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Salmon 4 ways - à la maison de la casa house
First Night: Steamed Salmon
Defrost a large frozen salmon in cold water. It keeps the juices in. After several hours it will be pliable. Cut the salmon into large pieces to fit into the steamer. We use a multi-layered bamboo steamer bought cheap in Chinatown. It fits over a large pot or into a wok.
In the pot or wok, put the following: a couple of cups of water, leftover (probably frozen) fish stock, some white wine, carrots, onion, white peppercorns, and a bay leaf. Let it just come to a boil. Put the steamer on top. Layer the steamer with cabbage leaves so that the fish will not stick to the steamer. Cover and steam until the fish separates easily from the back bone but not so long that it flakes off. Serve with rice and cooked carrots.


Second Night: Salmon Pot Pie
Preheat oven to 425 F.
Sauté in a little butter until tender: 1 cup each of chopped celery and chopped onion. Remove from pan. Melt about 1/4 cup butter in a pan and stir in 6 tablespoons of flour. When the mixture is smooth add the celery and onion. Stir in about 2 cups of liquid (a good mixture is 1 cup vegetable stock and 1 cup of milk). Add the leftover carrots and rice. Add 1/2 cup of frozen peas. Add 1 teaspoon of salt, a couple of dashes of paprika, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, maybe a dollop of wine and a couple of shots of worcestershire sauce. Add the leftover salmon (should be at least a couple of cups). If it looks too thick, add another 1/2 cup or so of milk or broth. This is thicker than a stew. Cover, set aside and make The Biscuit Dough:
Gawd this is good. Make a biscuit dough by mixing 1 3/4 cups of flour with 1 teaspoon salt and 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder. Cut in 3 or 4 tablespoons of butter or shortening until the dough is pebbly. Knead briefly until smooth by flattening out the dough and folding it over. Do this a half dozen times quickly. Don't knead too long. A minute altogether is enough. This is biscuit dough, not bread. Roll the dough out to a quarter-inch thickness and cut it into rounds or squares. Place the biscuits on top of the salmon mixture and put everything in the oven. Bake for 10 - 15 minutes or until the biscuits have lightly browned.


Third Night: Curried Salmon
Take the leftover pot pie and remove the remaining biscuits. Heat these up and munch them while doing the following:
Put a little oil in a pan. When it is almost smoking fry up a sliced onion until it is brown. Add a dried chili or two, black mustard seeds, coriander seeds, black pepper seeds and whatever South Asian flavourings your mouth desires. When they start to pop add powdered flavorings (turmeric, left over curry powder, red Thai curry paste, cumin, etc.). The quantity varies on how much salmon pot pie you have but two tablespoons of seasonings in all should be about right. Add the left over salmon pot pie. Mix well, turn the heat to low and cover it. Serve when it is heated through.


Fourth Night: Curried Salmon Spread
Take the leftover curried salmon from the refrigerator. Put it in a food processor. Add enough mayo or yogurt or a combination of both until the mix is smooth and spreadable. Serve it with crackers as an appetizer.

© Barry Lazar 2000 Email Flavourguy

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