Don’t you agree with me – you can never have enough recipes for preparing salmon? Fillets of salmon are one of my favorite fish (swordfish is by far my favorite, oh and maybe lobster, especially after eating it twice while we were in New England recently). I like salmon because it has ample texture – I’m not so crazy about soft fish. I eat them (like sole, tilapia, orange roughy), but they’re not my favorites.

So when my new friend Didi emailed me about a salmon recipe she’d made, I said sure I’d like to try it. And it was lovely. It came from an America’s Test Kitchen show, apparently. It’s attributed to Cook’s Illustrated, anyway. And it was tender and flavorful with lots of herbs to augment it. Plus, it’s very easy too – you may not think it when you look at the recipe, but it came together from start to finish in about 20-25 minutes. The fish is poached on a bed of sliced, fresh lemon, with some shallot and herb stems added in, plus a little white wine (I used vermouth) and water. Once cooked through, you remove the fish and boil down (reduce) the poaching liquid, squeeze the juices through a sieve and add more fresh herbs, some chopped-up capers, shallot, honey and a little jot of olive oil. That becomes the vinaigrette. Serve the fish with the vinaigrette on top. Done.

If I were a first-rate blogger I’d not be posting this until I made it a second time and altered just one thing – figured out how to alter it, that is. My only “beef” with the dish was that the vinaigrette flooded the plate. Well, maybe flooded is the wrong word – there wasn’t that much, but it moved on over to the cauliflower I’d put on the plate, rather than staying around the salmon. So, I think the vinaigrette (sauce) needs to be thickened just slightly – maybe 1/4 tsp of flour. Or cornstarch. Or butter might do it too. The other option would be to serve the fish in its own small dish to contain the vinaigrette. If you look at the photo at top, you can’t even see the vinaigrette because it had already migrated across the plate. Of course, the salmon was partly on a hill, so there’s no way the juices could stay put.

The salmon was served with my quickie take on one of Kalyn’s recipes for cauliflower (steamed, mashed with a potato masher, added in light sour cream, a bit of shredded Cheddar) plus some delicious sweet and sour cabbage a friend gave us. Altogether a nice dinner. And the salmon was low calorie too, plus the fact that salmon is so good for us!

What I liked: the mild, flavorful vinaigrette – it didn’t detract from the salmon at all. The dish was so easy to make, too.

What I didn’t like: the sauce was a bit too thin (see my discussion in the 2nd paragraph above). Add a little flour maybe, or cornstarch. Or butter. To thicken the juices just slightly. Or, serve the salmon in its own little dish. That would be the simplest if you have such dishes.

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People in lots of places in the Northern Hemisphere are already experiencing much cooler weather, like it’s fall, of course. But in Southern California, uh, no. No fall. No cooling temps. The hottest part of our summer usually is in September and October. I sort-of have a date-goal, that by about Halloween our weather has begun to cool down, at least at night. But until then, it’s still lots of sunshine, no rain, and plenty of air conditioning going on in my house.

So, summer salads are still on my dinner menus, maybe twice a week, and on menus at most restaurants. Here in California, salads are on the menu at restaurants year ‘round. Which is why I went to a Phillis Carey cooking class recently that was all about salads. Main dish salads. And they were, each one, delicious. Worth making. Like this one.

She took some of the usual ingredients of a Nicoise salad (potatoes, Kalamata olives, green beans, hard boiled eggs) but instead of tuna (canned tuna if you’re eating it in France, maybe seared ahi if you’re having it here in California), which is the usual protein in a Nicoise, she used big, gorgeous shrimp. What a great concept. Then she paired it with a mustardy lemon olive oil dressing. Do use fresh lemon juice in the dressing – and add more if it isn’t lemony enough. That’s an essential flavor.

What I liked: absolutely everything about it. Even down to the capers on top of the egg. Loved the dressing too.

What I didn’t like: nothing. Deliciousness in every bite.

