Lauren Groveman, our food writer, shares her recipe for Ginger Scented
Grilled Salmon. She is the author of
'Lauren
Groveman's Kitchen: Nurturing Food for Family & Friends.' She is
also a contributor to
'Baking
With Julia' a cookbook written by Julia Child. Write Lauren at
l.groveman@worldnet.att.net
or
http://www.LaurenGroveman.com.
Dear Lauren:
I dream of being a great cook, one who can
whip up awesome meals for my family, but I don't have time and I'm recovering
from having a baby and I'm exhausted! Do you have any suggestions for dinner
recipes that are quick, easy and will make my husband and seven year old
son feel special.
Answer: Congratulations!
Interesting that you should ask me that particular question, since
I recently signed a contract with a special interest food publication of
Better Homes and Gardens. They gave me my own column called "The Rush Hour."
The magazine is (now) called Low-Calorie cooking, but they're changing that
(thank goodness). The magazine features healthy delicious food and my column
features fresh food that can be assembled quickly, without sacrificing color,
texture, aroma and, of course great taste. My first issue will be out in
fall of 2000.
When looking to create great food, when tired, hungry and needy,
it's best to not choose foods that need to be braised (cooked slowly in liquid
to render foods tender). It's wise to choose fresh fish, lean meats, like
loin or rib lamb, veal or pork chops or boneless chicken breasts. All of
these can be flavored with your choice of seasoning mixture either the night
before, early in the morning or brushed on quickly after work.
As for side dishes, use Sundays to blanch lots of different types
of vegetables, then store them in the refrigerator for weeknight use. Blanching
means to partially cook vegetables in a pot of lightly salted boiling water
just until tender. After cooking, you'd immediately submerge the vegetables
in a large bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process (a process called
"refreshing"). This is particularly important when cooking green vegetables
since their color will mute if left to cool naturally. Other vegetables,
like carrots and cauliflower should be refreshed as well, but strictly for
texture retention, since their color is more stable.
I like to use a blanching pot (an 8-quart pot with a built in removable
strainer). This pot makes it possible to remove successive batches of vegetables
without having to dump out the water and continually start anew.
If blanching different vegetables in one pot, start with those that
don't have much aroma, since the scent of vegetables like broccoli can overpower
the water and flavor your carrots!
Anyway, once you've done this, you can easily (after work) heat
some fruity olive oil and sauté some partially cooked green beans
with some minced fresh garlic on one night.
Another night, use some more green beans to create a chilled salad,
instead of the usual lettuce and tomato.
Keep your pantry full of interesting jarred and canned items like
chic peas, roasted peppers, marinated artichoke hearts, olives, anchovies,
hearts of palm (the list goes on and on).
Doing this will help you to quickly embellish an ordinary meal and
make it extra delicious and soothing, to all three of you.
Here's a wonderful recipe for fresh salmon that will make you very
happy. And just for the record, (because the ginger marinade is written to
accommodate 6 pieces of salmon), you can use half on the fish and the other
half on flank steak (for another night in the same week). Let me know how
you do...
Ginger Scented Grilled Salmon
Yield: serves 6 to 8
If not using the full amount of fish, prepare all the marinade as
written, but divide it for two nights. Purchase flank steak or boneless chicken
breasts for the remaining marinade. Season as you would fish and broil in
the same manner, until done to your liking. The perfect partners for this
dish are simple white rice (simmered with a slice of fresh ginger) and drizzled
with a little toasted sesame oil. Also blanched apparatus baked in a 350
oven melted butter and sprinkled with a mixture of lightly buttered dry bread
crumbs tossed with some toasted sesame seeds would make the meal
complete.
Special Equipment
Indoor broiler or outdoor grilling device
Ingredients
1/2 cup aromatic peanut oil (cold-pressed by Loriva), in the
supermarket
3 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
4 large cloves garlic, minced or pressed through a garlic press
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 1/2 teaspoons minced peeled fresh ginger root
1/3 cup minced scallions (green onions) trimmed white part and 1 1/2 to 2
inches of the tender green
3 to 4 pounds salmon fillet, cut into 6 to 8 individual servings, or 6 to
8 salmon steaks (allow 8 or 9 ounces of fish per adult and 4 to 6 ounces
per child)
Peanut oil or cooking spray, for grill (not needed when broiling)
1) To prepare marinade: In a small bowl, combine all ingredients
except salmon and oil for grill and mix thoroughly.
2) To prepare fish: Gently rinse fish fillets under cold water and
pat dry.
Choose a glass dish that is large enough to fit fillets in a single layer.
Brush the skin side of each fillet with some of the marinade and place in
the dish (skin side down). Pour the remaining marinade over fish using a
basting brush to cover fish well. Allow to sit at room temperature for 10
minutes or cover well with plastic wrap and refrigerate no longer than 12
hours.
3) To grill: (To broil, see following steps) Before heating grill,
brush it well with oil or spray with cooking spray. Heat grill or coals to
hot and place salmon (with marinade left on) on the hot grill. Cook salmon
a total of 7 to 10 minutes per inch of thickness, turning once. When done,
salmon will be beautifully seared on the outside. For medium-rare, it should
retain a deeper orange tinge at the very center. If desired, cook until pink
throughout but avoid overcooking or the fish will be dry.
4) To broil: Preheat the broiler until very hot. Pat some of the
excess marinade off the fish and lay each fillet on a cold broiler pan (skin
side up). Broil close to heat source turning once, until crispy and the fish
flakes easily but is not at all dry, 4 to 5 minutes per side.
Time Management Tip
* The marinade can be assembled a day ahead (and/or the fish, meat
or chicken can be marinated) and kept covered in the refrigerator.
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