Category Archives: Fish

Mustard-glazed salmon with lentils

Happy Friday the 13th! I have to admit, I was a bit disappointed with this recipe. Or perhaps it was the cook and not the recipe! I overcooked the salmon and the mustard on top completely burned in the broiler. Perhaps my pan was too close to the broiler. But at least there was no broiler fire this time…yes that happened once with a steak and no broiler pan.

I did learn something new with this recipe, that canned lentils are a thing! They were tucked in with the rest of the canned beans. I’m glad they were easy to find since you all know I don’t like to “ask for directions” in the grocery store. The lentils were super yummy and could be a healthy and high fiber side dish to accompany almost anything.

Mustard-glazed salmon with lentils

Salmon, pre-broiler

Serves: 2-4
Source: adapted from Everyday Food, November 2012

Ingredients
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 cans lentils, rinsed and drained
2 Tablespoons grainy mustard
4 skinless salmon fillets (4-6 ounces each)
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions
1. Heat broiler, with rack set 8 inches from heat. In a large broiler-proof skillet, heat oil over medium-high. Add garlic, onion, and pepper and cook, stirring, until the veggies start to soften. Add mushrooms and cumin, and continue to cook until soft. Remove from heat.

2. Season salmon with salt and pepper and spread mustard on the fillets.

3. Add lentils to skillet, stir, and season with salt and pepper. Nestle salmon in lentils and broil until opaque throughout, 5-8 minutes. Enjoy!

Slow-roasted salmon with fennel, citrus, and chiles

I recently tried another approach to salmon, slow roasting. It was pretty simple, but I don’t think it compares to the parchment paper method. The recipe suggested also trying it with cod, halibut, John Dory, or turbot fillets.

Slow-roasted salmon with fennel, citrus, and chiles
Source: adapted from Bon Appetit, January 2014
Serves: 2-3
Beautiful citrus, fennel, and dill
Slow roasted salmon


Ingredients
1/2 medium fennel bulb, thinly sliced
1/2 navel orange, very thinly sliced, seeds removed
1/2 Meyer or regular lemon, very thinly sliced, seeds removed
1/2 red Fresno chile or jalapeno, with seeds, thinly sliced
4 sprigs dill, plus more for serving
Kosher salt and coarsely ground black pepper
1 pound skinless salmon fillet, preferably center-cut
1/4 cup olive oil

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 275 degrees F. Toss fennel, orange slices, lemon slices, chile, and 4 dill sprigs in a shallow 3-quart baking dish. Season with kosher salt and pepper. 

2. Season salmon with kosher salt and place on top of fennel mixture. Pour oil over salmon. Roast until salmon is just cooked through (the tip of a knife will slide through easily and flesh will be slightly opaque), 30-40 minutes for medium-rare.

3. Transfer salmon to a platter, breaking it into large pieces as you go. Spoon fennel mixture and oil from baking dish over; discard dill sprigs. Season with salt and pepper and top with fresh dill sprigs.

Fish en papillote

I have been experimenting with fish en papillote (aka, wrapped in parchment paper)…they have been pretty tasty experiments! I first tried halibut (getting recipe inspiration from Food Network and Food & Wine) with some fennel, carrots, and onion. I left the skin on the halibut and included the fennel fronds and a slice of lemon in the packets, which ended up making things a bit messy and unnecessary. 

Halibut pre-wrapping

Next up was salmon, inspired by Julia’s salmon en papillote with shallots and tomato…and by inspired, I mostly used her recipe for the cooking temperature and times. I found it here, but looks like it was published in “Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home“. I learned my lesson from the halibut and asked the fish guy at Whole Foods to remove the skin, and just used lemon juice instead of a lemon slice. I forgot to take photos of the salmon, even though I liked it better than the halibut!

Salmon en papillote
Serves: 2-3

Halibut packages

Source: adapted from Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home

Ingredients
1/2 Tablespoon olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
1 medium carrot, thinly sliced crosswise
1 leek, thinly sliced
1 pound skinless salmon fillets, cut into 2-3 portions
Salt and pepper to taste
Lemon juice (from about 1/2 lemon)
Butter, 2-3 small pats

Directions

Halibut, ready to eat

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Cut a sheet of parchment paper, about 20″ x 15″, for each piece of salmon that you plan to cook.

2. In a medium saute pan, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add garlic, carrots, and leeks, and cook 3-5 minutes until slightly soft. Remove from heat.

3. Place each piece of salmon on a piece of parchment paper. Season salmon with salt, pepper, and lemon juice. Top each piece of salmon with some of the carrot and leek mixture, then top with a pat of butter.

3. Fold each packet in half, then crimp the edges to seal the package completely. Set the packages on a cookie sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes (8 minutes if fillet is less than 1″ thick, 10 minutes if fillet is 1-1 1/4″ thick.

4. To serve, carefully open the parchment packages and transfer the fish (along with all of the juices) to a plate.