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