San-J Archives - Cruisin with the Colemans

Recipe of the Week – Bourbon Glazed Salmon with Rice Pilot

Posted on September 17, 2018 by Cruisin Brian

While staying in Houghton, Michigan, we decided to try a new experience and chartered a fishing boat with Sand Point Charters in Lake Superior. More on that story later because, true to form, it turned into a much bigger adventure than we expected! We had a successful day on the water and ended up with some salmon and trout. Once we got to Michelle’s parents in Illinois we made dinner for them one night with our freshly caught salmon. Here is one of our favorite fish recipes.

Start off by making the bourbon glaze. Mince a large finger of ginger. I mentioned this a few weeks ago, but here’s how to do it. Begin by cutting the peel off of the ginger and slicing it into 1/8 inch slices. Next stack the slices and cut into julienne strips. Finally mince as finely as you’re able. I like to do a larger amount when I’m home and put it into a mini ice-cube tray with some water. Once frozen, I keep it in a baggy in the freezer to use as needed!

Mix 5 tablespoons of brown sugar (we use Whey Low Gold, a sugar substitute), 5 tablespoons bourbon (I prefer Evan Williams), 3 tablespoons San-J Tamari Gluten Free Soy Sauce, 2 tablespoons minced ginger, 5 cloves of minced garlic, and the juice of one lime in a resealable bag. Add four 6-oz filets of salmon and let marinade for about 30 minutes in the fridge.
While your waiting, dice an onion and shallot finely. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a saucepan and saute onions and shallot until soft. Add 2 tablespoons of butter and 1 cup of rice. Saute the rice until it starts to smell “toasty,” you may even hear some of the grains pop a little. You are adding flavor right now, so don’t skip this step! Add two cups of chicken broth (we prefer Kitchen Accomplice concentrated broths) and 1 tablespoon of dried parsley and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for fifteen minutes or until all liquid is absorbed.

While the onions are sauteing, it’s time to heat the grill. Once the broth and rice come to a boil, put the fish on the grill over medium heat. Use either a piece of foil or a cedar plank to keep the fish from falling through the rack! The fish should cook on medium to low heat for about 10 minutes. Do not flip it unless the filets are really thick and are not cooking through.
Take the remaining marinade from the bag and place it in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer and reduce the liquid to half and allow it to thicken. This will become an amazing glaze to spoon over the finished salmon (I really like it on the rice too).

I like to serve this meal with either sugar snap or snow peas for some additional color on the plate, but the sweet corn had just come in so that’s what we enjoyed on this night.

Bourbon Glazed Salmon

5 T brown sugar
5 T bourbon
3 T San-J Tamari Gluten Free Soy Sauce
2 T minced ginger
5 cloves of minced garlic
the juice of one lime
4 6-oz filets of salmon

Mix all ingredients in a resealable plastic bag and let marinate for about 30 minutes in the refrigerator. Grill salmon over medium heat for about 10 minutes on foil. Turn only if the filets are thick and will not cook through otherwise. While the salmon is cooking, place the remaining marinade in a saucepan and simmer to reduce the liquid to half. Spoon glaze over the salmon at the table.

Rice Pilaf

1 sweet onion, diced
1 shallot, finely minced
1 T olive oil
2 T butter
1 C Jasmine rice
2 C chicken broth
1 T dried parsley

Heat oil over medium heat and saute onion and shallot until soft, about 5 minutes. Add butter and melt. Add rice and cook until it begins to smell “nutty.” Add the broth and parsley and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes or until liquid is absorbed.

Recipe of the Week – Honey Ginger Scallion Chicken

Posted on August 13, 2018 by Cruisin Brian

Ready for another tasty and easy marinade and basting sauce? Our original recipe for Honey Ginger Scallion Chicken is another great marinade that you can throw together in a few minutes and is sure to please everyone at the campsite.
To prepare the marinade, chop 4 green onions, 2 cloves of garlic, and 1 T of fresh ginger. If you’ve never worked with ginger, don’t worry. Look for it in the produce department, often near the garlic and shallots. Ginger comes in “hands” because the large pieces often have several smaller “fingers.” If you’re like us, you don’t need that much at one time, but you can break off a finger to get as much or little as you need (think like breaking a bunch of bananas in half to buy just a few). I cut off the edges and thin skin to end up with a small piece about the size of 2 dice. Cut thin slices, cut again into julienne, and finally mince. In the picture, the ginger is in the center.

Combine with 1 T honey, 2 T soy sauce (or our favorite, San-J Gluten Free Tamari), a few dashes of Crystal hot sauce and mix well. You could marinate for 2 hours to overnight, but I wanted to try something different this night.

