Salmon + Katie

In April my cat Katie died. It is so very hard when one loses a pet, especially one who had the capacity to provide me so many hoursofcalming pleasure by just deciding to crawl into my arms, purr and sleep; trusting I would hold her and protect her from the big and youthful dog in the house. She was a creature of habit. She wanted us up by 6:00 am to feed her some wet food, and when I came home from work she wanted to be fed her next spoonful of wet food. (No matter when I came home, opening the door triggered her need.) And she was ready to go to bed at 9pm; she would sit at the top of the stairs looking at me, waiting for me to start the nightly routine so she could settle in and sleep snuggled in my arms.

But while she absolutely loved her wet food, the smellier the better (think tuna), she could not digest Salmon very well. We tried different types of salmon: cooked or uncooked, and she just could not stomach the food. So as a way to squeeze her picture into my blog, and to live forever in the ether, I thought I would write about salmon. Unlike Katie, salmon is one of the fish that I do enjoy eating. I have some set ways of cooking salmon using all the various ways of cooking, and will share them with you today. These are now posted on Pattycooks.com so you can refer to them whenever you want.

But first, how to buy salmon, or any fish these days. I will write a fuller “how to shop for fish” article, but here are the minimum things you need to know.

I always look at this website by the Monterey Bay Aquarium, to get guidance on the type of fish to eat or avoid. SeaFood Watch suggests that we eat Salmon from New Zealand; this is a sustainable, farmed pacific king variety. A student in a recent cooking class asked me how do I know if the fish comes from the recommended location? The answer is you ask. If a fishmonger cannot tell you where the fish is from do not buy from them.

Select good quality fish. The fishmonger should remove bad quality from what they sell so it is not often you need to do this, but here is what you look for to check the salmon.

• Does it smell? Any pungent, fishy, or ammonia-like smells are bad and do not buy or toss if it is in your fridge. Salmon should smell like a calm ocean, delicate and mild.
• Does it look off? A white, translucent skin on top of the fish indicates it has turned so do not buy from that store ever again. If in your fridge you need to toss it.
• Is it firm? Touch it and if it gives or leaves a dimple, do not buy. If it does not bounce back indicates to me it is starting to get mushy. Another thing to check is if it is slimy to the touch (check the gills if it is a whole fish) or looks moldy; if so do not buy and run from that store.
• Check the eyes. If the eyes are sunken and filmed, the fish is older and do not buy (although it might still be edible). You want slightly elevated eye balls and clear eyes.
• Check the color. If the salmon is cut into fillets, you want to see a vibrant color not a pale, dull color. Chef Olive stated to a class that the fish should also have fine white lines running through the flesh. This disappears when cooking or if the fish is old.
• Ask about its age. When was it delivered to them, how long has it been on the shelf.
• Ask where its from. The USDA has a labeling law that requires retailers…to notify their customers with information regarding the source of certain foods….wild and farm-raised fish and shellfish. 

A quick reminder on raw fish, given how we have polluted and are changing the oceans, the one thing I do not eat any more is raw fish, so my salmon is always cooked in some way. And the internal cooking temperature should be 145F.

Broiling: The simplest recipe is a broiled pepper salmon dish served with roasted veggies of your choice. After preheating the oven, the salmon is minimally prepared and placed under the broiler to cook a few minutes. I would recommend Cook Rob’s suggestion of using the single-origin, volcanic soil grown Black Penja Pepper for this meal. Fast and easy, and spicy if you use this pepper.

Grilling: Another salmon dish is a salad. I indoor-grill the salmon with a little bit of salt and avocado oil only, let the fish cool, and break it up into mouth sized bites and add to a crunchy salad. Fresh cucumbers, onions, celery, capers and fresh dill. I use a wonderful pomegranate balsamic vinegar (from Amphora) and oil dressing. Really tasty with little fuss and you can use any citrus vinegar, I think a tangerine balsamic would taste great too.

Poaching: Poaching salmon is also one of those fast meals. Cook the fish in a simmering white wine sauce and serve with sauted veggies and rice or a nice quinoa pilaf.

Roasting: The next simplest is an oven-roasted salmon baked with lemon and dill. I prep by pre-cutting the individual portions but keep them together so it looks like one whole fillet. I salt the fish, top it with lemon squeezed juice, place thin slices from the squeezed lemons on top of the salmon, then top it all with fresh chopped dill, and any lemon zest I may have. I generally cook this salmon with the veggies in the same pan, just sitting on the perimeter of the pan. Some of the veggies I may blanch or saute just to get a start on their cooking since the veggies and fish will often cook at different speeds.

Baked: The next version is salmon baked with 3 greens. I again prep by pre-cutting the individual portions but keep them together so it looks like one whole fillet. I salt the fish, top it with lemon squeezed juice, thin slices of the squeezed lemons on the salmon topped with sauteed leeks, then fresh chopped dill and parsley with a quick spray of olive oil. Bake it, plate it with a little Greek salad and serve.

Frying: A more complicated dish is a pan-fried Japanese Teriyaki Salmon that I like. It is served with a garlicky chard and white rice. The cooking style is different, as I prep it with salt and rice flour and then fry the salmon so it has a crunchy exterior that has been brushed with the marinade. Unused marinade is added to small ramekins and served on the side for dipping.

Baked: The most complex salmon dish I make is Spanakopita Salmon. It is very involved in that you basically do all the work for spanakopita but add salmon to the dish before enclosing it in phyllo dough. Very Greek in flavor and served with Tzatziki and herbed feta. Generally when I make this I make more than what is for dinner and freeze the leftovers for future reheating.

Hope you enjoy. But I think it is time now to explore other fish.

— ** —

Recipes: Added a sauerkraut salad, and how to make sauerkraut. I also added how to make Ketchup.

NEWS: This was published back in 2015, but is something good to remind us all from MentalFloss: Start spooning out the sauerkraut: A new study finds that fermented foods may play a role in mediating social anxiety The digestive system is involved in more than just processing food; it’s linked to mood, emotions, and more. Researchers have only recently begun to understand the true importance of the bacteria that live in our bodies, and it seems that fermented foods might interact with the human microbiome in a way that reduces our most neurotic tendencies. 

–Patty