dough! (Yes, I almost forgot about it).
And look at that crumb!
I hope you give yudane a try, the bread stays soft and moist for at least a couple of days. After that I sliced and froze for later.
THANK YOU, KAREN AND CATH FOR THE BREAD INSPIRATION!
Three old recipes, and a new one for you today. We have broccoli at least once weekly, and these are the recipes in rotation because we never get tired of them. Contrary to many people, we are not too wild about simply roasting broccoli because for my taste it gets a little too harsh and bitter. I much rather enjoy it in different ways, although if you invite me over for dinner and serve me roasted broccoli, I will lick my plate clean, no worries. Let’s start with the new recipe, a super simple Broccoli Soup. No cream, no special ingredients, it is simple, light and delicious…
LIGHT BROCCOLI SOUP
LOW-FAT BROCCOLI SOUP (slightly adapted from The Spruce Eats)
1 tablespoon olive oil 1 shallot, chopped 1 stalk celery, chopped 1 medium Yukon Gold potato, peeled and cubed 4 cups broccoli, chopped 2 cups vegetable broth 1 cup almond or oat milk
Heat oil on medium heat in a large stockpot. Sauté the shallot and celery for 3 to 4 minutes, until fragrant. Add the cubed potato, broccoli, broth, and milk. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes, or until all the vegetables are tender.
Allow the soup to cool slightly. Transfer to a blender and blend until smooth in two batches. Return the blended soup to the pot and heat gently until ready to serve.
Top with croutons or sautéed almonds, whatever your heart desires.
Comments: So far I’ve made this soup three times, and it’s been perfect each time. It has a very creamy texture, maybe it is that small amount of potato speaking. Truly magical. Try it, if you want a light but luscious soup for your dinner. Now moving on to the three oldies but goodies…
SMASHED BROCCOLI WITH CHEESE
This was originally posted last year (check the post here). It was already in the Incredibly Simple files, but I simplified it further by steaming the broccoli in the microwave, using a plastic cover recommended by my friend Marie Louise (click here to see it). I place the florets in a microwave-safe plate, with just enough water clinging to the surface from washing the florets. Place the over on top and steam for 1 minute. If already getting tender, I proceed with the smashing and roasting with cheese as described in the post. If still too tough, hear a few more seconds in the microwave.
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PAN-STEAMED BROCCOLI, ANY WAY YOU LIKE
Basic method described in this post. I usually keep it super simple. In the final 3 minutes of cooking I whisk a little olive oil with lemon juice in a small bowl. Sprinkle some salt. When the broccoli comes out of the pan, into a serving bowl it goes, and my little dressing is poured on top while the broccoli florets are super hot still. How often can you have a flavorful side dish that is ready in…. 8 minutes total? You can season it in the end in countless ways – miso, as in my post, vinaigrettes, sesame oil, anything goes.
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BROCCOLI PUREE A LA JACQUES PEPIN
Not the best picture I’ve ever taken, but this is truly delicious and I make it often. The original post is from 2014, so yes, I’ve been making it for 10 years (click here for full recipe). I now omit the brown butter and after cooking the broccoli florets until tender in salted water, I process them with full-fat yogurt, salt, pepper, and if needed a bit of the cooking water. I rarely need the water, usually I just adjust the consistency with yogurt. The spinach goes into the processor raw. I eye-ball everything, taste as I go. Once the consistency is right and the seasoning to my liking, it goes into a serving dish. If I want a little more richness, I sprinkle cheese on top and bake it until the cheese melts a bit.
Bewitching Kitchen 