Oh, oh, oh.....

I LOVE salmon.  We LOVE salmon.  We usually marinate for 30 minutes and grill it.  The January-February issue of Cook's Illustrated  had a section on "Better Glazed Salmon."  Several different glazes were suggested, but when we saw the "Asian Barbeque Sauce" we knew we had a winner. 

As The Trout put together the ingredients and they started bubbling on the stove, I KNEW this would be great!!  We absolutely loved it and as we ate our glazed salmon, I kept babbling about how great this would taste on chicken thighs, chicken breast, pork...you name it.  This sauce is so tasty.  We loved it.

We had a sliced cucumber with sesame oil, Kosher salt and ground pepper on the side.  The perfect cooling accompaniment. 

Try this sauce and if you are lucky enough to have the copy of the January-February Cook's Illustrated  be sure to try the Soy-Mustard glaze, the Pomegranate-Balsamic glaze and the Orange-Miso glaze also on this page.

Asian Barbeque Sauce

2 tablespoons ketchup
2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
2 teaspoons Asian Chili-garlic sauce
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

Whisk ingredients together in small saucepan.  Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, simmer until thickened, about 3 minutes.  Remove from heat and cover to keep warm.

In the last few minutes of grilling our salmon, this beautiful sauce was brushed onto the salmon.  It glazed on beautifully, and there was some sauce left to put on the salmon at the table. 

We always have the Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce in the refrigerator.  My friend in Montana calls it the Rooster Sauce since there is a picture of a rooster on the bottle. This is the best in our estimation and we rarely are without it.  At this point, I will also add that we have a Norwegian and German background and no, we do NOT add 2 teaspoons....perhaps 3/4 of a teaspoon.  That is hot enough for us without spoiling the flavor of the salmon.  Feel free to pour it on if you love it.  This sauce is wonderful. 

Gravlax for breakfast

 I doubt there would be many beating down our door to join us for breakfast.  You have to have a real love for all foods and possibly a little bit of Norwegian in the blood helps also.  Nearly 10 years ago, we found a recipe from Emeril Lagasse for Vodka and Citrus Cured Salmon.  Since that time, The Trout has tweaked the recipe quite a bit and now just makes it by guess and feel.  That being said, I will try to explain how he makes this lovely piece of salmon taste like something very outstanding.

I also toasted the bagel, topped with cream cheese, gravlax, capers and a few chopped chives.  I used the thin bagels now available at only 110 calories compared to 270 for the regular sized bagels.  After all, this is about the salmon and not the bread.  I do like these thin bagels a lot.

Vodka and Citrus Cured Salmon
by way of Emeril Lagasse

1 (2 pound) salmon fillet with skin
1/2 cup kosher salt
3 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup chopped fresh dill
1/4 cup vodka
2 tablespoons grated lemon zest

Place salmon skin side down on several sheets of plastic wrap.

In a small mixing bowl, combine salt, sugar, dill, vodka and lemon zest.  Spread over the fleshy side of the fish, pressing into the fish.  Wrap the salmon tightly in plastic wrap and place in a large baking dish.  Place a flat glass or heavy ceramic dish on top of the salmon and weight the dish with several heavy cans or a brick.  Refrigerate for at least 24 hours and up to 48 hours.

Unwrap the salmon and rise all of the cure off under cold, running water.  Pat dry and slice diagonally into paper-thin slices. 

We cut this recipe down and kind of guessed at the amounts for curing.  It turned out lovely, tasty and was well-received.

Salmon on the Grill

It was a good day!  I just opened the windows...the air is cooling, our hot spell has passed, and now we can get down to enjoying a great late fall and winter in Florida.

Bon Appetit arrived this week as it has for the last 30+ years.  We have always promised ourselves that we would prepare at least 2-3 recipes out of each issue.  Usually, this has worked out just fine.  Tonight's meal was "Spice-Crusted Salmon with Ginger-Cilantro Yogurt Sauce." 

It was very good, especially the sauce, but the fennel and coriander seeds crusted on the salmon were not that well received.  We both decided that dill would have been a better choice.  The salmon was beautifully grilled, instead of pan cooked, and the roasted asparagus always are a hit.

