Balsamic-Garlic Marinated Salmon

Balsamic and Garlic Marinated Salmon

Here is a complete dinner menu that is sure to please.  I combined fresh garlic, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar with fresh salmon to make a very flavorful main dish.  Add slow-baked pinto beans with fennel seed, jasmine rice and green salad and voila!  check out the recipe below for more details, including a wonderful Chardonnay to pair it with.

Balsamic and Garlic Marinated Salmon

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
4 cloves garlic, crushed or chopped small
1.5-2 pounds of salmon

Marinate salmon for 1 to 3 hours (I marinated it for 1 hour and it was great!) then bake at 350F until tender, about 20-35 minutes depending on the cut of fish. Watch the salmon carefully as it is much better if it is not over cooked.  Turn off heat when there is just a little red on the inside of the salmon for best results.  the retained heat will gently cook the salmon the rest of the way.

 Slow-Cooked Pinto Beans with Fennel Seed

2 cups dry pinto beans
1 TBS fennel seed
dash of olive oil
dash of salt
enough water to cover beans by 2 inches

Start by soaking the pinto beans in water for 2-3 hours.  After soaking, cook beans for 3-4 hours at a slow boil with salt and olive oil.  Add fennel seeds about 1-2 hours before beans are done.  Refrain from stirring beans, except to make sure they are cooked evenly, as the stirring breaks them apart, as does too-high cooking temperatures, so cook them at a slow boil. 

 Slow-cooked Pinto beans with fennel seeds, topped with sauteed red onions

Serve with jasmine rice, sauteed red onions, a green salad, and, if you can, Pine and Post Chardonnay, one of my favorite local and affordable white wines. 

Check out Pine and Post here.  Food and Wine describes Pine and Post Chardonnay as,

a steal of a Chardonnay in a terrific vintage for Washington white wines, with spicy oak notes balanced against lively apple and apricot fruit.

Pine and Post Chardonnay, below

Sauteed onions in a cast iron pan

 Above, Trader Joe's Jasmine Rice

 Marina's Chocolate Powdered Sugar Cake

On top of all that, my 4 year old daughter, Marina, created the above pictured cake at grandma's house earlier in the day.  It was surprisingly good and amazingly fluffy and chocolaty for a 4-year-old's creation!.

Marina's Chocolate Powdered Sugar Cake 

Marina lists the ingredients as (her words):

milk

powdered sugar on top

cocoa powder

eggs

salt

vanilla

baking powder

Instructions: 

First mix cocoa, powdered sugar and milk.  Then add the eggs.  More powdered sugar, baking powder, vanilla and salt. Mix good. Cook for 12-15 minutes in a pie dish.  Serve with powdered sugar and cocoa sprinkled on top.  I can't guarantee that your version will turn out as well as Marina's!