Fairly simple weeknight dinner!
I began by toasting the almonds. I just placed a heavy skillet over medium heat and then added the whole almonds and let them toast until they were a bit more golden (and passed the taste-test of being bloody delicious.)
I bagged the almonds in a Ziploc (Andy cleverly let the hot air out of the bag and then resealed it.) Then the almonds were crushed. In a small bowl, I stirred up olive oil, white wine vinegar, onion powder, thyme, water, Dijon, honey, and the crushed almonds.
For the salmon, I heated my stovetop grill pan over medium-high heat and added a drizzle of olive oil (I will now officially dub this measurement a "ZZ Top" because that is what I visualize. Minus the Beard.)
I rubbed the salmon with salt, pepper, and paprika, then added it to the grill pan (skin-side-up, two fillets at a time.) I did another ZZ-top of Lea & Perrin's chicken marinade to the fillets and let 'em fryyyy (or grill or whatever it is that was happening. Let's just be professional and call it grilling.)
After a few minutes, I rotated the salmon 90 degrees to get those lovely cross-hatches. Then once the juices began to run clear, I flipped the fish and let them cook for four minutes more on the skin-side (adding a bit more chicken marinade as they cooked.)
I then plated the fillets and covered them with tented foil to keep them warm as I grilled the other two. Once everything was nicely done, I put two fillets on each plate and topped them with a hefty spoonful (this said "spoonyful" at first, which I nearly let lie) of almond vinaigrette.
For a side, I whipped up a salad of baby spinach, shredded carrots, sliced roma tomatoes, a sprinkle of parmesan, and some more of the same almond vinaigrette. Probably not the ideal accompaniment, but it worked in terms of "things I had in my fridge." Two things I've been learning with cooking are to a) actually have a side with your main dish and b) sometimes just work with what you've got instead of going to the store and making something ridiculous and exotic. The delicious can be found right in your very pantry!
Grilled Salmon
4 6-oz salmon fillets, skin-on
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp paprika
1 tbsp Lea & Perrins Chicken Marinade
One ZZ Top of olive oil
Almond Vinaigrette
1/2 cup whole almonds
1/3 cup olive oil
4 tsp white wine vinegar
1/2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp ground thyme
2 tsp honey
1 tbsp cold water
1 tsp Dijon
Looks good! Speaking of working with what you've got, I heard John Besh on the radio the other night talking about his new cookbook. One of the things he said he'll do is make sure to cook up a big feast on Sundays thinking ahead to include stuff that will be leftover and lend itself to the meals for the week. Whatever sort of ratatouille is leftover will add to a nice frittata. Or if there's a pork roast, the leftovers will make great Cuban sandwiches, etc.
ReplyDeleteJust another tip I thought I'd pass on. Not one I can really use though, since my cooking audience is essentially still in a high chair, culinarily speaking.