Prosciutto wrapped Salmon with Lentils

   

   

I have to admit, I don't like salmon.  It's just a basic taste preference.  I know plenty of people who do, and it's certainly a perennial favorite, but it's not for me.  That does create a dilemma though when you should cook salmon.  Cooking, of course, can and many times should be for the other person.  The person who is to receive your craft, your efforts, your creation. And if you're doing something special for them, it should be something they like. That can get me into predicaments like Brussels sprouts, asparagus and salmon. None of them my favorite, but all of them popular.

    

In times like this, I reach for bacon. If you don't like the way something tastes, make it taste like something else, like bacon. So, you'll find bacon bits in my Brussels sprouts, with perhaps walnuts or pecans for crunch.  And salmon, wrap it up and cover it up.  Now, bacon is too thick to coat many things.  I hate those bacon wrapped scallops and shrimp, but that's because the bacon doesn't have enough time to cook without overcooking the seafood. To the rescue comes prosciutto.  The absence of smokey flavor won't overpower like bacon, and its thinness will allow it to cook in the same time the fish is cooked. I paired this dish with lentils, both as a hearty combination, but also admittedly as a further distraction for me. The result, something loved by all. Serves 2.

    

Ingredients:

2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 carrot, diced

1/2 onion

1 clove garlic, minced

1 cup lentils

2 cups chicken stock

1 bouquet garni

1 bay leaf

1/4 tsp dried dill

salt/pepper

2 salmon filets (preferably thick cut)

4 slices thin-sliced prosciutto

    

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. For the lentil soup, add the oil to a medium pot over medium heat and soften the carrot and onion for 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook a minute more. Add the lentils, stock, bouquet garni and bay leaf.  Bring to a boil, turn down to simmer, and cook for 15-20 minutes.

For the salmon, season with dill and salt and pepper. Wrap the filets with the prosciutto, tucking the ends under the salmon laid in a baking pan.  Roast in the oven for 10 minutes.

Remove the bouquet garni and bay leaf from the soup, and serve the lentils without too much liquid in a shallow bowl topped with the salmon. 

    

Pork with Pears and Shallots

   

   

Ever wonder why you love French Fries?  Yes, I know, because they are good.  But why are they good to us?  Are our tastes programmed to love salt and fat?  The answer many would say is yes.  Our prehistoric ancestors who won the climb up the evolutionary ladder did so because of the benefits of their love for fat and salt.  Storing body fat got us through lean times in the ancient world, and so those with a taste for it survived. Of course, too much of a good thing is bad, and we have modern waistlines and health conditions as a result. 

   

My question is, did we ever love meat and fruit? I personally love what we would now call savory and sweet. Savory goes to our love of fat, but is so much more.  Ever wonder why just about every Mediterranean dish starts with onion and garlic?  And sweet, only the truly odd do not have a sweet tooth for something.  But some people really don't like pairing meat and fruit. If there was anything available to our Cave Man ancestors to make their meals interesting, it was game over the fire with fruit from a nearby tree.  I personally love to combine fruit and meat.  I make a chicken and apricot tagine that is good year round.  Summers see fish and tropical fruits.  But Fall is my favorite, when roasts and game predominate.  This is the season for roasted meat, and of course fruit.  Apples with pork, cherries with duck, and this recipe for pears.  I love pears, most especially the juicy kind that drips from your mouth.  Mouthwatering is what I think of for savory, luscious dishes like this.  You have to love a recipe that calls for nectar of any kind.  And experienced cooks will know that cooking an onion brings out its sweetness.  Thanks to Bon Appetit for this recipe pairing shallots, pears and pork tenderloin.  Not only is it easy, but it is relatively quick, as well.  Good thing if you were a Cave Man roasting on a spit near an orchard and attracting meat-eaters bigger than you!

    

Ingredients:

3 tbsp olive oil

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme

salt/pepper

1 pork tenderloin

3 large shallots peeled and cut into wedges length-wise

3 unpeeled pears, quartered and cored

4 tbsp butter

2 tsp flour

1 1/2 cup low-salt chicken broth

3/4 cup pear nectar or juice

    

Directions:

Preheat oven to 475 degrees F.  Mix oil, garlic and chopped thyme in a bowl.  Season tenderloin with salt and pepper and then toss tenderloin, shallots and pears with garlic, thyme mixture. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add pork and shallots, browning on all sides, about 7 minutes.  Transfer shallots to a platter and pork to a baking sheet.  Roast pork in oven until thermometer inserted into center reads 145 degrees F, about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, add pears to same skillet and cook over medium-high heat until brown on cut side, about 4 minutes.  Transfer pears to platter.  Add butter to the pan and melt.  Whisk in flower and allow roux to cook for a minute.  Add broth and pear mixture to skillet, scrapping up bits and whisking to combine.  Boil until sauce thickens.  About 5 minutes.  Return pears and shallots to sauce to reheat.  Slice pork and serve with pears and shallots.