Spicy Pan-Seared Salmon with Feta Sauce

There seems to be a fish theme going on here lately, with this third post in a row. The wild Alaskan salmon caught over summer and frozen for later is now so handy for a quick and sumptuous meal.

Some fresh greens from the fall garden was handy for this dish: Lacinato kale and Baby Romaine leaves make a lovely crisp bed of salad to serve this spicy pan-seared salmon dish.

Salmon was rubbed with a mix of spices: cayenne pepper powder, berbere powder, salt, onion powder. Mix the spice powders in some ghee to make a paste and rub on the salmon.

Home-made ghee is an indulgence every once in a while - a recipe shared here over a decade ago: Home-made Flavored Ghee at Delectable Victuals

The fusion of flavors is one of my favorites - the spiciness from Ethipioan berbere and the buttery flavor and aroma from the Indian ghee, plus the Mediterranean flavors of Feta sauce, sun-dried tomatoes, capers, and olives makes this a richly flavored dish.

Feta sauce: Crumble some feta, stir in some thick Greek yogurt, olive oil, minced garlic, marjoram sage, and oregano. I blend it into a smooth thick dressing-like sauce consistency.

Pan-seared Salmon: Heat some oil in a cast-iron skillet and place the salmon skin side down first and sear well till skin is crispy; flip so that the side that is rubbed with the spice mix is now getting seared, then, turn down the heat and cook till salmon is cooked through and flaky.

Sauteed Sweet Potato Leaves and Sweet-Sour Salmon and Lychee-Chili Sauce

A bunch of gorgeous Sweet Potato Leaves seemed so fresh and inviting at the farmers market that I had to bring it home and sauté it right away.

A hunk of Silver Salmon caught in Alaska during our recent trip was thawed and ready. Sweet-and-sour salmon was one of the requests I received while wondering how to cook up the salmon this time.

Sweet-and-sour Salmon it is, then.

Tamarind paste and grape molasses is a perfect sweet-and-sour combination that I've come to love while cooking with these two staple ingredients in my kitchen.

Of course, vinegar and sugar is a default sweet-sour combination, which I am not very fond of... so, am glad I settled on tamarind paste and grape molasses for now, that bring in a deeper flavor and an interesting layering.

(Disclaimer:I don't have any affiliation with these brands, these just happen to be the ones easily available where I shop.)

I grew up loving lychees (aka litchi), enjoying this seasonal fruit whenever it hits the local market. Litchi chinensis has a shell like peanuts which are peeled and discarded to get to the translucent mildly sweet flesh that has a strong odor characteristic of many tropical fruits. There were at least half a dozen varieties cultivated in northern and eastern parts of India, where the warm and humid climate and soil seem ideally suited for these lovely trees.

These days, every once in a while, I find fresh and frozen lychees at the Asian market, and bring them home for some fun smoothies and chutneys and sauces. It has a rather large pit inside, so, getting the flesh is a bit of an effort, but well worth it if one loves these fruits as much as I do.

Lychees with home garden chilies became a hot-and-sweet sauce in the form of Lychee-Chili Sauce, much like the sauce made for Lychee-Chili Chicken. This time, I served the sauce on the side as I knew kids don't care for it.

Sometimes, the combination of ingredients might seem like a mish-mash meal, but those are the ones I've noticed turn out satisfying as it is rather unexpected and refreshing.

The salmon was slathered on with tamarind and grape molasses, and a sprinkling of salt, then, lightly dusted with flour. It is first pan-seared skin-side down. Then, flipped to cook the other side. I peel the skin off at this stage and slather more of the tamarind and grape molasses plus salt to the now skin-free side, then flip again and sear it till flaky and cooked through.

Salmon Curry Indian-Style with Coconut Cream

The very last fillet of salmon, caught by the other adult in Alaska, emphatically insisted on being served as a sublime Indian-style curry full of ambrosial flavor and heady aroma.

Curries, I can make on autopilot. Call it conditioning, call it instinct, call it self-possession... but, it seems rather unlikely to find myself bungling curries. They are the most flexible and tractable of Indian dishes with no single carved-in-stone recipe to befoul, and therefore quite forgiving when I take liberties with the tried-and-tested.

One could simply toss the chopped salmon chunks into the simmering gravy and all will be fine. But, the extra effort that adds a touch of discernible difference is to cook the salmon first on a hot cast iron skillet after gently rubbing with garam masala powder, salt, splashing some fresh lemon juice, and allowing the fish to marinate before searing it on the skillet.

Scoring the skin-on salmon fillet, and marinating as a single large piece rather than cut chunks works best for the skillet-searing, rather than worrying each individual piece to cook uniformly.

Ingredients

A splash of lemon juice and about half a teaspoon of garam masala powder mixed with a pinch of salt for marinating
A 7-inch long skin-on salmon fillet, scored to separate chunks after cooking
Chopped Vegetables: red bell pepper, onions, kale, peas, potatoes
2 Tablespoon Coconut oil
Salt to taste

For the gravy/curry sauce:
14 oz. can coconut cream

dry roast and grind to powder:
2 cardamom pods
2-inch piece of Indian cinnamon bark
2 cloves
1 teaspoon whole green (or black) peppercorns

grind to fine paste:
½ cup tomato purée
2 teaspoon ginger paste
1 teaspoon minced garlic
½ tsp turmeric powder
1 teaspoon Kashmiri chili powder (or cayenne pepper)


Preparation

1. Sear the salmon: Heat a cast iron skillet to high heat, add a tablespoon of coconut oil and place the scored and marinated salmon skin side down and allow to crisp a bit; then flip and cook the salmon till mostly done, it will finish cooking in the curry sauce; by now the skin will easily peel off and the chunks can be separated to individual pieces scored earlier
2. Start the curry: heat a tablespoon of coconut oil in a saucepan, add the ground paste and saute till aromatic, then add the finely ground powder of dry roasted spices, stir well till well-incorporated, season with salt to taste
3. Simmer: Add the veggies, salmon, a scoop of water as needed, and simmer for 5 minutes or so, then, stir in the coconut cream, cover, and simmer gently over medium heat till salmon is fully cooked and the curry reduces to a creamy consistency
4. Serve warm with brown or white basmati rice, or even naan/roti

Salmon with Fig Chipotle Mint Sauce

Looks like there is a theme going on here with the mint and the chipotle.

