SALMON, FOR EVERYDAY AND HOLIDAY

 

Salmon fillets on a bed of leeks and potatoes with crisp frizzled leeks. Special enough for a holiday meal.

Many years ago, I was thrilled when fresh salmon began appearing in markets in Spain. I had learned to love salmon while visiting family and friends in Seattle. Although in my Mediterranean markets I had an incredible array of fresh seafood, I didn’t have salmon.

The salmon shipped to Spain was—and is—farmed Atlantic salmon from Norway. (Where I shop, the label says it is sustainably farmed in Norwegian fjords without the use of antibiotics.) But I gradually became disenchanted with it--it just didn’t compare to the wild salmon from the Pacific Northwest and I stopped buying it. (Some wild salmon are still found in Asturias and Cantabria, northern Spain, but their numbers are diminishing.) 

Now that the price of fresh seafood in Spain has skyrocketed (even more so in the lead-up to Christmas feasting), I find that farmed salmon is a super bargain (€7.50 per kilo, or about $4.15 per pound). I buy a whole fish and have it filleted. Some of it I prepare fresh; some I freeze. Some I poach to use in fish cakes. 

I cook the salmon simply—oven-roasting a whole, thick fillet or pan-grilling individual portions—then I add a sauce—mayo-Dijon-dill-caper being my everyday one. Now that I am eating salmon more frequently, I’m searching for some different ways to showcase it, maybe special enough for holiday meals.

Today, I was inspired by a simple Basque recipe for leek and potato soup, porrusalda, to which bacalao, salt cod, is sometimes added. I turned the leeks and potatoes into a combination side dish/sauce for the salmon. 

A Basque Txakoli would be a good wine with the salmon. If not available, a Galician Albariño. 

Plate the vegetables and salmon with just a little of the pan juices.

Alternate way to prepare the dish: cut salmon in bite-size chunks and cook it with the leeks and potatoes.  Ladle into shallow bowls with lots of the savory juices. 

Serve the soupy version of the leeks, potatoes and salmon with a crisp-fried tangle of sea spaghetti. It makes a crunchy contrast. 

Salmon with Leeks and Potatoes

Salmón con Porrusalda

Individual portions of salmon can be pan-grilled and served atop the mélange of leeks and potatoes or, alternatively, cut into bite-sized chunks and cooked right in with the vegetable mixture.

Crispy fried leeks or fried sea spaghetti (seaweed) as a garnish add contrast in texture. 

Serves 4

4 (5-ounce) salmon fillets

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 pound leeks (3-4 without tops)

¼ cup olive oil + additional to cook salmon

1 cup chopped onions

2 cloves garlic, chopped

¼ cup diced carrots

20 ounces potatoes, cut in pieces

¼ cup white wine

2 cups chicken or fish stock or water

Pinch of thyme

¼ cup finely chopped parsley

Frizzled leeks or fried sea spaghetti, to garnish

Sprinkle the salmon with salt and pepper and allow it to come to room temperature.

Discard green tops from the leeks. Wash the leeks well. (If making the frizzled leeks, cut 2 (2-inch) pieces of leeks and reserve them.) Slice the leeks crosswise into ¾-inch pieces.

Simmer leeks and potatoes in wine and stock.

Heat ¼ cup of oil in a pan and sauté the onions and garlic on moderate heat, 5 minutes. Do not let them brown. Add the sliced leeks and sauté 5 minutes more. Add the potatoes and carrots and sauté 2 minutes. Stir in the wine. Let the alcohol bubble off. Add the stock or water, pinch of thyme, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cook, covered, until potatoes are very tender, 20 minutes. 

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a heavy skillet. Brown the salmon fillets on both sides. Cook the salmon until it just flakes. (Alternatively, salmon can be cut into bite-size pieces and added to the leeks and potatoes.)

Stir the parsley into the leeks and potatoes. Use a slotted spoon to scoop them onto dinner plates. Place a salmon fillet on top of each and garnish with frizzled leeks or fried seaweed. (Alternatively, ladle the leeks, potatoes and bites of salmon into soup bowls.)

For the frizzled leeks:

Slice leeks into matchsticks.

Fry leeks until golden.

Crisp frizzled leeks.

   Cut the white part of a leek crosswise into 2-inch segments. Cut them in half lengthwise. Slice into thin threads. Fry the shredded leeks in ½ inch of hot olive oil until they are golden-brown. Remove with a skimmer and drain on absorbent paper. Sprinkle the fried leeks with salt. The leeks are best prepared shortly before serving, as they do not keep their crispness well.

Dried sea spaghetti, a kind of seaweed.

For the fried sea spaghetti. Soak the seaweed in water for 15 minutes to re-hydrate. Drain well and pat dry. Toss the strands with flour and shake off the excess. Heat 1 inch of olive oil in a heavy skillet. Fry the seaweed, in batches if necessary, until crisp and golden. Remove with a skimmer and drain on paper towels. Sprinkle with salt, if desired. Fried seaweed stays crisp several days.

Sea spaghetti has been floured and fried in olive oil. 

Classic Basque leek and potato soup recipe: Porrusalda.

More recipes with seaweed here.

More salmon recipes:

Salmon with Cava Sauce and Grapes.

Salmon with Spicy Lentils.