“The journey of a thousand pounds begins with a single burger.” ~ Chris O'Brien

We rarely eat fast food. Honestly. Maybe about two or three times a year. But the other night, Tom and I were both soooo hungry and soooo tired and neither of us wanted to cook.

And, there are times when only a burger and fries will do. Thank you, Baby Jesus, for Shorty Smalls.

When you feel neglected, think of the female salmon, who lays 3,000,000 eggs but no one remembers her on Mother's Day” ~ Sam Ewing

I remember getting the really crummy cooking jobs when I was a kid helping my mother in the kitchen. With seven hungry mouths to feed, the crummy jobs seemed endless: peeling potatoes, cutting onions, picking the bones and skin from the canned salmon. Crummy jobs abound in the kitchen, even as an adult, but now with only two people to feed I can either do them quickly myself or hand them off to Tom.

This week's crummy job was picking the bones and skin from the canned salmon. I hated this job in particular when I was a kid. The bones were soft and would crush under the pressure of my young fingers. The skin was slimy and would stick to the flesh of the salmon and the icky silver and black residue from the skin would get under my fingernails. Ewww.

I haven't made salmon loaf, patties or croquettes for so many years, I really can't even remember the last time. But, when I was looking for something for dinner that was not too heavy and at the same time comforting, I came across the recipe for the Crab Bites that I mentioned here. I didn't have any crab on hand, but I did have a couple of cans of salmon that I decided to use instead and decided on Salmon Patties.



I made Andrea's Roasted Red Pepper & Chive Aioli first. I make this aioli often and I've served it with Andrea's Crab Bites, grilled salmon and grilled tuna and it was delicious, so why not salmon cakes. Why not, indeed. It was the perfect accompaniment.



While the flavors of the aioli were melding, I made the Salmon Patties. I intended to use Panko Bread Crumbs, but didn't have any and I didn't want to make a trip to the store, so I used regular bread crumbs. I used two 14.75 oz cans of salmon and it made 10 patties. I served them with a pasta salad made with orzo pasta.

Salmon Patties
by Terri Powers for Terri's Table

2 - 14.75 oz cans of pink salmon
2 eggs
3/4 cup of plain bread crumbs
1/2 of an onion, finely diced
1 rib of celery, finely diced
1 teaspoon dried dill
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Open and drain the cans of salmon and pick the flesh clean of bones and skin.

Beat the eggs and add to the salmon. Add remaining ingredients, mix well and form into 10 patties.

Cover the bottom of a frying pan with vegetable oil. Fry the patties on medium high heat until brown on both sides, about 8 to 10 minutes. Serve hot.

Andrea's Roasted Red Pepper-Chive Aioli
by Andrea @Andreasrecipes.com
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup chopped drained canned roasted red peppers
1 tablespoon minced fresh chives
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon minced garlic

In the small bowl, mix all of the ingredients. Cover and store in the refrigerator until ready to use.

It's no fat, no sugar, no dairy... It's no good, throw it out.” ~ Will on Friends

I am a lazy cook. Really. I love making food from scratch, but if I can find a product that is just as good as scratch, I'll use it. That's the way it is with me when I bake cakes.

Oh, I've baked cakes from scratch, and cupcakes, and muffins, and pies. I have a Burnt Almond Cake I want to try and it will have to be made from scratch. But, if the final product tastes as good when I use a boxed cake mix, why not? That's why I keep several boxed cake mixes in my pantry. It's easy to throw a cake of some sort together when I'm in a hurry. And, I am picky about my cake mixes. I will only use Duncan Hines.

I saw this cake on a television program, I think on the Food Channel, but I don't even remember which program I was watching. I know it was a long time ago because I have been making this cake for a long time. Besides my chocolate flan cake (also made with a chocolate cake mix), this is the cake that is most requested by my in-laws.

Oh, yes, and when I bake this cake with my 6-year-old granddaughter, Hagan, I have to buy two containers of strawberries because she inevitably will eat one whole box by herself.

Strawberry Cake
by Terri Powers for Terri's Table

1 Duncan Hines Strawberry Cake Mix
1 teaspoon strawberry flavoring
1 stick butter, room temperature
1 - 8 oz. package cream cheese (I used low fat ... I know, what's the point??)
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 small jar strawberry preserves
1 container fresh strawberries

Bake the cake according to the directions on the package, except add the teaspoon of strawberry flavoring with the other liquid ingredients and bake in either 8-inch or 9-inch cake pans. Allow to cool completely.

