A new, tongue-tingling recipe for us tonight from Fitness Food. Kedgeree is an Indian-inspired British dish of eggs, fish, and rice — you can read a detailed history here. Apparently it’s a popular breakfast/brunch dish, but for us it made sense as yet another way to have salmon for dinner.

Lisa says:

That book has really given us some winning recipes.

Chris says:

Tell me about it! I’ve never heard of this dish before…

Lisa says:

Me neither! It’s really different.

Chris says:

Yeah, that combo of hard-boiled eggs along with the salmon is unexpectedly delicious!

Lisa says:

I actually like the raisins in this, too. And there’s just enough spice.

Chris says:

The spicy mango chutney goes well with it. But you know what I like best about this?

Lisa says:

Hmmmm… what?

Chris says:

The portion size… not going hungry here!

Poached Salmon Kedgeree
2 eggs
3 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 lemon, sliced
2 x 7 oz salmon fillets, at room temperature
1 tsp low-fat butter spread
1 large red onion, chopped
2 tbsp mild curry powder
2 tsp ground turmeric
1 1/2 cups basmati rice
1/2 cup golden raisins
1 large handful flat-leaf parsley, chopped

Hard-boil the eggs, peel, and roughly chop. Set aside.
Heat a heavy-base frying pan that it at least 3 inches deep and 10 inches in diameter. Add the stock, wine, and lemon slices and heat to a simmer, then add the fish. Simmer for 8 minutes, or until just cooked through. You’ll want the cooking liquid to completely cover the fish. When fully cooked, move the fish to a plate, remove the skin, and use a fork to roughly flake. Set aside, and cover with plastic wrap to prevent drying out. Strain the stock into a large container to measure 3 cups and set aside. Wipe out the pan.
Heat the butter spread in the frying pan, add the onion, and cook for a few minutes until softened. Add the curry powder, turmeric, and rice. Stir and cook for 1 minute. Stir in the reserved stock. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes until the rice is cooked and the liquid absorbed.
Carefully stir in the chopped egg, salmon, raisins, and half the parsley. Divide among 4 bowls. Top with the remaining parsley. Serve with a fruit chutney and lemon wedges.

4 Servings

We’re continuing detox week here at We Heart Food, so tonight we made this light salmon dish as prepared in How To Eat Supper. Salmon is pan-roasted with garlic and basil and then placed over a bed of fresh greens. A simple and very quick preparation; the salmon is the star of the show here!

Chris says:

This salmon is slammin’. What the — what’re you doing with that bread?

Lisa says:

Making a Slammin’ Salmon Sandwich, obviously.

Chris says:

Obviously. What’s your favorite part of the dish?

Lisa says:

One guess.

Chris says:

Gotta be the garlic. Those paper-thin slices just melt on your tongue!

Lisa says:

Ding ding ding! My only problem is that there aren’t more of them.

Chris says:

I really like that you have both the cooked and the fresh basil. I also think this would also be good with some asparagus.

Lisa says:

Ooooh, good idea!

Pan Roasted Salmon over Fresh Greens with Garlic and Basil
1/2 bag fresh spring greens or mesclun mix
1/4 lb sugar snap peas, roughly chopped
12 fresh basil leaves, torn into large pieces
2 salmon fillets, skinned
extra-virgin olive oil
salt and freshly ground pepper
2 large garlic cloves, sliced paper thin
1/3 cup dry white wine
lemon wedges

Divide the greens between two dinner plates, then scatter the snap peas and 1/2 the basil leaves over them. Rinse the salmon, pat it dry, then salt and pepper both sides of the fish. Set aside.
Add enough olive oil to a 12-inch skillet to leave a light film, and heat to medium-high. Add the salmon to the pan and sear for one minute, flip, and sear for another minute on the other side.
Sprinkle the garlic and remaining basil around the fish in the pan, lower the heat to medium-low, and cover. Cook for 5-6 minutes, flipping the salmon once, until just done. The fish should be barely opaque in the center.
Remove the salmon from the skillet and set aside, keeping warm. Add the wine to the skillet, set the heat to high, and scrape the garlic and basil from the bottom of the pan. Simmer until the juices thicken and sizzle.
Drizzle the hot sauce over the greens and top with the salmon. Serve with lemon wedges.

2 Servings

Jeremy and Autumn came over for dinner tonight and we enjoyed this Salmon Chili, adapted from a recipe in the McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood Restaurant Cookbook. It’s one of those healthy-but-hearty dishes that we really love. The salmon and the white beans (instead of the more-frequently-seen kidney or black beans) lightened the dish and made for a nice flavor combination. There’s a bit of Tabasco and chili powder for some kick, but this definitely isn’t a very spicy combo.  We served it with Broccoli with Turmeric and Tomatoes.

Jeremy says:

This isn’t from your fire-blasto hot chilis book, is it…

Chris says:

Great Bowls of Fire? Nope… definitely not kick-in-your-face-and-rip-out-your-tongue hot.

