Dilled Corn and Potato Salad. It's Weekend Herb Blogging time again, and as of this revised post, Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen is hosting the event. I gave myself a second challenge, to use mostly pantry ingredients. Costco deals seem to multiply in my pantry, in multipacks. What goes in, must come out as well, and it's best to have some tasty methods ready. The Dilled Corn and Potato salad used Green Giant Niblet corn and Paradise Valley Creamy Mash Potatoes (dehydrated) from my pantry. I paired the salad with more from the pantry, my mother's Salmon Cakes (with a kick) using tinned Kirkland Atlantic Salmon, other ingredients like Old Bay spice were in the cupboard as well. I also had some fresh dill on hand, my favorite herb. The more research I do, the more I see that dill seems to be very popular herb in Northern European countries. The recipes for tonight's dinner are:

Dilled Corn and Potato Salad

1 packet Paradise Valley Creamy Mash Potatoes*
2 cups water
1 cup whole milk
1 can, drained, Green Giant Niblets corn
2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
1/2 cup Kewpie mayonnaise

Boil two cups of water and pour into a bowl containing the packet of dehydrated potatoes. Stir as you pour, and follow by stirring in 1 cup whole milk until well-blended. Refrigerate to cool down. When lukewarm, add corn, dill and mayonnaise and mix in. Cover, and chill to cool completely.

This dish goes well with seafood. Can also be served warm as a base for fish to be draped over. As a breakfast treat, you can also add a little flour and extra dill to the left overs and make potato pancakes, topped with a dollop of sour cream.

*The 4.8 oz packet says it makes 6 - 2/3 cup servings

Salmon Cakes

2 7-oz cans boneless & skinless salmon
1 egg
1 teaspoon Old Bay spice
1 large clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
Olive Oil for frying

Break up salmon in a medium bowl, add egg and mix in. Add spice and garlic, mixing thoroughly, then add breadcrumbs. The mixture is rather crumbly, to hold it together better another egg may be added, but my family prefers more salmon and less filler. Pan fry on both sides in olive oil. Makes 8 small cakes.

This is my mother's recipe except for the Old Bay spice, which I think adds a nice kick to the taste. I discovered and fell in love with Old Bay when I lived in the metro DC area where Maryland and Virginia folk alike used this spice liberally with seafood.

Another Dishy Dill Dish or Rather Superb Soup. Yes indeed I had gathered fresh dill, fresh lamb and other aromatic ingredients to make Lamb and Herb Soup for Weekend Herb Blogging as organized by Kalyn. However, my weekend got rather filled and I couldn't quite put aside the hours of prepping and fragrant slow simmering to get this done in time for last week. But happily enough, I can be in time for this weekend's round up. Ruth of Once Upon a Feast is hosting this weekend's event.

I made the soup today, and Dad & I enjoyed a generous bowl with Japanese thick sliced bread for dinner, with plenty left over for the freezer. It stands up well to freezing and reheating.

Here's the scoop on how to make it.

Lamb and Herb Soup

1 onions peeled and thinly sliced
1 pound lamb stew meat cut into slices/cubes
1/3 cup olive oil
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 teaspoon turmeric
12 cups water
1/2 cup dried chick peas
1/2 cup lentils
1 cup barley
1 cup chopped fresh dill
1 cup Sabzi Aash Dehydrated Vegetables
1/4 cup rice
1 cup yogurt to stir in table side


1) Brown the onion and lamb 1/3 cup of the olive oil in a large pot. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and turmeric. Pour in the water and add the chick peas, barley and lentils. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cover. Simmer for 60 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally.

2) Add fresh dill, Sabzi Aash Dehydrated Vegetables, and rice. cover and cook 60 minutes

3) Check to see that the meat is tender and the beans are done. Adjust seasoning and add more warm water if soup is too thick.

Serve in bowls with yogurt on side for individuals to stir in to taste.

For best results, cook it a day in advance so that the flavors meld.

weekend herb blogging

Dill Cream En Croute. My dill offering today is a recipe that my friends INHALE every time I have made it. It does have a nice taste, and is really simple to make. You can also pick up a larger size of the crescent rolls and use some of the extra dough to make decorative cut outs (I did for this demonstration). This is my second entry in theme with the one-year anniversary of Kalyn's Weekend Herb Blogging.

I tried it out yesterday with two of my good friends, Daniel & Paul who dropped by in succession. Daniel, taken aback by the dense creaminess (equalling fat/calories) suggested blending with tofu (while continuing to eat it..). Paul mouthed compliments every few bites while the rest disappeared down his appreciative throat.

Yes, using full-cream cream cheese and regular crescent rolls have a calorie and fat punch, but it's usually a special treat brought to a pot luck or the like so people are sharing in a larger group, and it goes before anyone can get too carried away. It would be a good experiment to try making this with the reduced fat crescent rolls and cream cheese. It may take on a less rustic appearance if you substituted puff pastry for the crescent rolls as well. I think it's nice to have a recipe that has widely available ingredients that is easy to pull together in a flash for those last-minute invitations for a get-together with friends.



Dill Cream En Croute

1 (4 oz.) can refrigerated crescent dinner rolls
Minced dill weed to coat cheese block (dried dill weed is fine, fresh is fragrant!)
1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese

Optional:
1 egg yolk, beaten

Keep the cream cheese chilled until ready. Carefully unroll the crescent dinner rolls, and press seams together to form a 12 x 4 inch rectangle.

Unroll dough on a lightly floured surface; press seams together to form a 12 x 4 inch rectangle. Place generous amount of minced dill weed on a plate or waxed paper sheet and gently roll the chilled block of cream cheese in it to coat the entire surface with dill. Put the cream cheese in the center of the dough and wrap up the sides, pinching to seal so that you have an attractive block. Turn seam side down on greased baking sheet. Brush with egg yolk for shiny appearance.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 22 minutes.
Garnish, if desired. (Fresh dill sprig looks great.)
Serve warm with crackers.
Yield: 16 appetizer servings.


Weekend Herb Blogging

Week Long Celebration of Weekend Herb Blogging. I found doing the herb blogging yesterday as part of an event quite engaging and discovered that next weekend marks the one-year anniversary of the start of Weekend Herb Blogging with Kalyn. Kalyn will be doing a week-long retrospective leading up to the anniversary weekend and is hosting a favorite herb contest. I thought all evening about it, and finally chose dill as my favorite.

I've decided to 'vote early and often' by consciously including dill in my diet and blog repeatedly over this week leading up to the big day on Sunday. If it is my -- favorite -- then I should be able to eat it with abandon all throughout such a short time frame, you think?

After my morning meetings at Marin Professionals, I've returned to catch some lunch before going to volunteer some blood at the Marin Blood Center (of the Pacific) who are desperate enough to contact me for it, even though through all the sticks and pricks over the last 8-odd years they've never been able to draw anything from me. Knowing it is such a need, I'm game again if they are.



Needing to prepare some lovely white, variegated and purple eggplants last evening, I prepared them by salting and leaving in a colander for 30 minutes, rinsing then brushing with nice organic olive oil before grilling on the barby. This set me up perfectly for today's wrap!

Colorful organic eggplant, tomato and dill havarti wrap

In honor of Kalyn's South Beach diet theme, I've used La Tortilla Factory's high fiber/low carb tortillas for the wrapper.

1 tortilla (low carb!)
2 slices grilled eggplant
1 vine-ripened organic tomato slice
1 wedge dill Havarti cheese

Arrange it for eye appeal (it helps fill you up!), then re-arrange for wrapping, do so, and bon appetit!

Weekend Herb Blogging