Lovely day, lovely meal.
I arrived home at 5:00 and Matt and I went out for a walk around our neighborhood to soak up the last bits of this gorgeous day. Looks like we have two more until the winds shift and bring in cold rain.
Upon returning home, I made a mocktail: POM + Seltzer + Cherry.
And we geared up for this delicious dinner!
The star of the show was Olive + Caper Crusted Salmon.
This was the first time we’ve successfully made frozen salmon! All the other times I didn’t care for the flavor/texture it produced. I concluded I must have gotten the wrong kinds. Kelsey swears by the frozen Trader Joe’s kind, so that’s what we got: Wild Sockeye. We thawed it overnight in the fridge and it was ready to go by dinnertime tonight. It turned out good, although not quite as good as some of the other wild Alaskan I’ve had. I’m still not sure what species my favorite is, but I don’t think it’s sockeye (which I find a little pinker and tougher). We will most definitely be getting more salmon from Trader Joes!
The tapenade topping was made with about 10 kalamata olives, 2-3 tbsp capers, a heaping tsp of dijon mustard and a tbsp of fresh oregano.
We pressed that onto the fish. I weighed the fish for the portion. The longer one was 5.5 oz, which Matt ate, and the other piece was 6 oz, which we cut in half for two perfectly portioned 3 oz pieces for me. One for now, one for later.
I will never buy breadcrumbs again. We pulverized some fresh (not even day old) dry focaccia in the food processor for about a minute and came out with perfect crumbs.
We got pressed onto the top of the fish. Into the oven (along with asparagus in the background) for 10 minutes at 425* until the internal temp was 131* (as recommended by Alton Brown). We likes ours medium rare.
The tapenade was quite salty with all those olives + capers, but the mild fish balanced it out very well.
We cooked a bunch of asparagus (drizzled with a little EVOO + kosher salt) alongside the fish –
Topped with a few extra bread crumbs 🙂
Lastly, we each had a piece of Matt’s freshly baked Focaccia. His piece was the size of half my plate!
I came home to find this wild bon voyage package in my mailbox from African Kelli. She has actually spend time at one of the other tea estates and had some good advice for me.
I opened it up to find a great selection of travel goodies!! All things that were on my “to buy” list 🙂 I have to say, I am most excited about the Kleenex Splash and Go wipes = brilliant for traveling!! Thanks so much Kelli!!
I should probably stay up and study some, but in an effort to get my body on worldly time, I’m thinking about going to bed soon and getting up at 5:30 even though I have no where to be tomorrow. I should be able to get a lot done between 5:30 and 10am when I normally get started on my work on T/TH. Wish me luck!
BEYOND lovely weather, meal, and package!!
Thanks for all your help yesterday about oatmeal… I’ve been struggling so much with making sure i get enough for breakfast but not so much that its too much… does that make ANY sense?!
I’m so glad you enjoyed your wonderful weather!
I just wanted to comment because I tried out your kale chips and they were delicious. I NEVER would have thought of that so thanks!!
Oh wow, totally jealous of the awesome weather!!!
I find that with frozen salmon, it’s all about thawing it out completely. The texture gets weird if it’s still frozen at all when you start cooking it.
Mara ,
Yes, I know what you mean 🙂
Pam,
Another convert!! whoo hooo!!
Kath
That fish recipe sounds great! Love the tapenade idea.
That salmon sounds amazing!
The first picture is gorgeous!
fish looks PHENOMONAL. so jealous of your weather, as well. sleep tight!
Thanks much for entering my contest, Kath! Good luck to you!
I love the tree picture…I’m glad you and Matt got to enjoy the day with a walk and dinner outside. The salmon looks delicious!
What a sweet package!! I love your plate by the way 🙂
Delicious dinner! And SO excited about your upcoming trip!!! What great things to travel with!
Hmm, that looks like a tasty way to make salmon, but I’m not a fan of olives. I bet it would be good with sun-dried tomatoes or roasted red peppers, too.
I am pretty much living vicariously through this blog to soak up the sun in NC, haha. Oh, and the food looks good too although I love my asparagus grilled with salt, olive oil and balsamic vinegar(I’m slightly addicted to the stuff!) -Lisa D.
what a nice package! it’s always nice to get tips/advice from people who have been exactly where you’re going – so helpful.
I cannot read your blog when I’m FAMISHED!
I spent time in Africa- pack lots of good snacks 🙂 But the local food (in Southern Africa at least) I loved- I can’t wait to hear about your trip!
Oooooh that salmon looks so good! And I adore asparagus. Nothing says spring to me like asparagus! The first time it goes on sale I plan on buying a ton of it and freezing so all next winter I will have local asparagus whenever I want! The mock pomtini looks delish as well!
What a great dinner on such a beautiful night! I ran outside and never wanted to come back in! Hope you have a good night 🙂
what a pretty picture of the tree!!… 😉
I should have pretended that my car broke down in front of your house + I had to stay for dinner while I waited for AAA.. this looks A-mazing!!!
