Bites of Beet: Roasted Beet, Pear and Goat Cheese Salad with Maple Glazed Salmon

I can't believe it's taken me four years to get around to writing a post featuring the blog's namesake root vegetable. So, in its blog debut, the beetroot is featured in a simple salad with some classic flavour combinations, perfect for the warm and sunny weather that has been sticking around lately.

The Salad Formula: 

Sweet: Roasted beets, d'Anjou pear
Sour: Maple vinaigrette
Salty: Goat cheese
Bitter: Mixed greens
Creamy: Goat cheese
Crunchy: Toasted pecans

Beets can be a bit messy to prepare. This is how I usually cook them to avoid leaving the kitchen stained bright pink:
Coat whole, unpeeled beets in olive oil and wrap them in a foil packet. (You may want to quarter them if they're really large.) Roast at 400 F until tender. You can test this by poking one with a paring knife. Let the beets cool until you can handle them easily. Use a paper towel to rub the skins off and keep your fingers from getting stained. I find it also helps to coat your fingers with a little oil so the beet juice washes off more easily.  

The sweet and salty glaze on this salmon gives it a nice char if, like me, you're too lazy to use a grill. I don't have a particular recipe for this; it's just a combination of soy sauce, maple syrup, and pepper. Coat the fish in the glaze and pan-fry both sides over medium-high heat, 3-4 minutes a side. 

Pan-Seared Salmon with Dill Sauce

Pan-Seared Salmon with Dill Sauce, Garlic Roast Potatoes and Broccoli

Well surprise, surprise. Here's another fish post, which means yet another salmon post. This is a ridiculously simple dill sauce that you can whip up while the fish is in the pan. It's great for a quick mid-week dinner. 
The sauce is made with crème fraîche, which is like regular sour cream but has a higher butterfat content. It has a more delicate and rich flavor, as well as a silkier texture. It is often used to make French sauces because it does not curdle when heated. It can also be whipped like whipping cream, or added to regular whipping cream to improve its "whippability." It has a relatively long shelf life of several weeks.  
This dill sauce is a nice alternative to tartare sauce and a lot fresher tasting in my opinion. (Though the consistency is a little thin to serve with fried fish.) 
I've run out of things to say about salmon, so let's let the one line "recipe" speak for itself...


Recipe after the jump

The French Laundry Cookbook-Yukon Gold Potato Blinis

If I ever find myself in a food rut, the French Laundry cookbook is a goldmine of inspiration. The photography is beautiful and the writing makes it clear that Thomas Keller is an incredibly skilled chef that strives for perfection in his creations. Some of the recipes are a little more involved than others--for example, the recipe for Baby Lamb-Five Cuts Served with Provençal Vegetables, Braised Cipollini Onions, and Thyme Oil involve breaking down an entire animal. I think I'll leave that one to the professionals. 


This is the first recipe I have tried from the book and it's a simple one: Yukon Gold Potato Blinis. Keller notes that this type of potato absorbs more cream and results in the best texture. The blinis are soft, a little dense, and taste faintly of the crème fraîche. The recipe instructs you to serve them as soon as possible. While they do taste best when warm, I served them as an hors d'oeuvre and found that they are fine at room temperature as well.

In the book, the suggested accompaniments are Bottarga di Muggine and Tomato Confit, or Roasted Sweet Peppers and Eggplant Caviar, but these make great bases for other toppings as well. Here, I've served them with smoked salmon, crème fraîche and dill.    


Recipe after the jump

Salmon to Love (Roasted, Herb-Crusted)

The Pacific Northwest is blessed with an abundance of wild salmon. Or, should I say, overabundance. We have salmon in the fridge so often that I had been running out of creative ways to prepare it.  This is my fifth salmon-themed post. I think it's also the only fish I've every written about.

Anyways, I may be able to end my search for variations because this is pretty darn tasty. The panko gets satisfyingly crispy and golden brown, while the crust seals the salmon and keeps it perfectly moist.

The side dish for the evening starred my favourite pasta-which-thinks-it's-rice, orzo. Dressed up with some lemon zest, herbs and parmesan, it played quite nicely with the salmon.

(Recipe after the jump)

Salmon Variation #1,000: Panko Crusted Salmon with Lemon and Parsley Cappellini

We eat a lot of salmon at home. A lot. And why not? The beautifully coral-hued fish is delicious and meaty in texture, not to mention packed with nutritional benefits. While it is considered an "oily" fish because of its high omega-3 fatty acid content (important to cardiovascular health!) it does not actually taste oily at all.

