Day 20: Sushi substitute? Absolutely!!!

So... everyone knows that lately I have developed a slight obsession with Pinterest.  On this website are copious amounts of crazy yet amazing recipes that I just want to spend all day in the kitchen baking.  If only I had unlimited amounts of confectioners sugar, white sugar, flour, brown sugar, and cream cheese I would be one happy woman.  Most of the recipes on Pinterest are desserts as stated in my entry before... however I found a keeper of a Salmon recipe.  and By keeper... I mean MAN!  This dish is amazing.  I made it for a few friends that came over last night and it was devine.  It was light and the perfect dish to impress.  And it was not only beautiful and colorful... but SOOOOOO delicious.  I think what made the dish so amazing was the eternal obsession my stomach has with Sushi.  But not just California roll sushi but the..... aaaahhhmazzzinggg philadelphia roll cream cheese salmon combination.  With an amazing eel sauce and a spicy sriracha sauce on top.  My mouth is just watering thinking about it!!

So a disclaimer before I post this recipe.  It is medium difficulty.... I'm not going to give it easy because the Salmon requires "stuffing" as you might say, and the marinade involves a LOT of different ingredients.  SO. SO.  worth it.  trust me.

Lets' get this show on the road!!  Here's the recipe.

First the Terriyaki Marinade recipe:

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1/4 cup cold water

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 cup water (or pineapple juice)

5 tablespoon packed brown sugar (use only 4 tbsp if using pineapple juice)

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp garlic powder

2 tablespoons honey

1. in a small bowl, combine cornstarch & 1/4 cup cold water. stir until cornstarch is dissolved; set aside

2. in a saucepan, combine 1 cup water, soy sauce, ground ginger, garlic powder, brown sugar & honey; bring to a simmer

3. when liquid is simmering & brown sugar has melted, add the cornstarch/water mixture & simmer until thick enough to coat a back of a spoon (do not overthicken!)

Ok, Now this is not in the recipe but I used the marinade on the plate at the end as a garnish.  It looked AMAZING and gave a lot more taste to the dish since I only had time to marinate the fish for half and hour.  Here's what the marinade looked like:

Not too impressive looking at first but this stuff is the FIRE!  Soo good mmm mmm!!

Next is the Sriracha Sauce.  I was afraid that Jon's last minute run to the Kroger to get the ingredients that I needed for the dish wouldn't produce the sauce since I researched the sauce and the results said that "more and more grocery stores were starting to sell the sauce."  It's an extremely hot sauce from Thailand that goes on Sushi in Japanese restaurants.  I was nervous but Jon found it in the ethnic food isle!  I was ecstatic.  This sauce is perfect.... so yum!!!  You want to dip everything in it.  Chicken Nuggets, french fries, fish sticks.... my arm... lol.  Everything!  It's very simple to make.  Here it is.

SRIRACHA CREAM SAUCE INGREDIENTS

1/4 cup Sriracha sauce

1 cup mayonnaise

3 tablespoons condensed milk

I let Jon make this because it was so easy to make.  :-P  J/k my amazing hubby volunteered to help with the dinner preparation so that's why he made it for me.  d'awwww.  Directions? GO!

SRIRACHA CREAM DIRECTIONS

1. in a medium bowl, combine Sriracha & mayo & whisk well

2. add condensed milk & whisk until fully incorporated; add more condensed milk for a milder taste & more Sriracha for a spicier taste

Ok.... so you have all that made... now comes the hard part.  There are several things that they don't tell you in the original recipe... like you MUST use amazing cuts of Salmon to get the taste you want... and by amazing I mean.... 4 cuts of this "amazing" salmon is 16 bucks.... Phew!  expensive!  But worth it.  B) cutting the Salmon "envelopes" is harder than they make it out to be.  Use a sharp knife.  None of mine were sharp enough but again.... this was an impromptu dinner with less than 24 hours notice.... again.  (Thanks Jon. :-P)  So cut me a little slack :-P  Here is the fillet recipe!!!  

STUFFED SALMON W/ SRIRACHA CREAM SAUCE INGREDIENTS

2 salmon filets

teriyaki marinade (recipe below)

sriracha cream sauce (recipe below)

2-3 tbsp cream cheese (room temperature)

green onions (thinly sliced)

sesame seeds

olive oil

Instructions?  sure.

STUFFED SALMON W/ SRIRACHA CREAM SAUCE DIRECTIONS

1. in a baking/marinading dish, place salmon filets & add 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup teriyaki marinade. let marinade reach about 1/2 of the sides of filets. marinade in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to overnight

2. preheat oven to 400 degrees. meanwhile, line a baking dish with aluminum foil & lightly brush with olive oil; set aside

Picture of the pans?  Sure.

3. on a cutting board, slit the sides of each salmon filets making a long pocket/envelope; do not pierce through the other side!

4. insert about a tablespoon of cream cheese into each pocket; do not overstuff or the cream cheese will seep out during baking

5. in the prepared baking dish, place stuffed salmons & sprinkle a nice amount of sesame seeds. cover the baking dish & salmon filets with another sheet of foil & bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until salmon is cooked all the way through

6. after baking is done, place in a serving dish & drizzle with sriracha cream sauce & garnish with thinly sliced green onions

I know you're DYING to know what this splendid dish looks like.... well I'll show you.  We always break out our wedding china for guests so please view my beautiful china :-P  also... as an amazing accompaniment I laid the fillet over a bed of Garlic and Olive oil cous cous.  Drizzled a little marinade on the sides and on the cous cous and topped with the sriracha sauce and green onions.  I can't explain to you.... how much this tasted like my favorite sushi without anything raw... :-P  and How simply perfect this was.  Here is the end result.  

Next, for dessert I made a Coca-Cola cake.  I found this recipe also on Pinterest but I had tasted the cake before and I was TOTALLY stoked to make it.  I mean this stuff is heaven in a pan I'm telling you!  Also, it was a perfect ending to an amazing meal.    Here's the mix recipe for the dry ingredients:

preheat oven to 350, and grease up (I used oil spray) a 9×13 (or so) pan.

mix:
2cups flour
2cups sugar
1/2tsp salt
1tsp baking powder
1/2tsp cinnamon

Then you mix that stuff together!  Picture?  sure.

Pretty simple.  Next you mix the wet ingredients with the exception of the eggs and vanilla extract.. and bring them to a boil.  Here are those.  

in a saucepan over medium high heat stir this up good until it boils:
1 cup butter
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup coca-cola (from bottle is my preference!)
1/2 cup buttermilk


Picture?  Sure.

now take off heat and add that to the flour mix & whisk until combined.

Then add:
2 eggs
1tsp vanilla extract

What does that look like?  why... I'm glad you asked.

After this, you put it in the pan and bake it for about 30 min. or SO... I say or so because I ended up having to baking for more like 40-45 minutes.  But I would set the timer for 30 minutes and judge by tooth pick if it's ready and adjust your time from there.  When it's almost done you make the glaze.  Here's the recipe:

1/2cup butter
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup coca cola

once that boils, remove and slowly stir in 4cups of confectioners’ sugar until nice and smooth. Then add in about a cup of chopped pecans, and give it a stir.  You want to add the glaze the minute the cake comes out of the oven.  Here's what the amazing cake looks like:

Soo good yall.   SOOOOOOOOOOOO good!!  I hope you guys try it because you won't be disappointed at all :)  Have a great day you guys!!!  xoxo