eleventh and second

​This past week I made my eleventh recipe from The NY Times Cooking supplement “One Pot|Pan|Skillet, 24 Recipes for Everyone Who Hates Doing the Dishes.” This time I prepared Salmon with Potatoes and Horseradish-Tarragon Sauce. You could have use halibut or cod instead, but selected Arctic Char which was on special at Whole Foods. The flavor of Arctic Char’s is somewhere between trout and salmon. The recipe was adapted by cookbook writer Joan Nathan from a recipe by the late George Lang, restaurateur.
 
The recipe takes 45 minutes to prepare. You’ll need unsalted butter, approximately one pound of Yukon Gold potatoes, shallots, sour cream or Greek yogurt, prepared horseradish, fresh tarragon and chives, white pepper, boneless, skinless salmon or halibut filet, hot paprika. 

Besides substituting and using Arctic Char, I used sour cream, horseradish that my husband purchased at the Collingswood Flea Market in Farmingdale, NJ and Hungarian hot paprika. There’s a stall at the auction that sells this freshly made horseradish that will clear your sinuses in a flash! Their horseradish is like nothing you get in supermarket. The flea market just reopened on June 5th.
 
I used my mandoline slicer to get the 1/8-inch thick slices of potatoes that the recipe requires. Using a mandoline will give you uniform thickness and even baking. The potatoes bake for 20 minutes before the fish is placed on top. While the potatoes are cooking, you prepare the horseradish-tarragon sauce. After 20 minutes the potatoes are removed from the oven and the fish placed on top. Season the fish with the hot paprika and salt and spread 2-3 tablespoons of the sauce over it. The dish is then baked an additional 15-20 minutes.
 
I enjoyed this preparation. The horseradish-tarragon sauce was delightful, light and refreshing. I could see this cutting through the richness of salmon. My husband, daughter and son-in-law liked it, however, my son-in-law isn’t a fan of tarragon. I used the sauce the next day on a roast beef sandwich and it was delicious.
 
As I previously mentioned, I found in my recipe box two recipes from my husband’s great aunt Betty Lee. This latest recipe of hers is for Oatmeal Cookies. I get a kick out of reading these old recipes as the ingredients are a bit dated. For example, older recipes call for margarine not butter and soda (aka baking soda). Betty Lee’s recipe uses a 1/4 cup more white and brown sugar than my regular recipe and there’s half the amount of oats. The addition of cinnamon and chopped walnuts gave the cookies a nice aromatic sweetness. The cookies were crispy on the outside and a bit chewy on the inside. With fewer oats than my normal recipe, these cookies were rich and buttery. My family really enjoyed these cookies. As a matter of fact, when I was taking a photo of the cookies my granddaughter followed me outside so that she could have another cookie off the dish. 

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Salmon with Potatoes and Horseradish-Tarragon Sauce
JOAN NATHAN
Featured in: How Gold’s Horseradish Came To Be A Passover Staple.
Also featured in The NY Times Cooking supplement
One Pot|Pan|Skillet, 24 Recipes for Everyone Who Hates Doing the Dishes
 
INGREDIENTS
 
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 medium Yukon Gold potatoes (about 1 pound), unpeeled
 Kosher salt and black pepper
½ cup chopped shallots
1 cup sour cream or Greek yogurt
⅓ cup drained prepared horseradish
3 tablespoons tarragon
3 tablespoons minced chives
⅛ teaspoon white pepper (optional)
2 pounds boneless, skinless salmon or halibut fillet
1 teaspoon hot paprika
 
PREPARATION

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees and liberally grease a 9-by-13-inch glass baking dish with butter. Slice the potatoes paper-thin (less than 1/8-inch thick) and line the dish with the potatoes, slightly overlapping them as you arrange them in an even layer. Season generously with salt and pepper, dot with the shallots and bake until the potatoes are almost cooked through, about 20 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, prepare the horseradish-tarragon sauce: Add the sour cream, prepared horseradish, 2 tablespoons each tarragon and chives, white pepper (if using) and 1 teaspoon salt to a medium bowl and stir to combine. Refrigerate. (This makes about 1 1/3 cups.)
3. Sprinkle the salmon with the paprika and season with salt. Remove the dish from the oven and gently place the salmon on top of the potatoes. Brush 2 to 3 tablespoons of the horseradish-tarragon sauce over the salmon to coat, then bake until the fish flakes with a fork, 15 to 20 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fillet.
4. Sprinkle the fish with the remaining 1 tablespoon each tarragon and chives. Serve with the remaining horseradish-tarragon sauce.

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Oatmeal Cookies by Aunt Betty Lee
 
1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 beaten egg
 
Sift
1-1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
 
Add
1-1/2 cups quick cooking oatmeal
¾ cup chopped nuts (I used walnuts)
1 teaspoon vanilla
 
Cream the butter and sugar. Add beat egg; mill well. Add sifted flour mixture. Add the balance of ingredients. Chill the dough for one hour.
 
Preheat oven to 350°. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper, silicone baking mat or grease a cookie sheet. With a teaspoon, scoop out cookie dough and place on cookie sheet. Flatten with a glass that has been buttered on the bottom and dipped in sugar. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown. 

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