Somehow this recipe got stuck in my drafts several weeks ago and never got published. And what a shame! It was delicious!

Shea poached the salmon in this dish perfectly; neither of had ever poached salmon before, and it was actually pretty straight-forward and easy. Give it a try!

Poached Salmon with Corn and White Wine-Butter Sauce

Courtesy of Food and Wine at http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/poached-salmon-with-corn-and-white-wine-butter-sauce?xid=DAILY090513ViewRecipe

1. 4 medium zucchini (1 1/2 pounds), coarsely shredded
2. Salt
3. 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4. 3 medium shallots—2 finely chopped, 1 halved
5. Freshly ground pepper
6. 2 3/4 cups dry white wine
7. 1 cup fresh corn kernels
8. 2 lemon thyme sprigs
9. 1 bay leaf
10. Four 6-ounce skinless salmon fillets
11. 1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons
12. 1/4 cup thinly sliced basil leaves

1. Set a colander over a bowl. Add the zucchini to the colander and toss with 1 teaspoon of salt. Let stand for 20 minutes. Squeeze the zucchini dry.
2. In a large, nonreactive skillet, heat the olive oil. Add the chopped shallots and season with salt and pepper. Cook over moderate heat until softened, about 3 minutes. Add 1/4 cup of the wine and cook until evaporated, about 2 minutes. Stir in the corn and 1/2 cup of water. Cover and cook until the corn is tender, about 4 minutes. Stir in the zucchini and cook until heated through, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, cover and keep warm.
3. In a large, nonreactive saucepan, combine 2 cups of the wine with the thyme, bay leaf, the halved shallot and 2 cups of water and bring to a simmer. Season the salmon with salt, add the fillets to the saucepan and cook at a bare simmer over low heat, turning once, about 6 minutes. Transfer the salmon to a plate and pat dry with paper towels. Discard the poaching liquid.
4. Add the remaining 1/2 cup of wine to the saucepan and bring to a simmer. Whisk in the butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, until thoroughly incorporated. Season with salt. Stir the basil into the vegetables and transfer to plates. Nestle the salmon into the vegetables, top with the butter sauce and serve.

Polenta-Stuffed Poblano Peppers

I love to reminisce about one of the first dishes Seamus ever cooked for me: stuffed peppers. I had never really had stuffed peppers before that, but now whenever I see a recipe of them, I feel inclined to try it. This recipe in particular caught my eye because of the use of polenta and goat cheese, changing this dish that I typically think of as Mexican into sort of an American/Italian fusion.

Instead of using polenta, I used quick cooking grits and they worked perfectly. They didn't have poblano peppers at the grocery store, so we used regular green bell peppers. I would like to try this dish with poblanos to get the extra kick into the dish without having to add tabasco!

Polenta-Stuffed Poblano Peppers

Courtesy of Real Simple at http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/polenta-stuffed-poblano-peppers-00000000012500/index.html

Ingredients

• 4 plum tomatoes, halved
• 1 red onion, cut into wedges
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 4 poblano peppers, halved lengthwise and seeded
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• kosher salt and pepper
• 1/2 cup instant polenta
• 1 10-ounce package frozen corn
• 1/4 cup soft goat cheese (2 ounces)
• 4 scallions, sliced

Directions

1. Heat broiler. On a rimmed broilerproof baking sheet, toss the tomatoes, onion, and oil; turn the tomatoes cut-side down. Add the peppers, cut-side down.
2. Broil until tender and charred, stirring the onions and turning the tomatoes and peppers halfway through, 5 to 8 minutes.
3. Heat oven to 400° F. In a food processor, puree the tomatoes, onion, cinnamon, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper until smooth. Spread half the sauce in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Arrange the peppers in the dish, cut-side up.
4. In a medium saucepan, bring 2 ¼ cups water to a boil. Add ½ teaspoon salt. Gradually whisk in the polenta. Cook, whisking constantly, until thickened, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the corn, cheese, and all but 2 tablespoons of the scallions.
5. Divide the polenta among peppers. Top with the remaining sauce and bake until heated through, 5 to 10 minutes. Sprinkle with the remaining scallions before serving.

Seyal Machi (Fish in Caramelized Onion Sauce)

This is another recipe from one of my favorite cookbooks, Ajanta. Shea and I have started to practice making Indian food using this cookbook and the variety of spices that came with it. This dish seemed simple, so it was one of the first dishes we ever tried and we really liked it.

We have made this dish several times, and this time we tried a couple of new things. We used Cod instead of Halibut, we used coriander seeds instead of powder (we didn't have powder), and deglazed the pan with some white wine that we had left over from my parents visit to DC last week. The dish still turned out well, though so it was worth it!

Seyal Machi (Fish in Caramelized Onion Sauce)

Courtesy of Ajanta by Lachu Moorjani

Ingredients
6 tablespoons oil, divided
4 medium onions, peeled and cut into 1/8 inch dice
4 teaspoons coriander powder
1 1/2 teaspoons turmeric
2 teaspoons mango powder
2 teaspoons paprika
1/2 to 2 teaspoons hot Chile pepper powder
2 teaspoons salt
2 pounds catfish fillets (or other white fish like halibut or snapper) cut into 2 to 3 inches pieces

Directions
1. In a 6-8 quart saucepan, heat about 4 tablespoons of oil. Add onions and saute over high heat, stirring frequently until the onions are deep golden brown, almost caramelized. Heat should be kept high enough so the onions dehydrate and do not become soggy.

2. Add all the spices and salt. Lower the heat a little bit. Stir and cook for about 5 minutes. Reduce to low heat, and leave the sauce on low until the next step is done.

3. In another 10-12 inch saute pan, heat the remaining oil until it becomes very hot, almost to the point of smoking. While the oil is getting hot, pat dry the pieces of fish in a clean towel. Saute the fish in the hot oil about 30 seconds on each side, until it changes color. Transfer the fish to the pot with the sauce. Raise to medium heat and cook until the fish is cooked through and flakes easily, about 3 to 4 minutes. The cooking time will depend on the thickness of the fish pieces. Reduce the cooking time for thinner pieces.