Clean and remove the stems from the strawberries. Set aside.

Make the frosting by first combining the butter and cream cheese with a mixer until smooth and slightly fluffy. Add the powdered sugar to the cream cheese mixture a half a cup at a time, mixing thoroughly between each addition, until you have used the 2 cups. Add the vanilla extract and mix well. Set aside.

To assemble the cake, first cut both layers in half horizontally with a long serrated knife. You should now have four layers. Place the first layer on the cake plate and spread a thin layer of strawberry preserves over the entire layer.



Do the same for the next two layers, spreading a thin layer of preserves over each one.



Top with the final layer and frost the cake with the Cream Cheese Frosting.

Slice the fresh strawberries and arrange the slices around the outside and on top of the cake. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

You can't be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline...~ Frank Zappa

You would think that a lamb shank would be an inexpensive cut of meat. After all, it is part of the front leg and pretty well used during the lifetime of the lamb. But not in these parts. Not only were the lamb shanks expensive, they were difficult to find. Who knew?? Three days and $40+ later, I was ready to make the dish I saw in the Williams-Sonoma catalog I received sometime last week.

My initial problem was that the Williams-Sonoma recipe calls for a jar of their Irish Stout Braising Base, which I don't have and didn't really want to order. So, once again I went back to internet to try to find the ingredients to make my own braising base. I found several recipes, but did not settle on just a single one. Instead, I combined what I thought would be the best of all the recipes. Most of the recipes I found called for four lamb shanks, but I only used two. This was the result.

Stout-Braised Lamb Shanks
by Terri Powers for Terri's Table

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 lamb shanks
1 large onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup chopped celery
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 - 12 oz bottle of stout (I used Guinness)
1-1/2 cups beef broth
2 - 3 sprigs of fresh thyme
1 sprig of fresh rosemary
2 bay leaves
salt and pepper to taste

Tie the fresh herbs securely in a bunch with kitchen twine for easy removal from the pot later. Set aside.

Heat the oil in a large, wide pot. Brown the lamb shanks on all sides until well browned. This will take about 10 to 15 minutes. Remove the shanks and set them aside.

Remove all but 2 tablespoons of grease from the pot and add the onions, garlic, carrots and celery and cook until the onions are translucent and the carrots start to caramelize, about 5 to 10 minutes. Stir in tomato paste, stirring and cooking until hot thoroughly mixed with the vegetable.

Return the shanks to the pot and pour in the stout and beef broth. Bring to a simmer over high heat. Add the bundle of fresh herbs and the bay leaves. Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer until the lamb is very tender and nearly falling off the bone, about 2 to 3 hours. Stir occasionally as it cooks and add more beef broth if needed to keep the sauce from becoming too thick.

When ready to serve, remove the shanks from the sauce to a serving platter. Skim the excess grease from the top of the sauce. Pour the sauce into a bowl or gravy boat.

The only thing I would do differently is to blend the vegetables in the sauce with a food processor or blender. I served the lamb shanks with roasted root vegetables: Beets, sweet potatoes and yukon gold potatoes. I cut the vegetables in larger bite-sized pieces and put them in a bowl, added a little olive oil, kosher salt and fresh ground pepper and mixed well to coat. Bake at 400ºF on a baking pan for 45 minutes to one hour.

At the end of the day, a loving family should find everything forgivable. ~ Mark V. Olsen and Will Sheffer, Big Love, "Easter"

I know I haven't posted in over a month on this blog, but, if you've read my personal diary blog, you already know that a lot has been going on in my life: The estrangement from my son, the death of my brother-in-law and, lastly, the death of my sister, Kim.

When my sister passed away this past Saturday, three out of the remaining four sisters came together to support each other and Kim's family. Because of petty arguments and resentments, the reasons for which are long forgotten, we hadn't been together in one place for over 16 years.

All of these events have simply taken their toll on my energy and priorities. I haven't even been cooking a lot. Tom has been doing most of what little cooking being done in our house and we've been getting a lot of take-out.

However, I did a lot of cooking before that and I think I am now back on track because today I am making something new: Stout Braised Lamb Shanks. I will take photos and share the recipe this week, along with other wonderful food I enjoyed in March.

So... keep your eyes peeled. I am almost back...