My way: Salmon Confetti and Dried Tomato Pasta
When I first got married, in the days pre-internet, all my cooking ideas either came from the monthly Pillsbury cookbooks found at grocery store check-out counters or from the Wednesday cooking feature of the Star-Bulletin. Salmon confetti was a recipe that had won some sort of amateur cooking contest at the time and the newspaper clipping graced my plastic recipe file box for many years. I can't remember the last time I made it and I honestly haven't thought about it for quite some time. I decided to see what I remembered.
Super-easy recipe--here's today's cast!
I tore off a sheet of aluminum foil that was big enough to wrap the entire filet comfortably. I put a little oil on the foil and rubbed it around so the salmon skin wouldn't stick.
I sprinkled the skin side with salt and pepper and then laid it onto the prepared foil. I also seasoned the non-skin side.
The original recipe called for mayonnaise to be spread on the fish to keep it moist and to help the vegetables to adhere. I figured that the mayo was a great additional vehicle to add more flavor to the fish. So, I threw in my favorite balsamic vinegar. Yummy.
The mixture was spread on the surface of the fish along with a bit more pepper.
The basic confetti ingredients are onion, tomatoes and mushrooms. I didn't have mushrooms but I did have tomatoes from Tom's garden, onion and green onion. I also added a small handful of drained capers and sprinkled the whole thing with salt and pepper. Have to season the layers!
Then I thought: bacon. This is the pre-cooked kind from Costco. So convenient when you want to add a lot of flavor without the hassle of cooking the oil out first.
I had some Tahitian limes leftover from my last FarmLink order so I squeezed the juice of half a lime over the whole thing.
I sealed the fish within the foil, put the packet onto a pan and baked at 375F for 20 minutes.
In the meantime, I put pasta on to cook and dumped some of the dried tomatoes I had made a couple of weeks ago into a small pot along with the olive oil it was stored in, some salt and pepper, and garlic powder.
I put the pot on medium-low heat and added a couple of tablespoons of butter for a bit of creaminess.
After the butter had been incorporated and the sauce was hot, I tasted it. To help cut some of the oil, I added a good splash of beef broth and a squirt of honey to alleviate the tartness of the tomatoes.
Once the pasta was cooked and drained, I put some of it in a bowl and tossed it with some of the sauce. I kept adding pasta and sauce, tossing it and checking the ratio of sauce to noodles. Hot pasta that is drained but not rinsed is very starchy and will absorb lots of sauce--and that's how the flavor really gets in there.
I added some shredded Parmigiana cheese, shredded basil and chopped parsley.
The finished salmon!
The salmon's flaky interior.
The guys enjoyed both dishes but the pasta was a real stand-out; Chris said it made him think of a pesto because it was an oil-based sauce with the basil on top. The dried tomatoes were wonderfully subtle; I could definitely taste them but they harmonized beautifully with the cheese and herbs. Nice!
No recipes to post tonight; the salmon confetti was from memory and the pasta, well, I just made that up!
Super-easy recipe--here's today's cast!
I tore off a sheet of aluminum foil that was big enough to wrap the entire filet comfortably. I put a little oil on the foil and rubbed it around so the salmon skin wouldn't stick.
I sprinkled the skin side with salt and pepper and then laid it onto the prepared foil. I also seasoned the non-skin side.
The original recipe called for mayonnaise to be spread on the fish to keep it moist and to help the vegetables to adhere. I figured that the mayo was a great additional vehicle to add more flavor to the fish. So, I threw in my favorite balsamic vinegar. Yummy.
The mixture was spread on the surface of the fish along with a bit more pepper.
The basic confetti ingredients are onion, tomatoes and mushrooms. I didn't have mushrooms but I did have tomatoes from Tom's garden, onion and green onion. I also added a small handful of drained capers and sprinkled the whole thing with salt and pepper. Have to season the layers!
Then I thought: bacon. This is the pre-cooked kind from Costco. So convenient when you want to add a lot of flavor without the hassle of cooking the oil out first.
I had some Tahitian limes leftover from my last FarmLink order so I squeezed the juice of half a lime over the whole thing.
I sealed the fish within the foil, put the packet onto a pan and baked at 375F for 20 minutes.
In the meantime, I put pasta on to cook and dumped some of the dried tomatoes I had made a couple of weeks ago into a small pot along with the olive oil it was stored in, some salt and pepper, and garlic powder.
I put the pot on medium-low heat and added a couple of tablespoons of butter for a bit of creaminess.
After the butter had been incorporated and the sauce was hot, I tasted it. To help cut some of the oil, I added a good splash of beef broth and a squirt of honey to alleviate the tartness of the tomatoes.
Once the pasta was cooked and drained, I put some of it in a bowl and tossed it with some of the sauce. I kept adding pasta and sauce, tossing it and checking the ratio of sauce to noodles. Hot pasta that is drained but not rinsed is very starchy and will absorb lots of sauce--and that's how the flavor really gets in there.
I added some shredded Parmigiana cheese, shredded basil and chopped parsley.
The finished salmon!
The salmon's flaky interior.
The guys enjoyed both dishes but the pasta was a real stand-out; Chris said it made him think of a pesto because it was an oil-based sauce with the basil on top. The dried tomatoes were wonderfully subtle; I could definitely taste them but they harmonized beautifully with the cheese and herbs. Nice!
No recipes to post tonight; the salmon confetti was from memory and the pasta, well, I just made that up!
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