Let’s cook!

Planked Salmon with Basil Butter

Basil Butter

1 cup packed fresh basil leaves

1/4 cup basil oil

1/2 stick unsalted butter

1/2 teaspoon gray salt

Salmon

2 salmon fillets, 6 – 8 oz each

olive oil

1 cedar plank, soaked in water for 8 – 10 hours

1/2 teaspoon gray salt and coarse black pepper

1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

Start by soaking the cedar plank in water and top with lemon so it stays soaked in water.

In a small food processor add the fresh basil leaves, basil oil, salt and pepper.

Add the butter and process until smooth. Place in the frig for 2 hours.

Pre-heat your grill on high. In a small bowl mix the salt, pepper, and dry mustard.

Place the salmon fillets on the cedar plank and coat with olive oil. Season with the spice mixture.

Place the cedar plank on the grill and cook for 10 minutes and try not to lift up the lid.

Remove the salmon from the grill and place on a serving dish.

Time to top off the salmon with the basil butter.

Here is a close-up:

Happy Cooking!

Let’s cook!

Baked Salmon with Anchovy Vinaigrette and Grilled Pepper Relish

Anchovy Vinaigrette

1 – 2oz can of anchovy fillets

2 tablespoons quality mayonnaise

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1/2 lemon juice

1/2 cup sherry vinegar

1 small shallot, chopped

1/3 cup olive oil

1 teaspoon black pepper

Grilled Pepper Relish

1 yellow bell pepper

1 green bell pepper

4oz can of chopped black olives

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, chopped

1/4 cup sherry vinegar

1 tablespoon honey

salt and pepper

Salmon

2 salmon fillets, 6 oz each

1 teaspoon olive oil

salt and pepper

Pre-heat the grill on high. Start with the vinaigrette. Combine the mayonnaise, mustard, lemon juice, vinegar, pepper, anchovies, and shallots in a blender.

Process until smooth. With the motor running, drizzle in the olive oil and blend until emulsified.  Keep the vinaigrette refrigerated.

For the grilled pepper relish, place the pepper on the grill.

Grill the peppers until lighty charred. Place in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 15 minutes. This is a good time to pre-heat your oven to 350.

Peel, steam and seed the peppers. Now combine the olives, garlic, parsley, thyme, vinegar, peppers, and honey in a bowl.

Mix well and season with salt and pepper. Let rest at room temperature.

Time to make the salmon. Place the salmon in a baking dish and coat with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.

Place the salmon in the oven and bake for 10 minutes.

Remove the salmon from the oven and drizzle 3 tablespoons of the vinaigrette on top of the fish.

Now top with the relish.

Here is a close-up:

Happy Cooking!

Let’s cook!

Mustard and Herb Crusted Salmon

1.5 lbs side salmon

3 tablespoons of butter

3 gloves of garlic

4 springs of thyme, leaves only

1 lemon, juiced

1 tablespoon Old Bay seasoning

1 cup panko break crumbs

Finishing Salt – Lava Black (If you don’t have any this is another new discovery of mine that I really enjoy!)

Preheat the oven to 425. Line a small sheet pan with parchment paper.

Lay the salmon, skin side down.

Place butter, garlic, mustard, thyme, lemon juice, and Old Bay into a electric mixer.

Process until mixed well.

In a large bowl add panko and mustard mixture.

Mix well and while the butter is still soft cover the top of the fish.

Place the fish in the oven and bake for approximately 10 minutes.

To plate use 2 long flat spatulas and lift the salmon off the paper and transfer to a serving platter. Top the fish with the finishing salts.

Here is a close-up:

I hope you enjoy this post salmon lovers!

Ok for tomorrow’s post I am going to ask you the readers what you would like to see. Email me: thecookinghusband@gmail.com

Happy Cooking!

Let’s cook!

Seared Salmon with Horseradish

2 salmon fillets (6 oz each)

1/4 cup prepared horseradish

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 scallions, white and pale-green parts only sliced thin

gray salt

pepper

Preheat oven to 375. Season both sides of the salmon with salt and pepper (this is the part I tell you to remove the skin unlike me).

Spread 1 tablespoon of horseradish onto skinned side of each fillet.

Heat oil in a large ovenproof skillet over medium to high heat until hot but not smoking. Add salmon, horseradish side up. Cook for 2 minutes then flip and cook for another 1 minute. While the fish is cooking add another 1 tablepoon on the top of the salmon.

Turn the fish one last time and add to the oven to cook until the salmon is cooked through, about 5 minutes.

For this meal I made roasted asapargus with shallots. The other side was wild rice. Here is how I plated the dinner:

Here is the close-up:

So now you have a recipe to spice up that salmon and make a complete meal in 20 minutes–perfect for the first meal back after vacation.

Happy Cooking!

This weekend Jen and I spent over 10 hours in the yard for a much needed re-make. We are both sore and so as promised I decided to make a pretty big dinner tonight. I made a cedar plank salmon with beurre blanc sauce and homemade mash potatoes. While making the mash potatoes I told Jen I know even more now why I don’t make mash potatoes from scratch on the weekdays. For those that gave me a lot of grief I hope this will ease the nasty comments. Let’s get to cooking.

