Salmon with Homemade Caper Onion Mayonnaise

Making homemade mayonnaise is a dying art but one I would love to see revived.  It reminds me of my grandmother’s cheerful kitchen, painted the same friendly shade as lemon zest and her café-curtained window with bright, warm sunshine beaming in.  The yellow yolks whipped into creaminess bring back the nostalgic taste of her warm potato salad.  Proceed slowly, and you will be amply rewarded. 

I don’t recall if my maternal grandmother ever had store-bought mayonnaise in her dark brown doublewide Admiral refrigerator.  It’s possible she did.  But I can tell you that when Sunday rolled around and she was making potato salad, she was also going to be making homemade mayo to put in it.  My mother is the same.  She says that when she was growing up, she avoided the kitchen when she saw the potatoes and eggs go on to boil, because otherwise she would be roped into making the mayonnaise and she lived in fear of the darn stuff splitting.  Now she can’t get enough of homemade mayonnaise and makes it willingly.   I imagine years of being press-ganged into service have made her an expert.  When it came time to make a sauce for this week’s Sunday Supper theme of Sauce It Up, I knew exactly what I wanted to make.  My own concoction of onion and capers added to my grandmother’s homemade mayonnaise.  So I consulted the family expert.   And this is what she sent me.   Thanks, Mom!  (My comments in green.) 

Ingredients
For Mother’s (by which, she means my grandmother's) homemade mayonnaise:
(Yields about 1 1/2 cups or 350ml)
2 egg yolks (raw)
2 egg yolks (hard-boiled)
1 cup or about 240ml vegetable oil or more as needed (I used canola.)
Black or white pepper  (I used about 1/2 teaspoon sea salt flakes and a few grinds of fresh black pepper.)

For the caper onion mayonnaise:
1 recipe Mother’s homemade mayo
1/2 medium purple onion (about 1 1/4oz or 35g)
2 tablespoons capers in brine with a little of the brine
More salt and pepper to taste – you can let it sit for a while after adding in the capers and then add more, if necessary.  Remember that capers in brine are salty.

For the salmon:
One filet per person (about 6-7 oz or 170-200g each)
Sea salt flakes
Black pepper
Olive oil

Method
Mash the yolks real well with a fork.

Using an electric mixer, add a little oil at a time to egg mixture and beat well.  Be very careful, mayo can curdle if you add too much oil at one time.   Continue mixing and adding oil gradually.   (I used a whisk and added about a tablespoon or two at a time, whisking thoroughly in between.  It took a while but I was watching The Great British Bake Off so I didn’t care!) 

Just the four egg yolks.

Adding the first of the oil.

After the third or fourth addition of oil.

Add a few drops of water to mayo as it thickens.  Sometimes I will use lemon juice or vinegar instead of the water.  As it thickens, you may have to add more than one time.  (Since I knew I was going to add the grated onion and capers at the end, I skipped this step.  If you are making plain mayo, you may need to drizzle in a bit of water if it gets too thick.) 

Continue the process until you have the desired amount of mayonnaise.  (I stopped after adding the whole cup of canola, which gave me almost a cup and a half of mayo.) 

The last of the oil going in. 

Season with sea salt and black pepper.

You have now mastered my grandmother’s homemade mayonnaise.  Well done!  (If by some chance you did pour in the oil too fast and it split, rescue it with the instructions here.   They work and, sadly, I know that from past personal experience.)

Now to make the caper onion mayonnaise, simply grate your onion very finely and make sure to collect the juice as you grate it.  I actually left the onion whole and grated half off, which is easier than trying to grate a cut onion.

Add the grated onion and the juice to the mayonnaise.

Add in the capers with a little of their juice.  Stir well, cover with cling film and, if you aren’t eating right away, store in the refrigerator.

And on to the salmon.

Season the salmon on both sides with a light sprinkle of sea salt flakes and black pepper.

Pan-fry it skin side up in a small drizzle of olive oil for a few minutes or until you can see the color of cooked pink come half way up the sides.

Turn the salmon filets over and cook for another few minutes or until the salmon is just cooked though and the skin is crispy.

Taste the caper onion mayo and add more salt and pepper if necessary, stirring well.  Add a liberal dollop to the top of each salmon filet and serve.

Enjoy!

For lagniappe, as we say in south Louisiana – here’s just a little something extra:
If you are only serving two with salmon, you are going to have plenty of caper onion mayo left over.  Stir some through a drained can of tuna and serve on toast.  Delicious!  I don’t know that my grandmother would approve but I think it would also be pretty good in potato salad.  The caper onion mayo will keep for a couple of days in the refrigerator.

Join today’s host and all-around good guy, DB from Crazy Foodie Stunts, and the rest of the Sunday Supper group as we Sauce It Up!

