Fish & Seafood

Sweet & Salty Salmon

Sweet & Salty Salmon | Lemon & Mocha

I don’t cook salmon often so when I finally do I want it to taste unbelievably good. The main reason we don’t have salmon in our regular rotation is because Matt is not a fan. So anything that can mask the “salmony-ness” as Matt puts it is an instant winner in our house.

Sweet & Salty Salmon | Lemon & Mocha

Both Matt and I devoured this Sweet and Salty Salmon. The salmon is marinated and then baked in the marinade, which keeps the fish super moist and tender. The sweet and salty marinade also imparts a ton of flavor on the salmon. The marinade is mostly brown sugar, soy sauce and lime juice. Add in the ginger, jalapeño and cilantro (or parsley if you’re like us and don’t like cilantro), and you have a total Asian-Mexican fusion happening in your kitchen.

Sweet & Salty Salmon | Lemon & Mocha

I found this recipe in one of my absolute favorite cookbooks – Pati’s Mexican Table. I bought it on a whim and made seven recipes out of it for Matt’s Mexican food themed birthday weekend last year. You would think with seven recipes there would be at least a couple that were just okay, but every single one was so amazingly delicious. After that, I am fully confident to cook anything from the book and know the dish will be a winner, and this salmon proved that even more for me the other week. I was nervous about buying a Mexican cookbook since I am so intolerant to spicy food, but I have not had any issues. If you are looking for some delicious meals that have a totally different flavor profile than what you are used to cooking I very highly recommend this cookbook. Just like the Mexican Street Corn Pasta Salad, if you remove the seeds and pith from the jalapeño it will not make the marinade spicy. However, still be careful with how you cut the jalapeño or any chili pepper!

Sweet & Salty Salmon | Lemon & Mocha

I had an unfortunate incident while making this dish. On photo shoot days I’m so busy cooking and photographing that I don’t have time to sit down and eat so I was multitasking by eating a piece of toast while preparing this marinade. I thought I was being careful about not using my hand that had touched the jalapeño seeds, but I must have switched hands and used my jalapeño hand for the toast. Instant searing pain on the outside of my lip ensued, forcing me to guzzle milk and frantically Google hot pepper burn remedies. This resulted in one so-so solution, which was very carefully washing the outside of my lip with dish soap, and one fantastic solution – peanut butter! I smeared it on my lip and felt instant relief. I also ate some for good measure. I let it sit on my lip for about an hour just to make sure I was in the clear and I was completely pain-free! So, the point of all the dramatics is to be careful when you are using hot peppers, even a mild one like jalapeño. And if you do get a burn, grab that jar of Jif!

Sweet & Salty Salmon | Lemon & Mocha

Also, in case you were wondering, these are the seven recipes I made from the cookbook for Matt’s birthday last year! I will be posting the green rice recipe on Wednesday, but let me know in the comments below if there’s another recipe you would like me to make again and post!
– Charred Tomato Salsa (salsa roja)
– Cooked Green Salsa (salsa verde)
– Creamless Cream of Zucchini Soup (crema de calabacita)
– Oaxaca-Style Mushrooms and Cheese Quesadillas
– Blissful Corn Torte
– Creamy Poblano Rajas (rajas con crema)
– My Favorite Green Rice (arroz verde)

Sweet & Salty Salmon | Lemon & Mocha

Sweet & Salty Salmon
 
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Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients
  • 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
  • ½ cup soy sauce
  • ¼ cup lime juice
  • 1 jalapeño, seeds and pith removed, minced
  • 1½ tablespoons grated fresh ginger
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 6 salmon filets, 4-6 ounces each, skin-on
  • 2 tablespoons chopped parsley or cilantro leaves
  • 2 scallions, stems removed and sliced
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
Directions
  1. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine the brown sugar, soy sauce, lime juice, jalapeño, ginger, garlic and salt and pepper to taste. Cook for a few minutes while stirring until the brown sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat and let cool.
  2. In a baking dish large enough for the salmon to be in a single layer, place the salmon then pour the marinade on top. Carefully flip the salmon to completely coat in the marinade before leaving the salmon skin-side down. Cover and refrigerate the salmon for at least 30 minutes or up to 4 hours. Several times while it’s marinating spoon the marinade over the salmon.
  3. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Remove the salmon from the fridge 10 minutes before cooking. Bake the fish for 15-18 minutes or until it flakes easily with a fork. Carefully remove the skin before serving and garnish with the parsley and scallions.

