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..
.
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}

Meatball Monday!

Meatball Monday!

I don't eat a huge amount of meat, swapping it for fish, seafood, vegetables or grains. However, 5% fat - lean beef - is one of my regular supermarket stables: Mexican chilli, homemade beefburgers, bolognese, or, yep - meatballs! I like to work with what I have in the pantry & the fridge; a bunch of sage leaves was leftover from the weekend. A quick google, & I discovered that there were some Spanish recipes which play around with beef & sage. Ergo, the sage was plucked from its stalks, finely trimmed, & found its way into this evening's meal! I created a sweet, caramelised balsamic glaze to compliment a piquant cherry tomato sauce, on which rested 4 lovely meatballs. Enjoy.

Serves 2. Created by me.

Recipe:

~ 400 g lean beef

~ 1/3 an onion (white), grated

~ 1 tbsp Dijon mustard

~ 1 tbsp chopped chilli pepper

~ sea salt & black pepper

~ 1 tbsp dried rosemary

~ 1 egg white

for the tomato sauce:

~ 20 cherry tomatoes, finely chopped

~ 4 tbsp tomato puree

~ sea salt & black pepper

~ lemon juice from 1/2 a lemon

~ 1 tbsp brown sugar

~ about 10 tbsp cold water

~ 1 tsp pureed garlic

for the glaze:

~ 5 tbsp balsamic vinegar

~ 1 tbsp brown sugar

~ 2 tbsp chopped walnuts

~ 4 sage leaves, finely chopped

1. Pre-heat the oven to a medium heat.

2. Mix together all the ingredients for the meatballs, & then mould into decently sized patties. Lay on a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper & bake for 25 mins, rotating the tray halfway through cooking time.

3. Empty the tomato sauce ingredients into a saucepan & simmer over a low heat for about 20 mins, until the meatballs are done. If the sauce reduces too quickly, add a little more water plus tomato puree.

4. Prepare the glaze 5 minutes before serving. Heat the balsamic & sugar on a low heat until it caramelises, this should happen fairly quickly. Add the walnuts & sage to the pan so that the sage can lightly crisp.

5. Serve the meatballs in a shallow dish, resting on the tomato sauce, & drizzled with the balsamic & walnut glaze.

{all photos by me}