Cast Iron Baking: Salmon Encrusted with Potatoes
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What do you do when you have a beautiful piece of wild salmon ready for the grill and torrential rain hits the deck?
You turn to your friend, Mr. Cast Iron Pan, for a little help. But, it has to be special enough to qualify as “good restaurant” food, because the flood waters have also caused you to cancel weekend dinner reservations.
Your tried and true friend gives you a charming idea of layering tangy potato slices under and over your beautiful salmon, resulting in a crispy outer texture, while still being assured of tender fish.
I’ve made a similar dish before, using halibut and I called it a healthy version of fish and chips. It’s the truly guilt free dish that might just qualify as spa dining, although I was a little more generous with the potatoes than a spa would be.
The stable potato is as “home” to many as is my loyal cast iron friend. And, both have gotten bad raps in the latter part of the last century. Cast iron pans ended up in yard sales and women were known to shriek if they saw a potato on their plate.
But, if you read my last post, you know how I feel by now about REAL FOOD, and I wrote, instead of a “happy” meal, make a “happier” meal. You can still have your meat and potatoes or in this case your fish and potatoes. But, you get to control the way it’s cooked. This is not deep fried food with sugar added. This is food you can trust.
This is easy to prepare and I hope, by now, you have a mandolin to slice the potatoes to a uniform thinness, but, don’t worry, a sharp knife works just as well. I also hope you do have a cast iron pan, but any bakeware dish will do the job. I prefer cast iron as first choice, and stoneware as second choice because it lends to browning.
You can change this recipe by using a different fish. Be aware of the thickness of the fish. If the fish is much thinner or more delicate, cook it cold and use less layers of potato. You can change the herbs and use basil, tarragon, rosemary, thyme or dill. You can make it more spicy, or more buttery. You can still “have food YOUR way.”
Is this food a woman would love or is the kind of food a man will marry her for? Do you see this as heavy and off limits or the food you see on a happy, healthy dinner table?
Cast Iron Baking: Salmon Encrusted with Potatoes
Ingredients
- 2 Fish fillets at least one and half inch thick skin removed
- 1 t Dijon mustard or mustard powder
- 1 tablespoon Lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon olive oil for cast iron pan.
- 1 tablespoon Olive oil.
- 1 clove garlic finely diced.
- 2 small Yukon gold potatoes
- 1 teaspoon chopped Italian parsley or herb of choice
- Sea SaltFreshly ground cracked pepper
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 425. Set salmon aside to come to room temperature (20 minutes)
- Preheat baking stone, or cast iron. If using cast iron pan, rub with canola or peanut oil.
- Stir mustard and lemon juice together. Add herb and stir in olive oil.
- Thinly slice golden Yukon potatoes, using enough to cover both sides of dish
- Peel potato and slice thinly. Pat dry with paper towels. Toss in olive oil mixture.
- Place parchment paper on baking dish if you don’t have baking stone or seasoned cast iron. Place potatoes on paper or stone, overlapping slightly. Place fish on top and then layer again with potatoes.
- Bake at 425 for about 7-10 minutes each side. You will need to check at 7 minutes. Potatoes underneath will be crisp. At that point turn over to finish crispiness. Rest five minutes.
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