I don't know if I mentioned this in any previous posts or not, but I received a stack of cookbooks for Christmas. I have yet to make it through all of them, but I've been steadily reading through "Good Eats: The Early Years" and "Forgotten Skills of Cooking" plus I read the Georgia chapter of "Jamie's America". I've also cooked a few recipes out of each. My favorite so far from Good Eats are the Southern Biscuits. Yum! I've been keeping a little cookbook journal so when I come to a recipe I want to try, I note the book, page number and recipe name.
Darina Allen's "Forgotten Skills of Cooking" has so far yielded how I can make my own Buttermilk (2 cups of milk to 1 T white vinegar), Brown Soda Bread, Brown Yeast Bread and the most delicious Salmon I've ever made. I've learned a lot reading her book. She goes through everything you would need to know....from foraging plants to scaling and gutting fish, to cleaning game. There are sections on Dairy and Baking. And the recipes look so good.
The salmon recipe is so simple its not even a recipe in the book. It's a paragraph in the fish section that tells you the the best way to cook salmon fillets. And, I have to agree, it is the best way I've found so far.
"Salmon fillets are best dipped in a little seasoned flour and cooked slowly in a little butter in a pan, or, alternatively, pan-grilled with a little butter. Serve with a few pats of Maître d' Hotel Butter and a wedge of lemon." –Darina Allen, "Forgotten Skills of Cooking"
See, simple isn't it? Here's what I did. I seasoned a mixture of whole wheat and all purpose flour with salt, pepper and garlic powder. I also sprinkled salt on the salmon fillets before dipping them in the flour. I coated the whole fillets with flour and then shook off any excess. In the meantime, I fired up my cast iron skillet and melted the butter. (I had it on a medium heat...around a 4 or 5 on my stovetop). Then, place the fillets into the skillet. I let them cook for about 4-5 minutes on the first side until the bottoms looked golden brown and delicious. Then flip and cook for another 4-5 minutes until done to your taste.
While the salmon was cooking, I made the butter. The Maître d' Hotel Butter recipe from the book is butter, lemon juice and parsley. I, personally, don't use a lot of parsley. It tends to just give a grassy flavor to things to me. So, instead, I used chopped fresh basil and mashed it into softened salted butter and added a squeeze of lemon. When the salmon is finished cooking, put a little pat of butter on top (and I smeared it around a bit), squeeze on some lemon and eat. Really, this is so good we could eat it every night. Luckily, we do have some more salmon in the freezer that our neighbor gave us over the summer. I think we will be having this again next week.
I served mine with roasted butternut squash. Simply peel and slice the squash into 1/4" to 1/2" slices. Spray your pan with oil, then put the squash on in one layer. Sprinkle with olive oil, salt and pepper and put in a hot oven (400º) for about 20 minutes or until golden and carmelized on one side. Enjoy!