Autumn says:

This is really good, you guys…

Jeremy says:

Muy bueno!

Lisa says:

I love it — but dammit, I had too much bread before we sat down… although now I get to have an awesome lunch.

Chris says:

I’m glad these bowls are small; otherwise I’d feel bad about going back for thirds.

Salmon Chili
1/2 lb dry white beans
4 cups vegetable broth
1/8 cup olive oil
1 cup diced onions
1 cup diced celery
1/4 cup each red, yellow, orange bell peppers
3 tbsp chopped garlic
1 cup white wine
28-oz can diced tomatoes
1 tbsp Tabasco sauce
4 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
2 tbsp freshly chopped basil
2 tbsp freshly chopped parsley
2 tsp dried thyme
1 lb salmon, diced into 1-inch pieces

Soak the white beans in water overnight. Drain, then cook the beans in 2 cups of the vegetable broth (enough to cover) until tender, about 25 minutes. If you start running out of liquid, add water.
Saute the onions, celery, and peppers in the olive oil to soften. Add the garlic and cool for 1 minute. Add the wine and reduce for 1 to 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and bring to a simmer.
Drain the cooked beans and add to the pot along with the Tabasco, tomato paste, the remaining 2 cups vegetable broth, and herbs and spices. Simmer for 10-12 minutes.
Add the salmon and simmer for another 3-4 minutes until just cooked through. Stir carefully to incorporate the seafood without breaking it up too much.

6 Servings

This recipe is from Steven Raichlen’s Barbecue Bible, and we both really enjoyed this new way of preparing salmon! It’s stuffed with a walnut-cilantro-dill filling, and then wrapped in grape leaves and placed on a hot grill. We served the fish with roasted sunchokes drizzled with truffle oil. Fancy!

Lisa says:

My dad would really like this one…

Chris says:

You can totally taste the flavor of the grape leaves on the salmon.

Lisa says:

So you’re not supposed to eat the grape leaves?

Chris says:

The recipe claims not, but I just took a nibble — crispy, smoky, and salty… I’m sure it’s fine if you want it!

Lisa says:

This is a lot of fish; here, take a lit– hey, hands off my delicious filling!

Chris says:

Sucka!

Salmon Grilled in Grape Leaves
8 to 12 grape leaves packed in brine
2 salmon fillets, skinned and deboned
salt and freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup shelled walnuts
1 clove garlic
1/2 tbsp dried dill
1 tbsp cilantro
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 paper-thin lemon slices

Rinse the grape leaves and soak in cold water for 30 minutes or so. Drain them and pat dry with paper towels.
Rinse the salmon under cold running water, then drain and blot dry with paper towels. Place the fillets on a cutting board, and with a knife parallel to the board, cut a deep pocket in each fillet, starting and ending about 1 inch from each end, cutting almost all the way through. Season the fillets with salt and pepper, inside and out.
Combine the walnuts, garlic, dill, cilantro, and lemon juice in a food processor and mix to a coarse paste. Taste for seasoning and adjust as necessary. Spoon the stuffing into the fillets, dividing evenly.
Arrange 2-3 grape leaves on a work surface to form a rectangle 2 inches larger than the piece of salmon. Place a piece of salmon on the top of the grape leaves, place a lemon slice on top, then cover the salmon with the remaining grape leaves. Fold and tuck the ends under the salmon. Secure with — well, we used floss. Repeat for the other fillet.
Set up the grill and preheat to high heat. Brush and oil the grill grate. Place the wrapped fish over direct heat and grill until the grape leaves are browned and the fish is cooked through, about 4-6 minutes per side, depending on the thickness of the fish.
Using a spatula, transfer the fish to a serving plate. Unwrap the salmon and discard the grape leaves before eating.

2 Servings

We were on our way home tonight and realized we hadn’t planned any meals, so we popped in to Whole Foods to see if anything caught our eye — salmon fillets and heirloom tomatoes were both on sale, so we bought both, along with a few potatoes. It wasn’t until we got home that I wondered if we had the ingredients to make skordalia, and when I saw we did, I decided to give it a try. I cut the oil in the recipe below more than half, and should have cut the garlic in half as well — it was *extremely* garlicky (Even Lisa, who usually *doubles* the garlic in recipes, thought it was a bit much). Still, it was delicious, especially when it mixed a bit with the juices from the tomatoes, which were just topped with some balsamic, a little olive oil, and fresh basil.

Potato Skordalia (from The Olive and the Caper)
———————————————–
1 large russet potato, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
1/3 cup blanched almonds (or pine nuts)
15 cloves of garlic (!!!)
1 cup olive oil
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp salt

Boil potatoes over high heat until soft all the way through, about 10 minutes.
Transfer the potatoes to a food processor. Add the remaining ingredients and blend until smooth.