We picked up a grilling mat after hearing lots of people talking about how much they liked them. On this evening, after getting a good fire going, we flipped over the grill, and added the mat. Place the chicken on the mat and pour some of the sauce over. Once the chicken is done on the bottom, flip and add some more of the basting sauce. Flip once more just to make sure that everything is cooked through.

We served this with some store-bought coleslaw, but any deli salad would be a great addition. Let us know in the comments what your favorite deli salad is.

Honey Ginger Scallion Chicken

4 green onions
1 T minced ginger (about 2 inches of a ginger finger)
2 cloves minced garlic
1 T honey
2 T soy sauce
Dash hot sauce to taste

This makes enough sauce for 4-6 chicken breasts.
Combine all ingredients in a bowl.
On a hot grill, place chicken on a grill mat and baste with the sauce, turning and basting again as each side cooks.

Recipe of the Week – Asian Marinated Chicken with Corn and Basil Faux Fried Rice

Posted on August 6, 2018 by Cruisin Brian

When we’re camping, we love meat marinades. Before we leave town, we can weigh out several meals and prep various marinades then throw them into plastic storage bags and toss them into the freezer. While we’re out on the road, lay the prepped bag out in the fridge the night before and it’s ready to cook the next evening.
This Asian marinated chicken works great with the corn and basil fried rice, but it is also good with slaw, a salad, or any other sides that might be convenient at the campground.

To prepare the chicken, place 1/3 c sliced green onions, 2 t minced garlic in a plastic bag with 3 T of soy sauce (we use San-J Tamari since it’s gluten free) and 2 T of mirin. Wait, you didn’t bring mirin to the campground with you?! Mirin is a sweet rice wine common in Asian cooking but a good substitution would be any sweet or semi-sweet white wine that you like. I used Chateau St. Michelle Riesling. To the bag, add 4-6 oz of chicken for each person you are serving. The recipe calls for thighs, but we used boneless skinless breasts this time. Let the meat marinate for at least 2 hours in the refrigerator or overnight. If you’re not going to cook it within 24 hours, put it in the freezer.

When it’s time to cook, get your grill preheated while you prep the fried rice. Rinse 1 cook of basmati rice in a sieve. This will help remove some of the starches and will produce a less sticky rice in the end. Place the rice in a pan with 2 c of cold water, bring to a boil, reduce heat and cover for 15 minutes. Remove from heat, fluff with a fork and leave the lid off to cool a little. Precooked rice in a bag from the grocery is a great alternative to cooking in the RV and getting things hot inside.

In a large skillet over medium heat, add 1 T oil. Add 2 T thinly sliced green onions and sauté for about 30 seconds, being careful not to burn. Add ¾ c of frozen corn (or 2 smallish ears if using fresh) and let cook for another minute or two to thaw out the corn. Finally add the rice and 1-2 T of soy sauce. Let sauté for an additional 5 minutes stirring occasionally. You want the bottom and edges of the rice to get a little crispy. At the last minute, stir in ¼ c of basil cut into a chiffonade. To cut the chiffonade, stack the basil leaves with the largest leaves on the bottom. Roll them into a little cigar and then slice into thin ribbons.

Cook the chicken on the grill, discarding any marinade left in the bag.

To serve, divide the rice among four plates, top with chicken and zest a lime over the chicken. Cut the zested lime into slices and serve on the side.

Find the original recipe from Cooking Light, September 2012, here.

Asian Marinated Chicken with Basil Faux Fried Rice

Chicken:

1/3 c sliced green onion
2 t minced garlic
3 T soy sauce
2 T mirin (or sweet white wine)
4 4-6 oz chicken breast pieces or chicken thighs

Rice:

1 c basmati rice, rinsed
1 T olive oil
2 T sliced green onion
¾ cup frozen corn (or 2 small ears, kernels removed)
1-2 T soy sauce
¼ c basil cut into chiffonade

Place all chicken ingredients into a plastic bag and let marinate 2 hours or overnight.
Prepare rice by adding 2 cups of cold water in a sauce pan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cover, cooking for 15 minutes.
Heat a skillet or wok with oil. Add green onion and sauté for 30 seconds. Add corn and cook another 2-3 minutes. Finally add rice and soy sauce, cooking for an additional 5 minutes, allowing bottom and edges to get crispy.
Cook chicken on a medium high grill until done. Discard the bag with marinade.
Divide rice between four plates and top with chicken. Grate lime zest over chicken. Cut the lime into wedge and serve on the side.