Seared Salmon with Thai Coconut Rice
My second- and hopefully last- post without a picture. This one is on Salmon, again, as promised, but this time with a Thai flair, courtesy of Jamie Oliver and his new book, Cook With Jamie: My Guide To Making You A Better Cook. Let me first say that this new cookbook is not only Jamie’s best, but one of the best cookbooks to come out in the past ten years. It is organized perfectly, the photos are vibrant without looking overly styled (signature J.O.), the dessert section is treated as a legitimate chapter rather than an afterthought (rare in the cookbook world these days), and most of all, the recipes are to die for and they work! What more could a cook, any cook, ask for? Whether its your first day in the kitchen or your thousandth, you will find many new recipes in this book that enlighten your preexisting notions of good food. Without giving away too many goodies, let me entice you with the names of a few of my favorite recipes from this book: Oozy Egg Ravioli, The Nicest Clam Chowder (Essex Girl Style), Sticky Saucepan Carrots, and A Rather Pleasing Carrot Cake with Lime Mascarpone Icing. Wow, yum. If the recipes don’t get you, the fact that he’s donating every penny to his charity, the Fifteen Foundation (named for his four restaurants that bear the same name) should. The foundation’s focus is on teaching young kids from tough backgrounds how to cook, and judging by the number of glowing, smiling faces inside the book’s covers, it’s improving their lives.
So here is a recipe I’ve adapted from this book. Originally the recipe features sea bass, but since I had salmon in the fridge, that’s what I chose as the star of this dish. The marinade for the salmon is great for meat and poultry too, and it keeps very well in the fridge, so you can use any extra you have throughout the rest of the week on steamed rice, tossed with pasta, heck, I’d pour this stuff on my eggs in the morning it tastes so good. Anyway, enjoy!
Seared Salmon with Thai Coconut Rice (adapted from Jamie Oliver’s Cook With Jamie)
Makes 4 Servings
For Marinade:
1 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1 1-inch piece fresh ginger, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 small hot pepper, such as jalapeno, serano, or bird, depending on how hot you want it.
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
6 tablespoons soy sauce
1 lemon, juiced and zested
1 12 oz can coconut milk
Method:
1. Blitz all ingredients listed above (including both the juice and the zest fo the lemon) in a food processor until smooth. Transfer 1 cup of the mixture to a shallow dish and set aside. Place the rest of the mixture in a storage container and set in the fridge.
For Salmon:
4 Salmon fillets, (skinned if you prefer)
1 cup reserved marinade
Method:
1. Place salmon fillets in the shallow dish you reserved the cup of marinade in and set in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
For Assembly:
1 1/2 cups long grain rice
3 cups water
the rest of the reserved marinade
1 lb green beans, steamed, to serve
2 tbsp vegetable oil, such as canola
salt, to taste
Method :
1. Place the 3 cups of water in a medium size pot, cover, and bring to a boil. Add 1 tsp salt and add 1 1/2 cups rice. Cover and cook over medium heat for 15 minutes. Turn the heat off, pour in 1 cup reserved marinade, place the lid back on, and steam for 3 minutes to finish cooking. After 3 minutes is up, fluff the rice gently with a fork and pour another 1/2 cup of marinade over the rice. Since the marinade is cold, it will stop the rice from cooking. Taste the rice for salt, and adjust seasoning if necessary. Leave the rice in the pot, with the lid ajar, until serving time.
2. Heat the oil in a large saute pan (or in two smaller saute pans) over medium high heat. Remove the salmon from the marinade, season each side with salt, and place fillets in the hot pan, facing down the side of the fillet that looks more attractive (i.e. the “presentation side” goes down in the pan first). Cook for 3 minutes on the first side, flip, then cook for 2 minutes on the other side, until medium rare in the center. If you prefer your fish cooked more thoroughly, cook another minute on each side.
3. Spoon 1 portion of rice in the center of each of the four plates, and lay 1 cooked fillet over the top. Place a portion of steamed green beans alonside the salmon, then serve. Enjoy!
-M : )
