i've been to ...

i've not been to london to visit the queen but have simply not made the time to write down what i've been cooking. i definitely have been cooking. i did want to write about the very ripe plums, mangoes and apples we put up a few weekends ago. a few of the weekend women got together in the kitchen and made plum sauce, plum jam and mango chutney. we all pitched in on the initial prep for all of the recipes but t. and j. made the sauce and jam and i made the chutney. i'll post pictures later. the jam has been a big hit on eyc (eggs your choice) days. i made plummy chicken for dinner a week or so ago. i covered a greased sheetpan with some plum sauce, then laid chicken skewers on the sauce and coated the skewers with more plum sauce. i baked the chicken in a 375* oven for about 30 min. the plum sauce became a sweet tart glaze on the browned juicy chicken skewers. all the campers were pleased with this dish. when i make curry the chutney is an essential condiment along with raisins, almonds or cashews and coconut.
i made baked salmon filets last week. i sloshed about half a cup of sauvignon blanc over two salmon sides and let it rest while i chopped a lot of fresh dill and italian parsley with lemon zest, cracked black pepper and kosher salt. i chopped enough herbs to coat each salmon. i then laid thin lemon slices on the herbs and baked for 20 min or so at 375*. i made sure not to overbake the salmon. i let the salmon rest for about ten minutes before service. the salmon was moist and flavourful. i served it with new potatoes, corn on the cob and steamed veg.
as for the baking i think the most commented on snack was the chile brownies. i used the one bowl brownie recipe, which produces a dense fudgy brownie, and added 1 tbsp. of ancho chile powder. a lovely lingering heat topped with cream cheese icing.
perhaps the most interesting snack came about when i discovered i had only half a cup of dates for the date squares/matrimonial cake. well i did have three bananas that were needing to be used but i didn't think it would work. then i saw the dried strawberries in the drawer. yes this could work as a substitute. i hadn't used the strawberries yet as they are a large dried fruit hwich are not easily chopped. so i placed the strawberries in a pan covered them with water and cooked/rehydrated them while i made the oat crumble. when the strawberries were ready i added the sliced banana and stir to combine. layer of crumble, layer of fruit, layer of crumble and into the oven. it worked! i still prefer the date filling but this new filling was indeed very tasty.it would work well with rhubarb instead of the banana.