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The first time I had this was probably 50 years ago. Oh my goodness, do I feel old writing that! The recipe, if you can call it that since it’s nothing more than a couple of ingredients, is from my friend Linda’s mother, Van (Linda is a childhood friend that I still see once in awhile, and she still lives just a few doors from the house I grew up in, in San Diego). Anyway, Linda’s parents are both deceased now. But her dad loved to fish, and he caught hundreds and hundreds of pounds of tuna each year. The family would have a tuna-canning-fest. I can still remember being given a couple of the short, fat Mason jars packed full of tuna, garlic and onion, as I recall. I don’t believe it was smoked tuna, but just “canned” tuna. Van had a big canning kettle and I vaguely remember the family all complaining about the big job it was, to can dozens and dozens of jars of tuna.

Tuna isn’t something we eat with as much regularity anymore, what with the amount of mercury in it. On Wikipedia I found this statement about tuna: Due to their high position in the food chain and the subsequent accumulation of heavy metals from their diet, mercury levels can be high in larger species such as bluefin and albacore. Also, according to Wikipedia, a can of StarKist brand tuna contains about 10 TIMES the amount of mercury as other similarly labeled grocery-shelf tuna.

I’ve told you, my readers, about the albacore tuna that I do buy online, though. It’s by Carvalho Fisheries. They catch young tuna, and as such, younger tuna haven’t consumed enough metals in the sea to have as much measurable mercury in their flesh. I’ve been buying Carvalho’s tuna for about 8-9 years now. Each time, I buy a 12-pack of regular low mercury albacore in its own juices. Last time I ordered I also got some salmon and some smoked albacore. That’s when I started using the smoked version in this simple-easy appetizer.

First, though, you cut up half of a red onion, cut that half in half, peel it and remove the ends, then  thinly slice the onion. As thin as possible. Into a bowl those little slivers go. I add water to cover, then add a jolt (probably about 2 T. ) of vinegar or red wine vinegar and let that sit for 30-60 minutes. What that does is remove the harshness of raw onion – soaked onions make that raw onion taste mild and sweet. If you’d like it actually “sweet,” just add a little dash of sugar to the brine and you’ll have sweet onions. Phillis Carey shared that tip with one of the many cooking classes I’ve been to, and it’s a great little trick.

There you can see one of the crackers (I prefer crackers to bread, but it’s completely up to you) with a little bit of the big flakes or shards of tuna with the onions on top. Makes two delicious bites per Vinta cracker. Nothing else is needed – no sauce – no mayo – no nothin’. It’s just good the way it is.

When I make this I start an hour ahead, soak the red onions and leave them out on the kitchen counter. Then I open the can of tuna, put it on some kind of tray or plate, the onions in a small bowl and surround it with crackers. How simple is that?

There’s a photo from Carvalho’s website of the Coastal Albacore. It’s a traditional tuna-sized can. I still have several in my pantry at the moment, just waiting for my next tuna recipe. My favorite is the Sicilian Tuna Salad. Pasta, herbs, a delicious lemony dressing, and the tuna.

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My friend Cherrie and I had been on a short hiatus from going to cooking classes. They took a trip and so did we, and for a variety of reasons including date conflicts, we just couldn’t fit in any fun cooking class get-togethers. But we’re back on track again, going to our favorite cooking school, Great News, in Pacific Beach (San Diego). Most often she and I seek out classes taught by Phillis Carey. She’s just tops on our list of great cooking instructors.

This class was all about main dish (summer) salads, and you’ll see all four of the salads up here on my blog eventually. I’m not going to post four in a row. That would be a bit too much, I think. This salad, though, was my favorite of the four that Phillis prepared. I do love ahi tuna, for one. And the cannellini beans too. So good. And the dressing. Well, everything about it was good.

First Phillis soaked the red onion in acidulated water to take out that harsh onion-y taste. That little tip works like a charm. The tuna is seared quickly – you know – you want the tuna to be still red in the middle like you see in the photo at top. If you cook ahi all the way through it’s much too dry and hard to swallow. Just buy it from a reputable fish market. There’s an olive oil and lemon juice dressing. There are herbs (thyme and parsley), there’s garlic, tomatoes and red bell pepper. And there is arugula on the bottom. You could also make this with shrimp, Phillis suggested. I loved it with the ahi, I’ll tell you. If you used shrimp, make more dressing and marinate the shrimp briefly in that extra dressing before grilling it. And be sure to give the top of the salad a good grinding of freshly ground black pepper. It needs it.