The thing is, when I open a can of chipotle in adobo sauce, I rarely manage to use up the whole can right away, and what I don't use up right away, I save for later, but don't want to refrigerate it for too long, so, the chipotle finds its way into as many dishes as I manage to make over the next few days.

A portion of the last of the skin-on Salmon fillet needed to be used up as it is nearly a year since it was last caught by the other adult and frozen safely.

Rub the non-skin side of the salmon with butter and chipotle sauce. Heat a cast iron skillet to medium-high heat. Place the chipotle-butter side down and cook till seared. Flip the fish so the skin side is down and cook till it gets crisp, and the salmon is cooked through and flaky.

Fig Chipotle Mint Sauce: In a blender, add a tablespoon of chipotle in adobo sauce, about 8 large mint leaves, and a tablespoon of fig preserves or fig jam, blend coarsely. Then drizzle some lemon juice and olive oil much like making an aioli till the sauce consistency is to your liking.

The sauce may not sport an alluring color, but, it sure exuded an alluring flavor, if one likes the potent combination of fig and mint and chipotle, which I do.

Fresh peapods, kale, and spring onions from the garden got sauteed and thrown onto the plate as the green bed on which the salmon is served, with a drizzling of the fig chipotle mint sauce, plus more sauce on the side.

I do tend to smother the dish with all the green stuff from the garden, which seems like a clutter in the picture... maybe next time I will take the time to compose a plate carefully instead of the quick plate-click-serve routine that I've gotten used to lately.

Salmon Fish Curry

A hunk of fresh-caught Alaskan salmon was asking to be made into an Indian-style flavorful fish curry. Not too spicy but full of aromatic goodness.

Most Indian curries start with a ginger + garlic + onion + tomato  ground up to the masala paste base; to which cumin + coriander + star anise + Indian cinnamon bark + black peppers/dry red chilies mix is added in powdered form and sautéed for flavors to develop.

That is just one of the popular combination of dry mix, but there are umpteen regional variations, of course: fenugreek seeds, bay leaves, poppy seeds, nigella seeds, fennel seeds, black cumin seeds, black cardamom, black mustard seeds, black sesame seeds...

Similarly, the masala paste has a few variations like adding yogurt, or almonds, or coconut, or tamarind, or curry leaves...

Part of the fun for me is to go with the flow, with my mood, with the ingredients handy in the kitchen (which is usually well-stocked with spices), and make a "surprise" curry.

Ingredients
2 cups of cubed salmon
1 large Poblano pepper, sliced
a few colorful sweet peppers, sliced
½ cup red onions, sliced
2 Tbsp coconut oil
½ tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp brown sugar or demerera sugar
salt to taste

For the masala paste:
½ cup diced onions
½ cup diced tomatoes
2 Tbsp chopped garlic
2 Tbsp grated ginger
2 Tbsp tomato paste

For the spice mix:
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 Tbsp coriander seeds
1 Tbsp white sesame seeds
1 tsp white poppy seeds
1 star anise
2 dry red chilies


Preparation

1.  Masala paste: Combine the masala paste ingredients and blend to a fine smooth paste and keep handy
2. Spice mix: toast the spice mix ingredients in a pan till mildly aromatic, allow to cool a bit, then grind to a fine powder, keep handy
3. Heat coconut oil in a pan, add the onions, turmeric, some salt and sauté
4. Add the masala paste and peppers and saué some more till the rawness of garlic and ginger cook away
5. Add the fish cubes and the spice mix, stir well and saute some more
6. Add just enough water to immerse the fish, stir in the brown sugar, cover and simmer till fish is cooked and the flavors meld
7. Serve with cooked quinoa, or millet, or rice, or roti or naan.

Salmon en Papillote

The nicer adult in the family brought back lovely, pristine Chinook Salmon from his fishing trip in Alaska. Plus, humongous halibut, lean cod, and some yelloweye.

As I was exploring ways to cook the salmon, the ever-popular en papillote appealed to me to be the quick and easy thing.

I would've preferred to slather on some South Indian spices and wrap it in banana leaf and bake it. Maybe next time...

Since this was good-sized skin-on fillet, it was easy to sear the skin first and then cut to portioned pieces for baking.

Although sauce is optional and Salmon-purists may frown upon added flavors, this time the dish was asking for my favorite fresh herbal chimichurri sauce using the fennel, mint, and oregano from the garden. A generous layer of this chimichurri sauce was spread on the salmon.

Some flame-blistered chilies, sliced lemons, fresh fennel leaves, mini red bell peppers, and slivered garlic went into the packet as well.

Parchment paper packets were not fancy, just a rectangular piece that wraps tight and seals, with just enough room to puff up in cooking.

Bake in a 450° F oven for about 10 to 15 minutes. I went with longer baking time and the parchment paper browned a bit, but it's all good.