SLOW-FRIED HERBED SALMON

This is from the same unknown fish cookbook as Salmon Roasted in Garlic Butter. I didn’t like it quite as well, but it was tasty and easy enough. It wasn’t as flavorful as I expected, but we had better salmon than usual (and even pre-skinned for my convenience—thank you, Trader Joe’s; you’ve almost redeemed yourself for the Stupid Coconut Milk), and that made up for it. Granted, we were rushing to make an 8:30 showing of The Village, so I may have slightly neglected the “slow” part of “slow-fried” and perhaps did not get the full experience. But I’d be perfectly willing to make this again—it’s just not going to win the My Favorite Salmon Recipe beauty pageant.

By the way, I made a half recipe. We had it with some salad. The salad, for some reason, had some parsley and dill in it along with the usual greens, leading me to suspect I’d somehow sprinkled herbs into the salad bowls while preparing the salmon. But then we started finding pieces of cilantro. At last I looked at the salad bag, and, sure enough, it was “Herb Salad” and not my usual “Spring Mix.” Um, gee, thanks, Trader Joe’s. That was an interesting taste experiment, but not one I’d seek out. Maybe you’re not completely forgiven yet.

Postscript, December 2009: I never made this again. Even this writeup sounds pretty meh in retrospect.

1½ pounds center-cut salmon fillet, skinned and cut crosswise into 4 portions
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/3 cup finely chopped fresh parsley (use Italian parsley if you can; it’s more flavorful)
2 tablespoons minced fresh dill
1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme leaves
salt and pepper to taste

1. Combine the parsley, dill, and thyme in a small bowl.

2. Put the salmon on a cutting board (the recipe suggests “a platter,” but why dirty one?) and rub it all over with 1 tablespoon (total) of olive oil. Coat the salmon on all sides with the herb mixture. The recipe points out that the salmon can now be cooked immediately, or kept covered and refrigerated for up to 8 hours.

3. When ready to cook, heat the remaining tablespoon of olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over moderately low heat. While it's heating, season the salmon generously all over with salt and pepper. Then put the salmon in the skillet and cook it 8-10 minutes on each side, or until slightly crispy and just cooked through.

Serves: 4
Time: 30 minutes