Salmon 3 &4

Salmon #3  (July 16, 2012)

Mark Bittman’s cookbook How to Cook Everything is my primary go-to source for recipes.  Every single recipe of his that I have tried has been easy to make and utterly delicious. Even though I have a wide variety of cookbooks How to Cook Everything is about the only cookbook I ever use anymore. So, his cookbook was an obvious place to look for my next salmon recipe. As expected, his recipe did not disappoint. I made Grilled Crispy-Skin Salmon with Gingery Greens.

It was a fairly simple dish. The salmon was simply broiled in the oven skin side up. The greens were actually the hardest part as it was a two step process. First I boiled, drained and chopped the greens, then I sauteed them in olive oil, garlic, and ginger. Elsewhere in the book Mark Bittman has praised the virtues of pairing garlic and ginger and I can’t help but wholeheartedly agree. The greens provided the primary flavor for this meal, so when I ate it I made sure that there were greens and salmon in each bite. I also was surprised to find that with the skin all crispy it was quite yummy too. Overall, it was a meal that I enjoyed. Kyle did not particularly care for it, but he says that is mostly because his greens did not have bacon in them (I often make Southern Braised Greens with molasses, bacon, etc). Kyle’s lack of enthusiasm for this dish means that it won’t go into heavy rotation, but it will be pulled back out again next time we have an excessive amount of greens and want a slightly different way to use them up.

Salmon #4 (July 19, 2012)

I don’t even want to describe Salmon Dish #4 because it brings back awful memories. Suffice to say that we used a salmon seasoning whose first two ingredients were salt and then MSG. The jar said to use it as a rub, which I dutifully did. The end result was a dish so salty that it reminded me of accidentally swallowing ocean water while out swimming!  Sadly, it was basically inedible.  This one will definitely not be made again.