Workin’ the Weeknight Dinner – Broiled Old Bay Salmon
No post last week, people. I was with my best man (btw- another jarhead) at Cathedral Ledge dealing with unfinished business – a climb called “Recompense” that we backed off of some 8 years ago. Notwithstanding the disturbing belay stance atop the 3rd pitch – blood-soaked from a climber who bailed off the crux and compound fractured his leg the week prior – we knocked it out (thanks Kurt Winkler! Best. Guide. Ever.) And for your viewing pleasure here is a short yet substantially embarrassing clip of me getting eliminated by “Pine Tree Eliminate”, another allegedly moderate nemesis climb.
So you roll in from a summer weekend away. No leftovers for weeknight dinners. Now what? Takeout? Again?? You don’t have to succumb to the siren song of Seamlessweb. Well, not all the time anyway. We can crank out something good and healthy pronto. Fish is quick, how about a variation on my Dad’s broiled salmon. Let’s go!
The Prep:
- Get the wild salmon filets. Seriously. Open the wallet already.
- Clarify butter: Microwave butter until melted. Then skim/discard the floaty foam.
- Brush salmon fillets with the now-clarified butter.
- Salt/pepper. And lots of Old Bay seasoning.
- Broil approx 6-8 minutes skin side down.
- Plate salmon and drizzle with melted butter/juices from the broiling pan.
- That’s it. Really.
In the pic here, I served with sliced new potatoes tossed in olive oil, sea salt and garlic, roasted alongside green beans similarly seasoned. A slice of lemon for some color and zip.
The Pros:
Broiling in this manner — without flipping the fillet midway, gives a nice variation of textures and doneness. In this dish it’s ok to have unevenly cooked protein. Crisp top, medium center, rare bottom. A nice contrast.
The Cons:
I know how I like my fish, and I know my broiler. So I can normally get this done to my liking. But it took a few tries to get the timing right. If you keep your rack at the same level (my broiler’s like a jet engine so I go 2 down) the heat will always be uniform. Then the variable is just the fish. Thin fillets = a little less time. Fat fillets = a little more time. And remember: better under than over, you can’t un-cook things.
Oh, and Sockeye salmon doesn’t work here. Sockeye isn’t fatty enough to stand up to the jet engine. It gets all tough and dry on you.
The Takeaway:
This is totally do-able on a weeknight. And what’s the “variation” from Dad’s salmon? A couple things- he couldn’t be bothered to clarify butter, so when he broiled the fish the entire house filled with smoke. But he was OK with that. Also, he kept it simpler than I, with just salt/pepper and no Old Bay. I like the spicy note of the OB, so I roll that out. But feel free to omit.
