Raw Salmon, Avocado and Cucumber Salad

This is another version of Hawaiian Poke but without seaweed. I have omitted the Furikake and coriander but added mayonnaise into the dressing. The dressing I used is wasabi-mayonnaise sauce that I use very often with my grilled or pan-fried salmon. Since you will be using raw salmon the freshness of the salmon is paramount.

 Ingredients

1 salmon filet portion, 140 gram (5 oz.), skinless and boneless
1 avocado
English cucumber, 6”, seeded but not peeled
1 green onion

Dressing

1 Tbs. Soy Kikkoman sauce
Lime juice from 1/2 lime
1 Tbs. Maple syrup
1 tsp. wasabi paste
2 Tbs. Mayonnaise

Directions
Cut salmon, avocado, green onion and cucumber into 3/8” uniform size pieces. Blanch green onions in hot water for 5 minutes to remove the harshness of raw onion then cool and pat dry.
Prepare dressing by mixing all ingredients together till well combined and mix everything together.
Serve on cucumber slices or crackers.

Pasta with Salmon and Caper Sauce

This is another perfect mid-week meal because it is so easy to make and can be done in under half-an-hour. Since the salmon will be medium rare when served use only very fresh salmon. Of course, if you prefer, you can cook the salmon in the sauce before serving. However, I like my salmon rare (read “raw”). The salmon is so creamy that it completely changes texture of this dish.

Ingredients

1/2 Tbs. olive oil
1/2 Tbs. butter
4 shallots, peeled and finally chopped
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 Tbs. capers, roughly chopped; do not rinse
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1/3 cup 35% cream

Spaghettini

Directions

Cook the pasta according to packet instructions in a pan of salted boiling water, then drain and keep warm.
Meanwhile, heat the oil and butter in a frying pan, add the garlic and shallots and sauté   until the shallots have softened. Pour in the wine and reduce until less than 1 Tbs. remains.
Add the capers, parsley and cream and continue to cook over moderate heat until the sauce have thickened, about 5 minutes.
Stir in the drained pasta and season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Stir in the salmon and serve immediately.

Weeknight Meals as a Weather Indicator

As I was organizing my picture directories, I have noticed that most of my main meals pretty much reflect the weather on that particular day: lousy days are great for comfort food and sunny days for nice light food. It is not difficult to match the photos of my food with weather.

 

Liver and Mushrooms with Egg Pasta

The caramelized mushrooms and onions almost completely cover the liver taste that so many people dislike. This is wonderful and tasty meal for any kind of weather. Recipe is the same as Calf Liver with Mushrooms & Spaetzle except I was using egg noodles instead of spaetzle.

Veal Stew à la Osso Buco

Perfect food for cloudy, rainy weather. Since I have used slow cooker for this stew it was no-work after initial browning of the veal. Can be done in big batches since it freezes so well. It is cooked just like Osso Buco Chops.

 

Salmon Sashimi with Cucumber Salad and Gari.

Yes, it was beautiful, sunny day when I prepared this simple and quick meal. All you need is super fresh salmon.

Crispy Skin Salmon with Asparagus

Anybody that follows my blog knows by now that we love salmon prepared in any which way. After all, this is 19^th post featuring salmon! As is the case with many salmon dishes the prep takes a lot longer than actual cooking. I always cook my rice an automatic rice cooker so I usually start with washing the rice. By the time the rice is done, about 25 minutes, the meal is ready to be plated.

Start by preparing the sauces. In this version I served wasabi-mayonnaise sauce made by mixing 2 tsp. of wasabi paste with 3 Tbs. of mayonnaise. Second sauce is simplified teriyaki sauce: 2 Tbs. Kikkoman soy sauce, 2 Tbs. sake and 2 Tbs. dark honey (I prefer buckwheat honey) or maple syrup. Mix until well combined.

Besides rice, the other sides are:
1)    Seedless cucumber slices cut in half and pickled in mix of 1 tsp. of rice vinegar and 1 Tbs. of dark honey. Let marinate in bowl and then drain in colander just before serving on same plate as salmon and asparagus.
2)    Asparagus cooked in microwave for 1 minute on high, tossed with butter and then sprinkled with coarse sea salt and freshly ground white pepper.

