I’m of the opinion that if there is a special person in your life that needs to be shown they are appreciated, a fine way of accomplishing that is cook them a beautiful meal.
I have both my mom and Maia Langley who are deserving of mad praise on this Mother’s Day for tolerating, supporting and loving my sometimes unstable meanderings in life.
In that spirit, Gabriel (13), Jacy (11), Isabella (4) and I crafted a bountiful feast for our mom’s and the family today.
On the menu was grilled Asian Salmon, with Shrimp Hash and fresh sautéed Asparagus.
We picked up the requisite flowers and cards at the grocery this morning, to keep everything above-board, and while at Kroger grabbed our necessary ingredients.
For seven people, I went with 5 pounds of salmon and two pounds of shrimp.
The Asian marinade for the salmon consisted of 5 tablespoons of butter melted; soy and teriyaki sauce, and honey. I rubbed some olive oil on the salmon and gave it a spice coat, then applied the marinade and placed it in the fridge for five hours.
Ingredients for the shrimp hash are: 2 pounds shrimp; 2 pounds cubed potatoes (Ore-Ida hash browns will do); 8 oz Portobello mushrooms; 1 red pepper; 1 onion; 1 bag spinach greens; 1 stick unsalted butter; 1/2 cup flour; 1 pint heavy whipping cream; milk as needed; 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese; olive oil; and Cajun spice.
Dice the onion and red pepper; sauté in olive oil and a little butter, then set aside; chop the mushrooms and sauté, also set aside. I baked the hash browns first for 30 minutes at 425 degrees, then pulled and let them sit.
I shucked and cleaned the shrimp while this was going on, and melted a stick of butter in a separate pan for the cream sauce.
The butter needs to begin frothing, then whisk in the flour, stirring constantly to keep the roux from burning. It doesn’t need to brown, this is a blonde roux. Add the cream, three or four teaspoons of Cajun spice (depending on the heat level desired); and I went with a splash of sherry for good measure to add to its decadence.
Once all this is absorbed, pour in the mushrooms with some or all of the residual juice from its cooking, and sprinkle in the cheese; turn the heat to low. The sauce will thicken considerably, so add milk to keep it pourable.
At this point I fired up the grill for the salmon.
In the pan used for the onion, pepper and mushrooms, add olive oil and cook shrimp, then set aside.
I put the large piece of salmon on the top shelf of my grill, one up from the actual surface, and positioned the other pieces on the bottom so as to avoid direct heat; put the flame on low. I reapplied leftover marinade throughout the 30 minute cooking process.
In a large skillet I added butter and olive oil and cranked up the heat to medium, then dumped in the potatoes, added onion and peppers, and warmed.
In a third pan I melted butter, broke the ends off the asparagus and added those to sauté with a sprinkling of spices.
Next add the spinach, sautéing it until it wilts; add the shrimp to the pan, stir; pour the cream sauce over all contents. Stir about thoroughly to coat all items.
Pull the salmon and it’s time to plate this bad boy.
Thanks to SuperChef’s Darnell Ferguson at Chef Space in Louisville for his Shrimp Hash recipe that appeared in the Wednesday edition of the Courier-Journal’s Food section.
Happy Mother’s Day everyone!
Urban Llama 