Despite my best intentions, I just could not bring myself to attend the Stranger's annual Anti-Valentine's Day party. So, instead I stayed home and treated myself to gougeres, champagne and single girl salmon.
Several years ago, I picked up Amanda Hessers' very excellent Cooking for Mr. Latte, a compilation of her columns and recipes from the New York Times, beginning with her first date with "Mr. Latte", chronicling dating stories to engagement, and culminating in their wedding. One of my favorites, and a standby for years, is Single Girl Salmon, a recipe designed for one.
Cover lentils with water (I usually use French green, but only had red, which cook very fast), add a bay leaf and I always add a shallot, and bring to boil. When lentils are done, drain, salt and pepper generously, then fold in olive oil, fresh lemon juice and if you have it, white wine vinegar. Balsamic also works. This should be done to taste...I like mine tart, but that is just my taste, which if you read this blog, know it can be a bit off.
When the lentils are done, heat olive oil and saute a thinly sliced shallot until brown. Salt and pepper a piece of salmon. Center cut works best, and you should probably salt and pepper earlier and let the salmon sit at room temperature. I happen to live in an area that has access to a good supply of salmon, so for Saturday night, I bought a pretty piece of Coho. Once the shallots are done, remove, then cook the salmon, skin side down. Flip at some point and from here, cook to your tastes. I find undercooking preferable to overcooking; it continues to cook as it sits, and really, overcooked, dry salmon is an injustice to the mighty fish.
Note, the recipe provides a few more details, but I think that adjusting recipes for you is always acceptable and encouraged.
Plate the lentils, plate the salmon on top of the lentils, and then sprinkle with the browned shallot. If you have parsley, you can even sprinkle a few leaves on top.
And that was Valentine's Day.
PS: I am currently looking for a permanent kitchen partner, a sous chef if you may. Requirements: must be useful with a kitchen knife, must like eating and wine and football. Send recommendations my way. It would be nice to write about doubling the recipe on Valentine's Day in 2010.
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