Thursday, June 17, 2010

What I Made for Dinner Last Night

Accidentally, I discovered that if you cook salmon fillets just right, the salmon's skin turns into this marvelous, crispy, delectable treat. If you're someone who likes crunchy food, I guarantee that you will love Crispy Skin Salmon.

The problem is, that it has to be cooked JUST RIGHT. Cook it not long enough, and it's not crispy. Cook it too long, and it's crispy, but burnt. And there's no magic bullet to knowing just how long it will take. It's a matter of trial and error and cooking it enough times to learn when its the optimal time to flip the salmon so that the skin comes out perfectly.

Last night I made Crispy Skin Salmon with steamed asparagus and Lime Vinaigrette. The whole process of meal preparation took less then 20 minutes.

First I cut the tough ends off the asparagus and put them in the steamer to steam. While that was going on, I turned on the gas on to medium-high under my well-seasoned cast iron grill pan and lightly coated it with oil. I cut 1 1/2 pounds of salmon fillet with the skin on into strips and salt and peppered both sides. The salmon went on the grill pan, skin side down, and I cooked it until it looked to be about 1/4 to 1/2 the way cooked through then flipped it and cooked until done.

While the salmon cooked I checked the asparagus to see if it was tender, and when done I put in in a shallow dish. I whipped up a vinaigrette of 1/2 cup fresh lime juice, 1/4 cup grape-seed oil and 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil and salt and pepper. I drizzled some of the vinaigrette over the asparagus.

When the salmon was done, I plated it along with the steamed asparagus and drizzled the lime vinaigrette over the fish. The final touch was a sprinkling of fresh cilantro and chives from the garden over both the fish and the asparagus.

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