Green Mojo Salmon Recipes

SPATCHCOCKED AND ROASTED CORNISH GAME HEN WITH GREEN MOJO AND MASHED CITRUS SWEET POTATOES

Steps:

• For the Cornish game hen: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Set a wire rack over a baking sheet.
• Toast the coriander and cumin seeds in a small skillet over medium heat until fragrant, a few minutes. Grind in a spice grinder. Combine half of the ground spices, the garlic powder, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in a small bowl. Reserve the remaining ground spices.
• Pat the hen dry with paper towels and season all over with the spice mixture. Drizzle with olive oil and place, skin-side up, on the prepared baking sheet. Roast until cooked through, 35 to 45 minutes. Cut the hen in half.
• For the green mojo: Combine the olive oil, lime juice, cilantro, garlic, serrano and the reserved ground cumin and coriander in a high-powered blender. Blend until bright green and smooth. Season with salt and pepper.
• Pour the sauce over the hen and serve with Mashed Citrus Sweet Potatoes.
• Place the sweet potatoes in a medium saucepan and cover by 1 inch with water. Bring to a boil over high heat and season with salt. Turn down the heat and simmer until the potatoes are cooked through, 10 to 15 minutes. Strain the potatoes, then add them back to the pot to dry. Mash the potatoes in the pan. Add the chicken stock, honey, thyme, lemon zest and juice and orange zest and juice. Add more chicken stock if needed. Season with salt and pepper.

GREEN-MOJO SALMON

Steps:

• Heat a skillet over medium. Add garlic and sunflower and cumin seeds; cook, shaking skillet frequently, until garlic is golden in places and cumin is fragrant, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a food processor; add citrus zests and juices, cilantro, jalapeño, and 1 teaspoon salt. Pulse until mixture has texture of a loose paste. Add oil and 2 tablespoons water; purée until smooth. Reserve half of mojo sauce (1/2 cup); generously season fish with salt and evenly coat in remaining mojo sauce.
• Preheat grill for direct-heat cooking. Arrange citrus rounds in a single layer on grill grates in an oblong pattern slightly larger than fish. Place salmon atop citrus rounds, skin-side down. Cover grill; cook until fish turns opaque and is just cooked through, 10 to 15 minutes, depending on thickness. Transfer fish and grilled citrus rounds to a platter. Serve with reserved mojo sauce.

SALMON FILLETS ON GREENS

Steps:

• In a large skillet, cook the salmon in butter and oil over medium-high heat for 2 minutes on each side. Sprinkle with basil and oregano. Reduce heat. Cover and cook for 10-15 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork., Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, dill, milk, lemon juice, mustard and pepper until blended; set aside. Line two salad plates with lettuce. Layer with tomato, onion and chow mein noodles. Drizzle with salad dressing. Top with salmon.

MISO-MARINATED SALMON

Steps:

• First, make the tama-miso sauce. In a small cup, mix the sake with 2 tablespoons water. In a suribachi or other mortar, grind the miso, sugar, and egg yolk to a smooth paste. Add the rice wine and water mixture little by little, grinding all the time. Season to taste with shoyu. Have at hand a bowl half-filled with cold water and ice cubes. Transfer the sauce to the top of a double-boiler, and cook the sauce over simmering water, stirring constantly and thoroughly so you do not scramble the egg, until the sauce becomes thicker, about 6 to 8 minutes. Set the bowl of sauce in the bowl of cold water and ice cubes to cool. Tama-miso may be stored in the refrigerator, covered, for three days. Heat the sauce through before using it.
• Salt the fish on both sides, and rest it on a steel rack set over the pan, for 1 hour in the refrigerator.
• In a medium bowl, soften the miso by stirring in the sake and mirin. Spread one-third of the miso mixture in the bottom of a large pan in which the fish can fit without overlapping. Lay a tightly woven cotton cloth or two layers of cheesecloth over the miso in the pan. Wipe the salted salmon with a paper towel to remove the salt and the liquid exuded from the fish. Place all the salmon pieces on the cloth in the pan, and cover them with another tightly woven cotton cloth or two layers of cheese cloth. Spread the remaining miso mixture over the cloth, covering the surface completely. Wrap the entire pan with plastic wrap, and refrigerate it for 5 hours.
• In a small saucepan, combine the dry white wine, komezu, and shallot. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat to very low, and cook the mixture until it is reduced to 1 tablespoon syrup.
• In a large pot of boiling water, parboil the spinach, excluding the 4 leaves, 1 to 2 minutes. Cool the spinach in ice water, and drain the spinach well. In a food processor, purée the spinach. In a skillet, heat 1 inch oil over medium heat to 320°F. One at a time, add the 4 reserved spinach leaves to the oil, and cook them until they are bright green and translucent, 10 to 15 seconds. Transfer the spinach to paper towels to drain.
• Lift the top cloth (or cloths) from the salmon, and remove the salmon from the marinade. Discard the marinade, or reserve it to use as a fish marinade one more time within 2 weeks, after heating it through and adding more miso and sake, or for making miso soup. If there is any miso residue on the fish, gently wipe it away with a paper towel. At this point you can refrigerate the fish, in a well-sealed plastic bag, for up to 3 days, or freeze it for a longer period.
• Heat a broiler or grill, and the broiler pan or grill rack. With a pastry brush, lightly grease the pan or rack. Transfer the salmon to the pan or rack, and cook the salmon, turning once, until both sides are light golden. A 1-inch-thick salmon steak needs about 8 minutes' total cooking. Marinated fish burns easily, so you may need to cover the fish with aluminum foil as it cooks.
• In a small saucepan, combine 2 Tbsp tama-miso sauce with the reduced vinegar-wine syrup. Place the saucepan over low heat, and cook until the mixture is heated through. Transfer the mixture to a medium bowl, and add the spinach purée. Little by little, whisk in the olive oil. Serve the salmon with the spinach sauce underneath and garnished with the fried spinach leaves.

WILD SALMON WITH GREEN SAUCE

Steps:

• Using pliers, remove pin bones from salmon (or have your fishmonger do it). Season on both sides with salt and pepper. Place on baking sheet skin side down and drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Set aside at room temperature. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
• Scrub potatoes and simmer in well-salted water until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain and keep warm.
• Top and tail the haricots verts and simmer in well-salted water until tender, 3 to 5 minutes. Spread out on a platter to cool (or rinse briefly in cool water) and leave at room temperature.
• Make the sauce verte: Put shallot in a small bowl with 1/2 teaspoon salt and cover with the red wine vinegar. Macerate 5 minutes, then stir in lemon zest and juice, mustard and capers. Whisk in 1/2 cup olive oil. Just before serving, add parsley, chervil and black pepper to taste.
• Bake salmon, uncovered, until just done, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove and let cool slightly. Put beans in a medium bowl, season with salt and pepper, and dress with 2 tablespoons sauce verte. Line a platter with lettuce leaves, if using, then make a pile of beans. With a spatula, lift salmon from skin, then place on top of beans. Dab salmon with 2 more tablespoons sauce verte, garnish with chopped egg and serve. Pass potatoes and remaining sauce separately.