Sakes

[pecunium]

A few weeks ago I made supper for Les and Minimo. I was at Mollie Stones, pondering protein, and saw they had wild Coho on sale. So I bought about a half pound. I am not a fan of cooked salmon. Les saw it, and was surprised.

I told her there was enough other food to keep me happy, and that I was going to have a bite, and see what I thought of it. I too the thin slice of the filet, and it wasn't bad. I liked the browned side.

Skip forward to a week ago. I didn't have the energy to deal with sardines (not quite the physical, the detail work of pulling the backbone; and decidely not the mental to come up with something more novel than the various things I've done to butterflied fish).

I saw that whole foods had a decent price (not the 7.99 a lb Mollie Stone's had, but reasonable), and I had Jaqui; my fishmonger, give me a piece of about 3/4s of a pound. CG likes it. Darrell likes it. I liked it when it was slightly crisped. I could try a variation, and see what I thought of it.

CG had plans involving a dish of roast beets and fennel root, I was going to make some tatties ad neeps.

Got home. CG put the beets in the oven. We sliced the fennel root. When the beets were half done we put the fennel root in, julienned; with the parsnips (cut into rounds) underneath.

Those came out, the potatoes were mashed, the neeps cut bite sized and folded in.

I got the cast-iron hot, and tossed the salmon in, flesh-side down, and cooked it until the slim part of the filet was cooked through. I cut that off (it was my part) and put the skin side into a skillet, full of heated saké, to poach until done.
WHile this was going on CG peeled the beets, sliced them and tossed them with the fennel, and some romaine, with some parmesan, olive oil and 12 year old balsamic.

We drank it with a very fruity cider and it was damned good.

Comments

[dianyla.livejournal.com]

What are tatties ad neeps?

Mmm, cider.

[pecunium.livejournal.com]

Potatoes and parsnips.

[auriaephiala.livejournal.com]

We always said neeps were turnips (or rutabagas in a pinch). Of course, they're more difficult to peel...

Your dinner sounds delicious. So roasting beets works best -- I must try that. Last time I tried cooking beets in the microwave the result was rather incarnadine.

[kightp.livejournal.com]

Roasting works best for all root vegetables, IMO (and a good number of non-root veg as well). It brings out the sweetness of the plant sugars, with a toasty edge that's just delectable.

Which reminds me, I have fresh, local, organic beets in the fridge.

pecunium, if you like your salmon on the lightly cooked side, try using the high-heat skillet next time but starting with the skin side down; cut your bit off and then finish flesh-side down. The skin provides just a bit of insulation to keep the flesh from drying out, and the finish takes less than a minute.

[pecunium.livejournal.com]

I like my salmon raw. I am working on not finding the addition of heat something which ruins it completely.

[kightp.livejournal.com]

Right - I meant to suggest that it will be closer to warmed-but-not-ruint if you let the skin act as an insulator. (I love raw salmon, too; I just think of lightly cooked salmon as a different but also tasty dish.)

[pecunium.livejournal.com]

I think I need to find things which are different from warmed, because warmed has (with, at this point 3 exeptions) always equaled all numminess removed.

[dianyla.livejournal.com]

Mmm, parsnips.

[inflectionpoint.livejournal.com]

and they are so so so good. yummy!