Broiled Salmon with Herb Mustard Glaze seemed like an easy recipe, even for Little Chef A. All it requires is dumping ingredients into a mini food processor then spooning it on top of the fish. I mistakenly thought since it was so simple she could make another, Bacon and Pancetta Potatoes. The potatoes, bacon and pancetta had to be cut, but after cutting the potatoes cook for 20 minutes with frequent stirring. I was SO wrong! These two recipes took a combined time of 75 minutes to make!
Starting with the potatoes the ingredients are what you would have in your pantry with the addition of bacon and pancetta. Two 1/4″ slices of pancetta did cost over $3.00 but the taste is amazing!  I learned it is made locally.

Little Chef A put the pancetta on the cutting board and started separating it. I told her it was fine to leave it stacked, she could cut two pieces at once. (I thought this would save some time.)  She tried using her new knife again. This time it wasn’t very successful. She was sawing it back and forth, back and forth, and wasn’t getting very far except for almost tearing the precious pancetta!

Since that obviously wasn’t working I let her very carefully use one of my knives. She was able to responsibly use it and cut through the pancetta much easier. Little Chef A tried cutting and cutting a single line until I explained she could stop when she felt the cutting board.

When she was done, she pressed the pancetta against the knife and lifted it to the plate. She said, “I’ve seen Giada do this.” She was SO proud of herself to do what Giada did!

Next she was measuring out the salt and pepper. She didn’t expect the kosher salt to pour out of the box so quickly. Luckily she learned from before and was holding the teaspoon over the small bowl which caught most of the extra salt. She said, “That was a terrible mistake.” Sure, but easy to clean up, not a big deal. I bet she will remember it pours quickly next time!

The pepper was much easier to scoop out. I think I need to put the kosher salt in a container like this to prevent another spill.

The next step was to cook the bacon and pancetta until crisp. She put both in the pan. I instructed her to get a couple paper towels and put them on top of the plate. When it is done cooking the paper towels will soak up the extra grease. She said. “That does sound important.”
I mistakenly thought the 10 minutes it took for the bacon and pancetta to cook would be enough time for her to peel and cut 3 potatoes. I was wrong. The bacon and pancetta was done at least 10 minutes before the potatoes were ready to go in the pan.

As Little Chef A started peeling the potatoes she said, “I’m trying not to drop it in [the garbage]!”  This time no potatoes slipped into the garbage.

We got out the Vidalia Chop Wizard to try cutting the potatoes. I cut the potatoes in fourths so she could use this tool. It worked very well. When she slammed the top part down she said, “It is so loud!” She really had to hit it for the potat
oes to cut and drop through and drop through the holes!

 

The potatoes were then put in the pan. Little Chef A added the garlic and salt and pepper.

While the potatoes were cooking she pulled the thyme leaves off the stem.

Then I showed her how to keep the tip of the knife in one place and move the handle up and down from one side to another. She did pretty well. She did allow me to run through it once “just to be sure.”
With the potatoes cooking in the pan for 20 minutes with an occasional stir I thought she would have plenty of time to take care of the salmon next. We bought a large piece of salmon she needed to cut into pieces.

I thought in 10 minutes the salmon should be cut and placed on the foil lined sheet ready to be put in the oven. It took only a minute longer then I expected, but crazy that I even thought cutting fish should take that long!

When the fish was in the oven I thought it would be easy to dump all the ingredients into the mini food processor. That should be done in 2 minutes when the salmon should be taken out. Nope, wrong again! It took a lot longer to measure out all the ingredients and dump them in.

After the sauce was blended, another tablespoon of coarse dijon mustard was added and mixed.

Little Chef A then topped each of the pieces of salmon with the mustard sauce.  She is still a little afraid of the oven. She will go very very slow putting in or taking out unless I am holding her waist reassuring her she will not fall in and burn herself.

The potatoes were done and just needed thyme stirred in.

Of course, Little Chef A was incredibly proud of herself for these two recipes!

Broiled Salmon with Herb Mustard Glaze

Giada De Laurentiis

Ingredients

• 2 garlic cloves
• 3/4 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves
• 3/4 teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
• 1 tablespoon dry white wine
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons whole-grain mustard
• Nonstick olive oil cooking spray
• 6 (6 to 8-ounce) salmon fillets
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 6 lemon wedges

Directions

  Today’s recipe was chosen by Little Chef C, Coriander and Mustard Seed Crusted Salmon from
Chef Robert Irvine. We watched an episode of his show, Restaurant Impossible, where he was making over a school restaurant. I think because he was working with High School student chefs my Little Chefs were OVERLY excited and enthrawled. Since viewing this episode every time I ask Little Chef D to do something she responds “Yes, Chef!” Its not a quiet response, because Chef Robert explained to the kids when he asks you to do something you need to respond like this, as he yelled “Yes, Chef!” Little Chef D repeats over and over in louder and louder tones with more and more conviction, “Yes, Chef! Yes, Chef! Yes, Chef!” It makes me laugh, but at the same time I know I will get in trouble REALLY soon. Currently she only does this at home. One day very soon I KNOW she will do it in public somewhere where others don’t know the back story and give me some pretty funny looks. Oh well, that is the joy of being a parent!
  I do have to note at the beginning of this recipe we had a hard time finding the right ingredients. Some adaptations were made as will be explained.
  First, the ingredients were gathered. We did not use all fresh herbs. I have a hope that we will start our own herb garden here at home. I don’t think it will be hard, but I am having a hard time buying fresh herbs and only using a very small  portion.

