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You might say it’s ketchup week, or catch up week.  I’ve got three videos to edit and 2 recipes to post!  I’m a bit behind and this Thursday Sabrina and I will be heading towards Mexico!   So be looking for next week’s challenge to come from a land of sunshine and sparkling seas.

I know, I know, I’m a bit behind.  I still have 3 videos to edit and last week’s recipe to post.  The good news is it’s been a good kind of busy as in finding work here and there (mainly photography, but some writing as well).  The bad news is this blog has suffered.   But not the intent!!  I still need to cook and I still am fairly clueless about creating recipes!  Thank you to my loyal followers for hanging in there with me, I appreciate it!

This week’s challenge is going to be wide open, almost.  For those not in the Pacific Northwest you might not know of the fabled Copper River Salmon.  It is an especially scrumptious salmon from the chilly waters in Alaska that has a really nice fat content.  Most of this fat is in the form of oils that rival other ‘ordinary’ Alaskan salmon.  Personally, it’s my favorite fish.  It rarely needs much sprucing up as the flavor is that good.

But, I need something new.  I tend to throw the fish on an alder plank and throw it in the oven until the oils come through.  I’m looking for either a new way of cooking it that preserves the wonderful flavor or a good recipe to compliment the fish.  Your recipe and credit WILL be posted, I promise!!   I’ll be cooking the fish on Thursday night and will see if I can con Sabrina into helping me film (she loves salmon as well).  The fillet I have is about 2 lbs and just begging for your magical creation!!

It’s time for this week’s recipe challenge!  The cupboard is a bit bare this week so this week’s challenge may be a bit more difficult.  While I have a family recipe for the cream of mushroom and chicken, appropriately name "Chicken and Saucy Stuff", I’m wondering what else is out there in the realm of chick and soup.

This week’s ingredients are:

• Free Range Chicken Thighs
• 1 Can Amy’s Organic Cream Of Mushroom Soup
• Yams
• Badger Mountain Organic Chardonnay

So what would you do with these ingredients?  Feel free to add up to two ingredients of your own and as many of the Herb & Spices listed here.  Post your answer to this week’s challenge in the comments section below.  If you’re wondering how all this works, check out this link.

Thanks!

Week #14’s challenge will be shot on the road, this time in beautiful Utah!  I’ll be arriving in American Fork Thursday and once again staying with friends, invading their kitchen and taking over the stove in order to render a lovely meal for all five of us.  My friend Tambee will be selecting the ingredients and recipe so look for the video soon!

I have to admit to skipping a week.   I know, but it happens!  I ended up cooking the hailbut wiht a bit of Old Bay seasoning and a light salt rub just to get something on the table before the hungry monsters showed up.  Not enough time to get it on tape.  But just wait for this week’s show!!

I admit it.  I didn’t do much cooking last week.  And I surely didn’t come up with a recipe for the halibut that I listed.  It was just one of those super busy weeks so I’m letting that be that.

And I’m recycling!!  This week’s challenge may look a little familiar.  The ingredients are:

• Halibut
• Rice
• Artichokes
• Carrots

If you haven’t played along before, check out How This Works above. Basically, post a recipe here or on your site and let us know about it!  I’ll then cook up the meal and give it a whirl!

This week’s challenge is a return to fish.  I love fish and living in the Puget Sound (well, on an island in the Puget Sound to be accurate) gives me access to some of the best seafood around.  We might not have great lobster, but we do have wonderful salmon and halibut.  And just around the corner is Copper River Salmon!! It’s some of the best there is and comes fresh from Alaska.

With that in mind, this whole month is going to be a fish month!  Let’s start it off with:

• Halibut
• Rice
• Artichokes
• Carrots

That should be fairly simple!  I hope.  I’ve stopped noting in the ingredient list which items are organic because, quite simply, all my ingredients are organic.  Well 95% of the time anyway.  And while I don’t think it’s vital to a recipe to call out which ingredients are and aren’t, I do believe the better tasting food is grown organically most of the time.  That is why you haven’t seen a ton of out of season foods in the challenges, but as Summer is just around the corner, expect to see a bigger variety in the challenges ahead!

Do you have a friend who’s into cooking and enjoys a challenge? Have them subscribe to Help Peter Cook.Com!

That’s right!  This week is a free for all at Help Peter Cook.Com!  What that means for you is limits!  Wait, no, what I mean is, you’re free, buuuuutttt within certain bounds.  This all stems from the fact that I really need to do some grocery shopping and don’t have a likely four ingredients to present this week.

This week’s Free For All (and yes, I now have the Ted Nugent song stuck in my head too) is pretty easy.  You can now pick SIX items of your choice, plus the normal items found under Spices & Herbs to form a unique recipe that this amateur chef and Dad can handle.  It should be something a 7 year old would also like to eat (light on the onions and she loves noodle dishes) and the ingredients should be fairly easy to acquire in a smaller grocery store on an island, meaning I don’t have access to a lot of specialty groceries (like Korean and Mexican markets).

The deadline for entries is this Thursday the 30th, at noon Pacific Time.  Think semi-exotic, think Spring time flavors, think something other than Mac N Cheese. 

Drooling with anticipation of your suggestions….

This week’s challenge should be fairly easy, I hope.  I rooted around in the freezer and found some fish, so fish it is!

Take the following ingredients and post a yummy dish of your own making:

• Wild Salmon filets
• Pear
• Brown Rice Penne Pasta
• Asparagus
• Up to two ingredients of your choice!

If you haven’t played along before, check out How This Works above. Basically, post a recipe here or on your site and let us know about it!  I’ll then cook up the meal and give it a whirl!

It’s time for Weekly Challenge #8.  Wow!  It’s already been two whole months since I started this crazy idea and I’ve been pleasantly surprised at the response and great recipes!  It really has got me into the kitchen more, helped me learn some basic skills and it has produced some yummy recipes!  Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Now for the challenge!  This week I’m mixing it up a little andwe’ll see what happens.  The four ingredients are:

• Line and Hook Caught Wild Alaskan Salmon
• Ginger Root
• Brussels Sprouts
• Red Potatoes

You have until 10am on Thursday the 9th to come up with a recipe a newbie like me can handle.  You may add up to two of your own ingredients if you like, just let me know what they are!  Add the recipe as a comment below or point me and the readers of Help Peter Cook to your own website where we can find your suggestion.  If your suggestion is picked as the winner, I’ll cook it up and post a video! (sorry there was no video last week, a hungry child prevented proper videoing!)  As there has been just one entry for each week, your odds are good of getting your recipe cooked up if you just suggest ANYTHING!  Give it a whirl.  If you need help, check out How This Works and Herb & Spices in the tabs above.

Good luck!