Baked, BBQ’d or pan-fried, this Cajun salmon recipe puts a new spin on Louisiana cuisine.
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When I cook Cajun style food, I don’t make it searingly spicy. I aim for a rich, smoky flavour with a touch of heat at the end.
You can adjust the heat to your taste by increasing the cayenne in this one, but go slowly!
This also makes an amazing bite-sized appetizer if you pan-fry it very, very hot and serve viagra it on the rare side. For my taste, this is a great recipe for pink or chum salmon, but you can certainly use sockeye, King or coho, too.
Do try to find the ancho chili powder–it has a particularly good smoky flavour that makes this dish distinctive.
Time to Prepare: About 1 hour
Cajun Salmon Ingredients
2 salmon steaks or fillets, skin removed
1-2 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon sweet paprika
1 teaspoon ancho chili powder
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon fine ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper or to taste
Preparation
Set the oven to 450F or the BBQ to high. If you’re panfrying, use an oil that works well at higher heats, like grapeseed oil. (Sunflower or safflower oil also work.) After your prep, heat the pan very hot just before cooking.
Crush or mince the garlic thoroughly. A mortar and pestle are ideal for crushing the garlic and mixing in the spices. Otherwise crush into a small bowl, and mash in the spices with a fork. A little oil may be added if the garlic is too dry to bind the mix.
Rub a generous coating onto the fish. Extra spice mix will keep for ages in the refrigerator and can be used with virtually any fish or seafood.
Bake or BBQ (10 minutes for each inch of thickness) or panfry until completely seared. If panfrying the fish will stick to the pan at first, but when completely seared it will release easily.
To give this real Cajun cred, try it with the following recipes for Dirty Rice and Grilled Okra. Or you can get fusion-esque with the Mango Salsa recipe at the bottom. The cool, sweet flavours of the salsa contrast delightfully with the smoky heat of the salmon.
Dirty Rice
1/2 cup long grain white rice, washed in cold water
1 celery stick
1 small onion, diced
1/2 green bell pepper, diced
1/4 cup sausage meat, crumbled
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon olive oil
water or chicken stock, 1 1/2 cups
Heat a skillet until very hot; add the sausage meat and brown thoroughly, breaking up any lumps that form in the pan. Taste the sausage meat for saltiness. Add onion, celery and bell pepper and cook until the onion is translucent.
Add the washed, drained rice and stir constantly for 2-3 minutes. Carefully add 1 cup of the water or stock to the pan and stir to deglaze the pan (get up all the brown bits). Add salt sparingly, depending on what you discovered about your sausage; add pepper to taste. Add the bay leaf; bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to minimum.
Cover it tightly and check it in 10 minutes–if there is no water or stock left, add a little more and cover again for 7 minutes. Remove the bay leaf and stir and fluff with a fork. Keep covered until serving time.
Grilled Okra
Leave it whole, giving it a toss with a little olive oil and sea salt. You can roast in the oven at 475 for 10 to 15 minutes. If barbecuing, grill in a vegetable basket over high heat, or send someone with time on their hands
to turn every little one on the grill.
Serve with lime wedges and more sea salt. Deliciousness.
Mango Salsa
Make this first and chill it while you get the rest of dinner together. If you can’t find mango, use peaches.
1 mango, diced finely
1/4 purple onion, minced
1 tablespoon finely minced celery
juice of 1 lime
drizzle of olive oil
pinch each of salt and sugar
finely chopped cilantro or parsley
Mix well and chill.
