Sesame salmon and salsa

It's been over a month since my last posting and I've been feeling very guilty about that. It's not that I'm not trying new salmon recipes, it's just that I don't always remember to take a photo or I put off getting the recipe into the blog.
Naughty. But I hope this delicious recipe I actually tried nearly three weeks ago will make up it. No? Oh well, I tried.
This is a light dish with a colourful, crunchy salsa that I read about in the newspaper (love those food pages!). The recipe is from In The Kitchen with Anna by Anna Olson and I've checked a few other recipes in this book and they look great.
Makes 6 servings.

Red pepper salsa:
12-ounce jar roasted red peppers, drained (I got mine from Ryan at The Markt on Rutherford Road. He makes his own and they are much better than most commercial brands.)
1 cup diced English cucumber
1/2 cup finely diced red onion
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint
2 teaspoons sesame oil
Sesame salmon
2 tablespoons olive oil
6 tablespoons sesame seeds
Salt and pepper
6 salmon fillets, skin on, about 6 ounces (170 grams) each (three cheers for a record sockeye run.)

Salsa: Finely dice the roasted red peppers and toss with the cucumber, red
onion, rice wine vinegar and sugar in a bowl, and season lightly. Cover and
chill for 30 minutes. Drain off any excess liquid and then stir in the
cilantro, mint and sesame oil. Season to taste and chill until ready to
serve.
For the salmon, preheat the oven to 400 F (200 C). Pour the sesame seeds
onto a plate and season lightly, stirring to mix. Heat a large, ovenproof
saute pan over medium-high heat and add the olive oil. Dip the skinless side
of each salmon portion in the sesame seeds and place the this side down into
the hot pan. Cook for 2 minutes, then flip the salmon portions over.
Immediately place the pan in the oven and cook for 10 to 15 minutes (10 to
medium, 15 for well done.) Serve with the salsa on the side.

Smoked salmon tartare appies

Smoked Salmon Tartare on Cucumber Rounds

I have always liked Eric Akis's recipes. They're the ones I would clip out of the Thrifty Foods flyers, for example, or out of the newspaper's food pages. He has a way with food that appeals to me - simple, fresh and heavy on the west coast ingredients.

This Akis recipe for simple Smoked Salmon Tartare on Cucumber Rounds, is a healthier spin on the classic beef tartare and it is from his latest book, Everyone Can Cook for Celebrations (although I got it from the Postmedia News wire service).

You use finely chopped smoked salmon instead of beef and serve it on refreshing slices of cucumber. It's meant as an appetizer but to be honest, I scoffed the lot instead of supper and I'm pretty sure it's one of the healthiest suppers I've had in some time. (OK, I shared a few with Alvaro and one with Pepe the cat . . . who did not care for the cucumber.)

This is definitely going to make it to the table for my next barbecue, potluck or whatever because in my opinion, it's a winner. It also looks kind of sophisticated and it's always fun to fool people into thinking that I'm sophisticated.

Smoked Salmon Tartare on Cucumber Rounds

Makes: 20 pieces

4 ounces (115 g) smoked salmon, finely chopped

3 tablespoons finely chopped red onion

1 tablespoon capers, finely chopped (I rinsed them well first because I'm trying to keep the salt content of my food down)

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

2 teaspoons chopped fresh dill

20 English cucumber slices cut 1/2-inch (12-mm) thick

Place the salmon, onion, capers, oil, lemon juice, mustard, pepper and dill in a bowl and gently mix to combine. Use a small spoon or melon baller to scoop out some of the centre portion of each cucumber slice. Mound 2 teaspoons of the smoked salmon tartare in the centre of each cumber slice and arrange on a serving tray.

Options: These bites can be made several hours in advance; cover and refrigerate until you're ready to serve. Instead of smoked salmon, you can use smoked tuna to make the tartare. You can find smoked tuna, which is usually frozen (thaw before using), at specialty seafood stores and some supermarkets.

The photo is from Akis' book and is by Michael Tourigny.

Maple citrus salmon

I'm never sure when, how or why certain flavour profiles will occur in my mind and create a desire for that flavour. I'm practically one of Pavlov's pups and once the idea is there, it sticks, I drool and there's nothing to do but enjoy.
I once did up some salmon steaks for some friends with something resembling this recipe but it's a decade ago and I'm not sure where the idea came from.
Anyhow, those salmon steaks popped back into my mind and while this time I used noodles with them as we were out of rice (can you imagine!?!) and I hadn't yet bought some more quinoa (Which I'd originally intended to use), nonetheless it turned out fine and I was able to satisfy the craving for this blend of white wine, maple syrup and citrus that had been lingering on my taste buds.

