Rob and I had our big wedding anniversary dinner celebration on Saturday of Labor Day weekend, which is the day of the week we got married. Our actual anniversary date fell in the middle of the week this year, but we couldn’t resist having a small, pared down celebration on the real date as well. We had lemongrass-crusted salmon with a watercress coconut sauce for dinner. Even though this salmon dish really was easy enough to make on a regular Tuesday, it was very delicious, and it felt like a dish fit for a special occasion. (Good thing, since I think this qualifies as a special occasion! 🙂 )

I was inspired once again by a recipe from Roy’s Fish and Seafood: Recipes from the Pacific Rim. I followed his recipe for the salmon crust, but I completely changed the sauce to make it my own. The original recipe used a cup of beurre blanc, but I replaced it with coconut milk. (It was a good use for the leftover milk from the cheesecake!) I don’t use a lot of butter in my cooking, and the coconut added an additional tropical element. It also mellowed the bitterness of the watercress nicely.

Lemongrass-Crusted Salmon with a Watercress Coconut Sauce

Based on a recipe from Roy’s Fish and Seafood cookbook

Serves 2, with leftover sauce

Salmon and Lemongrass Crust:

2 salmon fillets, about 6 oz each

1 tablespoon minced lemongrass (white part only)

½ tablespoon minced garlic

½ tablespoon grated fresh ginger

½ tablespoon minced shallot

½ tablespoon shichimi

Watercress Coconut Sauce:

1 bunch watercress, stemmed (reserve 4 sprigs for garnish)

½ tablespoon ginger juice (fresh ginger squeezed through a garlic press)

½ cup coconut milk

Safflower, sunflower, or peanut oil for cooking

Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Combine lemongrass, garlic, ginger, shallot, and shichimi in a bowl, and stir to blend. Set aside.

Bring a saucepan of water to a bowl. Place the watercress into a strainer, and when the water is bowling, pour over the watercress to wilt. Warm coconut milk. Combine watercress, milk and ginger juice in the bowl of a food processor, and pulse until it is to your desired texture. Add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

Preheat a medium non-stick saucepan over medium high heat. Evenly coat one side of the salmon fillets with the crust mixture. Drizzle the fillets with a high heat cooking oil, such as safflower, sunflower, or peanut oil. Carefully transfer the salmon to the hot pan, crust side down. Sear until the crust is a little browned. Turn, and finish in the oven for about 10 minutes, or until baked to desired doneness.

To serve, plate the salmon crust side up. Spoon the sauce on the top or side of the salmon fillets. Garnish with reserved watercress leaves.

We paired our dinner with a bottle of 2000 Columbia Winery Peninsula red wine. We got married in 2000, and we had our wedding reception at Columbia Winery, so we bought a case of this wine several years ago.  We like to open a bottle on our anniversary every year. It is aging nicely, which I’ll take as a good sign for us! 😉

Funny note: It began to absolutely pour down rain by the end of our dinner. Luckily, we decided to eat inside with the French doors open once again, so we could enjoy the thunder and showers instead of scrambling inside for cover. 😉 This bottom photo was taken in the middle of the downpour. It was actually kind of fun! It was definitely an anniversary to remember!

Our 13^th wedding anniversary falls on Labor Day this year, so we are celebrating the whole holiday weekend! The traditional gift for the 13^th year is lace, which led me to think about lacy afternoon teas. So, first stop, England! Virtually at least. 😉 I made a couple of little tea sandwiches and a couple of little desserts for the start and finish of our meal. I decided to add a more substantial main course in the middle for my sweetie, though. 🙂 I found a really interesting recipe from a British Pub called The Wellington Arms for a tea smoked salmon. I have to say, I was really intrigued, but also a little nervous that it might involve a few fire trucks. 😉 But I’m happy to report, no fire alarms or fire trucks, and it is one of the most exciting recipes I’ve tried in a while! Now I would like to smoke more things! Vegetables, eggs, cheese, chicken…The possibilities are endless. The types of tea to try are also plentiful. I used Earl Grey to stay with the British theme, but I’m excited to try different kinds for different flavors. I hope you’ll give this technique a go sometime. I think you’ll like it. 🙂

Tea Smoked Salmon

Based on a recipe from The Wellington Arms

Serves 2

For the fish:

2 fillets fresh wild salmon, about 6 oz each

Decaffeinated Earl Grey tea from 8 tea bags (approximately)

½ cup white rice (approximately)

1 tablespoon sugar (approximately)

Canola oil, or other high heat oil

Salt and pepper to taste

For the sauce:

2 tablespoons Earth Balance

1 teaspoon capers, rinsed

Squeeze of lemon juice

Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350

Line an old pan that you are not very fond of with 2 layers of heavy duty tin foil, making sure there is plenty of extra overhanging to wrap around your lid. Form it to the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle the tea, rice and sugar in the bottom of the pan and combine.

Place a cake rack in the pan, and oil it with a high heat oil, such as canola. Place the fish skin-side down on top of the rack. Cover the pan with a lid. (It doesn’t need to fit tightly. I found that glass was nice because I could see my progress without removing the lid.) Wrap the excess tin foil up and around the lid to make sure there is a tight seal. This will keep almost all of the smoke inside of the pan. Put the pan on the stove and heat on high until smoking. Cook for about 8 minutes until the salmon is well infused with the smoke flavor. The top of the salmon will become a little dark. Remove the lid outside to avoid smoking your kitchen.

If you have thin fillets, they may be cooked through at this point. If they are still undercooked, place them in the preheated oven until they are done to your liking.

In the meantime, place the Earth Balance and capers in a saucepan and melt over medium heat. When they are melted and warm, add a squeeze of lemon juice and combine.

Serve the salmon with a spoonful of sauce over the top.

I found a few videos that helped me visualize how to do this technique before I tried it. One that is similar to the way I did it (only with wood chips instead of tea and without the lid) can be found here.

The small dishes we had with our afternoon tea were also lovely, and worth a try. I will keep these recipes in my collection. 🙂 We had chicken salad tea sandwiches with smoked almonds and smoked turkey tea sandwiches with arugula mayonnaise. I just replaced the regular mayonnaise in both of them with the reduced fat variety and I used a tender whole wheat bread instead of white, but I followed the recipes otherwise.

For dessert I made mini apple treacle tarts. Now I want to watch an episode of Downton Abbey! 😉 I wonder if they were as good as Mrs. Patmore’s? I actually substituted the butter completely with Earth Balance, and it worked beautifully. I just baked them for much less time than the big tart called for. I also made coconut oatmeal lace cookies. Again, I completely substituted the butter with Earth Balance, and they were delicious!

Next stop, Italy! We are planning to make ravioli and an Italian meal for our anniversary day. 🙂 Stay tuned….