Day 354 - Grilled Side of Salmon and Sushi Rice

Ted and Noah are back tonight, for salmon again. It was poached the last time they were here. Now it's getting grilled, although I'm not sure that's an entirely accurate description....

Grilled Side of Salmon (p. 175)

The reason I'm speculating on the accuracy of the term "grilled" here is that while this fish is cooked on a grill, it's cooked sitting on a bed of citrus slices and herbs which completely protect the fish from the grates, and what's more, the grill is covered. Hence, it seems more like steamed or smoked, something. All I'm saying is, there are no grill marks to be found on this fish.

The salmon gets no pre-treatment here. It's just a big slab of fish, placed skin side down on slices of lemon and orange and piles of fresh basil and oregano. Martha asks for 2 oranges and 4 lemons worth of slices, and I sliced them all up beforehand, but I had lots of leftovers, so maybe it's wiser to slice as you go.

I was surprised how not-smelly this was, as it was cooking. Salmon can be such an apartment killer, but the only smell that came through was burning citrus.

After 20 minutes, the fish was a little too rare, so I left it on for another five or so. Somewhere in between would have been ideal, as it was ultimately cooked through, and I like it a little translucent in the middle.

Martha says to lift the entire bed of citrus and herbs from the grill and put it all on the serving plate/board. I tried, oh how I tried, but those citrus slices were burned right onto the grill. There was no moving it as a piece. I had heeded the instruction to oil the grill before creating "the bed," but either it wasn't enough oil or it just wasn't ever going to happen that way.

I completely spaced and didn't get a picture of the beautiful finished side of fish, but I did get a picture of the salmon mid-service and, of course, a picture of Noah (l) and Ted (r) with their plates.

Jeff: A
Martha: A- (I'm not sure I believe the concept of moving the whole bed to the serving platter is feasible...)


Sushi Rice (p. 412)

I don't usually get excited about rice, but I really loved this rice! I think it's probably because I juzhed it with this Sesame-Lime Rice recipe, which I highly recommend. But even before I added all the magical ingredients, I tasted it plain, and it was nice and sticky and white and rice-y. Not sure if that's because it's short-grained or that it was rinsed and dried prior to cooking. Whatever the reason, this is going to be my go-to white rice from now on. Yum!

Jeff: A
Martha: A

I should mention that Ted brought a delicious, home-made Banana-Walnut Chocolate Chip bread for dessert. Ted, you'd be a great blogger! (hint hint)

Until we eat again....