Two Parts Italy

June is a fickle month - sometimes barely reaching spring time temperatures and other times bringing hot summer weather a bit too early. But when the calendar flips to July, then summer begins in earnest. In Italy, that means hot and humid weather. In New Mexico, where I am spending the summer visiting family, the weather is hot but dry with occasional stormy, cloudy days. No matter where I find myself in summer, the hot weather means I do my bread baking early in the morning and look for cool, refreshing things to cook for meals. It also means the herbs in my “garden” (really just a collection of pots on my patio) are ready to incorporate into many dishes. It’s always more fun if the meal is shared with friends, so summer time entertaining is always on my July calendar.

One dish I often cook when in the US, but rarely make when I’m in Italy, is salmon. I’ve grilled it, baked it, pan fried it, breaded and deep fried it. Once I baked 5 whole, fresh caught Alaskan salmon to feed 50 people at a co-workers wedding (the salmon were caught in Alaska by her brother and shipped on ice to New Mexico). That was fun! But rarely is a whole salmon on the menu - usually I’m cooking individual salmon pieces, medium thickness and about 6 ounces each. In the US that often means a bag of frozen salmon from Costco is in my freezer.

One thing I had never tried (before this week) was poaching salmon. Poached salmon - it just sounds elegant, doesn’t it? Best of all, it can be poached early in the day, chilled, and served cold. That makes it perfect for a summer-time luncheon. Cold salmon calls for a brightly flavored sauce, so to go with my poached salmon experiment I made a wasabi mayonnaise. For my luncheon I added a salad (brought by my guest) and some sourdough bread. To finish the lunch, some sweets from a local bakery added a perfect finish. What a nice way to welcome summer! My adventure in poaching salmon turned out nicely and I think it is destined to become one of my favorite summer time meals.

Recipes

Poached Salmon

Salmon pieces are cooked in a flavorful poaching liquid of wine, lemon juice, chives

Poaching liquid: Combine 1/2 cup white wine (I used some leftover Prosecco that was almost flat), 1 cup water, 2 lemon slices, a small bunch of chives (rough chopped), 1/4 teaspoon salt, and a pinch of black pepper in a deep pan. Bring to a slow boil.

Slip salmon pieces (thicker pieces, not very thin filets, about 6 oz each) into the poaching liquid, reduce heat, simmer about 10 minutes or until just cooked through. If the poaching liquid is not quite deep enough to completely cover the salmon, then turn them over mid-way through cooking, gently so as not to break them). Remove salmon from liquid, peel off the skin, and chill.

Wasabi Mayonnaise

1/2 cup Best Foods mayonnaise

2 1/2 Tablespoons wasabi paste (this amount gives mild heat, use more or less to taste)

1 Tablespoon finely chopped bunching onions or scallions

1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Combine all ingredients and refrigerate for at least 3 hours before serving to allow the flavor to develop.

To serve : plate the chilled salmon on top of lettuce leaves, garnish with lemon slices and whole chives, and serve with wasabi mayonnaise on the side.