Recipe: Smoked Salmon Dip

Simply the best tasting smoked salmon dip and always a hit at parties:

Ingredients
12 oz smoked salmon, roughly chopped
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup sour cream
8 oz cream cheese
1 tsp Tabasco sauce
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
2 stalks of green onion, finely chopped

Instructions
Warm the cream cheese in the microwave until soft.
Mix in the cream cheese and chopped smoked salmon until combined.
Continue by stirring in the tabasco, sour cream and mayonnaise until smooth.
Stir in garlic and green onions.
Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Serve with crackers/chips.

Aluminum Foil Steamed Fish

Steaming is a common way to prepare fish for many asian families. I learned how to steam fish the traditional way from my father in law. However, I've found that steaming fish in aluminum foil is extremely easy and just as tasty. I consider it the lazy man's way to steam fish. Here's how I do it:

Ingredients:
1-2 lb whole fish (scaled, and cleaned)
1/4 cup Shoyu
1 Tablespoon Brown Sugar
Green Onions, diced
2-3 slices of Ginger
1 Tablespoon Butter
Salt and Pepper
Garlic, minced (optional)

Preparation:
Start off by scaling, and cleaning the fish. Once the fish has been cleaned, pat dry to remove excess water. Season the fish with salt and pepper and insert the butter into the belly of the fish. Tear off 3 sheets of aluminum foil approximately 6 inches longer than the fish and stack the 3 sheets on top of each other. Place the seasoned fish onto the foil and fold the ends up for now (we will be pouring sauce on shortly). Place the small pieces of Ginger on top of the fish.

Sauce:
In a saucepan on medium heat, add the shoyu and brown sugar and garlic and cook the sauce until the brown sugar melts and the garlic cooks thru. Add the green onions and cook for an additional 20-30 seconds. Remove from heat and pour over the fish in the foil.

Fold the ends of the foil up and together to create an air tight seal. Throw in the oven set to 375 degrees for about 30 minutes. Be careful when removing from the oven, as the foil and it's contents will be hot. When fully cooked, the meat should easily flake off.