The Minimalist Cooks Dinner (19 page)

TIME:
20 to 30 minutes

MAKES:
4 servings

It doesn’t take much to cook salmon, or to dress it up, and there’s no way simpler than this: Cook fillets by any of a number of methods, then finish them with flavored oil. Here I focus on a spicy soy oil that contains slivered garlic, peanut and sesame oils, and soy sauce, but it’s easy enough to change the spirit from Asian to European. Although oil is the basis for this sauce, the quantity is minimal because heating the oil thins it, enabling even a small amount to coat and flavor the fish.

• 2 tablespoons peanut oil
  

• 1½ to 2 pounds salmon fillets, in 4 pieces
  

• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  

• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
  

• 1 tablespoon slivered garlic
  

• 2 dried red chiles
  

• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  

• ½ cup trimmed and chopped scallions or ¼ cup roughly chopped cilantro, optional
  

1. Preheat the oven to 500°F. Put a 12-inch nonstick ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat for 2 to 3 minutes. When it is hot, add 1 tablespoon of the peanut oil and swirl it around. Season the salmon with salt and pepper and put it, skin side up, in the skillet. Sear for 1 minute until the salmon has browned. Turn the salmon and immediately transfer the skillet to the oven. Roast for 6 minutes.
   

2. Meanwhile, combine the remaining 1 tablespoon peanut oil in a small saucepan with the sesame oil, garlic, and chiles and turn the heat to medium. Cook, gently shaking the pan occasionally until the garlic and chiles sizzle and the garlic colors lightly about 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and remove the chiles. (This step may be done in advance.) When the sauce cools a bit, add the soy sauce.
   

3. The salmon will be medium-rare after about 6 minutes in the oven. Transfer it to a plate. Drizzle it with the oil, garnish if you like, and serve.
   

TIME:
20 to 30 minutes

MAKES:
4 servings

Although farm-raising has made fresh salmon a year-round product, wild salmon does have a season, from spring through fall. At those times, wild salmon is preferable to the farm-raised fish, because the best salmon—king, sockeye, and coho—have so much flavor of their own that they need nothing but a sprinkling of salt. But a simple formula of salmon, oil or butter, and a single herb, combined with a near-foolproof oven roasting technique, gives you many more options and makes even farm-raised salmon taste special.

• ¼ cup (½ stick) butter
  

• ¼ cup minced chervil, parsley, or dill
  

• 1 salmon fillet, 1½ to 2 pounds
  

• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  

• Lemon wedges
  

1. Preheat the oven to 475°F. Place the butter and 2 tablespoons of the herbs in a roasting pan just large enough to fit the salmon (you may have to cut the fillet in half) and put it in the oven. Heat for about 5 minutes, until the butter melts and the herb begins to sizzle.
   

2. Add the salmon to the pan, skin side up. Roast for 4 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven, then remove the skin from the salmon (it should peel right off; if it does not, roast for another 2 minutes). Sprinkle with salt and pepper and turn the fillet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper again.
   

3. Roast for another 3 to 5 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fillet and degree of doneness you prefer. Spoon a little of the butter over each serving, garnish with the remaining 2 tablespoons herbs, and serve with lemon wedges.
   

TIME:
45 to 60 minutes

MAKES:
4 servings

Slow-cooked onions are good enough by themselves, but when you combine them with the liquid exuded by olives and tomatoes you have a gloriously juicy bed on which to serve any fish fillet or steak. This combination, I think, is best with grilled tuna or swordfish—their meatiness gives them the presence to stand up to the richly flavored mass of onions, creating an easy dish that has a Provençal feel and is perfect for summer.

• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  

• 3 large or 4 to 5 medium onions, thinly sliced
  

• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  

• 1 large thyme sprig, or a large pinch of dried thyme
  

• 2 medium tomatoes
  

• 1½ to 2 pounds tuna or swordfish
  

• About ½ cup roughly chopped good black olives
  

1. Pour the olive oil into a 10- or 12-inch skillet and turn the heat to medium. Add the onions, a healthy pinch of salt, some pepper, and the thyme. Cook, stirring occasionally until the mixture starts to sizzle, a minute or two. Adjust the heat so that you only have to stir every 5 minutes at most to keep the onions from browning. They will become progressively softer; do not allow them to brown. Allow at least 30 minutes total for the onions to cook.
   

2. Meanwhile, core the tomatoes (cut a cone-shaped wedge out of the stem end), then cut them in half horizontally. Squeeze and shake out the seeds, then cut the tomatoes into ½-inch dice. Start a moderately hot charcoal or wood fire or preheat a gas grill to the maximum. Set the grilling rack about 4 inches from the heat source.
   

3. When the onions are very soft, almost a shapeless mass, season the fish with salt and pepper and grill it, turning once, for a total of about 6 minutes for tuna or 8 to 10 minutes for swordfish. Check for doneness by making a small cut in the center of the fish and peeking inside.
   

   (Tuna can be quite rare; swordfish is best cooked to medium, when its interior is still slightly pearly rather than completely opaque.) While the fish is grilling, stir the olives and tomatoes into the onions and raise the heat a bit; cook, stirring occasionally until the tomatoes liquefy and the mixture becomes juicy, 5 to 10 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Serve the fish on a bed of the onion confit.