Sofrito & Dill Salmon
¡Bendición Familia!
I’ve had friends who’ve shared with me their hesitancy to cook seafood. What I’ve told them is that it's the easiest and quickest (and clearly one of the healthiest) ways to make a meal. If you select a piece of fish as your centerpiece, start with skinless salmon. In a cast iron, stainless steel or nonstick you should master this in less than 20 minutes with the following easy ingredients:
Skinless salmon (frozen or fresh)
1 whole fresh Lemon (and a zester or small-hole cheese grater)
1 - 2 Tbsp Fire Islander Seasonings - Sofrito Satchel
½ Tbsp Dried Dill
Fresh Garlic Cloves - as much as your heart desires
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Grapeseed oil or Avocado Oil
Additional Salt & Pepper to taste (optional)
If my salmon is frozen, I make sure it is completely defrosted before seasoning. I leave it in the fridge overnight, and take it out of the fridge approximately 30 minutes before seasoning. I want the salmon soft and tender, but not room temperature. I want to ensure the salmon is still cold when I season and cook it. I don’t recommend seasoning seafood overnight as some of the ingredients (lemon or lime, for example) may break down the protein fibers.
In a bowl, zest a whole lemon, add 1-2 tablespoons of the dried Sfrito (contingent upon the number of filets I intend to cook), and ½ to 1 tablespoon of dried dill.
I then peel and dice (or grate) the fresh garlic into the bowl mixture and add 2-4 tablespoons of EVOO (extra virgin olive oil). Then I whisk the ingredients together.
I like to taste my mixture to ensure it has enough salt and pepper to my preference. I add whatever required ingredient as necessary to my personal taste. This is how I cook without measuring.
I heat my pan to medium heat and coat it with either grapeseed oil or avocado oil. Either of these are preferred options as it has high cooking temperatures and are healthier.
While the oil heats up, I pat dry the skinless salmon with a paper towel and spoon some of the mixture lightly massaging it onto one side of the salmon.
Using tongs or a fork, I gently place that side down into the heated pan.
Season the other side with the rest of the mixture.
Don’t touch it, don’t move it around - just leave it.
I let it cook approximately 4 minutes on one side, and then flip it and cook another 3-4 minutes on the other side.
Most seafood should not be cooked for long periods of time. The art is to make sure salmon is cooked well enough but not dry. I confess that I like to take a knife and slit it to see if the center is cooked through but still tender and moist. Face it, I am not a chef and most of you may not be also. If you want the internal temperature, you want it between 120 - 125 degrees Fahrenheit.
Some prefer to under cook salmon and have it more medium rare. If that is the case I’d suggest cooking it for 3 minutes on each side.
While it finishes, I brush on any remaining mixture onto the fish. I slice the already zested lemon in half and squeeze a bit of its fresh juice onto the fish. I am a dill fanatic so I like to sprinkle more dill and maybe top it off with a wisp of salt and pepper. Again this last part is totally your call.
Let it rest for about 10 minutes - trust me, the juices and flavors will be flowing if you do so.
If you prepare this, take a picture, make sure to tag me @fireislanderseasonings and tell me how it went for you.
Disfrútatelo. ¡Buen provecho! Wepa!