Ingredients

1/4 cup maple syrup
4 cloves garlic, minced
Ground black pepper to taste
Pinch of cayenne
1/2 half onion sliced thinly
Tbsp of lemon juice
3 tbsp of cream or milk
1 pound salmon fillets with skin on
Some oil for frying pan

Directions

If serving with rice, start the rice first as this dish doesn't take much time. If using noodles - say fettucini - begin at the same time by tossing a couple of handfuls into a pot of boiling water.
By the time your wine-syrup sauce has reduced, it will be time to strain your noodles.
In a small bowl, mix the maple syrup, wine, lemon juice, cayenne and black
pepper.
Lightly fry the salmon pieces over fairly high heat to get a bit of crispiness on each side ... less than a minute per side should do it.
Remove salmon and now fry your onions and garlic in the pan, turning the heat down to medium. When they start to go golden, pour in the wine-syrup mixture and cook for about 10 minutes to reduce the liquid down. After a couple of minutes add the cream or milk and whisk well to blend thoroughly. Put the salmon pieces back into the liquid and cook over low heat for a few minutes to heat through. Salmon should be flaky when done. When cooking salmon, less is more ... always.
Plate noodles or rice, place a piece of salmon on top and pour over some of the sauce.
This recipe will serve two for a hearty meal or three as a lighter dish, maybe with a side salad or green veg.

Make mine all nice and crispy

I recently read in the paper about the Lee brothers of Charleston, S.C., who run a mail-order food business and write about southern American cuisine. And I discovered their latest cookbook, Simple Fresh Southern (Clarkson Potter, $43), where they have a recipe for broiling salmon with the skin on until it is "blistery and delicious." Well ... what can I say ... crispy skin salmon? I'm sold so I'm sharing with you this recipe and a photo from their book which I hope will inspire you as it did me.
And while I have to admit I had to try a couple of stores to get the buttermilk (I gather it's hard to avoid buttermilk in South Carolina, but not so much so in Nanaimo), it was worth the effort for the refreshing creamy sauce that goes with this simply-prepared salmon.
Now I cooked this the other night when it was distressingly cool for summer, but generally I think this is a recipe more for cooler months when you don't mind having the oven on ... though at least it's not on for too long.
And that crispy salmon skin is delicious I have to say and well worth a little fiddling with the broiler. You could also do it on the BBQ I think and I intend to try just that real soon!


Crispy-skin salmon with buttermilk-mint sauce
Serves 4
Sauce:
1/2 cup (125 mL) chopped, fresh mint
1/2 cup (125 mL) buttermilk
1/2 cup (125 mL) sour cream
1/2 teaspoon (2 mL) kosher or coarse salt
Fish:
3 teaspoons (15 mL) olive oil
1 pound (500 g) thick salmon fillet, skin on
1/2 teaspoon (2 mL) kosher or coarse salt
Freshly ground pepper

Sauce: In a food processor or blender, combine mint, buttermilk, sour cream
and salt and process or blend until thoroughly combined. Transfer to a bowl
and keep cool. Fish: Measure two teaspoons (10 mL) of the oil into a large,
cast-iron frying pan or broiler pan and place it under the broiler so the
bottom of the pan is about five inches (12 cm) from heat source. Turn
broiler on.
While broiler and pan are heating up, score the salmon skin crosswise in
three places to divide the fish into four equal servings. Rub the remaining
teaspoon (5 mL) of oil over the skin of the fish and sprinkle it with the
half-teaspoon (2 mL) salt and pepper to taste.
When the oil in the pan starts to smoke, lay the filet skin side up in the
pan and cook for 51/2 minutes, or until the skin is blistery and charred and
the salmon is cooked medium-rare.
Cut fish into four servings and serve skin side up with the sauce.

Quinoa Salmon with cilantro, ginger and spinach

We had our traditional Canada Barbecue on July 1st but since it's based on my husband's Uruguayan parilla (grill) heritage - thus blending our two cultures - there was no salmon on the barbecue. I mean, after all, that would have meant moving over the chimichurri sausages (garlic and parsley flavoured which we bought at The Markt, hand made by Ryan and his talented crew of charcuterieists if such a word exists) and all the short local beef short ribs we bought at Piper's Meats.

