SALMON TERIYAKI

Teriyaki sauce is a traditional Japanese sauce that became popular in Western cultures, long before sushi became the ambasador of Japanese cuisine! If you are like me it is something you have often ordered in restaurants or bought in Japanese food stores, but never taken the time to make yourself. Which is silly really, as after this weekend I realised what an easy recipe it is to make.

All you need are equal parts of sugar, soy sauce, mirin (Japanese sweet cooking wine) and sake. These four ingredients are mixed together, boiled  and reduced to create a thick sweet sauce for coating meat and fish. The word Teri refers to the lacquered sheen or luster given by the sauce and the word yaki the cooking method of grilling/broilling. After so many years of using the word Teriyaki it’s nice to know what it really means!

My brother has just returned to Holland after a three month internship in Canada, and so this is the next recipe in the Dutch Series, of easy recipes that don’t require an oven! If you prefer to eat chicken or beef instead of salmon, this recipe can easily be adapted, especially after reading about the recent Fraser River Sockeye salmon issues in Western Canada!

Traditional TERIYAKI SAUCE Recipe

• 2 tablespoons corn syrup (or mild honey)
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons mirin
• 2 tablespoons sake (substitute water if you don’t have sake)

1. Combine all the ingredients in a small saucepan
2. Bring to the boil and then reduce to simmer for 2 mintues until the sauce becomes glossy and a little thicker.
3. Set aside to cool

Salmon Teriyaki Recipe

• salmon for two people (ie 400g) with the skin
• teriyaki sauce (see above recipe)

1. Merinate the salmon in the teriyaki sauce for at least 2 hours (flesh side down in the sauce)
2. Heat a non stick frying pan (skillet) on low heat
3. Place the salmon skin side down (skin on the pan) and cover, cooking for approx. 8 mins. Check regularly, when the salmon is almonst cooked but still raw on the very top, trun it over. Turn off the heat. Cook for another minute in the still hot pan.
4. Serve immedately

LA RESIDENCIA HOTEL – El Olivio

***Restaurant Recommendation***

I am physically back from my honeymoon, but I fear my heart & soul are still sitting on the sunny balcony of our room at La Residencia, a lovely hotel in Mallorca’s hillside village - Deia.

The trip from start to finish was perfect, lovely accommodation, impeccable service, breath taking views, the sea, lush hills and a little stone village. Then there was relaxing by the pool, a day at the spa, yoga classes, various day trips to local towns & cities including Palma – a general return to earth after the bussling busy weeks leading up to the wedding.

However as this is a food blog, and for those of you who have been reading along – there may be the occasional story, a trip down memory lane or a brief wander off the beaten track…. however I always find my way back to the essential – my stomach. And I tell you nothing was to prepare me for the pièce de résistance of culinary delights that was awaiting us on this island at the El Olivio RESTAURANT….

LA RESIDENCIA HOTEL

El Olivio- La Residencia Hotel, Deia (Mallorca)

You walk into the restaurant, your first impression is that of understated elegance - the room is in fact a refurbished 16th century olive press, complete with the original press subtly incorporated into the decor.

You sit down at a candle lit table – the service is personal but not overbearing. There is a fine menu to select from, one where you have difficulty choosing between dishes as everything looks delicious. I have a weakness for fish, as does my husband (it gives me a little tingle to say that word), so I chose the scallops to start followed by the turbot, and he had the prawns (shrimp) and dorade.

El Olivio’s website boasts that they take “the art of dining to yet another level: the seduction of the palate”. The cynics out there will scoff and say – yes well, where have we heard this line before??? However for once it is true. I am living proof.

All the dishes we ordered were of superb quality, presentation & taste, but out of these what really turned my head was the Scallop ravioli, stuffed with prawn quinoa, in a Noilly Prat sauce.

The first surprise comes when they place the dish on your table, and a little alarm bell goes off in your head …  ”what is this…. I ordered ravioli and this is a shell!” A large white shell in fact, one that is tightly closed with a thick rim of pastry, hiding its contents within. Before you had time to enquire, the plate is whisked away to be prepared. Upon its return, the shell had been opened to reveal a group of small plump scallops, that had been gently steamed to perfection in a light Noilly Prat (Vermouth) sauce, speckled with slivers of white truffles and spring onions.

I have never eaten anything so delicate before - that envelops your senses, then melts in your mouth. All the flavours harmoniously working together, while complimenting the tender flesh & taste of the scallops. I have not quite recovered, nor do I wish to. All I desire is to return in the very near future to eat at this little restaurant, tucked into the hills of Mallorca.

LEMON ROSEMARY COD

First and most important a very happy NEW YEAR to you all. This post have been a long time coming, but between Christmas, my brother visiting and the wedding planning – every spare minute of the day has been occupied.

Therefore as a tribute to 2008 I am posting a version of one of the dishes we made for New Years Eve dinner. The original version can be found in ELLE à Table N°55, which calls for scallops (aka coquille saint-jacques in French).

Oddly enough cod has never really appealed to me – the problem stems from the name, which I find rather unappealing. However the fish monger in Geneva changed all this by offering me ‘cabillaud‘, which naturally sounded lovely and so I agreed and went off home with a nicely wrapped package. Only to find out that what was inside was non other than cod… There was no turning back. And the result I have to say was wonderful! Let me know what you think.

RECIPE – ERIKA ALLISTON – Sweet Pea Blog

• 4 fresh rosemary sprigs (branches) approx. 16 to 18 cm long
• 1 large untreated lemon (for rind & juice)
• 250g cod (cabillaud) for two people
• 5 tablespoons olive oil
• 2.5 tablespoons lemon juice (from lemon above)
• ground pepper to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 210°C (410°F) (with the wrack in the middle of the oven)
2. Prepare the rosemary sprigs, by removing all the rosemary leaves – except those at the very top of the branch for decoration!! Next coarsely chop the rosemary and set aside
3. Now prepare the lemon. Wash and dry the lemon. Using a vegetable peeler, remove long / wide  (4 x 1.5cm) strips of the lemon rind until you are left with a bald lemon. Set the rind aside. Now juice the lemon.
4. In a ceramic oven dish, combine the chopped rosemary, olive oil, lemon juice and pepper and set aside.
5. Now prepare the cod. Wash and dry the fish well, and using a sharp knife cut twelve 4 x 2 cm pieces. Improvise if you have to.
6. To make the rosemary skewers, start with a piece of lemon rind, and alternatingly thread a piece of rind followed by a piece of cod onto the rosemary branch. I usually put 3 piece of cod onto a branch.

7.  Place the branches into the sauce and leave to marinade for 15 minutes, turning  the skewers over every few minutes.

8.  Tightly cover the ceramic dish with aluminium foil, and place in the oven to cook for 6  minutes.  Remove from the oven and CAREFULLY turn over each skewer, replace the aluminum foil and cook for another 6 minutes.

I then serve the fish over quinoa with pink salt and pepper.