Chile-Garlic Broiled Salmon with Ginger Yogurt Sauce

Last night, Mr.S and I had dinner at a small restaurant in the SOMA district of San Francisco, called Fringale.  I had dined there about 5-6 years ago with my friend Grace and had really enjoyed my meal there, so I talked Mr.S. into going back there to dine.  I had had a shitstorm of a week, seriously of epic proportions- my mom passed away, some horrid delinquent went through my neighborhood slashing tires and keying cars (my car was one of the ones that got hit) and to top it off- in the middle of the night, some jerk did a major hit and run on my rental car.  Like I said, shitstorm of epic proportions.  I was beginning to feel a lot like Job.  Anyhow in an effort to clear my mind and calm my nerves, I thought Fringale would be a nice place to grab a pleasant meal of French comfort food. WRONG.

The gentleman behind the bar, that greeted us when we arrived, seemed very friendly and sat us at a nice 2-top by the window.  We had a foie with quince jam appetizer that was okay (Mulvaney's does it better) and a calamari la plancha dish, which was nice but not as memorable as when I had it during my last visit.  It really needed seasoning.  Anyhow, things were fine until we got our entrees.  Both of us ordered the sea bass, which was supposed to be served over a potato puree with artichokes. What we ended up with was potato puree sloppily plopped in a bowl with bits of artichoke and some kind of red broth (hard to tell if it was a tomato or red pepper based broth). On top was a piece of sea bass about  1.5 inches wide and 5 inches long.  This is THE most overcooked piece of fish I have ever eaten. It was dry as the Sahara and tough. Mr.S. gacked on his too but he hates to send things back. So he cut his up and tried to have it absorb some of the red liquid it was swimming in. I had had such a craptastic week that I couldn't deal with it. I very politely signaled the waiter over and explained what the situation was.  His response was to ask Mr.S if his fish too was overly dry.  Mr.S. advised him it was. So he took (only) my plate back to the kitchen.  What? Anyhow, a few minutes later he returned, handed me a menu and brusquely advised me that, "the chef always prepares the fish that way and no one has ever complained." He then informed me that I should choose something else.  At this point I'm a bit perturbed. After the horrible week I'd had, the LAST thing I needed was this snooty French waiter being a dick to me.  I really wanted to tell him that if that's how his chef ALWAYS cooks his fish, overdone to the point that it was not consumable, then that was a sad testament to his skills.  However, at the risk of ruining Mr.S's night too, I ordered the mussels.  I mean really...who can f*ck up mussels, right? The mussels arrived and they were fine. We opted to have dessert elsewhere and I mentally crossed Fringale off my list of restaurants to return to or recommend,

Anyhow, I thought I'd share a fish recipe that we make at our house often.  I ran across it by happenstance-- one of those emailed recipes from Tasting Table.  It's quite good, tasty with or without the ginger yogurt sauce and very hard to screw up (take note, Mr. Fringale chef).

Chile-Garlic Broiled Salmon with Ginger Yogurt Salmon (from the Tasting Table Test Kitchen)

Ingredients

Nonstick cooking spray

Four 6-ounce salmon fillets

1 tablespoon chile-garlic paste (sambal oelek)

1 tablespoon white miso paste

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon maple syrup

For Sauce:

¼ cup reduced-fat plain Greek yogurt

½ teaspoon chile-garlic sauce (sambal oelek)

½ teaspoon low-sodium soy sauce 

½ teaspoon freshly grated ginger

1 scallion, thinly sliced on a bias

Instructions

1. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil and lightly coat the foil with cooking spray. Place the salmon fillets on top. 

2. In a small bowl, whisk together the chile-garlic sauce, miso and maple syrup. Divide the mixture over the top of each salmon fillet, spreading it to coat the tops and sides easily.

3. Adjust the oven rack so it is 5 inches from the broiler element and heat the broiler to high. Broil the salmon until the tops of the fillets are browned and sizzling and the center of each fillet gives slightly to firm pressure, 8½ to 9 minutes. (The sauce gets a crispy, dark look to it as it caramelizes.)  Remove from the oven and set aside to rest.

4. While the salmon cooks, make the sauce: In a small bowl, whisk together the yogurt, chile-garlic sauce, soy sauce and ginger.

5. Place 1 salmon fillet on each plate and serve with a dollop of the ginger yogurt sauce and sprinkled with scallions.

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Pan-fried Halibut Cheeks with Asparagus-Mushroom Israeli Couscous

Last week was a great week for two reasons- I made Mr.S. and I the most wonderful dinner on Thursday night (yep, I'm tootin' my own horn) and then on Friday night we saw a fantastic play at the Sacramento Theatre Company. I'm going to take a moment to gush here a bit...if you haven't seen STC's production of Athol Fugard's "Master Harold...and the boys," get your butt off the sofa and go buy your tickets now! This is the second time I've seen this play (I saw it the first time when I was in college) and I have to say this version was amazing. Michael J. Asberry's performance as Sam was so moving that at times I forgot we were watching a play and felt transported to the St. George's Park Tea Room in South Africa. The play takes place in 1950 (during the apartheid era) and tells the story of a 17-year old white boy (Hally) and two black waiters (Sam and Willie) during a rainy afternoon. This timely story of Fugard's does a phenomenal job of discussing oppression and compassion on a large scale (universally) and also on a smaller scale (in our own lives). The content is quite poignant and thought-provoking and the ending will haunt your mind for days afterward (especially when you find out that the play is based on a personal account of Fugard's).