Because when Uruguayans grill, it's all about the beef, pork and other red meats so poor old salmon had to take a back seat this time around. However, my sister-in-law Roxanne brought a quite lovely quinoa salad. I'd had bits of quinoa before but it was served as a sort of side-dish, like potatoes but without any real flavour. I was much surprised and impressed therefore at Roxanne's salad with its bits of veggie and lots of yummy flavour. And, since I'd been reading lots about how very nutritious quinoa is (the Quinoa 365 cookbook is on my to-buy list: http://quinoa365.com/whyquinoa.html), I thought this would be a great time to try to make it myself and incorporate salmon for a nutrition-packed meal that, as it turned out, tasted great.

And with all the fresh sockeye swimming its way into the stores these days, hey, it was a natural combination and we're very glad we gave it a try. This recipe is definitely on my list to make again, maybe trying variations on the herbs ... I think the possibilities might just be endless.

And since it's quite a simple dish but looks nice and colourful, I think it would make a great dish to take to potlucks, hot or cold.

Quinoa Salmon with cilantro, ginger and spinach

1/2 cup quinoa
1 cup water
3 teaspoons canola oil
3 big handfuls of fresh baby spinach
2 cloves minced garlic
1 tablespoon coarsely chopped cilantro
1 sockeye salmon fillet (8 ounces/250 grams)
kosher salt
1 teaspoon fresh minced ginger

Preheat oven to 475 degrees F.

Combine the quinoa and the water in a small saucepan, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 10-12 minutes, or until done.

Put 2 teaspoons of oil and the chopped cilantro in a shallow dish. Put the dish in the oven for 5 minutes. While the dish is in the oven, rinse and dry your salmon fillet. Remove any obvious bones, and sprinkle it with the tiniest pinch of kosher salt. When the oil and cilantro are sizzling hot, place the salmon fillet skin side up in the pan, and let it cook for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, take it out of the oven and peel the skin off (I'd suggest with a pair of tongs, I stupidly tried to get it started with my fingers - ouch!). It should peel off easily, if it doesn't, bung it back in the oven for a couple more minutes, and try again.

Once you've removed the skin, sprinkle it again with a pinch of kosher salt, and the ginger, then flip it over. Bake for 4-5 more minutes, or until its done (flakes easily with a fork).

While the fish is baking, heat the remaining teaspoon of oil in a big frying pan and sautee the garlic for one minute. Add the spinach and toss for 1-2 minutes, or until its good and wilted

Combine the quinoa, salmon, and spinach in a bowl, and enjoy.
Makes about 2 servings

Summer is spelled s-o-c-k-e-y-e

Grilled fresh summer sockeye

Well, even though Mother Nature is not completely co-operating, it really is summer and to me that has always meant more barbecues. Of course, on the West Coast of Canada, we're blessed with weather mild enough that we can fire up the grill most of the year ... at least as long as you don't mind dashing between house and grill in buckets of rain.
And since barbecued food can be some of the healthiest and tastiest (well, healthiest if you don't char it too much), it's a great way for those who are trying to cut down on some of those pesky calories.
A combination of wanting to feel more summery and the fact the sockeye are now running in huge numbers, it occurred to me that a nice bit of barbecued sockeye might be just the thing I needed this week.
So, off to the fish shop to get a fairly large (about six pounds with head on, the fish seem a little bigger this year than in the past) sockeye. I had them remove the head and gills and scrape for scales just because frankly I was feeling lazy. It's not all that hard to do, but it's slightly mucky work.
There is nothing like fresh sockeye. That bright orange flesh and ocean smell..... yummm.
So I preheated the grill and oiled it down. I had decided to cook without foil because I just like it better that way, but it's a little more work to make sure it doesn't stick and your timing has to be more careful as it can dry out and there is nothing more pathetic than a lovely piece of sockeye cooked to the consistency of jerky.
The thing about this recipe is that it is simple, you really taste the freshness of the fish and that's a flavour that, frankly, doesn't need a lot of additives or fussy sauces.
So here's my recipe for:

Grilled whole sockeye

Yield: 8 Servings

Ingredients
1 whole, dressed sockeye (about 4 1/2 to 5 pounds)
Salt and pepper
2 Tbsp. butter
1/2 medium onion, sliced thinly
1/2 lemon, sliced thinly
A bunch of fresh parsley or cilantro
Olive oil
1 lemon sliced lengthwise into wedges

