Both my mother and my mother-in-law are good cooks although both claim not to enjoy it. What even does that mean? What’s not to like? Anyway, my mother-in-law makes a lovely salmon dish where she covers a whole side of salmon with various spices and herbs and then cooks it in the oven under the broiler – or grill for my British readers – until it’s just done enough. The spicy herb-encrusted top gets a little bit crunchy and golden while the salmon beneath is tender and perfectly moist still.
I was chatting with her the other day and she remarked that someone had given her some homemade seafood gumbo. She wanted to share it with friends but it was only enough for everyone to have a small bowl as a starter. She was looking for advice about what would go with the gumbo for her main dish. I suggested that she make her salmon dish but with Cajun spices instead of her usual ones. As I hung up the call on Skype, it occurred to me that I had solved my own problem too.
We probably eat fresh salmon at least once a week, simply pan-fried with salt and pepper and no other adornments. It’s one of our favorites. This month our Fish Friday Foodies host, Caroline of Caroline’s Cooking wants us to put a little spice in our lives so just salt and pepper wouldn’t cut it. So I changed out my usual spices for Cajun ones and carried on, just as I had advised my mother-in-law to do.
Ingredients
1 salmon fillet per person (About 5 2/3- 7 oz or 160-200g each)
Favorite Cajun spice mix
Olive oil for pan
To serve:
1/2 lemon
Few sprigs parsley
Method
Rinse off your salmon steaks and pat them dry with paper towels. Lay them skin side down on a plate and sprinkle them well with your favorite Cajun spice mix. Since we’re putting it in kind of thick, you’d be better to use one with more spice and less salt.
Heat a skillet big enough for all of your salmon steaks to fit without being crowded over a medium high flame.
Drizzle in a little olive oil then add the salmon steak seasoned side down. Sprinkle a little of the seasoning on the skin side.
As salmon cooks, the color changes, starting near the heat source, from bright orange to a pale peach. Cook uncovered until you see the color change on the salmon reach midway up the steaks. Depending on the thickness of the salmon steaks, this could take from 3-5 minutes.
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| You can't really see it in this photo but you will in person, I promise. |
Turn the salmon steaks over and cook with the skin side down until the skin is crispy and the sides are completely peach colored and opaque, perhaps another 2-3 minutes.
Remove the salmon steaks from the pan and allow to rest for five minutes before serving.
Slice your lemons and roughly chop a couple of sprigs of parsley. Scatter them over and around the salmon steaks.
Enjoy!
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