Salmon grilled in Banana Leaves

20131022_192114

“My beautiful wife made the best dinner for me tonight. Salmon wrapped in a banana leaf with coconut jasmine rice. Wow. so good I cant get over it.”     -Jason Kelly (facebook post Oct 22, 2013)

THAT is what my husband posted after this dinner in the video… WOW might wanta  grab this recipe (Hahaa). Due credit where it’s due, I got inspired by two things: We grow massive Banana Trees outside our house & Tyler Florence (of the FOOD Network had posted a salmon, banana leaf recipe). They say that you will become your parents and though I am a lot like my dad, I got one thing from my mother. I get a recipe and then I… CHANGE IT. It’s not out of disrespect. I have had several people watch my videos and say they made something but changed or exchanged an ingredient. THAT is what cooking is about.  We should be able to work with what is in season or avaliable to you, and what your individual taste are.

ATTENTION: before I forget, we are now reaching around 20,000 a mo. & 5,000 “unique visitors” each mo… So inexpensive ads are now being offered. If you want one click the button on the front page… and thank YOU all for making this more than I ever thought it would be.
Four years ago my husband came home from a trip to the hardware store with a “Hey, look these were on the clearance shelf!” He was like a 5 year old holding up a bouquet of weeds freshly picked in the yard. They… the plants, were a sad lot. They were withered and sparse, but we planted them anyway. Knowing that even the store clerk said, they won’t make it but one season.Turn out where we planted may have been the key to success. Down close to the lake. below a hill. They have been in a valley with all the water they could possibly want… a kelly family micro-climate, if you would.
We don’t “dig them up” or do anything special. In fact, it sounds as though we are trying to kill them, when I tell you we chop them to the ground each year and walk away. Fall leaves… fall nayurally blanket them and come spring- they and their babies are back! Each year towering as tall as 14 feet in the air. The trunks every bit as big as 6-8 inches in diameter. The Bananas grow from blooms as large as fooballs (and shapped the same) but the bunches of baby bananas never have time to mature, when the chill come back around the Blur Ridge Mountains. There is use though, other than ornimental… the leaves are great to package meats in to cook (either by steam or smoking on the grill). The blooms are edible as well. Here is a link to Millie talking about “Mocha” the bizzar dish that teaches patience.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXHXwSLFnzE

Buying unusual items in a grocery store will bring out the fear and puzzed faces of many a young highschooler making their first paychecks behind the checkout. Sure enough, the young gal grab up the ginger root turning and twisting it as though, the ingredients must be written on there somewhere… “it’s ginger root” I explained. She gave me a kind smile of relief as though I had just given her the answer to a test questio she was sweating over. Then she said, “what do you make with it?”. THAT is a great question and besides this recipe here in this video here is another recipe for you, Altton Brown (FOOD Network star) and his homemade Ginger Ale. I will tell you i have made this before but did not add yeast. Hm? Now “i” too want to try making it again.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/ginger-ale-recipe/index.html

and here is another one of my recipes where Ginger is a star, “My Ginger Egg Rolls”

http://kimberlyscookhouse.com/?p=39

 

Now to the recipe we made in the Video. NO… you do NOT have to have Banana Leaves, they merely help in giving them a “smoke” and great presentation. You could do this recipe in doors and bake/broil the salmon and the flavors stand on their own.

DUE CREDIT: This is the Tyler Florence recipe (that i changed)

http://m.foodnetwork.com/recipes/29678

and here’s how I did it… wouldn’t change a thing after Jason’s sweet comment above!

 

SALMON PACKAGED IN BANANA LEAVES:

 

(Make the dipping sauce first… so flavors can marry)

1 cp Low Sodium Soy Sauce

1/2 cp of Olive Oil

chop up one “knob” of fresh Ginger Root

1/3 (or so) cups of both Mint & Cilantro (Remember it’s SO easy to grow these!)

juice of (2) Limes

1-2 Tblsp Brown Sugar

 

(Start your Rice)

Jasmine Rice… according to directions for 4

Salt

(right at the point of being done)  ADD (1) can of Coconut Milk (I did organic and full fat YUM)

 

Now… Let’s wrap the packages!

 

take a CLEANED banana leaf (or portion of one)

top with dipping sauce, a lime wedge or wheel, and fresh cilantro and mint

fold into a package and tie off

(the ties may get lost by the flames, but they hold it in flace long enough)

Cook on Med Grill for 30 minutes

 

Watch the video above to see the process and how to plate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

About kimberly kelly

I have been in media my whole life, a decade of Morning Radio Shows & a decade of Hosting Television Shows both cable & affiliate. Food is a passion & after sharing this BLOG with viewers... it kinda' grew a life of it's own. Nothing fancy t's just me - sharing what generation(s) in my family & friends & those in travels along the way shared. Food is an expression of ones self and a humble offering to loved ones. One of the best expressions of love. You get "One Trip"... skimp on the material things in life, food is your lifeline though -never skimp on your food! Food can be a positive affect on your health, but also the power to make one feel love. I hope I can show you some of both. Growing & cooking outdoors, is a reminder where our food should come... the ground & not just a shelf.
This entry was posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink.

2 Responses to Salmon grilled in Banana Leaves

  1. Beth Beutler says:

    Never thought of adding coconut milk to Jasmine rice. My husband loves jasmine rice. I will have to try that.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>