Stuffed Mushrooms & Salmon Cooking Time

SALMON

We had all been craving salmon so I found a recipe with an Oriental slant to it and baked the entire fillet.  I used the recipe from The Recipe Critic and it had a good flavor.

We sided it with Lea Ann's Cheesy, Creamy, Tangy, Microwave Cauliflower from her Cooking On The Ranch Blog for a very good meal.

But what I really want to discuss here is the fish cooking times rather than the flavor so here are the recipe cooking instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Lay the salmon on top and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Fold up the sides of the aluminum foil around the salmon.

2. In a small bowl whisk together the olive oil, brown sugar, soy sauce, garlic, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Pour the glaze over the salmon. Top the salmon with aluminum foil and seal.

3. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until salmon is cooked throughout. Take the foil off of the top and baste the salmon with the sauce in the foil. Broil for 3-5 minutes or until brown and caramelized. Garnish with lemon slices and chopped parsley if desired.

I followed the  first two directions but decided the cooking time was way to long so I cut it to 15 minutes.  When I removed it from the oven and checked the internal temp it was at 137F but I still put it under the broiler for a couple of minutes per the directions.

I didn’t recheck the internal temp but the meat was too done for Cindy and me but just right for Bev.  I like mine around 125F which means the fish flakes will still have a little sheen on them and not be completely dry. 

My main purpose here is to get this documented so I’ll know what to do next time – I know I won’t remember, so if you are cooking your salmon in a sealed pouch, 15 minutes will get it plenty done but I will cook for just 10 minutes next time and add a little more time if needed.

MUSHROOMS

Our neighbors ended up with too many large white mushrooms (not sure of the type but 3-5” diameter) and asked if we would like to make a joint meal with them and I quickly agreed to stuff them and used a recipe from Taste Of Home which I amended just slightly.

Ingredients:

1½ pound bulk pork sausage

3/8 cup finely chopped onion

2 garlic clove, minced

1½ package (8 ounces) reduced-fat cream cheese

3/8 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

½ cup seasoned bread crumbs

4½ teaspoons dried basil

2¼ teaspoons dried parsley flakes

30 large fresh mushrooms (about 1-1/2 pounds), stems removed

4½ tablespoons butter, melted

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°. In a large skillet, cook sausage, onion and garlic over medium heat 6-8 minutes or until sausage is no longer pink and onion is tender, breaking up sausage into crumbles; drain. Add cream cheese and Parmesan cheese; cook and stir until melted. Stir in bread crumbs, basil and parsley.

2. Meanwhile, place mushroom caps in a greased 15x10x1-in. baking pan, stem side up. Brush with butter. Spoon sausage mixture into mushroom caps. Bake, uncovered, 12-15 minutes or until mushrooms are tender. – Note 1

Note 1 – Since these were much larger than the typical button mushrooms, after stem removal and cleaning, I cooked them cap side up for about eight minutes, removed from the oven and brushed on a good coat of melted butter, then flipped and brushed the stem side.  I then filled and baked for 12 minutes which made them just right.

Ready for the oven.

We sided them with broccoli casserole and salad for a very tasty meal and I will use this stuffing recipe again.

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Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

3/18 & 3/23/19 event dates