It's Weekend Obnoxious But Amazingly Tasty time. Glenna, over at A Fridge Full Of Food...But Nothing To Eat created this event to let bloggers have some fun and let the child within scamper out for a bit. Well, let me tell you that the child within me loves potato chips. That child can't stop eating them if they are within sight. Woe unto the person who tries to come between Little Sher and a bowl of potato chips. Considering this lack of control, Big Sher avoids them, rushing past the chip section at the grocery store with eyes averted. I haven't tasted a single chip in over a year. So, I felt positively gleeful when I saw this recipe and knew I had a perfect excuse to buy some chips--for WOBAT. Is it obnoxious to pair beautiful wild salmon with potato chips? As it turns out--no.
Before I go further, let me urge you to use wild salmon, rather than farmed. It tastes better and it's healthier for you and the environment. If you would like to learn some unsettling facts about farmed salmon, go to an article I wrote for Fit Fare.
Now back to the chips. Since I normally refuse to look at the chip section when
I'm in the store, I was delighted to see all the new products added since I last gazed upon them. After a lot of thought, I settled on some plain
Kettle chips. I bought a small 5 ounce bag, which meant that there were
a few handfuls left for me to eat after I crushed the amount needed for
the recipe. The crushed chips are combined with toasted fresh bread crumbs and fresh chopped thyme.
Here's a shot of the beautiful wild salmon. The original recipe from Cooks Illustrated details how to cook a salmon weighing almost 4 pounds. I'm sure that's quite impressive for a crowd. But, this was just for Bob and me, so we each had a fillet of around 8 ounces. The Cooks recipe also calls for broiling the fish, but I prefer to pan grill my fish in a skillet, to keep a close eye on it as it cooks, and peek into the center with the tip of a knife. I like my salmon to be translucent, almost undercooked.
After pan grilling the salmon, I slathered the fish with the horseradish/shallot paste and sprinkled on the chip mixture. Frankly, I got carried away with the horseradish paste and chips, and probably overloaded the fish with the paste. After coating the fish, I slipped them under the broiler for one minute, to brown the crust.
The fish was delicious. I would use a thinner layer of the horseradish paste next time. Although the paste isn't overwhelming, it was a tiny bit too strong and masked the sweet salmon taste slightly. The potato chip crust was very nice It was light and crispy, didn't taste oily at all. And the fresh thyme in the crust was perfect.
Wild Salmon With Horseradish And Potato Chip Crust (Adapted From Cook's Illustrated)
Note: This recipe is for small fillets. Cook's recipe is slightly different because it calls for grilling the fish. It also has very concise instructions on how to cook a large salmon weighing almost 4 pounds.
1 1/2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup minced shallots, about 2
1/4 cup prepared horseradish
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 1/2 slices of white sandwich bread, crusts removed
2 ounces plain high quality potato chips, crushed into rough 1/8 inch pieces--to make about 1/2 cup
1/2 Tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
2- 4 salmon fillets, about 8 ounces each
1/2 teaspoon olive oil
about 1/2 teaspoon salt
ground black pepper
Heat the butter in a small skillet over medium heat until foaming. Saute shallots until softened and translucent, about 2 minutes. Off heat, add horseradish and sugar; set aside.
Adjust oven rack to the uppermost position (about 3 inches from the heat source) and the second rack to the upper-middle position. Heat oven to 400 degrees.
Pulse the bread in the workbowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade until processed into fairly even ΒΌ-inch pieces abut the size of Grape-Nuts cereal (you should have about 1/2 cup). Spread the crumbs evenly on a rimmed baking sheet; toast on the lower rack, shaking the pan once or twice, until golden brown and crisp, 4 to 5 minutes. Toss together the bread crumbs, crushed potato chips and thyme in a small bowl; set aside.
