Marinated Salmon

Marinated Salmon

I wanted to try a new way to make my salmon. We love salmon in my house, and we have it frequently, and I needed a new easy recipe. I found a picture on Pinterest where they used soy and brown sugar, witch made me think of the marinade from my angry tacos, from where I got my inspiration.

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 2 pieces salmon, serving size
• lemon pepper
• salt

Marinade:

• ⅓ cup (80 ml) soy sauce
• ⅓ cup (60 g) brown sugar
• ¼ cup (60 ml) warm water
• ⅓ cup (80 ml) grape seed oil
• grated ginger, to taste
• ½ jalapeño pepper
• 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

Directions:

Marinade:

In a bowl, whisk the cilantro, brown sugar, oil, soy sauce, jalapeños, and coriander to blend well. Reserve ¼ cup of the marinade for dressing the slaw. Pour the rest of the marinade into a ziplock bag and place the salmon in the  marinade and turn to coat. Marinate for at least 20 minutes or up to 2 hours in refrigerator. 

Preheat stove grill for medium heat, and lightly oil grill grates. (I used a Le Creuset cast iron grill)

Place salmon on hot grill. Cook salmon for 4-6 minutes per side, or until the salmon flakes easily with a fork. Be careful not to overcook the salmon, nobody like a piece of dry fish.

Serve with an easy slaw a la this one.

The danish version:

Marineret Laks

Ingredienser:

• 2 stykker laks
• citronpeber
• salt

Marinade:

• 80 ml soyasauce
• 60 g brun farin
• 60 ml varmt vand
• 80 ml vindruekerne olie
• revet ingefær, alt efter smag
• ½ jalapeño 
• 2 tsk frisk koriander

Fremgangsmåde:

Marinaden:

Bland alle ingredienser i en skål, og rør indtil sukkeret er opløst. Hvis du laver en "coleslaw" så tag ½-¾ dl marinade fra til dressing. 

Kom marinaden i en frysepose, og kom laksen i. Lad fisken marinere i mindst 20 minutter, eller op til 2 timer i køleskabet.

Varm en grillpande op til den er godt varm. Pensel panden med lidt olie og steg laksen 4-6 minutter på hver side, eller indtil laksen ikke længere er gennemsigtige lyserød. Pas på med ikke at give laksen for meget, da den bliver kedelig når den er tør.

Server laksen med en hurtig “coleslaw" evt, den jeg bruger til Angry Tacos. (Kinakål, gulerod, forårsløg, jalapeño, frisk koriander og den ubrugte marinade som dressing)

Stjerneskud - Shooting Star

Stjerneskud - Shooting Star

Stjerneskud, or shooting star, is a classic Danish open-faced sandwich. The kind you would see at most lunch restaurants or cafés in Denmark. A stjerneskud is white bread, with a piece of fried and poached fish and cold-water shrimps.

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 2 fried petrale sole filets 
• 2 poached petrale sole filets*
• a handful cold-water shrimps
• 6 aspagus (I used Reese asparagus spears)
• thousand Island dressing (homemade or store bought) 
• caviar (I used salmon roe)
• 1 lemon
• dill
• butter lettuce (I forgot to buy that)

* Poaching:

• white wine
• lemon juice
• salt
• white pepper

Directions:

* Poaching:

Preheat the oven to 400℉ (200℃).

Season the fillets with salt and white pepper. Roll up the filets and place them in an ovenproof dish with white wine and lemon juice. Cover the dish with aluminum foil. Poach the fish for 7-8 minutes. (If you poach the fish on the stove and start with barely simmering liquid, poach the fish for 5-6 minutes.)

Fry the fish and make the dressing.

Toast the bread. 

Arrange lettuce, fish fillets, dressing, shrimps, caviar, dill and place the slice of lemon on top.

Enjoy with a cold beer, cold white wine or a cold lemonade.

Fried Sole Filets

Fried Sole Filets

One of the best fish dishes in Denmark is a breaded plaice (or just dusted in rye flour), preferably fried up as a whole fish in butter. But it's not a dish you come by every day, we'll only if you are a Fisherman. I still remember my father coming home with the fish so fresh that they were still alive. He put the fish in the bathtub with water, and the fish were swimming.

Most Danes have had breaded filets of plaice on rye bread, served with remoulade (a sweet tartar sauce). Often the fish was frozen and already breaded. This is nothing like the fresh fish, but it's will do in a busy lifestyle. If we wanted a fancier dish, we had a "stjerneskud" (shooting star). A stjerneskud is a breaded fried and a poached plaice filet. Topped with mayonnaise, cold water shrimps and caviar of lumpfish-roe, either served on rye bread or some good white bread. 

