Elegance & Grace: Simple Salmon

As the evening sky faded from a salmon colour to a sort of flint gray, I thought back to the salmon I caught that morning, & how gray he was, & how I named him Flint.

~Jack Handy

Random, huh? But sort of poetic too..
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You can't really go wrong with this oily fish, particularly if you poach it. I usually prefer to lightly roast it instead, being careful not to let it cook too long so that it retains its succulence. Here, I seasoned it with sea salt & crushed black pepper, some chilli flakes, a few strips of Sage, a little Dijon mustard, & baked in the oven for about 17 mins on a medium heat.

I dished it up with some brown basmati, red carmague & wild rice (Waitrose sell these grains in one packet, they're delicious & each take the same amount of time to cook) - boiled in chicken bouillon, & then liberally dowsed with some balsamic vinegar, hot sauce, & a good squeeze of lemon. Walnut halves & Spanish olives also graced the plate.

I went for the slightly more expensive salmon at the fish counter, organic fillets from the Duchy of Cornwall (hey, the Prince may have some contentious views on architecture, but he sure can bake some good shortbread & catch some good fish!) - the colour when uncooked was a paler pink than usual, but the flavour, & perhaps more importantly the texture, was wonderful. Worth those extra pennies.

{all photos by me}