Since I serve the salmon with crispy skin (the best part of whole dish) the skin must be completely free of scales, and I mean not a single scale regardless how small it is. Scaling the fillet is by far the most tedious job that takes most of the prep time. But, once done it takes just 4 – 5 minutes to cook the salmon.

Start by heating non-stick frying pan on high with 1 tsp. of peanut oil and 1 tsp. of sesame oil. When light smoke forms above the pan carefully place the fillets skin side down. Cook on high until you see about 1/4 of the fillet above skin turning from pink to creamy color. Lower heat to medium high and turn fillet on flesh side down. Continue cooking till about 1/4” of the flesh in middle is still pink. Add the “teriyaki” sauce and reduce for 30 seconds. Remove the salmon immediately to preheated plate skin side up, pour wasabi-mayo sauce next to fillet followed by reduced teriyaki sauce. Place the asparagus and drained cucumber salad on plate and serve. The skin comes off in one straight and crispy piece. What a treat!

Saumon en Papillote

Salmon in Parchment Bag

We love salmon, it can be served in so many ways! I wanted to write “cooked” but since salmon in sushi, sashimi or as a tartar is raw…you get the picture. I have served salmon in every possible way including simmered in fish chowder. One method, however, stands apart: en Papillote or in paper bag. Very classical and sort of high end presentation. I used to prepare it quite often but later I prefer to serve salmon raw or medium rare with super crispy (charred?) skin. I bought two salmon fillet portions without a skin so crispy skin method was out and I didn’t feel for sushi so one of the alternate ways was to bake the fish in paper bag. This method can also be used for other fish like cod, sea bass, trout etc. and even chicken breast. Seasonings used with salmon is quite varied as well: Asian with Enokitake mushrooms, green onions and sesame oil comes to mind, or my preferred way with julienned red and green pepper, zucchini, lemon, butter, sea salt and Herbes de Provence. Simple and yet very elegant meal.

Ingredients

2 Salmon fillet portions, skinless and boneless

2Tbs. softened butter

1/2 tsp. Herbes de Provence (recipe below)

1-1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt

1/2 tsp. freshly cracked or ground black pepper

3 thin slices lemon (1/8”) cut in half

2 pieces parchment paper cut into 15”X17” oval

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 °F.

Lightly butter center of parchment paper and place salmon just below the center. Sprinkle sae salt and black pepper on top and top with 3 lemon slices followed by julienned peppers and zucchini. Mix butter and herb mix together and dot the vegetables with small pieces of herbed butter, about 1 Tbs. for each fillet.
Fold the paper towards you and start folding one side if the fold. Continue folding until you reach other side of fold and the bag is completely sealed. Tuck the last fold under to keep it closed.
Place oven on baking sheet and bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes for medium rare. It will keep cooking after being removed from oven. Cut diagonal slits on top of bag with scissors being careful not to get scalded by steam. Serve with mashed potatoes or rice in a bag or you can remove the salmon and veggies from the bag and serve it on preheated plate.

Start folding...

Last fold is placed under the packet

Another serving option is removing contents of the papilotte on plate.

 

Herbes de Provence

2 tablespoons dried savory

2 tablespoons dried rosemary

2 tablespoons dried thyme

2 tablespoons dried oregano

2 tablespoons dried basil

2 tablespoons dried marjoram

2 tablespoons dried fennel seed

Directions

In a small mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients together. Store in an air-tight container.

Salmon, Avocado and Gari Ceviche

When I came across fresh shipment of salmon and sushi grade tuna at my favorite supermarket fish counter (we don’t have a fish store in town) I had to have some and, of course, sushi was on menu that night. At the same time I bought avocado for salmon sashimi and gari to go with it. Then it hit me! Why not make some sort of salad with half of the salmon fillet (the belly part), whole avocado and about dozen slices of gari?  In under 5 minutes new dish was born! I can just imagine how great this ceviche will be on hot summer day. Again, not much of a recipe but here goes.