I found that sole is a good substitute for plaice, so I was happy to have my childhood favorite fried fish with remoulade.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 4-6 sole filets
• all-purpose flour
• 1 egg beaten
• breadcrumbs, I used panko
• salt & pepper
• butter and oil for frying. 

Directions:

Add the salt and pepper to the flour. 

Dip the fish filets in:

1: all-purpose flour, shake off excess flour

2: egg, make sure the whole fish i covered, and let the excess drip of

3: breadcrumbs, again make sure the whole fish is covered, and shake the excess breadcrumbs of. 

This way the breading will stay on the fish. Otherwise it has a tendency to break apart when flipping the fish. 

Heat the skillet and add oil and butter. When the butter stops foaming, gently add the fish. Cook the fish for about 2-3 minutes on each side. 

Serve immediately on rye bread with remoulade and a lemon wedge. The fish can also be served with boiled potatoes and a white parsley sauce.

Pistachio crusted Halibut.

Pistachio crusted Halibut

I have been looking for ways to have more fish on the menu. Most times we end out having salmon. I really wanted to have more white fish. 

In Denmark you normally have halibut smoked for lunch on an open faced sandwich. So the fresh halibut was new to me, but it’s so meaty and the color so bright white. 

Putting halibut together with pistachios and lemon zest is a winning combination.

Serves 4 people

Ingredients:

4 (1 1/4-inch-thick) pieces skinless halibut fillet (about 6 ounces each)

1 cup whole milk

2/3 cup shelled pistachios

2 tablespoon parmesan,  grated

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 lemon, the zest of

Directions: 

Put fish in a ziplock bag, pour milk over it, and chill for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, chop the pistachios finely and mix it with lemon zest, parmesan and oil in a bowl.

Heat the oven to 425°F

Remove fish from milk, letting excess drip off. Transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and sprinkle all over with salt and pepper, top up with pistachio mixture to form a thick coating on the halibut.

Bake the fillets until the topping is crisp and browned and the fish is cooked through, 10 to 12 min., depending on thickness. Serve immediately.

Serve with roasted potatoes and a spicy sour cream sauce. 

Gravad Lax - Gravlax with Mustard Sauce (Rævesauce)

Gravad Lax - Gravlax with Mustard Sauce (Rævesauce)

Gravad lax, gravad laks or gravlax is a dill-cured salmon, normally served with a mustard sauce. Gravad lax means buried salmon, referring to back in  the old days, where the fishermen cured the fish and buried it in the ground for a few days. Now you would never put the fish in the ground when you have the refrigerator. 

Gravad lax is one big favorite in my house, if you ask my husband IT IS the favorite, when it comes to fish cold cuts, way better than smoked salmon. Gravad lax is perfect for appetizer, for small Hors d'oeuvre or on an open-faced sandwich on rye bread. The sweet salty salmon almost melt in your mouth, and with the mustard sauce, it's a little slice of heaven.

Eating Raw Seafood - What You Need To Know:

It's always best to cook seafood thoroughly to minimize the risk of food-borne illness. However, if you choose to eat raw fish anyway, one rule of thumb is to eat fish that has been previously frozen for 24 hours. FDA

Ingredients:

• 750 g (26 oz) fresh salmon filet with skin on

• 3 tablespoons sugar

• 2 tablespoons salt

• 2 teaspoons crushed white pepper

• 2 bunches dill, chopped

Directions:

To minimise the risk connected with eating raw fish, you should freeze the salmon before preparing it. When defrosted, scale the salmon and remove all small bones, but leave the skin on.

Mix salt, sugar and pepper and sprinkle it all over the salmon, cut the salmon in half. In the dish you are going to marinate the salmon in, sprinkle a good layer of dill, place the one piece of salmon, skin side down. Sprinkle a thick layer of dill on that, and place the second half on top sin side up. Sprinkle the rest of the dill on top. Put some plastic wrap over the salmon and use a weighted cutting board to press on the salmon. Refrigerate for 24−48 hours, turning the salmon filet a few times. Rinse the salmon in cold water, and pad it dry. 

Use a sharp knife to cut the gravad lax. (Filet knives, boning knives, and Japanese sashimi knives work well for this role.) The gravad lax should be sliced paper-thinly at an angle (15-20 degree angle), making sure not to get any skin on the slices. 

Serve the gravad lax on a slice good bread, with a mustard sauce.

Mustard sauce - Rævesauce

Ingredients:

• 6 tablespoons brown sugar

• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

• 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

• 8 tablespoons oil (use a neutral oil - not olive oil)

• dill, finely chopped

• salt & pepper to taste

Direction:

Whisk sugar, mustard and vinegar together and add the oil in a thin stream to make the emulsion. Stir in the dill and season with salt and pepper to taste.