The Two Captains

Volume II - February 1999

ithout the excuse of chartering, Don and I have had to cut our food indulgences way down….sniff! No more four meals a day! Our interest in good food, however, is no less than it ever was and an interesting dinner is a great reward for a hard day’s work! Some days, I play with my new tools - the broiler, the pressure cooker, and the microwave - learning to make things very different than what I cooked on charter. Other days I look ahead to losing access to so many ingredients I’ve come to take for granted, so I focus ahead on getting as much of them "in" while I can!

Here’s a dish I put together in the last few months of chartering. By scaling the proportions you can serve it for lunch or dinner. It has several parts to it, but each one is easy.

Grilled Salmon Diablo

Diablo Butter
˝ cup butter *
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
˝ teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons parsley, finely chopped
Mix ingredients together and chill
(*I have used diet butters. Works OK.)

Pasta Salad
˝ cup cooked pasta per person
(fusilli, farfalle, penne etc.)
(I use "leaf" shapes, multi-color is nice))
1 small can corn niblets
˝ red bell pepper, finely chopped
˝ yellow bell pepper, finely chopped
Mix ingredients together and chill

Chili Vinaigrette
3 Tablespoons olive oil
2 Tablespoons wine vinegar
˝ teaspoon Dijon mustard
˝ teaspoon red pepper flakes
Ľ teaspoon hot pepper paste
(made by Amore in tubes)
1 garlic clove, pressed
salt and pepper, to taste
Mix ingredients together (and old spice jar is perfect), shake vigorously, and stir into pasta

Grilled Salmon
4-6 oz salmon filet per person
olive oil
lemon
salt & pepper
Place fillet skin side down on aluminum foil cut to outline of fish with 2" border, crimped up. Brush fish with olive oil and season with salt & pepper. P\lace fish on grill (or under broiler), protecting thin edges, and cook until just done.

Mixed Salad Greens

I like a blend of mesclun (the fancy wild greens), radicchio, and arugula

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To Serve

Arrange salad greens on each plate.

Place pasta salad in center on top of greens. Place hot salmon on top of pasta salad and top with dollop of chilled Diablo Butter just prior to serving. Butter will be melting just as you serve! Yum