Ingredients

1 avocado, pitted and cut into 1/2” cubes Belly part of skinless salmon fillet cut into 1/2” cubes heaping tablespoon of gari 1 tsp. of gari pickling juice 1 tsp. Furikake (optional)

Process

Mix all ingredients in mixing bowl being careful not to smash the avocado and serve in chilled serving bowls. Sprinkle Furikake on top (if using).

Here is link to video “How to cut avocado”.

Note: I am calling it ceviche because it does contain raw fish and is marinated in a base containing acid. Ceviche uses lime and my version uses rice vinegar. Also, it is similar to my version of Hawaiian Salmon Poke.

Salmon Poached in Brown Butter

With Creamy Mashed Potatoes and Steamed Asparagus

Even though fish is the main ingredient in this dish, it is definitely not a diet meal. First of all, the salmon skin is quickly fried and crisped up in mix of grapeseed oil and butter, more butter is added and flesh side of fillet is slowly poached till almost done. Then you have the potatoes that are mashed with 35% cream, 3.25% milk and mayonnaise. Yes, mayonnaise. I usually use sour cream but I didn’t have any, so out came the mayo jar. Man, I have really pigged out on this one! But, was it ever so creamy and supper delicious!

I served the salmon with steamed asparagus tossed in brown butter, lemon zest and a slice of lemon.

Salmon Tartare

I was a little bit surprised when looking over my salmon recipes (17 posts!) that I didn’t publish recipe for Salmon Tartare, one of the simplest and fastest way so serve a salmon. There are as many versions of Salmon Tartare as there are cooks. It is pretty much almost-anything-goes with one important exception: just like anything Tartare (basically raw protein) it has to be absolutely fresh. To be on a safe side and also to make it easier to chop I freeze my overnight and then let it partially de-freeze in refrigerator till I can chop it with my cleaver.

 

Ingredients

Salmon fillet, skinless and boneless, about 6 oz.

1 Tbs. capers, chopped

Lemon zest from 1 lemon

Lemon juice from 1/2 lemon

1/2 Avocado, chopped

1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt or to taste

Furikake for garnish, optional

Cucumber slices for serving

Slice the fillet into 1/4” slices, place in sandwich bag and freeze overnight. 1 hour before preparing the Tartare, remove salmon from freezer and place in warmest part of refrigerator. Cut the fillet slices into 1/4” julienne and then into 1/4” cubes. Place chopped salmon into mixing bowl.

Add chopped capers, lemon zest, lemon juice, chopped avocado and sea salt.

Mix with fork till well combined.

Serve on slices of cucumber and garnish with Furikake (optional).

This is very quick and healthy snack.

Salmon Poke

My version of Hawaiian raw seafood salad

Yes, another salmon resipe, there isn’t such a thing as too much salmon, especially raw or, at most, medium rare.

Ingredients that I use in Poke are similar to that of California sushi roll, without the rice, of course. Wikipedia has a good description of history of Hawaiian Poke.

Ingredients

2 salmon filets, boned and skin removed (must be very fresh)

3” of English cucumber

1 avocado

1/4 cup chopped coriander

2 green onions, finally chopped

1 Tbs. Furikake

1 tsp. coarse sea salt

Dressing

1 Tbs. Teriyaki sauce

Lime juice from 1/2 lime

2 tsp. Maple syrup

1 tsp. wasabi paste

Directions

Prepare dressing by combining all ingredients and mix till smooth. Taste and adjust seasoning. It should be on sweet side (salt is added later) and spicy.

Wipe salmon filets with clean wet towel and dice into 1/2” cubes. Transfer salmon to large chilled mixing bowl.

Cut avocado in half, remove pit and skin and chop into small cubes.

Move avocado, coriander and onions to bowl with salmon, mix and sprinkle mixture with Furikake and sea salt. Sprinkle dressing over poke and mix well.

Transfer to chilled serving bowl and serve with cucumber slices or in Nori (seaweed) cones.

Note: Furikake can be substituted by combining 1 tsp. of each: white sesame seeds, toasted sesame seeds and chopped toasted nori. Actually, there is no rule as to what you use in your Poke.

