I created this halibut salad this weekend after we had some friends over for dinner. My husband had cooked about three huge pieces of halibut from our June trip to Alaska and we had about a pound of cooked halibut leftover. While cleaning up on Saturday, I put it in the fridge. On Sunday I decided to do something with it to avoid waste.
My taste buds steered me towards a lemony Scandinavian flavor profile that day…I had attended the Nordic Culinary Conference here in Seattle back in May and I think it was those thrifty creative chefs—Claus Meyer, Sasu Laukonnen, and Titti Qvanstrom— who inspired my path that afternoon. At the conference, the chefs discussed how they avoid waste, use local ingredients, and employ simple techniques to ramp up inherent flavors and achieve impressive dishes.
So…while staring at a Pyrex dish full of flaky white fish, I challenged myself to make a fresh and appealing salad with the leftover. Rather than just mix it up with some mayo which is the traditional route to go for those who do employ leftover fish in their kitchens…I decided to ramp up the flavors.
Leftover fish can be a tough sell. I wanted a “refresh”.
So, I looked in the fridge and the garden and pulled my Cuisinart forth on the counter. My food processor is crucial for challenges like this. It speeds the process and makes fish tidier to work with. From the garden, I gathered a handful of dill, and a rummage through the fridge yielded some decent celery and a big voluptuous lemon. With that, I had a game plan!
The key to my Halibut Refresh? I added lemon juice BUT I added it at a critical point.
I didn’t want to dilute that burst of sunshine. I wanted to make sure it played a key role so I sprinkled the juice directly on the halibut and processed the halibut, celery and lemon BEFORE I added the mayonnaise. I am convinced that this simple sequence in steps made an enormous difference in my end result because the lemon got mixed into the fish and the fish absorbed it, becoming light, sunny, and citrusy in the process. I then added the dill and the mayonnaise.
Here’s the recipe. A ridiculously appealing Alaska Halibut salad with definite Scandinavian tilt. I enjoyed it on piece of Larsen’s Bakery Light Finnish Rye. A match made in heaven.
Lemon and Dill Halibut Salad
3 celery stalks, cut into big chunks
8 to 10 ounces cooked halibut (poached, grilled or baked is fine), broken up into chunks
1 large lemon, rolled on the counter and then juiced*
2 to 3 tablespoons fresh dill
2 to 3 tablespoons low fat mayonnaise, or to taste
Salt to taste
To Serve:
For serving: slices of lightly toasted rye bread and fresh Bibb lettuce leaves
For garnish: citrus zest, thinly sliced red onion, extra dill
Put the metal blade in the food processor, add the celery chunks and process the celery with three or four pulses to chop it. Put the halibut in the food processor, drizzle the lemon juice directly over the cooked halibut. Pulse once or twice to mix and incorporate the lemon juice. Add the fresh dill and the mayonnaise and pulse three or four times just to mix. Taste for seasoning and add salt to taste.
To create an open faced sandwich: Serve the salad on lightly toasted rye with a piece of lettuce and garnished with zest, extra dill, and thinly sliced onion if desired.
*Lemon Tip: To extract the most juice from a lemon, roll it on a counter before you juice it. You can also prick a couple holes the lemon, zap it in the microwave for twenty seconds, roll it on the counter and then juice it. These little techniques go a long way towards extracting all that sunshine from a lemon!
So, when I entered the new Williams Sonoma today, I felt like a kid in a candy shop. Unlike the old store located across the Village, which was significantly smaller and cramped, this large store is open, inviting and spacious. It also features floor to ceiling displays of cookware in a variety of styles and sizes from an array of manufacturers.
When I roamed around the new store today, I really felt as if they had hit the mark. The huge displays of cookware drew me in and fed my curiosity. Although I’m not in the market for new cookware right now, it was very helpful to see all of the options right there in front of my eyes and to be able to compare and contrast the choices between the different brands. Shopping experiences like this simply aren’t that easy to come by these days and I spent a fair amount of time in that department. I soon found myself wishing I could justify purchasing a set of Mauviel Copper Pots from France. Alas, I couldn’t justify it even with the Grand Opening Discount of 20% so I moved on to the next department…Cutlery and Small Appliances, which sits right behind the cookware.
This u-shaped section is by no means a run of the mill department because in the center of this section, there are tables with small appliances, cutting boards and sponges. The helpful customer service gal told me that shoppers are invited to “test drive” the appliances right there before purchasing! They have large wooden tables set up with various appliances, a cutting board and a sponge! I really liked that approach and set up. This morning the Vitamix representative was there buzzing up a pineapple and grape smoothie and discussing the fine points between the different models. As for the knife display, the sales gal pointed out that they even keep a bowl of fruit and vegetables at the ready so cooks can try different knives right then and there to see how different knives feel and function in the hand.
Although I resisted the Mauviel pans, I succumbed to buying an Emile Henry pizza stone. Again, it was the display that sucked me in. They had the regular Emile Henry pizza stone (which I once had) and then a bright red round ridged Emile Henry stone. I suspected that the ridged pan was designed to make a crispier pizza crust and indeed that is what I was told. With little delay, I had one rung up. Thankfully that 20% Grand Opening Discount brought that pan down in price by $12.
A trip to Homer, Alaska, at the height of the fishing season and only two days before the summer solstice can only mean one thing. A bucket list on steroids. My husband, son and I flew up to Alaska last week and it was a quick and tightly focused trip to see some clients, do research, fish, and explore the region.
Chauanh, was our server and she is also one of the owners. Service with a smile seems to be the mantra at Banh Town and we were quickly briefed on the menu which includes an array of banh mi, pho, vermicelli salads and a variety of starters. Although I’ve been making a lot of pho during this wet and rainy Seattle winter we’ve been having, I opted to celebrate the sunshine yesterday and ordered the chicken vermicelli salad ($9.95). My husband had the five spice chicken banh mi ($6.95) and we shared two spring rolls ($7) and an order of quail’s egg poppers ($7), which were a family recipe from Grandma Le. ( I think Grandma Le might be Chauanh’s maternal grandma. We were told she is a great cook and she is cited as the recipe creator on a few of the flagship items on the menu so take note!)
The banh mi arrived with a side of sesame slaw and the sandwich was light and beautifully done with a crispy airy French roll and lots of fresh cilantro. My salad was full of flavor and the skewered chicken was grilled to the perfect degree. Perched on top of cold vermicelli noodles and a cucumber lettuce combo, the chicken added a nice protein punch to the light and satisfying entrée. The quail’s egg poppers were crispy on the outside and the interior was subtle and comforting.