Salmon are not all created equal. Firstly, there are the different varieties, with sockeye, chinook, pink, chum, and coho being the common ones. The sockeye and chinook varities are fattier with higher omega-3 contents. Then there is the farmed vs. wild debate. In general, the wild varities are more nutritious and contain less toxins than the farmed counterparts. While farmed salmon tend to be much "fattier" than wild, they also tend to be exposed to more artificial substances (and may even be tinted to a specific pink). We usually buy wild sockeye salmon.

Before this turns into a salmon encyclopedia entry, let's move onto the important part: cooking and eating. I keep feeling like I'm running out of fresh ways to prepare salmon. This time, I decided to use panko breadcrumbs as a crust. Panko is a Japanese breadcrumb that is coarser and lighter than regular breadcrumbs. It gives the food it coats a light, flaky crunchiness and is often used as a coating for Japanese tempura.

I flavoured the panko crust with gremolata-inspired ingredients. Gremolata is an Italian condiment made from parsely, lemon, and garlic that is traditionally served with ossobuco (braised veal shanks). The combination is incredibly fragrant and gives any dish a citrus freshness and warm depth from the garlic. I also added the mixture to some cooked cappellini to tie the side dish with the salmon. Freshly grated parmigiano reggiano and toasted pine nuts finish this quick and light pasta dish.

Acropolis Not Included: Souvlaki Salmon with Greek Orzo

Today, we travel to Greece for this light and refreshing summer supper. On the menu tonight: souvlaki inspired salmon, served alongside a Greek orzo salad. Orzo is rice shaped pasta. I love it because you get the approximate effect of rice, and it's much easier and faster to cook. The small "grains" soak up flavour really well too. The Greek vinaigrette doubles as both salad dressing and marinade. Two birds, one stone.
For a little extra oomph I roasted the bell pepper. And rather than grilling it outside, I did it over the gas burner. Don't worry, the skewered blackening pepper isn't going to burst into flames.

How to roast a pepper indoors on a gas burner:

-Skewer the stem end of the pepper with a two-pronged fork (the kind you use to carve a roast). Make sure you get it centered the first time, or else the pepper will wobble on the fork

-Do not oil or season the pepper

-Turn on the gas burner (the small one) and hold the pepper over the flame. Hold the pepper fairly close, about a half inch from the flame. It will pop and sizzle a little. Once one side is blackened, rotate the pepper until it is charred all over.

-Pop the pepper into a bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Steam for 5-10 minutes. Take out the pepper, peel it, and remove the seeds. Avoid running the pepper under water as you peel it so that you don't rinse off the flavour.

Souvlaki Marinated Salmon with Greek Orzo Salad:

2 lemons
Olive oil
1 large clove garlic, minced
3 heaped teaspoon dried oregano
2 teaspoons honey
Freshly ground black pepper

4 salmon fillets (~6 ounce portions)

1 1/4 cups orzo (cooked, drained and rinsed with cold water)
1 bell pepper (roasted, peeled, and diced)
1/3 cup cucumber (diced)
2 roma tomatoes (seeds scooped and diced)
1/3 cup feta cheese
3 green onions (chopped)
(Add red onion and olives, if desired)

In a small bowl, combine juice and zest of the lemon, garlic, oregano, honey, and pepper. Gradually whisk in olive oil (use three parts oil to one part lemon juice).

Reserve about 1/4 cup of the dressing, and pour the rest over the salmon. Marinade at room temperature for 20-30 minutes.

In a large bowl, toss together orzo and diced vegetables. Crumble in feta in large chunks. Season the reserved 1/4 cup of dressing with salt and pour over orzo. Toss to combine. Chill while cooking salmon (even better if made a few hours in advance).

Remove salmon from the dressing and shake off the excess marinade. Season both sides with coarse salt. Heat olive oil in a frying pan until very hot (oil should shimmer, but not smoke). Cook salmon skin side up until browned, then flip and cook until done (about 2 minutes per side, depending on fillet thickness).

Serves 4.

Recipe and image property of beets and bites

More "Fast Food": Pan-seared Salmon with Lemon Herb Pasta

As dinnertime rolled around today, I was hungry and a little short on time. This is a light and tasty dinner you can whip up in 15 minutes flat. No joke.