Salmon and Asparagus – Three Ways

Salmon is such a versatile fish. We just love salmon any time of the year, Last week I have prepared it 3 times using same base ingredients (salmon and asparagus) and same sauce (teriyaki).

Simplest way is just pan fry it in very hot pan for 1 minute, turn over and add teriyaki, cook another 30 seconds and it is done. Plain steamed rice, nuked asparagus (1 minute on high) wasabi mayo dressing and sliced plain cucumber completes the meal.

Second way is basically same except that salmon is cut into large chunks and wasabi-mayo sauce is replaced with teriyaki glaze. Served with bowl of steamed rice topped with Furikake Seasoning and cucumber.

Third way is more complicated. It is a regular stir fry where you cook sliced red onion, asparagus and snow peas. When veggies are just soft add salmon chunks and teriyaki sauce, Stir fry for a minute and serve on bed of rice with Furikake Seasoning or just toasted sesame seeds. Cucumber salad is a natural with salmon.

Even though most ingredients are same the taste is little bit different because of cooking technique.

Salmon Sausage with Somen Noodle Salad

This recipe is still very much in development stage. On my last supermarket trip I bought couple of salmon sausages on a whim and now I had to come up with a way to cook and serve them. I did a search on Google and almost all hits were recopies on how to make the sausages but very few on cooking them.

Decision on how to cook the sausages was fairly straightforward since there are basically only three choices: pan fry, grill, bake or poach. My choice was the simplest, pan frying. The choice of what to serve it with or on was more complex. Do I serve it as a hotdog or on top of rice or some sort of noodles like cellophane or rice noodles? Since I had some leftover Somen noodles from last night’s dinner the decision was basically made for me.  All I had to do was add some julienned cucumber and radishes plus arugula and dress it with rice vinegar dressing (one part each of rice vinegar, Mirin or honey and water). I sliced the salmon sausage, served it on top of some noodle salad and topped sausage slices with mayonnaise & wasabi sauce.

Next time I will try glass noodles (cellophane, mug bean, starch noodles…too many names for same noodle) or rice vermicelli with teriyaki sauce.

Salmon with Pan Roasted Vegetables

I must have posted about half a dozen salmon recipes since I started writing this blog. It is such a versatile fish. Originally I was planning to cook the salmon with julienned vegetables in a paper envelope (Saumon en Papillote) but after working in the garden whole day I have decided on a simpler but still delicious pan roasted version. Since the salmon and vegetables cook very fast, less then 5 minutes, it is better to have the mashed potatoes cooked before and kept warm in toaster oven (my preference) or regular oven.

For vegetables I used julienned red pepper and zucchini and thinly sliced onions and cremini mushrooms. The fish and vegetables were cooked in same frying pan and at the same time, in olive oil and butter and on high heat. Cook the salmon good side down first for 3 minutes, turn salmon over, stir vegetables and cook for 2 more minutes or till fish just starts to flake. Do not over cook. During my prep I made a sauce that had a mayonnaise base with wasabi and maple syrup mixed in.  

Pan Fried Salmon, Green Beans and Red Pepper.

Because of versatility and taste salmon is my favorite fish. This is one of the simplest versions I have made. It can be made in less then 20 minutes, including preparation, same time as rice takes to cook. I have to mention, though, that the red pepper was already cleaned from prep for previous meal so all I had to do was remove ends from green beans and slice them in half and prepare the wasabi sauce.

Again, this is so simple.

Ingredients:

§    Salmon fillet portion, skin on or skinless, 1 per person

§    Salt and White pepper

§    Green Beans, ends removed and cut in half lengthwise and pre-cooked in microwave for 1 minute.

§    Red Pepper, julienned

§    1 tsp. olive oil

§    1 tsp. butter

Sauce:

§    1 tsp. wasabi powder mixed with 1 tsp. water

§    1/3 cup Mayonnaise

§    2 Tbs. Maple Syrup

Mix all ingredients till smooth

Direction:

Season salmon with salt and pepper (for that little extra I use smoked sea salt).