Recipe from Pati’s Mexican Table.

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Fish & Seafood, Main Dishes, Recipes 0 Comments

Smoked Salmon Salad

Smoked Salmon Salad | Lemon & Mocha

My brother and I are very different from one another, but there is definitely one thing we have in common: we both LOVE to eat. We also share a lot of favorite foods. I’m talking to you macaroni and cheese, sushi, and asparagus!

Smoked Salmon Salad | Lemon & Mocha

Another item high on the list is smoked salmon. Man, we can seriously chow down on smoked salmon. Toss us a platter with toast, hard boiled egg and some red onion and we are very, very happy campers. Or happy diners. I wouldn’t suggest bringing a smoked salmon platter camping, but that’s just me. When the two of us walk into a buffet we… oh you got the point already? Okay then, I promise all this raving about our cravings has a point.

Smoked Salmon Salad | Lemon & Mocha

And it is this amazing smoked salmon salad. All the balanced flavors you love from a traditional smoked salmon platter with an added freshness. Refreshing leafy greens are piled with salty smoked salmon, fluffy hard boiled egg crumbles, crunchy mini pumpernickel croutons and red onion.

Smoked Salmon Salad | Lemon & Mocha

The whole salad is lightly drizzled with a lemon and shallot vinaigrette that brings an extra pop of acidity and brightness to the dish.

Smoked Salmon Salad | Lemon & Mocha

So a special happy early birthday to my brother who inspired this outrageous dish! I hope you get to eat all your favorites on your birthday.

Smoked Salmon Salad | Lemon & Mocha

Smoked Salmon Salad
 
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Yield: 2 servings
Ingredients
for the salad
  • ⅔ cup ½ inch cubes of pumpernickel bread
  • 8 cups mixed greens
  • 6 ounces smoked salmon slices
  • 2 hard boiled eggs, crumbled with a fork
  • Thinly sliced red onion
for the dressing
  • ½ shallot, minced
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
  • 2 teaspoons dijon mustard
  • 1 teaspoon parsley flakes
  • 1 teaspoon capers, optional
  • ¼ cup olive oil
  • Salt and pepper
Directions
for the salad
  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Very lightly toss the bread cubes with olive oil, salt and pepper. Place evenly on a pan and cook until crisp, about 10 minutes.
  2. Place the greens on a medium serving bowl or platter. Layer the smoked salmon, hard boiled egg crumbles and sliced red onion on top. Drizzle the salad dressing on top then serve.
for the dressing
  1. Combine the shallot, lemon juice, vinegar, mustard, parsley and capers, if using, in a small bowl or liquid measuring cup. Whisk in the olive oil until emulsified. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

 

Easter, Fish & Seafood, Holiday, Main Dishes, Recipes, Soups & Salads 0 Comments

Lemon Dill Salmon

Lemon Dill Salmon | Lemon & Mocha

Just as a quick note before we get started here I would like to point out that all the photos in this post are of the uncooked salmon. I was serving this salmon at lunch quite a while back and didn’t get to photograph the finished product, but I didn’t want you to think this is what the salmon should look like when it is done. Not that you would think that, but you never know.

Lemon Dill Salmon | Lemon & Mocha

As much as I love grilled salmon there is no grilling salmon in my house. We live in an apartment and do not have the luxury of an outdoor grill so all our grilling is relegated to our single grill pan. No one enjoys the lingering smell of cooked fish in the kitchen and even an odor absorbing splatter screen can’t protect the kitchen from grill pan salmon. So oven-cooked salmon it is in my house. Which is fine by me when you have great simple oven-cooked fish recipes like this lemon dill salmon. Dinner can be on the table in twenty minutes with this quick, fresh and healthy salmon dish. I’ve tried other flavor combinations, but this is my favorite that I always keep making. It may seem weird, but don’t be afraid to eat the whole lemon slice on top of the salmon. You slice it so thin that it just adds the right amount of acidity to the fish. Enjoy!

