Salmon Filet
Salt & Pepper
1 white onion finely diced
1 package Cream Cheese
1 small bottle of capers
Finely chopped dill – Optional
Black olives – Optional
1 Carrot for garnish
Rinse salmon filet and dry. Lay on a piece of parchment paper on a cookie sheet. Salt and Pepper filet. Optionally, you can sprinkle with dill if you desire.
Preheat oven and broil at 400 degrees for 10 minutes. Remove from oven. DO NOT OVERCOOK!
To serve, slide the salmon onto a platter. Surround with sliced lemons. Serve next to the diced onions and Capers and Cream Cheese. Your guests can serve themselves! Easy.
Drain capers and sprinkle them on top over cream cheese. Now, if you want to have a bit more fun, you can always make cream cheese penguins. This is where the black olives come in. After you roll the cream cheese and capers into small balls, slice the olives and make tuxedos for your penguins. Add a small bit of carrot for the nose. Serve surrounded by finely diced onions. Everyone will smile. Cream Cheese & Caper Penguins
Serve with finely diced white onions and Crackers. I like Kebbler Rectangle Crackers, the buttery ones.
This is a great appetizer. I have served it for a buffet on Mother’s day. Everyone loves it.
Mustard Tarragon Butter Sauce
for a lower calorie version read further on.
Serve with Grilled Chicken or Broiled Fish or Asparagus over mixed gourmet greens.
Good for you!
8 oz butter or 1/2 olive oil and 1/2 butter
3 T minced shallots
½ cup dry vermouth
4 T heavy cream
1.5 oz Glace de Poulet Gold (condensed chicken stock)
¼ t Dijon Mustard
½ tsp chopped fresh tarragon leaves or 1/2 tsp of chopped sage and I hear fresh thyme is equally delicious. Choose one.
Salt and white pepper
Variations: you can add sauted onions (1 small yellow onion) and you can also add 1 cup sauted mushrooms.
If you want a reduced calorie version, try this:
Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 breast half, 1 cup greens, and about 2 tablespoons sauce) only 271 calories per serving according to cooking light.
3 tablespoons minced shallots
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon chopped fresh tarragon
1/2 teaspoon sugar
4 cups gourmet salad greens
Preparation
1. Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Sprinkle chicken evenly with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Coat pan with cooking spray. Place chicken in pan; cook 6 minutes on each side or until done.
2. Combine remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, remaining 1/8 teaspoon pepper, shallots, and next 6 ingredients (through sugar) in a bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Serve chicken over greens with sauce.
Want a faster and lighter calorie version for a marinade? Try Val Fender’s version from bling.
So good on grilled chicken. Amazingly tasty flavor, but not overpowering. Works well as a marinade and grilling sauce.
Prep time 5 minutes
Cooking time 2 minutes
Servings
Ingredients
1 cup buttermilk
1 Tbsp leaf dried tarragon
1 cup Dijon mustard
2 Tbsp chopped dried parsley
pinch salt
Instructions
Combine buttermilk and tarragon in small sauce pan over medium heat. Heat just until the buttermilk is warm but not hot. Remove from heat. Add mustard and parsley and whisk to combine. Allow to cool before putting over raw meat. Store in airtight container in the refrigerator.
Both my parents enjoyed fishing, but it was my Dad that built a small smoke house in the backyard. After a successful day of fishing, he would clean and fillet his catch and set about smoking the fish. I remember eating smoked shad as a kid. I loved the smoky, salty taste of the fish. He would serve me a piece of smoked shad fillet on a piece of newspaper and for a kid the best part was picking out all those bones with your fingers and eating the bits of meat.
Since we grew up near the San Joaquin Delta River, much of our fish was fresh water, but there were times I remember the whole house being awaken in the middle of the night when my parents would return home from a day fishing boat out of San Francisco, and everyone would be called upon to scale and clean fish. I loved those nights. My Mom and Dad would be in the best moods, and to see the bounty of fish was amazing. There were gunnysacks full of seafood. The boys would carry the sacks full of sea smells just outside the back porch where a light would be jeririgged. The sacks were poured out and the bounty that tumbled out was like opening a surprise package. Out popped many rock fish, crabs still alive from their journey. I think the other fishermen on the boat that didn’t want their fish, sent it home with my parents who were more than willing to accept this generousity with 9 kids at home.
I was probably 7 or 8 years old, and remember seeing my first LingCod, Red Snapper and playing with the crab and listening to my Mom’s warning to be careful about the pinchers. My Mother’s laughter was the best music during these years. While I do not have my Dad’s recipe for his brine, I did find an interesting one at HUNTER, ANGLER, GARDENER, COOK.
Oily fish are good smoked; along with Shad the largest of the herring family, don’t forget trout, salmon and tuna.
Awesome Bite Smoked Tuna!
BRINE 1 (30 minutes)
â– 1 cup kosher salt
â– 2 quarts water
BRINE (8 to 24 hours)
â– 1/2 cup salt
â– 2 quarts water
â– 1/2 cup maple syrup
â– 1 chopped onion
â– 3 smashed garlic cloves
â– Juice of a lemon
â– 1 tablespoon cracked black pepper
â– 1 tablespoon fennel seeds
â– 2-3 crushed dried hot chiles
â– 5 bay leaves
â– 2 cloves
â– 1 teaspoon crushed coriander seeds
1.Mix the first brine together and soak the shad fillets in it for 30 minutes, then drain.
