Taiga Salmon

This is not identical to the Russian dish of the same name, but it's a close recreation that's both tasty and easy.

*note... I used a baking stone because this salmon dish was always served on a hot stone in the restaurants we visited, and it does seem to make a difference in how well everything bakes. But I'm certain this recipe would work with a regular baking dish or jelly roll pan (that's a cookie sheet with sides, just to be clear).

What you need:

Large salmon fillet

Potatoes Au Gratin, boxed instant (I think we used "Idahoan")

---ingredients necessary for boxed potatoes (typically water, milk, butter)

Tomatoes, sliced

Fresh dill, chopped

How to do it:

1. With a baking stone already in oven, preheat oven according to box instructions. Our box indicated 450°.

2. As oven heats, prepare potatoes. When ready, grease stone with light spray of olive oil. Rinse salmon, place on stone and lightly spray salmon with olive oil. Place potato dish on middle rack and salmon stone on rack directly under potatoes.

3. Bake 20 minutes or as indicated by box instructions.

4. When potatoes are finished (ours had five additional minutes after sprinkling parmesan), remove from oven along with salmon stone. Pat up any excess oil from stone with paper towel if necessary. Spoon potatoes onto salmon and garnish with tomatoes and dill. Serve.

Salmon Again!

I felt very enouraged by how easy my Salmon Pesto Mayo recipe is, so I did some experimenting and came up with another keeper. It's amazing.

With our very large salmon fillet, I used about 1/3 cup mayo.

Then I added (without measuring, sorry):
a drizzle of olive oil
a few big drips of lemon juice
generous dashings of salmon seasoning (yeah, totally cheating there)
thin sprinkling layer of smoked paprika (smoked is very different from regular, trust me).

Stir well! Broil salmon, spread sauce on it, broil again till sauce is bubbly. :) Follow pesto mayo recipe for cooking directions.

It is really good. I ate it during a week that I thought salmon sounded kind of gross, with all my pregnancy food-yuckiness, but Michael brought salmon home...and well, it was amazing. SO good.

GOURMET

You have to try my salmon recipe. And then even better, you have to try it with a layer of thin-sliced raw almonds under the pesto mayo. WOW! WOW! It was perfect, it was amazing. How can I convince you?
I do not like weird crunchy things with dishes when the crunch seems to interrupt. I don't like M&Ms in my ice cream...I don't really even like sprinkles in it. I don't like fruit blobs in my yogurt. I've only recently come to not mind celery in my soup. Maybe you don't care, but that's why it's important to use thin-sliced almonds. They're not quite slivers, don't get almond splinters or anything. When they roasted under the sauce on the salmon, they softened enough that they simply added a deluxe chew to the dish, and the flavor was incredible.

*NOTE: since this is such a forgiving dish, you could technically mix the almonds into the sauce before spreading it on the salmon. The reason I wouldn't is I think the almonds wouldn't soften QUITE as much, and their flavor wouldn't seep into the salmon QUITE as well. But I'm absolutely certain it would still be really delicious. (Just don't put the almonds on TOP of the sauce because they will turn black within seconds. In which case, you scrape it all off and try again...like I said, it's a forgiving dish! I know. I've learned).*

That's what we made for my birthday dinner, a repeat of Michael's birthday dinner (differences: didn't blend side dishes, had pre-made rice so didn't add cinnamon, used a little more sauce, bla bla, I just went with it). It's just so good...a favorite for both of us! Here's the full menu:

• Salmon Pesto Mayo with Almonds (just pack them on the salmon in a somewhat generous layer, then spoon the sauce over; it will probably spill on the sides a bit, doesn't matter)
• Rice (make sure you use butter and salt when you cook it-- you can even add a sprinkle of cinnamon for a subtle, mysterious hint of luxury)
• Freshly sliced avacado (when it's cold it's an even awesomer blend with the salmon flavor. You can eat it separate, or you can dish the slices onto your rice, or you can take a bite of it with the salmon-- it's all good)
• Sauteed mushrooms
• Some kind of romantically sparkling drink (we used pear this time-- yum!)

Maybe a professional chef would tell me that these foods don't go together. But that chef would probably change their mind after tasting it all, because all these foods have a sultry, buttery taste that's contrasting enough between them all to add variety but close enough to keep the meal as one delicious experience from taste to taste. It's amazing, I'm serious. The avacado smooths into the salmon flavors and just...ahhh...and the rice butters it up with a warm new texture, and the sauteed mushrooms are the perfect touch for romance. Of course, the salmon tops it all. It is so, so, sooooo fantastic.

Also? This is all really fast and easy. Especially if you made the rice ahead of time (if not, rice cooks in about 20 minutes) (for all you rice-cooker-addicts, I will do a post of how to make rice...yeah, I'm not kidding).
The salmon, depending on its thickness, broils in about ten minutes, usually less.
The avacado? You slice it.
The sauteed mushrooms take something like...I don't know, less than ten minutes.
Ding! That's it!

The only thing not on the menu this time around was the glazed pineapple. That's okay. But it's a really wonderful dessert to top it all off.
But...and please don't get tired of me for saying this, I can hardly help myself...I didn't even feel like I needed dessert because the flavors were so delicious and perfect that I wanted them to sit in my mouth all evening. Mmmm.

Salmon Pesto Mayo

Before you gasp in disgust, let me inform you: that salmon is supposed to be green. I'm sorry--I tried to take a flattering picture, but the lighting just disagreed with my camera. And...heh heh, the avacado got away from me when I tried to place it artistically to the side...(and trust me, the avacado did fit in with the meal--it went with a side dish).

This was the most delicious salmon I have ever tasted in my life. In my life. And I made it! Me! Ha, I call myself a chef for fun with this blog, but whoa, this was some magic gourmet coming from my kitchen. Oh yeah, and guess what, it was easy. But don't tell everybody that because I'm still impressed with myself.

Salmon Pesto Mayo

printable version of this deluxeness

4 5-6 oz. fresh or frozen skinless salmon fillets (or one gigantic fillet, it doesn't matter especially)

1/4 cup mayonnaise or salad dressing (use mayo--and I'll admit, when I first read the title, I thought it was something fancier than mayo and pronounced it "My-o" and thought "ooooh")

3 TBS purchased basil pesto (I bought a little package of dry mix)

Shaved Parmesan cheese (optional--I totally forgot about it)

1. Thaw fish, if frozen. Rinse fish; pat dry with paper towels. Measure thickness of fish.

2. Place fish fillets on the GREASED unheated rack of a broiler pan, tucking under thin edges.

Broil 4 inches from the heat for 4 to 6 minutes per 1/2 inch thickness or until fish begins to flake when tested with a fork. (If fillets are 1 inch or more thick, carefully turn once half-way through broiling).

3. Meanwhile, for topping, in a small bowl stir together mayonnaise and pesto. Spoon mayonnaise mixture over fillets. Broil about 1 minute more or until topping is bubbly. If desired, garnish with shaved Parmesan cheese.

It was quick (SUPER quick--under 10 minutes, I'm sure) and easy and SOOOOO good!!!!!

Special thanks to my fabulous cookbook, Better Homes and Gardens. At least I think that's the cookbook I used.

I served rice with the salmon. It's not really worth a recipe spot, but I'll tell you how it was special: Brown rice cooked traditionally with a sprinkling of cinnamon & sugar. Topped with fresh avacado and sauteed mushrooms. Isn't that weird? It was extremely delicious. The flavors blended into a sultry, divine dish. I don't even know how I got the idea--it kind of worries me sometimes what recipe ideas I get, so I'm just glad this worked. I don't know why I felt so sure about going on with it, but I'm just glad.