Crispy Salmon

Need a 30 minute dinner that tastes like it took 3x longer? Look no further! This salmon dinner and roast chicken have been my saving graces during these weeks at home. I deeply appreciate recipes that are greater than the sum of their parts and require little to no fuss. This recipe checks both of those boxes for me. And if that doesn’t inspire you to give it a try, maybe this will: I love salmon—I could eat it everyday—my husband, on the other hand, was not its biggest fan saying that it was too fishy. Now, he asks for this recipe once a week. See also: Hook, line, and sink(him!).

Serves 2-4 depending on the size of your salmon fillet.

Ingredients:

• 2, 8oz salmon fillets or 4, 4oz fillets

• For the paste:

  • 1 heaping tablespoon of mayonnaise

  • 1 tablespoon Sriracha

  • 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice

  • 1/2 teaspoon onion powder

  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

  • 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

• For the breadcrumbs:

  • 1/2 cup of Panko breadcrumbs

  • 1/2 teaspoon onion powder

  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

  • 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

  • 1/2 teaspoon of pepper

  • 1 teaspoon lemon zest

  • dash of paprika

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Mix together ingredients for paste and refrigerate for 10-15 minutes to thicken.

3. In a small bowl, add in ingredients for breadcrumb mixture and combine until evenly distributed.

4. Over medium heat, add a drizzle of olive oil (or a spray of avocado oil) to coat the bottom of a pan. Pour in your breadcrumbs, toss with oil, and toast until lightly golden. Remove from heat and put back into the bowl, or they will keep browning.

5. Place your salmon on a foil-lined sheet (This will help clean up if there is spillage from the paste and the skin will stick to it so you can easily use a spatula to separate the meat from the skin once it is done cooking!). If you’re into fish skin, make sure you grease the skin and the foil before putting them down.

6. Pat the salmon dry with a paper towel—this will help the paste stick. Add a pinch of salt to each piece of fish.

7. Divide paste between your salmon pieces and coat each piece.

8. Add your toasted breadcrumbs on top to each piece. **Tip: I use an avocado oil spray when I cook so I add a spritz to the top of my breadcrumbs to help them crisp up a bit more in the oven before I put my salmon in the oven.

9. Bake for 12-15 minutes. For well done salmon, cook until the center reaches 145 degrees and for medium salmon cook until it registers 125 degrees. Smaller fillets will cook faster so check them more often!

10. Take out of the oven and serve immediately! You can add an extra squeeze of lemon on top!

Happy Easter and Meyer Lemon Pie

I love Easter. Everything about it just makes me so happy: The sunrise service at church, the bright florals, the adorable children in seersucker, the cascarones (confetti eggs), the warm weather, and the citrusy desserts. Clearly, none of that is happening this year with the exception of sunrise service that is being live streamed and the bright florals I see on my daily walks. I suppose I could sleep in one of my seersucker nightgowns to get that fix. Typically, my husband and I would attend the sunrise service and then go over to my parents’ house for lunch, who attend the 8:30 service, and eat ham, macaroni and cheese, and an endless string of desserts. Of all the desserts in the traditional line up, this meyer lemon pie is the star of the show. Though this Easter looks very different—my husband and I are making gourmet pizzas on the grill for dinner and not eating off the china or the crystal—this pie was a nonnegotiable for our Easter table. Pretty to look at, literal sunshine in food form, this pie will bring a smile to your face, and hopefully a “spring” in your step! Happy Easter!

Ingredients:

For pie shell:

• 1 1/2 cups crushed graham crackers

• 5 tablespoons melted butter

• 2 tablespoons sugar

For pie filling:

• 1 cup meyer lemon juice, if you don’t have meyer lemons simply blend together 3/4 cup of lemon juice and a 1/4 cup of mandarin orange juice, fresh squeezed. A meyer lemon is just a cross between a lemon and a mandarin orange!

• 1 teaspoon lemon rind

• 4 egg yolks

• 2 cans sweetened condensed milk

For meringue:

• 4 egg whites

• 6 tablespoons sugar

• 1 /4 teaspoon cream of tartar

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a pie dish, combine graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter and mix until it feels like wet sand. With a smaller measuring cup, I used a 1/3 cup size, press evenly into a pie dish and bake for 6-8 minutes. Take out to let cool and keep oven on for browning the meringue.

3. Combine condensed milk, lemon juice and rind, and egg yolks in a large mixing bowl stirring until homogeneous.

4. Pour mixture into pie shell.

5. In a large mixing bowl, combine egg whites and cream of tartar and beat until it begins to froth. Slowly pour in sugar and beat until stiff peaks form.

6. Top pie with meringue, sealing the sides, and bake for 15-20 minutes or until meringue is lightly toasted.

7. Allow to cool and then refrigerate, covered, until serving. Best served chilled.