Dateline: December 28, 2021 Salmon in a Spicy Sauce

Sometimes the little gray cells just don't fire on all cylinders.  For instance, I had some salmon that I wanted to use a recipe that had a compound butter of anchovies.  The recipe sounded good, and I took everything out of the fridge and got a recipe up on the phone from NYTCooking, and half way through the prep I realized it was NOT the recipe that I had intended.

Sometimes things turn out well even when you screw it up and go off plan.  I used Colu Henry's Sheet-pan Harissa Salmon .  And it is a keeper!

The salmon was cooked perfectly, 9 minutes at 400° F even though the recipe called for 450° F.  Many comments were that the fish was over cooked at that temp.  I roasted the potatoes and onions for 30 minutes at 400° F and then added the salmon skin side down.  

The marinade was wonderful.  I didn't have any orange juice, so I used a shot of triple sec and some water to make 1/3 cup.  The salmon marinated in it for about 30 minutes until the potatoes were almost crispy.  I used a mix of sweet and white potatoes as I love sweet and husband unit doesn't!

Photo is not that great, but the eating was!

Dateline: June 28, 2021 Grilled Salmon, Broccolini, Corn, and Caprese Salad

Deciding what to pull out of the freezer is often a daunting task.  It means rooting down through the layers of animal bits saved for sausage making, the bag of kogi, diving under frozen rib racks and plumbing the depths of the very bottom of each freezer drawer.

Today's find was some lovely salmon steaks.  The weather was good, so the grill got fired up.  Just salt, pepper and olive oil on the salmon and broccoli.  Onto the hot grill went the corn first, followed by the broccolini and finally, the salmon.  A perfect dinner was had.  

The skin on the salmon was beautifully crisped and there were even grill marks on the flesh side to boot!

The caprese salad was using a lovely ripe beefsteak tomato and some fresh mozzarella with basil from the garden.  Summer is here!

 

 

 

 

Dateline: January 31, 2021 Baked Salmon and Mushroom Risotto

I had about 1 lb of cremini mushrooms that needed to be used up.  Thank God I had stored them in a paper bag, or they would have been mush!

I cleaned and sliced the mushrooms, shopped up the shallots and garlic and soaked some dried cepes.  For the risotto stock, I used the mushroom soaking liquid and some mushroom powder that I used in addition to some hot water for some vegetable base.  

Mushroom Risotto

1 lb sliced mushrooms, your own choice or mixture

small handful of dried cepes or porchini mushrooms

2 T olive oil

Salt and pepper

2 large shallots, chopped fine, divided, one shallot will be used to top the salmon

2 cloves of garlic, smashed and chopped fine

2 T white wine

1 cup arborio rice

3.5 cups water, divided

1 T vegetable soup base

1/2 package frozen peas

1/2 c grated parmesan cheese

2 T butter, divided

2 T half and half

truffle oil, optional

Method

1.  Heat 1/2 C water, I used the microwave and soak the dried mushroom using a spoon to keep as many of them below the water level as possible.  Heat the remaining 3 cups of water in a large measuring cup in the microwave and add the vegetable base to the very hot water.  Stir to dissolve the base completely.

Keep warm, or reheat in microwave.

2.  Heat a large casserole pan up and when hot add the olive oil and 1 T of the butter.  Add the shallots, salt and pepper and saute until translucent then add the smashed garlic.  Remove cepes from soaking liquid and add soaking liquid to the vegetable base.  Add cepes and mushrooms to saute pan.  Cook the mushrooms until they start to give off their water.  Add a splash of white wine to keep them from sticking to the bottom of the pan.

3.  When the wine has evaporated, add the rice and saute until the grains become translucent.  Add a pinch or two of salt and start to ladle in 4 oz at a time the heated vegetable stock.   Only add additional stock when the previous one has been completely absorbed.  Stir constantly.  Add stock as necessary and take your time.  Risotto is an act of love, do not rush it.