Preheat frying pan with butter and oil on medium high. Add salmon skin side up together with beans and peppers. When salmon is opaque 1/3 up, about 2 minutes, turn over skin side down and stir beans and peppers. When salmon is almost flaky, about another 2 – 3 minutes, remove from heat and serve on preheated plate with rice, beans and red pepper. Spoon wasabi/mayo/maple syrup sauce on side or on top of salmon.

This will be our post golf game lunch, I think. So tasty and fast.

Dinner Ideas or My Week in Kitchen

Actually, this is what I have prepared last week J.

Last week I prepared our meals using first item that caught my eye in fridge, freezer or pantry.  Basically, I was just improvising all week long. Most meals were sort of inspired by weather. It was all over the board, one day it was sunny and in mid 20s and next day the temperature stayed in single digits.

Bok Choy and Noodle Chicken Soup

Nice comfort food. With Long Asian egg noodles it is nice vegetarian lunch. Beside bok choy I have added julienned carrots and green onions.

Pork Tenderloin Schnitzel with Potatoes.

As usual, I used Panko instead of traditional bread crumbs for that extra crunch. Served with wedge of lemon and gherkin on side. Leftover schnitzel is great with rye bread as a sandwich.

Beef Rouladen with Rice.

I will post full recipe later today.

Green Beans, Red pepper, Hot Italian Sausage and Potato Sauté.

Nice peasant meal and simplicity itself. Start boiling potatoes cut into serving pieces. Meanwhile, sauté sausage with skin removed, add green beans and julienned red pepper and drizzle little white wine over it to create some steam. Cover and cook about 3 minutes. Mixed in boiled potatoes and serve. Because the sausage is so strongly flavored you don’t really need additional herbs or spices.

Thin Crust Pizza

I used my own pizza dough and sauce. For topping it was 4 cheese mix and toped with zucchini, red pepper, sweet onions, Cremini mushrooms and hot Italian sausage. Our favorite and I bake it almost every week.

Beef Congee

It never stops amaze me what you can do with just one half cup of rice, some stock and 1-1/2 to 2 hours of your time. For topping I used shredded flank steak marinated with soy sauce, white pepper and sesame oil, freshly roasted peanuts, green onions and arugula. Arugula was a substitute for coriander that I didn’t have. Congee has to be cooked very, very slowly, just a little bubbles coming up, or it will burn.

Salmon with Green Beans and Red Pepper.

This meal deserves its own post. I will post full recipe right after the Rouladen recipe.

Beef and Mushroom Stew with Dumplings

The stews are so difficult to photograph. Anyway, this is regular beef stew with about dozen quartered cremini mushrooms added just 10 minutes before plating. Short cooking time doesn’t shrink them and they don’t release all their juices. This stew had more mushrooms then meat and tasted great.

Week of Simple and Tasty Food

Monday

In one of last week’s supermarket flyers one item caught my attention: Real Parmigiano Regiano on sale at less then half price! Wow, got to have that, and lots of it!

Vacuum packed and ready for fridge.

Choice of the supper for that day had to have a Parmigiano in it, of course and since while back I made a big batch of spicy meatballs and tomato sauce and vacuum packed them, the meal was a breeze to prepare.

Wednesday

Russet Potato, Yukon Potato, Sweet Potato and Celeriac.

In the morning I started to crave for mashed potatoes. Not your regular, boring job but mashed root vegetables. I used Gold Yukon and Russet potatoes (baking and mashing potato variety), Sweet Potato and Celeriac. After mashing I added, as I always do, green peas. Served together with caramelized Vidalia onions and juicy pork chops made a really satisfying comfort food to match the lousy weather outside.

 Friday

In the morning it looked like we are going to have a nice grilling weather but as the dinner hour approached it turned cold and windy. The steak I wanted to grill had to be cooked inside. It turned out better then I expected! Tender and juicy and I served the steak on a bed of Napa cabbage and with fresh shitake, steamed asparagus, fresh tomatoes and roasted potatoes. Very, very nice indeed!

Saturday

Nice sunny day outside called for a light meal and since we didn’t have cooked salmon for a while I have decided on a good standby of Salmon Teriyaki with rice and cucumber salad. Foolproof and no fuss meal if you have teriyaki sauce on hand as I always do. We can have this meal every week and in summer we do, I think.