Ceder Plank Salmon

1 cedar plank

2 salmon filets

orange Juice

1 lemon

In a baking sheet add orange juice but don’t fill all the way.

Now add fresh squeezed lemon.

Keep the lemon halfs and add them to the pan.  Now add the cedar plank.

Let the plank sit for at least an hour. Time to focus on the homemade mash potatoes.

The Cooking Husband Homemade Mash Potatoes

4 large potatoes, removed skin and cut into quarters

1 fresh spring of rosemary

1/2 stick of butter

1/2 boursin cheese

1 large garlic clove, sliced

salt and pepper

In a large pot of water add rosemary, garlic, and potatoes.

While the potatoes are cooking focus on the beurre blanc sauce.

Beurre Blanc Sauce

4 shallots, peeled and finely chopped

1/2 cup white wine vinegar

1/2 cup white wine

4 tablespoons butter milk

2 sticks of butter

In a sauce pan combine shallots, white wine, and white wine vinegar.

Simmer mixture gently until nearly all liquid has evaporated. Add buttermilk and butter to pan.

Over high heat, whisk sauce until butter has melted.

Turn off heat and let sit.

Back to the mash potatoes. Drain the potatoes after they have cooked for 45 minutes.

Add the drained potatoes to a large bowl with boursin cheese, butter, salt and pepper to taste.

Let the potatoes sit to absorb all the flavors added. Time to cook the salmon, put the grill on high heat.

Remove the plank from the juice and put on grill for 3 minutes on one side.

Flip the plank over after 3 minutes.

Add salmon skin side down to the plank.

Cover and cooking for 10 – 15 minutes (I cooked mine for 10 minutes). Let the salmon sit for 2-3 minutes before you plate.

Remove from the plank and time to plate. For Jen and I had green beans with this meal which I have made for the blog before. Here is in final plating:

So there it is, homemade mash potatoes, but I really hope you try this salmon which is very simple compared to my potaotes.  The beurre blanc sauce is good on most fish, but it is a great addition to salmon.

Happy Cooking!

Salmon/Mussels with Curry Butter

For the Salmon and Mussels:

2 tablespoons fennel seeds

2 tablespoon ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 4-5 ounce salmon fillet, boneless and skin removed (or you can remove it after you cook it like I do)

1/2 lemon, juiced

10 mussels, cleaned

2 scallions, chopped for garnish

For the Curry Butter:

1 stick of butter

2 tablespoons curry powder

1 jalapeno pepper, chopped

1 clove garlic, chopped

salt and pepper to taste

First thing, preheat oven to 350.

To make the curry butter, combine butter, curry powder, jalapeno, garlic, and salt/pepper in a food processor.

Pulse until smooth.

I set the mixture aside and let the butter soften at room tempature for later. Begin preparing the salmon by making a seasoning with fennel, coriander, salt and pepper. Mix these ingredients in a bowl and the cover the salmon.

Put the salmon in the oven and let bake for 20 minutes.

Time for the mussels. In a pot take a cup of chicken broth and a cup of water and bring to a rapid boil. Now add the mussels.

The mussels will open pretty quickly so have your baby spinach ready to add to the pot once you see they have opened.

Once the spinach cooks down mix with the mussels in the pot and turn off the heat and let sit.

The salmon should be about done, so I use the Uncle Ben’s 90 second rice because it is REALLY easy and taste great. Tonight’s flavor was wild rice. So, the meal is done and it is time to assemble. First, I put rice down on the plate, then top with the salmon, which was right from the oven. Scoop a teaspoon of the curry butter on top of the fish and it will melt pretty quick.

And here is the final plate with the mussels and spinach. Also, I used the scallions as garnish.

I am getting closer to a 30 minute meal, (this one only took 40 minutes) but hey, who cares about the extra 10 minutes when this dish is so full of awesome flavor. If you are searching for a way to spice up your ‘relationship’ with salmon, here is a way to do it. And hey, who knows, it might even spice your other relationship too.

Happy Cooking!

Salmon with Pistachio Basil Butter

1/4 cup pistachios – shelled or you can get the ones that are already shelled

15 fresh basil leaves

4 cloves of garlic

1/2 cup of butter (I didn’t say it was healthy but butter is soooooo good!)

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1/2 cup of white wine

4 – 6 ounce salmon fillets (since this was for a party I doubled everything)

In a food processor combine butter, pistachios, garlic, basil, and lemon juice.

Once everything is combined in the food processor remove the butter mixture, season with salt and pepper to taste.

Preheat the oven to 400 and cut the salmon into strips.

Place the salmon strips skin down into a buttered baking dish.

Cover the salmon with wine and bake till opaque which is about 10 minutes. Place 2-3 tablespoons of butter mixture on each piece of salmon and continue to bake for about another 5-6 minutes.

Remove from the oven and there you have it Salmon with Pistachio Basil Butter.

If you like Salmon, you really need to try this recipe.  For only taking a total of 30 minutes to cook, it truly has a very rich taste.  Guys, your ladies will think you spent hours slaving in the kitchen over this meal and will be VERY thankful for all of your hard work. 

Happy Cooking!