What I liked: everything about it. Refreshing for summer. Healthy (well, except for the mercury in the tuna – just don’t eat this often). Lively flavors.
What I didn’t like: nothing at all. Loved it all.

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If I could just reach into that picture, I suppose I’d reach for the toast first. Oh, was it ever delish. Well, the salmon was too, but the toast was memorable! With oodles of butter, garlic and herbs. Could I just have that for lunch, please?

What you do with leftover salmon, I don’t know, but I’m always at a loss for how to use up a serving or two of salmon, other than just reheating it in the microwave. One of my favorite company meals is a Grilled Salmon with Watercress Salad. Invariably I have just a little bit left over and the salad part isn’t edible the next day. So I end up with a chunk of salmon with nothing else to go with it. Now I have a solution with this recipe. Phillis Carey always has such great ideas for making use of leftovers, this being a perfect one. It will become part of my regular repertoire.

The recipe below assumes you need to cook the salmon from scratch, but if you have leftovers, you’ll know where to pick up in this recipe. The big flakes are marinated in a dressing for a couple of hours, then it’s mounded on the baby Romaine (Trader Joe’s carries that) or use some other kind of tender lettuces, like butter lettuce. As you toss the salmon (gently, gently) you’ll find that the bigger chunks will break apart some – that’s fine – but that’s why you start with bigger flakes to begin with.

Meanwhile, do make the toasted bread. It is just so good. Undoubtedly loaded with too many fat grams, but hey, you’re eating omega-3 fatty acids in the salmon, so it balances out, right?

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A week or so ago I attended a cooking class all about summer salads. And oh, was this one fantastic. On hot summer nights (we haven’t had any of those yet) this would make a great dinner. The only thing you have to cook are the shrimp (it can be grilled if you want) and the Andouille (a little harder to grill, but it could be done) so you don’t have to have any heat in the kitchen.

As usual, Phillis Carey had a very, VERY long title to the recipe: Cajun Chopped Salad with Andouille Sausage, Shrimp, Red Beans, Three Peppers, Toasted Pecans and Creole Mustard Dressing. I shortened up the title, but there you have it in her original form. Phillis wants to make sure she lures you into the recipe by including almost all the ingredients in the name!

The dressing – to me – was what made this salad. It was a little bit tart (vinegar) and a little bit sweet (honey) and piquant (Creole mustard and Cajun seasoning). Mixed all together, it’s wonderful! She did tell us that the dressing doesn’t keep – not that it spoils – but it loses its zip after about 6 hours, so don’t make a huge batch of this, thinking you can keep it around for awhile. Phillis did explain a bit about Creole mustard – it’s a vinegar-based mustard. Regular Dijon mustard (which you can use in this, but it won’t taste the same) is a wine based mustard, so the flavors are very different. It just so happened that the cooking store where this class was held had a new bottled Creole mustard that Phillis and others were raving about. Of course I had to buy it. It’s by Dulcet Cuisine, and this one is simply Creole Mustard. The mustard is available at Whole Foods if you have one near you. It’s also exported to Canada and Britain.

Do soak the red onions for a few minutes in water and vinegar. The shrimp is marinated briefly in a bit of the dressing, and you do have to cook up the Andouille a bit. But everything else is just some chopping and mixing. Hopefully you already have some toasted pecans – if you don’t and it’s too hot in the kitchen – just use them right out of the package. You’ll get all kinds of flavors jumping in your mouth as you eat this – the sweet and tart from the dressing – the flavor of the shrimp, and the little chopped bits of Andouille too. It’s got lots of veggies in it, so you’ll get your protein and veggies all in one plate. And carbs too since there are some beans included. A complete meal.

