In yet another stunning narrative of my life thus far, not a week after I finally got around to getting a subscription to that bastion of American food magazines, Gourmet, did I get an email notifying me of its imminent demise. By demise I mean that they’re no longer printing it, in case you did not know. I cried every day until my two and only issues arrived, and then I went shopping. You might think this would be a segue into a recipe from Gourmet, but as it has substituted the remaining issues in my subscription over to Bon Appétit (which I subscribed to anyway the same time as Gourmet), I felt it was appropriate to start with Bon Appétit as well.

Fish is not a frequent visitor to this household, as I am not a seafood fan. I’m sorry, but I prefer my food to not have an exoskeleton, which removes me from many things I’m told are delicious. My husband loves escargot and no matter how much garlic and butter are involved I just cannot get beyond the fact that it’s a snail. This is why I can never, no matter how much I may want to, be on Survivor.

I do, however, make exceptions to that rule, and salmon is one of them. There may be a world of difference between a gently steamed or seared salmon fillet and salmon patties from the canned article, but they both taste good to me. So as I was flipping through my four new recipe-laden magazines, I spotted this one in October’s issue of Bon Appétit and decided to go for it.

Lime-and Honey-Glazed Salmon with Basmati and Broccolini
from Bon Appétit, October 2009
serves 4, 35 minutes prep, 55 total

You will need:

1/4 cup fresh lime juice
2 Tbsp. finely grated lime peel
2 Tbsp. honey
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro, plus more for garnish
4 tsp. soy sauce
1 Tbsp. olive oil
3/4 cup sliced shallots (about 3 large)
1 1/2 cups basmati rice*
3 1/4 cups low sodium chicken broth**
4 5 to 6 oz skinless salmon fillets***
1 bunch broccolini****, bottom inch trimmed and stalks separated if necessary

Crank your oven up to 450F, and whisk together your first 5 ingredients in a small bowl. 1/4 cup of lime juice was about two and a half smallish limes, and the zest, conveniently, was 3 limes exactly. For the fine grate, I just used my Microplane and called it good enough. Once you’ve got everything combined, set aside for now.

In a large, oven-safe skillet or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Throw in your shallots and sauté until just beginning to soften and brown. My pan was too hot and it took about 2 minutes for me total, but the recipe says about 5 minutes. Shallots are a bit more delicate than onions so you’ll want to stir frequently to prevent burning. Add the rice and the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Cover skillet tightly with the lid, and into the oven it goes for about 10 minutes. The rice should be done by then, but if it’s not and it’s too dry, add more chicken broth in 1/4 cup increments.

(as a note, I use a Tramontina green behemoth from Wal-mart, and the lid does not fit as tightly as I would like, so I covered the pot with a sheet of aluminum foil before putting the lid on for a tighter seal. )

Remove from the oven and add salt to the rice, to taste. Sprinkle salmon fillets with salt and pepper and arrange on rice, pressing lightly. Add the broccolini, tucking around the fish and anchoring the stems in the rice. Add 1 Tbsp. of glaze to each fillet, cover tightly again and return to oven for another 8-10 minutes, or until the salmon is just opaque in the center and the broccolini is crisp-tender. Drizzle remaining glaze over the fish and rice, top with additional cilantro and serve.

Notes:

As I was expecting something altogether more highfalutin, it came as a surprise to me to learn that this was a one-skillet meal. I love one-skillet meals because I generally destroy my kitchen if I make anything more complicated than spaghetti. Also, this is extremely easy, so don’t be intimidated by the source.  If cost is a concern (and these days, who isn’t concerned?) you could easily go with smaller portions. Since my toddler’s idea of fine dining is Easy Mac, I opted to get 2 6oz fillets instead, and since I had everything but the broccolini and the fish on hand, this recipe cost us about $12 for two people.

* – Tilda produces some really lovely basmati. It is not the cheapest option but it’s not unreasonable. Look for the shiny metallic blue bag.

** – If you have a WinCo grocery store in your area, quarts of Pacific free-range organic chicken broth are a whopping $1.89! That is insanely cheap compared to other stores in the area.