Grilling Season is at the door and I can’t wait. Last week I bought frozen sardines and I want to grill them first chance I get. The whole fish gets grilled with just a salt and pepper, squeezed lemon and fresh Italian bread or baguette with some greens on side and we will have a feast!

We love to eat in our sunroom and to see our garden. Soon, the flower beds will be full of flowers in bloom, starting with tulips and daffodils.

Salmon Teriyaki with Glass Noodle Salad.

This is such a nice, fast summer dish. Once the glass noodles (mung bean noodle) are soaked it is just a matter of minutes to assemble, cook and serve.

The taste and texture of room temperature noodle salad and hot salmon is incredible. This dish is great any time of a year but it shines in summer months.

Serves 2

Ingredients:

Salmon fillet, boneless and skin removed, 2 pieces

1/2 tsp. Sesame oil

1 tsp. Peanut oil

4 Tbs. Teriyaki sauce

Glass noodles, 2 bundles

1 small carrot, finally julienned

2 green onions (scallions), shredded

1” piece of ginger, shredded

1/3 cup coriander leaves

Zest from 1 lime

Dressing:

1 Tbs. Fish sauce

1 Tbs. Mirin

Juice from 1/2 lime

Hot sauce, to taste

Garnish:

Asparagus, 10 spears, stems chopped and spears reserved

Enokitake mushrooms

Avocado, 1/2 pit and skin removed and sliced

Directions:

Soak noodles in warm water for 1/2 hour, drain and cut with scissors to 4” long strands. Boil water in a pot, drop noodles in and 5 seconds later drain in a strainer and run under cold water to stop cooking process. Drain again and reserve in a large mixing bowl.

In a skillet heat 1 tsp. of peanut oil and 1/2 tsp. of sesame oil and stir fry the ginger, asparagus stems and white parts of scallions till soft. Turn the heat and stir in carrots. Remove all contents from skillet into a bowl with noodles and mix.

In a bowl mix all dressing ingredients, pour over noodles and mix till well combined. Serve noodles on individual plates.

Heat up same skillet with another 1 tsp. peanut oil and 1/2 tsp. sesame oil and when oil starts to smoke add salmon skin side down (skin side is flat) and cook till browned, about 2 minutes. Turn over and cook for 2 minutes. Add teriyaki sauce and asparagus spears and cook till sauce has thickened and fish starts to flake. Do not over cook! Remove salmon and asparagus and place on top of noodles. Garnish with avocado slices, Enokitake mushrooms and green onions.

Using Whole Side of Atlantic Salmon

Every time one of our supermarkets has a good special on fresh New Brunswick salmon fillet I buy whole side and break it up myself. Also, I always call the store and ask exactly when the will receive new shipment and buy it as soon as it is available. I never buy from display case because when I get to the fish counter the salmon is still in a box fresh from a truck.

First thing I do is wipe it clean and remove any bones left behind.

This time I wanted to make more Gravlax so two big chunks went there with skin on. Next 2 pieces were cut for dinner that night (Pan Seared Fillet of Salmon) and tail section and belly were used for sashimi and 3 Sushi Rolls cut into 18 pieces, enough for two of us to munch on whole day! The two fillets and tail were skinned.

For me, this is a way to go when it comes to salmon. I have to mention that salmon freezes extremely well. I usually freeze it in serving pieces and when frozen solid I vacuum pack.

Left to right: Gravlax, 2 fillets, 2nd side for Gravlax and tail for sushi roll and sashimi. Very frugal way to buy salmon.

Sushi Roll

When I bought whole side of salmon I saved tail end for sushi roll and sashimi. I do not use ton of ingredients that you will see in California roll. For us it is just sushi rice, nori (sushi seaweed), cucumber or avocado, salmon, wasabi paste and sesame seeds. There is a website dedicated to sushi making called Sushi Encyclopedia that has very detailed instructions so there is no point for me to go into a great detail.

Here is how I did it.

Clockwise from top left: rice, salmon, sesame seeds, cucumber, wasabi and nori.

