The Humble Kitchen

People seem intimidated cooking a whole fish but it really couldn’t be easier. I had this lovely wild sockeye salmon, headless, but you can’t have everything. Flipping through a Jamie Oliver book I saw a recipe for Roast Salmon with fennel, parsley and tomato. Having no fennel I substituted some thinly sliced onion.

Thinly slice lemons, onion (or fennel) and chop tomatoes.

Mix with chopped parsley, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper.

Season fish and rub with olive oil. Stuff with tomato mixture. Bake at 400º until just cooked, anywhere from 25 to 45 minutes depending on the size of the fish.

Serve with roast potatoes.

And something green, like asparagus.

With the leftover salmon I made another Jamie Oliver recipe, fish cakes.

Leftover salmon, boiled potatoes, lemon, parsley, eggs, salt and lots of pepper.

Formed into fish cakes, ready to cook or freeze for later.

Delicious.

-Jennifer

Thanks to Sarah for taking the roasted salmon photos.

I can’t help but be reminded of that wonderful and short lived tv show Pushing Daisies. It was an ideal blend of fantasy, word play and pie. I am reminded of it because I have a fridge full of cheese, just like the former synchronized swimming aunts of Chuck, who referred to the fridge as a cheese box.

So what does one do with all those oddly shaped remains of cheese? The dried up ends and fuzzy bits, the mystery cheese whose label is long gone, the warehouse store buy that seemed too good to pass up despite the fact that you have no use for a block of cheese the size of your head. Look no further. Here is your answer.

• 1 pound of various leftover cheeses
• ¼-½ cup dry white wine or vegetable broth, or a combination of both
• 1 clove garlic, or more to taste
• handful of parsley (optional)
• freshly ground black pepper

Assemble your cheese. Just about any cheese will do. Here I’ve used Fontina, Gruyere, Manchego, Monterey Jack, Chévre, and Gouda, because that is what was in my cheese box. Once you’ve trimmed all the scary bits off that cheese, you must leave it at room temperature to soften up a bit. If you’re using hard cheese it’s best to grate it, or at least cut it into a fine dice. Softer cheeses can be rough chopped. In a food processor finely mince the garlic. Place your cheese in and pulse a few times to mix. Add the torn parsley and a few grindings of pepper and pulse again.

Now pour in about ¼ cup of your wine or stock. Pulse a few times and add more if the mixture seems too dry. What you want is a chunky yet creamy mixture. Be careful not to over mix, you don’t want a paste. Taste and if it seems lacking in salt you can add a pinch, but most likely you won’t need any.



Place into the vessel of your choosing and refrigerate. It will taste better once it’s had some time to mellow. Eat it with crackers, apple slices, crusty bread. Put it on some toast under the broiler for a moment until warm and oozing. Deliciously frugal.

-Jennifer