There are a lot of health benefits behind this dish: miso is a fermented soy paste that is great for helping balance your microbiom.  And salmon is an excellent source of protein, omega 3 fatty acids, and vitamin B.  I garnish this with shiso, an Asian herb from the mint family.  It's a fabulous and easy meal, but if you don't want to make it, we'll take care of that for you - it's on our menu this week!

I love to serve this with white rice and steamed vegetables.  It pairs particularly well with sauvignon blanc, or a pale ale.

Miso Glazed Salmon Filet

Ingredients:
2 Salmon Filet (we prefer coho salmon, but you can use any kind)
1/4cup  Miso Paste (We use white, but you can use red... it's just more intense)
2 Tbsp  Maple Syrup
2 Tbsp Mirin
Scallions or Shiso to garnish (optional)

Method:
Whisk together the miso, maple syrup and mirin and cover the filets with the marinade.  Refrigerate overnight, or atleast a couple hours.  When you are ready to eat preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Place the fish in an oven safe dish and cover with aluminum foil.  Cook for approximately 6 minutes.  Remove the foil and cook until the salmon is firm to the touch (approximately another 6 minutes).  Garnish and serve.

It’s that time of year, the garden is just about to move past its peak and we’re all searching Pinterest for ways to preserve the harvest.  In recent years I’ve decided to leave the vegetable gardening to others infinitely more qualified at growing those things and focus on herbs.  Herbs have incredible healing powers in addition to their culinary uses… and they grow like weeds, so I’m qualified there as well. 
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Herbs need consistent cutting back, but now is the time for all Midwesterners to begin the process of putting our gardens to sleep, and herbs are a good place to start.  One of my favorite ways to preserve the flavor and essence of things like mint, basil, lavender, and even rosemary is to make something called a simple syrup. 

For those of you who enjoy the occasional (or frequent) cocktail, you probably know simple syrup as the sweetening agent in many of our favorite alcoholic beverages.  But simple syrups are great in nonalcoholic applications as well. Perhaps the most notable being lemonade.  Recently I’ve had a profusion of lavender, and it’s been a warm fall in Wisconsin so lavender lemonade has been a frequent visitor on my table.  It’s ridiculously easy to make, and if you have a variety of simple syrups on hand you can get pretty creative with these… basil, strawberry lemonade, mint limeade (mojito anyone?)… there really is no limit.  Simple syrups can also be frozen in ice cube trays and popped into seltzer water for a refreshing revisit to summer in the dark winter months.
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So… how do we make this thing?  It’s almost not worth a formal recipe, but I’ll give that to you now.  Be aware, you can substitute other sweeteners for the cane sugar.  When I lived in Vermont I used maple syrup.  Some folks like agave.  And if you aren’t vegan honey is a nice option.  Use what you got, and what you like!  Another hint… if you want a more intense flavor, simmer the herbs longer, or include more herbs.  And the reverse is also true… you can back off the amount of herbs, and the time you allow them to steep.
 
Herbal Simple Syrup
1 cup                     Cane Sugar
1 cup                     Water
1 bunch                Fresh Herb
Combine all ingredients in a sauce pan on the stove.  Brin gup to a simmer and hold for about 5 minutes.  Turn off the heat, cover and allow the mixture to steep until it cools down. Strain through a mesh sieve.   Store in the refrigerator or freeze for longer holding.
 
Lavender Lemonade
1 cup                     Lavender Simple Syrup
1 cup                     Lemon Juice
2-3 cups               Water
Mix all the ingredients together and serve over ice.