If you've got the patience to, brown the butter before adding it to the pasta. All you do is cook it in a pan until it turns caramel-y brown (be careful not to burn it at this point). This transforms it from golden mellowness to a nutty amber liquid, which gives an extra flavour boost to the simple pasta "sauce."

Pan-seared Salmon with Lemon Herb Pasta:

The most time consuming part of this is waiting for the pasta water to boil. Make sure you salt it well. Apparently, Italians say to salt pasta water until it "tastes like the sea."

Once the pasta is boiling, add a little oil to a frying pan and add a clove of minced garlic and a pinch of red pepper flakes. Season both sides of the salmon with salt and pepper and pan fry it 3-4 minutes a side. Add lemon zest and a squeeze of lemon juice when it is nearly cooked through.

Drain the cooked pasta and toss with butter, lemon zest and juice, grated parmesan cheese, and finely chopped herbs (I used parsley and green onion here. Chives would be nice too!) and season with salt and pepper. Serve alongside the salmon.

Chow down.

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Breakfast for Dinner...and Lunch: Asian-Spiced Kedgeree

Nigella Lawson is an absolute domestic goddess and my hero. She exudes a calm confidence in the kitchen and her recipes are always as comforting to eat as they are to make. However, as a true believer in "full fat=full flavour," she often creates recipes that are more indulgent than I would make (eg. Doughnut French Toast and Caramel Crossiant Pudding). So when I came across this recipe that looked absolutely delicious and healthy, I couldn't wait to try it.

Kedgeree is traditionally a British breakfast dish, made with fish (smoked haddock), hard boiled eggs, and rice. Apparently, it was popular during Victorian times to make use of the fresh fish caught early in the morning.

Frankly, I can't really imagine eating rice in the morning, but whenever you choose to eat it, this recipe is amazing. It took a little faith to just throw the rice and the broth in a pot and let it sit for 20 minutes without stirring it but it really worked. The golden curry scented basmati rice is perfectly balanced with the salt of the fish sauce, the tang of lime juice, and freshness of cilantro. This breakfast dish (which I made for dinner) is also great cold for lunch the next day.

Asian-Spiced Kedgeree

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups cold water, for poaching the fish
  
• 2 lime leaves, torn into pieces
• 4 salmon fillets (approximately 1-inch thick), preferably organic, skinned (about 1 1/2 pounds in total)
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 teaspoon oil
  
• 1 onion finely chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 cup basmati rice
• 3 hard-boiled eggs, quartered
• 3 tablespoons chopped cilantro leaves, plus more, for garnish
• 1 lime, zested and juiced plus lime segments, for garnish
• Fish sauce, to taste (recommended: nam pla)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

This is because the easiest way to poach salmon for this dish is to do it in the oven. So: pour the water into a roasting pan, add the lime leaves and then the salmon. Cover the pan with foil, put in the oven and cook for about 15 minutes, by which time the salmon should be tender. Remove the pan from the oven and drain the liquid off into a pitcher. Keep the fish warm simply by replacing the foil on the pan.

Melt the butter in a wide, heavy saucepan that has a tight-fitting lid, and add the oil to stop the butter burning. Soften the onion in the pan and add the spices, then keep cooking till the onion is slightly translucent and suffused with soft perfume of the spices. Add the rice and stir with a wooden spoon so that it's all well coated. There's not enough onion to give a heavy coating: just make sure the rice is fragrantly slicked.

Pour in the reserved liquid from the pitcher, about 2 1/4 cups, and stir before covering with the lid and cooking gently for 15 minutes. If your stove is vociferous you may need a flame tamer.

At the end of the cooking time, when the rice is tender and has lost all chalkiness, turn off the heat, remove the lid, cover the pan with a dish towel and then replace the lid. This will help absorb any extra moisture form the rice. It is also the best way to let the rice stand without getting sticky or cold, which is useful when you've got a few friends and a few dishes to keep your eye on.

Just before you want to eat, drain off any extra liquid that's collected in the dish with the salmon, then flake the fish with a fork. Add to it the rice, egg, cilantro, lime juice and a drop or 2 of fish sauce. Stir gently to mix - I use a couple of wooden paddles or spatulas - and taste to see if you want any more lime juice or fish sauce. Sprinkle over the zest from the 2 juiced halves of the lime and serve. I love it served just as it is in the roasting dish, but if you want to, and I often do (consistency is a requirement of a recipe but not of a cook), decant into large plate before you add the lime zest, then surround with lime segments and add the zest and a small handful of freshly chopped cilantro.

Credit to Nigella Lawson

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