Grilled Salmon served with Persimmon-Salsa

As much as possible, we prefer to eat more fish than red or white meat.  For tonight's dinner, I served a fruit salsa (Persimmon-Salsa) and green salad with the grilled salmon.  Before the salmon pieces are grilled, I brushed them with a mixture of red chilli flakes, sea salt, olive oil and lemon juice for that extra tangy taste.

Ingredients (serves 4):
4 pieces of salmon, each weighing about 200 g
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp lime or lemon juice
1/4 tsp ground dried red chilli flakes

Method:
In a small bowl, add sea salt, olive oil, lime or lemon juice and ground chilli flakes. Mix together thoroughly.  Switch on grill to highest setting.  Before starting to grill, brush the grill with some of the mixture sauce.

Brush salmon pieces with mixture sauce and grill skin side facing down (grill cover down) for about 6 to 8 minutes.

Turn over and grill to your preferred requirement.

Once done, remove salmon from grill.  Before serving, top with Persimmon-Salsa. Tastes great when served with a green salad!


Persimmon-Salsa
Ingredients:
2 persimmon (Kaki), to be washed, dried & finely diced
1 red capsicum, to be washed, dried & finely diced
1 medium-size onion, to be peeled & finely diced
1 stalk red chilli, to be deseed & finely diced
1 tsp chopped fresh dill (you may use fresh mint instead)
1 tbsp honey
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
1/4 tsp ground dried red chilli flakes
1 tbsp lime or lemon juice

Method:
In a large bowl, add all ingredients and mix well.  Check seasoning, if necessary add more sea salt. Transfer to a serving bowl and store in the fridge.  Note:  You may use nectaries instead if you wish.

Bon Appetit!

Salmon & Tagliatelle in Cream Cheese Sauce

Prepared this simple and tasty lunch for our younger son today.  The preparation took me exactly 25 minutes.  The salmon strips were stir-fried with shredded red chilli in butter for just 3 minutes for that extra flavour.  Whereas, the sauce is made up of crème fraîche, grated Emmental cheese and vegetable stock.  His thumb-ups really made my day!

Ingredients (serves 4):

500 g Tagliatelle or Linguine noodles

350 g salmon filet

1 red chilli, to be deseeded and shredded

2-3 tbsp lemon juice

2 tbsp butter

1 medium-size onion, to be peeled and finely diced

2 pips garlic, to be peeled and finely diced

125 ml instant vegetable stock

100 ml cooking white wine (one can add vegetable stock instead)

200 g crème fraîche

150 g grated Emmental cheese

salt & pepper to taste

chopped chives, for garnishing

Method:

Prepare noodles according to packet instructions.  Cut salmon into 1-cm strips and set aside.

In a saucepan, heat 1 tbsp butter over medium heat.  Stir-fry diced onion and garlic until translucent. Then, add vegetable stock and white wine.  Stir in crème fraîche and grated cheese.  Cook for about 5 minutes until a creamy consistency is reached. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

In a medium-size pan, heat remaining butter over medium heat.  Add salmon and shredded red chilli. Stir-fry for about 3 minutes.  Season with salt, pepper and lemon juice to taste.

There are two ways to serve this dish, i.e.  add a portion of noodles in a deep plate and pour sauce over.  Then, arrange salmon strips on top and serve garnished with chopped chives.  Or add hot noodles and chopped chives to sauce and mix well. Serve with fried salmon on top.

Bon Appetit!

Salmon & Spinach Lasagna

I prepared this dish for tonight's dinner to please my two boys who requested for both salmon and spinach.  Both fresh or frozen spinach may be used in the recipe.  I would recommend not to use any instant bechamel sauce.  Just follow the simple instructions on how to make your own delicious sauce.

Ingredients:
1 kg fresh spinach (or frozen)
400 g salmon filet (skinless), to be cut into 4 pieces
salt & pepper
lasagna sheets
60 g grated parmesan cheese

1 medium-size onion, to be peeled and finely diced
2 tbsp plain flour
2 heaped tsp instant vegetable stock granules
500 ml milk
salt & pepper to taste
1 tbsp lemon juice (optional)

a 30 cm x 30 cm (or 30 cm x 25 cm) baking dish

Method:
If you are using fresh spinach, remove the hard stems.  Then, immerse in water to remove all sand particles and transfer to a colander.  In a big pot, bring water to boil and add a little salt.  Blanch spinach for about 2 minutes.  It is better to blanch in two portions.  Once done, remove and immerse immediately in ice cold water. Then, squeeze to remove excess water and transfer to a bowl.