*** – The skinless salmon fillets I purchased were $4.99 each, regardless of weight. If you are more adept than I in the kitchen, I see zero reason why you couldn’t get skin-on and just remove the skin, if that price is less prohibitive.

**** – For SLCers, Harmon’s carries broccolini. If your local stores don’t carry it, the flavors are of a mild, asparagus-broccoli bent, so I am certain that broccoli or asparagus would work just fine here.

(one more brief note, I am providing links with the intent of being helpful, there’s no profit in it for me. but seriously, get a microplane, they’re amazing.)

Also known as lemony fish with greens and taters, which is why I do not work in marketing. The actual recipe calls for escarole, but after going to 5 grocery stores in search of it, I made do with curly endive – escarole is endive though a different and supposedly less bitter variety. I read that radicchio is virtually indistinguishable from escarole in taste but I had this awful fear that the red color of it would bleed onto the fish and that just did not sound appealing to me at all. Anyway.

For those of you who don’t actually like seafood – like me – tilapia is a very, very mild fish. If it’s the fishy flavor you hate, you would be fine eating this. If it’s the texture of fish, you’re hosed, don’t make it. If you can, though, it’s got nice protein content, not to mention low mercury content.

Tilapia with Endive/Escarole and Lemon-Pepper Oil

You will need:

–1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
–12 oz baby fingerling potatoes, halved
–4 cloves of garlic, smashed (I used five because I’m a rebel)
–1 bunch curly endive OR 1 head escarole, torn into pieces
– Kosher salt and ground black pepper
–1 1/4 lb tilapia fillets, patted dry
–2 sprigs fresh oregano, leaves torn, or a couple shakes of dry oregano if you (like me) were unwilling to spend 3 bucks on fresh oregano that will just go bad in your fridge
–Juice of one lemon

Heat up 1/4 c of that oil in a large skillet – and I do mean large. 12" or bigger. (so many things that could be said here….)

When the oil is warmer, put your potatoes in cut side down, to get them all brown and tasty on le bottom. The garlic should go in too. This process should take you roughly 5 minutes. My oil was not optimal temperature when I put my potatoes in so it took longer for them to crisp up a bit. Plus they stuck to my pan. How that happened with a freakin’ lake of oil coating the bottom of the pan, I’ll never know.

They really do look like fingers. I’m going to put a big bowl of them smothered in ketchup outside for Halloween. Looks aside, they are creamy and delicious on the inside and worth getting. Once they’re done, add your endive/escarole.

This may take some work, I had to stuff mine in there pretty good since I only have a 12" skillet. It does however wilt down relatively quick once you add 1/3 cup of water and cover with a lid, which you should do once it’s all in there. Give it another 5 minutes or so to steam and soften up.

While that’s happening, get your fish dried and seasoned with salt and pepper. After the 5 minutes is up, place the tilapia on top of your now-wilted greens, cover and steam for 5 more minutes or until the fish is cooked through. (5 minutes should do it just fine)

While the fish is cooking, whisk together the remaining 1/4 cup of oil, the lemon juice, a bit of salt and a healthy dose of black pepper. If you are feeling adventurous (and aren’t breastfeeding/pregnant) I think a glug or two of a dry white wine would go great in this. I don’t ever feel adventurous with a new recipe – and I’m nursing – so I don’t know if that actually tastes good, I only know that the flavors, especially combined with the bitterness of the greens and the relative sweetness of the fish, should balance nicely with the addition of a little wine.

Getting the now-cooked fish off those greens can be tricky. I tried tongs first and that was really dumb of me, I should have learned that lesson from the Dover sole a few weeks back. Fish and tongs – shredded mess. Make use of your slotted spatula here and lift the fish onto the plates. Serve with the greens, dig some of the potatoes off the bottom of your pan, drizzle with the lemon oil and bon appetit.

It should be noted that while this is a tasty dish, I did not like the endive. In the interest of fairness though, I am not overly fond of wilted greens, particularly dark greens as they tend to be bitter and unpleasantly textured for me. That’s just personal though and Warren, who likes basically any kind of green raw or cooked, thought it was good.