Salmon with Creamed Leeks

Ever since I made Martha Stewart’s Chicken and Leeks with Crème Fraiche dish, I have been craving more dishes with leeks. So I came up with this salmon dish to satisfy my leeks craving, and I must say it certainly did the trick! The idea is similar to Martha’s, but the flavors are a bit lighter. I must point out that this is definitely one of my favorite dishes that I have made!

So here is how I made it (per 1 serving):

• 1 Leek
• 1 1/2 tbsp Olive oil
• 1/3 lb Salmon filet
• 1 Lemon slice
• 1 Shallot, chopped
• 1/3 cup White wine
• ¼ cup Crème fraiche
• ¼ tsp Lemon zest
• Salt and pepper

1. Turn oven on to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Trim the dark green part off of the leeks leaving only the white and light green leaves. Also trim off the other end’s roots. Cut the leek in half length-wise. Then cut width-wise into centimeter-wide pieces. Place these pieces into a colander or strainer and rinse under water to rid all dirt. Shake excess water off of leeks.
3. Place leeks into an oven proof omelet pan (8” or larger) and toss with 1 tbsp olive oil.
4. Place pan in oven and roast leeks for about 20 minutes. This may take longer for more than one serving. The leeks are ready once they begin to brown.
5. As leeks are roasting, place salmon on a tin foil sheet that is large enough to wrap the fish. Rub remaining olive oil onto fish and surrounding tin foil that will touch the fish once wrapped (including underneath the fish). Place the lemon slice on top of the filet and finish it with some salt and pepper. Now loosely wrap the salmon with the tin foil like a package. Place the wrapped salmon in the middle of a baking sheet.
6. Place salmon in oven and let cook for about 12 minutes. Generally, it should bake 35-40 minutes per pound of fish. When the fish is cooked, carefully un-wrap the tin foil and discard the lemon slice.
7. The leeks will likely finish roasting around when the fish is finished baking. Once the leeks begin browning, remove them from the oven and place the pan on the stove over medium heat. Add the chopped shallot and sauté for 1-2 minutes.
8. Add the wine to the leeks and let reduce to half. Then mix in the crème fraiche and lemon zest. Add salt and pepper to taste.
9. Place the salmon filet on serving dish and top off with the leeks.

Enjoy!

Poached Salmon with Artichoke Puree

This is one of my favorite recipes that I have created. It is super easy, quick to make, and healthy. Furthermore, this dish is great to make when you are entertaining because it does not take you away from your guests for very long and yet the final product looks and tastes quite impressive!

As with most my recipes, I came up with this one by wandering around my grocery store and eying the various foods I love. When I saw that the frozen food section had artichoke hearts--which I LOVE--I knew I had to make something with them. Since artichoke hearts have a strong flavor, I knew they needed to be paired with another strong flavor so that is how I decided to prepare it with salmon. However, because there are strong flavors involved I needed to keep the various tastes simple so that it was not overwhelming. That is why I only poach the salmon and add no flavors to it except lemon. I then wanted to add the tomatoes since they have such a nice mellow and refreshing taste. Finally, I added the asparagus because, frankly, I like their color and shape for the dish.

Here is what you need to make the dish (per serving):

Frozen artichoke hearts (9 oz.)
1 lemon
Olive oil
Salt
Salmon (about half a pound should be good)
Cherry or grape tomatoes (about 8)
Asparagus stalks (about 8)

And what you do:

1. Place frozen artichokes in the microwave and cook as directed on the box (mostly likely, you will need to microwave the artichokes for 5-6 minutes in a microwavable bowl).
2. As the artichokes are cooking, prepare the asparagus and tomatoes. Take a stalk of asparagus and hold both ends. Now bring the two ends together as if you are folding the asparagus in half. In this process the asparagus will snap such that you can throw out the bottom part where it is a bit tougher. Repeat this with the remaining stalks. For the tomatoes, cut each in half length ways.
3. Place salmon in a pan and pour water into the pan until the water reaches half-way the height of the salmon. Place two thinly sliced lemon pieces into the water for flavor and turn stove to a medium to medium-high heat. Cook until salmon is cooked thoroughly and is firm to the touch (about 4-5 minutes on each side). (See picture.)
4. Start cooking the asparagus by either grilling (as I did here), steaming, or lightly broiling.
5. While salmon and asparagus are cooking, take cooked artichokes and place them into a food processor(1). Add olive oil (about 1/4 cup) and salt to taste. Also add the juice from half a lemon and about a teaspoon of the lemon's zest(2). Puree all ingredients together until the artichokes are nice and smooth.
6. Spoon artichoke puree into a shallow bowl or plate. Take salmon and place it on top of the puree. Place the asparagus and tomato halves on top in a decorative fashion.
   

Notes:

(1) Food Processor - I am obsessed with my food processor and can not imagine life in the kitchen with out it. So if you do not have one, I strongly recommend going out and getting one! They are expensive, but I find that the department stores put them on really great sales every now and then so just keep your eye for these awesome sales. As for this recipe, if you do not have a food processor I think you can still make a variation of the puree. I have not actually tried this, but I imagine after the artichokes are cooked, you can spread them out on a cutting board and run your knife through them until they are in small chunks. Then, as the recipes notes above, add the olive oil (about 1-2 tbsp), salt, lemon juice, and zest to taste and mix well.

(2) Lemon Zest - You will need a microplane (or other fine grater) to do this. If you do not have the proper utensil, no worries, just add some more lemon juice instead. When you do zest, only take the yellow part off of the lemon. The white part is bitter so you do not want that.