Lemon Dill Salmon
 
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Yield: 2 servings
Ingredients
  • 2 4-ounce salmon filets
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • Salt and pepper
  • 2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh dill
  • 4 very thin slices lemon
Directions
  1. Place the salmon filets in a small baking dish. Drizzle both sides of the salmon filets with the olive oil then season both sides with salt and pepper. Sprinkle the dill evenly on top of the salmon filets then lay the slices of lemon on top. Cover the baking dish and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
  2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
  3. Bake for 18-20 minutes for until the salmon flakes easily.

Fish & Seafood, Main Dishes, Recipes 0 Comments

Pacific Halibut Foil Packets with Shiitakes & Snap Peas

Today is Earth Day! While I was brainstorming how Lemon & Mocha would celebrate Earth Day I determined that as delicious as cookies made to look like our green and blue planet might be they wouldn’t really capture the spirit of this environmental holiday. So, as cheesy as it sounds, I decided to make and share something that will have a minor impact on our environment. Certainly a very teeny minor impact, but an impact nonetheless.

It is rare that I cook fish in our house, mostly due to cost and Matt’s unfortunate high school homecoming incident with a salmon-scented outfit, but that’s a story for another day. Since I do not purchase much seafood I had never given the information about trying to purchase sustainable seafood much thought. When Matt and I were in Seattle last year we went on a food tour during which one segment the famous “fish guys” at Pike Place Market talked to the group about the importance of sustainable seafood.

Not all seafood is created equal. There are some seafood that are sourced from oceans or farms in a way that is negatively impacting the ecosystem and is not a viable long-term method for obtaining that seafood. By contrast, seafood that has been deemed sustainable is coming from sources that are not harming the seafood’s environment and they have the ability to maintain or even increase production of the seafood.

Would I want to live in a world where I couldn’t have a fresh rainbow roll, grilled salmon or shrimp scampi? No thank you! Not to mention the disastrous effect it could have on the surrounding ecosystems if more seafood were to become extinct. Now I’m not suggesting we all write letters to unsustainable fish farms and boycott restaurants that aren’t serving sustainable seafood. But if, as consumers, we all made some easy swaps during our weekly grocery trips from an overfished seafood to a good sustainable option then our individual very teeny minor impacts would grow into much stronger impacts.

You can discover what are the best sustainable seafood options for your region using these handy printable sustainable guides published by Seafood Watch.

Pacific Halibut Foil Packets with Shiitakes & Snap Peas
 
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Yield: 2 servings
Ingredients
  • 2 4-ounce skinless pacific halibut fillets, or whatever light fish is sustainable for your region
  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
  • 6 thin lemon slices
  • 4 ounces shiitake mushrooms
  • 4 ounces sugar snap peas, strings removed and sliced on the diagonal about three or four times each.
  • ½ teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
  • Salt and pepper
Directions
  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
  2. Tear off two large pieces of tin foil that will easily encase each fillet of fish. If you aren’t using non-stick foil, lightly spray the foil with cooking spray before laying down the piece of fish. Season both sides with salt and pepper. Spread 1 tablespoon of butter onto each fillet then top each fillet with three slices of lemon. Turn in the sides of the foil then close the top before tightly sealing it into a little foil packet. Place the foil packets on a baking dish and bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until the fish flakes easily.
  3. Meanwhile heat the remaining two tablespoons of butter over medium heat, swirling frequently, until it turns golden brown in color, about 6 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes, stirring often.
  4. Add the sliced peas, as well as 1 tablespoon of water, and cook for about 4 minutes. The peas should be bright green.
  5. Remove from the heat, season with salt and pepper, then add the toasted sesame seeds.
  6. To serve, lay the halibut fillets on a serving dish or individual plates, top with some of the liquid from the foil packet, then top with the shiitake and pea stir-fry.

