Crispy Skin Salmon With Green Pea Mash

I love salmon.  Who doesn't?  Actually we have a friend who doesn't eat fish at all.  I think it's the smell she doesn't like, or maybe the thought of choking on a fish bone like the Queen Mother.  And of course there are always the vego types who don't eat it.  But in this house, we love it and eat fish at least once a week.  

I asked Mr P. if he has any funny fish stories.  He said no, sadly.  Except to remind me of Monty Python's fish-slapping dance.  (Check it out on YouTube.)  And my fave saying when I'm cross - about slapping someone across the head with a wet fish.  Oh yes, and I remembered a sandwich board sign we once saw in Western Australia: Shark and Chips!  I know down south they like to eat gummy shark, but it's quite rare here in Queensland.  It just seemed so hilariously forthright.   

By Sara (from the Keep Calm O'Matic UK website)

We have here another of Mel's 12 week challenge dishes for you to try.  Delicious crispy skin, beautiful tender fish, and a really tasty green pea mash.  Slapping with a wet fish entirely optional, but highly recommended when feeling cross :=)   



Serves 4:


ingredients:


a portion of salmon, skin on, per person - about 200g. each

Salt and pepper, to taste

5 mLs (1 tsp) veg oil - I used olive oil


for the mash:

2 cups (290g.) frozen baby peas

1 onion, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, chopped

about 220 mLs stock (use chicken or veg.)

1 tsp lemon or lime zest

80 mLs cream

salt and pepper, to taste

Lime or lemon-pressed olive oil to serve (optional)

Serve with grilled vegetables or a salad


Method:


Place all the ingredients for the mash in a medium saucepan

Boil on a medium heat for about 15 minutes

Take it off the heat and blend with a stick blender or a masher

Check for seasoning (salt + pepper), and add more stock if you like a thinner consistency

Serve with the golden, tender salmon and of course, the crispy skin

And give the mash and the fish a good splash of the lime oil, if you feel so inclined


Method for the salmon:


Get your frypan/grill pan really really hot!

Tip in the veg oil and get it hot

Season the fish with salt and pepper, flesh-side first

Now put in the fish flesh-side down (not the skin) and let it brown

Give it a jiggle with your tongs to check it isn't sticking

Now put it skin side down (season this side too) and let it cook for a minute or 2

Take off the skin with the tongs - don't worry if it falls apart, mine did!

Put it back in the pan, with the newly-skinned side face down

Cook till the degree of done-ness you like

Take the fish out of the pan, turn the heat down a bit and put the skin back in

Let it cook till crispy and golden 

Smear the pea mash over the plate (in a charmingly artistic way) and add the fish to each plate, with some of the crispy skin

Add the grilled veg or salad and a splash of citrus oil 



Notes:


Mel suggests using 150-250 mLs of stock; your choice of consistency - I used 225 mLs

Use fish other than salmon, if you feel inclined that way

gather your ingredients

throw the mash ingredients in the pot, ready for boiling 

fish in the pan, skin-side up

Mr P. is the household rice and pasta-maker; also the household griller and fryer-man, so this was his job :=)  Well, I did the skin.  And in fact, I jiggled the salmon and flipped it.  So maybe I was the fish lady, after all.  But he did the grilled veg., for sure.

see, here he is, grilling the capsicum out on the back deck in the cold:) 

doesn't that look delectable?

delish fish and skin and grilled veg.

 

This was a delicious dinner, even though it took us a while to get used to our new grill pan.  I am not a fryer, nor a griller woman.  I tend to bake just about everything.  Mr P. does any frying necessary, and as I can't take the smell or the mess, he does it out on the back deck!  Even in winter, or on a cold Autumn night.  Yay for Mr P.  And thanks Mel for another great recipe.