SautÉed Wild Salmon With Brown Butter Cucumbers Food

PAN-FRIED WILD SALMON

Steps:

• Rinse the salmon fillets and pat dry thoroughly with paper towels; season with sea salt.
• Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat.
• Gently lay the salmon into the hot oil with the skin side facing up and cook until the the flesh side is golden brown, 5 to 7 minutes; turn and continue cooking until the skin side is slightly browned, about 5 minutes more. Remove the salmon from the skillet, allowing any oil to drain from the fish back into the pan.
• Remove the skin from the salmon fillets; fry the skin in the oil remaining in the skillet until crispy, 2 to 3 minutes. Serve the crispy skin with the salmon.

SAUTéED SALMON WITH BROWN BUTTER CUCUMBERS

Steps:

• In a large skillet, melt butter over medium high heat and cook until foam subsides and turns deep gold in color, about 3 minutes.
• Season salmon with salt and pepper and add to pan, skin side up. Cook without turning for 3 minutes. Add cucumbers and a pinch of salt to pan around salmon and stir to coat with butter. Continue to cook, stirring cucumbers around in pan, until fish turns deep brown, about 3 minutes longer. Flip fish (move cucumbers to the side to assure fish skin makes contact with pan). Add garlic to cucumbers and stir. Cook fish until done to taste, 2 to 4 minutes longer.
• Transfer salmon to plates. Stir dill and lemon juice into cucumbers in pan and cook for 20 seconds longer. Taste and add more salt, pepper and lemon juice if necessary. Serve cucumbers and butter sauce over fish.

STUFFED SALMON WITH BALSAMIC BUTTER SAUCE

Steps:

• For the crab cake mix: Gently mix the crab meat with the mayonnaise, lemon juice, mustard, seafood seasoning and Worcestershire sauce in a large bowl. Form four 4-ounce crab cakes.
• Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F.
• For the salmon: Make a small vertical pocket in each piece of salmon. Place a slice of Brie on the bottom of the pocket, top with 1 crab cake and another slice of Brie.
• Place the salmon in a large baking dish and add enough water to reach one-quarter of the way up the side of the salmon. Bake until pale and cooked through, 12 to 15 minutes.
• For the asparagus and sauce: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the asparagus just until crisp tender and bright green. Drain and plunge into an ice bath to stop the cooking.
• Put the vinegar and shallots in a saute pan and cook over medium heat until vigorously bubbling and reduced by three-quarters, about 2 minutes. Add a pinch salt and pepper, reduce the heat to low and slowly stir in the butter. If the sauce is too thin, continue to simmer over very low heat until desired thickness.
• In a second saute pan, heat the oil over medium-high heat until hot. Add the asparagus, season with salt and pepper and cook until warmed through. (The asparagus is already cooked so don't saute it too long.)
• Serve the salmon and asparagus over wild rice. Spoon over the sauce.

BROWN-BUTTER SALMON WITH SCALLIONS AND LEMON

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Pat salmon dry, and season with salt and pepper. Set aside. Using a vegetable peeler, peel the zest of the lemon in wide strips. Cut the lemon into wedges for serving.
• In a large, ovenproof skillet, melt the butter over medium. When it's foaming, add the scallions and the lemon peel, and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the butter turns brown and smells nutty, 3 to 6 minutes. (If you're using a light-colored pan, you'll see the browned bits in the skillet. If you're using a dark-colored pan, look for dark spots on the white parts of the scallions; those are browned bits of butter and a sign to remove the skillet from heat.)
• Immediately remove from heat, and add ⅓ cup of water. Stir to combine. Lay the salmon, skin side down (if there's skin), into the sauce. Cover the skillet and bake until cooked through, 15 to 20 minutes, or slightly longer if you're cooking a single, large piece. (You'll know the salmon is done when the fish flakes or an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part registers 120 degrees.)
• Eat the salmon with a spoonful of sauce and a squeeze of the lemon.