4.  When most of the stock has been used, taste the rice, is it still crunchy, keep cooking, if it has softened, but is still al dente, then you are very close to being finished.  When the rice is cooked to your liking, add the reserved T of butter and the frozen peas.  Stir to melt them both into the rice.  Add the half and half along with the cheese, in parts, combining into the risotto.  

5.  Just before serving, drizzle with truffle oil.

Ah, risotto

A beautiful Chablis

Baked Salmon with Shallots

Ingredients

2 center cut salmon fillets, pin bones removed

1 finely chopped shallot

salt and pepper

Method

1.  Set oven to 400°F.  Prepare a baking dish by coating with cooking spray.  Dry off the fish and place skin side down in the baking dish.  Use olive oil or cooking spray on the fish.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper and top with the chopped shallots.

2.  When oven is hot, put the pan into the oven and set a timer for 5 minutes.  When time is up, rotate the pan and set timer for another 5 minutes.  Depending on how thick your fillets were, you may need some more time, or if you prefer your salmon more well done.  Then set the timer for another 3 - 5 minutes.  Remove and serve.

 

Dateline: January 10, 2021 Red Curry Salmon

I had some salmon from FD and wanted something other than seared!  I had a ton of veggies that needed to be used, so why not do a Thai Red Curry.  

Vegetation

 

Beautiful Salmon

Ingredients

2 salmon fillets, with or without skin.  I skinned mine

1 large red onion, chopped

several carrots, colors good

1 orange bell pepper, cut into bite sized chunks

1 green bell pepper, cut into bite sized chunks

2 or 3 cloves of garlic

1 can coconut milk, kept in fridge

1 bunch kale or collards, stemmed and sliced in ribbons

2-3 T red curry paste

1 t shrimp paste

Juice of 1 lime

stock, wine, or water

Method

1.  Remove can of coconut milk from fridge, and carefully spoon the thickened coconut cream off the
top and put into a large sauce pan.  Heat pan over medium and allow the coconut cream to bubble away.

 

After a bit, all of the water will have evaporated from the coconut cream and it will sound different in the pan.  At that point, add the curry paste and shrimp paste and stir to combine with the coconut cream. Simmer gently until the oil starts to separate out.

 

 

2.  Add the harder veggies (carrots, celery, etc) and stir to coat with the curry.  Cook for a few minutes, then add the softer veggies (onions, bell peppers, kale or collards), stir to combine with the curry and other veggies. 

 

3.  Add in the balance of the can of coconut milk, the lime juice and some stock, wine, or water.  Stir to combine and allow to cook until tender.

4.  Break fish up into large pieces and add to the pan when the veggies are tender.  Stir gently, and allow to come to heat.  When the salmon is cooked through, dinner is ready!

 

 

 

Dateline: December 18, 2020 Maple Baked Salmon

 I saw this recipe in the NYTCooking section, and decided after reading the comments, I would try it.  Maple Baked Salmon 

This is a really wonderful recipe for a marinade for the salmon.  I was afraid it would be too sweet, but it was perfect.  Even Bill liked it a little.  He hates mustard.  The maple helped on that front!

I had opened a bottle that just arrived from Last Bottle, a susumaniello.  This is a rare grape varietal that grows in Italy.  It is a lovely wine.  Last Bottle buys of lots of wines and then sells them via the internet. They are based in Napa, CA and have great deals on wine.  The difficulty is that once the lot is sold, you are out of luck.  Sometimes the wine comes around again, or another vintage shows up, but once they sell out, that is generally it.  I love them.  I have boxes and boxes of wine that I have ordered through them stashed around the house, as I am known to quip, "I don't have a drinking problem, I have a buying problem."

So the first glass of the wine led to another, which is why there are no photos of the meal, I only have a photo of the wine bottle!

Despite the wine consumption, the rest of the meal did get made.  We ate the lovely salmon with roasted corn with artichoke hearts and baked potatoes.  It was a two thumbs up from Bill.