PAN-SEARED SALMON

This recipe is so simple even a novice cook cannot ruin it.  It uses garden fresh garlic and scallions to great advantage.  The salmon remains center stage, but the chopped garlic and scallions bring fresh, bright flavors to the recipe along with a bit of heat from the cayenne pepper.

Garden fresh garlic

Ingredients: 2 persons

1 lb. King salmon fillet with skin*
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt and black pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 cup chopped scallions
1 cup chopped fresh garlic

Salmon fillet with skin side down

* Don't waste salmon skin.  Salmon skin crisps up beautifully and it's a real treat.

Pan-seared salmon ready to be served

 

Procedure

Wipe the fish fillet with paper towels
Sprinkle fish with salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper
Heat a large skillet on high for at least 3 to 5 minutes.

Add the oil, scallions and garlic
Saute for a minute. 
Add the fish fillet, skin side down. 
Turn the heat down to medium-high and cook for 7 to 10 minutes until just opaque in center.  A nice crust will form.
Flip only once and continue to cook for an additional 5 to 7 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fillet.
Serve the fish skin side down with the green underneath it.

It's Spring - Asparagus have sprung in my garden

E' Primavera - Gl'asparagi sono spuntati nel mio giardino.

Nothing says spring more than fresh asparagus and spring onions (scallions) growing in our vegetable garden.
 

 

The asparagus are fresh, fresh, fresh. The spears snap, the heads are tight and much, much tastier than the cultivated spears found in stores all year round.   The small patch of land we devoted to the asparagus produces a small bunch daily.  Some spears are pencil thin which I use for frittata and the thicker ones for pasta dishes. I remember foraging for wild asparagus as a kid with my father.   It was our traditional vegetable eaten on Pasquetta. 

I also picked some scallions...

Let's make a FRITTATA DI ASPARAGI

Ingredients
1 pound pencil-thin asparagus
2 bunches of scallions
4 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
6 eggs



Remove and discard the tough lower ends of the asparagus. Wash and cut the spears into 2 inch lengths. In a non-stick skillet, saute the asparagus spears in olive oil, sprinkling them lightly with salt.  Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until asparagus are tender but still firm, about 5 minutes.

In the meantime clean the scallions and cut in small rounds. Add to the asparagus and cook an additional 5 minutes over low flame.

Beat the eggs lightly in a bowl, with salt and pepper. Add the eggs to the asparagus, scrambling the mixture lightly with a fork. Cook 5 minutes or less, flip over and cook an additional 2 minutes. Serve warm or room temperature.
  

Frittata di Asparagi

Images: ©2011 - La Casa e Il Giardino -picasaweb

Fettucine con Asparagi

Images: ©2011 - La Casa e Il Giardino -picasaweb