If you are using frozen spinach, add them to a medium-size pot and heat over low heat until thawed and warmed.  This procedure will take more than half an hour.  Do not add water.  Once thawed, stir gently and add a pinch of salt.  Transfer to a colander and squeeze excess water.  Leave aside in a separate bowl.

In a saucepan, heat butter over medium heat.  Add diced onion and stir-fry until transparent.  Then, add flour and cook for about 2 minutes.  Stir well by using a small whisk.  Add milk a little at a time and keep stirring in order that no lumps are formed. Then, add instant granules and season with salt & pepper to taste.

Season salmon with salt and pepper.  Leave aside.

Spread about 3 - 4 tbsp of bechamel sauce on the base of baking dish.  Add 2 - 3 lasagna sheets on top and spread bechamel sauce on lasagna sheets, making sure that all surfaces are covered.  Then, add half quantity of spinach and spread all over before adding two salmon filets on top.

Arrange another layer of lasagna sheets on top and spread bechamel sauce all over, followed by remaining spinach and salmon filets.  Then, sprinkle about 2 - 3 tbsp grated parmesan cheese before adding the last layer of lasagna sheets.  Spread the remaining bechamel sauce all over and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

Bake in a preheated fan oven at a temperature of 180° C for about 35 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm.

Bon Appetit!

Grilled Seesaiblingsfilet

Literally translated, this fish is also known as Arctic Char which is our favourite fish.  This dish is simple to prepare and the taste is excellent.  One only needs 3 ingredients, namely Seesaibling (or any kind of fish fillet), sea salt and dill.  My hubby normally grills the fish parcels but one can also bake them in the oven.

Ingredients:

3 Seesaiblingsfilet

sea salt

dill

Method:

Prepare a piece of aluminium foil which is slightly larger than the Seesaiblingsfilet. Place the fish on the foil.  Sprinkle with a little sea salt and plucked dill as shown.  Be careful with the sea salt or else your fish will be very salty.

Fold and pinch the top and sides of the aluminium foil as shown.

Repeat procedure until all fish fillets are nicely packed.  Grill for about 20 minutes.  If using the oven, place parcels on a baking tray and bake at 150° C fan oven for about 20 minutes.

Serve with a French Beans & Tomatoes Salad.

Bon Appetit!

Mini Salmon Pies

These are great to serve during a buffet party and I am sure your guests will love them.  They are quick to prepare and taste delicious.  One can also serve them with green salad as a simple light lunch.

Ingredients (yields 12 pcs):
200 g fresh or frozen salmon, to be cut into cubes
2 tbsp lemon juice
salt & ground white pepper to taste
200 ml fresh cream
2 eggs
a tsp chopped fresh dill or 1/2 tsp dried dill
a roll of fresh puff pastry or 6 pcs of frozen puff pastry, to be thawed
muffin tray, to be greased with butter

Method:
Sprinkle lemon juice over salmon cubes and season lightly with salt and pepper. Leave aside.  Preheat oven to 200° C (conventional) or 180°C (fan).

In a bowl, mix fresh cream, eggs and dill together.  Season lightly with salt and pepper.

Cut out 10 cm diameter circles on puff pastry and place them in the muffin tray.  Poke the base with a fork a few times.  Add 3 or 4 salmon cubes into each mould followed by the cream mixture as shown.

Bake for about 30 minutes or until golden brown.  Once done, remove from oven and leave them for about 5 minutes before removing from muffins tray.  Serve with green salad.

Bon Appetit!

Grilled Salmon Filet

Salmon is a great fish to grill and its taste is full of flavour.  It is simple to prepare but the biggest challenge is to flip it on the grill.  Best way is to cut the salmon filet into serving portions.

Ingredients (serves 4):
4 salmon filets with skin (readily portioned)
coarse sea salt
chilli flakes
a little lime juice (optional)
olive oil

Method:
Season salmon filets with salt and crumbled chilli flakes.  Then, sprinkle lime juice if using and olive oil over salmon.  Place salmon with skin side up on the grill.  Grill for about 6 to 8 minutes over high heat.  It all depends on the thickness of the filet - the thinner the filet or steaks, the higher is the heat.  Once a crust has been formed, turn over salmon and grill until the required preference is attained i.e. medium rare or well done.  It is advisable to turn the salmon once only or else it will break into pieces.

