Maple Marinated Grilled Pickeral

This recipe was inspired by a discussion on the Food Network community forum about trying to reproduce the Loblaws Maple BBQ salmon.

I picked up some pickeral. I know it's not salmon but that is what I felt like having.The recipe is sized for four pickeral filets but I only had two. So I made the whole spice mix and used only half of it to make the marinade. I also used Cubeb pepper but you can easily substitute black pepper

1 tbsp cubeb peppercorns
1 tsp mustard seed
1 tsp hickory smoked salt
1 tsp granulated garlic
1 tsp onion powder
1 tbsp smoked paprika
1 tbsp soy sauce
½ cup maple syrup
2-4 pickeral filets (~4kg)


Combine the pepper, mustard seed smoked salt and granulated garlic in a spice grinder. Process in the grinder to a powder. Combine with the powdered onion and smoke paprika.

The spice mixture can be stored in a sealed container.

Combine the spices with the soy sauce and maple suryp.

Maple Marinade - Ready to go!

Coat the fish with the marinade and place the fish with the marinade in a plastic bag and refrigerate for 4 hours or over night.

Filets Coated with Marinate

Grill the fish over high heat about 4 minutes per side. I grilled the flesh side down first and then flipped the skin side down.

Finished dish

Here is it served with green beans and some pan fried potatoes with green onion.

Something in the marinade was over powering. Possibly the smoked salt. There was no sense of the maple syrup. So I will have to continue to improve the marinade.

Mashed Potato Cassarole

This is something I came up with for a pot luck dinner. I was and still am desperate to use up the bushel and a half of potatoes I bought last fall. Now that the weather has started to warm up they are beginning to sprout. I only need a few to seed the garden.

I originally mixed the bacon in with the potatoes but I found the bacon got lost in the rest of the potato. So, I suggest the bacon be kept to the side and served with the cassarole

The amount of potato is realy what ever it takes to fill the pan.

Potatoes to fill the pan

Item	Calories	Protein
500g bacon, cooked yeilds 125g	689	46.3
2.3kg potato with skins	1774	46.5
2c cheddar, 235g	1018	62.6
1c asiago, 97g	346	24.3
1/2c parmesan, 48g	188	17.2
500ml sour cream, 14%mf	833	16.6
1 tbsp peppercorn
1 tbsp salt
1 tsp granulated garlic

Total for dish: 4848 calories, 213.5g protein
Per 12 servings: 404 calories, 17.79g protein

1. Cook bacon until crisp and set aside

2. Cut the potato into pieces and boil in salted water until done

Boiled Potatoes

3. Grind the peppercorns, salt and garlic in a spice mill/coffee grinder.

4. In a stand mixer begin mashing the potato. Add the sour cream, 1/3-1/2 of the cheeses and the salt/pepper/garlic mixture. Continue mashing until all the ingredients have combined.

5. Spread the potato mixture into your baking pan and top with the remaining cheeses.

6. Bake at 375F for 45 minute to melt and brown the cheese.

Serve with the reserved bacon on the side.

Chicken & Lentil Soup

Just a quick soup for after a visit to the dentist. I tossed it together with what I had on hand

1 onion
2 carrots
3 celery stalks
1 tsp chili flakes
¾ cups of Black Beluga Lentils
4 cup water
1 litre chicken stock
1 tsp poultry seasoning
1 tbsp oil
½ tsp garlic powder
250 g raw shrimp
pepper
salt

1. add the lentils and water to a pot. Bring to a boil  and let simmer for 30 minutes

2. chop the onion, carrot, celery and chili flakes. Add to the soup pot with the oil and cook until the vegetable are soft.

3. Add the chicken stock, garlic, poultry seasoning and the cooked lentils and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat and add the shrimp. Let stand for 5 minutes and serve

It does go well with some crackers.