Savory Sauces

• Creamy Dairyfree Mushroom Sauce from The Not So Cheesy Kitchen
• Guava BBQ Sauce from Basic N Delicious
• Homemade Steak Sauce from Juanita's Cocina
• Homemade Tartar Sauce from The Foodie Army Wife
• Homemade Teriyaki Sauce from Curious Cuisiniere
• Jalapeño Cranberry Sauce from Hot Momma's Kitchen Chaos
• Port Wine and Fig Sauce from A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures
• Red Wine Sauce | Molho de Vinho Tinto from Family Foodie
• Tomato Kasundi from What Smells So Good?

Pasta Sauces and Pastas with Sauce

• Amatriciana Sauce from The Weekend Gourmet
• Angel Hair Pasta with Neapolitan Sauce from Cookin' Mimi
• Basil Pesto from Take A Bite Out of Boca
• Black Walnut Kale Pesto with Zucchini Spaghetti from Sue's Nutrition Buzz
• Chardonnay Seafood Sauce (with Linguine) from Country Girl in the Village
• Homemade Guiltless Alfredo Sauce from Momma's Meals
• Italian-Style Tomato Sauce from Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks
• Lamb Ragout from Maroc Mama
• Lentil Marinara Pasta Sauce from Alida's Kitchen
• Roasted Vegetable Pasta Sauce from Peanut Butter and Peppers
• Sicilian Marinara Sauce from Growing Up Gabel

Entreés with Sauces 

• Chicken Tikka Masala from I Run For Wine
• Chicken with Mushroom Demi-Glace from Crazy Foodie Stunts
• Garlic Mushrooms In Red Wine Sauce from Kudos Kitchen By Renee
• Jack Daniel's Honey Barbecue Baked Wings from Chocolate Moosey
• Mrs. A's Skillet Lemon Chicken from Cupcakes & Kale Chips
• Philly Strip Steaks with Provolone Sauce and Caramelized Onions from The Texan New Yorker
• Pork Tenderloin with Plum Sauce from That Skinny Chick Can Bake
• Salmon with Homemade Caper Onion Mayonnaise from Food Lust People Love
• Sweet & Sour Garlic Chicken Wings from Big Bear's Wife

Sweet Sauces 

• Apple Cider Caramel Sauce from The Messy Baker
• Banana Pudding Sauce from Killer Bunnies, Inc.
• Dark Chocolate Salted Caramel Sauce from Daily Dish Recipes
• Port Wine Cranberry Sauce from Webicurean
• Pumpkin Applesauce from Bobbi's Kozy Kitchen
• Pumpkin Caramel Sauce from Noshing With The Nolands
• Raspberry Red Wine Sauce from Treats & Trinkets
• Slow Cooker Applesauce from Citronlimette

Desserts with Sauces 

• Baked Espresso Berry Pudding from The Urban Mrs
• Bananas Foster from MidLife Road Trip
• Caramel Apple Sheet Cake from Pies and Plots
• Pear Tatin with Rum Caramel Sauce from Jane's Adventures in Dinner
• Salted Bourbon Caramel Sauce (over Chocolate Rosemary Cake) from Gotta Get Baked
• Sticky Toffee Pudding w/ Toffee Sauce from girlichef

Caesar Dressing with Anchovies OR Capers

This creamy Caesar dressing with anchovies OR capers is perfect tossed with crisp Romaine leaves. The caper version is ideal when you are hosting vegetarian or vegan friends. Omni friends will not notice the missing anchovies. 

Among friends in Kuala Lumpur, my most requested dish to bring to a potluck is my Caesar salad.  I always made it just by pouring a little of this and a lot of that in a large measuring cup while not actually measuring.  But when folks started requesting the recipe, I had to take measure.  

Caesar Dressing with Anchovies OR Capers

My original recipe calls for a small can of anchovies. I would like to give credit for the caper substitution for vegetarians to my elder daughter’s roommate, Molly. 

Molly is a creative cook as well as a talented artist.  Last year she spent a semester in Italy and I thoroughly enjoyed following her exploits and getting to know her through her sketchbook blog.  And I drooled over her Facebook photos of the rustic tarts she made for a potluck.  

Ingredients

2 tablespoons fresh or reconstituted lime or lemon juice (You can also use vinegar, in a pinch.  Desperate times have called for desperate measures.)

3/4 cup or 180ml olive oil

1/4 cup or 60ml cold water (Using cold water helps the dressing emulsify.)

1 small (1.6 oz or 45g) can anchovies in olive oil OR two generous tablespoons drained tiny capers

1/4 teaspoon powdered English mustard (Colemans)

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

3 large cloves garlic, peeled

1/4 teaspoon sea salt or to taste  (You can add the salt after blending if you’d like.  Some anchovies and capers are saltier than others.  We don’t mind salty so I just go for it with a 1/4 teaspoon.  And add more after if necessary.)