2.Meanwhile, bring the second brine to a simmer, stir well to combine and turn off the heat. Set this in a drafty or cool place to chill it down fast.
3.When the second brine is cool, pour it over the shad and brine for 1-2 hours.
4.Drain and rinse off the fillets, then pat dry with a towel. Air dry in a drafty place — use a fan if need be — for 2-3 hours, or until the meat looks a bit shiny. This is an important step; you are creating a sort of a second skin called a pellicle that is necessary to seal the fillets. If you skip this step, you will have problems with the proteins leaking out from between the flakes of the meat, forming a white icky stuff that will need to be scraped off.
5.Smoke over hardwoods for 1-3 hours, depending on the heat. You want the shad to slowly collect smoke, and cook very slowly. Under no circumstances do you want the heat to get above 180 degrees.
6.Remove and let cool at room temperature before packing away in the fridge or freezer.
This is a great weekend project. The trout at Costco have been calling my name. I think they are heading for the smoker this weekend. Saltine crackers with a dollop of smoked shad salad, which might include diced onion, mayo, seasoning, lemon juice, and a pinch of chopped parsley. Sooo good! Awesome bite!
By the way, if you don’t have fresh smoked fish and have the craving, open a can of white albacore tuna for the salad above, but add a dash of smoke flavoring. I think I’ll go make some right now.
•4 cups light olive oil
•Bouquet Garni or bay leaf, thyme or rosemary
•Four 6-ounce boneless, skinless Copper River salmon filets
•1 1/2 pounds micro arugula, washed and patted dry
• Salt to taste
•4 teaspoons aged balsamic vinegar – reduction
1. Combine the olive oil with the Bouquet Garni in a shallow, heavy-bottomed pan large enough to hold the salmon in a single layer over very low heat until the oil reaches 150°F on an instant-read thermometer.
2. Add the salmon and cook, at a constant temperature, for about 5 minutes or just until the salmon has begun to firm up. Using a slotted spatula, lift the salmon from the pan and place on a double layer of paper towels to drain.
3. Place a small mound of micro arugula in the center of each of four plates. Lay a piece of salmon on top of the greens on each plate. Sprinkle sel de Guerande over the salmon. Drizzle a teaspoon of balsamic vinegar over the salad and salmon on each plate and serve.
Salmon:
1 1/2 lbs fresh salmon
3/4 stick butter
3-4 cloves garlic
juice of one lemon
lemon slices for garnish
2 tblsp extra virgin olive oil
Dry white wine (to taste)(optional)
Asparagus:
2 1/2 lbs asparagus about 1/2 in. thick
2 1/2 tblsp. unsalted butter
2 1/2 tblsp balsalmic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
Preparation
Heat grill on high.
In a suacepan, place butter, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic and wine over low heat, and simer until the tastes meld (approximately 10 min.) Place the salmon on a platter, skin side down and brush the lemmon/butter sauce liberally on each piece. Let stand for 20-30 minutes. Place salmon on hot grill and grill on each side about no longer than 5 minutes. Serve with lemon slices and the remaining butter sauce.
Asparagus:
Bring salted water to a boil in skillet large enough to hold asparagus lying down. When boiling, add asparagus; cook uncovered, until tender. Timing will depend on thickness of asparagus, 5-8 minutes Drain asparagus. Spread on cloth towel; scatter ice cubes over asparagus. Can be cooked several hours ahead of time kept at room temperature.
To serve, heat butter in same pan over medium high heat. When hot, stir in vinegar. Add asparagus and cook until hot, about 2-3 minutes. Add salt and pepper, shake gently until mixed. Serve hot.
Salmon Confit with Arugula and Balsalmic Reduction
If there is one fish I love, it is salmon. My husband just doesn’t like it. So, instead of a main course, I can get away with a Salmon salad or make it for myself for lunch.Â
4 cups light olive oil
Bouquet Garni- Thyme and Rosemary tied together
Four 6-ounce boneless, skinless Copper River salmon/Alaskan salmon filets
1 1/2 pounds micro arugula, washed and patted dry
Kosher Salt to taste
4 teaspoons aged balsamic vinegar (see note)
Preparation
1. Combine the olive oil with the Bouquet Garni in a shallow, heavy-bottomed pan large enough to hold the salmon in a single layer over very low heat until the oil reaches 150°F on an instant-read thermometer.
2. Add the salmon and cook, at a constant temperature, for about 5 minutes or just until the salmon has begun to firm up. Using a slotted spatula, lift the salmon from the pan and place on a double layer of paper towels to drain.
3. Place a small mound of micro arugula in the center of each of four plates. Lay a piece of salmon on top of the greens on each plate. Sprinkle sel de Guerande over the salmon. Drizzle a teaspoon of balsamic vinegar over the salad and salmon on each plate and serve.
Note:Â If using balsamic vinegar other than that aged for 100 years (most good balsamics are aged from 5 to 10 years), place 8 teaspoons in a small saucepan over medium-low heat and slowly reduce by half. Cool and use as above.
