I found this recipe for roast salmon with hazelnut crumbs in last week's (June 15) Boston Globe food section. It's really simple, only I had never thought to pair salmon with hazelnuts before, and had to try. Serving size adapted for single gal eating at home (lest you feel sorry for me, it is a weeknight, after all.)
Roast Salmon with Hazelnut Crumbs (serves 1)
1/4 cup hazelnuts
A handcup of panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
1/2 lb. boneless salmon filet
A bit of olive oil, salt, and pepper
Lemon juice
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Toast hazelnuts for 6-8 minutes, or until golden brown. Reduce oven heat to 250 for the salmon.
3. Let hazelnuts cool, and peel skin off before tossing them into a chopper or food processor. Chop or grind to bits, add panko, and give the mixture another whirl to blend.
4. Rub salmon lightly with olive oil. Sprinkle salt and pepper. Spritz some lemon juice. Press the nut and panko mixture onto top of filet.
5. Roast for 30 minutes or until done. (I had the filet in a toaster oven, and in the last minute or two I turned the setting to "Broil" to apply heat to the top only, to add a bit of extra crunch to the top.)
6. Take the salmon out, pair with side of rice or veggies, and enjoy.
That's what should have happened. Until I decided that I wanted wine to go with dinner. Breaking with the traditional white wine with fish rule (according to all the food magazines it's trendy now to break wine rules) I wanted to open a nice 2001 Chateauneuf-du-Pape Domaine du Banneret Rhone I got as a gift. Now, I have an ancient corkscrew that is about as old as I am. It doesn't go down very far, and the part used to leverage doesn't stay on the bottle. Needless to say, I spent about 10 minutes tugging without success, until the screw finally came out, along with the top half of the cork.
You know those happy/sad drama masks that are used as a symbol for theater? I was the epitome of the sad mask.
My fish and rice were done, but I left the appliances plugged in to keep them warm. I put the wine in a paper bag, got in my car, and drove to my friendly neighborhood wine & spirits store, and explained my dilemma.
"Ah, you have a really dry cork. That's why," they said, and recommended a corkscrew that you leverage down from both sides (does it have a technical name?)
I ran home and baked the salmon for another few minutes, and dish turned out fine.
Things learned today: 1. Hazelnut flavor goes great with salmon. 2. Invest in a good corkscrew.
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