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Two years ago: Lamb Eggplant Shepherd’s Pie
Three years ago: Curried Chicken Sandwiches
Four years ago: Roasted Apricot Almond Cake

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Sometime last year a recipe similar to this appeared in Bon Appetit. I clipped it out. It called for fillets of striped bass or white fish. Well, I’d defrosted shrimp, so I figured why not use them anyway. It probably took me 45 minutes or more to make the dinner, and it was fantastic! The original recipe – from a Mexico City restaurant named Pujol – is no longer available at the magazine’s website. I don’t know why. Only a couple of people out there in cyberspace have blogged about the recipe, and mine, printed below, is my own rendition of it and certainly not true to the chef’s original one. Al Pastor is a Mexican phrase used to describe “in the shepherd’s style,” so it’s likely a peasant kind of dish.

Pasta was not part of the original, for sure, and the pineapple, instead of being in little chunks as I used, was puréed as a sauce. I wanted more texture, so left the pineapple in small pieces instead. I suspect the restaurant would have served it with rice, but I wanted pasta. I chose angel hair, but you could use your own choice – just make it linguine, spaghetti or something like that rather than penne or short, stubby shapes.

For some of you this recipe may be a little on the fussy side. You do have to make the marinade with guajillo chiles (or something similar) and marinate the shrimp in some of the sauce for awhile. You do need to cut up the pineapple and make a very simple heated mixture with lemon juice and a little butter. And you have to make the cilantro sauce – it’s easy – and you can make it in the same bowl (blender or food processor) as you did the guajillo marinade (just rinse out the workbowl). And, of course, you must cook the pasta too. None of the component parts of this recipe is difficult, but you do have to make them separately. This isn’t exactly a throw-together one pot meal. But it was worth the time, and it sure was pretty on the plate. The most complex flavors come from the marinade – probably the guajillo chiles provide it – that umami taste. That’s why I’d pass the extra marinade at the table if you or your guests want more of that flavor. The marinade contains the chile, garlic, orange juice, raw onion, tomatoes and achiote paste.

In case you don’t have achiote paste – well, I don’t know what you could substitute. It comes from the annatto seed (the main ingredient and gives anything you cook with it a red hue), another of the Central or South American spices used to enhance food taste in that part of the world. But the annatto is mixed with a variety of other spices like Mexican oregano, cumin, ground cloves, cinnamon, garlic, etc. to make the achiote. We can buy it in our local supermarkets. It’s not truly a paste – it’s not wet – it’s a dry, clumpy powdery kind of mixture. You can buy it online: El Yucateco Achiote Red Paste, 3.5 oz. That’s just one brand – if you do an Amazon search you’ll find numerous other sources. It’s not expensive.

If you’re a shrimp lover, this will definitely give you all the bells and whistles. We each had three shrimp on a very small bed of pasta and we used all the cilantro sauce and a little of the guajillo sauce on the pasta. Great taste! Be prepared for a pile of dirty dishes, though. I used more than I even thought I would making all of it!

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A year ago: Australian Potato Salad
Two years ago: our son’s recipe for Coconut French Toast with Mango Lime Sauce
Four years ago: Ina Garten’s Zucchini Gratin

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These fish fillets were just wonderful! I’ll be preparing these again. And again, I’m certain. It wasn’t difficult or time consuming and looked so attractive. The sauce is a yogurt-based one. Plain Greek yogurt is mixed with tiny, tiny dice of fennel bulb, a few fennel fronds, and mint, along with a splash of white balsamic vinegar – and I added some fresh lemon juice too – and some pepper. The fish was lightly seasoned with salt, pepper and some crushed fennel seeds. Then they were dipped in frothy egg white, then in bread crumbs (either panko or fresh bread crumbs) and delicately sautéed in some olive oil. That took about 3 minutes, maybe 4 at the most. Meanwhile I made a big green salad, tossed it with my favorite Caesar Caper-Parmesan Dressing and that was dinner.

The recipe came from Bon Appetit a few months ago. I read the reviews from others and lemon juice was added to the sauce. I tasted it without and definitely agreed it needed it, so I added some. Next time I think I’d sprinkle a little bit of lemon zest on top when I serve it, as well as the mint.

