Alley's Recipe Book: salmon

Showing posts with label salmon. Show all posts

Creamy Salmon Pasta - total time 25 minutes

My husband and I both accepted new jobs back in December. His requires him to be at work early (and also home early) and mine some times requires late nights. This difference in work schedules has impacted our life schedules too. We're no longer waking up at the same time, which means there's an even wider gap between 'bedtimes' than there used to be. It also means he is home (usually) hours before me at night... waiting for dinner.

Can't blame him... he is usually eating lunch by the time I'm finishing my morning coffee. That's a long time to wait between meals.

So, the dinner goal is often... the faster the better! Those 8pm dinners don't work when he is going to bed right after.

This recipe is perfect for a quick dinner. And it tastes sooo good too! Not much of a mess to clean up afterward either (always a winner in my book). Salmon and a cream sauce go hand-in-hand, quite delectable. The broccoli gives it a slight crunch for texture. And the herbs brighten the dish since cream sauces can feel a little heavy. Yum! I'm ready for a second serving!

It was a pretty awesome experience getting to see the salmon swim up steam while on vacation in Seattle last year. We didn't even know it was happening until we walked down to Pike Place Market and the locals were celebrating the Coho Salmon "homecoming". Everyone seemed so excited, as they should be with all the work that went into protecting these fish.

After seeing the salmon up close and personal at the Ballard Locks fish ladder... my husband and I joke around about making "salmon faces". Mostly because he did a great impersonation of a salmon while we were there that made me laugh so hard I started to cry. I wish I had a picture to show you, but he would never let that goofy look get captured on film (I mean, SD card?).

While we were in Seattle, we only had salmon once. Even though it was the Coho homecoming, that doesn't actually translate to salmon being "in-season" at the market. Since they are swimming upstream to spawn, it is actually the worst time to catch them. However, there are four species of salmon that make there way to the Seattle area at different times of the year, so fresh salmon is almost always available in the city.

So, what do you do if you don't like in Seattle but still want to eat salmon (mostly because its a super flavorful fish, but also its full of omega-3 fatty acids that are great for you)? Buy sustainable caught frozen salmon. Only a handful of markets will ever get 100% fresh, never frozen fish. The remainder is flash-frozen, usually right on the boat, for those of us that are landlocked. So buying fish at the meat counter is no less fresh than from the frozen food section.

This recipe is so simple and so fast that you'll wonder why you ever order fish at a restaurant when it is so easy to prepare at home! I like to cook my fish in a pan instead of broiling or baking it. I feel like it retains moisture better because I can see when it has cooked fully (instead of opening the oven to check and letting out all of the steam). It also makes it super easy to remove the skin (which you can eat if you so choose). The dill and salmon pairing is kind of like basil and tomato, it seems like they were made for each other! Sauteing the onion and garlic in the pan first leaves some of that flavor for the salmon to cook in. All together... pretty delicious dish in less than 20 minutes!

Since we don't eat a lot of red meat, we don't really eat traditional American hamburgers. Instead, we use ground turkey for when we grill out. And after trying veggie burgers a year ago, I love them! Another option is fish burgers, they are delicious. Any fish could work, but I love salmon in this recipe.

burger
1 lb salmon, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
1 egg
1 green onion
1 tsp soy sauce
2 tsp sesame oil, divided
1 tsp red pepper flakes
.5 cup panko bread crumbs
salt & pepper

sauce
2 tbsp mayo
1 tsp relish
pinch of paprika
pinch of chili powder

1. Combine bell peppers, green onion, soy sauce, sesame oil, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper in a mixing bowl. Add chopped salmon to the mixture. Heat pan to medium heat. Form mixture into patties and coat with panko bread crumbs.
2. Heat a teaspoon of sesame oil in the hot pan. Cook patties on each side for six minutes.
3. Mix mayo, relish, paprika, chili powder, and any left over green onion in a small bowl. Scoop on top of each burger. Toast buns in the pan for one minute after patties have been removed. Serve with spinach and tomato.

Asian Salmon Cakes - Total Time 40 minutes

I guess this is kind of a spin on crab cakes. Everyone says salmon is good for your heart, but I am just not a big salmon flavor fan, however this is good because of all the other flavors with it! (Please excuse the chipped plate in the picture. I guess we use them too much?)

A word of caution, if you get results like I did, I thought the whole 'cake' idea was going to crumble apart in the pan... but instead it actually formed 'cakes' in the pan from the jumbled mess I put in there. So no worries if you can't get the salmon to form cakes when putting it in the bread crumbs!

1 pound of salmon

3 eggs

3 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp rice vinegar

1 tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt

1 cup panko breadcrumbs

2 minced green onions

.25 cup sesame seeds

olive oil

1. Heat pot of water to rolling boil, turn heat down to medium-low, place salmon in pot to poach for 7 minutes.

2. While salmon is poaching, heat oil in pan. Combine eggs, soy sauce, race vinegar, sugar, and salt in medium sized bowl and whisk together. Combine breadcrumbs, green onions, and sesame seeds together on a plate.

3. Remove salmon from poaching water and shred with two forks. If the salmon still had skin, it should slide right off. Add salmon to bowl with egg mixture and combine together.

4. If you can form the salmon mixture into cakes, do so and coat with breadcrumb mixture. If not, just place handfuls into the breadcrumbs, roll around, and place in pan (it could look messy, but it will turn out!) Cook 3 minutes on each side and serve!