Pan Seared Salmon

Okay, this was a recipe I made up last night, I read one other recipe online , but didn't like sound of some of the ingredients, so I redid it. On the side I have some mixed herb potato medallions (bonus material - potato medallion recipe included!)  This is an easy meal, tastes great, and makes you look impressive to other people.

Step 1: What You Need (for the Salmon)

Supplies -

Basic kitchen utensils, pan, oven, spatula, etc....


Ingredients-

Salmon steaks (I like sockeye, fresh is best, but this time I used frozen ones. It's what I had)

Lemon juice

Salt

Fresh ground black pepper (fresh ground is more powerful than preground pepper, use accordingly)

oil (I use olive)

Step 2: Prep

Before searing it, I take the salmon and brush lemon juice all over it. Then I sprinkle it with sea salt and black pepper. Then I let it sit for about 15 minutes (while I went and fed the baby goats their bottles).  I suggest covering it with some stretch wrap or something to keep it from drying out, and also putting it in the fridge while marinading it.

Step 3: Pan Searing

Take a pan, I suggest not using a non stick pan, they brown better without them (don't ask me why). The pan I'm  using is a solid copper skillet with a tinned coating on the inside. Works great for things like this. Heat up the pan and pour in a little oil, just enough to coat the bottom. Drop the salmon in the pan (if it has skin on it, cook the flesh side first, and it should peel off easily before flipping it). Brown one side, then flip it and sear the other side. Takes about 15 minutes to cook the whole thing. You want nice crispy brown sides, but not overcooked insides.


If your patient enough, and have steady hands, use the spatula to hold it up on the large sides and brown those. I did it to one side, but got bored of holding it, and didn't do the other side.

Step 4: Plating

When serving something as awesome as this, think about how it looks. I plated the salmon on a white plate, that helped to bring out the nice browned meat. Then I plated the potato medallions, using larger to smaller, complimenting the size decrease of the salmon. Thinking about these things are what makes food twice as awesome. I also put on a small sprig of fresh herb (catnip, all I had on hand, sorry).


Some kind of sauce would have looked really nice sparingly drizzled over the salmon, but I couldn't come up with any good ideas for a sauce to go with the salmon.  

Step 5: Bonus Material! Potato Medallions

These are the potato medallions I mentioned earlier. I really just kind of invented these on the spot.


Looking back on them later, instead of pan frying them, brushing them with oil and using the broiler to brown them. But, I was doing a small amount, and just fried them in the same pan I used for the salmon.

Step 6: What You Need

Basic kitchen stuff


ingredients -

potatoes (pick out the nicest roundest ones you can)

sea salt

fresh ground black pepper

mixed italian herbs - Basil - marjoram - oregano - thyme - rosemary - etc.  

Step 7: Peel and Cut

peel, and rinse your potatoes, then cut them into discs (shoot for right 1/4" or a bit thinner)

Step 8: Seasoning

Lay the potatoes out evenly, and carefully sprinkle them with the seasonings.

Step 9: Cooking

I pan fried them with the same pan I used for the salmon. Just put a little oil on it, and fry them up. Fry one side till brown, then flip and fry the other side.

Pan frying tip -  fry the non seasoned side first, then the tips of the top curl up. That way when you fry the top, it only browns the edges, looks better that way).


Personally, next time I make this, I'm going to brush oil on them, then season, then use the broiler in the oven. Use your own cooking intuition.

Step 10: Notes

I really just kind of made this meal by the seat of my pants. Looking back, I would cook the taters differently, and I might try some of the herbs on the taters