Serve hot with any kind of salad.  This time, I served them with a simple Tomato & Cucumber Salad and Boiled Potatoes or Buttered Potatoes.


Tomato & Cucumber Salad
Ingredients:
2 cucumbers, peeled, seeds to be removed and finely diced
6 large tomatoes, seeds to be removed and finely diced
a few stalks of dill
salt & pepper to taste
olive oil

Method:
In a large bowl, add diced cucumbers and tomatoes.  Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add a little olive oil and the dill.  Mix well and serve.

Bon Appetit!

Baked Fish with Spicy Flavoured Crust

This dish is similar to the Fish Filets à la Bordelaise from Iglo.  I must say that the taste is much better than the store bought ones and it is simple & quick to prepare - definitely a hit among kids!

Ingredients (serves 4):
4 white fish filets, to be washed and pat dry

1 pip garlic, to be peeled and finely crushed or minced
3 tbsp mayonaise

100 g breadcrumbs
3 to 4 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground white pepper
1/2 tsp curry powder
juice from one lemon

butter for casserole
olive oil

Method:
Preheat oven to 180° C (fan) or 200° C (conventional).  Lightly grease large casserole tray with butter.

In a bowl, mix breadcrumbs, chopped parsley, salt, pepper, curry powder and lemon juice together to resemble crumbs.  Set aside.

In a small bowl, mix mayonaise and minced (crushed) garlic together to form a paste.  Spread paste on fish filets and arrange in casserole tray.  Sprinkle fish filets with breadcrumb mixture until all is used up.  Sprinkle olive oil over fish filets and bake for about 15 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.

Serve hot with french fries.

Bon Appetit!

Asparagus in Egg-Vinaigrette Sauce served with Grilled Saibling Fillet

Asparagus is in season at present and I will include it in our menu at least twice or three times a week.  For today's dinner, I prepared an egg vinaigrette to accompany the steamed white asparagus and grilled fish fillet.

Ingredients:
1 kg white asparagus, to be peeled and ends trimmed

Vinaigrette Ingredients:
4  hard-boiled eggs
2 tbsps chopped flat parsley
2 tbsps olive oil
1 tbsp white wine vinegar or plain vinegar
1 tsp mustard
3 tbsp white wine or plain water
salt & pepper to taste

Method:
Separate egg whites from egg yolks.  Chop egg whites finely and leave aside.  In a bowl, mash egg yolks with a fork.  Add olive oil, vinegar, mustard and wine.  Mix thoroughly and then, add chopped parsley.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Steam asparagus for about 11 minutes or until done to your liking.  Serve asparagus with Egg-Vinaigrette.

To prepare the fish fillets:  Season with salt and pepper.  Place fish fillets under grill for about 10 minutes or until golden brown and crispy.

Saibling Müllerin served with Parsley Potatoes & Steamed Broccoli

Normally, I will use Forelle (Trout) to prepare this simple dish but today, I used Saibling (Arctic Char). Both fishes taste great!

Ingredients (serves 2 persons):
2 medium-size Saiblinge (Arctic Char) or Forellen (Trout), to be cleaned and descaled
salt and pepper to taste
sufficient flour to coat
sufficient butter to shallow fry
2 tbsp sliced almonds

Method:
Season fish inside out with salt and pepper.  Then, coat in flour and shake off excess flour before frying.  Heat butter in a big pan over medium heat.  Add fish and fry for about 8 minutes or until the underside is golden brown.  Turn over fish carefully and continue frying until done. Remove to serving plate.

Add sliced almonds to remaining butter in pan and stir-fry until golden brown.  Once done, spoon almonds together with the hot butter over fish.  Serve with parsley potatoes and broccoli or fresh salad.


Parsley Potatoes
Ingredients:
8 medium-size potatoes, to be peeled
salt to taste
50 g butter
1 tbsp chopped parsley

Method:
Place potatoes and salt in a pot.  Add enough water to half cover the potatoes.  Bring to boil. Then, put on lid and reduce heat to medium.  Cook for about 20 minutes or until potatoes are done.  Drain water away and return pot to stove.  Add butter and lightly swirl the pot in order that the potatoes are covered with butter.  Sprinkle with chopped parsley before serving.