Rinse salmon and pat dry. Sprinkle inside with salt and pepper and a smear of butter.
Arrange overlapping slices of onion, lemon and plenty of parsley in the cavity.
Brush both sides of the salmon with oil. (Alternately, you can oil the fish and wrap in heavy-duty aluminum foil, seal edges with a double fold. This method means less clean up of the grill and does ensure the fish is very moist, but I like the sizzly crisp skin on the outside and you won't get it with the foil.)
Whole salmon is best cooked using indirect heat which means turning on one burner on your grill but putting the fish on the other side of the grill. Preheat the grill to medium heat. Place the well-oiled fish on the grill. Don't move the fish too soon. It will stick to the grate until the grill marks are seared into the flesh. It should lift off the grill easily then. When the salmon flesh flakes with a fork, it's done. Be sure to remove the salmon just as it reaches the flaking point, or it will begin to dry and toughen. Perfectly done salmon is moist and tender.
Grill whole salmon with indirect medium heat, for 7 minutes per half pound. (Include the weight of your stuffing ingredients when estimating time. But ultimately it's not the clock but the edges of the flesh just turning flaky that determine when it's time to take the fish off the grill.
Let it rest about 10 minutes under a piece of foil before cutting and serving.
Absolutely delicious with lemon wedges and a big tossed salad for a light meal that will fill you with energy and all kinds of good nutrition. Of course, you can also grill some veggies like zucchini strips, asparagus or the like as your side dish to make a meal that feels a bit more substantial.
And best of all, even if it doesn't quite look like summer out there, a big plate of grilled salmon with ensure that you feel like summer inside.
Enjoy.

Sockeye Salmon Wrap

Well, between needing nutritious lunches at work that won't have me nodding over my keyboard an hour after eating and thinking ahead to the summer (which should be here by now but seems strangely reluctant to actually show up) I got to thinking about sandwiches and other portable foods.

Now I am a big fan of the sandwich in general ... one of humanity's best inventions ever. Take them to work, school, on a picnic or just to chow down on one anytime, I don't think there's a more versatile style of food. Plus, you can make them with virtually anything, to meet any tastes and to any level of nutrition (or bad nutrition ... think bacon strips inside) that your little heart desires.

With this is mind, I share with you a salmon wrap sandwich I got off a tinned seafood site. They suggested tinned salmon of course and that certainly is doable, but the salt levels in tinned salmon are way out of line for anyone watching their blood pressure as I am.

This is a good way to use up any leftovers if you have baked, grilled, fried, poached or whatever a piece of salmon or, as I did, just cook one up to make the sandwiches.

This recipe makes 4 servings.

400-450 grams sockeye or other wild salmon, sauted lightly on each side for about four to six minutes depending on how thick the piece is. Should go lighter pink and a little flakey and it's done. Less done is much better than overdone when it comes to salmon.

8 ounces softened light cream cheese

2 Tablespoons fresh chopped chives

1 Tablespoon lemon juice

2 Tablespoons chopped cilantro or you can use 2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning

2 teaspoon finely chopped red onion

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes or cayenne (optional)

4 large (10-inch) whole grain flour tortillas

4 large Romaine or curly lettuce leaves, center ribs removed or equivalent amount of mixed salad greens (about 1 cup to my eye) for even more flavour and nutritious goodness

4 cups chopped or thinly sliced assorted fresh vegetables, such as cucumber, bean sprouts, tomato, celery, or shredded carrots/ broccoli/cabbage ... pretty much whatever you have in your fridge is great

Blend salmon, cream cheese, chives, lemon juice, seasoning, onion and pepper.

On each of the tortillas, divide and spread the salmon-cream cheese mixture to almost the edge. Lay a lettuce leaf or scatter some mixed greens over each tortilla. Top with one cup vegetables placed across middle of tortilla. Note that if you are using tomatoes, it's best to get the wet seedy bits out to make the sandwich a little less mucky. If you won't want to waste that part (OK, I'm cheap, I know) you can also put that part into the salmon cheese spread where it will blend in and not be so runny.

Roll up the tortillas tightly, tuck in ends envelope-style and slice on the diagonal.

Now just enjoy the crunchy flavourful goodness.