Method

This is so easy.  Puree all the ingredients in a blender or with a hand blender until emulsified. 

Give it a quick taste and add more salt, if necessary.

If you are using capers, the resulting dressing may be a tiny bit more green.

This dressing is best served tossed with crisp romaine leaves which you then sprinkle with freshly grated Parmesan or Pecorino Romano cheese or a suitable substitute, if needed.  It will keep for a couple of weeks stored in the refrigerator in a closed jar.

Enjoy!

Crostini con Fegato e Salvia

Hands up all of you who know that tomorrow is the last day of the month.  Okay, smarty-pants, you can put your hands down now.  And you in the back?  No one said to stand so stop showing off.  After 50 years of operating under the Gregorian calendar on a daily basis you’d think I’d have this February thing down pat.  Not so.  Today I was happily making my recipe for +belleau kitchen's Random Recipe Challenge, for which the deadline is normally a couple of days before the end of the month.  And I was thinking that I was cutting it close but would nip in under the wire.  I finished cooking, and eating, and sat down to write this, first just heading over to Dom’s to make sure I had the link correct and saw to my horror that the February recipe round up boat had sailed.

Which makes me sad.  So, let me share something with you that made me happy, albeit briefly, today.  It was the Chicken Liver Crostini from Stephanie Alexander and Maggie Beer’s Tuscan Cookbook.  I know chicken liver is not for everyone but I think more people would give it a chance, especially cooked like this, if we called it something different.  After all, look how many people eat pâté without a thought of liver!  Chopped Foie Crostini?  Or, since this is supposed to be Italian, how about Crostini con Fegato e Salvia.  Doesn’t that sound better?  Just give me a minute – Gotta change my title.  Okay, I'm back.  On to the recipe!

Ingredients
3 tablespoon butter
live oil
10 1/2 oz or 300g chicken livers, cleaned
8 sage leaves
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon tiny capers
2 tablespoon fresh flat-leaved parsley
8 slices baguette
1 clove garlic
Sea salt
Black pepper

Method
Preheat your oven to 400°F or 200°C and lay your baguette slices out on a baking tray.

Cut your livers into 4-5 pieces each.

Mince your sage leaves and chop your parsley.

Go ahead and measure out the capers and set them aside since it can be tricky to get them out of a small-necked bottle without their liquid.  And you don’t want their liquid, just the capers.

Melt the butter in a frying pan and add in a little drizzle of olive oil.  Toss in the sage quickly followed by the livers and fry for just a few minutes.

Add in the capers, vinegar and parsley and increase the heat to reduce the liquid.  You want to do this quickly so you can keep a little pink inside the livers.  I figured they were done and enough liquid was gone when the butter started popping at me.

Transfer the livers, herbs and capers to a large cutting board, leaving behind the butter, and chop the lot into small bits with a sharp knife.

Return it all to the frying pan and stir it into the little butter that was left.   Taste a small piece and add salt and pepper to your liking.

Brush one side of the bread slices with olive oil (I forgot this step and, frankly, didn’t miss it.) and toast in the oven until golden.

Rub a clove of garlic on the toasted bread or crostini.

Pile on the liver mixture and serve immediately.  If you have spare sage leaves, they make a pretty garnish.

Enjoy!

Tuscan Cookbook was randomly picked number 27 in my Eat Your Books list and, as per Dom’s Random Recipe Challenge #25 rules, I made the recipe I opened to randomly.  But it was delicious and I would definitely make it again.  I had planned to tell you all about this beautiful book, written by two icons of Australian cooking.  About how it was written with the menus of their teaching holidays when Ms. Alexander and Ms. Beer would rent a villa in Tuscany and explore markets and cook with their students.  There was much laughter and good wine and delicious food and this is a cookbook I love to read as much for their camaraderie and adventures as the recipes.  But I just don’t have the heart anymore.

But make sure to head on over to Dom’s blog and see all the lovely recipes from the smart people who know what day it is.

Poached Salmon with Creamy Caper Onion Sauce

Whenever I get home from a holiday, I reminisce by looking through my photos and remembering all the people I’ve met or visited with and all the places I’ve been.  I also reminisce about the meals I have eaten.  I’m going back through my summer photos of food because there are so many dinners and salads and desserts that got made, photographed and eaten with relish, but never got posted.  I am not even home yet and I am already feeling nostalgic for wild salmon, which I have yet to find in Cairo.

Wild salmon is much drier than its farm-raised brethren so poaching is an excellent method of cooking it.   Add on a creamy caper onion sauce and you can’t go wrong.   I cooked this, along with a cherry tomato tart, for my in-laws and it was very well received.  My father-in-law has been ill and had not been eating very well for a couple of weeks when I served this and he cleaned his plate!  We were all very excited.  Seriously.  To the point that we took a photo of his empty plate.  Looking back now, that seems weird, but it felt right at the time.  Any small victory!