Roasting Salmon

Fresh, wild salmon is a wonderful thing and is unlike most other vegetarian fish. Mine is from Alaska, caught, dressed, and frozen by the man who sells it to me, a privilege I share with few others and for which I am thankful. Here's how I prepared the most recent one.

Sockeye salmon, dressed and ready for preparation.

Slicing the skin on the top side enables expansion of the cooking meat in an attractive way.

Meat is lightly scented with parsley and lemon and seasoned with flor de sal (white bag).

Dinner is served.

Roasted Whole Salmon

3.5 pound whole salmon, dressed
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 bunch parsley
2 fresh lemons
salt

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line shallow roasting pan with a layer of parchment or foil. Lightly oil perforated top and assemble. Place several thick lemon slices where fish will rest on pan. Measure thickness of fish by placing ruler alongside resting fish. Calculate 10 minutes of roasting time for each inch the fish is thick.

2. Ensuring the fish is completely thawed, rinse under cold, running water. Dry with paper towels. Lightly oil all skin. Using scissors or very sharp knife, carefully cut top-side skin in several places, trying not to cut meat. Lightly salt the inside and add a half-bunch of whole parsley stalks and several slices of lemon.

3. Place prepared fish atop thick lemon slices and roast. Ten minutes before calculated completion time, check fish for doneness. Fully roasted fish, flesh and bone should be opaque. Flesh will flake easily all the way to the bone. The skin will be well browned in most places. Let fish rest 15 minutes, then remove to serving platter. Present with fresh parsley and more lemon slices. Pass lemon wedges, salt, and pepper to taste.

This dinner, hosted by John Calvi and me, honored the visit of our friend, John Meyer,
Saturday, October 27, 2007.

Keum Dongee's Almost Here

Saturday, September 22, 2007

Photos by Sehoon Ahn, father-to-be

Butternut coconut soup


Roast beets
Orange-flavored dressing and parsley

Roast cauliflower
Spanish olive oil and sea salt

Cornish game hens and farro,
seasoned with saffron, lemon, cilantro
Pot sauce served on the side

Cooking flavors to spoon alongside
apricots, cherries, raisins, whole almonds, whole baby onions

Two-tomato and goat cheese salad
with basil, red wine vinegar, and champagne vinegar

Wilted greens with bacon

Fig Tart with Orange Flower Water Custard
Vanilla-honey sour cream sauce

Fig Tart, served

Minhee Kang and Sehoon Ahn
Keum Dongee, to be born soon
John Calvi and Marshall Brewer

Bianca White Chocolate Cake

Bianca Jacobsen, née White, ends many years of employment with World Learning in favor of Mount Holyoke College. It was suggested I bake a cake. It had to be white, of course.


Cake: double-layer white chocolate butter cake using egg whites, split horizontally (4 layers)

Filling: raspberry mousse (3 layers)

Painting: Each cake layer, plus outside and top, were painted with raspberry conserve to intensify flavor and etch each slice with a bold red border between white cake and pink mousse.

Frosting: white chocolate butter cream

Decoration: fresh whole raspberries and tiny white chrysanthemums

Blessings on your way, Bianca.

Photo by Jesse DeLaughter.