Sesame Salmon with Creamy Grits

OK I will quit crying about Subway University... on the good side I have a new toy.  I have been watching the ads and waiting for one that I want to go on sale.  The grill that I have had for the last couple of years was a good one and it served me well, but I had to face that it was dying.  The last time I cooked chicken breast it took about 45 minutes and I pounded it flat before I started.  One of the features I NEEDED on my new grill was a burner off to the side.  Why?  Well no one in my house can stand the smell of cooking fish so I have always tried to do the polite thing and cook it outside but sometimes I want salmon or tuna cooked in a pan instead of on the grill.  This was the maiden voyage for that for me I made pan seared Sesame Salmon and Creamy Grits... for Kris and the kiddos Lemon Herb Chicken with Cheesy Potatoes...

Ahh the flame-ups,  I have missed you

Start by marinating the salmon, I used:
2 TBS sesame Oil
1 Clove of minced garlic
The Juice from one lemon
Salt and Pepper

I left that on the counter for about half an hour then made the Grits:
1 Cup of boiling water
4 TBS Grits
1/3 Cup half & half
butter

Add the grits to the boiling water then stir until it starts to thicken (I use quick grits so it is about 5 minutes) then add the half & half, stir a little, cover and set aside.

I started the next step by toasting the sesame seeds, that really brings out the flavors so well, so put them in a dry skillet and toast over high heat until they start to brown.  Next roll the salmon in your toasted seeds and set it skin side up in a hot skillet.  I like mine about medium so after about 4 minutes turn and cook on the other side for about the same amount of time.  When it is all cooked plate it up and garnish with a few toasted seeds.  I enjoy the sesame, garlic flavor that this has, they work so well with the salmon, as for everyone else the chicken was fine.

Note, I actually started this post a few days ago before the whirlwind that preceded heading off to CT.  Since then I have changed my mind.... I will continue to cry about Subway school...

Green Tea Poached Salmon

I have to admit something here, something a little dark... I hate hot tea people.  Maybe "hate" is too strong of a word, if you and I were sitting on my back porch and you asked for a cup of herbal tea I wouldn't throw you out into the streets of the Chicago suburbs, in fact if you had some tea with you I would even make it for you.  I am sure the evening would turn out just fine, even if I were a bit distrustful.

However from a restaurant and even more so a catering perspective tea drinkers, especially herbal tea people are a lot of work.  Here is an example, when I was going through my divorce I would do some work with Chicago caterers most weekends for a little extra cash.  One weekend I was waiting tables at a wedding in the Field Museum... it was a dinner for 1500 people; yes 150 tables of 10 spread over the entire first floor complete a big T-Rex Skeleton in the middle.  There were a total of 85 people there as wait staff that night, I had just delivered a table full of food and was walking back to pick up another tray and a guy grabbed my elbow to stop me.

"Oh, Excuse me," he started, "could I get some herbal tea?  Maybe Chamomile or a Peppermint would be fine.  Oh, and bring me some raw sugar or honey for it and I can't use this half and half just bring me some milk, skim is best, 2% if you have to." 

Did he have any idea that there were about 1499 other people in the room waiting on dinner?  The guy still hadn't let go of my $30.00 tux jacket.

"Oh and this bread... well just find me some hard rolls or French bread, and some olive oil to dip it in, OK?"

I smiled at him and said I would take care of him immediately, then did the math, "85 waiters, more than half of us men about half of those with blond/light brown hair, every one of us in second hand tuxedos, I don't exactly stand out in fact I look exactly like 20 other people here tonight," I said "I will bring that right out for you sir"  I thought, "yeah, 15 minutes after Hell freezes over."

In my career in restaurants and catering my dealings with tea people has always been something like this one, maybe not as extreme but similar.  That being said when I decided to make Green Tea Poached Salmon I had some identity issues, "am I going to become a 'tea guy' now?" and "will I suddenly be too good for refined sugar? Maybe coffee poached salmon would be more appropriate... OK, maybe not"

The ingredients:

2 TBS Coarsely Chopped Fresh Ginger

3 Cloves Coarsely Chopped Garlic

small handful of Fresh Cilantro chopped

6 oz white wine

Salt and Pepper to taste

6 Green Tea Bags

Roasted Sesame Seeds

Salmon 1 fillet per person

Put the the first bunch of ingredients except the Tea Bags  into a saucepan with about 6 cups of water and simmer lightly for about half an hour maybe 45 minutes.  I wanted extra poaching liquid for the Couscous that I made and something else, upcoming post (maybe... if this one turns out) if you are just doing salmon cut it all in half.  After the poaching liquid had simmered for the half our I turned it off and added the teabags to steep for about 10 minutes.  Then I pulled the teabags out with a slotted spoon and brought it to a light simmer then added the salmon and poached for about 5 minutes.  

This is served over couscous made with some reserved poaching liquid and Chilean Mushrooms.  I splashed a little soy sauce on top and garnished with toasted sesame seeds. 

Oh and here is what the Easter Bunny brought!

Poached Salmon

While I have been going on with my piles of comfort food and other things that have no business being on my plate after the holidays (Sweet Potatoes cooked in bacon fat, yummy but I do have a waistband to think about too). Many of my fellow bloggers have been highlighting delicious light recipes (Shrink my Ass series, Vegan Month and recipes like this come to mind). I feel kind of like a smoker at a red cross convention. I thought I would lighten things up this time, have a little fun and poach salmon. This looks like a lot of stuff is going on but really was easy to prepare plus it is an impressive looking and tasting dish.

Start by making the poaching liquid. To do that start with Mirepoix, if you aren't familiar with that term, simply put mirepoix is a mixture of coarsely chopped Onions, Celery and Carrots (two parts onion, one part carrot, one part celery). It plays an important part in many sauces and stocks. As an added bonus when you say Mirepoix people really think you know what you are talking about.

The liquid has:
1 qt water
1 cup red wine
1 cup mirepoix
2 cloves garlic
1 stem of tarragon (I like tarragon, you can use whatever aromatic herb(s) you like.
Some of the trimmings from the vegetables that I served with this dish
Salt and pepper

Bring it to a boil then turn to medium heat and let it cook for about an hour, by the way the house will smell great! When it has reduced by half strain it off so you just have the dark flavor filled liquid left, keep that at a simmer until you are ready. I topped this with Baby Bok Choy, Yellow Squash, Green Onion, and Baby Portabella Mushrooms. I sauteed these in about 2 tsp of Sesame Oil and 2 tsp of Corn Oil (Sesame Oil can be pretty strong) then added a few Sesame Seeds. When the vegetables were all chopped I put them into the hot saute pan for about 5 minutes tossing often. As soon as the vegetables went into the skillet I put the the salmon fillets into the lightly simmering liquid. Depending on how thick your salmon fillets are this will take 3-5 minutes to cook. In the end, the salmon was tender and flaky with nice subtle flavors to it. The vegetables just can't be beat they are great!

Baby Bok Choy, isn't it cute?