Ilse's Kitchen - culinary adventures of a girl who loves to eat

I’ve been doing a lot of smoked salmon dishes lately. They’re all slightly different, but one thing many of them have in common is the avocado-salmon pairing, which is just lovely. Here’s yet another take on it, in a simple fuss-free salad with this lovely recipe by Melanie of the Fuss Free Cooking blog. Ingredients (serves 2): 60g arugula (rocket) lettuce 100g smoked salmon, torn into pieces 1 avocado, sliced 1/2 large cucumber, sliced into half moons 2 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted 1 lime, juiced 4 tablespoons olive oil optional: drop of sesame seed oil Instructions: 1. In a small bowl, mix the lime juice, olive oil, sesame oil and 1/2 of the sesame seeds. 2. Toss the arugula, avocado and cucumber in a bowl and top with the smoked salmon. Drizzle over the dressing. 3. Top with the remaining half of the sesame seeds and serve.

The last time I tried to make polenta, I failed miserably. I was aiming for some sort of polenta fritters but the texture came out all wrong, and they were definitely not worth writing home about. I gave up on polenta ever since - so there was a bit of resistance I felt like I needed to overcome. This time wasn’t smooth sailing either; it took me two tries to get it right. The first time the liquid wasn’t warm enough and I didn’t whisk vigorously enough, and I got a strange chunky mixture that was impossible to get smooth after that. So I threw it out, and started over. Second time was a winner :) Ingredients (serves 2): 100g quick-cook polenta 600ml vegetable stock 100g Spanish soft chorizo, chopped 60g spinach, chopped 180g shrimps, peeled and deveined 1 clove garlic, minced 50g parmesan 30g unsalted butter 1 tablespoon olive oil 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste Instructions: 1. Heat the oil in a skillet and cook ...

Before I first made shrimp, it always scared me a little. For some reason - at the time, I had next to no experience to base my fears on - I had gotten it into my head that seafood was difficult to make. Difficult to make, and difficult to get right. Irrational as it was, that fear stopped me from making shrimp dishes for years - until one day, I realised there was hardly anything to it. That it is probably harder to get it wrong, than it is to get it right. Try this simple coconut shrimp dish, and see for yourself. :) Ingredients (serves 2): Coconut Shrimp 250g shrimp, peeled and deveined (if you’re buying them fresh, get them with the tail left on. If you’re using frozen shrimp they may not have tails - that’s ok. Make sure they’re thawed.) 1/2 cup shredded coconut 1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs (these are lighter and crunchier than regular bread crumbs) 1/2 cup flour (tapioca flour or all purpose flour - both will do) 1/2 teaspoon salt 1-2 eggs (start with 1, you ...

My go-to easy meals are almost always pastas - I can think of few feel-good meals that are easier and less time consuming to make. What I love most is that you can add just about anything you like. It doesn’t matter if you stray from the traditional, just combine the flavours that make your heart sing.  Here’s a lovely smoked salmon and cherry tomato penne.  Ingredients (serves 2): 120g penne (use 50-60g per person for dried pasta, or 90g per person if you use fresh pasta) 100g smoked salmon 250g cherry tomatoes, halved 1 small red onion 1 clove garlic 250 mL cream Dash of white wine 1 tbsp Olive oil Salt, pepper and parmesan to taste Instructions: 1. Chop the onion and sauté for 3-4 minutes. 2. Press the garlic over the onion mixture and add the cherry tomatoes. Sauté for another 2-3 minutes, then add a dash of white wine. 3. Sauté for a 2-3 minutes more, then add the cream. Heat, stir and add almost all the salmon (reserve a tiny bit for the en...