At the recent Detroit Free Press Wine & Food Experience presented by Bedrock, local chefs James Rigato and Doug Hewitt provided a cooking demo on fish butchery and cooking.
Questions were raised about how to choose fish and, of course, the merits of wild and farm-raised fish. We won't get into the debate, but Rigato said it's good to ask questions about where the fish you buy comes from. He mentioned that a lot of shrimp is farm-raised.
Another part of the demonstration involved cooking fish with skin and addressing whether the skin is edible. With some fish, such as perch, you barely notice you're eating the skin. With other varieties, such as salmon, the skin is tasty when it's cooked crisp. It's all a matter of choice.
The fish tips provided by Rigato and Hewitt got me thinking about salmon and led me to today's recipe for broiled salmon served with a spinach pesto. This recipe, if you pair it with the broiled mini peppers, becomes a sheet-pan supper. Cooking your main dish and a side to go along with it on one sheet pan continues to be trendy. It also saves time.
With this recipe, you can use fresh or frozen wild salmon fillets or the farm-raised variety. One brand of farm-raised salmon that my local Kroger sells is Black Pearl Scottish salmon from the Shetland Islands and northern Scotland. It's a little pricier than, say, farm-raised salmon from Chile, but I've had good luck with it.
When cooking salmon, one of the biggest mistakes people make is overcooking. I cringe when I see recipes that call for cooking salmon until the flesh flakes easily. That, to me, is way overcooked.
I like salmon cooked about medium. Using a thermometer, that's about 130-135 degrees after letting it rest a few minutes before serving.
I also like to brine salmon, which helps ensure it stays moist during cooking. Take a fillet of about 1 \ pounds and cut into four equal pieces. Place in a bowl and add enough water to cover. Sprinkle in \ cup each of kosher salt and sugar. Refrigerate 1-2 hours.
When ready to cook, remove the salmon pieces from the brine, discarding the brine. Rinse the salmon pieces under cold water and pat dry.
With today's recipe, I mixed some Dijon with olive oil to brush on the salmon before cooking to give it a tangy flavor. I also seasoned it generously with salt and little black pepper. Fish needs salt, so don't be afraid to use it. The salt helps bring out its flavor. To round out the meal, you can serve the salmon with a salad and your favorite steamed vegetables.
