Green-Tea Smoked Trout with Spinach Salad

This recipe is truly incredible! I was stunned by the amount of flavor (and not too smoky) that the trout picks up during the cooking process – and the salad dressing is delightful!

It is another one that I tested for The Washington Post and is in the Food Section of today’s paper.

Green Tea- Smoked Trout with Spinach Salad
serves 6

For the trout:
3 tbsp kosher salt
1 tbsp honey
2 cups cold water
18 ounces boneless, skin-on trout fillets
1 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
Green tea leaves from 2 single-serving tea bags

For the vinaigrette and salad:
1 cup apple cider
3 tbsp sherry vinegar
2 tsp coarse-grain or Dijon-style mustard
1/2 cup canola oil
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
14 ounces to 1 pound flat-leaf spinach, stemmed, washed and spun dry
1/2 small red onion, cut into thin half-moon slices
2 medium Granny Smith apples, cored and cut into very thin matchsticks (julienne), tossed with 1 teaspoon lemon juice to keep the flesh from turning brown

Magnolia Bakery’s Red Velvet Cupcakes

Magnolia Bakery is famous for making some of the best cupcakes in the country… Here is their recipe for a great Valentine’s treat!

Red Velvet Cupcakes

3 1/2 cups cake flour (not self-rising)
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 ½ cups sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
6 tbsp red food coloring
3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1 1/2 tsp cider vinegar
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 batch Creamy Vanilla Frosting (see below)

Tip of the Day: Flavored Butters

When butter is a lead character on your table, opt for the best quality sweet butter you can find. I like to zest things up a bit by serving butters with hints of raspberry, maple syrup or lemon-honey.

Making flavored butters is actually quite easy and so delicious on homemade breads, pancakes and muffins.

For berry flavored butters – cook 1/2 cup of the fruit and 2 tbsp sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat until sugar dissolves and most of the liquid has evaporated. Cool then mix with 8 tbsp of softened butter.

For maple butter – Blend 8 tbsp of softened butter with 4 tbsp of maple syrup.

For lemon honey butter – Blend 8 tbsp of softened butter with 1/2 cup of honey and 2 tsp lemon zest.

After mixing, roll in parchment to form a log. Refrigerate for up to a week or freeze up to 2 months.

Enjoy!