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A year ago: Chocolate Upside Down Baked Nut Pudding Cake

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Seems that I just can’t get enough Indian food lately. With some tilapia fillets defrosted for dinner, I turned to my new favorite cookbook of Indian food, Modern Spice: Inspired Indian Flavors for the Contemporary Kitchen, and found an easy pan-created fish with sauce to serve over basmati rice. Monica Bhide, the author, takes some more American kinds of foods and adjusts them with Indian type flavors. So this dish required nothing more than onion, garlic, light coconut milk, basmati rice and a bunch of spices to pull it all together. I served it with some oven roasted cauliflower (recipe will be forthcoming) with some very similar spice seasonings. They went well together. It was a light dinner, low in calorie and fat too.

Here’s what’s involved. First I needed to make the spice mix. It’s dry-fried to “bloom” the spice flavors. Takes no more than a few seconds, really, to combine some dried chile flakes, coriander seeds, cumin seeds and fenugreek to pan fry – just long enough to get them toasty but not burned. Some of the seeds pop and jump, so be warned! There’s a fine line here – more warnings – don’t overdo it and don’t leave the pan while you’re doing it. Once you start to see smoke, take it off the heat! Or hold it up above the burner slightly so it doesn’t burn.

The spices were whirred in my spice (electric) blender. I bought the little coffee grinder – to be reserved for grinding spices. The lid had a crack in it, so I bought it for about $5 nearly 20 years ago. It’s still going strong!

Onions were sautéed in some oil, later adding fresh ginger and garlic. Then I added turmeric and the ground up spices and the light coconut milk. I made the dish with a full can of the coconut milk (only because I don’t have much use for half a can of it), even though I was making just enough for 2 of us. The fish is added in at the end and slowly simmered until it’s cooked through (about 6 minutes or so). When I served it I actually put it in a bowl with rice on the bottom, tilapia and sauce on top. I had some of the spices leftover and sprinkled a few pinches on top and served it. It was delicious. Although this recipe calls itself a curry, I didn’t think it had much of a curry kind of flavor – it didn’t contain all the usual ingredients of a curry powder. Maybe it was just that there wasn’t all that much of them. Anyway, it was good. Quick. Easy. That part I liked a lot. My DH did whine a bit about all the pots, pans and bowls I used. Don’t know why it took so many. Well, it also included all the paraphernalia for the cauliflower too.

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A year ago: wine cellar stories – about white wine
Two years ago: Jicama Sticks with Latin Flavor
Three years ago: Orange Jalapeno Vinaigrette

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What you are seeing in this picture: scallops nestled in the middle, drizzled with a blood orange juice and sugar caramel reduction, both blood orange segments and regular Navel orange segments in a fruit relish on top with some shredded Brussels sprouts in the background. Over on the right is the potato and celery root mash with some of the blood orange sauce drizzled on top.

Rarely do I cook scallops. We eat them out, certainly, but for whatever reason, I rarely make them myself. From what I read, you can hardly buy fresh scallops anymore – they’re all “previously frozen.” Day boat scallops are rare (you know what that means? the scallops were brought in that day from the local fishing boats). These weren’t day boats. I’d had my DH buy six of the premium ones (read: expensive – $18 for six) from a local upscale market, then I promptly came down with a cold and cough that’s kept me down. I knew these scallops needed to be eaten, though, so with my DH’s help, we made dinner.

My only caution about this meal: it takes time to make. Reading the recipe in this month’s issue (February 2011) of Bon Appetit, I really didn’t think it would. The recipe said prep time was one hour. With two of us working on it (I enlisted my DH’s help because I knew I couldn’t get it done in an hour otherwise, what with making the potato and celery root mash too – plus, I wasn’t feeling all that great). So first I did the potatoes and celery root. Peeled and chopped up, they simmered together for about 20 minutes. I couldn’t get the mixture to go through the ricer, so I did it in the food processor, and even that wasn’t a thorough puree – there were a few chunks left in the mixture. I added some butter and a little cream, salt and pepper, and that was all. Generally you never put regular potatoes in a food processor – they turn to glue (this I also know from experience many, many years ago) – but in this case because I was using both celery root and potato, I hoped it would whiz up in a hurry and not be a glue situation. It worked.