  The first thing Little Chef C did was make the sauce. I have purchased a pair of kitchen scissors to cut herbs with. She cut the mint using this method and it worked so much better then a knife. The pieces were still not as small as the recipe called for and were not uniform in size, but it was a success because she was able to do it herself! She did the same with the watercress.

  Next, Little Chef C measured out the yogurt, sour cream, vinegar and garlic and added them to the bowl. She wisked everything together, covered it with plastic and placed it in the refrigerator. The recipe does say it can stand at room temperature for 30 minutes, but it does take a long time to cook in my kitchen now days! I did not think the rest of the recipe would be completed in that time period.

  Next was the crust. Here is where we had ingredient problems. We could locate mustard and coriander seeds, however we do not have a mortar and pestle. That seemed like the likely way to crush the seeds as directed. We tried crushing them with spoons and other methods to no avail. In the end Little Chef C added a little mustard powder and coriander powder instead. The parsley was cut with scissors, the same method as the mint. When recipes such as this says “season with salt and pepper” it is very hard to explain to a Little Chef how much that exactly is. When you begin to learn to cook everything is about measurements, then to have directions with no measurements, what a contradiction!

  Now it was time for Little Chef C to cook the salmon. The wash was easy to make. Mustard and water were wisked together.  The salmon was covered in the wash, then one side was pressed into the crust mixture. Our fish did not have skin. Little Chef C loves the hands on work, but is always eager to be done and wash her hands after the first one was completed. I had to remind her its ok to get your hands dirty, they can be washed in a minute!
  Obviously the pan was a little crowed. Next time we will talk about that and do the fish, or whatever she will be cooking next in either a larger pan, or cook in two batches.  I explained how to put the fish in close to you first then gently lay down the part farther away from you so the oil splashed away from you.

  The trickiest part was flipping the fish. Since the pan was crowded Little Chef C needed some assistance. To be honest, yes some pieces of fish fell apart. It would have been thrown out in a professional kitchen, but it was good in our books. The salmon was completed and now for the best part, plating! All my Little Chefs love to plate their food and show off their accomplishment!

 

Coriander and Mustard Seed Crusted Salmon 

Robert Irvine

Ingredients

Crust:

• 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
• 1 tablespoon crushed mustard seeds
• 2 teaspoons cracked coriander seeds
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Wash:

• 1/4 cup Dijon mustard

Sauce:

• 1/2 cup plain yogurt
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup fresh watercress, minced
• 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon thinly sliced fresh mint
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic

Salmon:

• Six 6 to 7-ounce salmon fillets, with skin
• 2 tablespoons grapeseed oil
• Fresh herbs, for garnish, optional

Directions

Not too long ago we went to a new restaurant. We ordered, sat down, and started eating when Little Chef C said “Mom, did Chef Robert come here?” I had to laugh. “Did he change this place to make it look nice?” I asked. “No, he didn’t come here, this is a new restaurant.” It has only been open for a few months if I remember correctly. It still had a “new” look to it. It was very bright with the lights, the huge windows and the colors were vibrant. No wonder she thought Chef Robert fixed this restaurant!

Whenever Little Chef C thinks I’m turning on the television she says “Chef Robert” as a subtle hint for me to turn on Restaurant Impossible.  I’m not sure why she became attached to him and this show in particular. I starting watching Dinner Impossible years ago but that was after the Little Chefs had gone to bed. When Restaurant Impossible started I would turn it on a recorded episode during the day. This must have been when she was exposed to Chef Robert. She will watch the episodes over and over.

The recipe Little Chef C chose to make was Seared Mahi-Mahi with Mango Sauce and Fragrant Rice.   Just shopping for the ingredients was a lesson in product. The store had green onions labeled (which we bought) but no scallions (as the recipe calls for).  We have used jasmine rice before and the Little Chefs all LOVE the dish we make with it, so that wasn’t new. We can’t have too many new ingredients at once. If so, how do you know which one you like and which one you don’t?  Sure a seasoned chef would say if you had a good palate you could discern each ingredient but we are just Five Little Chefs having fun in the kitchen. Grapeseed oil (which I have never even heard of) and mahi mahi were the two new ingredients we were trying. First the ingredients were gathered.

Little Chef C started the rice in the rice cooker. Maybe that is cheating because the recipe says to cook it in a pan. I can’t tell the difference in taste, then again I have never thought about the taste difference. Maybe there is, maybe there isn’t, as previously stated we are just having fun, not declaring an amazing palate.  Little Chef C then gathered and measured out all the ingredients. It is so much easier to cook once all the prep work is done! She used a flat vegetable peeler to peel the outside skin, then I cut around the pit.