Rub the fish with the oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place fish in a heavy non-stick, hot skillet and cook. Cook, flipping the the fish once, until translucent in the center (check with the tip of a knife). The time will be determined by the thickness of the fish. My fish were about 1 inch thick and cooked about 3 minutes on each side. When the fish is done to your liking, take it off the heat and spread the horseradish mixtureon the fillets evenly, and press the chip crumb mixture onto the fish. Place on heatproof dish and slide under the broiler and continue broiling until the crust is deep golden brown, about 1 minute longer. Check carefully as it browns very quickly
Note, if you prefer to broil your fish, simply rub it with oil and broil until it is spotty brown on top, remove, put on the topping and broil as above.
Note: Thick-cut and kettle-cooked chips (such as Yukon Gold and Kettle brands) work best, but ridged chips will also do.
It sure does look good.
Posted by: coffeepot | August 30, 2006 at 02:34 AM
Oh wow! That looks wonderful! What a great way to combine comfort food with healthy food. Great job, Sher!
Posted by: Glenna | August 30, 2006 at 05:23 AM
Oh wow..my salmon snob for a wife would love that!
Posted by: Jeff | August 30, 2006 at 06:57 AM
It sounds like a really unlikely combination, yet a really, REALLY good combination. Yum!
Posted by: Julie | August 30, 2006 at 06:58 AM
Well, I guess at first blush it sounds slightly obnoxious. But on second thought (and after reading the ingredient list), it sounds delightful. I'm crazy about horseradish, and obviously -- nothing beats potato chips! I am going to have to try this. I will look for wild salmon, too.
Posted by: Lisa Morgan | August 30, 2006 at 07:10 AM
Sher, I am literally sitting here drooling at my desk. That sounds utterly delicious.... you can't go wrong with fish'n'chips!!
Posted by: s'kat | August 30, 2006 at 07:23 AM
not fair! now i'm so hungry for this, sher you have really gone and done it this time. we must be on the same craving schedule because this looks yumyumgood. i know those chips - kettle lightly salted, awyeah...
Posted by: aria | August 30, 2006 at 08:47 AM
I think your very clever recipe must be the winner of WOBAT this week! Take a bow!
Posted by: Christine | August 30, 2006 at 08:56 AM
This looks delicious Sher. Crisy crust and salmon sounds like a good combination. I also like the corn chowder... am making it this weekend.
Posted by: mandira | August 30, 2006 at 08:56 AM
Coffeepot,
Thanks, it lived up to its looks.
Glenna,
Thanks to WOBAT, I discovered this dish. I don't think I would have tried it otherwise.
Jeff,
I'm a salmon snob too! :) Has she ever eaten Copper River salmon? Now that's like going to heaven.
Julie,
It really was a great combination. Everything came together just perfectly!
Lisa,
I think that the way of fixing this is really good (besides the chips) because it's so simple and the salmon stays moist. I will make this again. Some day I'll do a huge one for a crowd.
s'kat,
Exactly!! Great way to put it!!!! Fish & chips! :)
Aria,
I am knocked out! You knew exactly what kind of chips they were-the plain lightly salted!! Wow! You are a chip expert!
Christine,
(Blush). Let me pull out my long list and thank eveyone who got me here. First, I want to thank my agent.....................
Mandira,
Oh, I'm so glad you're doing the chowder! I think you will like it very much.
Posted by: sher | August 30, 2006 at 06:40 PM
It's too crazy to broil the fish for the 2nd time... the crust must be insanely crispy! Sher, great write-up for wild salmon!
Posted by: gattina | August 30, 2006 at 11:52 PM
Hi Sher,
I'm really happy to met you and...your blog!
This recipe is really tasty and your cat is amazingly nice!
Kisses, Saffron
Posted by: Saffron | August 31, 2006 at 06:19 AM
Gattina,
The little minute of broiling just adds a little color, and a person could skip it. I was surprised that the crust was lightly crunchy, not hard crunchy, if you know what I mean.
Saffron,
Thanks so much!! I enjoyed my visit to your blog too! And Upsie thanks you big time!
Posted by: sher | September 01, 2006 at 10:54 PM