Grilled Salmon with Moroccan Charmoula Sauce---this was a big hit at our Winemaker dinners at Stella's Cafe in Forestville, CA--chef Greg Hallihan says the Monga Zin, with its dusty Asian spice, is even more Moroccan than the dish he created for it!

Note: While it is some trouble to freshly toast grind the spices, it is definitely worth it for this recipe!

• 1-2 lbs. of Wild Salmon, steaks or fillets, whatever you prefer
• 4 tsp of cumin seed, freshly toasted and ground (in coffee/spice grinder or mortar and pestle)
• 2 tsp coriander seed, freshly toasted and ground
• 1 Tbsp Paprika
• 4 cloves garlic, minced and sauteed briefly
• 1 tsp Kosher salt
• dash of freshly ground white pepper
• 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper (or moreif you like--I am a wuss)
• 2 ounces of freshly squeezed lemon juice, plus juice of 1/2 lime
• 1 cup extra-virgin olive oil (a really good one!)
• 2 Tbsp (about 1/4 bunch) chopped Italian flat-leaf parsley
• 2 Tbsp (about 1/4 bunch) chopped cilantro
• Lemon/lime zest (from the ones squeezed above), coarsely chopped

In a bowl combine ingredients #2-9 (the cumin seed through the lemon/lime juice), whisk well to blend. Add olive oil slowly. Add parsley and cilantro and gently stir in.

Rub salmon with salt and pepper and around half of the Charmoula Sauce, let it stand for 20 minutes. Grill salmon over medium indirect heat to your preferred level of doneness--just cooked thru is good for us! Remove to a platter at top with rest of Charmoula sauce, garnish with cilantro and cherry tomato halves, olives and lemon zest curls if desired.

Serves 6-8, depending on how much salmon you started with. Great with couscous--we like the Israeli/Middle Eastern "Giant pearl" couscous, pan-toasted before you cook them! Greg has also used the Charmoula sauce as a dip for crispy vegetable spring rolls--yummy!

ARCHIVES

Desperation Salad
I created this recipe one hot summer night when I had company coming and no tomatoes or cucumber for a salad; I decided to substitute strawberries for tomatoes and pear slices for cukes, and the other stuff just fits in nicely!

2-3 cups mixed greens (we call them "Sonoma weeds")
1 ½ cups fresh strawberries, washed, hulled and sliced
1 Bartlett pear, medium ripe, sliced thinly
2 Kiwi Fruits, peeled and sliced
1 peach or nectarine, cut into small chunks
½ cup crumbled blue cheese
½ cup hazelnuts, toasted and chopped
Raspberry Vinegar, preferable Kozlowski Farms (Sonoma County)

As you cut up the fruit, especially the pear, sprinkle raspberry vinegar over the pieces so they don't brown and look nasty. Keep the pear slices on the bottom of the dish so they get the most vinegar protection.

Mix all the ingredients and dress with raspberry vinegar (or vinaigrette) to taste.

This salad fades quickly once it is assembled and dressed, so it is best to keep all the fruit ingredients separate from the nuts and cheese until right before serving. Be sure you have enough greens to support all the fruits!

Grilled Pork Tenderloin in Raspberry Marinade
Marinade:

½ cup Raspberry vinegar
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 T. Dijon mustard
1 T. honey
1 t. minced fresh rosemary (or ½ t. dried)
1 t. minced fresh sage (or ½ t. dried)
1 t. minced fresh thyme (or ½ t. dried)
½ t. freshly ground black pepper
Raspberry jam to taste, preferably Kozlowski Farms (Sonoma County)

1 - 1½ pound pork tenderloin

Trim and discard surface fat and silvery membranes from pork. Pour the marinade into a heavy plastic zip-loc bag, add tenderloin and seal. Slosh around the meat so it is well-covered, put in the fridge overnight (or 1-2 hours at room temperature). Turn meat over in the bag occasionally.

Lift meat from marinade, draining back to bag or a dish so you can save as much marinade as possible. Grill meat, basting often from the marinade reserve, until the meat thermometer in the thickest parts reads 155°F, about 20-30 minutes. Meat will look a little pink when cut into in the middle, but that will fade when off the heat.

Heat remaining reserved marinade to boiling in microwave or on stovetop. Sweeten to your taste with raspberry jam-the amount depends on how much marinade is left after basting, and how sweet you like your savory foods!

Thinly slice the tenderloin across the grain, and place slices in a small puddle of marinade/jam sauce on each plate as you are serving. Be sure to serve with rice to soak up all the yummy juices!

Crazy Choco-Razzleberry Cake
This recipe is a very old family favorite, used for many, many birthday celebrations in the Shelton family! It is a "crazy" recipe in that it has vinegar in it, and no eggs.

3 cups flour
2 cups sugar
2 t. baking soda
1 t. salt
6 T. baking cocoa

10 T. melted butter
2 cups cold water
2 T. raspberry vinegar
2 t. vanilla extract
1-2 cups fresh raspberries (optional)

Preheat oven to 325°F. Sift together flour, sugar, soda and salt. Dissolve the cocoa in some of the cold water. Make a "hole" in the middle of the dry ingredients in the mixing bowl, and pour all liquid ingredients in the hole. Mix well with mixer. Gently fold in raspberries if desired (and in season). Pour into a lightly greased 9x13x2" pan or two 9" round cake pans, and bake for 35-45 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the center. If you go the 2-layer route, it is great to put whole raspberries in the filling with the icing between layers, and decorate with more berries on top.

Choco-Razzleberry Icing

1 ounce bitter baking chocolate, melted in the microwave
3 T. butter
1½ cups powdered sugar, sifted
pinch of salt
1 t. vanilla extract
½ cup raspberry jam, preferably no-sugar added type

Cream the butter and sugar and slowly beat in the melted chocolate, then the salt, vanilla and jam. Be conservative on the sugar measure until the jam is all in, since it is going to add sweetness. You can adjust sweetness to your own taste with more powdered sugar.

NOTE: You should double the icing recipe if you are going to do a 2 layer cake, versus a sheet cake that doesn't get icing on the sides or middle. Also add the raspberries mentioned above!!