Seafood Recipes

Seafood Recipes - Part 2

Cooking Salmon the First, Second and Third Time Around

Salmon are all muscle and thus almost pure meat. Add their strong flavourand the result is a meal people seldom eat in even eight ounce portions.As fish rarely come to our hooks in the proper proportions, leftover salmonusually remains after the meal has been cooked, consumed and commented upon.Everyone leans back popping ample vest buttons, probing teeth with errantribs and ordering another flagon of wine. With this in mind, recipes inmy house assume there will be extra fish; one salmon becomes the basis ofat least three dinner meals.

Many seafood cookbooks grace the shelves and my culinary offerings areby no means exhaustive. My methods are less accurate than the GallopingGourmet but just as zany. I use a dash-of-this, dash-of-that approach andover the years assemble only recipes that people of all persuasions willactually eat.

My first night's cook nearly always results in baked salmon. A barbecueis hotter and quicker than an oven and adds its own smoky flavour. Cookthat salmon hot: 400 - 450 degrees Fahrenheit in the oven. Test salmon bytwisting a fork in the thickest portion. Translucent flesh is raw flesh.Monitor the salmon closely - 10 minutes per pound can be too much - andover time, you will find your salmon sense becomes honed to the moment thefish broils zestily in its own juices. Take care though. Overdone salmoncan be as dry and lifeless as the tumbleweeds rolling through Clint Eastwoodmovies. It takes only a minute extra to transport salmon past the pointof delightful deliciousness and into an imitation of Lee Marvin and hisdrunken horse leaning against Arizona, singing, "How dry I am."

Salmon the First Time Around

1 5 lb. salmon
1 oz. sliced ginger root
1 oz. sliced garlic root
1 oz. oregano leaves, crumbled
1/3 cup China Lily soy sauce

(1 lb. halved brown mushrooms
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese)

Looking over these ingredients, I am left feeling the list has to be tooshort. But rest assured this recipe has them clamouring for more. Placethe salmon on a generous piece of aluminum foil, put half the spices inits internal cavity and pour in half the soy sauce - the key is to use ChinaLily. Pour the remaining soy sauce over the entire fish and sprinkle onthe spices. Wrap the fish so sauce cannot escape during cooking and placereverently on the barbecue. After 30 minutes, twist with a fork, takingcare not to rip the foil (which allows the salmon to cook in its own moisture).Allow 5 more minutes for translucent flesh. For mushroom lovers, add 1 cupsliced mushrooms at 15 minutes and parmesan cheese. Mmm. This one is myfavourite.

Dip a finger in the basting sauce, take a swirl of wine, roll the eyesa la Graham Kerr, and, pronounce in your best Billy Crystal imitation, "Marvellous,simply marvellous." Serve with expensive chardonnay. Be happy.

Salmon on the Second Night

1 - 1 1/2 lb. cooked, deboned salmon
1 - 1 1/2 cups rolled oats or bread crumbs
1 tbsp. lemon juice
2 eggs
1/2 cup diced onion
1/2 cup diced celery
1/4 cup diced carrots
another hint of butter
1/2 tsp. salt
2 dashes tabasco sauce

Cheese Sauce

1 tbsp. flour
1 tbsp. butter
1 1/2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups cubed cheddar cheese
2 cups steamed broccoli

The second night you will have leftover salmon and be wondering whatto do. This is a recipe of which Mr. Bush would approve. Debone the salmonand put it aside. On high heat, fry the onion, celery and carrots in thehint of butter for a few minutes. Then mix all the ingredients togetherand press into a non-stick pyrex loaf pan. Bake 30 to 40 minutes at 350degrees, then turn the loaf onto a serving plate, placing steamed broccolineatly and greenly around its sides. Droozle the cheese sauce directly ontop and voila you have a meal fit for a past president.

Prepare the cheese sauce so it's ready to go the instant the loaf comesfrom the oven. Mix the flour and butter in a pot on low heat. Gently mixin the milk, creating a not-so-lumpy white sauce that will leave all theFrench chefs in the audience gasping at its audacious simplicity, not tomention plucky daring. Slowly melt the cheese - which is the secret ingredientanyway - into the white sauce. Do the droozling and serve with a flourish of trumpets.

Salmon on the Third Night

1 1/2 cups cooked, deboned salmon
1 cup frozen peas
1 tbsp. butter
1 tbsp. flour
1 1/2 cups milk
pepper to taste
salt to taste
toast

On the third night, the chef says let there be a light meal. And there is. Make the undeceptively simple white sauce, rechecking the salt and pepperlevel once all ingredients have been combined. Add the salmon chunks, takingcare not to overmix the meal to the point it looks and tastes like wallpaperglue.

Hide the good-for-you-and-therefore-inedible-by-any-child's-estimationpeas in the mixture last so they are barely cooked and serve over toastand under grated cheddar; flim-flammery confuses kids about the quintessentialblandness of dishes they might otherwise not leap at wild eyed. Good eating.