Apologies for the long delay between posts, but life recently has interfered with food blogging.  One of my dogs was diagnosed with cancer in early April and is undergoing chemo (he’s doing well for now, thankfully), and we have had 15 oh-so-depressing days in a row of rain where I live.  (FYI, I do not live in Seattle or London, where this might possibly be considered normal.)  In light of the combination, I have been unable to muster the energy to write.  I have decided, however, that the show must go on, rain be damned!

Today, I want to share with you a recipe for slow-roasted salmon from Alice Waters’s The Art of Simple Food.  Both the book and the recipe recently have become favorites.  If you don’t already know, Alice Waters is one of the earliest proponents in the United States of the organic/sustainable/local/ seasonal food movement.  Her flagship restaurant is Chez Panisse, in Berkeley, California, and a defining feature of her cooking is its simplicity  — find the highest quality ingredients available, and do as little as possible to them to allow their beauty to shine.  With food, as with many other things, simplicity is power.

I particularly love the Alice Waters slow-roasted salmon recipe for several reasons.  First, it could not be easier.  Second, the cooking time is around 30 to 40 minutes, plus 30 minutes or so to preheat the oven — this means you have plenty of time to prepare and cook the ingredients for your side dishes while the oven preheats and the salmon essentially cooks itself.  Third, the end result is beautiful.  Alice Waters opines that slow-cooking renders the salmon “succulent,” which is spot on.  Spot.  On.   Finally, this dish can be served hot, warm, or at room temperature, which gives additional flexibility to finish side dishes or (we hope this doesn’t happen) accommodate less-than-punctual family members or dinner guests.  Alice Waters suggests serving the slow-roasted salmon with a lemon vinaigrette, so I have provided her basic instructions for vinaigrette below along with the salmon recipe.

As always, I hope you will try this and let me know what you think.  Now that I’m back in the blogging saddle, I’m hoping to finish that post about Food and Judging that I first mentioned a couple months ago.  I had a very interesting discussion about that topic with the manager of my favorite neighborhood restaurant just today, and now I think I finally am ready to write about it!  In the meantime, go cook yourself some salmon!

Slow-Roasted Salmon Fillet

Notes:  The recipe below is for 1 to 1.5 pounds of salmon, which is about right to feed 2 to 3 people.  The basic cooking method, however, works for any quantity of salmon.  Vary the quantity of herbs used to cover the bottom of the pan, and the size of said pan, as necessary based on the amount of salmon you are cooking.

Ingredients

• A handful or two of whole sprigs of fresh herbs, as necessary to line the bottom of a small baking pan (rosemary, chives, tarragon, oregano, or dill, alone or in combination, are good options, but my no means the only ones — most recently I used ramps, which worked very well)
• 1 to 1.5 lbs skin-on salmon fillet, preferably wild-caught
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 225 degrees for about 30 minutes.
• Choose a baking dish appropriate for the quantity of salmon being cooked.  Rub a splash of olive oil over the bottom and inner sides of the dish, and then evenly space the fresh herb sprigs along the bottom of the dish.
• Leave the salmon filet in one piece.  Pat it dry, rub it with a bit of olive oil, and season it with salt and pepper.  Place it on top of the herbs in the baking dish, skin side down.
• Place the baking dish in the 225 degree oven and roast for 30 to 40 minutes, depending on your desired level of doneness (30 minutes for a pink, translucent center; 40 minutes for totally opaque and cooked through).
• Remove from oven and serve hot, warm, or at room temperature.  Drizzle some lemon vinaigrette on top just before serving. 

Basic Vinaigrette

Notes:  Alice Waters’s instructions follow a basic vinaigrette formula of 1 tablespoon acid (citrus juice or vinegar) to 3 to 4 tablespoons olive oil.  I usually wind up closer to 3 tablespoons oil because I like an acidy vinaigrette, but this is purely a matter of taste.  Two  Alice Waters tips to note are (1) to use the very best quality olive oil you can find and (2) to dissolve a bit of salt into the acidic element before adding the oil.  She says that the salt “subdues the acid of the vinegar and brings it into a wonderful balance.”  Tasting is believing, so try for yourself and see what happens!

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon lemon juice or good-quality vinegar (I prefer lemon juice when serving with salmon)
• 3 to 4 tablespoons good-quality olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• Optional additions to whisk into the acid element after adding the salt but before adding the oil –
  • Finely-chopped garlic;
  • Finely-chopped shallots; 
  • Dijon mustard; and/or
  • Lemon zest, if you’re using lemon juice as the acid
• Finely-chopped fresh herbs (optional), to stir into the finished vinaigrette

Instructions

• Place the acidic element, in this case preferably lemon juice, into a small bowl.
• Whisk a small amount of salt into the acidic element a bit at a time, until the acidic character is subdued somewhat.
• If you’re adding lemon zest,mustard, garlic, or shallot, add that after the salt step but before adding the oil.
• Whisk in 3 to 4 tablespoons olive oil, adding it in a very slow but steady stream and whisking all the while.  If you add it too quickly or don’t whisk continuously, then the vinaigrette will not emulsify properly.
• Taste the emulsified vinaigrette.  Add a bit of freshly-ground pepper, if you like that, and adjust the salt if needed.
• If using fresh herbs, whisk them into the emulsified vinaigrette just before serving.