Cutting the citrus segments (they’re called supremes) from the whole oranges was the most time consuming project. I cut this recipe in half, and I had two small blood oranges and a regular orange. I also couldn’t find any mint in our kitchen garden (found out later my DH pulled it all out recently!), and didn’t have any tarragon, either. But we did have parsley. Good Italian parsley that thrives in one spot in our garden. It was dark when I went herb hunting, so I had difficulty locating things as it was. I pulled what I thought was mint, only to find out once I got inside that it was nothing but weeds! Ha! Anyway, the supremes are combined with herbs and set aside. The gastrique (a reduction, or sauce) did take a bit of time. Sugar is melted and caramelized (for two people, this took 1 1/2 tablespoons of sugar). A caution: do make this in a regular sauté pan, not a (black) nonstick pan – you just cannot see when the sugar has turned color. Take it from someone who tried this, okay? I knew better, but I actually have just one good All Clad regular frying pan – everything else I use is nonstick, and black. And I was using the large, regular pan for the scallops.

So anyway, I made the sauce – adding sherry wine vinegar, the blood orange juice and chicken broth. It was reduced down to just a tablespoon or two by the end (for our two servings). I wish I’d had a bit more, so keep that in mind when you make it. Once the sauce was made I turned off the heat and set it aside; I warmed it again just before drizzling it on the scallops.

Prepping the Brussels sprouts was not difficult, but it was time consuming. My DH was set on that task, and it took a couple before he got into the rhythm of it. Cutting out the core of a raw, tiny Brussels sprout is not exactly easy. I think next time I might cut each sprout in half, then cut out the core and pull the leaves off from there. Would be a whole lot easier, although you wouldn’t get any whole leaves that way. I should have taken a photo of the mound of leaves before we started, but we were home chefs in the weeds (you know that term? that’s when you’re cooking in a restaurant kitchen and you’re slammed with orders and needing to cook like a mad woman).

Now for the scallops. Don’t overlook the little muscle flap on each scallop – remove it and throw it out. It’s painful, I know, especially if you paid a premium price for those scallops! But throw that little muscle away. The headnotes to the scallop recipe said not to be afraid of over heating the sauté pan. That you must have a super-hot burner and pan to cook them. So I used my very large All-Clad Stainless-Steel Fry Pan (not a nonstick, because I knew I needed the extra searing heat from the untreated stainless surface), heated it on my largest (highest BTU) gas burner and got the grapeseed oil smoking hot. I also turned my overhead fan up to high long before I started. The recipe calls for olive oil, but I know that grapeseed oil has a higher flash point, so I used that gladly. The carefully paper-towel dried, then salted and peppered scallops went into the hot oil and sautéed like crazy for about 2 minutes. I turned them over and did the same on the other side, and they were done. If the cooking took 4 minutes, I’d be surprised. Probably closer to 3 or 3 1/2 minutes. I tenderly pressed my spatula on each scallop to test the firmness. I could tell when they were done, but not overly done.

Meanwhile I’d plated the other food – the Brussels sprouts were merely flash fried in grapeseed oil before I started the scallops and they were pushed out onto plates (ideally, heat the plates first so the veggies will hold their heat once plated). The scallops went out, the reheated drizzle went over the scallops, then the citrus relish went on top. We sat down immediately while the red hot frying pan was still sizzling on the back burner. Do eat this while it’s hot. I hated even taking time for the photographs!

The bottom line: just delicious. Dave even mentioned it to me the next morning what a fabulous dinner he thought it was. The combo of the celery root/potato mash with the scallops was also great. It makes a very attractive plate too. I might make this for guests – it’s certainly a beautiful presentation and delicious, but you must do the Brussels sprouts and the scallops at the last minute, so know that when you start. The celery root/potato mash can be made ahead. The gastrique can be made ahead too. Just get everything mis en place (everything you need set on trays all prepped and ready to go an hour or two before you start). We have leftover Brussels sprouts and ample of the mash, so I’ll have to prepare something to go with them.

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A year ago: Almond Buttermilk Cake
Three years ago: Mashed Potatoes with Mascarpone

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