Pistachio Crusted Salmon

The following creative salmon recipe comes from More than a mouthful written by Chef Dennis:

Ingredients:

• Wild Alaskan Salmon
• Honey
• Pistachos
• olive oil
• bread crumbs
• old bay seasoning

Method:

1. Pulsed pistachios till they were a more manageable size, and some were dust.  I mixed in a little bread crumb and a bit of old bay and set it aside.  Your mixture should be about 2/3 pistachio’s and 1/3 bread crumb, don’t overdo the old bay, you want to add a little heat and flavor but not let it overpower the dish.
2. Now here is the secret to making this dish extra special, not only with the flavor’s but with the appearance.  Heat up a little honey in a sauce pan or microwave  and coat one side of the salmon in the honey and then into the pistachio breading.
3. Press down the salmon fillet to get a good coating, then be careful with it, we want the pistachio’s to stay in place.
4. Finish the rest of the fillets the same way.  In a large enough sauté pan as not to crowd the fillets, add some extra virgin olive oil, and a little butter, when the pan is hot place the fillets nut side down in the pan.
5. Don’t be over anxious to turn them over, but on the other had don’t let them burn, you really don’t need them to finish cooking in the sauté pan, you just want the honey to caramelize and get some great colour! Turn over the fillet and leave it just long enough to sear the other side, remove from pan and place on a baking sheet.
6. We will finish the salmon in the oven , you can do it now if your ready to eat, or you can place the fillets in the refrigerator and finish them when your guests arrive.
7. Give the salmon about 15 minutes at 350 degrees, and make sure to put a little water on the pan to keep the fish moist.  Pick up any nuts that have fallen off while baking and place them back on top of the fillets.

Now you can make a really great sauce to serve with this fillet, I was toying with a lemon cream, or even a lime margarita sauce, but I decided that I didn’t want to hide any of these great flavors under a sauce, so instead I made a great fresh fruit salsa.

Fresh Fruit Salsa

• 1 cup diced cantaloupe
• 1 cup diced Pineapple
• 1 cup diced Strawberries
• 1 cup diced red onions
• 1 bunch of cilantro finely chopped
• juice of one lime, two if there small

1. the only real secret to making this salsa is not to add the strawberries into the mix until you are ready to serve the salsa,  and only mix it just enough to distribute the strawberries.
2. Strawberries tend to bleed through to the rest of the fruit and it gets ugly quickly.
3. Mangoes and Peaches work really well also in a fruit salsa, I just like to have a few different colours.

Serve your Salmon with potatoes of your choice or rice