I Am Benedict Arnold-5/3/10


You may remember the story of Benedict Arnold, the general who betrayed the American Revolutionaries and joined the British forces. So I'll admit my traitorous act was not that great but I have decided to change magazines for the month of May. I sat down this week to look at my new cooking magazines and I got to be honest, the line-up in Food and Wine just looked better and more doable. It's not that I can't make Caramelized Pork Belly and Shrimp with Spicy Fish Sauce and Padron Peppers Stuffed with Tetilla Cheese. It's just that it's hard to find those ingredients and I would spend an inordinate amount of time hunting high and low to make my recipes authentic. I also was a bit over butter and flour. The six cake recipes last month did me in and I swear my stomach is still flabbier as a result. The Food and Wine recipe list had fewer desserts and several of those were lighter in nature (like Poached Pears with Prunes, not exactly a high fat treat!). There is a whole article on one of my personal favs, tacos and a whole group of recipes using tofu in interesting ways. So traitor or not, I'm changing alliances, at least for the month of May.
Tonight I began simply with only one recipe, Chile-Honey-Glazed Salmon with Two Sauces on page 64. The salmon in this dish was very similar to the salmon I made on April 13th. Instead of grilling the salmon, I baked the salmon in the oven. It's neater and I hate grilling fish indoors. It smells up the house forever. This glaze was spicy and sweet with one substitution. I had agave nectar and used that instead of honey. The tomatillo salsa was good but be warned, it's pretty spicy as written. The black bean sauce was excellent. In fact, this sauce could have stood alone as a recipe, it was that flavorful. Chipotle, cumin, garlic and onion were pretty simple additions but made the bean dip the highlight of the recipe. I ate two tortillas dipped in this sauce alone. This recipe would make excellent salmon tacos too.
I'm not a complete traitor yet. I bought some rhubarb last week but never made the Bon Appetit recipes that called for it. I went back to last month's Bon Appetit to make the Rhubarb Galette with Creme Fraiche on page 68. I learned two things while making this recipe. Eyrleigh has inherited my love of raw rhubarb dipped in sugar and I need a new food processor. Yep, I love that sweet-sour combination and so does my daughter. The galette was excellent and very easy to make, even without a food processor. It's a good thing Mother's Day is Sunday so I've made a request for a Cuisinart 9-cupper. I chilled the tart crust while the rhubarb soaked in sugar. It tasted amazing with a simple scoop of vanilla, forget that fancy creme fraiche. Ahhh, the taste of summer.
Chili-Honey-Glazed Salmon with Two Sauces-A-
Rhubarb Galette with Creme Fraiche-A

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