I am pretty jealous of the weather too Kath…. the dinner looks delicious. i think we have the same plate.
zesty
Looks like a beautiful day! What a gorgeous dinner!
oh my gosh that salmon sounds soooo good! I think one of my fave combo of flavors is sundried tomatoes + capers + olives. yummm!!
That salmon looks DELISH! I’m always looking for a new, healthy recipe for salmon.
Quick question/advice… What are a few good kinds of beans to have in salads? I have no idea which ones are the best for salads and there are so many kinds to choose from! Any suggestions?
Great dinner!
That salmon recipe sounds delicious, I will definitely try it sometime. It looks like you had a fantastic day enjoying the nice soon-to-be spring weather. 🙂
neighborhood strolls, outdoor meals … is it august down there??? glad you had such a pleasant evening!
What’s EVOO stand for? Just kidding. Just sharing a little Rachael Ray joke with myself.
Great Africa Package from Africa Kelly.
Love, Oregon Sarah. 😉
Jealous of your summertime sunny pics!
With all the bread Matt brings home, there is no reason for you to buy bread crumbs ever again!
To make toasted breadcrumbs, I put bread in my oven for like an hour at 200 degrees for an hour, then shut the oven off and leave it overnight. I pulse it in my food processor the next day and it is so good!
I take that back – I still buy panko bread crumbs!
Sockeye is definitely the redest of the Pacific salmon species, and probably the most expensive as well. It’s my salmon of choice for sandwiches, sushi, or to eat as a fillet or steak. Coho and Chinook are pretty much right up there as well (they might be labelled as spring or king salmon in the States?). I find pink is good for making salmon cakes or salmon loaf (or does only my mom make that?). Chum is pretty much only good smoked, otherwise it’s just not worth eating, and you probably would never see it in the grocery store anyways.
I may have gone to school to learn about fish on the west coast, can you tell? 😀
i almost thought you had a crumbly dessert bar for dinner after the first pic 🙂 the salmon looks lovely!
What a thoughful gift-you have such great friends 🙂
I find King Salmon is milder than Sockeye, it is definitely my favorite. Copper River King Salmon, which is available in mid-May for about a month is definitely the best. It’s a big deal around here in Seattle.
oh yummy SALMON!! This is a true home-cooked gourmet meal. I can’t believe you even made the breadcrumbs from scratch! That is a brilliant idea that I will totally copy with my “older” breads! THANK YOU Kath! I feel like I can always count on you and your blog for new eating ideas! 🙂
Oh my goodness, I want that salmon. I never would have thought of trying that, but it looks absolutely delicious. Thanks!
Asparagus is one of my favourite veggies!!
Beautiful dinner Kath…. lovely that you got to be outside to enjoy it!!
What a nice package!
Good luck with the studying.
Kelsey,
I thought that tree pic occurred when my camera got bumped in one of our many blanket moves 😉
Heather ,
All of the above!! Really, any beans are good on salads. Favorites: garbanzo, navy, black, black-eyed peas, pinto.
Marianne + Erin ,
Thanks for the info! Maybe it’s King that I like best? that sounds familiar..
Michelle T,
Thanks 🙂
Kath
Wow that mocktail’ s got me drooling! I think I’ll make some for my b-day party soon!
so excited about your exotic trip! 😀
Kath, that salmon is gorgeous! The rectangular plate presentation is restaurant-worthy 🙂 I’ve had good experiences with TJ’s frozen salmon also… plus it’s affordable. Looks like another beautiful day down there!
Your salmon looks awesome.
I was watching “How To Boil Water” this morning and they did a couscous encrusted salmon. Very easy, but very similar to yours. It looked great – just like your dish. Good job! Hope those legs are feeling better?
That looks like my perfect dinner. I buy frozen fish quite often, although it’s usually not salmon. It’s definitely not as good as fresh, but cheaper and very convenient.
OMG your dinner looks DIVINE!
Oh my. That salmon looks amazing!
I love seeing your photos outside! Makes me excited for spring 🙂
Weird, but I feel like any meal looks even better when it’s on a rectangular plate. Hmm.
Hey
Kath-I am an RD working at the Univ of Va…I follow your blog. Should consider doing your internship here “)
Thought of you when I saw this recipe
http://projects.washingtonpost.com/recipes/2009/03/04/chili-rubbed-salmon-pineapple-avocado-salsa/?wpisrc=newsletter
Carole Havrila,
Thanks for the link! I wish I could consider doing my internship in exotic places like UVA, but my house + husband keep me pretty immobile 🙁
K
Kath-I made this salmon last night and it pretty much rocked my world 🙂 I would have loved to put fresh bread crumbs but I didn’t have any fun focaccia. Still turned out awesome though.
ha-I’m not sure I would really say UVA is exotic! 😉 the campus is down right gorgeous though! If you ever make it to VA let me know…it really is a pretty state in summer/fall!
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