Recipe adapted from Fine Cooking.

Fish & Seafood, Main Dishes, Recipes 0 Comments

Kale and Walnut Pesto Pasta with Lemon Shrimp

 

I’m a little late to the kale trend, but I have recently started experimenting with it in the kitchen. Kale is a superfood and no that does not mean it has sonic vision or invisibility powers. A superfood is one that is light in calories, rich in nutrients and has additional health benefits. Kale’s extra health goodies include all kinds of fancy science words like phytochemicals and beta-carotene. But all you need to know is that it’s good for you.

Don’t run away just yet! I promise I wouldn’t share something that wasn’t also sneak-back-for-seconds delicious. Through my adventures with kale I have discovered that it can also often be very bitter. Turning the kale into a pesto with walnuts, Parmesan, lemon and olive oil ensures that the kale is vibrant, savory and definitely not bitter. It might just be my new favorite pesto.

I love loading my meals with seasonal vegetables, which is why I added the leeks and red peppers. The kale may shine, but the lemon shrimp isn’t far behind. I love anything with a fresh lemon flavor and the shrimp in this recipe do not disappoint. They were so tasty I would certainly not promote skipping the shrimp in this dish, but if you needed it to be vegetarian you could omit the shrimp and add the lemon juice and zest to the vegetables instead.

Kale and Walnut Pesto Pasta with Lemon Shrimp
 
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Yield: 6 servings, plus 1 extra cup pesto
Ingredients
for the pesto
  • ¾ cup shelled walnuts
  • 12 ounces kale
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • ½ cup grated Parmesan
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • ⅔ cup olive oil
  • Salt and pepper to taste
for the pasta
  • 1 pound linguine
  • 1 bunch leeks
  • 1 red pepper, sliced
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 24 large shrimp, peeled and deveined
  • 2 tablespoons flour
  • Zest from 1 lemon
  • 3 tablespoons lemon juice
  • Salt and pepper to taste
Directions
for the pesto
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Evenly spread the walnuts in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake until the walnuts are roasted, about 6 minutes. Set aside to cool. Once cool chop ¼ cup of the walnuts, leaving the rest whole, and set aside for garnish.
  2. Remove the hard stems from the kale then roughly chop. Steam for 4 minutes, or until tender.
  3. In a food processor or with an immersion blender pulse together the steamed kale, garlic, ½ cup of the roasted walnuts, Parmesan and 2 tablespoons lemon juice until a paste forms. While pulsing pour in ⅔ cup olive oil then season with salt and pepper.
for the pasta
  1. Cook the linguine until al dente then drain.
  2. Prepare the leeks. Trim off the dark green parts and discard. Trim off the root ends and discard. Cut the entire leek lengthwise then slice crosswise into pieces.
  3. Leeks harbor a lot of dirt so special care needs to be taken to remove all the grit. First rinse the sliced leeks thoroughly in a colander. Then fill a large bowl with cold water and add the rinsed leeks. Swirl and rub the leeks with your hands to dislodge any dirt. The dirt will sink to the bottom of the bowl so remove the leek pieces with a slotted spoon and set back in the rinsed colander to dry.
  4. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium-high heat in a large sauté pan. Add the sliced red peppers and prepared leeks. Cook for 5 minutes, or until tender. Season with salt and pepper. Once cooked remove from the pan and set aside.
  5. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heat in the same sauté pan. Toss the shrimp with the flour then sauté in the pan for 5 minutes, or until firm and pink making sure to turn while cooking. Stir in the zest and 3 tablespoons lemon juice then season with salt and pepper. Add the sautéed leeks and red peppers then remove from the heat.
  6. Toss the pasta with 1 cup pesto, shrimp and vegetables. Garnish with the chopped walnuts and extra grated Parmesan, if desired.

Recipe adapted from November/December 2013 issue of Cuisine at Home.

Fish & Seafood, Main Dishes, Pasta, Recipes 6 Comments

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