Sesame seeds are sprinkled on rice, then salmon a cucumber goes on top and wasabi paste on top of salmon. Ready to roll.

Roll is ready to be cut first in half, then clean cut the ends and finally put 2 halves together and make 3 equal slices. You have 6 slices ready to be served with soy sauce and pickled ginger.



Pan Seared Fillet of Salmon

With rice, cucumber pickled in seasoned rice vinegar, ginger-teriyaki and wasabi-mayonnaise sauce. That is pretty much whole recipe.

Cucumber:

Slice cucumber and marinate in 1 part rice vinegar and 1 part honey mixture. Sprinkle with white pepper and toss to coat all slices.

Wasabi and Mayonnaise sauce:

Mix 1 tsp. wasabi powder with 1 tsp. water to make paste. Add 2 Tbs. of mayonnaise and mix until smooth. It should have a consistency of pancake batter.

Teriyaki sauce (another post)

Salmon:

Marinate salmon in teriyaki sauce for at least half an hour but no more then 1 hour.

In a non-stick frying pan heat up 1 tsp. of peanut or grape seed oil and few drops of sesame oil on medium high heat. Remove salmon from marinade and wipe dry. Reserve the marinade. Place boneless and skinless salmon file belly side down into frying pan and sear till light golden brown color develops, about 3 minutes. Turn over to skin side and cook for another minute or so. When most of pink on side of fillet changes color, remove to preheated plate, cover with aluminum foil and keep warm.

Wipe off remaining oil and put in chopped ginger and remaining marinade. Cook on medium heat till sauce thickens a bit. Keep warm.

Assembly:

On preheated plate place steamed rice, salmon and drained cucumber slices. Drizzle reserved teriyaki sauce on one side if fillet and wasabi-mayo sauce on other side. Garnish with coriander (cilantro) leaves .

Note: In summer I serve this dish at near room temperature with cooked and cooled rice vermicelli instead of rice.

Gravlax

(Updated)

Gravlax is one of the most enjoyable appetizers for all seasons ever! We just love it and I cure salmon just about every month. It takes no more then 15-20 minutes to prepare from start to finish. What takes most time is the de-boning of the fillet. You have to make sure that all the bones regardless of size are removed. Use needle-nosed pliers for this task. At fish market ask for same cut from opposing sides of salmon. I prefer the tail cut because there is no waste like in a center cut where you have to remove the flabby fat from belly.

Ingredients for each pound of fish (has to be scaled):

1 lb. salmon fillet, tail section

2 Tbs. kosher or sea salt

2 Tbs. granulated or brown sugar

2 tsp crushed black pepper corns

2 tsp crushed fennel seeds

2 tsp crushed coriander seeds

1 large bunch of fresh dill

1. Put the salt, sugar, crushed fennel, coriander and black pepper into a bowl and mix until evenly distributed.
2. Spread the mixture on salmon making sure to cover whole fish. There shouldn’t be pink flesh visible. If using two fillets (my preferred method), repeat.
3. Place some dill at bottom of glass or ceramic container that will hold the filet comfortably and then put one fillet skin side down on top of dill.
4. Cover the top of fillet with more dill (big but evenly spread bunch) and now place second fillet on top, this time flesh side down.
5. Cover with yet more dill and wrap container in plastic film.
6. Place heavy weight (brick or similar) on top and refrigerate for at lest 3 days, turning over both fillets once a day.
7. On 4^th day, remove from refrigerator, discard dill and briefly wash under cold running water. Dry with paper towel and remove all seeds that stuck to flesh.
8. Using very sharp knife, slice at shallow angle (just few degrees from parallel to cutting board) starting at the narrow (tail) end. Make the slices as thin as possible.

Gravlax is served same way as smoked salmon; on toasted baguette slice, crackers, mini latke or on top of slice of cucumber. You can top gravlax with squeeze of lemon, chopped capers or gravlax sauce.

Gravlax Sauce:

2 Tbs. grainy Dijon mustard

2 Tbs. Mayonnaise

1 Tbs. cider or red vinegar

2 Tbs sugar

1/3 cup chopped dill
Mix all ingredients in bowl till smooth and well combined.