Bon Appetit!

Spaghetti served with Salmon Cream Sauce

We have some balance of fresh salmon fillets in the fridge and to use them up, I prepared this simple and quick dish.  The following recipe serves 4 persons.

Ingredients:
300 g spaghetti, to be cooked according to packet instructions
400 g fresh salmon fillets
1 medium-sized onion, to be cut into fine cubes
2 carrots, to be washed, peeled and cut into thin strips
1 leek, to be washed and cut into thin strips
1 small piece of celery root, to be washed, peeled and cut into thin strips
60 g butter
1 tbsp flour
400 g fresh cream
2 tsp instant stock granules
salt and ground white pepper to taste
fresh dill leaves

Method:
Season salmon fillets with salt & pepper and steam for about 8 minutes.  Leave aside to cool down and then, cut into cubes.

Heat butter in a pot and add cubed onions.  Then, add carrot, leek and celery strips.  Stir-fry for about 5 minutes and then, add in flour.  Stir well before adding in the fresh cream and instant stock granules.  Bring to a light boil.  If the sauce is too thick to your liking, just add a little milk to thin it out.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Add in dill leaves by cutting them with a scissor into pot.  Lastly, add in cubed salmon.  Bring to a light boil before serving with spaghetti.

Bon Appetit!

Steamed Salmon served with Bechamel Sauce & Butter Rice

Since I managed to get fresh salmon this morning,  I prepared this simple dish for dinner.  The Bechamel Sauce, Vegetable Strips and Buttered Rice really complement the salmon!  Following recipe serves 4 persons.

Ingredients:

4 salmon fillets

2 carrots, to be washed, peeled and cut into fine strips

1 leek, to be washed and cut into fine strips

1 small celery root, to be washed, peeled and cut into fine strips

salt and ground white pepper to taste

Method:

Season salmon fillets with salt and pepper.  I am using an electric steamer.  Arrange salmon fillets in a buttered perforated tray.  Add the vegetable strips in a normal tray and season with salt & pepper.

Place the vegetable strips tray on the first rack from bottom and the perforated tray on the second rack.  Steam for about 8 minutes.  Remove from steamer and serve salmon fillets with vegetable strips.  Pour Bechamel Sauce over salmon and serve with Buttered Rice.

Bechamel Sauce

Ingredients:

80 g butter

1 small onion, to be cut into small cubes

1 tbsp (not heaped) flour

1/2 tsp instant vegetable stock granules

200 fresh cream

salt and ground white pepper to taste

Method:

Heat butter in a saucepan and add cubed onions.  Stir-fry until translucent.  Then, add flour and stir well. Add cream and stir thoroughly.  Then, add stock and season with salt & pepper to taste.

Buttered Rice

Ingredients:

1 medium-sized onion, to be cut into cubes

90 g butter

3 cups (250 ml cup) rice, to be washed and drain into a sieve

3 cups hot chicken stock

salt to taste

Method:

Heat butter in a pot and add cubed onions.  Stir-fry until translucent.  Add rice and mix thoroughly. Then, add chicken stock and salt to taste.  Bring to boil.  Once the stock has evaporated, stir well and put the lid on.  Reduce heat to minimum and cook until rice is done!

Bon Appetit!

Lachs-Wirsing Lasagne

This Salmon-Savoy Cabbage Lasagna is simple to prepare and is a wonderful change to the Beef Lasagna.  I strongly recommend to make your own Bechamel sauce instead of using an instant sauce.  The self-made Bechamel sauce will bring out the delicious flavour!

Ingredients (serves 3 - 4 persons):
650 g Savoy cabbage (Wirsing)
salt and ground white pepper to taste
1 big onion, to be cut into fine cubes
750 g salmon fillet
50 g butter
50 g flour
½ litre milk
200 g cream
2 tsp vegetable stock granules
1-2 tbsp lemon juice
12 lasagne pieces
50-75 g grated cheese (Gouda or Emmentaler)

Method:
Clean, wash, quarter and shred cabbage.  Blanch shredded cabbage in salted boiling water for about 2 minutes.  Drain in a colander and set aside.

