Mid-week revelry

Faster than a speeding bullet, the past few weeks have flown by. So much so that I truly can't believe we are welcoming in the last week of May. The weather the past few days hasn't helped much either. One would think it was March around these chilly parts.

I was long overdue for one of my Sunday night cooking extravaganzas – so this past weekend scheduled it in. On Saturday I'd done my rounds at the posh supermarket and bought my achingly expensive groceries. I’d even mapped out all the dishes I’d be making. There really wasn’t much to stop me....just the devil's brew. Saturday evening’s festivities had plenty of that and left me (put mildly) less than well prepared for Sunday’s domesticated activities (unless one considers sitting in your jammies lying on the couch until 3 as a “domesticated activity”). Needless to say, the feast creation plan didn’t turn out much. Instead I ended up out with a friend eating an undercooked pizza around 8:30 p.m. Truly pathetic.

Since my Sunday of cooking turned out to be a bust I had two options:

1. Try and freeze my wild salmon and cross my fingers that the dozen or so herbs and vegetables I’d bought would last until next weekend …OR…
2. Suck it up and create a mid-week feast

There really was only one option - there was no way I was risking all of my groceries. As a result it's been a delicious week, complete with:

1. Fresh Corn, Courgette, and Feta Fritters
2. Sesame Mirin Soy Salmon
3. Brown Sugar Brownies with Dried Cranberries and White Chocolate Chips
   

Fresh Corn, Courgette, and Feta Fritters

(Inspired by Bill Granger’s Bill’s Food – Corn Fritter and Zucchini Fritter recipes)

2 ears of corn – kemels removed
2 small courgettes - grated

¼ cup cilantro (coriander) chopped

¼ cup feta in small pieces

5 green onions diced (just white and pale green parts)

1 tbsp lemon juice

2 eggs

½ cup flour

Salt and pepper to taste

¼ cup (approx) Olive oil for frying

- Mix all ingredients in a medium sized bowl

- Heat olive oil in a large non-stick frying pans on medium-high heat

- Drop fritter batter by heaping tablespoons and cook for approximately 3-4 minutes on each side

Makes about 14

Sesame Mirin Soy Salmon

(Adapted from Bill Granger’s Bill’s Food – Glazed Salmon recipe)

80 ml (1/3 cup) mirin
80 ml (1/3 cup) soy sauce
1 Tbsp sesame oil
1 Tbsp grated ginger
2 Tsp sugar
2 Tsp fresh lemon juice
2 salmon filets (wild if possible)

Dressing
125 ml (1/2 cup) mirin
62 ml (1/4 cup) soy sauce
2 Tsp sugar

1/8 cup sesame seeds

- Marinate the salmon in the first 6 ingredients for 1-2 hours
- To make dressing, bring 3 ingredients to a boil in a small saucepan, reduce heat, and let it thicken – about 12-15 minutes. Set aside
- Heat the grill in your oven to about 275 Celsius
- Remove the salmon from the marinade and place it under the grill in a non-stick pan for about 10 minutes. Keep a close eye on it!
- Serve the salmon by pouring the marinade over and sprinkling with sesame seeds

Brown Sugar Brownies with Dried Cranberries and White Chocolate Chips
(Another old-time family favourite…the original version skips the white chocolate and cranberries and uses semi-sweet chocolate chips instead).

½ cup butter
2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla
½ cup white chocolate chips
½ cup dried cranberries

- Preheat oven to 350 F° (176 C°)
- Cream the butter and sugar
- Add eggs, flour, baking powder, salt and vanilla
- Fold in dried cranberries and white chocolate chips
- Bake in an 8 inch square pan (or 7 by 11) for about 30 minutes until tester inserted in the middle of brownies comes out clean