Afterward, Little Chef C used a small knife to dice the mango. This proved very difficult with her lack of skill (this was her first time cutting).  She was so unsure I jumped in to help, my hand on top of hers guiding the knife while discussing why I wanted her to curl the fingers under from the other hand. (To not cut them.)

In a large bowl she poured in the vinegar then needed to juice the lime. I think Little Chef C loved using the reamer the best. She laughed every time the juice squirted all over the place, not just in the bowl! (Isn’t it funny how the little things are the best, and most remembered.)  I then showed her how she could use the wisk in one hand while the other hand could pour in the oil. She did mighty well with that complicated maneuver.

The salt and pepper was added, though in the cooking world full of recipes and measurements reading “season with salt and pepper” doesn’t evoke confidence for the novice chef. Little Chef C kept asking if her 10 flakes of salt and pepper would be enough. I definitely knew from watching Restaurant Impossible that Chef Robert seasons his components with a GENEROUS sprinkling of salt and pepper. More generous then I ever would have thought! The mango (little-ish and semi uniform), cilantro, garlic and ginger were added.

Chopping the cilantro and green onions were quite a task. The green onions Little Chef C was able to figure out. Some of the pieces weren’t cut all the was through, so she finished the cut by tearing them apart. Whatever works!  The cilantro on the other hand was awful. She was not at all successful. She tried a couple different knives, I tried sharpening the knife to see if that would help, but still no success. I got out the hand chopper to give that a shot. Another failed attempt. Finally, I cut the cilantro with a big knife for her. I kept thinking there must be a way for her to accomplish this task. Then the light bulb went off. What about kitchen shears, that should work.  I am going to get some and try it out. Little Chef C could have snipped the cilantro and perhaps the green onions as well, not only to have uniform sizes (let’s be honest, nothing we are cutting is uniform!) but to actually do the cutting or rather snipping herself.

We then moved over to the oven. On a plate Little Chef C places the mahi-mahi and rubbed them with oil. She didn’t want to touch anything after the first fillet and realizing her hands were very yucky. But she oiled them all, washed her hands, then applied salt and pepper. I find it funny how Little Chefs want to hold the salt and pepper shakers as close to the ingredient as possible. I showed her how if you hold it up higher the salt and pepper can get it all over a larger area. Also funny, I had to tell
her to actually look at the fish and see where the salt and pepper was and where else she needed to shake because there wasn’t any!

Little Chef C thought I was crazy to tell her to put the fish in the saute pan with her hands instead of the spatula. But, after showing her how to do it she was willing to give it a try. She did well flipping the fish over after 4 minutes, after being reminded to scrape the pan with the spatula so she would get all the fish, not just the top part. The fish was done, the rice (having been done for a while) was still warm. Since the pan it was cooked in was still a little hot I transferred it to a bowl.  She added in the cilanto, green onions and salt.

Everything was ready. The table was set by the other Little Chefs, we were ready to eat. Little Chef C wanted to compose everyone’s plates, but they thought it looked like fun as well so she did  Mom and Dad’s.  Little Chef C taught everyone; the rice goes on the bottom, followed by the fish on top, then the mango sauce, and (her favorite part) get some of the juice from the bottom of the sauce bowl and pour it carefully around the entire plate.

I should have counted how many times she said “Raise your hand if you like this.” “Raise your hand if you want to make this again.” “Who likes the chicken?” (We do eat fish, maybe once a month, but even with her choosing the recipe and cooking the fish she still couldn’t remember it was FISH.) “Who likes the pineapple sauce?” (Again, she confused pineapple with mango. We eat fresh mangoes more then fresh pineapple.)  You would think she was just fishing for compliments, but no, she was SO proud of her accomplishment she wanted everyone else to love it just as much as she did. She ate her plate of food without any complaints.

Little Chef A wasn’t a fan of the mango and I would have to agree. It wasn’t as ripe as it could have been. It was a little firm and not as sweet as the summer mangoes we usually eat. After I explained that to her she said “oh, I like this meal then.” I thoroughly enjoyed this meal. I can’t say the grapeseed oil was a highlight because I’m not sure I tasted it. I couldn’t pick it out. Perhaps in another recipe. I have read a lot of Chef Robert’s recipes and he loves using grapeseed oil. I am not one who likes to mix my food, but I am trying to be daring with this challenge and I mixed. I ate some rice, fish, and mango sauce all in one bite. I have to say I enjoyed it seperately, but it was much better as a whole.  Some of my Little Chefs have the no mixing food rule as well so it was hard to convince Little Chef A in particular to try everything at the same time. She loves eating one thing, like the rice, until it is done and leaving her favorite part to dine on last. Sure nothing was uniform in size, some were large and some were larger, but this recipe was a success. We all tried something new and loved it!