Wash and dry salmon and cut into big pieces to fit into a rectangle pyrex dish.  Season with salt and pepper.

Heat butter in a saucepan and add cubed onion.  Stir fry until transparent and then add flour and mix well.  Add in milk, cream and stock granules.  Stir well and bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt, pepper and lemon juice.

Butter the pyrex baking dish.  Spread some sauce on the bottom of baking dish and arrange a layer of lasagne.  Spread sauce on top and add half of cabbage mixture and spread evenly.  Add another layer of lasagne and sauce on top.  Then, place the salmon pieces.  Add another layer of lasagne, spread sauce and the rest of cabbage.  Finally, add on the last layer of lasagne and spread the rest of sauce on top.  Sprinkle with grated cheese.

Bake in a preheated oven (Fan: 160º C/Conventional: 175º C/Gas: 2) for about 40-45 minutes.

Bon Appetit!

Panfried Nile Perch Fillet served with Fennel-Carrots in Crème Fraîche Sauce

This dish is also known as Gebratene Viktoriabarschfilet mit Fenchel-Karotten in Crème Fraîche Sos in the german language.  I will normally serve boiled potatoes on the side.  This fish is abundantly available in Germany and it is very tasty.  One can use cod or other "firm" fish fillets to prepare this dish.  The following recipes serve 4.

Ingredients:
250 g carrots, to be peeled and sliced (diagonally)
400 g fennel, to washed, dried and sliced
50 ml vegetable stock
150 g Crème Fraîche
salt & pepper to taste
a pinch of sugar
30 g butter or margarine
some chopped chives

800 g Nile Perch filet or Codfish filet
2-3 tbsp lemon juice
salt
some flour to coat
50 g butter or margarine

Method:
Heat butter or margarine in a pan and lightly stir-fry both carrot and fennel slices for 5 minutes. Season with salt, pepper and sugar to taste.  Be careful with the salt because the vegetable stock has salt in its content.

Add vegetable stock and let it simmer for another 10 minutes or until the vegetables are almost cooked. Then, add Crème Fraîche and stir well.  Check seasoning again before the chopped chives are added.

Wash fish fillets and dry them up by using the kitchen paper.  Season with lemon juice and salt. Then, toss them in flour and set aside.

Heat butter or margarine in a pan and add fish fillet one at a time.  Pan-fry over medium heat until the underneath is browned.  Then, turn it over and cook the other side until browned.  Each side will take about 4-5 minutes to brown and it also depends on the thickness of the fish filets.  Once done, remove to a plate.

Serve the Fish Fillets with the Fennel-Carrots in Crème Fraîche Sauce and Boiled Potatoes.

Bon Appetit!

Pan-fried Salmon with Sour Cabbage (Sauerkraut)

After eating a lot of asian food during our two weeks holiday, we are yearning to eat european food. This dish is simple to prepare and it is very healthy to eat sour cabbage (sauerkraut), even when some fresh cream is added to it.

Ingredients (serves 4):

4 salmon fillets à 150 g

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp fresh basil, to be chopped

1 tbsp fresh flat parsley, to be chopped

salt and pepper to taste

800 g can sour cabbage or fresh sour cabbage (this product is sold at any german shop)

60 g butter

1 big onion, to be cubed

½ tsp curry powder

1 tsp sugar

1 bay leaf

1 tbsp caraway seeds

300 ml cream

Method:

Sauté the onion cubes in butter until glassy.  Add in curry powder and stir-fry for a minute.  Add in sour cabbage, bay leaf, caraway seeds and cook covered over medium heat for about 10 minutes.  Note:  If fresh sour cabbage is used, cooking time is 40 minutes.)  Stir mixture every now and then, adding hot water if necessary in order that it does not dry up.  Lastly, add in cream and season with salt, pepper, sugar to taste.  Pour mixture into an ovenproof dish.  Preheat oven to 180º C (Fan).

Season salmon fillets on both sides with salt and pepper.  Heat olive oil or butter in a big pan over high and fry the salmon fillets on both sides until golden brown.  Do not overcook the salmon or else it will turn dry.  Remove and place on the sour cabbage.  Sprinkle the chopped basil and parsley and place some cubes of butter on top.  Bake for about 8 minutes.  Serve hot with mashed or boiled potatoes.