Salmon

So, I’m back. Up till now I have remained anonymous. A voice with no face, no name, identity. But no more. I’m out of the fridge. My name is Robert Block. I live in Manhattan, U.S.A. I went to cooking school here. I’ve always showed some talent in the kitchen. People who have worked with me sometimes described me as a ‘natural’. I still work pro kitchen and would love to only, just and simply, write and teach.
Is that asking too much, Now I ask you.

Now, I would like to discuss Salmon. If not the most popular fish, currently, it is a very popular fish. As it is migratory, it naturally stores nutrition as fat. Eels, also migratory, have this high fat content too, making them the 2 highest calorie fish selections. Fear not. Their oil is the good sort of oil your physician wants in your diet. OK, now you can forget about eels. “I don’t mind eels, except for meals. And the way they feels.”

Salmon farming is big biz now, here and internationally. Like everything, this is good and bad. Good that we are not going to fish salmon to near or complete extinction, bad that salmon suffers similar adulterations and mistreatment as do most industrially managed agriculture and livestock. So, don’t eat it everyday. There are plenty of information sources about this. Do a little research and, in all things, moderation.

Whether you are shopping at a super market fish counter or, in a fish store, the moderately priced salmon, say, 8-11$ dollars per/lb., is, farm-raised. The 15-22$ per/lb. selections, are wild caught. Don’t be mislead by their names or titles.
As farming technology improves, we see more varieties of farmed salmon. Try them all.

Since the expensive salmon does not sell as well ( ‘turn over’ ) as the cheaper salmon, the cheaper ‘might’ be a better piece of fish on ‘that day’. I could write a great deal about how to buy fresh fish but know this; your first line of defense is to have an old fashion trusting relationship with a-your fish man who values your business. Maybe tonight is for scrod, or, mahi mahi, or eels.

Walk down the avenue in NYC and pretty much every other business here is food. Often more. Every menu in the window of a table-waiter restaurant, has salmon on it. Of course, there is a vast variety of salmon. You’ve got your 12.95$ salmon, 17.95$ salmon, and, the ever popular, 23.95$ salmon. The next big price jump goes to wild salmon starting around maybe 28$ or so and up. If the ‘chef’ has been on TV, fasten your seat belts.

All of the salmon in the first group are the same farmed salmon and a 5-6 oz. portion should cost you about 4 dollars American in the fish store. An 8 oz. piece and you have your lunch tomorrow.
We are getting closer to cooking.

Something about cooking fish, pretty much all fish. Fish cooking happens quickly. Fry, saute, grill, broil or bake, fishes cooks quick. Example. If you were cooking pasta to accompany your salmon, you would not put your fish in the toaster oven until your pasta was nearly ready. I’m telling you this because I want you to see and think about salmon for dinner as quick, easy and cheap.

There is a cooking vessel which we call in pro kitchen, a sizzle pan, a sizzle. Usually metal, sometimes ceramic, sort of oval shaped and about 1 inch deep and 8-10 inches long. This is the thing you need to cook 1 piece of fish or chicken or 3 or 4 sausages. Get one. It should last the rest of your life, then leave it in your will.

Back to the fish counter. By the way, in any recipe or any cook (job),
there is shopping, cooking and cleaning. Like love, honor and death in Tristan or, running, throwing and catching in baseball. Chances are, if you do not know how to cook, you don’t know how to shop. Avoid buying the supermarket cellophane wrapped packages of salmon and, fish in general. The airless cellophane wrap accelerates spoilage. It looks clean and neat but it’s affect is a negative. Don’t believe me, ask a fish man. Also, if you buy fish on Wednesday, cook it on

Wednesday. It will not be food on Friday.

Anyway, so you’re buying a portion, or 2 of this salmon ‘filet‘, not ‘steak’ (steak will have bones but, some folks prefer it like that). Ask the nice man to skin it for you. You will be able to do this yourself when your knife skills come around.

In addition to the salmon, you will need a few things. These are things I would have in the house any and always. In time, so will you. They are as follows; a lemon, some fresh garlic, olive oil, kosher salt (cook with kosher salt, not table salt), a small bottle of Worsteshire, a pepper mill, some nice paprika and a bottle of Italian dressing.

Ooooooookay, we are in the kitchen and getting ready to cook, yeah. First, take your sizzle and pour a little olive oil in it, less than a teaspoon, a spot as big as a quarter. Coat the entire sizzle, inside and out. This will make it’s clean up effortless. You would not fry in a dry pan so why would you roast in a dry sizzle or other vessel. The oil on your hands now feels good because it is good, good for your dry hands. Time to turn on your oven, 375-425 is a good range for a roasting temperature.

For now, assuming you are preparing 1 or 2 portions of salmon, get out a cereal size bowl or a plate would do too. On your small cutting board, chop 1 or 2 cloves of garlic;
Separate 1 or 2 cloves from the head. Put them under the cutting board and apply downward pressure on said board or, smack it, once. This should facilitate removing the skin from the cloves. Don’t worry, you’ll get it, give it time.

My daughter always cuts off the little darker stem end. I heard Child once say that these were bitter.

Now, here, you are not working with a steak knife or a butter knife but a knife for cooking. Know this, a third of cooking is fire and a third is knife. To possess the skill, first possess the tool and the skill will come. It doesn’t have to be a big chef’s machete thing. It can be a 6 inch affair that you can control and befriend.

Close to the edge of your board, close to the handle of your blade, lay the flat of the knife on the garlic and put enough weight on them to crush the garlic fairly flat. Now give them a little chopping, placing your hand on the back of the knife and rocking. It needn’t be super fine, just chopped a little. Note; nothing replaces fresh garlic. Not garlic salt or powder and nothing in a jar that says ‘fresh’. Put the chopped garlic in the little bowl. Now, a pinch of kosher salt, a few turns of black pepper, a pinch o’ paprika, a couple of shakes of Worsteshire, a couple of shakes of Italian dressing and a few drops of olive oil.

Please don’t consider what I just told you to be an iron clad recipe. The very notion gives me a wedgy. You could enhance this with whatever you like. Mustard, horseradish, soy sauce, fresh or dry herbs, more garlic, a little marinara or parmesan. Anything really only avoid a marinade constituent with much sugar as it will burn in the cook and darken what you are cooking. I wish to convey to you a method, not a recipe.

Okay. Get your salmon, which, I hope, is wrapped in paper. Open it up and keep the paper so your fish does not touch your cutting board. Cut the fish into cubes, about as big as ice cubes. They don’t have to be perfect though a uniformity of size is good to provide a uniformity of cooking time. The darker flesh is fine, you don’t have to trim it away. Put the cubes in the bowl with the marinade and stir it around.

Grab your lemon. Cut it in half from pole to pole, not along the equator. Take 1 of those halves and, flat side down, slice thinly. Hopefully your knife is sharp, if not, you might want to go to a serrated knife.

A discussion of knife sharpening technique is another day.

Fling a pinch of salt on the bottom of the sizzle and then cover it with the lemon slices. Distribute your coated salmon cubes over the lemons Put it in the oven for about 10 minutes. That is it. If you prefer to leave ,the portion of salmon whole, which is fine, it will need about 15 or 20 minutes. Eureka, kismet, touchdown !

So, not including shopping, that entire operation should not have taken you 20 minutes, really. If you repeat it once a week, it will take less time and you will get it better. Try the same procedure with a different fish. With what will you accompany your salmon. A salad, rice, maybe some steamed veggies, maybe mash potatoes. If you need help with any of these, respond somehow and I will provide. So, good night unto you all.