There's a great review in the Bee, if you're interested in finding out more : Master Harold...and the boys. (Btw, this production is not suitable for young children.)

Photo Source: Sacramento Theatre Company

Ok, now back to our regular programming...the awesome dinner I made Thursday night was: pan-fried halibut cheeks accompanied by Israeli couscous mixed with fresh asparagus and mushrooms. Mmm! Simple but super delicious. If you've never had halibut cheeks before, you should definitely try it. It's the sweetest most tender part of the halibut. The cheeks kind of remind me of scallops but flakier.

Now I had never cooked halibut cheeks at home before so I asked one of the friendly fishmongers at Sunh Fish for some direction, his call- just gently pan-fry them. I'm so glad I followed his suggestion  because this is seafood that definitely does not need any futzing. I also made some Israeli couscous to go with it but these cheeks would have been just as good on a bed of sautéed greens.

(If you're unfamiliar with Israeli couscous, it's a wheat-based pasta that's rolled into tiny balls that resemble Nerf pellets. It has a nice nutty taste when toasted.)

Pan-Fried Halibut Cheeks

Ingredients

1 lb. fresh halibut cheeks
2 tablespoons AP flour
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons butter
fresh parsley, chopped (optional)

Instructions

1. Gently pat your halibut cheeks dry with a paper towel. Season with salt and pepper on both sides.

2. Spread the 2 tablespoons of flour on a plate then very, very LIGHTLY dredge the cheeks through the flour. Set aside.

3. Place the skillet over medium-high heat. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter. Place your halibut cheeks on the skillet. Space them out a bit so that they do not touch each other. Let them cook for 2 minutes.  Then using a spatula flip them over. Allow to cook for another minute to a minute and a half.  (Be careful not to overcook the cheeks.)

4. Repeat with remaining butter and fish.

3. Plate. Garnish with chopped fresh parsley (optional).



Israeli Couscous with Fresh Asparagus and Mushrooms

Ingredients

1 1/3 cup Israeli couscous
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 bunch of asparagus (woody stems removed, sliced into 1-inch pieces)
1 8-oz. package of crimini mushrooms, sliced
1 small sweet onion, diced
3-4 fresh garlic cloves, minced
2-3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, grated
salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. In a medium sized pan , heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add couscous. Over medium heat, toast the couscous until it's lightly browned.

2. Add 1 3/4 cup of boiling water to the saucepan and couscous. Stir well to combine. Bring the whole lot to a boil. Then reduce the heat to medium-low, cover and let it simmer for 15 minutes (or until all the liquid is absorbed). Remove from heat and set aside.

3. In a separate pan, heat remaining tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. When it begins to shimmer, add garlic and onions. Cook until onions begin to slightly soften, then add asparagus and mushrooms. Cook 6-8 minutes (depending on how crisp you like your asparagus). Stir occasionally.

4. Remove from heat. Add veggie mixture to cooked couscous. Add grated Parmesan cheese and season to taste with salt and pepper. Toss. Serve.

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Tandoori Prawns / Shrimps

Ingredients :

• 7-8 Pieces of Jumbo Prawns
• ¼ cup Yogurt
• 1 tsp Tandoori Masala
• 1 tsp Chili powder
• ½ tsp Turmeric
• 1 tsp Coriander powder
• 1 tsp Garlic and ginger paste
• 2 tbsp Olive oil
• 1 tsp chopped coriander leaves
• Salt to taste

Method :

Mix yogurt, salt, tandoori powder, chili powder, coriander powder, garlic/ginger paste, olive oil, and turmeric powder together. Then add shrimp to the yogurt mixture and marinate for 4 hrs or overnight. Grill the shrimp on a grill pan or on an outdoor grill until done.Garnsih with coriander leaves and serve.

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Pomfret Fry

Ingredients :

• 2-3 Fresh Pomfrets , sliced into 4-5 pieces
• 3 Tbsp Red Chilli Powder or as requires
• 1 Tbsp Turmeric Powder or as requires
• Salt As per Taste
• Water as required
• Oil for shallow frying
• 1/2 Cup Barik Rawa / Sooji.

Method :
 Mix Red chilli Powder, turmeric powder ,salt, add little water to make a thick paste.Now apply this paste to pomfret slices making sure that it coats each piece well.Keep side for 20-30 minutes. Now heat oil in pan. coat each pomfret piece with rawa / sooji and shallow fry till crisp. Serve hot as side dish with rice & fish curry.

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