Spice-Crusted Salmon with Ginger-Cilantro Yogurt Sauce

1/2 cup plain yogurt
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
3 teaspoons fresh lime juice
3 teaspoons olive oil
1 teaspoon minced peeled fresh ginger
1 garlic clove, pressed
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
4 6 -ounce salmon fillets with skin

Mix yogurt, cilantro, 1 teaspoon lime juice, 1 teaspoon oil, ginger and garlic in small bowl.  Season with salt and pepper.  Crush fennel and and coriander seeds and press into the salmon filets.

Grill on each side until done.  Serve with the yogurt sauce.

We served this with a 2008 Smythe-Renfield Pinot Nois from New Zealand which turned out to be a very delightful wine and a perfect companion to the salmon.

We break from France and cook in our own kitchen

We love watching the cooking shows on PBS. A very favorite is "Secrets of a Chef: Hubert Keller." He is a delightful, talented man who was born in the Alsace region of France. He also owns 6 restaurants including three "Burger Bars" in Las Vegas, St. Louis and San Francisco.

Not planning a visit to any of those 3 cities in the near future, we decided to prepare his "Double Salmon Tartare Burgers" at home. We enjoyed them very much along with a fresh green salad and several shrimp sauteed in butter and garlic. We also had the tartar sauce, but did not make the green apple relish or place the burgers on rolls. Nevertheless,
the salmon burgers were amazing and worth a try.

Double Salmon Tartare Burgers

Tartare Dressing

4 large egg yolks, pasteurized

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons ketchup

2 teaspoons hot sauce

salt and freshly ground pepper

1 cup olive oil

3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

Mix all in a food processor except for the olive oil, Add it slowly, drop by drop, pulsing until thickened. (I will admit, we simply added some mayonnaise to the other ingredients and eliminated the need to make the homemade mayo. For the small amount we needed, it still tasted wonderful.)

Burgers

14 ounces skinless salmon fillet, chilled

6 ounces smoked salmon, chilled

1 medium shallot, finely chopped

1 heaping tablespoon capers, drained and roughly chopped

1 heaping tablespoon finely chopped cornichons

2 teaspoons finely chopped tarragon

1 tablespoon finely chopped flat leaf parsley

2 tablespoons of the above tartare dressing

salt and freshly ground pepper

In a food processor, put the shallot, capers, cornichons, tarragon and parsley in the work bowl and process until finely chopped. Cut the fish in 1 inch cubes, add them to the work bowl and chop with quick pulses, scraping down the sides as necessary. Stop when you still have texture. Pulse in 2 tablespoons tartare dressing and pepper to taste.

Divide into 4 equal portions and shape into patties 1 inch thick. Refrigerate to let the flavors develop.

Heat olive oil in a large heavy skillet until very hot. Cook until golden brown on both sides, about 5 minutes total.

And the perfect wine for this meal was a Konrad 2008 . It was a very typical New Zealand sauvignon blanc wine with lovely grapefruit flavors, very well-balanced, not too dry, not too sweet.

Salmon Burgers with Cilantro Mayo

We have tried different recipes for Salmon Burgers in the past, but when I read "Annie's Eats" this morning, I knew we would have these for dinner tonight.

Salmon Burgers with Cilantro Mayo
1/2 cup red bell pepper, diced
6 tbsp. panko bread crumbs
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1 lb. salmon fillets, skinned, boned and finely chopped
1 large egg white, lightly beaten
1 1/2 tsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. fresh lemon juice
1-2 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil
We did add 2 chopped scallions

For the cilantro mayo:
1 clove garlic, chopped
1/2 cup mayo
1/2 cup cilantro
Dash of cayenne pepper (we used a dash of hot sauce)
Squeeze of lemon juice

In a medium bowl, combine the diced bell pepper, panko, garlic and salmon. In a small bowl combine the egg white, soy sauce, lemon juice and salt. Add the liquid mixture to the bowl with the salmon and toss gently until well incorporated. Form the mixture into four equal patties. We found that taking an empty tuna can and oiling it, will make nicely formed patties when the salmon mixture is packed into it and then tapped out.

Make the cilantro mayo, combine all the ingredients in the bowl of a food processor. Process until well combined and smooth.

Lightly coat a grill pan or skillet with 1 tablespoon of the oil. Heat over medium-high heat until hot. Cook the patties about 5 minutes per side, until cooked through.

Instead of putting these burgers on buns, we had loose leaf lettuce with a vinaigrette and placed the burgers on top. It was excellent and will certainly be added to our favorite recipe box.